Chapter 11 Bloom

By the time school let out, all I wanted was to escape the suffocating hallways and breathe fresh air. Instead, the moment I stepped outside, it felt like someone drove a knife straight through my chest. Near the front entrance, I spotted Cassian.

Fiona was with him. She was talking nonstop with that fake, picture-perfect smile she always wore.

Cassian walked beside her with his usual commanding confidence. Then he casually draped an arm around her shoulders. My footsteps stopped. Fiona looked up at him, rose onto her toes...

And before I could even process what I was seeing—

She kissed him. Cassian didn't pull away.

That single moment...

Only a few seconds...

Was enough to shatter everything I'd been trying not to feel.

When Fiona stepped back, Cassian's eyes briefly shifted in my direction. Our gazes met. The icy blue eyes looking at me now felt nothing like the ones that had trapped me in that hallway only minutes ago. Nothing like the man who had held me close.

He didn't say a word. He looked away as if I'd never existed. Then he disappeared into the crowd.

"Bloom?" Ivy's voice sounded distant, muffled beneath the ringing in my ears. "Are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I'm fine." The lie trembled as it left my lips. "I just..." I forced myself to swallow. "I got a little dizzy."

As we walked across campus, every step felt heavier than the last. The ache in my chest mixed with the memory of what had happened between Cassian and me in the hallway. His scent. His voice. The way he'd looked at me. If all of that had been real...

Then why? Why could he hold me like that... Only to kiss someone else minutes later?

"Fiona?" The bitterness slipped into my voice before I could stop it. "Seriously?" I looked at Ivy. "Someone like Cassian is actually happy with someone like Fiona?"

Ivy slowed her pace. A sad, conflicted expression crossed her face, like she wanted to explain something but had to choose every word carefully.

"Bloom..." She sighed quietly. "You don't know Cassian." Her amber eyes softened. "Sometimes he does strange things just to protect the walls he's built around himself." She shook her head. "He's... difficult to judge. Believe me."

"He ignored me, Ivy." A tear escaped before I could stop it. "In the hallway, we were standing so close we were practically sharing the same air."

I wiped my cheek. "And then..." I laughed bitterly. "He walked right past me like I was a complete stranger." My voice cracked. "Worse..."

"He was with Fiona."

Ivy reached over and squeezed my hand. There was so much compassion in her eyes that it almost made me cry harder. "Cassian is terrible at showing what he feels." She smiled sadly. "Maybe what you saw with Fiona..." She hesitated. "...was just a distraction."

She looked down for a moment. "I'm not trying to defend him. But sometimes the person Cassian runs from the most is himself." She met my eyes again. "He isn't a bad person. He's just carrying more than anyone should."

Hearing Ivy defend him so sincerely caught me off guard. But my heart hurt too much to think rationally. "I don't care what he's carrying." I brushed another tear away. "It doesn't change what he did." I looked down at the sidewalk.

"Was everything that happened between us a lie? If it wasn't..." I clenched my fists. "...how can someone become that cold in just a few minutes?" I shook my head. "I don't need this. I really don't."

Ivy let out a quiet sigh. "It wasn't a lie, Bloom." There wasn't even a hint of hesitation in her voice. "I'm sure of that." She stared ahead. "But sometimes we're forced to do things before the time is right." She squeezed my hand once more. "Just give him a little time. And please don't blame yourself."

She kept trying to comfort me. But nothing filled the hollow ache inside my chest. I wasn't just hurt anymore. I was angry. Furious. I'd give almost anything to understand what was going on inside the mind of that frustrating...

Cold...

Infuriatingly attractive man.

"Let's stop talking about him." I lowered my head. "Because if I get that close to him again..." A humorless laugh escaped me. "I think I might actually lose my mind this time."

I stopped walking. Then I looked directly into Ivy's amber eyes. "Ivy..."

"How do you know Cassian so well?"

She blinked.

"I thought you two had only just met." I searched her face carefully. "But the way you talk about him, it's like you already know every wall he's built. Every decision. Every dark corner of who he is." I frowned. "That's not something you figure out after knowing someone for a few days."

For the first time since we'd met...

Ivy looked genuinely nervous. She swallowed. Her hands fidgeted together. "Bloom..."

"I just..." She forced a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "Sometimes you can read people really easily." She shrugged. "When you spend enough time around someone their personality starts to show." It was the weakest answer she'd given me all day.

"No." I took a step closer. Suspicion curled through my mind like poisonous vines. "That's not it." My eyes stayed fixed on hers. "When you defend him..."

"It doesn't sound like you're just speaking for him. It sounds like you're protecting something."

She froze. "Weren't you supposed to have moved here recently?" I asked quietly. "So where does your history with him really begin?"

Her eyes darted around in panic, almost like she was looking for an escape. "You're misunderstanding, I swear, I just—"

"Hey!" A familiar voice interrupted her. "Well, look who I found." Kai appeared beside us as if he'd fallen straight out of the sky. His usual carefree grin spread across his face. "What are you two plotting over here?"

Ivy released a barely noticeable breath of relief. "Oh, nothing." She answered a little too quickly. "We were just talking about classes. The usual." Kai's gaze moved from Ivy...

To me.

He noticed the tension immediately. I could tell by the way his eyes narrowed ever so slightly. Still... He didn't push. "Oh, come on." He laughed. "They're classes, not politics. You two don't have to look like you're negotiating world peace."

"There isn't anything important going on, Kai." I never took my eyes off Ivy. "Just a long day." I forced a small smile. "I don't think there's much left to talk about anyway."

Kai stepped fully into the conversation, pretending not to notice the lingering tension. But when he moved a little closer to Ivy... I caught it. A brief glance. Silent. Instant. The kind of look that spoke volumes without saying a single word. The fire of suspicion inside me flared even hotter.

They could keep pretending if they wanted to. But I wasn't standing outside their game anymore. I was already part of it. And sooner or later... I was going to find the key that unlocked whatever secret they were hiding.