slide away {lorenzo berkshire}

70. fake plastic trees

"Who could ever leave me, darling?
But who could stay?"
- Taylor Swift

~~~~~~~

Lorenzo Berkshire

Cassie didn't look back once.

Her wand was already pocketed, her chin lifted like she hadn't just had her mother writhing at her feet. Like she hadn't held on long enough to make even me flinch.

Draco was pale and stiff, walking two steps behind. Theo's smirk was gone, his jaw tight. Even Mattheo - who'd probably never been rattled by cruelty in his life - looked at Cassie like he didn't quite know what he'd just seen.

But Cassie? She strode ahead as though we hadn't all just heard the scream echoing down the corridor. As though she wasn't trembling ever so slightly in the hand clenched at her side.

I stayed at her shoulder, close enough that my arm brushed hers. I wanted to take her hand, force her to look at me, but I knew better. She was a flame right now - too hot, too sharp. Touch her wrong and I'd only burn us both.

No one spoke until the front doors loomed. Cassie broke the silence first. "We should get back before anyone notices we've gone." Her voice was steady. Too steady.

Theo exhaled slowly, still watching her out of the corner of his eye. Draco muttered something about hating this place now. Mattheo kept glancing between her and me, like he was waiting for one of us to explode.

I couldn't let it go. "Cassie." My voice was low enough that it didn't have to carry to them. "Don't do that."

Her head snapped toward me, eyes blazing. "Do what?".

"Pretend that didn't just happen."

Her mouth twisted, sharp and cruel - not at me, but for me. "What do you want, Lorenzo? An apology? You think I should've curtsied and let her walk away?".

Draco stiffened. Theo shot me a look that said don't push her. Mattheo muttered something under his breath I didn't catch.

But I didn't stop. I kept my voice calm. "That's not what I'm saying."

Cassie's eyes cut to me, then away again. "Then leave it."

She pushed the doors open, and the cold night air spilled over us. None of the others argued. They filed out quietly, grateful for the silence, for the escape.

But I saw the way Cassie's hand trembled when she adjusted her sleeve. I saw the flicker in her eyes when the wind cut sharp against her cheeks.

She could act like nothing had happened all she liked. But I knew the truth: this wasn't over. Not by a long shot.

The castle was quiet by the time we slipped back in, the kind of silence that made every footstep echo too loud. Draco, Theo, and Mattheo peeled off toward their rooms without a word. None of them wanted to be the first to speak, not after what they'd just witnessed.

Cassie didn't wait for them. She kept walking, her pace sharp and clipped, the faint swish of her skirt the only sound. She walked too quickly, like if she stopped for even a second, the weight of what had just happened would drag her under. I followed, close enough to reach for her if she decided she needed me, though I knew she'd rather set me on fire than admit weakness.

At the bottom of the staircase to her dorm, she finally paused. "Goodnight," she said flatly, without looking back at me.

That was it. Nothing more. Like she could just shut a door on what happened.

"Cassie."

Her hand froze on the banister. "Lorenzo, not now."

"Yes, now."