Page 31 of Jockstraps & Newspapers
Lily stared at Cass with wide eyes and a shit-eating-grin growing on her siren face.Cass stammered, her throat closing tight, "N-no."
"Oh!My!Dragons!"Lily squealed, slapping her arm."You're sleeping with the king of King's Fall!Elliot motherfucking Bonesaw!You absolute menace!"
Cass darted her eyes between Andromeda, whose eyebrows shot up into her hair and mouth dropped to the floor, to Lily who was squealing and thrashing back and forth with excitement."It's not—I mean…it's kinda…"
"Aren't you writing an article on him?"Andromeda furrowed her brows, crossing her arms under her bust.
"I am," she squeaked.
"You do realize how unprofessional that is, correct?"Andromeda ripped the beating heart out of Cassiopeia's chest and left it flopping on the floor like some trout.All the comradery that had been tentatively built for only a moment went up in flames suddenly as Andromeda curled her sharp, judgmental talons around Cassiopeia's emotions.
"Pause."Lily stopped time with a single sentence as she stood up from the couch.She took a seat on the edge of the coffee table between them and put-up hands.Addressing Andromeda first, "Your sister is writing about the whole sport, plus an insider look on Elliot.Her ability to write a thorough, objective look at an individual and any budding relationship she has with him are two different topics.You cannot hold her to a conflict of interest ideology when you, yourself, married your chief of staff."
Cass's mouth dropped open."Wait, Greg is your chief of staff?"
Andromeda's mouth flapped open and shut for a long moment, only a squeak of embarrassment coming out."He's taking a new position at the protector's guild next month, so we're just not talking about it."
"But he was your chief of staff when you started dating?"Cass sat forward over her lap.
Andromeda sneered, "Yes."
"Those in glass houses," Cass spat back.
"He was never in charge of my career," Andromeda snapped.
"Neither is Elliot!He's just the first guy to ever pay attention to me!"She flapped her arms out to her side aggressively.
"Stop being so dramatic, Cass, you get attention all the time!"Andromeda waved her hands aggressively at Cass with a huff of indignation.
"No.I.Don't!"The two women panted for air, staring at each other in tense silence once more.Lily put a hand to Cass, motioning for her to continue.Cass swallowed over a hard lump in her throat, "Not while you or Lyra are around.Why would they ever choose me over you two?Why would anyone notice me when the twins are literal saints.I'm just the mean, grumpy middle sister who kicks and screams and begs people to notice her and no one does.Or if I do, they look at me and think I'm too cute to take seriously.Or they take one look at Lyra and forget I exist."
Years of pent of anger and isolation and regret for never saying it flooded out of her mouth in a single breath.Years of living in their shadows and never being able to live up to others.Years of'one day they'll see'or'one day I'll stop taking their leftovers'.All of it culminated into a clusterfuck of pain that burst from her chest.Her lower lip wavered, and her stomach clenched.Cass stared down at her lap, pulling out the phone in her pocket.There on her notification screen was Elliot, smiling at her with Jessie shoveling food into his face.Cass didn't like it, but the thought burned through her brain like a wildfire.What if Elliot had met them first…would he still choose Cass?
Andromeda breathed, "How do you not see it?"
"See what?"Cass gasped for air, glancing up.
"Cassiopeia,everyone loves you more than me." Andromeda's eyes burned with hot tears, spilling down her cheeks in one perfect tear at a time."You're brutally honest and unfiltered, you stand up for things, and you kick and scream and you fight back.Everyone loves you, Cass, because of that.Every single colleague of mine that's met you or read your articles online has been like 'Wow, that's your sister?She's so cool!'. You're cool, Cass.I'm the uptight bitch who can't unclench her asshole for even a second.I have to be perfect or else I can hear them pick at me.Grow up, Andromeda.Get in line, Andromeda.Not a hair out of line, Andromeda.Every.Single.Fucking.Day!I'm never happy with what I do!I could have saved someone’s life and I still hear Mom's voice in the back of my head nitpicking every single choice I made."
Cass sat back in her seat.Andromeda sank back into hers.Both of them, open mouth breathing, as the moment settled around the room.The grass is greener.Cass let out a wheeze of a laugh that broke into a fit of hysterical giggles.Tears welled in her eyes as she tried to cover her mouth with her hands and failed.Andromeda sputtered into a fit of her own, holding her stomach.
Lily grinned, standing up from the table.She hugged a clipboard to her chest and sauntered back to her side of the couch."Another great therapy session, go me."
Cass slapped at her roommate and friend, gasping for air."Hey!That's not funny."
"What?I mean, look at this breakthrough.Both of you have come to the same middle ground.I mean, really, look at you two.Your parents fucked you both up something fierce and look, you're…you've opened the lines of communication!"Lily sank into the couch, propping her feet up onto the coffee table."What a fabulous session.Who wants take-in?"
"Me," Andromeda and Cassiopeia exhaled heavily.As Lily ordered an obscene amount of spicy noodles, soup, and fried rolls, the sisters took the time to get their laughter under control.Finally, Lily left to grab her wallet.Andromeda got up and scurried to the other couch sinking next to Cass.She smiled softly, "Okay, real talk then, I promise to keep my judgy face in check if you tell me the truth…do you like him?"
Cass blushed, looking down at her phone.She opened it to show a photo of Elliot and Jessie and pointed at Elliot.Andromeda rolled her eyes, "Of course you go for the goofy guy."
"I didn't go for him," Cass elbowed her sister who snickered."I was trying my best not to, but it's near impossible not to like Elliot.He's just so annoyingly charming and sweet and understanding and…he likes me."
Andromeda snorted, "Of course he does."
Cass pocketed her phone before glancing up at Andromeda, "So, Greg was your boss?"
Andromeda scoffed, rolling her eyes, "Okay, look it wasn't like that!"
