3

FLASHBACK

"I got a B!!" August announced at Cassie after he brought her to his house. "I got a B!"

"Congrats," Cassie said, with much less enthusiasm that August had. She was happy, however, seeing that her first student finally upgraded his usually D to B.

"You gave me this B, Cass. Hell, you threw it for me to catch," August started to go overboard about it, like always.

"And you caught it."

"Fucking yes, I did," August saw at his papers, a big fat B stamped on it. It was probably the first time he got this letter in Calculus, that is, without cheating.

"Stop gloating, August, it's getting annoying," Desmond said, but his eyes flickered with the very same delight. August had this effect of people. He just radiated happiness.

"Maybe we should celebrate it?" August said, completely ignoring Desmond. "What do you say, a party at my place? It'd be Vertigo-like, with all the lights and my speaker."

Cassie blinked. There was one stray word in August's sentence. "Vertigo?"

"It's the name of a club," Desmond filled her in. "One of the best in the city. Exclusive invitation, you have to be somebody to get in."

"Oh," was all Cassie could say. "That sounds... great." It came out more like a question mark than a statement.

Desmond smiled, and that smile made her blush. She had never been to a club, and she hadn't planning to be anytime soon. Her tolerance to alcohol was pushing zero.

"We should celebrate it," Desmond turned to August.

"Yeah! Tonight, everything will be ready tonight! Our study room must be the dancefloor!" August had started to run around his house, assigning what room should be what and letting his imagination ran rampant.

Cassie watched him scrambling here and there, and another smile broke. It was like watching a very happy child getting a candy. But soon, her happiness crumbled and all that was left was anxiety. August was already nowhere to be found or heard, and here she was, sitting together in the same couch with Desmond Arrington, at the Berningham's living room.

And worse, Cassie could feel how Desmond's eyes were trying to undress her.

She bit her lip, and started counting how many patterns that the wallpapers have. She was already at 57 when Desmond cut her off.

"So, I assume you're not going to August's party?"

"Um, no, I think..."

"Why?" Desmond's green eyes were fixed onto her, leaving her no space to run away.

"I-I guess it's... it's not for me."

"Because you're not one of 'us'?" Desmond almost seemed innocent, with his big eyes and his questioning tone. Then, in a second, he turned again to the ruthless Desmond she knew. "But I think it'd be fun to have you around."

Really?

"Really?" she said.

"Really," he put his hand on top of hers.

All of a sudden, he was already so close to her. She could even feel the warmth emanated from his body. She stared down, looking at their touching hands. She was unable to think clearly. Haze filled her head with gray illusions, illusions about the unthinkable. Illusions about the owner of these hands, dancing together Disney-style.

"Hey," Desmond called her gently. "Hey, look up,"

And when she did, she finally caught his green eyes right on. They were unreadable, but out of many things that flashed on those eyes, Cassie could catch one that looked very prominent.

Desire.

Desmond Arrington, King of St. Pulkeria, desired her.

This was really happening.

"Just come tonight, 'kay?" he asked, so softly, so alluringly, that Cassie forgot how to say 'no'.

and hell, how could you say no when he added this:

"I'll protect you."

END FLASHBACK

-

"Leaving so early?" he said, and for once, Cassie noticed, there was no one behind Desmond's back.

"Yes, I think I've already stayed enough," Cassie tried to put a façade of politeness. "Besides, it's getting too late."

"Please. 10 pm is not too late. The party is just getting started," Desmond pressed, his hand held onto her harder.

The warmth that surged from his body to hers was surely distracting. "Well, not for you, but it's definitely late for me. I'm used at sleeping at ten thirty."

Desmond snorted. "I stopped doing that when I was ten."

Against her will, Cassie smiled. She could just imagine what Desmond would look like when he was young. Cute, short, and absolutely obnoxious. She tried to put images about how young Desmond demanded that he wouldn't be put to bed at ten.

Noticing her amusement, Desmond shuffled closer to her. It was easy to do so. The room was packed, after all. "You feel uncomfortable here?" he asked.

Cassie looked away. "I-I guess,"

Desmond thinned his mouth, thinking. "Wanna go somewhere else?"

"Like where?"

"Like, August's mother's room?"

The very thought of that made her shudder.

"August mother's room?" she repeated, enunciating every word.

"I think it'll be quieter there."

"August mother's room?" she choked one more time.

This time, Desmond only smiled. Slowly, he took her hand and tilted his head. "Come on."

And somehow, all the bravado she tried to put up had all broken down.

-

-

-

'He was going to do it with me.'

"D-Did you already tell Tyra about it?"

"About what?"

"A-About us... getting into August's mother's room... together."

Desmond's eyes glinted mischievously. The lights from the colorful bulb that August bought just for today's event danced on his skin. Desmond had always been handsome, but under this dark place, he looked dazzling.

"I don't think she would mind," he said with a smile.

Despite everything, that smile calmed Cassie.

August's mother's room was in the fourth floor, so they had to go through a lot of stairs. People were greeting Desmond, and a lot of them tried to look at Cassie's face. But Cassie was determined not to look up. Part of it because she was so embarrassed about having her A-lister classmates knew that she was going to this party. Another part because she felt as if her face was on fire.

Desmond never took her hand off the whole time.

As soon as they got into the room, Desmond's hand moved to her neck, and forcefully, almost desperately, kissed her.

It was Cassie's first kiss. It was Cassie's first kiss. It was Cassie's first kiss.

She didn't even have the chance to close her eyes, or pop up a leg like the movie-girl would. She only stared blankly at Desmond's ultra close up face like an idiot.

His lips were so hot, and slightly wet. She knew that lips were part of the skin, and them kissing is no less different than when her own skin touched her lips. But her body reacted otherwise. She was trembling, and the tremor that ran through her spine never stopped. She didn't want this to end, this touch, this kiss, and especially this sensation.

And it didn't. It became much more intense.

Cassie felt his lips moved. It tasted every corner of her mouth, and after a while, he started to gnaw on her bottom lip.

"Open," he whispered on her mouth. "Open your mouth."

Cassie's brain felt as if it stopped working. She couldn't control her body, and she felt a grasping hand on her breast. Normally, she would have slapped the hand. But combined with the wet kiss, the hand kinda felt nice there.

As Desmond got no response from her, he just stuck his tongue, forcing her to open her mouth. Their tongues danced for what seemed like a long time. He even managed to lead her to the bed, straddling her.

But just as abruptly as the kiss started, Desmond stopped.

"Do you not mind me kissing you at all?" he asked, his voice sounded normal, as if he hadn't just done anything. His hand still glued to her breast.

Cassie just stared at him, out of breath.

"Geez," a small smile came out on his reddened lips. "you're so easy."

And that was the last thing that Cassie remembered at that night, because everything else turned into a blur of hot breaths and major heart palpitations.