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THE NEXT MORNING Cassie woke up on the couch. She glanced around the silence of the house. She must've fell asleep while waiting for him. She had no doubt he used the key behind the bush and welcomed himself inside.
She swiped the blanket off her body and left the couch to check the guest bedroom on the first floor. When she hadn't found him there she checked her room and when he wasn't there either, she checked the whole house and it wasn't very big.
Cassie didn't know how to feel, Justin hadn't come back like he said he would. She closed her eyes and sighed, he had never said he would come back, only acknowledged what she said and left. She felt stupid for believing him, but she felt sure about him being true to their relationship. No, he had left.
She thought about other possibilities, maybe he had decided to stay at his own house or Bryce's, maybe even Zach's.
Heading downstairs again, Cassie grabbed her phone and dialed a number. She pressed it to her ear and wished he would answer faster.
"Did Justin come over to your house?" She inquired becoming worried.
"No?" Zach replied, which only made her more worried.
"Did he talk to you about anything serious after basketball practice yesterday?" Cassie asked.
"We didn't have practice yesterday," Zach said confused, "Cassie, what's going on?"
The duffel that Justin had brought to her house was almost all of his things, not anything regarding basketball practice. Justin had never denied it being so, but how could she have come to that conclusion? He had gone there hoping she'd say yes, grab some things and they'd leave at that moment. He knew if Cassie said no, she wouldn't have let him go. He was right.
"Justin came to my house last night and asked me to leave town with him. I- I told him no, that he could stay with me and that he didn't have to leave," she explained, tears at the brink of her eyes, "I told him to go grab his things and come back. He never did."
Zach didn't say anything for a couple seconds, Cassie guessed he was unable to conjure any words.
"Stay there, I...I'll come over and take you to school. We'll figure this out, Cas."
Cassie closed her eyes in somewhat relief that there might be a possibility he didn't leave. She knew that it was very slim though, and her head hurt thinking about him all alone if he actually did leave. He could get himself in all kinds of trouble, even more than ignoring a subpoena.
❁❁❁
Zach had came over and found his best friend even more upset than she was on their phone call. He calmed her down, saying he couldn't have gone far amongst other things. After she had settled down, they both got in Zach's car and drove to Liberty.
