Living Again

Chapter 22

Cassie's POV:

I walked along the hallway, arriving at school too early. The place was mostly deserted, I could only hear the squeak of the janitor's shoes as he mopped the floor. The sound of doors being unlocked.

The sound of absolute silence.

I headed for the stairs, ignoring the small stab of pain in my left leg. I hit it at the edge of the coffee table during last night's beating. There was already a purplish black bruise forming.

I climbed and climbed until I reached the rooftop of the school building. Our school has four floors so my legs were starting to feel a little stiff as I opened the door. A blast of cold wind greeted me. I drew my arms around myself, trying to keep warm. I walked closer to the edge, looking down and observing. Only a few students were in school, hanging out at the parking lot.

I looked up at the sky. The sun was shining behind the clouds. I couldn't help but feel at ease.

Peaceful.

Everything seemed clear and in focus, making me appreciate nature's beauty more.

"Cassie?"

I turned around and saw Jake standing a few feet away from me.

"Jake?" I was confused. "What are you doing here?"

"Saw you from below" he shrugged casually, taking a step forward cautiously. "Do you mind?" he offered a hand to me.

I glanced at his hand questioningly. He gave me an encouraging smile. After a minute, I took it. Instantly, he yanked me towards him. His arms embraced me and I could hear him muttering something but I couldn't understand anything.

I got out of his embrace. "Are you okay?" I asked, not even noticing that I didn't flinched away from him.

"I'm fine" he let out a breath. "I'm fine"

Finally aware of the position we were in, I took a step back, smiling slightly. He was staring at me. "So, what made you come up here?" I asked, sitting down.

"Well, I was an ass when I...um...ignored you back" he looked away, taking a seat too.

"Oh" I was quiet for a second. "It's no big deal" I shrugged. "I understand"

He shook his head. "No, it is a big deal. After everything that you've been through...You could use someone to be there for you"

"What do you mean?" I asked, confused.

He looked uncomfortable. "I, uh... saw you at the cemetery yesterday"

My eyes widened. "Oh"

"Sorry if I intruded on something"

"It's fine. It wasn't exactly a secret, but no one just seemed to care" I looked away from him.

"See, that's just wrong. That's what-"

But I cut him off. "-made you feel like a jerk?" I finished. Jake couldn't look at me. I looked at him softly. "It's fine Jake. No one really cared anyway and besides, I'm used to it"

"That's the thing Cassie. You shouldn't be used to it, and you know what?" he reached for his bag and took out a phone. "Here'' he handed it to me. "If you need to talk to someone, I'm here for you"

All I could do was accept it from him. "Jake, this is..."

"Don't worry about it. Besides, that used to be my old phone" he shrugged casually.

"Well...thanks" was all I could say.

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Jake's POV:

We were silent as I walked her to her class.

I was deep in thought though. Cassie seemed...different. She was talking a lot more than she used to and for the first time, she smiled. She smiled. She had never smiled before, even when I was spending time with her.

It was a pleasant change.

"Thanks" she turned to me and waved as she went insidenthe classroom.

"See you at lunch?" I asked tentatively.

She just smiled.

I took that as a yes, but when lunch came, she never came.