♡ ɴᴇᴠᴇʀ ꜱᴀʏ ɴᴇᴠᴇʀ ♡

1 6

TW: this chapter contains topics of violence and abuse.
———————————————————————————
"You're overthinking it, Cary," Cassie said as she sat across from me at a table in the bakery.

I held my hands around the cup of coffee on the table in front of me, warming them from the rainy cold outside. "Cassie, it's Cherry Valance. Compared to her, I'm like..." I struggled for words, "dirt."

Cassie looked at me sympathetically. "Look at me, Cary. You're one of the most beautiful people I know. Inside and out."

"Yeah, but—"

"Cary, listen to me. She's Cherry Valance. She's the most popular girl in school. Plus, she has a boyfriend and she's a Soc. Johnny isn't stupid, he knows he could never have her."

Cassie was a cheerleader with Cherry, so she had daily interactions with her. She knew how nice she was, and I knew that, deep down, she knew Johnny probably liked Cherry because of that.

Her words kind of stung, but I knew what she meant. Yet, she was wrong—Johnny could pull Cherry, I knew that. He was both handsome and kind enough to.

"So he's settling for me." I said, fidgeting with the handle of the coffee cup.

She sighed and shook her head. "Cary..."

I looked at her. Her coffee-colored hair was pulled into a loose braid that wrapped around her shoulder. She was wearing a tan bakery apron that was dusted with flour and tied around her back. Underneath the apron, she wore a forest-green button-up blouse that she probably wore to church that day. Her legs, which she covered by a flowy black skirt, were crossed underneath the table, one of her plain black flats dangling off of her toes as she thought.

She took a sip of coffee and gave me a kind look, her sage-green eyes twinkling. "Just because he called her cute doesn't mean he likes her."

I stayed silent. I supposed she was right—I thought Nathan was cute, but I didn't like him any more than a casual acquaintance.

"He asked you to homecoming, for Pete's sake. Of course he likes you, Cary."

"Yeah, but, what if...what if he's just trying to make her jealous or something?"

Cassie raised her eyebrows scoldingly. "Listen to yourself, Cary. Do you really think Johnny would do that?"

She was right. Johnny was the last person I would expect to do that. If it was someone like Dally, it would be different, but Johnny? No, he was sincere. I kicked myself for thinking that way in the first place. Johnny was kind. He was sweet. He wouldn't dream of doing something like that, especially to me, a friend he's known basically his whole life.

"Thanks, Cass," I said.

She smiled. "Of course," she looked to the back, then back at me, "tell you what, why don't you come to the kitchen real quick. I wanna show you something."

As she got up, I followed her to the kitchen where a pan of some sort of pastry was sitting.

"Apple pie cinnamon rolls," she said, presenting them, "wanna try one?"

It had only been a few hours since I'd eaten, but Cassie's treats were always delicious, so I obliged and plucked one off of the pan. I took a bite and it was like heaven in a bun. The kick of the cinnamon softened by the sweetness of the glaze and the tenderness of the apple bits was a work of art.

"Mmm," I hummed, nodding at her as I took another bite.

She grinned. "Why don't you take some home?"

"Oh, no, Cass, I didn't bring any money."