Chapter 3
Cassie
“So you’re the girl who’s taken over Lucy’s room and the school paper?” a brown haired girl glared at Cassie. They were standing in the small office that the paper was run from. She’d gone in to collect her first assignment. She hadn’t been expecting to get a load of crap with it too.
“I’m sorry?” Cassie asked.
The brown haired girl reached over her desk and pulled out a brown paper file. “Your assignment,” she said roughly shoving it in Cassie’s direction.
“Have I done something to offend you?” Cassie asked, because she didn’t want the girl’s attitude to carry over to the next time they saw each other.
The girl sniggered. “Look, you walk into our school. You take over Lucy’s room. You get a job on the paper without even an interview? What did you think was going to happen?”
“Right,” Cassie took the file from the girl’s hands. “I’ll get back to you when it’s finished.”
“Whatever,” the girl turned away from her.
Cassie was pretty sure that she was entitled to one of the desks in the room. She didn’t ask for one though. She just took her file and left the office. The atmosphere had been cold. Clearly the room issue was more of an issue than she’d initially thought it would be. She hadn’t realized that the whole school was in love with Lucy.
The school had brought up an extra bed for the room. It made the small room feel even smaller. All of Cassie’s things had been forced under her bed, because Lucy had dominated the closet with her extensive collection of clothes, before Cassie had had the chance to unpack.
She got back to her room and sat down. Lucy had forced her to take the new bed. The one that was directly under the window, even though Lucy spent most of her time sitting there anyway. Cassie was glad to see that Lucy was out. She had the quiet little room to herself to examine the assignment she’d been given for the newspaper.
She pulled out the few loose pages. It was a sports piece. Cassie sighed. She’d told the school board, when they’d offered her the position that she hadn’t wanted to write anything sports related. Cassie thought back to the brown haired girl. Was this down to her? Had she deliberately picked something that she knew Cassie would hate?
Cassie sighed. They wanted an interview with the captain of the football team. He’d just won the game, which would take the team to finals. Lucy put the papers down and looked out of the small open window.. The day was hot and bright. She was glad that her classes wouldn’t start for another week, so that weather had a chance to cool. It would have been impossible for her to concentrate in a stuffy classroom on a day like that.
The door opened and slammed into wall behind it without any warning. Cassie jumped at the sudden interruption to her thoughts. Lucy was standing in the doorway. Her eyes were fixed on Cassie and focused with a deep disliking. “I’m throwing a room party tonight,” she said without any consideration over asking.
“Great,” Cassie sighed.
“You’re not invited,” Lucy told her firmly. “It’s going to be a few of my friends and I don’t want you here.”
“Well that’s tough luck,” Cassie shrugged. “This is my room too.”
Lucy walked a little further into the room. Her false nails were digging into the curves of her waist, as she glared at Cassie. “Look, I get that you think you can do whatever you want, but you can’t. This isn’t your school. It’s mine. Don’t make me make your life harder than it already has to be,” Lucy threatened.
“Whatever,” Cassie said standing up. “I’ve got stuff to do anyway.”
“Good,” Lucy looked triumphant. “Don’t bother coming back tonight. Your bed is probably going to be in use.”
Cassie didn’t bother saying anything. She just walked out of the room without giving Lucy a second look. What did Lucy really expect of her? Where could she possibly go that would have her out all night? She was obviously going to have to go back to her room at some point.
The sun instantly lapped at her skin, when she walked out in the gardens. She pulled out the campus map from her jeans pocket and examined it. If she was going to be forced out of her room, then she might as well be productive, she thought, as she worked out the quickest route to the football stadium.
She figured that would be a good place to start. She wasn’t even sure who the captain of the football team was. Even if he wasn’t on the field, there would be someone she could ask, when she got there. She put the map away and cut across the gardens in front of her. The stadium was close to the boy’s dorm room, which was on the other side of campus.
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