This wasn't what she'd expected.<br/><br/>As soon as Keida led her in by the hand, everything began to spiral out of control. Cain was here. On any other day, spending time with him would have had Haley over the moon, but not today - today was different.<i>What on earth is Cain doing here? </i>Her thoughts screamed as she tried to hide the bewilderment on her face. Cain hadn't hung out with Keida in years, in fact, Cain had broken off their trio when he decided that Keida was bad news - that Haley needed protecting from the person they used to call "friend."<br/><br/>Seeing the boys together was so strange that it almost felt wrong.<br/><br/>Haley would have remained frozen, but Keida snapped her out of her thoughts when he slipped the bottle of coca cola into her hand. He'd hugged her too, in front of the boy she loved. What... what was he trying to do. She ignored his banter, much too confused by the turn of events. Had Keida invited him over? "Cain!" Haley struggled to force a helping of cheer into her tone. "I'm really surprised to see you here. I didn't know you and Keida still visited each other? What are you doing here?" No, no, that sounded like she wanted him to leave. She was always happy to see Cain - well, technically, she didn't want him here at this specific moment. Seeing him together with Keida caused the seed of guilt to fester in her heart. The guilt grew when Keida leaned in to whisper in her ear.<br/><br/>Here she was, smiling and lying to the boy she loved - smiling and lying after she'd allowed Keida to claim her purity. Memories of the intimate moment she and Keida had shared came crashing back - a result of his cruel whisper - and Haley shut her eyes and willed the intruding thoughts away.<br/><br/>"Haley?"<br/><br/>"S-Sorry, Cain. I spaced out a little."<br/><br/>Cain gave her a kind smile. "I was just talking to Kei about some... stuff." He'd never been a good liar - he was too honest and good - and Haley noticed the exasperation he tried to bury away. "What about you? What's up with you and Kei? Didn't know you two still visited each other too. It's, um, been awhile, right?"<br/><br/>"Research," Haley didn't miss a beat. "Keida's surprisingly good with essays. I'm working on my college applications." The lies came easy, she'd rehearsed them inside her head a multitude of times in the past 3 days. Cain couldn't know about her and Keida. If he did, she feared whatever chances she had with him would go down the drain. Keida would help her - because he was her friend - and then she would become a woman Cain couldn't help but fall for. She wasn't there yet, but soon, she'd win him over.<br/><br/>"Studious as always," Cain looked at her with a silent kind of adoration that Haley was too oblivious to see. "You'll get into a great college, Haley. Any school would be lucky to have you. If you ever need another helping hand, I'm just across the street and I'd be happy to help you out too."<br/><br/>He was always so good to her. Haley's heart fluttered and she offered him the sweet smile he loved. "I appreciate it, Cain. I'll make sure to show you my next essay."<br/><br/>For a moment, Keida was forgotten and the two were smiling at one another as if all were well with the world. The illusion was broken when Keida suggested they all eat dinner together for old time's sake. Cain didn't seem too thrilled at the thought, but he wasn't going to leave Haley alone with Keida if he could help it. Keida was... a heart breaker. He knew about the sordid affairs that boy had with a handful of women, and frankly, he didn't trust Keida not to try anything weird with Haley.<br/><br/>"Since when do you cook?" Cain arched an eyebrow. "Last I remember, you burned all the cookies we tried to make."<br/><br/>"We can always order take out," Haley suggested. Having all three of them in Keida's living room was still weird, and now that Cain had seen her and Keida, she needed to make him believe they were merely here to study. "It's faster and we'll have more time to get started on our research, right Keida?"