hypnotization

Cassandra

Cassandra.

Such a great name.

Or at least it was.

Before the camp it was.

Cassandra "Cassie" Thompson is my neighbour.She was great, you know. Sneaking out in the middle of the night, going on crazy rendezvous. Once when we were 12, she came into my bedroom through the joint tree house we had connected by her balcony and mine.It was 3 am, on a Wednesday night.Wind rushing by causing the balcony door to open, or so I thought.Obviously, it was Cassie trying to "break in" as she would call it but in reality I gave her a key to my balcony door for emergencies.

I sat up on my bed, focusing on the 5-foot blonde walking up to me.

"Hey" she whispered.

"It's 3 am Cas, what are you doing here?"

"I couldn't sleep."

"So you've come here to interrupt mine?"

"No.Not really.Kinda.I got hungry okay."

"And???"

"Well I can't possibly go alone..."

And that my friend is how I ended up sneaking out at 3 am to eat pizza.

This went on for about two years.When I couldn't sleep I'd go to her house and watch a movie.When she couldn't sleep she'd come to mine and force me to go on some crazy adventure she had in mind.We once went to a local dollar store and bought 100 dollars worth of useless things.I still have some of those things to this day.For memories of all the great times we had before camp.All these sneak outs have one thing in common.We'd always finish them with an extra large pepperoni pizza at Pizza Mania.Just like how we started these strings of rendezvous. Nights when I'm sick, busy or tired Cassie would have to go eat pizza by herself.I felt bad but she didn't mind because she had made new friends at Pizza Mania.As we approached the last few months of middle school I had noticed that she started fading away.Hanging out with new people.A new person to be specific.Xander Merritt.

Xander is known for being a bit... aggressive.He's not really the person you would want to hang out with.He gets suspended at least twice a semester.He's I guess what you'd call a "bad boy" but I'm not the one to put labels on people.Never been the one too.It's not that I hate him for being "bad" but he did break all of my brand new crayons when we were eight.ALL 24 OF THEM!

I've been advising Cassie to not get herself involved with him.She won't listen.Typical Cassie.She would always tell me it's fine and that I need to understand Xander more, listen to his stories.The thing is I know.I know why he is how he is.He's from my hometown.We used to hang out all the time before I moved to the city.When he was 5 his parents got divorced.Reasons unknown.His mum fought.Hard.But his dad ended up winning because he was more economically stable.Xander was forced to pack his bags, moved to the city and lived with his dad and his new girlfriend.

Ever since the move his mum never got to see him and a few summers later she made the decision to move state and start a new family.It was so hard for her.They were so close.

Xander became aggressive when his dad's girlfriend started abusing him.He told his dad but it seems as if he doesn't really care.To this day I will still never know why he wanted Xander in the first place.

Cassie wouldn't stop hanging out with him.If anything she started to act more like him.This became more visible when they both and a couple of his friends vandalized the teachers' lounge and skipped the whole last week of school.I tried calling her but she would let me go straight to voicemail.I once caught her staring out her window to mine but then eye rolled as soon as she saw me waving at her.

Her parents started to notice the change of her behaviour too.And that's a first.They're usually so caught up with work they barely remember her birthday.She would come over to the tree house and celebrate her birthday with me considering she's an only child.Mrs. Thompson asked me if I had noticed Cassie hanging out with "suspicious-looking" people.I of course didn't tell her because if I did then she would find out about our sneak-outs.It didn't take her long to figure out who Cassie started hanging with.Xander practically went up to their front door telling Mrs. Thompson they were dating when he came over one evening to pick Cassie up to go to the park.

Ever since that, Cassie has been grounded and was sent to the summer camp.The summer camp.The private and expensive af camp that changed everyone who went and everything around them.You'd come back out a completely different person.

First, she started asking people to call her Cassandra instead of Cassie.Then, she lost her old free, bouncy and curly blonde hair and now has it neatly rolled up into a bun 24/7.I know she's smart but never wanted to show that side of her.Abd now she's in every competition the country has to offer.She's even writing a book!That's not the Cassie I used to know.

It's been a year since said camp and I don't think she'll ever go back to normal.A few weeks after the camp she had given me my key back.That was the only time we made contact after ignoring each other for half of a year.She never wants to hang out with me anymore or anyone for that matter.I miss her.I miss Cassie.I don't want Cassandra.I don't know any Cassandra.