As the Snow Falls

Chapter 4

Once upstairs again, I find Cassie by the thermostat. She pops the box open as I reach her, and begins fiddling with the heat. "What do you think I should set it at?"

Oh, you want my opinion now?

"Maybe 80? Just in case, you know... plus it will take a while for it to heat up. Once it hits 80 we can turn it down..." I stop, worried I'm being annoying again.

"That sounds good. I'm sorry about that... about getting mad when you said the power will go out. It probably will, and soon. You're generally right about things, I don't know why I keep shooting you down. I'm sorry about that, Ava."

I feel frozen as Cassie apologizes. "Oh. Thank you. You don't need to apologize though..."

"I do. I'm trying to be better. And nicer. You've been perfectly nice to me and I haven't done anything to deserve that."

"It's okay, Cassie. You're fine." I give her a timid smile, which she returns.

"Alright, it's set to 80! Time to warm up." Cassie says happily. I follow her back to the room, and watch her back. That sweater can't be very warm, at least not for the middle of winter. I narrow my eyes as I catch myself thinking of ways to find her something warm to wear.

Why am I so focused on making sure she's okay? Why do I want to protect her?

Oh, I don't know. Maybe because you like her? You have feelings for her? Evil voice again.

Shut up, you. I can't like her. She's mean. And moody. And probably doesn't even like girls. Plus, not many people here know that I like girls, so why would she?

The sooner you stop denying it, the sooner we can get to the fun part.

Oh my HELL. Stop! There will be no 'fun part'. We'll be out of here by tomorrow, so there's no point in entertaining those thoughts.

Oh, but they are entertaining thoughts, aren't they?

I let out a frustrated breath. My evil little voice was going to cause too many issues. I clear my thoughts before joining Cassie back in the room. The clock on the wall shows that it's a little after 10:30, and I'm surprised two hours have already passed.

I grab a book off of the small bookshelf by the TV, and settle onto the couch. The blinds are up on the window behind me, and I shiver as some of the cold leaks through.

"Do you want to come sit over on this couch? It's right under the vent, and I can feel the heat now." Cassie says softly from her couch.

I really did want to sit over there. With her. But I didn't want to do something to make her mad again.

"Come here." She says, scooting over. "I won't bite."

Oh, but you wish she would. In all the right places. Maybe an earlobe?

Shut up.

I get up and sit next to her, careful to stay on my side. The couch is three cushions long, but Cassie sits on the middle cushion.

Weird...

I start reading again, trying so hard to focus on the words. But my focus flies out the window when her arm brushes mine. We both had long sleeves on, so it shouldn't've been a big deal. But it was. It doesn't happen again, and I manage to calm down and focus on my book.

After about an hour, we finally start to feel the heat, and I take off my coat. I have a sweater on underneath, and I take that off too so I'm just in my simple white blouse. Cassie takes off her sweater as well, and I fight the urge to stare out of the corner of my eye. I lose. The bottom of her sweater catches on the hem of her shirt, pulling it up slightly. I catch sight of a strip of fair, soft skin and my breath catches.