Page 316 of As the Rain Falls
I nod, but if I walk a little further away from him as we head back, it’s for a reason. I don’t trust him anymore, at least not entirely. He seems like a good guy, but I don’t like people who are wishy-washy.
I just hope he won’t bring Angelina down with him. Because if he does hurt her in any way, however small it may be, it’ll be really hard to brush it off.
In fact, I might not even be able to forgive him at all.
UNTIL I AM NO LONGER
Beckett
FEBRUARY, 2017
Cassandra steps out ofthe bathroom wearing Angelina’s oversized purple pajama pants, tiny yellow chicks cutely tattered across the fabric, and one of my old school t-shirts.
Her dark blonde hair is twisted into a low bun, but she pulls it loose the moment she notices me and starts raking nervous fingers through the strands.
“Is he here?” her voice is quiet, her green eyes flickering towards the door. She crosses the room hesitantly, stopping at the edge of the bed where I’m sitting.
I nod. “Yeah, he is.”
Without any hesitation, she reaches for me, arms sliding around my neck. I pull her in, burying my face against her shoulder and neck.She smells like vanilla-scented soap, sweet and delicate, and my anger dissolves like it was never even there to begin with.
This is it.
She is all I need to feel okay again.
“You really hit him?” I hear Cassandra ask, her voice far away. “You hit Caleb… because of me?”
“For you,” I correct her, feeling her shudder in my arms, pressing closer, like she wants to disappear. “Don’t start blaming yourself for it. I take all the responsibility.”
“I’m not. I don’t even know what to say,” she admits, chuckling sadly. “I never thought you’d care enough. What Caleb did doesn’t matter anymore.”
“Yes, it does.” I say, not letting her underestimate just how terrible he made her feel.
It’s easy to put on rose-colored lenses now that a little time has passed. But her pain, that night? And how she cried herself to sleep in my bed?It wasreal, and I won’t let him keep a single piece of her.
“I’m not saying I don’t care.” She shrugs, smiling weakly. “I just thought this was another fight I wasn’t going to win.”
It’s been a long day.
We skipped our picnic—Angelina’s snacks were left untouched—and headed home straight after the parade. It wasn’t even a question whether we were going to do it or not. Getting Caleb out of our lives took priority over everything else.
“We’re fixing this,” I answer quickly, knowing Angelina might knock on the door soon. “Do you need another minute?”
“I don’t,” her voice sounds weak, completely drained of energy. When she pulls back, I see the exhaustion weighing on her. “I’m sorry about ruining the picnic.”
“You didn’t,” I try to reassure her, because it really wasn’t her fault. “It was all him.”
“If you say so.” Cassandra chuckles and cups my face, her touch grounding me to the present. “You should apologize to Angie. She worked really hard.”
“I will.”
Our foreheads touch, and I rein myself in, not letting the emotion overcome me. If I allow this painful feeling to take control, I won’t let her leave my sight ever again. I’ll keep Cassandra all to myself, far away from the people who keep trying to hurt her.
“I promise you, everything will be okay.”
“I know.” She tries to smile, but it falters. “I believe you.”
We stay close, trying to find strength in each other to keep going. I watch her carefully, attempting to figure her mind out. This girl sometimes makes me wish I had reading minds as a superpower, even though the idea seems really intrusive.
