Chaos In The Flesh

Chapter 32 (part 1)

Cassie Sandsmark: Move Along (The All-American Rejects)

Go ahead as you waste your days with thinking. When you fall, everyone stands.

Cassie opened her eyes and sighed as the other students gave her nervous glances. Rubbing her temples and standing up, she walked to the front of the room and took Shelby's place in front of the white screen.

Shelby had made the argument that Cassie, Anasi and Sarah were not doing enough to help with prom. Smirking as she passed Cassie, she obviously thought she had knocked her presentation out of the park.

Another day and you've had your fill of sinking...

Cassie had to admit, some of Shelby's points made sense. Maybe if she wasn't so focused on saving the world, the prom plans would have been moving smoother.

With the life held in your...hands are shaking cold...These hands are meant to hold–

But too bad Cassie wasn't going down without a fight.

Speak to me!

Cassie presented herself the way she wanted others to see her: confident, at ease and proud. She knew that she didn't have the strongest points to make, especially when she had been doing less work than normal. She also knew that while lots of people liked her, they liked Shelby better.

But that didn't mean she was going to let her win. Shelby could take a loss... Cassie couldn't.

When all you gotta keep is strong, move along, move along like I know ya do. And even when your hope is gone, move along, move along just to make it through!

Thankfully, she won the argument/debate. Now the real issue was trying to get through the rest of the morning.

So a day when you've lost yourself completely, could be a night when your life ends...

Meeting with teacher, class, meeting with debate club, class, meeting with counselor, class – and finally lunch. But even lunch was busy because she had to go make a secret call behind the bleachers with Donna. She didn't even have time to eat before running back to classes for the afternoon.

Such a heart that will lead you to deceiving, all the pain held in your... hands are shaking cold...Your hands are mine to hold! Speak to me!

Cassie ran out the door of her last class and immediately went to a new meeting with the Community Service club, helping announce the next week's projects and potential changes to the upcoming schedule. Once that was done, she sprinted to the town library and met up with her poetry club (where they mainly did English homework and talked more about past books they enjoyed rather than the newest ones in their personal libraries).

When all you gotta keep is strong, move along, move along like I know ya do! And even when your hope is gone, move along, move along just to make it through!

By the time Cassie called her mom to pick her up, it was past 8pm. On the way home, Cassie remained silent as her mother argued to some investors about finances and improper distribution.

As her mother walked into the dining room and sat down behind her computer, Cassie walked upstairs to her room, changed into different clothes and laced up her running shoes.

Sneaking down the stairs, and careful not to alert the dogs, Cassie slipped on her sweatshirt and walked out the front door and her mother grumbled something into the phone.

As gravel crunched under Cassie's feet, she looked down at her phone and started her running app. Taking a slow start to her run, she focused on her breathing and the pounding of her feet on the pavement rather than the fatigue and exhaustion in her muscles and mind.