Page 266 of As the Rain Falls
“What are you doing?”
Another voice asks. Her father’s.
“It’s locked,” Nathaniel groans, letting the doorknob go. “Why is her door locked?”
I brace myself, ready to face him in case he tries to open the door. She reaches out, grabbing my arm and pulling me back, forcing me to stay in place. My lips part, forming the first syllable of her name, but she rises to her tippy toes and covers my lips with her hand.
“Shush!” Cassandra whispers, closing her eyes shut. “Just wait. They’ll go away.”
“I—”
“Quiet!” She cuts me off, her forehead touching mine. “Just stay quiet, okay?”
We breathe together, eagerly waiting for him to leave. Her eyelashes flutter open, and I touch her wrist, bringing her arm down. Our lips gently brush, and my whole body shivers.
I’ll kill him.
“Maybe she’s asleep,” her father tells him, already starting to walk away. “Let’s go back. I need to show you something Robert sent me. If we want the collaboration to work, we need to make sure the kids understand what this turtle bullshit is all about.”
Nathaniel hesitates before stepping away too.Their voices start to grow quieter, the volume coming down as they drift further from her bedroom.
“They’re freshmen, not fucking stupid. Give them a few slides, a bit of context, and they’ll understand what to do.”
“And, anyway, it’s not that complicated to make…”
We wait, and wait, until I stop counting down the seconds in my head. Once everything becomes quiet again, I find her arms circling my torso, slowly pulling me into a hug.
I stumble forward, the adrenaline wearing off. My muscles are tense, and only then do I realize that I was feeling a little nervous, too.
Two men against one would be a lot to handle.
Cassandra whispers my name against my chest, panic subsiding. I bury my face in the crook of her neck, allowing myself to relax for now.
MIDNIGHT CONVERSATIONS
Beckett
JANUARY, 2017
It’s late now, farpast nine. I know that much because it’s way too dark outside for it to be otherwise, but I can’t tell the exact hour. I tried to check with my phone, only to realize that the battery had gone off sometime after I got home.
“It’s almost midnight,” Cassandra whispers into the dark.
I glance at her, noticing the way she’s keeping her knees to her chest, seated in front of me. “How do you know?”
She smiles and says, “There’s a clock right behind you.”
I’m seated on her bed, back resting against the door frame, trying to figure out what to do now that we’re both stuck here for the night. She raises a finger to the wall behind me, and I tilt my head up, searching for it, only to find a flower-shaped object stuck to the wall.
Once I focus hard enough, I hear the mechanical sound coming from it. The clock is ticking steadily, marking each second that passes.Tick. Tick. Tick.
I wet my lips, my gaze drifting back to her. “I hadn’t noticed.”
“I know. You’re too distracted.”
“I really am.”
By you, is what I don’t add.
