It took me a moment to realize that Cassie's hands were slowly finding their way down my stomach.

Stepping back, I grasped her hand before it reached my belt. "S-stop."

She fluttered her eyelashes at me. "What's wrong? Don't you want this?"

"I-"

"Because something else is clearly indicating you do."

My face burned as her eyes traveled to her hands' previous destination.

Fuck hormones and tight pants!

Noticing my incoherence, Cassie took the opportunity it presented and stepped forward again. She reached for my crotch.

I grabbed her hand. "Do you need your ears cleaned? I said no."

Glaring at me, Cassie hissed, "What is wrong with you? Are you gay or something?"

"I don't like girls that are too desperate. And right now, you're practically oozing desperation."

She snatched her hand away from mine. "Excuse me?"

"Which part would you like me to repeat? The part where I called you desperate, or the one where I called you out for wanting to use me as a protest tool in your insecure relationship with Andy?"

"Insecure?"

"You sound surprised. Does that mean you don't believe Andy is cheating on you?"

Cassie's face darkened. "Please, do you think I'm stupid? His reputation as a fuck boy is even well known at my school!"

"Thus, the reason for your insecurity. But I will not lower myself to be some sort of consolation prize. Have a nice night."

I left the shack, messaging Tony to come to pick me up.

. . .

It wasn't until long break the next day that I saw Andy when he strolled into the dining hall and over to my table. He had a grin on his face.

My heartbeat quickened. Has Cassie already told him?

But there no flames burning in them as he asked, "What's up, guys?"

Everyone else on the table stopped their conversations to focus on him.

"Mehn, where have you been?" Hans asked.

"Doctor's appointment, I Had a check-up scheduled for today. Yo, Dave, off my seat."

The guy he'd referred to stammered, "N-no problem, man."

I said, "No, Dave, sit."

All heads turned to me.

I added, "Andy, I need to speak to you. Now."

Andy frowned. "Uh, sure. What does that have to do with Dave and my seat, though?"

I had to make an effort not to facepalm myself. "I don't know, you tell me."

"Uhh..."

Mitch said, "Dude, I think what Angelo's trying to say is that he wants to speak to you in private."

I nodded at Mitch. "Spot on."

Andy nodded. "Oh. Well, I guess we can go out to the-"

"Aww, come on!" Seth whined. "What's so secret that you can't tell everyone?"

Getting up, I replied, "I assure you, when it's your business, I'll let you know. Come on, Andy."

. . .

Once Andy and I were standing in an empty corridor, he asked, "What do you want to talk about? And if it's to ask about money, I just want to let you know that my answer is an automatic 'no.'"

I frowned. What kind of stupid assumption is that?

After a short while, I sighed. "Cassie is cheating on you."

Andy's brow furrowed, and the smile slipped off his face. "What?"

"Well, she may not be, assuming she hasn't attempted to make moves on any other guy apart from me."

Andy's brow remained furrowed for a bit, then he chuckled. "Oh, I get what you're doing. Great joke, by the way, haha. Let me guess, you planned this with the others earlier today?"

I replied, "I assure you, unless the others encouraged her to touch me after you called me at that party-"

"Huh? I never called you!"

I frowned. "What?"

"Seriously, I wasn't even with my phone. Cassie was acting all paranoid and demanded she read my messages, so I left it with...with her." Realization sparked in his eyes. He slumped against the wall, sliding to the ground. "Oh."

Finally!

I nodded. "Hmm, so you see what's going on."

He scoffed. "It'd be kind of hard not to. I can't believe I didn't figure it out sooner."

I patted his shoulder. "Don't kick yourself too hard for that. Some snakes are extremely good at hiding in the grass."

"I mean, I guess I kinda understood all the looks, but I stupidly ignored them-"

"Besides, it's hard to fight hormones."

"-Plus there was all the subtle flirting you were doing with-"

"Hmm-hold on, are we still talking about Cassie?"

He glared at me. "When were we ever? I'm talking about you!"

My mouth dropped open. Then, I squeaked, "Wh-what?" My face warmed. "Did you not hear anything I said?"

"Oh, I heard you alright. I heard you lying on my girlfriend!"

"I-" I took a deep breath. "Why on earth would I be lying about this?"

"I don't know, you tell me." Andy got up. "Maybe it's because you want Cassie for yourself. Or maybe you want to ruin my relationship because you're jealous that you can't form a connection with a girl."

My fists clenched. "Excuse me?"

Andy's brown eyes hardened. "You heard me. Word of advice. Smith, focus more on dealing with your own issues rather than trying to create some for other people."

"You dumbass, I'm trying to-"

Andy brushed past me roughly, stomping back into the cafeteria.

I stood there for a while, trying to process all that had happened.

Then, my fists clenched as my breaths grew quick and shallow. That fucker is going to pay!

. . .

For the rest of the day, I was distant from everyone. The only thing that held my attention was my phone, as I waited for Cassie to give a reply to the message I had sent her. Getting in contact with her had been a simple matter of sliding into her Instagram DMS. After that, all I had to do was play the waiting game.

She replied to me as I was on my way home. 'Wow, thank you for deciding to grace this insecure girl with a moment of your time, your highness.'

I snickered, mentally mapping out my strategy as I typed my response.

It took a few minutes of flattery and humility to get Cassie to agree to my plan. I arrived at her house at about 8 pm that night, entering her room through the front door because she was home alone.

We both got what we wanted that night with no strings attached.

. . .

The next morning, the first person I approached when I got into homeroom was Andy.

Sitting down on the seat next to him, I said, "Hey."

He looked up from the homework he'd been copying down, frowning as he noticed me. "Hey."

I managed to keep a straight face as I said, "Look, man, about yesterday, I'm...sorry. I shouldn't have come to you and made such accusations on your girl without proof."

After a bit, the cautious expression melted off Andy's face. "It's cool. We all make mistakes sometimes."

"I agree. Sometimes, we even have to pay for those mistakes."

"True." Andy grinned, wiggling his eyebrows at me. "By the way, nice hickey. Fun night?"

I smirked. "Oh, I don't know, but you can ask your girlfriend. After all, I gave her one to match."

On that note, I stood up and walked away.