Cassidy Knox's Story

C L I F F . P A R K E R

Location: Saint Jude's library (conference room)
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ccccccccccccccccc3:00 PM

The Saint Jude's school uniform never usually bothered Clifford. It was simple and classy enough, even if the options for each day's attire was limited to a few different styles of clothing that the school provided the students with. However, today Cliff felt oddly overheated and had to hang his navy blazer on the back of his chair. He wasn't overheating because of the room's temperature, as that was probably normal, and it also wasn't out of nerves. Today's weekly Student Government Association was being held in the Saint Jude's library conference room. Since classes had only gotten out minutes ago, Clifford wasn't surprised that he was the only one in the conference room, especially considering that the girls had to come from their campus across the street. He and Charlotte were the President of their school's student governments, but since the two schools worked so closely together, Clifford often felt like they were simply co-presidents of one club, rather than two separate ones working together. Sure, he hosted his own SGA meeting for St. Jude's separately once a week, but as he was sure on her end too, the biggest crowds usually came to the conjoined meetings. Events involving both schools tended to grab the attention of more students than the single-sex events, and Clifford didn't expect today to be much of an exception.

Today's meeting was a bit of an impromptu one, as earlier this week, it had been announced that the scheduled senior fall trip to Egypt had been cancelled due to proper accommodation issues. However plausible that that explanation was, he also wouldn't have been surprised if the abrupt, last minute cancellation had been because someone uppity helicopter parent had complained enough about irrational safety concerns about traveling to a country that didn't host one of the famous fashion weeks. That thought in itself bothered Clifford, considering that he had genuinely been looking forward to his first visit to Africa. In an attempt to not work himself up, he decided to just believe the public reason for the trip's cancellation, and focus on the three new options that administrators had given them until tomorrow to decide on. That was the point of this SGA meeting - to decide whether the senior class would spend a week next month in Paris, Berlin or New Zealand. The first two trips would be educationally based ones, focusing on learning about the history and cultures of the two European cities, while the third option would be more service based, getting students involved in learning about the country's ecosystem and helping to preserve it. Clifford had been to Paris years ago, but it wasn't a fresh enough experience where he wanted to rule it out, so he was walking into today's meeting with a pretty open mind. He would see what Charlotte and the other students who showed up were thinking, and go from there.

C L I F F . P A R K E R

Location: Saint Jude's library (conference room)
Hex Code: #FF8C00
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ccccccccccccccccc"I'm not knocking that dream of yours, dude, but I don't know if sophisticated French girls are going to go for an American idiot like you. Maybe if you learn to play the harp, or how to paint or something cultural like that, they'll have a reason to give you the time of day. Not sure if boasting about lacrosse is really gonna cut it over there," Cliff reasoned playfully. It didn't surprise him at all that Vincent was taking sex into account when thinking about the place he wanted to visit the most. It wasn't like Cliff was celibate himself, but it seemed like Vincent fit the stereotypical teenage boy in literally only being able to think about sex, food and sports.

As people began to file in, he was somewhat surprised to see Brent Barclay and Cassidy Knox show up. He didn't know Cassidy very well, outside of being Katherine's step-sister, and though he did know Brent, it was only because he was his plug when it came to marijuana. Since Cliff's smoking habit had grown stronger over the summer, he would consider Brent more than an acquaintance at this point, but still not exactly a friend. They socialized when Cliff needed drugs and Brent needed money. Take that out of the occasion, and they would probably never look in the other's direction. Cliff was content with just nodding in Brent's direction, but he couldn't help but to smirk when Charlotte arrived and said what he, too, had been thinking. Charlotte's comment seemed to awaken the snarky beast in Brent, because he sent a remark flying back in her direction, and Cassidy was quick to jump on board. Especially as Cassidy began to attack Charlotte's character, Clifford felt the need to jump in to her defense, but he didn't know how. He didn't want to seem like Lottie needed a hero to come and fight her battles, especially when he knew that with people like Brent and Cassidy, responding to them fit the "feeding the trolls" saying perfectly. It would only agitate them further into being obnoxious, and that was the last thing that they needed at this meeting. "As you can see, we've already got a great crowd," Clifford said, turning to Charlotte with a sympathetic expression. "This shouldn't be too bad, though. I mean, with them it might be, but we just have to get a quick vote from the kids who show up, and then send the results to Dean Brooks, right? Easy as that, and it's already three now, so I don't think we have to wait for too many more people to show up. We can probably just start." He hoped it would be as easy as that. After this, he was planning on finally figuring out what to be for Halloween, so he didn't want to spend too much time at school after hours.

K A T H E R I N E - A R N A U L T

Location: SGA meeting @ St. Jude's
Outfit: Here
Hex Color: #CF009F
Katherine had no plans of embarrassing Alexandra or making a scene, and though she felt compelled to inform Sydney of that, she only rolled her eyes when she knew that the blonde wasn't looking. She and Sydney were very close, and after practically growing up together, that was to be expected, but even so, there were certain things that Katherine still knew not to do to her blonde counterpart. Unlike Lexi, Kat often found that it was easier to keep her mouth shut around the blonde to avoid conflict, even if she did not agree with what Sydney was saying or doing. What she found harder to be passive about, though, was the comment that Cassidy made as she and Sydney entered the conference room, followed by Brent's followup retort. This wasn't the first time that people tried to use the Mean Girls comparison, and Kat didn't find it any more amusing over time than she did the first time she heard it. In a way, she almost understood how Sydney could be compared to Regina George. It was pretty obvious that she was the head of the social hierarchy at Constance, but when it came down to it, Sydney was a lot smarter, and more compassionate, and more manipulative, and deeper than Regina George was. If Sydney and Regina George existed in the same universe, Katherine thought that Regina George would aspire to be Sydney. However, she couldn't find any bit of logic to reason that she could be compared to either of Regina's friends in the movie, because their sole purpose was basically to act as the brainless followers of the Queen Bee. And for good reason, Katherine was offended by any comparison that showed her in that light. Sydney had warned against making a scene, and besides that, Katherine wasn't able to get into an argument with trash like Brent Barclay and her step-sister, so she offered Cassidy her middle finger, and Brent not even a glance, as she followed Sydney to seats by Alexandra.

She smiled at Charlotte, who looked even more studious than she normally did. Maybe it was the glasses, or just the library setting, Kat didn't know. Regardless, she took the seat right beside Alex and being beside her friend in itself had Katherine beaming with excitement. "Look at your BFFs, here to support you at your meeting thing!" she exclaimed, as if that were the sole reason for why they were here. "Did we miss anything? Did Charlotte announce that you guys are going to New Zealand yet?"

C L I F F . P A R K E R

Location: Saint Jude's library (conference room)
Hex Code: #FF8C00
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cccccccccccccccccAs more people came in, Clifford made sure to say hello to them all, but he was ready to start as soon as Charlotte said that she was ready. And of course, Charlotte wouldn't be Charlotte if she wasn't prepared for everything, and Clifford had to smile as she handed him the notes she had made about each trip. It should have been a no-brainer for him to at least bring the itineraries that the Dean had sent him and Charlotte, but he hadn't thought to do that. Charlotte's notes were concise and to the point, which was an even better option, so he definitely lucked out there. He probably would have been fine just winging it, and going off of what he remembered, like he normally did, but actually being prepared was cool too. Since he didn't care either way, whether he spoke or she did, he figured that he would just do it. That way, at least there was a smaller chance of Cassidy or Brent interrupting to make a comment about how they couldn't understand Charlotte because of her accent, or something obnoxious like that. "Sounds good. I'll explain it all, and then you can take the reins for the vote, so that if the vote doesn't go the way someone wants it to, you can take the blame for the 'rigged system'," he said, teasingly.

He cleared his throat before starting, and once the room was quiet enough where his voice could be heard, he began. "Hey guys. So, thanks for coming. We know the last minute cancellation of the Egypt trip sucks, but there's not really anything we can do about it now, other than push for it to be our spring trip. Right now, we want to focus on the fall though, so I'm going to give you all a brief outline of what the three options we have are, and after I explain all three, Charlotte will tally up a vote. It shouldn't take long, since we know you all have places to be, so, yeah." It wasn't the most formal of introductions, but it would do. "The first option is South Island, New Zealand. Administration thought it would be interesting to include a bit of an outdoorsy, adventure-ish themed option to test out for future years, so that's kind of what this one focuses on. The main academic aspect of the trip would be spending a few hours for one or two of the days at the Mount John University Observatory, which is an astronomical research observatory there. Aside from that, we would visit Queenstown where we can participate in adreline-pumping activities like a bungy jump, canyon swing and jet boat ride; kayak in Franz Josef past ancient rainforests, 900 year-old Kahikatea tree's and the Okarito Kiwi Sanctuary; skydive over Lake Wanaka; do a heli-hike on a glacier in Franz Josef; and take the Tranz Alpine Express train, among other things."

"The second option is Paris, France. Here, we would visit Château de Versailles, the Notre Dame cathedral, the Eiffel tower, the Louvre, Musée d'Orsay, Sainte Chapelle, Conciergerie, Napoleon's tomb, and a bunch of other museum/history based things. I do feel the need to point out that most of the days' itineraries here offer 'free time', for those of you who might want to include other things in the trip." He was sure that all three options would offer some dose of freedom, since their schools were pretty good about acknowledging that by senior year, the students were nearly adults, if you weren't legally already, and it was time to give them some freedom. However, the fact that the Paris trip explicitly offered a few hours of free time each evening seemed noteworthy, since it offered an opportunity for people to try out restaurants, or go shopping, or, as Vincent was already fantasizing about, do less innocent things.

Two down, one to go, and as Clifford took a quick glance around the room, trying to survey expressions, he couldn't tell what people were thinking. Since he felt pretty impartial about it himself, deciding that he could make the most out of any trip, he didn't particularly care which way the crowd's vote swayed, but he was still curious. "And last, but not least, is Berlin, Germany. Key points in the itinerary for this one would be visiting the dome of the Reichstag, the Holocaust memorial, Potsdamer Platz, Checkpoint Charlie, Neues Museum Pergamonmuseum, shopping in Friedrichstadtpassagen, taking a river cruise... and a bunch of other things that I don't think I really need to list, since I doubt that most of us understand what these German words even mean." He doubted that anyone would understand what he was talking about, yeah, but also, he wanted to quit sounding like a fool trying to sound out these words that he, for the life of him, had no idea if he was saying correctly or not. He had taken Spanish classes throughout his academic career, so if they were heading to Barcelona or Madrid, he would have been a bit more comfortable with trying to pronounce the words, but with Germany, he was content on just assuming that they were all museums and leaving it at that.

Once he finished, he looked to Charlotte with a smile, as if to hand the figurative microphone to her.

K A T H E R I N E - A R N A U L T

Location: SGA meeting @ St. Jude's
Outfit: Here
Hex Color: #CF009F
Katherine did her best to ignore both Cassidy and Brent, as they continued to antagonize her. They were both pains in her ass, but she knew that she couldn't outwit them without putting real thought into it, and she didn't want to embarrass herself by trying and failing. She would get back at Cassidy later on, when she spent the evening complaining to her father about how she was being bullied by his new stepdaughter. Thankfully, Alexandra stepped up to shut Cassidy up, but all it did was egg Cassidy on to antagonize Alex now. Katherine knew that if she wasn't confident in defending herself, she wasn't going to do a good job at defending Alex, but she would surely add that to the list of her complaints to read off to her father that night. Sydney spoke up then, and though it wasn't as stinging of a comment as Katherine knew Sydney could come up with, combined with Clifford's voice, it seemed to silence Cassidy and Brent for the moment, and Katherine focused her attention on the boy at the head of the table, too.

All it took was Clifford mentioning "outdoorsy" for Katherine to decide that New Zealand was no longer the best option on the list. She didn't think that kayaking, and bungee jumping, and going for a hike sounded very enjoyable. Katherine could get on board for some outdoor activities, depending on the circumstance, but being forced to do them, especially in a situation where they sounded like they would be extreme and force her to exert effort, didn't sound very fun. Paris was the next choice, and overall, sounded better than the first one. A lot of the more touristy things that he listed were places that she had already been to, and the ones that she had not visited were ones that were more history related, so it made sense that she had never had any interest in visiting them to begin with. Even with those sounding boring, the prospect of having free time was hopeful sounding. Katherine was very well versed in the best places to shop, and get dinner, and party in Paris, so she knew that she could find something fun to do. Berlin sounded more bearable than New Zealand, but it definitely sounded like the most boring option.

Once it was time to vote, she was going to vote for Paris, but at the same time, she still doubted that she would even attend the trip. For one, she was sure that the money for the trip had already been collected, and as far as she knew, her father hadn't paid a dime towards it. This, of course, was not the case, as her father had secretly filled out the forms to send her to Egypt. Although her interest in visiting Paris with the school definitely surpassed her interest in seeing Egypt, the issue that she didn't want to travel with the school remained. Traveling on her own, with friends or family, was one thing, because she could dictate her own schedule. If she wasn't having a good time, she could literally fly back home with only a few hours notice. She knew that the same wouldn't apply on a school trip, and for her, there were so many things that could go wrong to make her want to return home. If the weather wasn't good, or she was forced to do too many boring things, or everyone decided to eat at a restaurant that she didn't like, she was going to be miserable. It was dramatic, but that was how Katherine worked, and especially now, after recently leaving treatment, she was nearly obsessed with the routine she had established in her life. Upsetting that, and having no control over it, could prove to be devastating to her, and she didn't want to break out of that comfort zone just yet. "Now that we're avoiding you two getting kidnapped in Egypt, we definitely don't need your parachutes to fail in New Zealand when you're skydiving, so that's definitely off the list. You guys would probably be safe in Paris though, unless more of that terrorist stuff happens... but I could even just take off from school and go to Paris too, and we can just meet up at night and do fun stuff," she whispered to Alex and Sydney, once Clifford finished.

Outfit: Here
Hex Code: #000080Today's school day was uneventful for Thylane. Usually, the days at Constance Billard either flew by, or dragged on tremendously, and she was lucky that today fell into the latter category. She had a couple of exams that always sped up the process for her, and after school, she stopped by the guidance department to ensure that the teachers who had promised to write her college recommendation letters had followed through on it. Halfway through the meeting, she remembered that at that very moment, the Student Government Association was conducting their own meeting, regarding the fall trip. This was definitely one of those moments where she wished that she had a stronger voice, and more outward confidence, because as badly as she wanted to make it to that meeting, she also knew that she didn't have it in her to cut her guidance counselor off as she delved deeper into an off-topic conversation. Thylane nodded along and politely offered commentary when it seemed necessary, but all she could think about was how she had put herself through modelling gigs this past summer, that felt painfully forced and draining because of how she saw the modelling industry, only to afford this school trip. And now, with her luck, they were going to end up in a destination that was completely not worth the money, and she was going to want to hit herself for missing the meeting and the chance to sway the vote in her favor. It was always something, she thought, only able to sigh out of frustration when her guidance counselor finally dismissed her, and she was out of the office.

Though she assumed that it was possible that her peers were still in the meeting, and she could make it for at least part of it, she decided against even trying to find them in St. Jude's. Even if she did make it to the library in time, Thylane knew that she would feel unnecessarily self-conscious walking into the meeting late, and she told herself that whatever destination was chosen, would hopefully end up being fine. She had invested too much into this trip to go into it with a negative mindset. Noting the brisk fall weather (that luckily, was still pretty mild for October), she pulled on a light, navy cardigan before leaving Constance Billard and beginning her walk home. As she walked, she sent out two text messages.

To: Cassidy
How's the meeting? Tell me that you guys chose some place other than France?

To: Katherine
Hey :). If you're not doing anything later, we should hang out! Np if you're busy, but I can help you with that English paper you were worrying about, if you want.

C L I F F . P A R K E R

Location: Saint Jude's library (conference room)
Hex Code: #FF8C00
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cccccccccccccccccClifford inched closer to Charlotte's computer screen once the links were sent out, and people started voting. He watched as the tally increased, and increased, and increased, until the twenty three votes of the students in the room had been accounted for. There were twelve votes for Paris, eight for New Zealand, and three for Berlin. Though there were many other students attending the chosen trip, the votes of the ones who had made the effort to attend the meeting today were the only ones that counted. While Clifford wasn't bothered by the idea of going to Paris, it reminded him that he needed to make a bigger effort in getting more of the Saint Jude's guys involved in student government. He was sure that if more of the action and adventure loving guys were here, they would have outweighed the vote in New Zealand's favor, but that was only something he could work on for the future. For now, Paris was the outcome, and he was content with that too. There was a lot to see and do in Paris, and even though Clifford had been there before, it wasn't like he had even seen half of the things there that he had read off a minute before. Given his easygoing nature, it wasn't difficult for him to have a good time anywhere, anyway. Besides, watching Vincent get rejected in a language besides English was always entertaining.

"All right, so it looks like the winner here is Paris, guys. Paris got eleven votes, New Zealand got eight, and Berlin got three. Even if Paris wasn't your top choice, I'm sure we'll all have a good time. Don't quote me on this, but I'm pretty sure they were talking about booking rooms at the Four Seasons there, if Paris was chosen, so it should be cool. But, yeah, unless Charlotte has anything else to add, or anyone has any questions, I think we're good to go. Thanks for coming." Like his introduction, his conclusion was pretty informal, but Clifford saw nothing wrong with that. There were some people who thrived on being prepared and having things planned to the T, and other people, like him, who liked to roll with the punches and make things up as they went along. No longer addressing the crowd, and instead, speaking in a more hushed tone, he elbowed Vincent with a grin. "Looks like you got your wish, Mast. As long as you don't come back as a father-to-be, I guess being your wingman across the pond could be fun."

Outfit: Here

Hex Code: #000080

Location: Constance Billard School for Girls: 20 E 92nd Street
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The Blondeau Residence: 210 E 84th Street
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The Arnault Residence: 8 E 62nd Street
-------------------------------------------------------------------It would probably surprise some people, but Thylane was actually entertained by the "Gossip Girl" blog that seemed to chronicle every detail of the lives of the Upper East Side's most elite. She wasn't a fan of drama in her own life, and was actually rarely involved in drama at all, but hearing about the crazy things that others were involved in kept her interest. It allowed her to be content with not being so thoroughly involved with that crowd at school, and still feel like she knew what was going on. So, by now, like most people, the monikers that Gossip Girl had given to many of the students that she wrote about were all too familiar for Thylane, and she knew what each one meant. In this post, Vincent, Alexandra, Sydney, Katherine, Brent and Charlotte had been mentioned. It was one of the more tame posts published on the blog, so Thylane didn't feel the need to speculate whether there were any hurt feelings over it. If anything, she supposed that Charlotte might have a reason to feel bothered by what was posted about her, but then again, Thylane knew Charlotte to be a strong girl, so she didn't bother texting her to offer any sympathetic dismay towards the person who wrote it. Besides, she was sure that even while Katherine's title had barely come up, her friend would have a plethora of complaints and woe-is-me comments about how she was included, so Thylane knew that she could get her fill of that from her, since she had just responded to confirm that she wanted to hang out.

Her walk home from school was fifteen minutes, and it was a walk that Thylane normally didn't mind, but also, actually enjoyed. It was short enough to be enjoyable, especially on days like today when the fall weather made things feel crisp and clean, but the sun still shone down strong enough to add a bit of warmth to the breeze. Although she had moved to New York years ago, living here still felt weird sometimes. She loved the city, that wasn't something she would ever try to dispute, but moving here had definitely been a transition after living in a French suburb for her entire childhood. Not only did she have to deal with her parents' sudden divorce, and the guilt that she knew she deserved over its timing, but also the change of scenery. Her father had purchased a nice apartment when they moved to New York, even if it had depleted all of the money he had taken with them, so she couldn't complain about that. It was the equivalency of a jail cell in size and luxury when compared to the places that her friends lived in here, but it was all that they needed. They had a small kitchen, a living room, two bedrooms, and a bathroom. When her brother came to visit in the summers, it tended to feel a bit tight, but by New York standards, they were fine. It wasn't luxury, but Thylane didn't need luxury. When she moved to New York, she sought normalcy, and New York had given her its own version of that.

When she got home, she changed into a new outfit, leaving her school clothes in her hamper, and left only a few minutes later to catch the subway to head downtown a few stops, to the area of the Upper East Side where Katherine resided. While it would take her thirty minutes to walk to the girl's home, the subway cut that commute down to only ten or eleven minutes, so it was an easy and practical option. Once she got off the subway and started to walk towards Katherine's home, she sent the girl a text message, and finally answered Cassidy's, which she had received ten minutes prior.

To: Katherine
I'll be there in five :).

To: Cassidy
Seriously? Ugh. Maybe I should just try to get my money back then.

There were people like Thylane, who lived in buildings where there was a pass code at the main front door, and all of the residents plugged the code in to gain access to the lobby, and in turn, their apartments through their own keys. Technically, anyone who had that front door pass code could get in to the building, even if that just meant getting into the lobby. There were other buildings, the ones that were a step up, that had doorman services. The doormen guarded the doors to prevent non-residents from getting in, and if guests were there to visit, they would phone up to the tenants room to confirm that they were there for them. Then, there were people like Katherine, whose families owned entire buildings or townhouses. When one considered how expensive Manhattan real estate was, it enhanced how much of a feat something like that was. Though they all had good security too, Thylane felt like townhouses were more personal than penthouse apartments and the likes (though she certainly wouldn't have turned down one for herself...), because there was no security at the front door. It was nothing like a normal house in the sense of what was normal to Thylane, but it was normal in that there was a doorbell that you could ring without encountering any staff member first. As Thylane was used to with Katherine, it was usually a staff member who happened to open the door for her, but she could appreciate the tiny bit of familiarity the situation gave her before that happened. Since she had warned Kat with a text, this time, she hoped it would actually be the girl who came down to get her herself, though.

K A T H E R I N E - A R N A U L T

Location: Kitchen
Outfit: Here
Hex Color: #CF009F


C A S S I D Y ~ K N O X

Outfit
Hex Code: #559434
________________________________________She was usually way too rushed and frazzled on school mornings to put enough effort into accessorizing her uniform to show it, but Katherine really did love fashion. One look at her massive collection of clothes in her closet was all you needed to tell that. It wasn't uncommon for her to wear multiple outfits per day, depending on the errands she had to run and people she had to see. However, one thing that remained common about her fashion sense was that if she wasn't going anywhere immediately after school, she almost always changed into pajamas the minute that she got home. It was the first step she took in "de-stressing" her mind after spending hours at school, and often times if she felt like the day had been especially draining, it wasn't uncommon for her to actually spend the rest of the evening in bed, where the pajamas were actually fitting. Even though Katherine was expecting Thylane, she didn't hesitate in swapping out her uniform for pajamas, because she considered the girl to be a close enough friend where she didn't have to be formal around her. Thylane wasn't a part of Katherine's normal set of friends, but she was a close friend nonetheless, and the fact that Kat was insistent on being friends with her even when Sydney didn't like her, spoke to how much she actually did like the girl.

After getting comfortable, she had set up her laptop in the kitchen, where she figured she and Thylane could work on her paper. She wasn't hungry, at least not for the calorie-laden chocolate chip cookies that she set out on a plate next to their work space, but she knew her father was working from home today, and she knew that she would earn brownie points for making it look like she was casually eating something that months ago, you would have had to tie her down and shove down her throat to get her to eat, and for doing school work. Had he not been home, she definitely would have just set up a space for her and Thylane to work in her room, mostly because she didn't want to be bothered by Cassidy, who, right on cue, came into the kitchen as Katherine saw Thylane's text that she was almost there. "Take your food and go back to your swamp, Shrek. I have company coming over and I don't need you disturbing us." Especially since she knew that Cassidy was friends with Thylane, she wanted her out. She didn't need Cassidy stealing the girl's attention when she was supposed to be there to hang out with her.

"Ugh, I feel like more and more of my brain cells die every time that you open your mouth," Cassidy groaned, eyeing Katherine momentarily, but opting to not go any deeper than that, into the girl. She really was only down here to get a snack and go up to her room so that she could work on her own assignments, but now that Katherine had started up with her, she wasn't going to let her get away with it that easily. Not when her mood was already dampened by the dumb Paris choice. "Your dumb ass voted for Paris, didn't you?" She knew the answer was yes, and maybe she was dragging it by now, but she wanted a reason to roll her eyes even harder at Katherine, so it was the first question that came to mind as she rummaged through the pantry, looking for nothing in particular, as she wasn't even sure what she was hungry for.

"Um, I'm pretty sure it's a law that votes are confidential, so why don't you mind your own business?"

Was she serious? Cassidy had to turn around to confirm that Katherine wasn't purposely sounding stupid to be funny, and was actually just an idiot. When her initial thoughts were confirmed, she let out an amused, yet somewhat sarcastic, chuckle. "You're so stupid. It's really mind boggling how dumb you are."

"And it's mind boggling how ugly you are."

"I can always get a face lift. You can't infuse intelligence into that peanut-sized brain of yours."

She would deny, deny, deny that The Drama Queen, the nickname that Gossip Girl (and many others) gave her, had any semblance of relevancy to her personality, but almost immediately, Katherine sprung from her spot by the kitchen table and pressed the number for her father's office, as well as the speaker phone button on their residential audio intercom system. "Dad! Cassidy vient de me dire qu'elle va me tuer!" {Dad! Cassidy just told me she's going to kill me!} Some people followed the "if you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen," mantra. Katherine had her own version of that, that was more like, "if you can't take the heat, bend the truth as much as necessary to make yourself look like a helpless, innocent victim".

"Pas maintenant. Je suis au téléphone, Katherine." {Not now. I'm on the phone, Katherine.} Her father's voice was stern, yet tired enough for anyone who heard it to know that this wasn't the first time that his daughter had come to him with dramatic accusations about her stepfamily. In fact, not only was it not the first time, but it wasn't the tenth time or the twentieth time. Cassidy and her mother had only been living with them for a few months now, and for two of those months, Kat had not even been living in the home, but it seemed like every day she came up with a new reason for why their mere presences were horrific additions to their household.

"Très bien, dites à la personne que vous êtes au téléphone qu'elle va me tuer, de sorte que quand cela arrive, au moins quelqu'un l'enverra en prison parce que je suis sûr que vous l'aurez en arrière et dire à tout le monde que j'ai commis Suicide juste pour la protéger, puisque vous l'aimez évidemment mieux que moi!" {Okay, then tell the person you're on the phone with that she's going to kill me, so that when that happens, at least someone will send her to jail because I'm sure you'll have her back and tell everyone that I committed suicide just to protect her, since you obviously like her better than me!} If Katherine wasn't so quick to end the call in the most dramatic fashion possible, her father would have beat her to hanging up. Though it obviously was not what her father said, she knew that Cassidy barely spoke or understood French, so she wiped off the distressed look on her face and replaced it with a more smug and satisfied one. "He said that if you bother me one more time, he's going to divorce your gold digging mother and send the two of you back to the slums you came from."

"You know that I was born and raised in Westchester, right?" It still baffled Cassidy how Katherine, and some of their other classmates, thought that she was poor just because she was on a scholarship. Maybe she was poor in comparison to Katherine's father's money, but anyone would be poor when compared to Bernard. In the grand scheme of things, both of Cassidy's parents were well off, and if she didn't get an academic scholarship to Constance Billard, her parents could have afforded to send her there anyway. The money helped, that was for sure, but never in her life did Cassidy live in any area that would be even remotely comparable to a slum.

"Sorry, unlike how you're beyond obsessed with me, I don't care enough about you to know every detail of your life. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a friend coming over. You probably don't know what friends are, but that means people who like being around you. Maybe one day, if you do a major makeover on your personality, you'll get to experience it for yourself."

"Ooooh, is it the Queen Bee? Boutros already admitted that she wants to sleep with me today, so I've had enough of her. Now I just need Blondie to warm up to me and both of your dumb little besties will be wrapped around my finger, just the way I like it."

"Number one: Alex didn't say that. She actually thinks you're disgusting, so don't even go there. Number two: Sydney hates you too. Number three: Don't call my friends dumb. And number four: shut up and go away."

"Make me," was all that Cassidy responded with, smiling as she casually walked over to the table and took a bite out of one of the cookies on the plate by Katherine's things.

Katherine was usually all bark and no bite, but there were definitely times where she was too impulsive and emotional for her own good, and that stupid, condescending smile on Cassidy's face definitely pushed her to that place now. She reached for her glass of water on the table and with a quick jolt of her hand, tossed the contents onto Cassidy's shirt. She wasn't sure what she was really going for, by splashing the girl with a glass full of water. If her goal was to somehow scare her off, it was a goal that she abandoned almost immediately when a second after doing it, she was already darting out the kitchen door, and down the hallway towards the foyer and front door, as if she knew she had just asked for trouble.

This wasn't the first time that Katherine had ever tried to start a physical fight with her, so Cassidy couldn't say that she was shocked when the glass of water splashed her, but she definitely wasn't expecting it. It wasn't a lot of water, and really wasn't a big deal, but still, being that they were both petty, there was no way that Cassidy was suddenly going to be the bigger person and just let Katherine get away with that. She chased after the girl, catching up to her at the front door when she had no where else to run. Right as Katherine opened the door to greet Thylane, Cassidy grabbed her upper arm, allowing her nails to dig into the girl's skin as she squeezed it. Through it, though, she maintained the widest of smile's as she looked to Thylane. "So your mysterious friend was T, all along!" she said, her voice nothing short as cheerful as she squeezed Katherine's arm a bit tighter in acknowledgment of it.

This was definitely a part of growing up without siblings that Katherine did not lust over. She liked starting fights, but only when they were one sided and she faced no backlash or consequences from them. Having someone to snap back at her, or in this case, actually fight back, wasn't something that she was used to yet. If she was used to it, or the way that Cassidy's grip on her arm made her seem like she was suddenly The Incredible Hulk, there was no way that she would start them at all. "Yeah. Well, now you know, so now you can go," Katherine said through gritted teeth, as she attempted to discretely elbow Cassidy hard enough to get her to let go of her. Kat wasn't necessarily against being so dramatic as to demanding that Thylane call the police because she was being assaulted, but if she could get Cassidy to leave her alone without causing a scene (which she knew would only get her in trouble with her father in the end, if he found out she had tossed a glass of water on Cassidy), than that was going to be her first option.

"Go now? Oh, I don't think so! Not when I have a chance to hang out with my two favorite girls!" Cassidy responded with a theatrical level of enthusiasm in her voice, still refusing to relinquish her grasp on her step-sister's arm. If it took a little bit of bruising for Katherine to learn how to act like a normal human being, then that was what it took, and Cassidy had a damp shirt to remind her that she had no reason to feel bad for it.

Outfit: Here

Hex Code: #000080

Location: The Arnault Residence: 8 E 62nd Street
-------------------------------------------------------------------As Thylane waited for an answer at the door, she pulled her phone out and texted Charlotte, saying, "Hey Charlotte. I know there's a no-refund policy on all of the school trips. Just wondering how strict that rule actually is?" She wasn't officially asking for a refund, or explaining why she wanted one; just asking for now. She only just managed to hit send when the door swung open, and when it did, she decided that she probably would have actually preferred being greeted by a member of the Arnault's house staff, over what she was greeted with. Though Katherine was attempting to smile through it, it was quite obvious that the grip that Cassidy had on the other girl's arm wasn't one that was there out of comfort or love. Katherine's expression, combined with how very well aware Thylane was of their situation, and how the two did not get along, made it all too obvious that she was probably walking in on something unpleasant going on between the two. It was a weird situation for her, because she was friends with both Katherine and Cassidy, but separately. She had been friends with both of them separately before they lived together, and before that even they probably knew that their parents were seeing each other. Having two of her closest friends' worlds collide was definitely odd, but even more so, when it became apparent that they couldn't get along. It put her in an awkward position often, when she showed up to the Arnault house and both girls were there, because it usually resulted in her feeling like she was slighting one to hang out with the other, since they clearly couldn't hang out together.

She didn't catch the damp spot on Cassidy's shirt, so all that she could work off of was the way that Cassidy was squeezing Kat's arm, and the obnoxious way that she was insisting on staying, even when Katherine was asking her to leave them be. "We're not really hanging out. I'm just here to help her with the English paper that was due on Tuesday," Thylane insisted, now wishing that she had just asked Kat to meet her at the library or something. She didn't want to piss Cassidy off or make her feel unwanted, mostly because she hated being involved in conflict or drama, but she also knew that insisting that they all try to hang out together would only end in World War III. "Unless you want to help her with it instead. In that case, be my guest," she added, appealing to Cassidy in a more playful manner now, as she shot the girl a small smile.

K A T H E R I N E - A R N A U L T

Location: Foyer
Outfit: Here
Hex Color: #CF009F


C A S S I D Y ~ K N O X

Outfit
Hex Code: #559434
________________________________________

{With Additions from Miserable}
________________________________________The way that Thylane insisted to Cassidy that they were just together to study bothered Katherine. She felt like Thylane was trying to talk down their friendship, as if, for some bizarre and inexplicable reason, she was embarrassed to admit that they were truly friends to Cassidy, and cared more about her opinion than Katherine's. It resulted in Katherine automatically wanted to take a defensive tone, as she nearly glared in Thylane's direction, completely missing the fact that Thylane was actually trying to ward Cassidy off. "Actually, we are hanging out, Thylane. You specifically texted me asking to 'hang out' and hanging out does not involve her, so she's leaving, don't worry."

Cassidy had to capitalize on the misunderstanding here. She just had to. Katherine was one of the easiest people in the world to read, and it didn't take too much skill to know exactly how to push her buttons to get her worked up. It was something that Cassidy had caught onto very quickly, once she moved in, so she knew what to say to get under Kat's skin. "Awkward... you think you're hanging out, she thinks she's just here to help you with your paper. Are you sure your daddy didn't hire her to 'be your friend', A-K-A make sure that you don't fail out of school?" she questioned, feigning a tone of genuine concern.

They were hanging out with a specific plan that included working on a paper, but now that Cassidy was spinning it this way, Katherine was ready to deny it entirely to fit the story that she wanted to be the new reality. It was a defensive mechanism, and one that she didn't even realize that she was taking on most of the time, when it was happening like this, where her emotions were working faster than the logical side of her brain was. "We're not working on that stupid paper. We're... we're going to watch a movie. Right, T?" she came up with, flashing Thylane a look that demanded that she play along. "We're watching a movie, because that's what friends do. You wouldn't know, because you're a stupid, friendless bitch, so move along now," she continued, using her free hand to motion to Cassidy in a shooing manner.

The dismissive hand gesture had Cassidy digging her nails just a little bit deeper into Katherine's skin, once she realized that she had loosened her grip a little. However, she couldn't be too mad, because her plan was working, and it took a lot of effort for her to remain concerned looking, and not laugh in entertainment like she wanted to do. "No, no, no. Thylane specifically said that she was here to do an English paper for you. Your dad's paying her to 'hang out' with you, and you were too stupid to realize it this whole time. This is embarrassing, Kat. You might have to go into hiding over this one. Do you think the eating disorder rehab would take you back for a few months if Gossip Girl happened to find out about this?"

It said something when Katherine actually stomped her foot out of frustration, like a child on the verge of throwing a temper tantrum, and this was just the reason for why Cassidy's shirt was wet. Katherine couldn't outsmart her in verbal arguments, or battles of the wit, so the only way that she could validate herself when Cassidy was being manipulative or playing mind games was to be childish and fight back in more immature ways. With Katherine sure that her skin was going to break if Cassidy squeezed any harder, though, she knew better than to stomp on the other girl's foot like she had half the mind to do. "Thylane! Tell her you're just here to hang out!" she demanded.

"Nope, it's too late now. Her cover's been blown, and whatever she says now would just be her trying to cover up."

"Kat, you know--" Thylane tried to interject to end this, when it was clear that her pleading looks to Cassidy were doing absolutely no good. She could see Cassidy's eyes light up every time Katherine responded to her, fueling the fire even more. In a way, she understood Cassidy enough to know why she got such amusement out of seeing Katherine so worked up over something as ridiculous as this very obvious lie that Cassidy had construed on the spot, but at the same time, she wished Cassidy would stop it. It was immature, and it was already giving Thylane a headache after only a minute of it.

"You know that she didn't want you to find out this way, but she needed the money, and she knew you needed the grades, and your dad just wanted you to have one friend who possessed an ounce of intelligence, even if the friendship was fake. It's fine, T, you don't have to explain yourself."

"That's not what--" She tried to say that that was not what she was going to say, because it definitely wasn't, but between the two of them, Thylane couldn't even finish a sentence before being cut off. All she could do was sigh and think, Yep, I definitely should have suggested the library.

"You know what? I don't even care. You're both literally dead to me." It took more effort than she wanted to show to finally yank her arm out of Cassidy's grasp, but she eventually did, and she stormed away afterwards. This was definitely a good reflection on how dramatic Kat could be, but also how emotional she was, too. A part of her wanted to be logical and discredit everything that Cassidy said, but it didn't take more than a seed of thought to be planted in Kat's mind in order for paranoia to grow. She was more insecure than most people knew her to be, so when people suggested anything wrong about her, it was actually easier for her to believe that they were probably right, than it would be for strangers to believe so. So, while she had nothing other than Cassidy's word to make her believe that Thylane wasn't a real friend, that was really all it took for her to storm upstairs to her bedroom, and purposely slam the door behind her. She was already in her pajamas, so sliding into bed was the easy choice, and once over the covers, she sent out two texts. The first was to Alex, and the second to Charlotte, and though she probably wasn't promoting her cause too well, the reference to common southern stereotypes was only meant in the best of ways from Katherine.

To: Alex
If you don't uninvite Cassidy to your party I'm not going and I'll never speak to you again

To: Charlotte
Please come over. I need help with the English paper that was due Tuesday and Thylane was going to help me but I decided that you're so much smarter than her and such a better friend <3. Please, please, pleasseeeeeeee. I'll make you sweet tea or fried chicken or whatever else it is that your kind of people like!

With Katherine gone, Cassidy smiled at Thylane, as if she had just acheived a victory for the both of them. "You're welcome," she said, not needing a 'thank you' said aloud to decide that that was what Thylane was thinking. "Now that that's taken care of, are you coming to get pizza with Brent and I later?"