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

Chapter #5: Spell Garbage

6:55 am

"Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. SHIT!" I started pacing around the room. How did I fall asleep? Why didn't Ryan wake me up? Has Mom noticed at all that I didn't come home? Questions raced through my mind while Ryan tried to calm me down.

"Relax, you're practically an adult, what can she do?" he asked with a shrug.

"Oh, I don't know, Ground me until 2029?!" I shot back. I opened my phone and looked at the seven missed calls and the texts from Hope, the last one was sent to me at least ten minutes ago. 

2:45: Ummm sis where u at?

3:01: Didn't u say he was gonna drop u off at the door?

3:56: K I'm going to bed but u better be here by the time I wake up

6:32: CASSIE WTF UR NOT IN UR BED???

6:46: CASSIE THIS ISN'T FUCKING FUNNY!!!

I gulped and dialed Hope's number. She picked up almost instantly.

"Thank God, I was worried. Where the fuck have you been?!" she yelled down the phone. 

"I kinda fell asleep watching TV on Ryan's couch." 

"Oh, watching TV, is THAT what we're calling it now?!"

"Hope, I swear to God, that was it. Listen, did Mom notice I was gone at all?" My heart was racing, the last thing I needed was to be in trouble. 

"Not as far as I know, but you better get your ass over here NOW before she does! Wake up Prince Charming and get him to drop you off at the door." and with that, she hung up. 

"I take it you need a ride home?" Ryan crossed his arms and chuckled, I stared back. Maybe I'll find this funny in a few days but right now, I needed to go home ASAP.

7:17 am

The ride home was mostly silent apart from the radio faintly playing a Katy Perry song. Not the kind of awkward silence that we had on the ride there, the kind of silence that meant we were too tired to talk and I was too nervous about what was possibly waiting for me back home. I was still wearing last night's clothes, my makeup was destroyed after watching the movie, I was in desperate need of a shower. Ryan finally spoke just as we were pulling up to my house.

"Well, despite the whole business with you staying over and freaking out, I actually had a really great time last night." he said and flashed a grin at me.

"I had a lot of fun. Thank you so much for dropping me off home."

"No problem. I'm gonna head back and have a shower. I guess I'll see you at school then."

"Yeah, I guess. Bye!" I hopped out of the car as soon as possible. It wasn't that I didn't want to talk to Ryan more, but the more time that passed the higher the chances were of me getting busted by Mom. I have to admit, getting to spend the night at Ryan's house and fall asleep all cuddled up to him on his couch was nice. There were worse ways to spend a night, and I swear I could still smell his cologne on me. As I walked up the stone steps to the front door, I pulled my hair out of the ponytail and let it lay loose across my back. I stopped against the door and quickly took off my heels. They made a lot of noise and I wanted to sneak inside quietly, making sure my footsteps were light. I opened the door very slowly to make sure there wasn't a single squeak.

"Okay, just shut it carefully, don't slam it, and you should be in the clear." I thought to myself. I stepped inside and carefully closed the door and locked it. I put my head against the small window and breathed a huge sigh of relief. I might have made it.