◤ chapter nine ▸ win-win situation ◢

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          THE CIGARETTE WAS BETWEEN her lips as she looked around at the schoolyard. Bringing it away from her mouth and taking it in between her fingers, she blew out the smoke and closed her eyes for a moment. Then, once she was done, she did it again.

And again and again.

The cycle continued as she sat alone, thoughts filling her head of the times when she was never alone. It made her feel sad now, sitting alone on the bench taking a smoke without anyone chattering away with her. No Finn to tell her that cigarettes were too weak and did nothing, no Caden to kiss her chap lips and then take the smoke from her hands and blow one himself. None of his druggie friends and their awful comments that she put up with because she fooled herself into believing that what she had with Caden was love.

Love. What a fucking joke. She knew that now. Knew how foolish it was to believe in something as simple like that. True love didn't exist and every fairy tale trying to say otherwise were fucking liars who needed to stop. Because young Tessa Cormac looked at the screen with stars in her eyes as she deceived herself into believing that love at first sight existed and Caden Hayes was her Prince Charming.

Newsflash: it was all fake. It was all a scam and love didn't exist at all. There was no true love and no falling in love with anyone. And there was no example in her life to prove her wrong. Her parents fell apart – wherever they were – and she had forced herself into thinking that she and Caden were the real deal.

No, Caden was only good at using her and she was so naïve and wanted to be held so badly. Now, all she wanted was to explore herself and be free. Of course, she still needed sex but she had that taken care of.

Her eyes trained on the figure of Rylie as she walked towards her. The girl had a worried look on her face and Tessa turned away, not wanting to wonder why she looked so concerned. Instead, she looked at couples kissing and teenagers being themselves as she let the smoke leave her lips again.

It wasn't long before Rylie collapsed on the bench beside her with a sigh. "Flash told me what happened at the party," she started off, trying to find Tessa's face but the blonde girl was deliberately looking away from her. She didn't want sympathy, she just wanted to forget that night ever existed. "I'm sorry I wasn't paying attention to you more. If I had known, I would've never left your side."

"There's nothing to apologize for, it wasn't your fault at all," Tessa comforted her but still kept her face turned away. God, she didn't want this conversation at all.

"I know, I know. But it feels like it's my fault," Rylie stressed, "I'm the one who heard about the party and told you all to come."

Tessa rolled her eyes, "I went because I like partying, not because you forced me to be there. I was excited to go – I liked it."

"But if I hadn't told you –"

"– I probably would've found out anyway and still would've gone and that still would've happened," Tessa finished, cutting her off. Finally, she looked at her friend and her expression softened at the guilty look that was painted on her face, "Really, Rylie, it's not your fault at all. It's Caden's for being such a dick."

Rylie contemplated that for a moment in silence and Tessa hoped that this would be the end of the conversation and everything would be alright again. Then, "I could beat him up if you want."

Tessa laughed at her, "Rylie, no!"

"What?" Rylie asked her, "I could take him. I mean, I know I look weak but I am strong – really, I am. And I can totally ask my sister to help me."

"Marian fights?" Tessa asked her but Rylie just shook her head.

"No, not at all – it's Marian we're talking about. But my other sister, Eulalie, is back in town and she can totally kick a teenage boy's ass without blinking," Rylie explained before sighing, "God, she's so badass. I wanna be her when I grow up."

"She sounds great," Tessa smiled and Rylie nodded in agreement, "But really, I don't need you to do that. I just wanna move on from him and he's making it damn near impossible. I fucking hate him so much."

"Which is why beating him up would be great! I get to kick his ass, which I've been wanting to do since I met you, and he gets the message that you never ever wanna see him ever again," Rylie continued to try and persuade her, "Really, it's a win-win situation."

Tessa rolled her eyes and shook her head. "I'm good, really," Tessa told her earnestly, though it would be incredibly entertaining to see Caden be beat up by two girls...

"Ugh, fine," Rylie groaned, falling into agreement with Tessa's wishes, "But if you ever change your mind..."

"You'll be the first person I go to," Tessa promised her which brought a bright smile to Rylie's face.

"Great!" Rylie chirped, "But I'm still not over what happened at the party."

It was Tessa's turn to groan as she pouted to Rylie, "Do we really have to talk about that? I just wanna forget that it ever happened and that I ever saw him there."

Rylie looked at her as if she were mad, "Of course we have to talk about it! I mean, I know I don't know the full story, but Flash said that he was calling you a whore and being a possessive ass bitch and that's not right."

"I know that, but that's just who he is with me," Tessa told her, "I'm used to it and anyway, it was handled. It's over and I just wanna move on from it."

"He was being controlling."

"He was being himself," Tessa countered, trying to minimize Caden's behavior.

She wasn't trying to excuse him, he was a fucked up human being and she was glad that she was beginning to realize that now, but she didn't want to keep talking about him. Her time with Caden was over and it seemed that everyone just wanted to remind her of her past mistakes.

(Obviously, she knew that wasn't the truth but that's how it felt.)

Rylie frowned, "He was like that all the time when you were with him?"

Tessa nodded. "Anytime we went out and another guy even looked at me he would punch them and then when we'd get back to my place he'd...go crazy about trying to remind me that I'm his and everything," Tessa confessed.

"That's...so fucking possessive and evil. Fuck him! I'm sorry but I'm going to have to kick his ass whether you want me too or not," Rylie told her.

She grabbed Rylie's arm and gave her a pleading look, "Don't. I don't want anything to do with him anymore – even kicking his ass. So can we just, stop talking about him? I don't wanna keep him in my mind."

Rylie looked torn. She wanted to fight and stand up for her friend, but at the same time Tessa was genuinely asking her not to. And it would be wrong to go against her wishes even if it was for the best. So, Rylie sighed and slumped back against the bench. "Fine, no more Caden talk."

Tessa smiled at her. "No more Caden talk," she agreed and Rylie could find it in herself to be upset with how happy Tessa sounded now.

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She texted Flash to come over that night. Part of her wanted to be mad at him for telling Rylie (and probably Betty) about what happened at the party, but she knew that he only wanted what was best for her. He was probably concerned and asked Rylie to talk to her about everything that happened and anyway, without Flash she would be dry.

Of course, she knew that she could just find a party that was going on and find someone mildly drunk like she would be to hook up with, but that didn't feel right when she already had this agreement with Flash. They weren't dating; it wasn't a monogamous relationship like she had with Caden, this was a mutually beneficial partnership that allowed them to have sex with no strings attached, but still. It felt wrong not to honor the agreement and to find someone else to sleep with.

And she was new to this. She never had an arrangement like this before and she had never slept with someone else with having the partnership. But it felt like it still had the same rules as dating where you didn't go and sleep with someone else while the partnership was still in effect. So, she texted Flash and when she got confirmation that he was coming over, she grinned to herself.

She didn't have to wait long before there was a knocking at her front door. Getting up from the couch, she opened the door and let him inside. He looked rather paranoid as he looked around her apartment and seeing how careless she was being with letting him in.

"Aren't you scared that your parents are going to see me?" Flash asked her and she felt herself still for a moment.

Part of her wanted to laugh and make a joke saying how her parents wouldn't care anyway, but the other part felt sad because of the comment. It wasn't his fault, he didn't know that she was all alone in the apartment and it was a natural question to ask because of why she invited him over.

So, she settled with the usual, "My parents aren't home," that made him nod his head and relax and that let her feel like she wasn't exactly lying. Because they weren't home, as she said...she just left out the part where they abandoned her, only paying the rent of the apartment but never seeing her. Leaving her behind.

"Okay, cool," Flash said before turning back to her with a guilty expression, "Sorry for telling Rylie about what happened. I just – I was worried about you and she's your friend..."

Tessa waved him off, "It's alright, I understand. But I didn't invite you here so that we could talk about my ex, I let you in so that you could fuck me."

Never let it be said that Tessa Cormac was not blunt. If she wanted something and she knew she could get it just by announcing it, she did, and these were one of those times.

He didn't say anything verbal in response to her wish, only closed the gap between them and kissed her. She let him hold her for a moment, enjoying this, before pulling apart and leading him back into her bedroom, shutting the door before shedding her clothes as he did the same.

It was different from Caden. Caden was demanding and always had to be in control – and had to let her know that he was in control – but Flash...Flash wasn't demanding and didn't have to force his dominance down her throat. He appreciated her and she could appreciate him back.

It was...nicer than Caden. But she was beginning to learn that everything about Flash was nicer than Caden

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authors note: wow i'm back. it's been so long and i'm sorry. i went on a little hiatus because in may i had finals and then i went on vacation after school ended but i'm officially back and updates should now be weekly!