Page 217 of As the Rain Falls
And high school is still high school. Le Port is a small town. Everybody deserves to be given the benefit of the doubt and have someone who knows how to read them. A person who sees through each lie, bad first impression, and broken promise. But it’s never granted to any of us to actually receive it.
“How can I make everything okay again? I never meant for it to get so messed up!”
She starts tearing up again, and this time her movements are more violent. I watch her start to scratch herself, and my instincts tell me that I need to physically stop her before she goes too far.
“Cass.” I reach for her, unlocking her seat belt to set her free when she starts struggling against it. “Calm down.”
“They’re all going to hate me, Beckett!”
I gasp loudly as she starts to slap herself, her chest, and her thighs, as if trying to chastise herself for her wrongdoings.
“I’m going to lose all my friends!”
“Hey, no. Listen to me.” I touch her wrists, bringing them further away from her body. “Just listen, okay?”
“No!”
“Every friend you lose over this is a friend not worth having,” I promise, maintaining my eyes locked with hers. “And you have me. I know you.”
“You believe me?” her struggle slows, surprise showing in her voice.
“I do.”
Cassandra sniffles, hiccuping again. There are tears trailing down her face, real ones. My heart clenches at the sight. She regrets everything. I know she does.
“I’m sorry,” I speak quietly, wiping her tears. “I’m sorry you’re hurting, Cassandra.”
“I didn’t even like him like that!” she confesses, green eyes pleading.“I swear, Beckett!”
And I do.
I do believe her.
How could I not, when she’s like this?
“A broken ego sometimes hurts more than a broken heart.” I offer a small smile. “Should I bother telling you you’re way too good for a guy like him?”
“No, don’t say that. I don’t want to be coddled. I just…” She turns her face away from me, staring at the road. “There’s something wrong with me. I don’t know why I do this.”
“Do what?” I ask.
“Let the wound fester until it gets rotten.”
I watch her trying to pull herself together, wondering who made her feel so small. People shouldn’t hurt this much. Not people like her.
“That’s a fancy way to put it.” I smile sadly.
“I have a lot of fancy vocabulary,” she replies.
“There’s nothing wrong with you.”
“Well, I beg to differ.”She shakes her head. “I mean, look at me. You can be honest, you know. I won’t get mad.”
“I have no interest in tearing you apart,” I shake my head, voice soft. “There really is nothing wrong with you, not in my eyes.”
She mutters something under her breath, and her face falls. Again, the hurt is unbearable. Caleb deserves nothing, nothing at all for turning her into a sobbing mess.
“Hey, no. Don’t do this, Cass.”
