My Guardian Angel

Prologue

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.

She kept tapping her pencil against her desk while staring up at the clock. This was ridiculous. Why does time have to slow down when you stare at a clock? This is all she's been looking forward to and she couldn't wait!

Cassie wasn't normally like this. No, she wasn't one to have plans for summer. However, this was different. Ever since entering Grad School for her writing, she decided to get out of her comfort zone. She made friends that she already knew were going to last a lifetime and they constantly go on exciting trips during breaks. They were never too far, though, considering they are poor college students.

All they need is a car and some gas money, which is what she loved about this group. Her friends back home always wanted to do something absolutely lavishing. One of Cassie's biggest regrets is going along with it because now she's very stingy on how her money is spent. She went an entire two months without anything in her bank account. How she survived, she still has no idea.

This was the last summer before graduation, so she decided she could splurge after her friends brought up the idea of vacationing in Mexico for a few weeks. She had just enough for the flight, the hotel and a couple weeks worth of food, drinks and maybe some souvenirs.

Finally, the clock hand hit twelve and she was out of her seat as her professor declared everyone to have a good summer. As she was walking quickly across campus, she saw her two girlfriends, Katie and Mads, walking just as quickly from two operate classes.

When they saw each other, they all squealed and ran to each other, meeting in the center of the sidewalk. "Vacation!" They all shouted as they jumped for joy. Some people stared with amused looks, while others could not be bothered by the annoying squeals.

"Okay, okay!" Katie, the leader of their group, called. "Breck and Casey will be at the house no later than five! Cass, I know you're already packed and will be there at four, but Mads..." Mads was, without a doubt, the prettiest one in the group. She was also the most irresponsible. The only reason she got away with it was because of her looks. In this friend group, they don't tolerate it.

Mads put her hand up with an annoyed look as she said, "I promise, I will be there no later than five. If I don't, you can leave without me." Cassie and Katie looked to each other, as that was their original plan. "You bitches!" Mads gasped with a laugh. "Okay, you know what, I'm going to be earlier than Cass."

Once again, Cassie and Katie looked to each other. It took a moment, but they started laughing. "In your wet dreams," Cassie told her. "Like Katie said, I'm already packed. Hell, I could head over right now if I wanted!"

Mads rolled her eyes. "Fine," she said, "then I will be there at four. Mark my words, bitches."

She started walking away - sauntering is more like it - as Katie said, "Consider them marked."

Cassie went back to her small apartment after that and gathered up her things. She did a few rounds around the place, making sure she didn't forget anything. She called her mom as she left, letting her know about her flight and the details of the trip. Her mom was even nice enough to send her an extra few hundred dollars to spend!

She made it to Katie's house in just a few minutes with an Uber and walked inside to her freaking out about what she's going to wear for two weeks. Katie was probably the most incredible friend Cassie has had. She's sweet, considerate, friendly to everyone without being fake, and is Cassie's biggest cheerleader.

She is also filthy rich. This house was gifted to her by her parents after graduating high school. Cassie didn't know Katie at that time, as they lived in separate states, but made the mistake of thinking Katie was just a privileged, mean white girl. Turned out she's rich, but not mean.

She could be a bit over the top, however, which were Cassie's exact thoughts upon walking into Katie's room, only to get a corset flung onto her face.

"This is insanity! How do I not have anything to wear when our flight leaves in..." she ran over to her bed and threw herself at her phone to check the time. "Six hours, oh my god!" She ran back over to her walk-in closet, digging out everything she owned.

Cassie wasn't one for fashion or even style, but she knows a good outfit when she sees it. While Katie remained in her closet, practically crying over a mountain of clothes, Cassie was putting together a few things that got thrown her way.

When she needed extras, she just took them from the pile underneath Katie. Katie didn't bother to acknowledge what Cassie was doing because she was so distracted by her own thoughts and cries.

"Katie, come here," Cassie encouraged, as she hauled up her friend.

Katie wiped at her tears as she miserably followed Cassie out. She stopped when she saw the outfits on her bed. "What is this?" She asked. She picked up a shirt and a skirt she never thought of putting together and stared at it in awe. Everything about this screamed Mexico!

"Oh my God," Katie cried.

Cassie's eyes went wide. "What? What did I do?"

Katie flung herself into Cassie's arms and hugged the life out of her. "You made everything so much better!" Katie cried. "You always do, you ass!"

Cassie laughed in relief and hugged her. "Come on, we don't need Mads showing up and gloating about how she's ready to go before you."

They spent the remainder of their time packing up Katie's suitcases and talking about everything, but also nothing. Unfortunately for Cassie, her least favorite subject was brought up, but it was Katie's favorite.

"So...I've seen you and Casey getting closer." Katie gave her a knowing look, while Cassie only glared. "Oh, come on! He's cute and he likes you! What's the problem?" Cassie shook her head. She really didn't want to talk about this.

"Are you still caught up on Dylan?" Katie asked. "Because that asshole has been living rent free in your head for over a year. Now, I don't know if you've noticed Casey's endless, annoying attempts to flirt with you, but you need to open your eyes!"

Cassie kept shaking her head, trying to tell Katie to stop. "I don't have time for that right now, Kate," she explained. "I'm focused on graduating and getting a job so I can pay off my endless debt of student loans. If Casey still wants me after that, then great. I'm just not quite there yet."

Katie said she understood and kept off the subject the remainder of the time.

Mads showed up at - surprise, surprise - four fifty-eight. Cassie and Katie were waiting for her outside the house. "Okay I know, but I had outfit issues," she tried to explain. Mads had more of an outfit issue than Katie, which was sometimes hard to believe unless you've seen it.

Breck and Casey showed up just a minute later and hopped out of Casey's truck. Breck greeted the girls as he always did with a strong hug, but then a punch to the shoulder for Cassie. Even though she was a girl, looked like a girl (minus the short hair) and identified as a girl, they always saw her as "one of the guys". It earned her extra treatment, but not in the way a girl would exactly like from a guy.

Then there was Casey, the most respectable one there. He also gave the girls strong hugs, but when it came to Cassie, it lingered just a little bit longer. Cassie didn't know what was wrong with her to reject such a hot, muscular man that liked her exactly how she was, but she was constantly slapping herself for it.

"Hey, Cass," his deep voice said.

She smirked back as she said, "Hey, Case." Because their names were so close to each other, they loved to joke about it.

"These your's?" He pointed to her bags. She nodded so he picked them up and loaded them into the car.

Katie and Mads were standing there, waiting for Breck to do the same. "Oh, what, you think I'm gonna do that?" He asked. "Equal rights, remember? You girls got this." He was an asshole sometimes, but meant well. He was more like the big brother of the group. If he caught anyone else saying that to the girls, or punch the girls in the arm, he would break that person's arm.

Once everything was loaded and ready to go, the girls piled into the cramped back seat as the boys got in. Casey looked back to them as he asked, "Who's ready for Mexico?"