XO Cassandra

*2*

Cassandra sits against the lockers, her back pressed against the cold metal, her head leaning forward, resting on her knees. She had stayed for the entire funeral, but when it came time to toss dirt in the hole, and when his family asked her to, she couldn't stay. She ran, and ran, and ran for miles until she ended up at the high school, somehow she ended in one of the North Wing hallways, she was hardly ever in this hallway, she didn't have any classes in this hallway, her locker wasn't located in this hallway, none of her friends' lockers are in this hallways, so therefor she had no reason to ever be in this hallway. She listened to the beat of her heart, made out the sound of raindrops leaking through the old roof, but she couldn't wrap her mind around it, or what it was, or where she was, or what was happening. She had stopped, completely and totally stopped. Her mind was blank, her heart beats felt slow and dull, her world- her life- was dark and empty. Nick had taken everything from her, he had destroyed her, and ruined her, he had buried her and stomped on her grave. Her mind kept replaying her life with Nick, it kept repeating the happy moments and zooming in on the sad; her mind was officially against her, it didn't surprise her, it seemed like everything was against her nowadays.

"I know that you're going through something, but the school is closed." A strict voice echoes, tearing her out of her depressed trance. "I know. I don't know how I got here, sorry." She mutters, pushing herself off of the floor. She wipes at her face, trying to force the tears from her eyes for just a few moments of peace. "Don't do it again." The voice didn't seem the least bit friendly, and she wasn't interested enough to turn her face to see who had spoken to her. There were a lot of teachers that didn't like her; her and Nick were the troublemakers of the school, and most of the teachers that hated them were the main victims of their many pranks.

The air outside was chilly, not cold enough for her to freeze, but not warm enough that she didn't at least need a sweater; not to mention that it's about to rain and the temperatures always seemed to drop before a storm in this town. She didn't bother trying to find her jacket in her bag of many things, she just crossed her arms and hugged herself tightly, trying to create her own warmth. The wind knocks her to the side a few times, it messes up her already messy hair and it chills her skin to the point of her actually wanting to stop to find a sweater, but she doesn't; for some reason the idea of stopping didn't appeal to her, and she felt the need to keep walking and pushing through the wind. It was calming, really, to feel the cold air, to feel the wind in her hair, it brought a sense of reality to her life, something that she had longed for since the day Nick... left.

"Cas." The wind whispers in her ear, she forces her eyes shut, trying to ignore the thoughts blurring in her mind. Cas was Nick's favorite nickname for her, he always said that the name Cassandra was too long and it didn't bring the true uniqueness that was her-- his words, not hers. She continues to trek through the town, attempting to locate their favorite, hidden, spot. The park that was hidden deep in the woods, two rights off of Oak Street, and two lefts out of town. The 'park' consisted of two swing sets, an old, metal slide, and a sandbox that was more mold and dirt than sand. It was in a meadow so deep in the woods that if you didn't know the path then you were sure to die because you got lost. There is no reception back where the park is, so if you're stuck then you're stuck for life- it's like a maze that doesn't have an ending, and it was their favorite place to escape the world for a few hours.

She had already made it halfway through the woods when she heard it again, the wind was whispering again, but it wasn't the same. "Cassy, Cas Cas." She could almost see Nick standing in front of her when another nickname came from the wind's invisible mouth. She brushes past another few trees, finally arriving at the clearing. She pushes the hair out of her face and walks towards the swing set, probably the most dangerous swing set in the town, but still a swing set. She takes her seat on the second swing hanging from the second swing set, pushing herself off of the ground with so much force that the entire thing trembles under her weight.

"My parents were arguing again last night." She says to the clouds, trying to picture Nick sitting beside her, the wind giving her his usual response. "Come live at my house, they don't deserve you, and you don't deserve this." A sad smile cracks her face, she has to keep herself together long enough to form another sentence. "I couldn't do that to them, couples fight, they'll get over it." She could imagine his frown deepening, the wrinkles on his forehead would become obvious and she would have to hold herself back from forcing him to smile again. "They don't fight this much." She can hear him mutter, and she almost smiles, just like she always did. "Some of them do. Some of the greatest couples in the world fight more than they show their love for each other, and they last." She would respond, turning her head to smile at him. She was expecting to see emptiness, sitting beside her, smiling in her face, laughing at her broken mind. Instead she saw Nick, the warm smile trying to comfort her, trying to give her something to hold on to. "You're right." His voice is clear, normal, warm and welcoming. "We'll always have the swings." He reminds her, the smile he kept was promising and it gave her all of the hope that she needed to survive for a little while. "I bet they're wondering where I am right now, maybe they're searching for me. They won't find me, at least not for another few hours." She giggles, leaning against the rusted chain of her swing and pushing herself off of the ground once more. "You're right about that too. You're all mine for the next few hours." She couldn't stop the fluttering in her stomach, she couldn't help but turn her head to hide the blush from him. "Yeah." She whispers, her smile brightening.