Cassidy James

by Ashley Wilcox

  Sadly though, as soon as her laundry was done, she was out. I’m sure the dorm was much more exciting than hanging out in the country where there was absolutely nothing to do.

  When I walked her out, I saw Graham outside next door, shooting hoops in his driveway. I waved to Lizzy and then to Graham.

  “What’s cookin’, good lookin’?” he joked as I got closer.

  I snickered before stealing the basketball from his hands. “Oh nothing,” I responded as I took a shot.

  “Look at you, crazy girl,” Graham commented when the ball surprisingly went in. “Up for some PIG, hot shot?” He grabbed the rebound and passed the ball back to me.

  “Sure, why not?” I had nothing else to do. “As long as you don’t mind getting your butt kicked,” I said, even though I always lost. Graham had no mercy when playing with me or anyone else.

  He thought it was comical, laughing at my threat. “I’ll take my chances.” He smirked, his tongue wetting his lips.

  Something happened to my stomach as he did it. I couldn’t look away. Not going to lie, Graham looked super hot today. His hair looked more shaggy and crazy than normal. It suited him well, and he had some scruff on his face. He didn’t usually, but I liked it. It kind of made him look edgy.

  “You got that?” he asked, breaking my gaze. Apparently, me checking him out accrued a little time lapse.

  Way to go, Cassidy. I was only human, and he wasn’t hard on the eyes. Give the girl a break!

  “I was mapping out my game plan to take you down,” I was completely lying, but he didn’t need to know that. It sounded good, too.

  “Okay, tough guy,” Graham said, entertained. “Let’s see what Miss Cassidy James has up her sleeves.” He got down into a ready stance, acting like he was in a true basketball game. His defensive mode was a little much for a game of PIG, but it made me laugh nonetheless.

  I turned around and bent backwards so that I could see the hoop behind me.

  “Oh no, folks, she’s going to attempt the backwards throw!” Graham commentated beside me, making me giggle once again.

  “Stop it! You’re going to make me miss!”

  “Part of the plan, sweetheart,” he was quick to answer, making me shake my head.

  Ignoring his continued narration of my every move, I took a deep breath, lined myself up as much as I could, and threw the ball up and over my head. Turning quickly, I watched it totally miss and go over the backboard, almost rolling over to my driveway.

  Oops!

  “Who’s goin’ down now?” he taunted, all cocky after fetching the ball.

  I rolled my eyes and put my hands on my hips, waiting for him to shoot the ball. “Whatever,” I said, sticking my tongue out. “I was just warming up.”

  “Oh, okay.” He grinned. “That was definitely it, huh?” Graham pointed to the hoop. “Backboard then in,” he said, calling his shot.

  I nodded, confirming.

  And of course, he made it.

  “From right here,” Graham directed, standing firmly on the driveway where he’d taken his shot.

  Purposely, I hip-checked him out of my way, causing him to stumble back a little, chuckling as he did.

  Why did I agree to this? I sucked at basketball—any sport, actually—and as I looked up at the basket, I knew I didn’t stand a chance of making this shot. It might as well be a mile away.

  I set the ball down and pushed up my sleeves. I’d give it shot; I always went down trying, at least.

  “Oh, she’s pushing up the sleeves, folks!” Graham announced, making a megaphone out of his hands. “Things are getting serious here.”

  “Will you shut up?!” I yelled, annoyed. Again, it was hard to appear serious, though, because per usual, I couldn’t help but laugh.

  “She just can’t handle the pressure,” Graham joked.

  “No,” I was quick to answer, “I can’t handle you distracting me!”

  “All right. All right.” He stepped back and gave me some space. “I’ll be quiet,” he said. “Promise.” Together, his finger and thumb slid over his lips, like he was zipping his mouth shut.

  “Thank you,” I said gratefully. “Your silence is all I need.” And some luck.

  Graham only nodded his head in response with a smile.

  Picking the ball back up, I said a little prayer, lined my shot up, and chucked it as hard as I could in the direction of the hoop, crossing every finger and toe that it’d go in.

  Oh my God! It went in.

  I jumped up and down, ecstatic.

  It went in!

  I hugged Graham, still jumping like an idiot, but I didn’t care. I’d never made a basket from that far away. I couldn’t even make one standing underneath!

  He laughed, hugging me back but not jumping. And then we kissed.

  Um, what?

  It lasted all of a second, and yeah, as soon as our lips separated there was an instant awkwardness.

  “Um…” Graham was speechless as his hand ran through his hair, I hope nervously.

  “Yeah, um.” I bit down on my lip, lost for words myself. “I don’t know…”

  “Yeah, me either,” Graham agreed even though I had no clue what either of us were trying to say.

  “I should probably go.” I started to step backwards in the direction of my house. I hated weird situations, and this…this was definitely classified as the worst. I had to dodge this one. The awkwardness was growing exponentially.

  “Well…you don’t…have to?” Graham said, still fumbling for words. “I mean, you can still…if you want, but you don’t have to.”

  I stopped walking and just stood there. What was going through my head? Not a damn thing. I was completely blank, frozen. This had never happened between us. He and I…yeah, never had we ever kissed before…or anything like that, to be honest. This was a new one, for sure.

  “It was just an excitement thing,” I finally said, justifying what just happened, because I was pretty sure I’d initiated it somehow.

  But that’s what it was… excitement—an “in the moment” thing. I probably would’ve kissed anyone.

  “Just admit it, Cass,” Graham’s voice changed back to his normal, comical self, “you think I’m sexy.” He winked before wiggling his eyebrows.

  “Eww, gross!” I grabbed the ball from the ground and threw it at him.

  He laughed, catching it. “Hey, thanks!” he said, acting offended. “You could have let me down a little lighter than that!”

  “Sorry.” I smirked, trying to act genuine, and held out my hand to shake. “I promise it’ll never happen again.”

  All awkwardness vanished as we burst into laughter.

  Homecoming week. No explanation necessary, other than the fact that I loathed it. Ask Cassidy her take on it, and you’d get the exact opposite answer. Homecoming equaled football players, spirit week, and the dance. None of which tickled my fancy, but all excited the hell out of Cass.

  “You going?” Troy asked as we kicked around the soccer ball before first period.

  “Further clarification needed, buddy.”

  He took a side shot to the goal. “The dance on Saturday.”

  Literally, I laughed out loud. Funny kid! “Why in the hell would I be going to the dance?”

  “I don’t know…last year of high school…last homecoming dance you’ll ever get to attend…”

  He was totally insinuating.

  “Sydney roped you into going, so now you want me to go,” I said, stopping him from beating around the bush.

  Ding! His lips curled up into a devious smile. Nailed that one.

  I didn’t even wait for him to agree.

  “No!” I kicked the ball into the goal. Long shot, but by no surprise, it went in.

  I didn’t do dances, or any school event for that matter. They were so dumb—a gossip fest if anything. Call me crazy, but I had more important things to do with my free time—homework and college forms to name two of many.

  “Come on!” he beg
ged. “One dance. That’s it. That’s all I ask.”

  “Bullshit, one dance. In six months you’ll be begging me to be in your limo for prom or some crap.”

  “Wagner, come on. It’ll be fun. Please?”

  The warning bell for first period rang. Saved by the bell, as they say, I disregarded his plea and went to the side of the gym to pick up my backpack.

  “Does Cass have a date?” he asked, following me. “Take her.”

  He was seriously not letting this go.

  “I’m not taking Cassidy,” I said as we walked down the hall.

  “Why not?” he asked. “Not like it wouldn’t be expected.”

  A knot formed in my throat. It probably would be expected. Cassidy and I were always grouped together. People would get all excited and shit to see us go to a dance together, but after Cassidy kissed me a couple of weeks ago outside…

  I brushed my fingers through my hair.

  I just couldn’t look at her the same. Everything between us was fine, nothing had changed. I squashed the awkwardness right away. I had to. I didn’t want anything between us to change or worse, go south. Losing Cassidy…I couldn’t even imagine it. But everything inside of me did change. God, that kiss…it was fucking amazing. The half second it lasted…there were just no words. I felt it. Like a goddam pussy, my heart nearly exploded when I felt her lips on mine.

  Going with Cassidy, dressed up with her hair done beautifully, our parents gushing and taking photos… I wouldn’t be able to keep it together. I’d want so much more than a friendship from her. We laughed off that awkward kiss. Taking Cassidy to the homecoming dance—or any dance, for that matter—was not an option. It was a recipe for disaster. And there’s no way in hell I was filling Troy (or anyone) in on what was really going on inside. This was a lock with no key kind of thing.

  “She’s got a date anyway,” I explained. That at least got me off the Cassidy hook, right?

  “Who?” Troy questioned, surprised.

  “Levi.”

  “Levi?” he said in total disbelief. “Levi Hollenbrook is barely a dude. He could be your third wheel. Come on!”

  Point taken, and true. Levi was very openly gay, which was totally fine. To each their own, but if we were talking about Cass bringing a male date to the dance…yeah, I wasn’t quite sure Levi fit the bill on that one. I don’t know exactly why she was going with him anyway. There were a ton of guys that would drop anything to go with Cassidy.

  “Nah, he’s getting a suit and everything,” I said with confidence even though I had no clue if that was true. “She’s taken, my man.” I smirked as I clenched his shoulder before walking away. “Sorry, you’re on your own,” I called over my shoulder.

  Situations such as this was one of the many reasons why being single was always the optimal thing for me. Having a girlfriend would mean getting roped into all of this school function crap, and that would get on my last nerve. I’ll take a no, thank you on that one.

  EEK!

  School Spirit Week! By far this was my favorite week of the school year. It was like playing dress up every day, but with a theme. Today was Favorite Teacher Day. Of course, I picked Ms. Harmon. Dressing like her wasn’t a difficult task at all. She was fresh out of college last year, and had impeccable taste and style. Pretty much all I had to add was a blonde wig—don’t ask why I already had one at home, it’s a long story, but I had a bunch.

  Anywho, I nailed it perfectly. Ms. Harmon even got a kick out of it when I saw her after first period. She said that I looked so much like her that it was creepy. Point for me! Literally. The male and female that won Spirit Week were crowned King and Queen at the dance on Saturday. Guess who won last year? Oh yeah, Coco. Not going to happen this year. At least Corinne, I mean. Move over, sister, this girl’s getting Homecoming Queen this year!

  Tomorrow was Celebrity Couple Day, and since I didn’t have a boyfriend, I needed to ask a certain someone a certain favor. We would make a perfect pair. I took the ride home from school as my opportunity to make my plea.

  “So, tomorrow…” I began casually.

  With one hand on the steering wheel and the other arm resting on the center console, Graham glanced over to me with a look of death. “Not happening.”

  He didn’t even let me state my case! He knew exactly where I was going with this conversation. Jerk.

  “You didn’t even hear what I was going to say,” I whined defensively.

  “Oh, I know you, Miss School Spirit,” Graham joked. “I know perfectly well what tomorrow is, and it ain’t happening.”

  Last year, I roped him into dressing up with me, too. He was Shaggy from Scooby Doo (his hair was totally on point for the look) and I was Daphne. We looked incredible. But, of course, Graham got crap from his friends the entire day over it. I felt wicked bad, so I said I’d never ask again, but I needed him! Again.

  I dropped my shoulders and sighed, disappointed. This was going to take much more work than I anticipated.

  “But it’s the last Homecoming week I’ll ever have in my life, and I really, really want to—”

  “Not gonna happen, beautiful,” he interrupted.

  Ugh! Plan B it is. Let the sad puppy dog looks commence.

  “Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me,” Graham said, annoyed.

  I let my lip droop down even more, and added a pitiful sniff.

  “Really? That’s just annoying, you know.”

  I wasn’t breaking. I sighed, the sad puppy, please-dress-up-with-me-tomorrow act in full effect. After a full four-minute silent standoff, I finally resorted to begging. “It’s our last year, Graham. Our very last Spirit Week. I need to go out with a bang.”

  Graham rubbed his face with his hand, sighing in frustration.

  Yes, he was breaking!

  “Please?” I added. “Pretty please with cherries on top?”

  “Fine, but…”

  He sounded super annoyed, but I didn’t care. I was already smiling and practically squealing with excitement before he could even finish his sentence.

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa…hold your horses,” Graham said, all serious. “We didn’t discuss the rules yet.”

  What?

  I rolled my eyes, amused. Like I didn’t have everything all planned out already. But, he did agree, so I crossed my arms over my chest and allowed him to carry on like he had a say.

  “Okay,” I said with a grin. “Let’s hear these rules you speak of.”

  After pulling into my driveway and putting the car in park, Graham turned to me and stared. I had no clue what he was doing or thinking; it was actually kind of weird but I just sat there and smiled anyway, damn proud of myself. I never thought after last year that he would ever agree to this again. Okay, maybe I did a teeny bit.

  Kill me now.

  This girl would be the death of me. I’ve known it for years, but she’s really confirmed it over the past few months. As I stared at Cass—smiling, eyes sparkling—I knew I didn’t have a chance. Any modification I might have had in mind for tomorrow was useless. I’d go along with the plan that she already had set in her head, and she knew it.

  Dammit.

  I was so roped. Everything I vowed I’d never be to a girl, I was.

  I sighed and shook my head. “How much of a douchebag am I going to look?” I asked, the victory hers, my head down in shame.

  “What?” Cassidy looked at me in shock. “I get full say—no rules?!”

  “Within reason,” I was quick to answer, bringing her down to speed. It didn’t matter who she was, I wasn’t going to look like a total fucking tool. I was only handing over half my nuts, not the whole package.

  “All you need is some tight blue jeans and a tight white t-shirt,” she explained. “Oh, and a whole lot of gel!”

  I glanced over at her, weary. Gel?

  “Danny Zuko!” Cass announced excitedly, clapping her hands together. “Ooh, do you have a leather jacket? That would be even better!”

  Cassidy was nodding go
energetically I feared her head would fall off. I was about to huff some more about the idea, but then it dawned on me.

  “Sandy at the beginning or Sandy at the end?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.

  I’d live through a day of tight jeans if it meant seeing Cassidy dressed in tight leather pants all day. Don’t judge. In the eighteen years I’d known Cass, she’d probably made me watch that movie with her at least fifty times. I could probably recite the entire thing for you (and if you tell anyone I will kill you). God knows Cassidy can and does every time we watch it.

  Her teeth bit down on her lip, a grin peeking out from the corner of her mouth.

  Hot Sandy it was, folks! Day. Made.

  It was 6:15. In the morning. Graham was absolutely going to kill me, but yeah, didn’t care. I tiptoed across the yard, the morning dew making the loose pieces of grass stick to my black heels. Ugh! I’d have to clean them on the way to school. Graham said he was set for today, but I didn’t believe he was—at least to my expectations, anyway.

  I walked right in; we never knocked. So often we were back and forth between houses when we were younger that we never thought once of ringing the doorbell or anything like that. Each other’s homes were like our own, along with our parents. His were my second set.

  I couldn’t help but laugh at his mom’s expression when I walked in. She was already up, sipping coffee at the kitchen table and reading the newspaper, not expecting not only me, but a very risqué looking me, to walk through the door from the garage.

  “Spirit Week,” was all I said as I passed her. There was no time to sit down and explain. Surely Graham had whined about my making him dress up.

  She chuckled. She must’ve known who I was dressed as. Yay!

  Graham’s door was shut. I put my ear against the outside to listen to see if he was awake, but there was nothing. I rolled my eyes. I could never just roll out of bed and be ready within a half hour of leaving in the morning. Guys were such bums!

  “Can I help you with something?” Graham said at my back, making me scream and jump, startled out of my mind.