Lexi's Final Year

Chapter 3

Ever since that therapy session, Cassie did anything and everything Dr. Rich instructed her to do. She began taking her prescribed medication, took up meditation, and got into the habit of journaling her thoughts every night. Slowly but surely, she'd begun to recognize her past mistakes while also learning how to be better in the future.

But Cassie didn't just focus on bettering her mental health. She also recognized just how thin and unhealthy she'd become at the end of last semester. She had neglected to eat enough due to how intense her studies had become, and it showed in just how skinny she'd become. It was almost scary how thin she looked.

So, she focused on eating more and eating regular meals, as well as getting back into running. While she wasn't satisfied with her current weight, there was no denying that she'd made a lot of progress. She had gained just enough weight to make her figure look healthy instead of sickly for a change. Even her fair skin and dark brown hair looked healthy for the first time in a long while.

"You look good! I'm so happy for you, girl!" Mariana had exclaimed when they'd gone out for lunch almost a month ago.

She wasn't wrong; Cassie's appearance had gotten better. But she'd also changed for the better internally. All of it had turned her into a different person than she had been several months ago. She had a long way to go, but it was a promising start.

Things have definitely gotten better for me, and I'm so glad, she thought as a loud yawn escaped her. She couldn't move back to New York City soon enough.

***

The next morning, Cassie and her father drove from their New York City hotel to the former's apartment complex. She grabbed her keys from the superintendent's office and headed up to her unit. She smiled wide when she opened the door and saw Mariana sitting on the couch.

"Sorry to have kept you waiting," Cassie said with a laugh.

"It's okay. You're here now, and that's all that matters," Mariana replied while they shared a big hug.

The pair of them proceeded to move Cassie into their apartment. Cassie's father did most of the heavy lifting while the two roommates put everything in its rightful place.

By late afternoon, Cassie had finished moving in. She and her father stood in the entryway of the unit to finally say their goodbyes. Mariana had retreated to her bedroom to give them some much-needed privacy.

"I'm sorry your mother bailed at the last second."

"It's not your fault, Dad," Cassie said. "Besides, I had a feeling it was gonna happen."

Her father nodded, looking dejected. "I love you, you know? I'm gonna miss you a lot."

A large lump formed in Cassie's throat that she tried to ignore. "I love you too, Dad. I'm gonna miss you so much."

Father and daughter shared a tight hug that lasted for several long minutes. Cassie almost didn't want to let go despite having been so excited to move back to New York City. But she let go anyways while blinking back a couple of tears.

Once her father left, Cassie took a deep breath to collect herself. She then knocked on Mariana's bedroom door.

"Come in."

She entered to find her best friend organizing her tiny closet. The bedroom itself wasn't big, but Mariana had made the best of it in terms of storage. She stopped what she was doing to sit on her bed, where Cassie joined her. The mattress was a little stiff, but the bright red comforter softened it slightly.

"How are you?" Mariana asked in a calm voice.

"I'm fine," Cassie replied. She paused to let out an amused laugh. "My mom promised to come help me move, but she bailed at the last minute. What else is new?"

Mariana frowned. "I'm sorry."

"It is what it is, don't worry about it. How was your summer?"

"It was good, honestly. Aside from work, everything has been going well between me and DeShawn. I never thought we'd be dating, let alone a couple. But here we are, and I'm not about to complain."

Cassie smiled while recalling the memory of her best friend texting her the exciting news months ago. "I'm so happy to hear that! You two are such a cute couple."

Mariana blushed. "Oh, thank you. How have you been?"

"I'm doing really well," Cassie replied earnestly. "My last therapy session was a couple of days ago, and it's helped me feel less anxious about school starting again."

"Oh, that's good," Mariana said.

Cassie grinned. She had told her best friend about seeing Dr. Rich, but never went into detail about the therapy sessions. She wanted to keep such private details to herself. Even her father had no clue about her mental health diagnosis or what she shared with her therapist.

"So, have you been up to anything before I showed up? I hope you didn't get into any trouble," she teased with a smirk.

Mariana rolled her eyes. "Our apartment is in one piece, so I haven't been up to no good. I did catch up with Nikita and company yesterday at The Bean's Knees over lunch."

"Oh, are they all in NYC already?" Cassie asked.

"Yep. Nikita, Felipe, DeShawn, and Isaac are all moved in," Mariana revealed. She then hesitated ever so slightly but continued. "Oh, and so is Lexi. She was at The Bean's Knees yesterday too."

Cassie nodded in response to the admission. She had a feeling that Mariana and Lexi had continued their friendship throughout the summer break. But that was their business; it had nothing to do with her whatsoever.

"I'm glad everyone's here," she finally said, smiling. "So...are you ready for the semester to start?"

Mariana let out a heavy sigh. "Oh, fuck no. I mean... Yeah, I've bought all my textbooks and I picked the last few things I needed for my classes. But that doesn't mean I feel ready for school to start back up again. Based on what you said earlier, I'm assuming you're eager to start the semester?"

"I'm a little nervous about some of the classes I'm taking this semester," Cassie admitted in an uneasy manner. "Some of them are really important and hard, to say the least. But I'm gonna do my best anyways 'cause I kinda have to."

"I see your point," Mariana remarked while laughing.

Cassie joined in on the laughter. "Regardless, I'm gonna do well this semester. I can feel it."

"So do I," Mariana said. "Wanna order pizza and have a movie night? We haven't done that in forever."

"Oh, for sure! That sounds like an excellent idea," Cassie exclaimed.

The childhood best friends carried on with the rest of their day, enjoying pizza for dinner while watching a few of their favourite movies. It was the perfect way to cap off her first day back in the city.

Cassie found herself content as the evening continued. She was back in New York City and ready to start a brand-new year at New York University. While she still held onto some worries about some specific classes, it didn't deter her from the upcoming semester. All she could do was do her best and hope that everything worked out on that front.

While watching How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days for the trillionth time, she suddenly thought back to when Mariana revealed that she'd hung out with Lexi yesterday. Cassie had brought up the San Diego native in her last therapy session— a fact she'd omitted from her conversation with Mariana earlier. Cassie knew that the chances of running into Lexi were rather likely due to the fact that she'd become friendly with Mariana. It was bound to happen sooner than later.

I have no clue how I'll react the first time I run into Lexi this semester, Cassie thought. All I can hope is that it's painless. I'm not going to freak out on her because I have no reason to. I'm so done causing drama.

Realizing that worrying about this matter wasn't about to do her any good, Cassie tuned it out and focused back on the movie. Hanging out with Mariana was more important right now anyway.