Adeya Winters [Readers Write This Story]

Chapter 01

Adeya Winters

"I'm leaving in two minutes," I warned my friend, Cassie, who responded with an exaggerated sigh.

She made her way out of the bathroom with her smooth curly locks a mess. She was clearly in the middle of taming that bird nest. Do not misunderstand this though. Cassie, or rather Cassandra if we're using government names, is an extremely beautiful girl. Every single thing about her screams perfect — from the bird nest on her head to the way she matches her laces with her hair tie. I notice it all. It is, of course, hard not to notice when I literally spend majority of my time at her house.

"What time is your shift again?" Cassie asked from her position on the ground where she slipped her sneakers on. "I have a date right now so I can't drop you. Can you ask your boyfriend to do it this time?"

I sighed softly and plastered on a smile. "Yeah, yeah. Go on and have fun."

Cassie grinned up at me and dusted herself off. She truly looked stunning today especially. It wasn't anything extravagant like a total makeover but rather a simple denim jacket with a matching skirt and her ankle boots. It complimented her well.

"He sure is a lucky guy, ain't he?" I teased as I bumped my shoulder with hers on the way downstairs. "What's the plan for the date? Do you have any idea?"

"Uh," she shrugged and glanced towards the door. "I guess we're just going to the movies since there's this new rom-com out. Chill stuff."

Right.

"What time do you knock off work, Adeya?" She asked. "I'm sure I can pick you up after my date," Cassie continued.

It was wrong of me to expect this from her and rely on her this much. I was not the perfect type of friend. I didn't just want Cassie as my friend, I needed her as my friend. Parasitic.

So I gave her my best smile and pushed her out the front door. "Two. Two in the morning. I'm covering Jessie's shift too. I'll make it up to you, I swear. I'll fill your tank for ya."

Cassie smiled at me and turned around, making her way over to her Toyota Corolla parked in the driveway. I waited a bit until she drove around the corner before I shut the front door and went back inside to drink my orange juice.

We both weren't stupid. Cassie knew that I was a practical leech in this friendship. I didn't intend to be and I knew that she knew why I was that way. I loved her immensely and I would take a bullet for her any time of the day, but that doesn't stop my heart from tearing up a bit when she lies about having a date or when she smiles and it doesn't reach her eyes. I could tolerate that though. What I couldn't tolerate was the moment she got into her car, the look on her face screamed at me as an I-rather-be-anywhere-but-here type of look.

And 'here' was her home, not mine.

Lorenzo Santino

It was around two in the afternoon when my personal phone pinged, alerting me of a message. Despite the phone being locker away in one of my desk drawers and the volume of said item being extremely low, I couldn't help but sit behind my desk patiently waiting for it to make a noise.

Only one person's number had been saved on that phone. Her number.

My Little Winter.

My father's eyes rose to meet mine as I moved my hand to open the drawer. His cold grey eyes held a mental question that I knew I didn't really even need to hear out loud to understand it. "Is it her?"

I shook my head and it was clear that he was agitated.