Office Hours |h.s|

fifty five

Maude

Staring at the front door of Cassidy and I's apartment, I nervously fiddle with the diamond on my necklace. Harry dropped me off here thirty minutes ago and I have yet to go inside. Cassidy's home, she told me so on the drive back.

Courage and confidence is a trait all Sterlings seem to be born with. All of them except me I guess. I can't even work up the confidence to go inside my own apartment and talk to my best friend. Then again, I have to go in there and tell her that I'm dating our professor after I told her I wouldn't do that.

Harry was very understanding last night while we talked about how this would all go down. As much as we want to keep this between us until the end of the semester, Cassidy is clearly in need of answers and I'm just gonna have to grow up and deal with the consequences of my actions. I know Cass though, and even if she gets upset with me, she'll keep my secret.

With a deep breath, I decide to just rip off the bandaid and go into the apartment. It's quiet inside, only adding to the tension I feel growing inside of me. "Cass, I'm home!" I call out, but quickly rush to my room to busy myself with unpacking my overnight bag.

My heart pounds as I put away all my clothes and toiletries. The house we were staying in had a washer and dryer so we did laundry today before we left so we would be able to just put our clothes away when we got home. I make sure to tuck the Cartier boxes into my sock drawer for safe keeping, but when I turn around to continue unpacking, there's Cassidy standing in my doorway.

Shyly, I smile. "Hey. How was Thanksgiving with Noah and your families?" I ask, wanting the heat off me for at least a few minutes but I also know she's not going to let up on me.

"It was nice, everyone got along. What about you? How was Thanksgiving with your family? Oh wait." She looks pissed, and I don't necessarily blame her. It's definitely out of character for me to be so secretive with her, and I really do feel bad for worrying her so much.

Looking down at my pretty much unpacked overnight bag, I bite my lips as I try to figure out the best way to handle this. "Cass... I'm sorry, I panicked because you were upset with me and I didn't want to be here after the fight we had. You were upset with me and I didn't want to ruin your holiday with Noah and so I left. I didn't think you would care that I disappeared for a few days."

She furrows her brows, "Maude, just because we had a fight doesn't mean I want you to run away and not tell me where you went? Do you know how irresponsible that is?"

"You sound like my parents right now, Cass. I'm a twenty three year old woman, I know how to take care of myself for a few days."

"Cut the crap, Maude. Where were you?" She crosses her arms, leaning against the door frame.

Shaking my head, I roll my eyes. "You're being so overdramatic, Cass. I went and stayed at a hotel for a couple days. It was no big deal." Maybe I should be telling her the truth, but at this point I really don't want to. She's just pushing my buttons and making me want to shove her out even more.

"Who were you with? Because that's a new necklace that you've been fiddling with. You wear the same necklace everyday and now you have a new one." Sometimes I hate that we're so close because she really does know all my little habits and every tiny detail of my life. I can never get anything past her.

"I wasn't with anyone. And what? It was my birthday, I can't get myself something nice? Spent the day alone and wanted to treat myself so I got myself a necklace. What's so wrong about that?" I snap back, getting kind of angry.

She presses her lips together and nods, looking more annoyed by the second. "So you weren't with Harry?"

My heart stops and my eyes widen the second his name leaves her lips. How the fuck would she know that? "No. I wasn't with him. Why would you even think that?" I do my best to make it sound like I'm offended by the accusation.