A/N: Ok, so after posting that first one, WestAnimeBrigade suggested something that got the wheels in my brain turning once again. Do it from Cassie's POV! So a big thanks for the wonderful idea! Hopefully I don't butcher it! Also, this whole thing has given me the idea to carry this on and maybe write more reflections if moments strike me during the second half of the season.

Dislcaimer: I don't own Secret Circle.

Reflections of the Betrayed

It wasn't supposed to be this way. It was supposed to be simple: Go to high school, get good grades. Her mother would be there to see it all. None of it turned out the way it was supposed to.

She was still going to high school, and she was pretty sure she was getting good grades, but she was a witch, and her mother was gone. She used to be angry when she thought about her mother keeping this from her, but now she was beginning to understand. The life she was living in Chance Harbour wasn't something her mother would have ever wanted for her.

Everything started off as well as could be expected. They bound the Circle and were finding their footing in the magical world. And then Nick died. They were thrown into turmoil as they realized they weren't as invincible as they seemed to think. She felt responsible. She was the one that had been so desperate to undo her mother's perceived wrong that she jumped at the chance to wake Heather. If she would have stayed in a catatonic state, the demon would never have possessed Nick, and he wouldn't be dead.

It was sick, then, that the one person who made her feel as though maybe it wasn't her fault was Nick's brother. Surely, if it were her fault, he wouldn't be able to look at her, let alone speak to her.

Sure, she wasn't exactly trusting of him at first, but it didn't mean that his acceptance of her didn't ease some of her guilt. She still wasn't sure when she decided to throw that whole 'I don't trust you' thing out the window. It just sort of happened. After her mother died, she'd closed herself off from a lot of the person she used to be. She used to be very openly trusting, and so far it had served her well, until now. It just proved, once again, that she wasn't as invincible as she first thought. She had a long way to go before she reached invincible.

She needed to start with her judgement of character. First there was Adam, with a girlfriend, and then Luke, the witch hunter, and now Jake, the traitor (and also witch hunter, but who's keeping track?). She really needed to get it together. Her mother would not be impressed with her choices lately.

Her eyes stung as she realized that her mother wouldn't ever be disappointed in her again, or proud. Her mother would never meet whatever boy she chose next. There were countless things she could list that her mother would never get to do or see with her again, but now wasn't the time for grief. Later, when she was in bed for the night, she could cry.

For now, they had to come up with a plan. She knew Jake would come back; she could feel it with a certainty she knew her Circle shared. They had to be ready. He'd betrayed her, and he was going to regret it.

A/N: I hope you all liked it! Reviews are love! (Unless they're flames. Then they're, you know, not love…)