Cassie (Book #1 of the "Cassie" Series)

Chapter #4: Deader Than Dead

9:51 pm

The drive to Ryan's house started pretty awkwardly, I didn't know what to say to break the ice and he was too focused on the road to really speak. Surprisingly Chad and Hope were alright with me ditching them to hang out at Ryan's and even offered to drop my car back off at home so Ryan didn't have to see me with it, I expected a whole other reaction after the whole thing with Naya. Speaking of, she didn't return any of my texts. My phone clearly said she opened them, so after a while, I just left her to rest. I don't want any bad blood between us. I rested my head against the window of Ryan's car, staring outside into the night sky, the streetlights shining on my face as we passed by. After about five minutes of driving, Ryan broke the silence.

"You can turn the radio on if you want." He said. His eyes were glued to the road, one hand on the wheel and the other in his pocket. 

"Sure, why not." I reached out and turned the dial, landing on the local Pop FM station playing a will.i.am song. The music didn't help the atmosphere, if anything it just made it even weirder. I continued looking out the window, mouthing along to the chorus of "Feelin' Myself".

"If you're really not feeling it, I could just drop you back home and we could hang out some other time if you want." Ryan looked at me for a second before focusing his eyes back on the road ahead, obviously feeling the air of discomfort. 

"No, I really do want to hang out."

"Cool, just making sure because you're really quiet over there, and you're usually a real chatterbox."

"I'm fine... I'm just a little worried about Naya." That was the truth, it wasn't the whole truth, I still was a little nervous at the prospect of actually hanging out with Ryan for the first time in four years. But Naya was still on my mind, and I really did get a little bitchy with her. I didn't want her to think I was choosing Ryan and his friends over her, I could never do that to my best friend.

"You're worried about her cramps?" Shit. I forgot I told Ryan that. 

"Yeah... what if she has some...female issue or something?" Suddenly I missed when the car ride was silent.

"Umm... I'm sure she's fine." Ryan replied with a nervous chuckle. Oh God, now I was the one making it awkward. A few more moments of silence followed, and as soon as we pulled into Ryan's driveway I was just thankful we got there quick enough so I didn't say something else dumb.

10:05pm

"My parents are out at some promotion party for one of Dad's colleagues out of town, so they won't be back until the morning." Ryan explained as we trundled up the steps to his front door.

"That's alright. I'll only be over to watch a movie then I'll go if you don't mind dropping me off."

"I don't mind at all, funny girl." he responded as he started entering the code to the security system. I guess "funny girl" is my new nickname? I'm not too bothered, if anything I think it's cute. "My sisters are home though, Nicole should be in bed and Cleo barely leaves her bedroom unless it's to eat or complain."

"Cleo sounds like my kind of girl." I joked. Ryan chucked and turned the handle of the door, letting me step into the room before him. His living room was absolutely spotless, so clean in every way. The wall paint was almost silver, giving the whole room a modern feel to it. My eyes were immediately drawn to a cabinet over behind the TV. The cabinet had old school photos of Ryan, ranging from about fourteen until now. Next to the framed photos were trophies, obviously from various football games that he'd won over the years. As Ryan reset the security alarm, I observed the various golden and silver mementos of a life dedicated to Ryan being at the top of his game at everything. Hell, he even had swimming trophies from when he was about eleven.