Chapter 4

                A week has gone by, and every day during lunch, Cassandra sat with Max and I at our table. The two of us were still curious as to why she left her crew of friends to come sit with two losers like us, but we didn’t question it.

                After school today, Cassandra was already waiting for me by my locker. She had her phone in her hands and a set of headphones on. She was nodding gently to the beat of her music, as she flipped through the pages of a thick book she was holding in her free hand.

                When she spotted me, she let out a sigh of relief, as she pulled her headphones out. She shoved her book into her bag, as she flashed me a pearly white grin. “You’re finally here!” she let out a breath. “You had me reading an entire two pages of that book!”

                I laughed, as I put away my books to go home for the day. “Was it really that bad?”

              Cassandra rolled her eyes, nodding her blonde head rapidly. “Yes! I will never understand Shakespeare’s language.”

                Chuckling, I closed my locker. I gave her a curious look, before crossing my arms. “Why are you waiting for me, anyways?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

                “I was wondering if you wanted to go get some coffee.” She paused. “Max could come too, if he wants.”

                “I’ll come.” I smiled. “But I doubt Max will. I’m pretty sure he has football practice right now.”

                We began to walk down the empty and dark hallways, and out of the school. Cassandra turned to me with a frown, as she twisted her pouty glossed lips. “Really? I never knew Max was on the football team.”

                “Well, he just tried out this year.” I said. “He made it as the team’s wide receiver.”

                Cassandra stared down at the ground, before looking up at me with a weak smile. “I don’t mean to sound rude or anything, but I just haven’t noticed yet because I never see him hanging around the jocks.” She paused, before rolling her eyes. “You know the whole clique thing, right? All jocks hang around jocks, and the nerds stick with the nerds?”

                I chuckled, nodding. “I guess you have a point. But Max always sticks by me. For what reason, I really don’t know.”

                Cassandra giggled, as we stopped in front of a small café. My eyes widened, as I could feel my face go pale from just standing outside of the café that I once visited traditionally. Out of all the cafés in town, Cassandra just had to choose the one that brought back the most memories? She just had to choose the Gingerbread House, the café that Everett and I used to go to all the time together?

                “Is there something wrong?” she asked me, as she held the door out open for me. “I know the name of this place is kind of cheesy, but they serve the best coffee. I swear on it.”

                I blinked, as I gave her a weak smile. “Right, I know.” I muttered, letting out a deep breath of air. “I just haven’t been to this place in months.”

                Cassandra and I entered the Gingerbread House, as the scent of coffee and cinnamon filled my nose. Immediately, I was hit with a warm impact. A faint smile appeared on my lips, as I couldn’t help but feel at home.

                “What can I help you two-“ the waitress stopped her sentence, as she eyes lingered on mine for a long moment, before a hearty laugh escaped her lips. “Riley Monroe! Honey, I hardly recognized you there!”

                I smiled, as I clearly remembered the waitress that served Everett and I each and every time we came to the Gingerbread House. “Pattie, it’s been a while.” I admitted, a faint blush creeping up my neck.

                “Damn straight it has been!” her lips stretched into a broad smile. “You haven’t stopped by in ages! Where the hell have you been these past months?”

                I licked my lips, as I gave her a sad smile. “I’ve been around. I just haven’t found anyone to come with me up until today.” I turned to Cassandra, as she gave me a smile. “This is Cassandra, she’s a new friend of mine from school.”

                “I recognize her.” Pattie let out a hoarse laugh. “She’s the pretty blonde that always gets the skinny latte.”

                Cassandra smiled shyly. “That’s me. By the way, can I get another one for today?”

                “Why not? It’s on the house, for the both of you.” She stuffed her notepad back into her pocket, before flashing the two of us a smile. “What would you like, Riley? Oh, wait! Let me guess, a hot chocolate with marshmallows?”

                I grinned, nodding. “That’s exactly what I wanted.”

                Cassandra frowned, as she tucked a strand of her strawberry blonde hair behind her ears. “Wait, how did you know?”

                Pattie winked at me. “She used to come here every day and order a hot chocolate with that boy Everett. I watched the two of them become best friends at the age of five, and fall in love at the age of fifteen.”

                My heart suddenly fell to the pit of my stomach, as my face paled. I heard Pattie’s footsteps walking away to ring up our orders, and I could feel the intense gaze of Cassandra’s blue eyes burning into me.

                “Riley?” Cassandra whispered, her voice high and pitched. “What did Pattie mean by you and Everett?”

                I held in my breath, feeling my heart beat a thousand times faster than it should be. My palms became sweaty, and my cheeks felt hot and warm. “It’s nothing.” I lied, gulping nervously. “Just ignore what Pattie said.”

                A different waitress came to set out skinny lattes and hot chocolate down, before rushing off to take the order of the next customer that came inside. I could still feel Cassandra’s eyes lingering onto me, as I shifted uncomfortably in my seat.

                “You know, I don’t want to admit it, but there’s a reason why I decided to be friends with you.” Cassandra muttered.

                I stared up at her finally, capturing those intense blue eyes that had been staring at me the entire time. With a little voice, I asked, “What is it?”

                Cassandra hesitated before speaking. “I wanted to find out what really happened between you and Everett. I mean, most people have forgotten, but I still remember that before junior year, the two of you were two peas in a pod. The two of you were inseparable. Then all the sudden, we come back from summer break, and he hates your guts? It doesn’t make any sense.”

                I licked my dry lips, as my hands clenched onto the handle of my mug tightly. I let out a bitter laugh, as I stared up at Cassandra, who was giving me a frown. “You’re quite observant, aren’t you?”

                Cassandra gave me a faltered smile, before she sucked in a breath of air. She crossed her arms, pushing her skinny latte aside. “That’s not that point.”

                I sighed, as I stared down at the steam that was rising from the top of my mug. I watched as the steam faded away, just like my friendship and relationship did with Everett. “You want to know the truth, huh?” I let out a bitter laugh, before closing my eyes for a faint second. “Everett hates me because I’m the reason why his mother died.”

                Cassandra’s eyes immediately widened, as she jolted up from her seat. Straightening her back, she stared at me with her jaw dropped, full of disbelief. “What?” she uttered out, voice croaky.

                I cleared my throat, as I sank back into my seat. “The two of us were fifteen, and we’ve been dating for a year. I got upset that I nearly flunked a test, so he bailed on lunch with his mother to cheer me up here, at the Gingerbread House.” I paused, gnawing on my lower lip. “But I guess Everett forgot to call his mother or something, because next thing you know, he got a call from the emergency unit, saying that his mother got in a car accident looking for him. By the time we got to the hospital, it was too late. Mrs. Rosenfeld died.”

                I didn’t dare look at Cassandra in the eyes. I knew what was going to happen next- she was going to ditch me, and tell everyone that I was a cruel and selfish person. It took a while before I heard a word come out of Cassandra’s lips. I guess she was awestruck. “I don’t get it.” She finally said, letting out a breath of air. “How is it your fault?”

                My eyes snapped up at hers, as I raised an eyebrow. I suddenly felt angry- not at Cassandra, but at myself. I was angry at how selfish I was to ask Everett to cheer me up when he clearly had plans with his own mother. “You don’t understand?” I asked, letting out a weak laugh, as tears welled up in my eyes. I quickly gulped them down, as I held in a ragged breath. “If I hadn’t asked Everett to meet up with me that day, his mother would still be alive.”

                Cassandra blinked, as she stared at me with an emotionless face. She finally gave me a ghostly smile. “It wasn’t your fault.” She whispered. “You didn’t know.”

                I bit the insides of my cheeks. I didn’t need Cassandra’s pity. She only wanted to be my friend to uncover the truth about Everett and I. Why the hell was she still here? Why the hell wasn’t she running away to tell every soul she knew? “You got what you wanted, the truth.” I bitterly said. “What are you going to do now?”

                Cassandra stared at me with an eyebrow raised, before she let out a laugh. “You don’t think highly of me, do you?” she asked, amusement lingering on her tone.

                “Well I just met you yesterday.” I pointed out. “No offense, but before that, you always stuck by Everett’s group of friends, who apparently think I’m a waste of space. I don’t exactly have a reason to think highly of you.”

                I thought Cassandra was going to be offended and snap back at me, but she did neither. Instead, she gave me a smile. “I’m not going to tell a soul.” She promised, giving me a reassuring smile. “After all, we are friends now, right?”

                She raised her mug of skinny latte in the air, waiting for me to click my mug of hot chocolate against hers. When I hesitantly did, I gave her a returning smile. “Right.”

*

                “How was football practice today?” I asked, kicking my feet up on Max’s couch as I munched on the popcorn he popped in a bowl.

                Max shrugged, as he tossed me a can of soda. I barely caught it in my arms, making the bowl of popcorn literally flop over. I gave him a slight glare, as he let out an amused chuckle. “It was alright. The team is full of idiots, though.”

                I raised an eyebrow, passing him the bowl of buttery popcorn. “What do you mean?”

                Max slouched in his seat, chewing obnoxiously on his popcorn as he let out a long sigh. “They’re all a bunch of tools, that’s all. They’re all too busy trying to look up the cheerleaders skirts and trying to get their numbers.”

                I rolled my eyes, as I let out a disgusted snort. “I told you all men are pigs.” I muffled with a handful of popcorn full in my mouth. Max shot me a glare, as I grinned. “Well, except for you, Max.”

                Max chuckled, taking a long gulp of his soda. “That’s better.” He said, before letting out a loud burp that caused me to flinch. There was a moment of silence before the two of burst into a misfit of laughter. When we finally settled down, Max turned to me with a sly smile. “So, what did you do today without me?”

                “I went to the Gingerbread House with Cassandra.” I muttered.

                Max raised an eyebrow, leaning closer over the couch towards me. “Really?” he asked, clenching his jaw. “Is she your new best friend, now?”

                I snapped my eyes towards him, tossing a throw pillow at his chest. “Max, stop being an overprotective jerk.” I crossed my arms. “How many times do I have to tell you that Cassandra is a good person? Her mother knows my mother.”

                Max sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I just don’t want to see you as that broken girl I saw when I first met you.”

                I stared down at my fingers that had chipped polish on my nails. I let out a deep breath of air, giving Max a weak smile. “I’ll be careful, okay?” I promised. “Besides, it’s about time I had a friend that’s a girl in my life.”

                “Right.” Max pushed my shoulder gently playfully. “When you’re getting married, I don’t want to have to go dress shopping with you.”

                I glared at Max, before I broke out into a smile. “You suck.”

                “But you love me!” Max shouted, as I started to hit him over and over again with the pillow.

                I rolled my eyes, as I gave him one final smack with the pillow to his head. He stared back at me with a face that clearly showed that he was not impressed. “Of course I do, Max.” I smirked.

*

                “That’s not funny, Everett Rosenfeld!” I tried to hold back my laughter, as Everett came chasing at me with a frog in his palms.

                I suddenly felt weight being thrown at my back, as I came toppling towards the floor with a squeal. I groaned when I realized that I came face down towards a pile of mud. I tried to squirm to get out from under Everett, who was straddling me.

                “God, Everett, you weigh a bunch.” I snapped, wiggling only to get more mud on me while I laid on my back, facing Everett who was hovering over me.

                Everett, who didn’t look amused by my comment, held up a slimy olive green frog to my face. Large, matte eyes stared back at me, as I let out a scream. When I heard chuckling above me, I opened my eyes slowly.

                “It’s fake, Riley.” Everett was unable to control his laughter, as he held up the frog closer to my face, until the little rubber legs touched my cheeks. I cringed, as I swatted Everett’s hand away from me.

                I groaned, as I pushed Everett off of me. My entire back and front was covered with mud, all because Everett chased me around with a rubber frog. “You’re the definition of a jerk!” I hissed, as I pushed Everett angrily to the pile of mud that I was pushed into.

                I was angry, but my frustration quickly faded away once I saw how badly I dunked Everett into that mud. His back came down hard on the mud, causing it to splash all over his body. My hand flew up to my lips, as I let out a muffled laugh.

                “It’s not funny!” Everett glared at me.

                I bit down on my lips to hold back a smile, as I held my hand out. “Here, let me help you up.” I offered.

                Everett stared at my hand hesitantly, before a wicked smirk appeared across his face. He took my hand, before giving it a hard yank. My eyes widened, as I came crashing down onto Everett, my chest pressed against his. I hadn’t realized that I closed my eyes until I opened them and saw that my face was literally an inch away from Everett’s.

                Being the hormonal thirteen year old I was, my cheeks turned bright red.

                My eyes stared into Everett’s, fascinated, because never have I ever been this close to looking into Everett’s pool of emerald green eyes. I held in my breath, as I noticed that Everett’s eyes were shifting down to my lips.

                Before I could even process what was happening, Everett’s hands were at the back of my neck, pressing my lips against his. Everything felt so right, but hey? What was I supposed to know?

                I was just a thirteen year old sharing my first kiss with my best friend.

                And at that very moment, with me on top of him, all covered in mud, his lips against mine, I realized one of the most important things in my life.

                I realized that I was in love with Everett Rosenfeld.

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