In Our Heads

Chapter 5.

*****

Cassian yawned, reaching for the milk after having poured cereal into the bowl. He was so tired, he had first missed the bowl when tossing it in and had to spend some time gathering the little balls of cereal to put them back into the dish.

"Have you not slept?" He looked up hearing Jonathan's voice.

"I did... for an hour." At 5 AM was when his eyes finally began to droop and he stumbled over to his bed barely having the energy to pull the covers over himself before he fell asleep, only to be jolted awake less than an hour later by his screeching alarm clock. His eyes still felt heavy with sleep as he looked back down at his cereal.

"Why did you stay up until four, Cassian?" Cassian smiled hearing Jonathan's concerned voice actually speak his name for once.

"Couldn't sleep, I'll make sure to get more tonight." He looked towards the dining room entrance as his mother walked in.

"Good morning, Sweetie." She leaned to kiss his cheek before taking her seat. Jonathan greeted her, stated to Cassian that he would be outside and then left the room. "Your eyes look awfully dark."

"Just tired." He spooned the cereal in his bowl around while wondering if maybe he should mention the party, just in passing, without even asking to go just to see what her reaction would be to all his friends and probably Amber going as well. "The team –"

"Oh, you had a match yesterday," she cut him off, he nodded trying to get by that quickly so he could continue to the party, but his father's voice came into the room before he could speak.

"Won?"

"You know it," Cassian replied and felt himself smile when his father grinned at him as he sat down beside his wife.

"That's my boy," he said. "Keep leading them to that trophy."

"I will. So after the game, we were talking and everyone –"

"Just remember not to focus too much on the game. How's your preparation for the interview going?" his father asked.

"It's good."

"Great. It's coming up fast so you have to make sure you're properly prepared. We want –" his mother stopped when her phone buzzed and glanced at it before looking at her husband. "We should get going, there's an accident on the N84 that could cause us to arrive at the meeting a little late," she said to him.

"Alright. You'll update us later, right, Cassian?" his father asked as they stood up.

"Yes."

"Oh – also, before I forget again. Ryan called the house sometime while we were all out, he left his number." Cassian looked down as his mother placed a little card with a number scribbled on it. It was in Rosa's handwriting. "You should call him back." He tried not to grimace when she winked at him. They were way too excited and vocal when it came to the possibility of a relationship between Cassian and Ryan. "See you later, Honey."

His parents left the room talking about their upcoming meeting as he lifted his hand to pick up the card. He had no intention of calling Ryan back despite their excitement. He just figured he had enough to focus on at the moment and maybe, if he thought he could actually be with Ryan, he would contact the guy once he had finished his final exams and was certain about his spot at Yale. Ryan did not particularly pique his interest though, so he would probably only call him if his parents kept insisting.

He finished his food before jogging back upstairs to grab his bag and then meeting Johnathan in the car.

When Cassian arrived at school, he was immediately greeted by a few acquaintances before walking into the building with one of them as they discussed current football league statistics and recent matches. It was an exciting conversation for them both as they kept making their way through the school towards Cassian's while just waving at their friends instead of stopping to join the others. They were drawn from their discussion as they entered the hall Cassian's locker was in when a loud bang went off. Cassian's head turned from his friend as it followed the noise.