"Let's go on an adventure," Caden says, making Cara jump. He chuckles at her, apologizing for scaring her. "Why do you want to go on an 'adventure'?" Cara asks, picking up her black converse from the floor by the front door. "Because it's better than sitting in this cabin doing nothing all weekend," Caden says. "Now hurry up!"
Cara and Caden walked out the front door of the cabin, and didn't even bother telling anyone else where they were heading. "So, how are you doing?" Caden asks her as he starts up his Explorer. "And don't give me your bullshit "I'm fine" because we both know after what happened, you aren't," Cara lets out a sigh and shrugs her shoulders. "I'm feeling a lot of emotions," She admits. "I feel sad, I feel mad, but for the most part I feel like a really shitty person for what I did to her," Caden looks over at Cara as he drives. "Cara, what you did is nothing compared to what everybody else did," He says. "When are you going to get that through your head?" Cara sighed again, looking down. "Just because I didn't do anything to physically hurt her like people like Sierra and Kayla did, doesn't mean that my contribution to the bullying didn't factor in when she decided to kill herself, Caden,"
"Alright, I'm sorry," Caden apologizes after the car ride went silent for a few minutes. Cara sighs. "No, I'm sorry," She says. Caden shakes his head. "I'm not just sorry for what I just said," He says. "I'm sorry for everything. All the shit I put you through, I'm sorry," Cara gives him a small smile. "Thanks, Caden. It means a lot to hear you say that,"
-August 20th, 2015-
"Oh, fuck you, Cara! At least I don't have a reputation of being the biggest bitch in town!" A slightly drunk Caden shouts at Cara, immediately sobering up and regretting it when he saw the tears welling up in her eyes. "Cara, baby, I'm sorry, I didn't mean that," Shaking her head, Cara pushes through the crowd of people in her house and runs up the stairs to her bedroom, rolling her eyes in annoyance when she sees a couple - specifically Derrick Connors and Kayla Morris - making out on her bed. "Get out," She snaps, watching them as they quickly shuffle out of her room. Slamming and locking the door, Cara leans against it, sliding down as she allowed the tears to fall freely. Suddenly, Caden was banging on the other side of the door. "Cara, let me in!" He shouts. "I didn't mean it, I'm sorry!"
-September 5th, 2015-
"Hey, Isaiah," Cara says to her friend and the party host, Isaiah Enriquez. "Hey, Car. You having fun?" He asks her. Cara gives him a smile, nodding her head. "Have you seen Caden?" She asks him. Isaiah's smile falters. "Ah, Mr. Boyfriend of the Year, no I haven't," He says. "But I'll keep an eye out for him," Cara chuckles, nodding her head. "Thanks, Isaiah," She says before walking out of the kitchen. After a couple minutes of wandering around looking for Caden, she stopped dead in her tracks when she saw him sitting on the couch, one hand holding a beer and the other tangled in Sierra Davenport's hair. Caden opened his eyes briefly, and when they locked on Cara, they widened and he pushed Sierra off of him. "Cara, wait!" He shouts as Cara ran through the front door. He chased after her, and Isaiah and Carlos chased after him. "Cara, it wasn't what it looked like," He says, grabbing her wrist roughly and forcing her to face him. "Ow! Caden, let go!" Cara exclaims, attempting to pull her wrist from his grip. His grip was so tight, Cara could feel a bruise already forming. "Hey, man, let go, you're hurting her!" Carlos shouts as he and Isaiah pull Caden away from Cara. Bailey came rushing out with Kevin behind her, and she pulled Cara away from Caden.
-September 7th, 2015 (First Day Of School: Junior Year)
As Caden walked into Mr. Gwin's classroom for Environmental Science, he stopped dead in his tracks when he saw his now ex-girlfriend Cara sitting with his best friend Logan Parks, and Logan's on and off girlfriend Taylor Peterson. "Hey, Caden," Taylor says, smiling up at him. Caden noticed Cara tense up when Taylor said his name, and his eyes fell to her still-bruised wrist. He felt his heart snap, knowing that he did that to her. "You alright, man?" Logan asks him, placing a hand on his shoulder. Caden swallows the lump in his throat, ignoring Logan's question.
As he snapped back to reality, Caden's eyes glanced down to Cara's wrist. It had been over a year since it had happened, but he will never forget and will never forgive himself for physically hurting her. "Caden? Are you okay?" Cara's sweet voice snapped him out of his thoughts, and he smiled at her, his eyes turning back to the road. "Yeah, I'm fine," He says. "I think you're really gonna like this trail up here,"
--
"You were right, I did really like that trail," Cara says as she and Caden sat on the hood of his Explorer, looking out over the viewpoint. "I'm glad you liked it," Caden says, looking at her. Cara turns her head, meeting his gaze, and after their eyes were locked for a moment, Caden was slowly leaning in. Right as his lips were barely a centimeter away from hers, he gave her a chance to back away, but when she didn't he gently connected their lips. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he deepened the kiss, wrapping his arms around her waist. He brought one hand up to caress her cheek. When he pulled back, he smiled at her. "Tell me you regret that," He whispers, daring her. "Tell me you don't think we deserve another chance," Cara shook her head, kissing him again. "I don't regret it," She whispers. "But I don't know if I'll be able to give us another chance," Caden looks away from her, his eyes darting to the ground. "I'm sorry, Caden," Cara says quietly, looking down at her hands. "No, I'm sorry, Cara. I've fucked everything up between us. I fucked up the one good thing I had in my life. I'm so fucking sorry, Cara, you have to know that," Cara reaches over and grabs his hands, interlacing their fingers. "I do, Caden. I do know that, and I forgive you, I just don't know if I can trust you with my heart again," Caden nods in understanding and jumps down from the hood, offering her his hand, which she reluctantly took and slid down. "We should get back,"
--
Cara and Caden avoided each other the rest of the night at the cabin. Everyone could sense the tension between them, but nobody said anything about it. Not even Carlos, surprisingly. Sierra and Kayla had left earlier that day shortly after learning that Caden and Cara had snuck off together for the day. Everyone was relieved to know that Sierra and Kayla were gone, but now they had to deal with another day of tension between Cara and Caden, the two most complicated people on the face of the Earth.
"Tell me what happened, come on, talk to Papa Carlos," Carlos says as he sits down next to Cara in her bedroom. Cara couldn't help but laugh at him. "Don't ever call yourself that again," She says. Carlos nods. "You're right. That was hella cringey," He says. "Now for real, tell me what's got you and Caden all messed up," Cara sighs, licking her lips. "If I tell you, you have to swear to me that you will never ever ever tell anybody," She says. Carlos nods his head swiftly, making a cross over his heart. Cara sucks in a breath. "Caden and I kissed yesterday," She says. "And he wants to get back together," Carlos raises an eyebrow. "And you don't?" He questions. Cara shakes her head. "It's not that, I just don't know if I can trust him," She says. Carlos nods his head in understanding, having been right there when her relationship with Caden went south and ended so abruptly. "You know, he didn't mean to hurt you that night," He says. "I'm not excusing it either, I'm just saying. He loves you more than anything, Cara. That has to count for something," Cara nods. "It does, but I have another problem," She says, whispering the last part. Carlos raises his eyebrow again. "I've kinda been sleeping with Derrick Connors,"
