Is she joking? My brain races as I stare at her. She should be joking. I don't think that Cassia should be dating me but I would be infinitely better than whatever 'love' she shares with Jake.
As if I summoned him, Jake's arm wraps around Cassia while the other discreetly pushes me away. Jealous bastard indeed. He smiles at Cassia slyly, looking at her like she's a meal that he gets to eat. "So, where's the dress that you were talking about?"
Cassia turns to me, her eyes asking the same. Maybe, I lied. She must hear my thoughts because she immediately turns to Jake saying that she didn't like how it looked. "It was too revealing." She says, and Jake's look only darkens. She seems to not notice but I want to punch him in the face. She then goes on her toes to whisper in my ear. "Seriously, is there a dress?"
I smirk, "No dummy. I was just making excuses to get you away from him."
She ignores me and turns to Garrett, who finally met up with us. He seems to get lost in clothing racks whenever we go shopping, conveniently missing Jake's overprotective behaviour. "Garrett!" She greets. "Glad you finally found us."
"Those clothes look disgusting." Garrett jokes to Cassia, insulting her as per usual. It's always a joke though, it's their way of compliments. A 'read' is what Garrett calls it, some sort of random terminology from those races he watches. Jake looks angry even if Garrett has clear sarcasm dripping from his words.
Cassia laughs at the insult, there's a falter at the end of it. She retorts quickly, "Do you think that all those clothes are gonna make your body better?" Damn.
I smile at her ferociousness... but I'm well aware that it's my turn to 'read them to filth' as Garrett would say. "Cassia, for you, looking at Garrett is like looking in a mirror." They all laugh as we approach the cashier. We wait in line, one more person till the kind old girl at the till takes us.
Jake looks so offended at what I said to Cassia. Probably because of his stupid overprotective tendencies. He turns to me. "If Cassia's so bad then what are you? You stupid little bitch flirting with every girl you see yet no one falls in love with you." He replies angrily.
We all go silent.
"It's not serious." Cassia says quietly. "It's how we compliment each other. It's a joke. Just a stupid joke. God, Jake." She whispers.
He sighs and runs a hand through his hair. "I'm done with your inside jokes and habits that I don't understand. I gotta go, Cassia. I'll see you later, without them." He hangs the shirt he was going to get on a rack and walks out, "Fuck you." He mutters by my ear before he leaves. Quiet enough so only I hear it.
We walk up to the cashier in astonishment, Cassia shakes slightly. I try to steady her with a hand on her waist but it only makes her flinch. What a way to ruin this. We are all pissed off and off-put.
The cashier smiles and speaks a hello in her southern accent, "So, y'all having a good day so far?"
Dear God woman, read the room!
