Just Friends...?

Telling The Parents

Cassie had forgotten just exactly how far five miles was, especially when she was walking.

In flip flops.

Damn, those flip flops! They were rubbing like a motherfucker between her toes, and the mid-summer sun beating down relentlessly on her wasn’t helping her mood. She threw her hair up into a messy bun as the sweat ran down her neck when she turned onto her parent’s street.

“Should’a got my fucking car” she growled to herself, giving up with her stupid shoes and taking them off, hissing softly as her bare feet touched the scorching sidewalk.

Truth was, it wouldn’t have taken long for Cassie to walk from Zack’s place to hers, shit, she could have even asked him for a ride. But she didn’t want to go back, not yet. She couldn’t face it. Her own home was no longer a safe place for her, and she needed to get outta there as quickly as possible.
Cassie breathed a sigh of relief as her now sore feet felt the cool grass of her parents’ front yard beneath them. Every little feeling of fear, and dread she felt in her gut instantly melted away as she spotted her parents’ cars in the drive, and the silhouette of her dad watching the Angels game in the living room.

“Mom? Dad?” Cassie called as she stepped through the front door, placing her stupid shoes on the shoe rack.

“Cassie? Is that you, baby?” her mom called, rushing through the house, no doubt coming from the kitchen. “I wasn’t expecting you for at least another hour or so!”

“Yeah, it’s me, mama” Cassie smiled as her mother embraced her happily.

“I didn’t hear your car pull up?” her father said as he emerged from the living room, hugging her too, peering out onto the driveway.

“I didn’t drive, I, uh, walked”

“You walked ten miles in this heat?! Cassie, why the hell would you not drive?!” Lillian frowned at her daughter. “Jesus, come and sit down, I’ll get you a drink, you must be thirsty…”

“Mom, I didn’t walk ten miles, I…I wasn’t at home last night…” Cassie started, feeling the anxiety and fear twisting her stomach again. “I stayed at Zack’s…”

“You guys have one of your drunken all nighters again?” Frank chuckled, helping himself to a beer from the fridge and sitting next to his daughter at the kitchen table.

“Uh, no, um…Brandon showed up at my place last night…”

“What do you mean, ‘showed up’?” her parents both stared at her, a look of shock on their faces.

“Turns out he’d been in the bar all night watching us, well, me. I saw him in there but didn’t think to say anything-“

“Cassidy!” Lillian scolded, sitting opposite her daughter. Her harsh tone faded however, when she saw the look of fear in her daughter’s tear filled eyes. “Oh, sweetie…what happened?”
“He, uh…just leant against my door, saying he knew I was inside…I kept quiet, kept the door locked…then he started banging against it, and yelling at me, saying I’d better open the door, and that he...he’d be back, and I’d regret not letting him in. I called Zack and he came and got me, and I stayed there last night, I haven’t been home yet.”

“Why didn’t you call us, sweetheart?” Frank reached across the table and took Cassie’s hand, holding it to comfort her as tears ran down her cheek.

“I-I couldn’t…it was late, and you guys were tired from the show and probably asleep, I didn’t wanna disturb you…” mumbled Cassie, chewing on her lip. Her parents both scoffed, Lillian getting up from her chair to hug her once more.