Project Smile

Twenty

"Cass, what's your hurry?" asks Pete with a bewildered expression as we walk into the restaurant. Well, "walking" probably isn't the right term to describe what I'm doing right now. It's more of a really fast power walk crossed with a slow jog. Though the lighting is dim in the restaurant, I spot my friends almost immediately at one of the hibachi grills. Pete and I are the only two missing from it. I sit down, my head racing from everything the boy just told me. I think that they're all greeting me, so I give them all a smile and a wave. Really, though, I'm wracking my brains for a way to talk to Gabriel after this.

   It must be obvious that I'm not fully focused on where I am or what I'm doing because Maria gently touches my arm. "Are you okay, Cass?"

   "Yeah, I'm sorry," I say, shaking my head. "I was just thinking about something that happened earlier in the day. Congratulations, by the way!"

   A bright smile lights up her face. "Thank you!" I smile back, and then she speaks again. "What were you thinking about?"

   "Nothing, really. Just a boy." Her expression becomes intrigued, so I decide to tell her a little more. "You remember Gabriel, right?"

   "He was the really sweet boy, wasn't he? The one that moved away?" I nod, and she nods as well. "Okay. What's up with him? Or you? Whatever you're thinking about?"

   I shake my head. "It's okay. It's not really anything. We're here to be celebrating your accomplishment, not to hear me talk about what I think about him."

   "Cass, please tell me. I love to listen, and besides, all of the attention is making me a little uncomfortable. I wouldn't mind having something to distract me. Please?"

   I smile a little, finally caving. "Okay," I say, and then I proceed to tell her everything. Choosing to begin with the day that I decided to begin Project Smile, I go through all of our wins and mishaps, cutting out the cliff. Gabriel might not want that to become common knowledge. I know I sure wouldn't. Finally, I get to today and finish right as the waiter walks up to take our order.

   "Cass," says Maria softly while Carson begins to state his order, "I want you to call him."

   "Now?" I say, a little bit bewildered.

   "Not exactly this second, but sometime really soon would be good. And by 'really soon', I mean that you should probably just skip out on the rest of us."

   "No, no, I'll just wait until I get home," I say, shaking my head a little bit more violently now to get my point across. "Besides, what am I even gonna say to him if he picks up the phone?"

   "Anything you want to," she shrugs. "You make him happy, and there's no way that he wouldn't want to hear from you."

   A huge part of me knows that she's right, so my head goes from shaking to finally nodding. It wouldn't hurt to talk to him right now, especially when my head is still reeling from everything I just learned. Slowly, I rise to my feet. "I think---I think I'll go outside and call him now."

   Maria gives me two thumbs up. "You go, Cassidy Evans! You go get that boy!" That's all she has time to call out before I exit the room and then the building. As I walk across the parking lot, I pull out my phone and type in Gabriel's number. Putting it to my ear, I bite on my nail nervously.

   I hope he answers.

   It takes three rings before I hear his soft voice say, "Cassidy?"

   "Yes, Gabriel," I say, smiling a little. "I just wanted to call and talk for a little while. Just like old times."

~ ~ ~

He can't believe it.

   She actually called.