Forever and Always His

Chapter 10

Chapter 10

                “I don’t understand.” Cassandra groaned, letting her head fall onto my bed. She stared up at my ceiling, which had some stupid glow in the dark stars taped at the top, from when I thought they were cool back in middle school. “Max and I danced at homecoming, and we’ve even kissed six times already! Why hasn’t he asked me out yet?”

                I gave her a strange look, before snorting. “You counted how many times you guys kissed?”

                Cassandra gave me a glare, before taking a pillow from my bed, and tossing it at me from across the room. It hit my chest with a thud, before landing onto my lap. I held back a laugh, as Cassandra sat up, giving me a pout. “I’m serious, Riley.” She sighed. Her face suddenly turned pale, as her face read a sudden shock of horror. “You don’t think he’s playing with me, is he?”

                Raising an eyebrow, I shook my head almost immediately. Max has been my closest friend since two years ago, and I’ve known him long enough to know that he wasn’t one to play with a girl’s emotions. Sure, he’s been on a couple of dates or two, but those dates have always been casual. He’s never broken a girl’s heart before, from what I’ve known. “Max isn’t a player.” I assured Cassandra, who let out a sigh of relief. “Maybe he’s just shy, you know? I’ve never seen him with an actual girlfriend before.”

                Cassandra’s eyes widened, as she clamped a hand over her lips. “But that’s impossible! He’s so hot!”

                I let out a chuckle, before rolling my eyes. “He doesn’t like flings, you know? Especially because that’s what most girls want these days.”

                I looked over to Cassandra, who was sulking on my bed. She began to pluck the loose threads on my sheets, before sighing. “I don’t want a fling.” She muttered under her breath. “I haven’t had a boyfriend since freshman year, and when I finally do want one, he doesn’t want me back.”

                “Max likes you, a lot, trust me.” I smiled at Cassandra reassuringly. “Just give him time, okay?”

                Cassandra let out a puff of air, before a weak smile slipped across her face. “Okay.” She nodded, sitting up straighter this time. “So Max tells me that you were jealous of Everett’s new stepsister?”

                My cheeks turned bright red, as I had the sudden urge to go hide from embarrassment. “Can we please not talk about that?” I asked in a little voice.

                Cassandra burst into a misfit of laughter, as she clutched her stomach in pain. She gave me one last amused look, before biting down on her lower lip to stop her uncontrollable chuckling. “I’m just curious as to how you didn’t know it earlier, I mean, everyone was talking about it from the very moment she stepped into our school.”

                I suddenly grew quiet at the fact that I didn’t know because everyone was practically hiding it from me, for example, my own mother. I wasn’t going to snap off at Cassandra though, because she didn’t know. “I tend to stay away from school gossip, you know?” I gave her a small smile.

                Cassandra chuckled lightly, before giving me a smile. “I know, Riley.”

*

                “Am I going to see you at lunch today?” Max asked, as we found each other in the school corridors the next morning.