MARSHMALLOWING OUR WAYS

CHAPTER 11: CASSIE & WESLEY

I look at my reflection.
I look cute.
I smile.
I head towards Wes,who is shocked to see me.
"Whoa, girl. You look like a marshmallow."
I frown."Huh?"
"Oh, no. Not like that. I mean,you look like a marshmallow, sweet and cute!"
"Thank you!", I grin. Then, looking down at myself I say, "I do, don't I?"
We both crack up at that.
We end up buying a few hoodies, two jeans, five shorts and a few converses and sneakers.
We buy a few cosmetics too. Nothing much, just a few glosses and foundations and all.
We end our day with ice cream. His, vanilla, mine, bubblegum.
He drops me off at my house with an awkward hug, which friends do.
I march towards my house showered with confidence. The house seems quiet. And not the good kind of quiet. The silence is unbearable and heavy. Like the kind of silence used to hide pain. Panic surges inside me. I beeline to my room, throw my things down and head out to search for my parents.
I check all the rooms. They are not there. I call them. They don't pick up. I call Ron to ask if he knows anything. He doesn't. I panic. I faint. Blackness takes over me before a dream starts playing in my head. I dream about Mia. About the accident.

WESLEY

I drop Cassie off and head towards my home. Halfway there, I realise Cassie has left one of her bags here.
What should I do?
I think for a moment and take a U-turn.
When I reach there, I realise the front door is unlocked. I shake my head in disbelief as I walk to the door. I open the door and there lay Cassie.
On the floor.
Eyes closed.
Her phone in her hand.
Her lips parted.
Her body still.
Her state unconscious.
I kneel beside her and put my rough fingers against her soft wrist, checking her pulse. Almost normal, I guess. Still, I call 911.
The ambulance arrives a while later and carries Cassie on that moving bed thingy. They say she had a panic attack. There raises the question, why? She was perfectly fine earlier. She was laughing and smiling and joking. What happened? What changed?
I deny when they ask me if I'm her family. They, then, order me to call her family. Awesome. I barely got her number and now I'm expected to have her family's number. Just great.
I call Mom, not knowing what to do anymore. I explain the situation to her and ask her to come here with Cassie's parents. I end the call and sit on the porch as they take her away to the hospital. They say I should stay here and wait for her family, and I'm doing as they are saying because my geeky brain isn't working anymore.
I lay there with my head in my hands and cry. Cry. Cry. Cry.

When my eyes are swelled up and no tears can be formed anymore, I stand up and pace back and forth, not allowing my mind to think. To think about what happened, about what could have happened had it not been for me. To think about what made that happened, about whether it is related to the change in Cassie or not. When the pacing doesn't work, I run for my car, grab my phone and headset and turn on some music. Some heavy metal at the highest volume it could get to. The volume that can make me deaf and unable to think.
I listen to music and just go blank. I don't think, I don't hear, I don't see, I don't feel. Hell, I guess I don't even breathe, until a car shows up.
A man in his forties walks up to me with a curious look in his eyes. Looking at the man's hair, I instantly knew he was Cassie's and Ron's father. Ron has his brown curly hair.
I extend my right arm and introduce myself, "Mr. Burns. I'm Wesley Evans, Cassie's co-worker. I came here and found the front door unlocked, as I entered the house I found it empty except for Cassie who was unconscious at the floor. I have called the ambulance and they took her to the hospital. They asked me to wait here so I could inform you people. They believe Cassie fainted because of a panic attack-", my voice breaks at 'attack'.
The man just stood there, his body not moving as if already dead, his eyes blank with a few tears moistening them, his expressions changing rapidly from horror to blankness to horror again to a kind of... understanding?
In that moment, I can see where Cassie inherits her peculiar complicatedness from. But that understanding...There's something very big I don't know and have no right to ask for. No father shows understanding when her daughter is on her way to hospital after she fainted.
Initially, I agreed to be with Cassie so I could solve her, understand her because that's what I do. I solve people. I solve their emotions. But. There's always a but. I didn't do it before to help people. No. I used to understand people because it gave me power. A unique strength.
I was selfish. I used to make people and myself believe I wasn't but I knew, deep down I am selfish.
But. That has changed. How I don't know. When I don't know. But all I know is that solving Cassie is not for me. I'll solve her. I'll understand her, but not to feel power. No. I'll do all I can to help her.
She is not sad or angry or changed but broken and I'll fix her.