Persistence

XII

The lighting in the restaurant was dim, but the tea lights on the table casted shadows across Cassidy's face that defined her features. Since we got out of the car, she had a smile lightly tugged at the corners of her mouth. I watched ad admired the mysterious girl in front of me while her eyes danced around the room taking in her surroundings. She turned to look at me and raised an eyebrow, deepening her smirk. "What?" she asked.

I shook my head. "Nothing," I said as I grabbed my glass of water. "You're just beautiful." I took a sip while Cassidy hung her head in an attempt to hide her smile. "You're doing it again."

She cupped her face with her hands. "I'm sorry," she laughed. "It's a habit at this point."

"Habits can be broken."

Cassidy moved her hands away from her face. She looked at me and the flames from the candle reflected in her glistening eyes. "Not all."

"Bullshit," I protested. "Name one."

"Smoking."

"It can be broken." Cassidy said nothing, but the expression on her face showed that she was up for the debate on the horizon. "All habits can be broken - some just take a little more time and effort. It's not easy, but it's not impossible."

Cassidy nodded. "Fair point."

A silence fell over our table and again, Cassidy's eyes started to roam around the restaurant. "Alright," I said leaning forward. I folded my hands on the table. "What's another fact I should know about you?"

"How about you tell me a fact for once," Cassidy suggested mocking my movement and placing her hands on the table. "Isn't that how these things work - you get to know each other?"

I felt a smirk tug at my mouth. "Fair enough," I said with a nod. "What do you wanna know?"

Cassidy narrowed her eyes and locked her gaze onto mine. "Tell me about your upbringing."

I laughed under my breath. "Surely there's something better you wanna know."

She shook her head. "I mean, you have a right to privacy."

I let out a long sigh as I tried to prolong the story as long as I could. "Where to start..." I muttered more or so to myself.

"Start wherever."

I smiled at her generosity. "Most of my life it was just me, my mom and my Nan - my grandma. My dad walked out when I was 2, so I never really got to know him."

"I'm sorry," Cassidy said softly. There was a look of sympathy shining in her green eyes.

I shook my head. "Don't be - I'm not. The guy sounds like a piece of shit, leaving his wife and kid behind." Cassidy's expression was soft. She looked at me the same way she looked at the words in her books - reading and processing every detail in the pages. "There's nothing too special 'bout my childhood," I added.

Cassidy opened her mouth to speak, but her voice was silenced by the server bringing out our food. I had forgotten what I ordered, but sushi is sushi to me - either way I'd eat it. Both sets of chopsticks were placed in the middle of the table. I reached for a pair and wasn't paying too much attention because my hand grabbed Cassidy's dainty fingers that were also reaching for the utensils. I looked up at her to see a blush had appeared on her face as she pulled her hand back into her chest. "Sorry," she said with a smile.

Her smile was contagious. "No, it was my fault!" I smirked and handed a pair of chopsticks to Cassidy who gingerly took them from my grasp muttering a 'thank you'. I fidgeted with my chopsticks, trying to get my fingers in the right position to use them. Across the table, I could hear Cassidy giggling. I looked up to see her hand was covering her mouth. "Laughing at me?" I asked raising an eyebrow at her.

"Kinda," she answered. She raised her hand so I could examine her placement.

After a couple more failed attempts, I figured it out. "Thanks," I said with a smile.

"No problem," she said with a toothy grin.

Luckily for me I have the best, most versatile tutor ever.