EDITED

Hey guys! This is a REPOST, but it is COMPLETELY DIFFERENT from the orginal one. Same characters; same plot. Just different scenes. :D

Long lines, deafening noises and scattered trash – that was probably how Cassie Harris would describe the cafeteria. She didn't want to enter it for fear that her outfit could be ruined, but her friends were there. They were annoying her, and aside from that, he was there.

"Cass, I'm hungry," a friend of hers, Donna, said "And the guys are waiting for us."

"Yeah," another one added, nodding her head in agreement. "I can't believe you made us practice at six in the morning," Tess continued, tugging on her cheerleading uniform.

Cassie rolled her eyes secretively before she groaned and said, "You wouldn't have been forced to do that if you guys didn't suck," and she swore she saw her friends scowl, but she ignored what they gave her and finally opened the doors of the school's canteen.

The moment her friends and she stepped foot on the cafeteria, a few jocks and a few more people turned their heads and took notice of the group. Some looked at them in admiration while the others, in envy. One boy however, her boy, looked at her with love, and she, Cassie, looked everywhere but at him.

"What took you so long?" Devin, a close friend of Cassie's, asked to no one in particular before he turned to Cassie, winked and slipped an arm around her waist. "How's my stunning vixen?"

She smiled. Someone groaned, and she couldn't help but eye the person who had just grunted at Devin and her. Connor McKinley. He was her boy.

Wait, wait, wait. Hold up.

Confusing, huh? Considering that Devin, Connor's best friend, was holding Cassie's waist. Well, to clear things up, no one else but Cassie and Connor knew about their relationship, and to the awareness of everyone, the two most popular kids at their High School were single, available and hotter than ever.

"Oh, don't worry, man," Devin said to Connor. "You're my best friend, so I'm more than willing to share this hot piece of flesh called 'Cassie' with you."

Cassie couldn't help but laugh.

"I'm just here, idiot," she said, slapping Dev in the chest, and to Connor's further agitation…and irritation, his best friend tightened his grip on his girlfriend.

"Such a sweet offer," came the sarcastic reply. "But I want her all to myself."

She eyed him to give him a glare, but when she did, she saw him looking down at his plate. Worse, he looked jealous.

She thought one of her friends had pulled her to an occupied classroom since she knew a few people that cared about being tardy or not, but when she blinked and opened her eyes, she saw a few brooms here and there, wet and dirty cloth, rolls of tissue paper…and Connor?? Before she could ask him though why she was here – in a broom closet – and why he pulled her inside in the first place, he opened his mouth and started questioning her.

"What was that all about?" he asked, his voice sounding angry.

"Excuse me?"

His eyes, his bright emerald orbs, darkened and looking at them, she saw a murky, muddy shade of green. Just by seeing, and feeling, his atmosphere dim, she knew something was up. She just didn't know what he was enraged about though. Her inner self laughed. Enrage was such an understatement.

"Don't pretend you don't know," he spat, "We don't have to pretend right now since no one can see us," he continued, the word 'pretend' coming out toxic and edgier than the other words.

"Seriously, I don't."

He didn't want to shout at her. Why? Because he loved her, but his inner self told him that wasn't enough and that he had to put her in her place, and so, he raised his voice. She stiffened at the touch of his warm but angry breath and voice against her neck.

"Why the hell would you flirt with Dev? You let him hold you like you were his girlfriend."

"Last time I checked, flirting wasn't a crime."

"But you have a boyfriend," Connor seethed through gritted teeth.

"He…and the whole school don't know that."

Connor forced himself not to roll his eyes, and he succeeded, but that kind of achievement didn't lighten up his mood when it was supposed to. Every time they talked. Scratch that. Argue. Every time they argued, they always ended up talking about having to hide their relationship which was what Cassie wanted. He was against it – having to hide. He wanted to brag about her to his friends. He wanted to know that they've been a couple for three months – his longest relationship. He wanted everyone to know that he loved her, that she was the best thing that ever happened to him.

He frowned at the thought that she saw him as the total opposite of what he saw in her. Why else would she want to keep their relationship a secret?

"Just tell me. Why?" he asked, his tone still angry but slowly softening. "Why don't you want to go public?"

Cassie sighed. She didn't want to raise her voice, but she couldn't help it. That question he just asked. It made him sound that he had never listened to any one of her rants she directed to him because in every one of her rants, she explained why she didn't want to go out with him, or in this case, why she didn't want anybody to know that they were a couple.

She turned angry.

"I don't want to end up like my friends, your exes," she started, and then, "I don't want to deal with the fact that when we break-up, you're going to be smirking and parading the school in arrogance while I make myself absent in school because I'll be too busy crying, trying to get over you."

She looked up to meet his face. How could you think that? His eyes asked her.

"I've seen it a million times, you know," she said, her own eyes turning darker. "My best friend, Bec, you guys went out last year, right?"

He didn't answer, not that she needed one anyway.

"She was so happy. She fell hard for you, and you broke up with her the day she made up her mind that she was going to give herself up to you. She was willing to have sex with you, Connor! She must have loved you that much. And you just broke up with her! Connor! You just broke up with her like she didn't mean a thing!"

Nostrils flaring, he bit his lip.

"What does that have to do with 'us'? We're talking about you and me. Not about Bec and me."

"Don't you see?" Cassie asked, shaking her head from left to right. He really hadn't been listening to her rant, had he? "I don't want the 'Cassie and Connor' to turn into 'Connor and Bec' or 'Connor and Tasha' or 'Tess and Connor'."

"I love you, Cass."

Cassie smirked.

"You loved each and every one of them when you dated them," she continued, raising one of her eyebrows up since she knew she was right and was making a clear, good point. "And when you broke up with them, you moved on as quickly as I could think imaginable or even possible. Wow, I didn't know love was supposed to be like that."

"You're not even going try."

"Connor, I am. Aren't we together right now?"

"We are, but you're not even taking me seriously to trust me enough."

She sighed exasperatedly.

"You never took any of your relationships seriously."

He gave up trying right then and there. He didn't want to reason out with her anymore.

"Just let the world know."

Cassie shook her head. "No."

She didn't think their argument in the broom close would change anything. She thought that they were going to separate until school ended, and he was going to go to her house, and there they would do their usual routine of kissing and cuddling while watching a movie, usually a chick flick. She was so, so wrong. He never visited her that day, nor did he approach her the next day to force her to go to an empty classroom for a few morning 'exercises' that would wake up the two of them.

She realized something. It was her turn to pull him into a broom closet. But she never got the chance since her morning went by Connor-less, and she came to a conclusion that he was purposely avoiding her.

She just had to wait until lunch. She knew Connor wouldn't miss lunch just because he didn't want to mind her. He was still a jock. He was still popular. He still loved attention, and everyone in the cafeteria, everyday, gave him that. She was going to talk to him during lunch.

Her lunch table was usually crowded, but that day, it was unbearably packed. Was it just she or was there more people seated at the table? The table just had the right number of chairs for Cassie, Connor, Devin and a few more of their cheerleader and jock friends. Why did it seem like there was no empty space for her to sit on aside from the one right beside Devin's? Usually, there would be a few more seats, but not today. She looked around and was about to ask 'why' until her eyes landed on a girl, not just any girl though. That girl was sitting on Connor's lap. She was about to protest and start an outburst until she realized what Connor was up to. She couldn't help but smirk.

Two could play the game.

"As always, fashionably late," Devin greeted, eyeing the revealing clothes Cassie chose to wore for the day.

"Dev," Cassie said, laughing. "I'm in my cheer outfit."

Devin shrugged his shoulders. "No difference. You're still sexy."

"Damn right I am," was her arrogant reply.

Connor stiffened. She swore to herself. Her eyes weren't fooling her nor were they playing magic tricks on her. She saw his arms tense up and the way he looked down quickly. She couldn't help but smile. She knew he still liked her, maybe even loved her still.

"Aw, babe, you barely touched your food," the stranger, the one seated on Connor's lap, purred, and the guy, in return, smiled before he said a pick-up line that could've been easily gotten from the Internet.

Why would Connor take an interest in her? She wasn't a cheerleader, and she wasn't even popular. She was just…normal. She didn't dress provocatively nor did she wear clothes fit for a nunnery. She wasn't breathtakingly beautiful, but she wasn't downright fugly as well. She was normal, and that wasn't right. Connor always dated those above the 'normal' line. Cassie didn't know why, but she felt a tug at her heart just by seeing some random girl seated on Connor's lap. She was supposed to be the one sitting on his lap.

Oh, right…

She didn't want to go public.

"Cass, why are you so quiet, and you've been staring at me weirdly?" Devin asked, resting his arm on her shoulders which she didn't mind. "I know I'm hot, but please, my ego is big enough as it is."

"And I thought I was arrogant."

Devin sighed in mockery. "Oh, man. How can we be together if we're too alike? We'll probably always argue and fight."

Cassie decided to go all along. She placed a hand on one of Dev's cheeks and said, "We'll get through this, babe."

And that was the gasoline that fueled Connor to play the game better, harder and more serious than ever before. He started slowly, ignoring his friends and simply talking to the woman seated on him. After a few minutes though, he took her hand, and Cassie tensed up seeing that. She couldn't believe what she was seeing, and he saw her look of disbelief. That made him decide to step up his game further. He pecked her on the cheeks and snuggled his head into the crook of her neck. He didn't need to look at her to see what her reaction was going to be. Just by hearing Devin ask Cassie why she let go of him and why she turned quiet all of a sudden, he knew she was affected by what he was doing. That was what he wanted and wished to happen, but he didn't smile.

Cassie now understood why it was so hard for Connor to act like nothing was happening during all the times Devin flirted with her. She was experiencing it, and Connor looked like he wasn't playing anymore. He seemed like he truly had feelings for the woman groping him. She needed to stop what they were doing. She was going to take her chance.

Maybe he was going to break up with her in the near or far future, or maybe, she was going to be the one who would end the relationship. Maybe she'll cry, and maybe he'll be smirking. He'll probably move on and so will she. She wouldn't know unless she tried. All she wanted was for him to take her back.

"Babe," unknown girl said, standing up and pulling Connor with her. "You have to help me carry my book, and I have to get them in my locker."

Cassie rolled her eyes. She knew what the girl's underlying message was – I want to kiss you against my locker. That was what she meant, and Connor probably knew that, but he didn't object to the girl's offer. Holding hands and attached on the hips, the two of them left the cafeteria with Cassie looking helplessly in the background.

Connor didn't show it, but he was frowning when he, along with Mishka, left the cafeteria. He was sure that he had made Cassie jealous, but why didn't she do anything? Why was she still at Devin's side?

Now or never, Cassie thought. Now or never.

She couldn't believe how much she hurt just by seeing Connor flirt with one girl since Connor had always been a witness during the times numerous guys, Devin included of course, asked her out or tried to make a move on her. Mishka was one girl – the only girl Connor had flirted with during their three-month relationship whereas Cassie, she had joked and 'played' around with a million guys – from jocks to musicians, and Connor had always been there to see those times. He must have hurt badly. It was suddenly not a surprise to Cassie anymore as to why Connor had gone off on her. He had been angry enough to shout at her. That was the last thing she expected from him, and the last thing she wanted. She was finally going to fix things, and she was going to that the next day, during lunch time as well.

"Ugh," Cassie said to herself, heading to the cafeteria. "Screw crying while he smirks. At least he's hot. That makes it a bit better…a lot actually."

"What the hell are you going on about, girl?" Tess asked as she eyed her friend weirdly and suspiciously.

"Connor."

"What about him?"

Cassie didn't get the chance to explain what she said to her friends since she now stood in front of the lunch table her friends and she sat at. Connor was there, and thank God, Mishka wasn't. Her absence made it a lot better and easier for Cassie to do what she had to do. Instead of taking her usual chair, which was beside Devin's, she moved around the table and sat beside Connor. The guy could only look at her with wide eyes and a questioning glance.

"What's up, Cass?" he asked her, unsure of why she sat beside him.

"The ceiling."

The two of them shared a laugh before she leaned her head closer into his ear. "I want you back."

Connor stiffened, and he pulled his head away from hers. He looked around his table and saw his friends staring at the two of them.

"What's going on here?"

"What's up with the two of you?"

"Cassie!" Dev said in mock-sadness. "You're already moving on?"

Cassie couldn't help but laugh, and in return, she only nodded her head. The table fell silent, and everyone maintained their gazes on the two. They knew something was up. They weren't just going to let the two slide.

"I want you back," Cassie whispered, her cheerleading friends groaning since they weren't able to hear what their captain said.

"I have only one condition and you know what that is," was Connor's response.

"Remind me again, will you?"

"Cassie, we've been over this a million tim-"

"This," Cassie said, cutting him off as she planted a small kiss on his lips. "is what I want," she then continued, kissing him again, and after a few small pecks, she added a few more again.

Connor couldn't help but grin.

"This is public enough."

Cassie shook her head. "Hell no," she said chuckling, and she stood on top of the table and pulled him up with her before softly pulling his head down to be able to kiss him comfortably and publicly. "This is."

A/N:

Hey everyone!

Ever since my trip to the states started, I've been reading a lot of one-shots since I didn't have any new, complete stories to read. So yeah...so I was at the airport, and while I was waiting to board the plane, I decided to write a one-shot, and this is the product.

This is an edited version of the original one. I completely changed the scenes but the characters and the plot are still all the same. I hope you guys like it and please do read and leave a review, telling me what you guys think!