Sometimes

Chapter thirty

Cassie found me in History class.  I’d gone on in, choosing not to wait for her outside in the cold.  She didn’t look at all bothered though; her lips stretched into a huge smile and her blue eyes bright.  I dropped my pencil onto my empty sheet of paper as she sank down into the chair next to me.  I couldn’t bring myself to write the lesson objectives down today, the whole Sonny thing still messing with my head.  I needed a bigger distraction than the ‘Reasons for change and consolidation’ that was written on the board.  My brain wasn’t throwing the answers at me today.  Cassie, however, seemed to be up for providing a distraction. 

    “Nice weekend?”

The tone of her voice made it sound as if she was only asking to be polite.  I could tell there was something else that she wanted to say.

I pushed my pencil across the table, rolling it under my palm, before I looked up at her.  “It was alright.”

    “I did nothing.”

I felt myself frowning.  How was I supposed to reply to that?  Cassie was looking at me as if she expected me to ask her something but my brain drew a blank for the second time today.  “Are you okay?  Her eyes were so wide I was waiting for them to drop out of their sockets and roll onto the dirty classroom carpet.

She nodded and started tapping her acrylic nails along the edge of the desk.  The sound irritated my ears and I fidgeted in my seat. 

    “Aren’t you going to ask me what it is I’m dying to tell you?”

I wanted to laugh.  It wasn’t usually this hard to extract something out of Cassie.  And then I realised that she was wearing her gossip face.  My stomach rolled around my middle, making me feel the slightest bit nauseous.

    “Do I have to?”

Cassie frowned for a split second, annoyed that I wasn’t going to play along with her game, but then it was like her willingness to tell me the news overran the need to be angry at me and she was smiling again.

    “Mike and Lara have split up.”

I felt my face drop.  Mike and Lara were the Posh and Becks of sixth form.  Them breaking up was like finding out that Cassie had decided never to wear make-up again.  I totally hadn’t seen it coming. 

    “Apparently he reckons she’s been seeing someone else behind his back.”  Cassie’s voice was full of glee and I imagined all of the other Mike Finnegan stalkers reacting to the news in the exact same way.  For me though, the whole thing didn’t seem possible, and I almost forgot to ask the question that Cassie had wanted me to ask.

    “Who with?”

    “Aiden.”

I couldn’t help the way my heart stumbled over a beat as I heard his name.  For a moment I wondered if this was a wind-up.  If Cassie was testing how gullible I was.  But then I saw her face, a picture of pure happiness at the thought of getting a chance with Mike, and then her words seemed to become the truth. 

    “Are you sure?”

Cassie nodded again, her hair bouncing around her shoulders and wafting hair spray at me.  “Yep.  You know, you said he thinks she’s hot before.”

    “Yeah, but.”  I didn’t say the rest out loud; I didn’t think anything would come of it.

    “This is amazing!” Cassie said, rocking back in her chair and pressing her palms to her face.  “I’m so ready to be Mike’s rebound girl.”

I raised an eyebrow just as Mr. Henderson walked into the classroom carrying his battered briefcase. 

    “Cassie Harding, would you please stop swinging on your chair or I’ll be sending a bill for a new one to your mother.”