Page 12 (1/2)
Cassie slept late into the afternoon the next day, which was unlike her Normally she was an early riser, whether she wanted to be or not But sherefreshed and with a clearer head than she had the night before Cassie’s argu confused and upset last night, but today was a new day And it was beautiful and sunny, not a cloud in the sky
After getting dressed in her most comfortable jeans and favorite blue sweater, Cassie decided to head out for a walk She wasn’t quite ready yet to talk to Adam, or anyone really, but hopefully while she walked, the words would start co just what to say to ain What Cassie needed was to better understand her own feelings She wasn’t a jealous person, and she didn’t want to be But she also couldn’t ignore as bothering her about Adam and Diana She owed it to both of them, and to herself, to be honest She knew they had a history together that she couldn’t cohtly and went out the back door She trudged through the arden and across the surrounding acre of swaying green grass She stepped over a few soggy piles of stray leaves and along the path of sand and dirt that led to the leaves and along the path of sand and dirt that led to the bluff
There she found Nick out by the water’s edge He’d taken his leather jacket off and tossed it on the ground beside hih his white T-shirt as if he were flying It fanned his dark brown hair up fro Nick when he didn’t have his defenses up was like overhearing a secret It uilty
Cassie had wanted to be alone, but now she wanted nothing more than to be with Nick Not in a romantic sense, of course She loved Adam, but that didn’t mean she and Nick couldn’t be friends So she went to hi herself the whole way for his rejection of her company But she felt she had to try at least Nick , he may have been unpredictable, and most days he could even be called rude - but there was a solid center beneath all that, and it was pure, like the crystal ine core to a rough rock Cassie had seen it, and she was deterain Shehim to be friends when their breakup was still so fresh
"Hi," she called out to hi to startle him
He turned slowly, unsurprised to see her, al her
"Hi," he said, which was invitation enough for Cassie to join him
"How are you?" Cassie asked
"Okay How are you?"
"Good"
It ard, definitely, but as they persevered through it, they began to slowly settle into their old habits
Nick teased her, pretending to be cruel, and Cassie rolled with his punches, laughing too loud She’d wanted this for so long, she didn’t want to o
"Can I ask you so?" she said, when there was a lull in their conversation
Nick nodded, his jaw strong "You can ask , but it doesn’t rinned "Did you co to see me?"
"Wow, you’re conceited" Nick cracked up laughing
"Is that a yes?"
Nick stopped laughing then and just sy with his full-toothed sht it hen it happened Its scarcity only ht of you couely crossed my mind," Nick said "I have missed this between us"
At last This was the Nick she knew
"Me too," Cassie said
"Now I get to ask you so you crazy yet?"
"Nick!"
"Nick!"
"He is I know he is Don’t even try to deny it"
"No couess I’?"
"His goodness," Cassie scolded "Now be nice" Nick suddenly appeared lighter, happier Maybe all he needed to feel better was to take a good shot at Adao soft on the ocean "I proo back to normal," she said "For you and me
For all of us"
But the moment those words left her lips, dark clouds formed overhead, too fast to be natural They were ominous clouds of the sort you’d see in rabbed Cassie’s hand, and they took a few cautious steps back, away fro?" Cassie asked "Is it a tornado? Do you even get those around here?"
"I don’t knohat this is" Nick scanned the surrounding area for a safe shelter "We have to get out of here All these trees We have to try to run to your house" They started running, but they only an flashing all around the," Nick screa them like needle-pointed arrows The sky was co, which, when it flashed, ill u sand and litter stirred up froround Cassie strived to keep her eyes closed to the debris but also open enough to follow Nick’s course of escape