Prom Without Potions

Chapter 14

She was frozen at the sight. She wanted to look away, desperate not to accept the truth of what she was seeing, but there was no denying the fact that Nathan and Skyler were kissing in the midst of the crowd.

Her eyes scanned the two break away, with Skyler looking right at her. Her evil beady eyes bore into her soul. A sick smile formed on her face. Nathan's eyebrows were furrowed as he turned toward Cassandra. His eyes widened, the confused face he had earlier was now a face of regret.

Her mouth had gone dry, her blood ran cold, and her feet started dashing towards the back door. She had seen a flash of Megan in the kitchen, but there was no way that she could have stopped. Her name was called when her fingertips grabbed the doorknob, swinging the door open before racing out into the cold.

Sometime during the party, the snow had begun to fall - the tiny flakes sprinkled down from the clouds. A thin layer had appeared on the sidewalk, forcing Cassandra to slow down so she didn't slip. Her name was called again, but there was no slowing her down from escaping the party. During the drive back home, the tears were forming but never fell down her cheeks.

He had told her that he didn't want to be her friend anymore. He had talked to her like he was hiding nothing. He invited her to the party. And then he kissed her to bring in the new year.

It was dumb, really. She and Nathan weren't even dating - he was technically allowed to see other girls and date whoever he wanted, but then why would he waste the time to be her friend? Was he flirting with her or was he just being nice because that's just how Nathan Sharpe was?

She had pulled into her driveway to be instantly met with her father opening the front door, dressed in a robe and his navy blue slippers. His face was bright red, clearly fuming with anger. Cassandra silently got out of the car and headed towards her front door.

"Cassandra Rosemary Evans, I cannot believe that you snuck out in the night for some stupid New Year's party! I go up to ask you if you wanted to watch the ball drop with me and I find your room empty! Do you know how worried I was? You left your phone at home, so I couldn't contact you to find out where you were! I was about to call the police! We're going to have a long talk-"

His rage-fueled sermon was interrupted when Cassandra placed her forehead on her father's chest. The tears flooded, and her cries were heavy as she cried into her father's chest. He stood still, placing a hand on his daughter's back, patting her in consultation. She continued to weep as the snowflakes began to fall around them.

"Come inside, honey. We can talk then."

~~

One week.

Cassandra was grounded for a whole week as a result of the stunt that she pulled to go to the New Year's party at Cody's. For the most part, she didn't mind not being able to go out, for she was most definitely not in the mood to see anyone - especially a particular boy that she desperately wished she wouldn't be thinking about.

About an hour after she had gotten home, her phone was blown up with text messages. She had gotten a few texts from Megan but most of the texts she had gotten were from Nathan. It hurt her to ignore them - he seemed like he was desperate to try and make it up to her, but she had enough of his shenanigans. She was tired of getting hurt because of this guy - maybe it was time to give up on Operation: Ask the Quarterback to Prom. What's wrong with Operation: Go to Prom By Yourself?

Cassandra knew that if she was going to get over him, then she would have to ignore him. Absolutely no contact - a glimpse into a life without him. A life where she would never get to see his bright shining face every Tuesday after school.

There were a lot of questions in her mind that she couldn't seem to shake away, no matter how much she tried. Why would he kiss her if he had told her about his conflicted feelings? He had never told her that he liked Skyler the same way, but he still cared about her. She didn't know if it was a sort of "friends to lovers" thing.