Page 50 of As the Rain Falls
Love makes people blind, Cassie
Cassandra: so true
he’s the chandler to her monica xD
Kayla: Wait that’s cute :3
LIVING IN A MAKE-BELIEVE LAND
Cassandra
OCTOBER, 2016
Nathaniel heads out topick up our father at the airport, but I stay behind. My homework’s been piling up for days, and Sainte Madeleine has the kind of teachers that actually check what you’re doing from time to time.
Kayla calls me on FaceTime to talk about our literature project, and I smile as her pretty face lights up the screen.
“Hi.”
“Are you using the pink lipgloss I gave you?” she asks.
“Yeah,” I nod. “It smells exactly like cherries!”
“I told you so!”
She is supposed to be showing me her picks for our upcoming presentation. Right now, we’re studying something about romanticism in art forms other than writing. However, our conversations are never just one thing. They always quickly spiral into total chaos, especially now, as we try to figure out which ones we should choose.
“Do you think we should pick an angle?” Kayla wonders. “I think he’d like something provocative.”
“I mean, he does have a bit of a flamboyant personality,” I muse right back, tilting my head to the side as I chip off some of my nail polish. “I saw him wearing a scarf that looks exactly like my mother’s.”
“Just say the man is gay, Cassandra,” she snorts before showing another painting, scrolling through each option by swiping through her iPad screen. “What do you think about this one? I think it’s enough to impress Mr. Bernard.”
The screen blurs for a second before sharpening again. It’s a screenshot ofThe Nightmareby Henry Fuseli. A woman is sprawled on some kind of bed while a shadowy figure looms over her chest. The shadow in question takes the shape of a little creature perched on her stomach, definitely demon-looking.Something about it feels relatable.
“Oh, I really like this one!” I grin, tossing my feet up in the air. “Look, there’s a little demon sitting on her!”
“Yes, that’s an incubus.” Her face appears in the camera again, big brown eyes blinking at me through the screen. “Isn’t he so adorable?”
“No!” I laugh. “He is disturbing!”
“Oh my god! Mr. Bernard is right!” she starts laughing too, pressing her hand to her cheek and gasping in mock offense. I watch her as she lowers her voice, trying to imitate Mr. Bernard’s baritone tone. “Artissubjective!”
Working with Kayla is always easy. We know each other too well to argue, and I trust her to pick up the slacks when I don’t understand something. She truly is my greatest partner in crime, the reason why I’m even surviving this last year of high school. I don’t know where I’d be without her.
“Okay, the incubus piece definitely stays.” I write the title down on a scrap of paper before pressing my lips against the edge of the pen. “What else do you have?”
“Can we use the one with the Italian people kissing? It’ssoromantic!” Kayla squeals in an adorable way. “Oh, Cassie—speaking of romance, Ihaveto tell you about what I overheard while I was waiting for Olivia to pick me up the other day at dance.”
“What is it?”
“Tobias has a new girlfriend. I think she goes to Sainte Madeleine.”
“No way! That’s so cute!”
“Yeah, love really is in the air,” Kayla grins. “Are you going to text Caleb?”
“Me?” I frown. “No… I don’t think so!”
