Caged Bird | ✔

Chapter Seven

Cassie spots me before I do, waving me over to the table at the restaurant that she has chosen on the deck, which overlooks the beach

''Hey, how are you'' I greet, slinging my right arm around her neck in an embrace. I feel Cassie's arms go around my waist as she completes the hug

''I'm good, you?'' she responds, smiling at me. I take of my sunglasses, and take my bag off my shoulder, placing it on the round table in front of me

''Same as always'' I shrug before sitting down

The table has an attached umbrella overhead; my guess is that it is there to defend against customers getting heat strokes. However, from where I am sitting, the umbrella may be covering my head, but the sun is still shining directly into my eyes. I lift up my hand to shield my face from the harsh rays

''This heat is fucking killing me'' Cassie huffs, fanning herself and sliding her hands under her hair that has begun to stick her neck

''You chose this table'' I point out

She scrunches up her face in displeasure at me ''trust me, the inside of this place is twice as hot as it is out here, there's no air conditioning or oxygen for that matter inside'' she mutters

Its summer in California, and when it's hot it's really hot

''Do you have a hair tie?'' she asks, moving her hair out of her neck, so that its over her left shoulder

I'm uncomfortable for her

I do not have a hair tie on me, but I do have another claw clip on my bags handle

I unclasp it, and hand it over to her

''Thanks'' Cassie says, taking the clip from me, piling her mane of blonde hair on top of her head

I watch her do this, remembering how badly I wanted blonde hair for so long instead of my auburn hair. It's not that I had a preference of blonde hair over auburn, it's just that my auburn hair was yet another difference about me that made me stand out like a sore thumb from the rest of my family

Even if I had to have had dark hair like my mother I would have been in the clear, as Will and Charlie had dark hair, and Cassie and Ethan had blonde

Which was why I died my hair blonde in college, thinking auburn to blonde seemed like an easier option than from auburn to brown

That was at least 3 years ago

Now my hair is back to auburn, not because I missed the red, simply because I did not like the hours I had to spend at the hairdresser every month, along with the the upkeep blonde hair took.

The menus of the restaurant, are stacked up on the edge of the table, I grab one, flicking through the pages in search of something that looks appealing

''I ordered already'' Cassie mentions, seeing my fingers hover over the prices of the beef double burger

If Cassie said she ordered already it meant that she had already given them her card, which meant a free meal for me which I'm always all for. However, I know Cassie

''What did you order?'' I ask her regretfully

I see her try to hide her smile

''A Caesar salad'

I groan

This time she does smile, her dimples digging deep into her cheeks

I don't not like salads, it's just that if I was going to eat out at a place who makes exceptional burgers, I would rather have a burger