way to go, tiger | Lorenzo Berkshire

࣪𖤐 Y5 | 4 . Lonely & Alone

I MISS YOU, IM SORRY — GRACIE ABRAMS
'Nothing happened in the way I wanted, every corner of this house is haunted.'

It's been a week since Cassie and Enzo's argument with their friends. One morning, Cassie and Pansy are getting ready for school in utter silence. She's refusing to speak to Cassie no matter how much she tries. The other girls are neutral in all this, but there's still a level of awkwardness.

As they brush their teeth, side-by-side, Cassie's eyes are hit with a rush of tears. She doesn't let a single tear fall down, afraid of Pansy seeing her weak side. Instead, she takes a deep breath and wipes her eyes. "Are you crying?" Pansy asks after spitting her toothpaste into the sink.

Cassie turns to face her, her eyes wet. "No, I'm fine." she mutters.

"Cassie..." Pansy starts, taking ahold of her hand as Cassie turns to walk out of the bathroom.

"Don't start acting all sweet now as if you haven't been ignoring me for a week straight. It's pathetic, Pansy."

Pansy's jaw clenches, "I'm pathetic? You're the one that doesn't stop screaming and crying all the time."

"Oh I couldn't think of anything I would be crying about! I must be crying over nothing!" Cassie says sarcastically, earning an eye roll from Pansy. "You're supposed to be my best friend, Pansy. What happened?" Cassie says, her voice more low and calm.

"Don't get all soppy with me again. You do nothing but cry, Cassie."

Cassie scoffs, "Oh, I'm so sorry for showing my emotions. Pansy, I've lost my absolute best friend, for god's sake! I'm a werewolf with a dead dad and brother. I'm sorry for being upset once in a while."

"Oh just piss off, Cassie."

Cassie feels as if she'd been hit by a truck at her words. She's lost the people she was the most terrified of losing. Pansy was Cassie's best friend. She was supposed to be there for her through thick-and-thin.

The one person Cassie needs to speak to right now is dead. She needs Cedric more now than ever.

Pansy slams the bathroom door behind her and  Cassie faintly hears her sprint up the dormitory stairs into the common room. Cassie closes her eyes and bows her head.

"Hey, you okay?" Lexi asks, warily stepping into the bathroom.

Cassie takes a deep breath. "Yeah, fine. Just getting to me— all this. Pansy doesn't seem to be making it any easier for me." Cassie laughs.

"Ignore her, Cass. You're doing really well at the moment, and just in case you haven't heard it in a while, I'm proud of you." Lexi smiles, taking both of Cassie's hands.

Cassie's eyes threaten tears again and her lip quivers. "Thank you, Lex. That means so much."

"Of course. You coming down to breakfast now?"

"Yeah."

It's like everything has gone downhill since Amos died. Cassie has never been through so much pain all at once. The emotional whiplash is excruciating. It just feels like everything is hitting her at once, each slap hurting even more than the previous. Her body is limp from her own mind beating itself up. Cassie isn't just bruised on the outside, but the inside too.

Fuck.

She isn't weak.

༻✦༺༻✦༺༻✦༺

Cassie's heart pounds with anxiety as she walks into her Astronomy classroom. This is the only lesson where their seats are absolutely permanent, meaning that she isn't allowed to ask Sinistra to let her move seats.