Everything Changes

Chapter Twenty-Three: The Accident

Cassie felt anxious all day at work. Her anxiety was getting worse and worse as the hours were passing by. One o'clock. Two o'clock. Three o'clock. Every hour that passed by meant that she was getting closer and closer to seeing Jordan. She wasn't sure how much longer she could handle the anticipation.

She was playing with the rings on her fingers when she noticed a page of a newspaper sticking out from one of the drawers. She didn't think anything of it as she pulled it out, planning to put it in the garbage. However, her eyes caught the large headline placed at the center of the page.

ONE YEAR AGO TODAY MARKS THE BOATING ACCIDENT THAT INJURED 5 TEENS.

Her eyes landed on the publish date. June 3rd. The newspaper had been in the restaurant for nine months. Of course, out of all of the newspapers that could have been left untouched, it had to be that one. It had to be about the night that still haunted her.

She started to read the published story as tears clouded her vision. She started to remember everything - the things she forced herself to forget and the things she couldn't stop thinking about.

It all started with Jordan. He had just come back from freshman orientation, where he spent the weekend in Los Angeles. Cassie drove him to the airport as he talked about his excited he was. She said her goodbyes to her boyfriend, who seemed like the happiest person in the world. She had a smile on her face, glad to see him so overjoyed. She had the same smile on her face when she returned home that Sunday, but he no longer showed the same excitement. He seemed cold and distant.

"Did orientation not go as planned?" Cassie asked him at school as she stood at his locker. She asked with concern in her voice, noticing that he was acting differently. If the case was that he had a bad time at orientation, she wanted him to know he could confide in her. He had always been there for her, listening to absolutely everything she had to say, and wanted to make it a point that she could play that same role for him. "It's okay if it didn't—"

"Why are you asking so many questions?" He cut her off, shaking his head. He was confused why she would think that his weekend went poorly. He was meant to be in Los Angeles. Not in West Coral.

She was taken aback by his response. She didn't expect him to get so defensive. He was never like that. "I asked one question," she retorted. "And I only asked that because you're acting closed off."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he said as he closed his locker.

At lunch that same day, he was quiet. He didn't try to chime into the conversation or talk about his weekend in L.A. Cassie tried to text him that night - and he left her on read. She thought she was the only person receiving the silent treatment, but when Jake and Toby mentioned that Jordan was acting strange, she started to put the puzzle pieces together.

That same week, he continued to avoid his friends. Cassie was getting irritated, and suspicious by his sudden change in personality. She tried to make plans with him, but he kept telling her he was busy. He never told her what he was busy doing. That was when she showed up at the boat rental shop, ready to confront him.

"You've been acting really weird since you came back from L.A.," she told him as he sat at the front desk of the shop, looking down at his phone. "Everyone is really bothered by you."

He furrowed his eyebrows. "Why?"

He continued to type on his phone as Cassie answered, feeling discouraged. Was he even listening to her? "Because you've been acting weird. Like... quiet at school. You're usually not like that."

"Well, you've been acting kind of... annoying," was his response back to her. She could tell he didn't feel bad saying that. The Jordan she fell in love with would never think about saying that to her face. He was the sweetest person she knew. Again, that backed up her claim that he wasn't acting himself. This was just another example. "Like right now."