Oops, I Meant Cassie

Chapter 11

My "vacation" days were over and I could tell that Bridget was struggling to hold in the new secret. She's not very good at that, but she's my little sister. I had to tell her. "Cassie! Come for breakfast!" Mom yelled. I walked down the stairs tying my hair into a basic braid. Mom placed the pancakes onto the table joining the eggs and fruit. We were all finally seated. As I cut my pancake, I noticed a sense of tension from my sister. She was always a chihuaha in the moring. Now she was just acting like a depressed puppy. "Mom I wanted to tell you-" Bridget started. The bus came by. "Well gotta go!" I chirped as I grabbed my bag. "If you don't feel good let the nurse know!" Mom called as I left. Oh thank goodness. Bridget's bus was right behind mine.

"Oh, so she wanted to show up for obediance school today?" Mary-Lynn remarked as I loaded onto the bus." It got the whole bus laughing. "I bite." I answered back. She mouthed the words, "watch your back." I guess all bad comes with good because I found an open seat. I sat my bag down as I put my earbuds in, hoping to block out the kids around me. I knew for sure that Mary-Lynn was plotting something or telling all the kids some lie about me. I just knew it. The bus screeched to a stop and I found myself running to get out first today. Mary-Lynn still won. I raced to my locker and cringed as I eased it opened. I screamed, but not because of what was in the locker. "Hey Cassie." It was Dylan. "You left?" "Yea." I responded. "I thought I told you not to give them power?" "In life sometimes it's best to do what you want." I said putting my straps on my shoulders. He nodded. "Okay, but don't forget that you "clean the basement" tomorrow." He said as he left. I headed for my first class. First period was dull. I found myself often dazing off and not realizing where I was looking. Mary-Lynn always assumed it was at her and kept telling me to watch my back.

Lunch came and I sat with Dylan. "I'm going to get my lunch." I said and he nodded. I came back as soon as I could and sat down. Just as I looked up from my plate, I noticed "the girls" coming my way. I tried not to acknowledge it and focused in on my lunch. All of the sudden, dog treats poured down on my plate. I looked up. "Whoops." Mary-Lynn shook the bag. "Okay...." I brushed the treats away and told Dylan that I was going to get a new tray of pizza. I got up and fell staright on the ground, bumping my chin on the tile floor. "Owww.. gosh." I rubbed my knee and my chin. "Hey, what the heck?" Dylan yelled. "Sorry ,Lassie, I didn't see you there." Mary-Lynn joked. "Lassie?" Gwen asked. "Oops! I meant Cassie." She began to laugh. Obviously they had rehearsed that before. I got up and headed for the lunch line.

It was 15 minutes later and I still hadn't come back. Dylan and Dustin must've been looking for me because I heard my name being called. I heard foot steps. "Cassie! You can't be down here! It's not safe unless it's during your class period!" Dylan warned me. "Oh, big deal. It's not like that's my biggest problem." I moaned. He just rubbed his shoulders. "Come on. It sucks, but it could be worse." "Your just saying that." "Look Cassie." Dustin sat down next to me. He barely ever spoke to me, so I was shocked. "They suck. Okay? You don't suck, they do. If your going to let them get to you then shame on you. Cassie you are a great person and if you don't believe that then they are just going to beat you down. Is that what you want?" My brain was doing flips. Did Dustin just talk to me? Like give me advice? "No. You just don't understand." "Cassie we are all victims of bullying! That's the whole point of our little club." "Oh, yea...." I had totally forgot about that. I had never asked them about their personal experiences. It kind of made me feel bad. Dylan sat down on the other side of me. "He's not wrong, Cass." He said sincerely. I looked up at him. A tear finally traced down the crevices of my face. "We'll make a plan. The Bully Resort stands up!" He thrusted his arm into the air. "The bully what?" We heard a women's voice. We each glanced up. "Uh oh..." Dylan muttered. "You three come with me."