WANT (completed)

ch. 16 | Change of Plans

CASSANDRA'S POV

"Helllooo? Earth to Cassandra!!"

I snap my head up, jerking back at little in my seat, having been completely zoned out from the world around me. I quickly lock my phone, smiling innocently at Camara who is raising her eyebrows at me curiously.

"Who are you texting?" she questions, narrowing her eyes at me as she leans forward, trying to grab my phone out of my hand. I quickly push my phone under my thigh, trapping it between my body and the cushion of the barstool, shrugging a bit.

"No one," I mumble, picking up one of the magazines on her kitchen island and beginning to flip through it to avoid looking at her. But I don't even have to look at her for her to know what's going on inside my head. As I said, I'm a terrible liar, and she knows me all too well.

"Is it Asa again?" Camara asks, putting an emphasis on his name as she twirls a strand of hair around her finger. I can practically feel her stare into my soul, so I continue to keep my eyes mindlessly on the fashion magazine in my hands. Instead of answering her, I purse my lips together.

"Of course it is," she sighs, yanking the magazine from my hands before I can resist. I frown, pressing my palms down on the countertop, looking at her. If I didn't love her so much, I would think she was the most annoying person ever. I have no idea how we even get along, because she's so freaking nosy, and I like to keep my mouth shut.

"You've been hanging out with him a lot these last two weeks. Are you two dating?" Camara grins, sliding the magazine across the counter as she leans back forward, her elbows resting on the marble as she plants her face in her hands.

"No, Cam. We aren't," I roll my eyes at her, shaking my head at her question. She knows very well that I don't want to talk about it, because I've already told her a thousand times over our messages, yet here we are again. I just can't run from the conversation now, or ignore her considering she's right in front of me this time.

"Why not? You clearly like him, and he's super nice from what I gathered at the Gala, and soooo fucking hot," she continues, giggling a bit as she practically swoons over him. Thank you, Camara, as if I didn't already know how he's too good.

"You know why, Cam," I mumble, biting down on my lip as I glance over her shoulder, looking out the kitchen window to the snow that falling outside. A blizzard was supposed to roll in over the night, and I figured what better way to spend being stuck inside than with this girl? Maybe I should reconsider while I can.

"Cas, you need to get over it already. It's been years, literally. Give him a chance," I feel her settle her hand on top of my own, and my eyes flicker to meet hers. I hated it when she pitied me, and by the look on her face, she was doing it all over again. Plus, I also didn't appreciate that she was bringing up something that I told her not to more times than I can count.

"It has nothing to do with that. I'm just not interested in dating right now, and he knows that," I shrug, gently pulling my hand away from her and looking away from her again. As much as I want to tell her to just flat out shut up, I don't have it in my heart. I hope she just gets the hint.

Camara sighs, moving around the counter and coming to stand next to me. I slowly turn to look at her again as she places a hand on my shoulder. She's smiling softly, and I pout a little, feeling awful about the way that I'm talking to her right now. She's my best friend. She's just looking out for me.

"I haven't seen you this happy in so long, Cas. And I know it's because of him. I just want you to be happy, and you know that. If you don't want to be in a relationship, that's fine, but I don't want you to be basing that decision on your past relationship either," she squeezes my shoulder before pulling me into a tight hug. I flinch a little, mostly because she's hugging me so tightly that I can't breathe. She laughs a bit, loosing her grip on me as I return the hug.