The Girl Across the Street

The Girl Across the Street- 6

She nods bashfully. "Matthew Grey. He's cute. He plays basketball, he's really good."

"Chris' little brother? He's a nice kid, I've met him one or twice. How's it going with that?"

"Um, good I suppose. Somewhat of a new crush, you know?"

I laugh. "No, not really. I've never been a teenage girl crushing on her older brother's friend's brother." She gives me a little shove and takes the pancakes off the pan.

"Dinner's ready." She announces. I grab one off the top of the huge pile, we never eat all of them, but there is nothing like pancakes for breakfast the following morning. I bite into it, and I don't taste any white chocolate. Cassidy has one as well and closes her eyes, then takes a bite. She opens her eyes and looks at it quizzically. "Where is the banana?" She asks.

"I did something different today." I reply. "You should be one to talk though. I don’t taste any white chocolate. What did you use instead?"

"I used mini marshmallows." She admits. I start to laugh.

"No way, you did not use marshmallows. I used the same thing." We've only done the same ingredient a few times though this is the first time we have ever used marshmallows. It's good, really good. I grab another pancake. Cassidy grabs another and we both laugh, marshmallows in chocolate chip pancakes, who would have guessed? 

The front door closes and I hear my mom call from the entrance, "who made s'mores?" 

She walks into the kitchen and see Cassidy and I cracking up, pancakes in hand and the kitchen a mess around us. My mom immediately goes into drill sergeant mode. 

"Clean up the kitchen! What is so funny? Why does it smell like s'mores?" She demands.

Cassidy and I immediately sober up. We finish the pancakes in our hands and scramble to clean up the mess. Cassidy starts to wash the pan while I grab the garbage and throw it out.

Cassidy is now washing the bowl while I dry the pan and put it away.

After five minutes, the kitchen is spotless and we have plates piled high with pancakes, now with a knife and fork each.

My mom in the meantime has gone into the bathroom and grabbed a few Tylenol. She emerges and motions for me to come over to her and she leads me into the living room. Cassidy mouths "good luck" and I thank her silently before following right behind my mother.

"Dylan, what happened with Will? He was very upset after you left and refused to talk about it with any of us, not even Kelley, it upset Deborah immensely." She says sternly.

"We got into an argument. I realized he was right and I apologized a little while ago. Everything is fine, it's just that Kate and I aren't together anymore because of him." I explain.

She sighs. "Again? Dylan, you two need to work this out. It's getting old."

"I know Mom, we did. Everything is done between us. We won't be getting back together. It's done and I don't really want to talk about it."

My mom opens her mouth to speak but I brush past her and grab my pancake plate before heading upstairs to my room.

I open my window and put my plate on the roof, to the side of my window. Then I climb out after it. The roof under my windows is fairly even, so it's easy to sit on and easy to access from my bedroom. It rests over my porch, giving me a nice view of the neighborhood. I come out here a lot to think, to calm down at night when it's too dark to run.

I watch the sun slip down behind the houses and the streetlights turn on as the world goes to sleep around me. I eat my pancakes, which have now gotten cold. I shiver a little, regretting having not brought out a jacket, but I'm not cold enough to want to get up and go get one.

Once I start to get really cold, I go inside. I slink downstairs to put my dish in the sink and I hear the television on in the living room. I peek in to see my mom and dad watching the news. Funny, I never saw him come home; I guess I got really distracted. I hope he didn't see me on the roof; my mom doesn't like it when I go out there. I sneak out and place my plate carefully into the dishwasher and creep back upstairs.

When I pass Cassidy's room, I hear her whisper loudly to me "wait." I stop and walk into her room. The purple walls are covered in posters of celebrities and her blue carpet is splattered with magazines. It screams thirteen year old girl.

Cassidy is sitting at her desk; pen in hand, presumably doing homework. "What's up?" I ask crossing over to her. "Homework question?"

"No, I heard you tell Mom that you and Kate and over. Is it true?" She asks, trying in vainly to hide her excitement.

"Yeah. Kate and I are through. Things just got too complicated and superficial. We weren't really doing it for us anymore, it was more because it was easy and it was what is expected of us." I explain.

"Good. I never liked her, she wasn't right for you." She states, crossing her arms across her chest.

I smile. "I know you didn't like her. You made that clear constantly. I think that everyone in Oakland knows you don't like her."

She nods. "Okay, well it’s good to know things are finally over between you two."

I nod again and look over at her pink iPod dock for the time. 10:53, a lot later than I thought. How did it get so late? I wonder. "Come on Cass, time to go to bed. It's really late. Did you finish your homework?"

She nods and glances over at the clock and laughs. "That clock is an hour fast I never changed it, it's only 9:53." She explains. It feels like so much later, I'm exhausted. 

"Well, whatever time it is, I'm tired. I'm going to head off to bed and I suggest you do the same soon as well. It's been a long day. Goodnight Cassidy."

"Goodnight Dylan." She whispers. "Thanks for dinner."

I smile and ruffle her hair. Despite her protests, her giggles tell me that she doesn't mind. "You're welcome kiddo. Goodnight."

Walking into my room, today's events wash over me. The old house sold, moving trucks outside, late to pick up Nathan, Kate, Emma, Will's accident, Kelley, Kate, Kate, Kate, my fight with Emma, Kate, my fight with Will, Kate again. Ugh.

I turn off my light and close my eyes. Taking off my jeans and shirt, I lay down in my bed, eyes still closed. My brain won't shut off. I lay my head on my pillow, counting to one hundred. 1, 2, 3... I fall asleep as soon as I'm finished; before my brain even registers I'm done.

*****

A/N

I love this chapter because I think it gives you a better idea of Cassidy and Dylan's relationship. I hope you all liked it!! Let me know what you think by leaving a comment or voting! Thanks for sticking around so far!

-Eryn