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She glanced up at one of the s by her elboorry marred her delicate forehead Her hazel eyes were flecked with streaks of gold, and surprisingly caring for a stranger "I’ave her a worried frown as she handed her a wad of paper towels "Are you sure?"

Cassie’s hands shook as she took the towels frohtly ashamed to realize that she didn’t know her nairl smiled as she nodded swiftly Her short brown hair, streaked with shades of green, bobbed around her shoulders "Danielle, buttrehtened briefly around the crumpled towels "Nice to meet you Dani, thank you"

A sirl’s pretty face before she retreated back to her hazy corner Drying her face slowly, Cassie glanced only briefly at her reflection She already knew that she was a mess, but her frantic, bloodshot eyes were a bit of a shock She looked half crazed, and it was not a good look on her There was nothing she could do about her eyes though, she had no eye drops, and she wasn’t even sure they would help right now She didn’t think anything could help her now

Taking a deep breath, she retrieved the backpack she had dumped hastily on the floor The hall was almost deserted when she poked her head out of the bathrooht, but at least she didn’t feel like she was on the brink of tears any her way slowly down the hall, she slipped quietly into her history class People shot her questioning looks as she made her way to her desk, but thankfully no one stopped her

Sitting at her desk, Cassie dropped her head in her hands She forced herself to reet up and leave class, and school Though it was a teht, she knew she could not run forever, and apparently he was going to be in her life from now on Or at least in her school She would have to find another way to deal with the situation other than running

She felt that avoidance would be best

Devon searched the cafeteria as he h the thick crowd, Melissa led the way "No hetti is awful," she was telling him in between the vast ahealthy here, except for apples"

He turned his attention back to her as she stopped before hiirl, but the intense way she studied hie feeling that she saw more of him than he wanted her to Her head tilted, her exotically slanted eyes narrowed as a small s"

She grinned as she shrugged a dainty shoulder, and h the crowd "The seniors sit in the back of the cafeteria, when it’s not nice enough to sit outside"

Devon hardly paid attention to her as his eyes returned to the st the crowd; smell the wonderful aro, when she had fled the classroom in an obvious panic It was not the reaction he had hoped for fro too He just wasn’t sure what

The crowd suddenly parted, opening to reveal her She was sitting at a table, an apple held casually in her hand as she stared up at the boy standing at her side The boy was tall and muscular, his brown hair curled at the collar of his shirt as he leaned forward, resting his hands on the table She shook her head at hihtly Devon did not like the aggravation that emanated from her; it was more than apparent that she was annoyed by the boy

"Who is that with your friend?" Devon inquired, trying to sound as casual as possible

Melissa glanced toward the table, her eyes narrowed "Mark Young He’s been chasing Cassie since middle school; unfortunately he doesn’t take a hint"

Devon stiffened, his eyes narrowed as Cassie shook her head h competition in the form of Cassie’s boyfriend for her attention; he did not need, or want, anyh he tried, he was unable to keep the aggravation from his voice

Melissa frowned at hiether over her petite nose "Cassie doesn’t have a boyfriend"

Devon’s eyes widened in surprise, his gaze darted back to the table as the tall blond he had seen with her last night appeared He nodded briefly to Mark before sliding into the seat next to Cassie Leaning toward her, he grabbed a handful of fries froether Hell, the boy had crawled through her bedrooht And he had not coer and jealousy twisted his gut He had never experienced jealousy before It was an en to him, until now For most of his existence he had always taken what he wanted, when he wanted it He did not like the feeling of helplessness that filled hier was an emotion that he could not allow himself to experience It was an eer made him volatile, and when he was unstable, innocent people were hurt

Devon took a deep breath as he tried to steady the pendulu to realize that this was a giant mistake He never should have come here; he should not have placed himself in closer proximity to her She helped to salve the ache and hurt in his soul, but she also served to unhinge all of the hard work he had done to keep hi around Cassie unbalanced hi control of hily, that thought was completely intolerable to him He would rather destroy himself than see her hurt in anyway, least of all by his own hand

Though he knew that he should leave, he could not bring himself to move He was completely captivated by her as a small sainst the blond sitting beside her Their ease, and obvious affection for each other, ether

"Then who is that boy beside her?" he asked quietly, his voice tight with the tension that pulsed through hiht slanced at her in confusion "They’ve been best friends since they were born,sense of relief flooded hilanced back at the table Their blond heads were bent close together as they talked Mark, cootten, shook his head and turned away "Colanced back at Melissa, not surprised to see her shrewd eyes narrowed upon him He shook his head, not at all interested in thethat he wanted to taste in this cafeteria "I’ry"

She nodded and led him over to the table Chris looked up at hihtly as he stopped speaking Cassie‘s shoulders stiffened, her back straightened as she seemed to brace herself Very slowly, she turned toward hiaze rattled hiain felt an odd little skip in the deadened area of his heart She had the ht azure blue with flecks of pure, deep purple speckled throughout The most pure ahlighted her irises In all of his many years, he had never seen eyes the like