The Real Deal

Part 1 - Too Short

This chapter jump between 2001, 2016 and 2019. Explaination to the Swedish word can be found in the end of the chapter.

The bike was deep red, just like the color of blood or her cherry earrings. Bill was one of the first in the neighborhood to get a bike from this brand and on top of that a mountain bike. He drove fast around the courtyard to show it off for her. Cross stitching patterns so that he made sharp tracks after himself. Cassie smiled a little at the short thin boy on the too big bike. She didn't know he was one of the first to get that sort of bike at his school, nor did she know that they were the same age. His short height made her believe he was younger.

She was in Sweden to visit her aunt who worked at some sort of fashion company and hadn't really met anyone her own age. Most of the kids didn't seem to know much English even if they could understand the most basic things. But it was more than she understood Swedish, actually more than her aunt understood Swedish. That's why she had become so interested in the boy living in the house opposite her aunts. He carried himself like he was older and even looked a bit smug but when she heard him speak english with an older man she couldn't stop thinking about him. Sure, it was laced with a heavy Swedish accent and he would use the wrong word or grammar sometimes but he could actually communicate well in English.

Cassie, or Cassandra, thought he maybe had noticed her interest because he had started to act even tougher. He skipped his helmet while driving on his bike, he jumped from the highest walls and trees and he seemed to show off to his friends and brothers. His friends made her wonder how old he actually was. They were taller, not as skinny and while he tried to act cool they seemed to have it naturally. Still they treated him like an equal. Not like the short little geek they like to mess around with. Maybe that was because of his brothers, they were in their twenties and were almost as tall as the top of the doorframe.

Bill freestyled by biking without hands on his steering wheel. He watched her watching him while she sat on her aunt's low balcony, drinking juice and reading one of her aunt's thick fashion magazines. She knew his name was Bill, many people repeated it because Bill seemed to get lost in his own thoughts and activities. He put his hand behind his neck to show how relaxed he was and Cassie smirked. His type existed in England too so she knew she shouldn't give him too much attention. If she would have guessed she would have said he was like nine but in reality he was eleven and already thinking about girls. His friends hadn't come to that stage yet but Bill liked to get the girls to giggle and even be close to them so he could smell their strawberry shampoo. His brothers often called him a womanizer and he just smirked at that because it was the truth. Even if he was one of the shortest guys in his class he sure was the most charming and also the catch. He was good in school, he was good at soccer, he drove his bike fast and even could skate a little.

Bill looked at Cassie. She didn't look like anyone at his school. She was tall, much taller than him with full lips and it even looked like she had started to get boobs. No one in his class had that. Sure, the older girls in school had started growing but they would never look at him. Even if his dad was a known actor. And his brothers. The girl in the house opposite of his was probably not so much older than him still she didn't seem interested. Even if he jumped down from the high tree by her balcony and landed on his feet.

He stopped by her balcony. Did he dare to say anything? He keeped himself up on the bike by putting his toes down to the ground. The bike was a bit high but he would never confess that.

"How old are you?" He suddenly dared to shout to the girl in Swedish and she looked at him confused, playing with her hair.

"I don't understand Swedish," she shouted back a bit embarrassed, hoping that he would understand.