Cassie (Book #1 of the "Cassie" Series)

Chapter #23: Abort Mission (Chad's POV)

9:30 pm

"Are you just going to stare at them all night?" Naya asked, adjusting her pigtails. I was sitting over at the bar in the corner, next to Naya and a girl dressed as Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz who was fast asleep with her head down on the bar. Across the room, I was fixed on Cassie and Ryan dancing together. I don't even know why I put myself through watching that, it was only going to make me feel worse.

"No..." I said unsurely, ripping my gaze away from the happy couple and looking ahead. I took a swig from my cup of burning hard liquor, hoping that the more I drank the less it would hurt. Naya picked up my foam hammer, whacking me upside the head with it, causing me to spit out some of my drink.

"My God, pull yourself together!" she said, exasperated. I rubbed my head and snatched the hammer out from her hand, hitting her back. 

"You don't know what this feels like, Naya. This shit hurts." I slumped over the bar.

"Actually I do know what this feels like. When Jaira Karson ditched me at the school dance for Thomas Taylor, I was despondent for weeks." Naya put her head in her hands and stared into the distance.

"That was a Valentine's Day dance in middle school, she was straight all along, you were only friends for a week, and she had no interest in you. This is completely different." 

"My POINT still stands." Naya said firmly, reaching for the hammer again before I scrambled to get it out from her reach. "Pull yourself together, I told you to tell her weeks ago, you know, before she gets TOO serious with this guy."

"I tried, believe me." Okay, I hadn't tried at all. I don't usually get nervous talking to girls. You put me in a room with any girl, and I'll break out whatever line I have to, be it Spanish or English, to get them into my bed and back out the door the next morning. Is it something I'm terribly proud of? Not as much as I used to be. Is it something I genuinely want to leave in the past? Absolutely. I want to be a better man for her. The difference between Cassie and other girls is that I actually care about Cassie.

"Well, try harder, or you're gonna lose her, and be friend-zoned PERMANENTLY." Naya pointed out, swallowing the contents of her cup.

"I'm surprised you're even supporting this. Aren't you a little nervous about fucking up the group dynamics?" I asked curiously.

"Can I tell you a secret?" Naya asked in return, putting her plastic red cup down on the sticky bar surface.

"Go on."

"I've been rooting for you two since eighth grade." Naya whispered. I looked at her puzzled.

"Wait, what? Really? That long?"

"Hell yeah! You guys just have a spark. I feel like I just have psychic powers or something because I feel something between you two that clearly neither of you have really picked up on yet. Well, except for you." Naya rubbed my shoulder. "Just have faith, mi hermano."

10:01 pm

I spent the next half-hour trying to mingle. Cassie and Hope were nowhere to be seen, Naya was getting wasted, and I was kind of awkwardly shuffling through everyone. I dodged a few drunk girls, dressed as Playboy bunnies or sexy nurses, trying to offer me phone numbers, flirty comments, and quickies in one of the upstairs bedrooms. A year ago, I wouldn't have hesitated, but I was trying to be on my best behavior. While I was in the corner, I felt someone slap some paper onto my chest, and when I looked around to see who it was they were nowhere to be seen. I peeled the post-it note off from my costume and read it.

Meet me in the big closet, 5 mins x

Oooookay? I was confused, I didn't see who wrote it, so I was kinda curious. If this was yet another drunk girl throwing herself at me, I wasn't interested. Nonetheless, I explored the upstairs bedrooms. There were at least three. The first one had no one in it, the second had a couple who were doing things I don't think I'll be able to unsee, and the third seemed empty to me. I shrugged, ready to go back downstairs, when I heard a female voice calling.