Forever Imprinted.

Chapter Three- Before.

Chapter Three- Before.

-In The Beginning.

“I never knew what a real friend was before I met him.”

We didn’t instantly become friends after that. Actually for the first eight days I completely avoided James, which was a lot harder than it sounds considering he lived three houses down from me.

Of course that plan didn’t exactly work because on the ninth day after I came home from work I could hear chatter coming from the kitchen and howdy ho there’s a woman and her son in my kitchen eating the cookies I had been anxiously waiting to eat when I came home.

“Cassandra,” my mother noticed me first, causing the other two people in the room to snap their heads towards me.

I swallowed the lump in my throat and nodded at my mother. “Mother”

My mother stared at me for a few seconds before blinking as realization filled her eyes. “I’m so sorry honey; I forget to tell you that the Nelsons were coming over. This is Miranda,” she gestured to the woman who didn’t look a day over forty, a blonde hair in a messy bond, a face clear of any make-up and a pleasant smile was on her face.

She was just about to introduce the boy when he stepped forward, a smirk plastered on his face.

“Hey Cassie, nice to see you again,” he spoke and it took everything in me not to faint.

“You’ve met before?” my mother questioned, glancing between James and I.

“Yeah,” James answered, raising a perfect eyebrow at me.

“Um…uh,” I tried to speak but it all came out a jumbled mess.

“It’s okay honey,” my mother came over to me, placing a hand on my shoulder and giving it a light squeeze.

It was times like these that I hated myself. My mother could never have friends over when I was home. She could never introduce me to her co-workers and friends without me turning into a blubbering mess and freaking everyone out.

She always said it was okay, always said if they couldn’t accept me then she couldn’t accept them. I wish she didn’t have to choose. I wish I wasn’t a freak.

“Cassandra, that’s a lovely name,” Miranda spoke up, surprising me. Normally after a scene like this they would make some stupid excuse that no one ever bought and make a mad dash for the door, almost tripping in their heels.

“It’s so nice to meet you,” she continued with a smile, and not just any smile but a real one, one of the most genuine things I’ve ever seen. I guess she wasn’t wearing heels.

“Um…why don’t you kids go upstairs and Miranda and I will start dinner,” my mother ushered us up the stairs. I wanted to turn and shout at her, remind her why this wasn’t a good idea, that it spelt disaster. And I did, I almost did but when I turned around to tell her, she was laughing and it was the best thing I’ve ever heard. That’s why I sucked everything up and continued up the stairs, James trailing behind.

‘This is for mom,' I told myself but a little piece of me was whispering, ‘this is for you too.’

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“But you picked last time,” he whined, grabbing the remote.

“I don’t care, it’s my TV and account,” I struggled to pull the remote out of his hand. Give me it you little-”

“Dinner’s ready!” my mother’s voice shouted up the stairs. I let go of the remote and headed for my already open door –thanks to the parental unit- and proceeded to go down the stairs.