CHAPTER I—
PROBLEMS WITHIN.
CASSIDY BLAIRE LEANT HER HEAD BACK against the cold leather of the couch she was sat on, her eyes closed in bliss and her body in euphoric relaxation as she listened to the music softly playing around her. She was in the uttermost bliss that she had felt in a long time, a smile displayed proudly on her lips.
Rafe Cameron dropped down besides her and lifted her legs, setting them atop of his own as his cold hands dropped onto her bare skin. At the movement of her position, Cassidy peered at him with one open eye and grinned, clinking her red solo cup against his as the two of them drank in unison.
She glanced across the room, her eyes settling on the mirrored position of her bestfriend on the opposite seat. Sarah Cameron had her own legs tossed over her boyfriend, Topper Thornton's, his left hand on her thigh and his right holding his phone as he typed quickly on the screen.
Sarah gave Cassidy a small smile and her attention then dropped back down to the menu on her lap, her fingers tracing over the words as her eyes followed the movement in which she was making. She stopped on some food that Cassidy wouldn't see and looked up and around the group of friends.
"We could get just chicken fingers—"
"Let's get crab legs," Cassidy cut her off with a yawn and leaned towards the table to refill her cup, her body falling momentarily until Rafe grabbed her and pulled her back towards him, his arm falling over her shoulders.
"Crab legs sound good," he spoke on the matter, looking towards Topper who nodded in agreement and pulled out his phone to order. He gently moved Sarah's legs off of his and made his way out of the room, his voice lessening in volume until he was no longer heard.
Cassidy stood up from her spot and brushed away the wrinkles on her skirt, looking down at Rafe who's face held a small frown. "I'm just going to the bathroom," she giggled, stepping over his legs as she too made her way down the hallway and soon disappeared out of sight.
Rafe met his sisters eyes and scoffed at the frown on her face, turning to instead shift his focus on Kelce Adams. His friend grinned and jumped up, dropping into the seat that Cassidy had given up as he bumped Rafe's shoulder roughly.
"She's so not into you," Kelce taunted and laughed loudly, bumping Rafe's shoulder again to try and get him to join in but his own laughter fell short at the look on the blonde boys face.
Anyone who knew the group personally knew that Rafe Cameron had been in love with Cassidy Blaire for as long as they could remember. He had always been at her beck and call without so much of a whisper of complaint and he would have it no other way.
In his eyes, Cassidy was the only girl that he would ever deem fit to marry into his own family and that much was agreed upon from the day he had told his father of his deepest thoughts.
See, Cassidy Blaire was the epitome of pure wealth and you had to be blind or just outright stupid to try and prove that any different. She had never seen a day where her Daddy didn't hand her his black card to as she pleased and she couldn't even remember the last time that she had ever worn something that wasn't from that very season.
The thing was, Christian Blaire and Ward Cameron had known each other since highschool and the two men had used each other to build and build until there was simply no more room to get any bigger.
There was no arguing that the two families were essentially royalty, the wealthiest individuals that any of their neighbors had ever lived to see.
And that's where their children made their grand appearance; the only things important to the two men other than the numbers that were scribbled on their checks.
That's where Sarah and Cassidy's infamous friendship had grown to start. They were, in the closest possible way, sisters from birth. There hadn't been a day in the past sixteen years of their lives where the two girls went a day without seeing each other.
Once upon a time, Sarah had thought that Cassidy Blaire was the ideal role model to look up too. She would hand out the money in her pocket to whoever needed it, no matter the fact of whether she knew them or not. She was raised on the basis of kindness and she had never shown different; one of the most adored women on the whole island.
But then, not far after the untimely death of her mother, Cassidy's ideals changed and she slowly began to fall into the stigmatized view of how the rich were expected to act. She began to party far more than Sarah could keep up with and her attitude took the dramatic decline from the most kind girl she had ever seen to one of the most vile and awful people she knew. She began to look down on those who had less, alienating people that she had once adored. But she was still Sarah's bestfriend and the fact would never change.
Of all the aspects that Sarah had grown to hate about Cassidy, those were the very things that Rafe had grown to worship. He loved the way that Cassidy carried herself, especially in his view of the way that she surrounded herself solely with people who had exactly what she had.
"She's just playing hard to get," Rafe scoffed, glaring as Kelce shrugged and refilled his cup, holding the bottle out for his friend to take. His smile returned to his face as he watched Rafe chug, hollering loudly as he urged the boy to continue on.
Halfway across the house, Cassidy leaned against the doorway to the kitchen and watched as Topper unlocked his parents liquor cabinet before he grabbed a bottle that she knew half of the population could probably never afford. He turned it in his hands before grabbing a glass from his pristine white cabinets, pouring a shot for himself.
"Got enough for me?" She finally spoke, swaying her way towards him as he shrugged and smiled, sliding the glass towards her as he grabbed himself another. She ran her fingertip along the rim, her eyes following the movement as Topper watched with amusement.
Cassidy looked up and raised her glass to meet his, clinking together before they both threw the alochol back and into their mouths. The blonde boy took the shot much more gracefully than she could muster, a small cough escaping her body as she tried to handle the burn in her throat.
She glanced down at her cup and began the same motion of tracing the rim as Topper laughed softly. Cassidy looked up at him and felt the blush invade her cheeks, the heat only intensifying as her grabbed her free hand softly.
Cassidy squeezed his fingers with her own, her heart dropping as he gently pulled away and leaned back against the counter. She jumped up and took a seat on the island, waiting to him to speak but her wishes went without being granted and he just stared at her in silence.
The girl finally sighed and ran a hand through her hair in aggravation, as she fought for the words that she wanted to say to him. "You know we have to tell her—"
And then Topper was infront of, her body between her legs as his hands found their way to the base of her neck, his fingers tangling up in her hair as he pulled roughly to make sure she was looking at him. He stared at her with dark eyes as she swallowed harshly.
In an instant, his lips were on hers and they moved far less than gently, his hold tightening on her hair as she relaxed into the kiss. Her own hand found its way to his neck, perfect manicured fingernails digging softly into his skin.
Topper's right hand left her back and dragged its way up her thigh, stopping momentarily at the base of her skirt before his fingertips gently dipped under. At the movement, Cassidy gently pushed him away and she looked up at him, her breath so trapped in her throat that she felt like she was about to explode from the pressure.
"Top, we have to tell her."
Topper looked at her for a moment before laughing softly, his breath hitting her face as she smelled the alcohol along with it. "The minute you open up those pretty little lips, this is over. Do you get that? You will ruin everything," he spoke to her like she was a child, his voice soft and light but there was no missing the malice that was laced behind every single word.
Cassidy had seen how quickly Topper's mentality switched between his mind and she had been on the wrong end far too many times to be blind of where this was begining to lead.
He let go of her hair and began to trace along her jaw, the smaller girl flinching as his hand gently wrapped around her throat. If she had felt like she was crazy before, she was on the brink of insanity and she had no idea how to escape the feeling.
Topper looked down at her with nearly black eyes and tightened his grip, no emotion crossing his face as her own began to grow red at the hold he held. Her fingers flung up to his arm, her nails digging into his skin much harder than before.
He leaned down, tightening his hand even more than before, and gently kissed just below her ear. "If you try to do anything, I will kill you," he whispered, placing another kiss as her vision began to fade.
And just like that, he smiled and let go as he leaned down to press a kiss to her trembling lips. He refilled his glass and took a step towards the door, freezing to turn back towards her.
"This is fun, Cass. Why ruin it?"
He gave her a wink and then disappeared from the room as he made his way back towards his friends and she remained frozen on the counter. She couldn't find the strength to move, instead she blinked back tears and gently brought her hand to the tender skin on her throat.
She dropped her face into her hands and quietly sobbed in overwhelming isolation, her body on a never ending cycle of exhaustion and fear from what she had gotten herself into.
The thing about Cassidy Blaire was that she was just too damn stubborn to ask for help, even when she knew how it all would end.
i'm so fucking excited to write
this book like i'm crying