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Just as Cassie was finishing up her meal in silence, the girls at the long table were met with some unwanted visitors.
Four boys walked over. Cassie keenly noticed that she recognized some of them. She had seen two of the boys before in the hallways, doing questionable stuff. Put two and two together, and Cassie distinctly had an idea of what was going on.
And she didn't like it. Not at all. If anything, this made her sick to the stomach.
The leading boy had long, dirty hair tied into braids. Cassie suspected he was a Mexican. Not racial profiling. Just judging by his appearance. He was the one to speak up to the girls along the table.
"So, girls. Just to introduce myself...my name is Antonio. I was wondering if you girls are interested in having some fun. If any of you are interested, well…" He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small bag. Cassie could see some sort of green plant in the bag. "It's safe and convenient. Cheap, too!"
A few of the girls exchanged nervous glances, but obviously, none of them stood up and made a purchase. Antonio saw that coming before he even started talking. Clearly, none of the girls would buy illegal drugs in front of their peers. All he wanted to do today was to plant the idea. Post the ad. Sooner or later, some of these girls, either hoping to relieve stress or just to satiate their curiosities, would come to him for at least a few small purchases.
As long as his message was delivered, his job here was done.
Just as he was about to leave and call it a day, one of the girls sitting along the table suddenly stood up. She was young. Younger and shorter than most of the girls at the table, in fact. A blonde student beside her gave her a pull, telling her to sit back down, but the girl that stood up refused.
"What's your name again?" The girl demanded, her voice sounding a little emotional.
"Uh...Antonio?" The leading boy shrugged.
"And your last name? Grade?"
"Mmm…" Antonio found himself a little taken back, which was odd considering he was at least half a foot taller than the girl. Perhaps it was the fierceness in Cassie's voice that made him frown. "Why do you want to know?"
Cassie didn't answer him...at least not right away. Instead, she snapped out her phone and took a picture of Antonio, with the bag of weed still in his hand.
"Oh, nothing specific." Cassie shrugged. She returned her phone to her pocket as she stared into Antonio's eyes. "I just want to make things easier when I report you to the resource officers. Selling illegal drugs to students just out in the open like this? You're either very stupid or very smart, and I'm willing to bet it's the former."
At this point, it became clear that she had no intention of buying the product. Instead, she was almost looking for trouble. Even worse, she had taken a picture, and she had the intention of reporting the boys. Some of the boys stepped forward, only to be held back by their leader.
"I actually consider myself to be rather smart." Antonio scoffed. He didn't seem that bothered by the evidence Cassie held. If anything, he seemed amused by her actions. "Anyways, if any of you girls want some products, feel free to find me. New customers get 40% off."
He gave the girls one last nod before leaving with his goons.
As soon as he was gone, Amanda turned to Cassie. It was obvious she was scared.
"What was that?"
She expected Cassie to be at least a little taken back. Instead, Amanda found herself facing Cassie's outburst.
"What do you think that was, Amanda?" Cassie couldn't help but raise her voice. "Did you hear how cocky he was? He was a high-schooler, selling drugs to fellow classmates in broad daylight! He wasn't even trying to hide it! I was doing what every single one of us should've done! Holding him responsible for breaking the law!"
"Relax, gal." Veronica shrugged. She was uncertain why Cassie was so pissed off. "It's just some weed."
Cassie snapped to her. "Is that a drug?"
"Uh...yeah. That's what some may call it..."
"Did that guy look like a licensed pharmacist? Did he look like he was doing things legally? Is weed illegal in this country?"
As far as Cassie saw, she was going the right thing. She hated drugs, much like both of her parents. She had heard way too many horror stories from her father about how a single drug addict ruined an entire family. She heard about sons stealing their parents' pension fund just to get another fix. Successful employees abandoning their jobs because of their addictions. Women willing to abandon their dignity just to achieve another high. Drugs were even worse than poison. At least when poison killed, it did so quickly and without bringing down the family and friends of the victim.
Oddly for her, most of the girls didn't seem to be on her side. If anything, they found her anger more amusing than anything else.
"Oh, come on, Cassie! Live a little!" Bree commented casually. "You almost sound like the teachers! You have no fun!"
"I can assure you, I have my fair share of fun, and that fun doesn't include me drugging myself." Cassie stood up and glanced at the mounted clock on the wall. There was still a while until the end of class. "Now, if you will excuse me, I have some reporting to do."
Without another word, Cassie stood up and left the table with her bag. Amanda frowned. She was about to follow Cassie when Bree grabbed onto her.
"Let her go. She's such a bitch...she must think she's so righteous! Oh, is this illegal? Is that illegal?" She quoted Cassie mockingly. "I bet she's secretly a teacher's pet!"
"Yeah! And I bet she'll grow old as a virgin! No one will ever like her!"
"She has no life!"
The girls left at the table mocked Cassie to the best of their abilities. As far as they could see, Cassie was never one of them. If anything, she was below them and didn't even deserve to sit at the same table as them. Plus, for adolescents, boys and girls alike, rebelling against authority was the cool thing to do while obeying the rules was seen as being weak and pathetic. Only the lame people would obey the law!
What Cassie did...snitching on fellow students, it was unforgivable no matter what those students did. It didn't even matter if the boys broke the law. All the girls knew was that now they had the perfect opportunity to laugh at someone, and laugh they did.
It didn't take Cassie too long to find her way to a resource officer on lunch break. The man didn't seem too happy when Cassie started explaining the situation. In fact, he didn't even stop eating as Cassie talked. When she was done, the officer simply shrugged before speaking with food in his mouth.
"And what exactly do you want me to do?" He mumbled.
That was not the response Cassie was hoping for. "Uh...maybe call this Antonio guy in for questioning? Search his locker for evidence? I don't know...just do what police officers should do in this situation…"
The officer had this smirk on his lips. As Cassie finished, he grabbed onto a piece of napkin and wiped off some grease on his face. Finally, he turned to Cassie.
"Oh, you done?"
"Uh...I'm done talking."
"I meant if you're done with playing cop." The resource officer raised his voice, showing some authority in his tone. "Cause if you are, I would suggest that you get back to your classes and forget about this…wild story of yours."
"Wild story?" Cassie couldn't believe her ears as she practically slammed her phone on the officer's table. "Look! I've got a picture with the guy I told you about! Look what's in that bag!"
The officer gave the phone the briefest glance Cassie had ever seen.
"I dunno...can't really tell. Probably some grass or something."
"Grass?" Cassie growled. "Why would someone be selling grass to high schoolers?"
"Maybe because some high schoolers are stupid enough to mistake them as weed and buy them?"
"Grrrr…" If Cassie still couldn't tell the officer was gaslighting her, she would be a fool. The officer knew what was going on. She was irritated, and she did her best to hide it. "Look, I have the evidence, and if you don't want to do the investigation, I will go to other officers at the school. Or maybe I'll talk to my parents and contact the CPD. They'll do something, right?"
For a moment, Cassie could tell the officer's cheeks were turning red. Slowly, the resource officer stood up from his seat. A lot taller than Antonio, the resource officer towered over Cassie like a giant. For a few seconds, he just stared at Cassie in utter silence.
Cassie knew what the officer was trying to do. He was trying to intimidate her. Scare her into minding her own business. But Cassie wasn't intimidated. After all, she knew full well that size meant little when put up against her gifts, and if needed, she could likely make the officer's fate end up as unfortunate as that of Mr. Douglas.
Of course, she had no intention of doing that. At this point, Cassie was still hoping that her insistence could make the officer do the right thing. After all, she was standing up for the truth. She saw something wrong, and she took action.
Seeing his intimidation tactic had failed, the officer let out a cold smile.
"Fine. I'll file a form to my precinct, and hopefully, they'll send some officers in to do the investigating...assuming they have officers to spare on childish things like this. Happy now, girl?"
The hidden meaning in his words was simple. He might fill out the form, but if the form happened to be lost in the bureaucratic process, well...he did his best!
"Now, be a good student and get ready for your classes." The officer finally sat back down. "Some things are best left to the grown-ups."
Cassie nodded slowly. All of a sudden, after checking for the surroundings to make sure no one was watching them, Cassie suddenly lit up her eyes and posed a single question.
"Tell me, officer...what is your address?"
"Uh...my address...it is…" The officer froze for a brief moment. Cassie was being a little reckless. The wisest call would've been to track down the officer in some place private before trying to extract the information out of him. A packed public cafeteria was a poor choice. Nonetheless, she was lucky to not be spotted, and the officer's willpower was next to non-existent.
He quickly coughed up his address. After taking some notes and clipping out the memories of the question in the officer's head, Cassie turned and left the table.
She was truly disappointed today. By her fellow classmates, as well as by an officer of the law who swore to protect her and every other student in this building. It would just be a matter of time before she would pay the officer a visit, and she wouldn't hesitate to act on the information she would extract.
For better or for worse, Cassie was growing more and more comfortable with using her abilities on other people, especially people she saw as...unfit for their roles.