Everything Changes

Chapter Eleven: The Awkward Kiss

After taking an impossibly hard exam, the only thing Cassie wanted to do was curl up under her covers and take a nap before soccer practice.

Before closing her eyes, she opened Instagram, which had been left untouched for weeks. She knew she wouldn't be able to sleep before scrolling through the posts on her feed. She needed to catch up with other people's lives.

At the top of the app displayed the profiles that had posted a story within the last twenty-four hours. Jordan's account happened to be the first shown, and Cassie was immediately intrigued to see what he had posted. She had to admit - with all hard feelings aside - she enjoyed seeing his posts. She kind of liked seeing what he was up to.

But as she examined his story, her feelings were quick to change. The sight in front of her was truly something she would never be prepared for. He had reposted a picture from a girl's account; he was in the picture with his arm around her. She was a tan, gorgeous blonde with spider long legs and bright blue eyes (and had an interesting fashion sense... but that was beside the point. Cassie knew she would never understand L.A. girl fashion).

Out of curiosity, she was quick to press on the picture, which led to the girl's post. She examined it even harder, not wanting to miss a single detail.

@ _ellamaeayersss: two months with my star football player <3 i love doing life with you. can't wait for our future j.

Cassie wasn't sure if she could thank the fact that she channeled her emotions into anger on being the youngest sibling - or that her star sign was an Aries - but what she did know was that she was furious.

Jordan had a girlfriend. Was his college fuck boy phase over? She guessed. How could he turn down the breathtakingly gorgeous girl around his arm?

She stalked his new girlfriend's account even further. She was from Los Angeles - of course. Sorority president. An Instagram model. A representative for a vegan food company. Had over two hundred thousand followers. It was so painfully obvious that she was perfect.

What the fuck? Cassie said to herself. Was this girl created in a factory? Why was she so perfect? Cassie couldn't help but compare herself. From Florida. Played division-one soccer. Smallest in her family (no spidery long legs for her). Worked for her family's restaurant. Only had three-thousand Instagram followers. Not vegan... at all... she recalled her chicken sandwich from lunch. And her life was a mess! She was confused about how Jordan went from her to... Instagram model Ella Mae. They were so different.

This was exactly what Cassie meant when she told Jordan he could do better. Ella Mae was what she meant. A fake blonde model with skinny legs and had her entire life under control, not an average height natural blonde with absolutely no clue what she was doing tomorrow.

Looking at the comment section on Ella Mae's picture, she spotted Jordan's comment. Best girlfriend.

Those two words were the most painful words Cassie had ever read.

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Trevor was pouring himself a bowl of cereal for dinner, forcing himself to eat something after he had spent the entire day hungover in bed. His eyes glanced at the time displayed on the stove. 6:45. He wasn't sure how it had gotten so late.

He sat his bowl on the kitchen table, moving aside the trash from last week. With his phone in hand, he spooned the cereal into his mouth. For spending his entire day asleep, he hardly received any notifications. He thought that was weird.

"Morning, Trev," said Jake as he walked down the steps. Trevor turned around with a smile on his face, greeting his roommate. "It's only seven at night."