cassie.

chapter 1. (then)

I really don't understand why I am trusted with stuff.

I mean, everyone's heard the quote "with great power comes great responsibility", yet people keep trusting me even though they should know by now that I'm not responsible.

Like, for example, right now. Being trusted to run the bake sale raising money for the football team (which they definitely have enough of) even though the entire reason I'm being punished and forced to do this is because someone stole a fire extinguisher and rigged it to blow up in the principal's face when she was doing morning announcements. They didn't even have any proof it was me, but I'm still getting the blame for it. I swear, she's had it out for me and has been looking for any reason to get me in trouble.

No proof, no evidence, nothing, nada. I wasn't even at school that day, but they still found a way to pin it on me. And you may ask, how do I know there was no evidence? Because I made sure of it. I was even out "sick" when it was discovered!

But that's irrelevant. Because I'm stuck doing this and no amount of complaining about my (deserved) punishment is going to change that.

I guess I should introduce myself. My name is Cassie Abbott, I'm 13 years old, and I'm currently at my fourth school in the last three years, tenth since kindergarten. I'm in 7th grade. My dad died before I was born, and my mom's done the best she could as a young mom. She never got any support from his family, and she'd only just told him when he passed away. She told me he was really excited to be a dad, and that he would have loved me. Mom hadn't even finished college before she got pregnant, and juggled several jobs, raising me, graduating, and starting her career. It hasn't been easy for her, and it probably would've been a hell of a lot better if he'd been there.

I don't know much about him. Whenever the subject of him gets brought up, there's this look in her eyes like she's in pain. Like the mere thought of him hurts her. She rarely tells me anything about him, but the few rare pieces of information I get, I latch onto and never forget. had blue eyes like me. They met when she was at Cornell. He was funny, and his laugh and sense of humor could make anyone crack a smile, even the most solemn and serious.

"Hello? Are you even listening to me right now?" I hear a voice say, and I look up. Staring dead at me, on the other end of the booth, is Aiden Tori. Aiden's in 8th grade, and a member of the team of assholes I'm raising money for right now.

"Sorry, zoned out for a second. What were you saying?" I reply, smiling at him and tucking an astray piece of hair behind my ear.

"I was asking for two chocolate chip cookies, four brownies, and three cupcakes. The ones with pink frosting. Please," he says, grinning at me, his dark brown eyes staring intently into mine.

He couldn't be more obvious. His body language, the way he's leaning towards me, running his fingers through his hair, slowly inching in closer. Besides, the team got a bunch of free shit already. He's looking for a chance to talk to me. Aiden's had a crush on me since I started here three months ago, despite him being John Owen's golden boy, and me being the girl who has a greater chance of landing in the principal's office for vandalism and destruction of school property than showing up to class on time.

Not that it's my fault. Honestly, if they'd caught onto all the shit I'd done by now I'd have been expelled a long time ago. The stuff they do have on me is usually not able to be proven so I'm sent to the office for a warning with nothing else done. It's become so frequent I think they should start having a designated chair for me.

I give Aiden a small smile, hurriedly putting all his stuff in a bag so he can get the hell out of here.

"Here. That's 14.50," I say stiffly, and hand the bag over. He pulls out his wallet and hands me a 20.