GIRLS LIKE GIRLS

chaoter two.

january 12, 1989. monday.

  CASSANDRA HAD SEARCHED around for ben during lunch , but she didn't find him.

  'maybe he went home.' she thought, disappointed. she shook it off and sat down with the boys, her lips pressed into a smile as she watched them bicker.

richie threw an apple slice at stan, and it found a way to get tangled into his wild curls.

"i've got it." cassandra laughed, grabbing the apple and throwing it into the garbage. stan thanked her quickly and looked down.

"oooh he's blushing!" richie cooed, reaching out and messing with stand hair. cass rolled her eyes and laughed, nudging stan with her shoulder.

"i'm beginning to see what you meant when you told me he was hopeless." she joked, causing the others to snicker, except richie of course.

"that's why i'm called the trashmouth." he shrugged, tipping his pretend hat at cassandra, making her laugh.

these were good people, she liked good people.

---

the last hour of the day finally rolled around, and cassandra was happy. even though she had made friends, it was stressful.

  she walked with bill into social studies class, immediately noticing ben sitting in the back corner by henry bowers. she shot him an apologetic look when he motioned for her to sit, and tilted her head towards henry. he got the message quickly and smiled, not blaming her for trying to stay away. bill walked to his seat, and the teacher told her to sit wherever there was an empty desk.

there were two desks, one in front of ben, where she didn't want to go, and one next to a red headed girl who sat by the window.

cassandra walked over to the seat and smiled, holding out her hand.

"i'm cassandra, my friends call me cass."

  "i'm beverly. i don't have any friends, so call me what you want." beverly muttered, shaking cassandras hand.

  "well beverly who has no friends, it's your lucky day. meet your new friend, cass, and meet your new nickname, bev." cassandra smiled widely and bev studied the pretty girls features. cassandra had long brown hair with bangs, and bright blue eyes.

'she's gorgeous.' she thought, but quickly pushed the thought down. she already had 'slut' and 'whore' and 'beaverly' on her name, she didn't need 'queer' too.

cassandra did the same as bev, studying her. she had long red hair that was pulled back into a ponytail, freckles littered her cheeks, and her eyes were a bright blue.

  "she's breathtaking.' cass thought, but  pushed the thought down. 'pull yourself together,cass! you promised yourself you wouldn't let yourself get hurt again.' cass tore her eyes away from beverlys and tucked her hair behind her ear.

it was going to be a long couple of months, sitting next to a girl that pretty.

both girls knew it, too.

  THE BELL RANG, SIGNALING THE end of class. cassandra grabbed her notebook and history text book off of her desk and hugged them to her chest. she waved goodbye to beverly and walked over to bill.

"hey." she spoke, glancing over at bev one last time before she walked out the door.

"h-hi." bill smiled, and they made their way out the door. cassandra put her stuff in her locker, organizing it so it was as neat as her mother would have made it.

'a messy space is a messy life, and you don't have a messy life, darling.' she would say, but she was always lying.

before cassandra left she decided to stop at the bathrooms. she walked in leisurely, going straight to the mirror to pull her long hair into a ponytail, like she did at the end of every day. the scent of cigarette smoke filled her nose and she sighed, breathing in the familiar scent. her mother had caught her smoking once, and threatened to send her away if she did it again.

she didn't do it again.

  three other girls walked into the bathroom, one of them looking extremely mean. she took notice to cassandra right away, and leaned up against the wall by the mirror.

"hey you're the new girl, right?" the blondie chomped her gum loudly after her statement.

"yeah, my name is cassandra, some call me cass." cassandra had no interest in being this girls friend, and absolutely no interest in shaking her hand.

"i'm greta bowie. nice to meet you." the girl, greta, smiled falsely and cass returned the smile. "let's cut right to the chase, though. you stay out of my way and u don't make your life a living hell, got it?" cassandra nodded her head and smiled sweetly.

"i wouldn't try to get in your way, love. thanks for the warning though." she heard a snicker come from inside the bathroom stall and she smiled softly.

"oh, if it isn't the school slut, hiding out in the stalls like always." greta spat, turning away from cass. "i know it's you in there, beaverly. i can smell you, you little bitch."

"what is it greta? am i a slut, or a little bitch?" a familiar voice spoke. bev. cassandra giggled slightly at her comment and greta glared,turning her attention back onto cass.

"i thought i told you to stay out of my way, why are you still here?" she spat, glaring harshly.

"im just enjoying watching you make a fool of yourself. beverly obviously doesn't care what you say about her, so why don't you scoot on out of here darling." cass smiled and greta glared before kicking the stall beverly was in.

"you'll pay for this, bitch." greta growled.

"oh please, you aren't the first person who's said that to me today. leave, greta." greta and her little clique left and cass smiled before speaking again. "they're gone, you can come out now."

beverly slowly emerged, and cass smiled. "come on, let's go have fun instead of staying here."

"sounds like a plan." cass agreed,and the two girls walked out of the bathroom and into the cold january air. beverly had on a large sweater, so the air didn't bother her. cass, on the other hand, had left hers in her locker. she wrapped her arms around herself protectively, shivering.

"where i'm from, it's not nearly this cold."

"oh yeah, where are you from?" bev turned and looked at the girl, inching closer to try to give off some of her body heat.

"california. i moved out here to live with my aunt, my uncle, and my cousin."

"why?"

"i don't want to talk about it." cass snapped, and beverly jumped. "i-i'm sorry. i just, i get defensive."

"no you're okay, i get it. we all have secrets." bev spoke, lingering on the last word.
  secrets.

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