Blank Girl - (Book One)

Chapter 13 - As Close as You'll Get

Cassie

I hurried out of the car and dashed into the house.

What in the hell was that?

So maybe I wasn't an experienced kisser, after all, my first and only kiss (before whatever that was just a moment ago) was short and sweet. But this one sent sparks down my spine and gave me goose bumps. I just about ran into the girl that had come in with Jack.

"Watch it!" She snarled without even looking to see who it was. She looked up at me and that snarl turned into a growl. "I don't see what's so special about you anyways. Poor little orphan Cassie, nobody loves me, wah wah, blah blah blah!"

"I'm sorry, but I don't know what you're talking about. I'm not an orphan and I'm pretty tired of people walking all over me." I gritted my teeth and took a deep breath, steeling myself. "If you don't like me, just leave me alone."

"Bravo and about time! I was wondering when feisty Cassie was going to make another appearance." Greg said smiling as he came into the house. He lazily wrapped an arm across my shoulders. "Anyways, you heard the girl Mika, beat it. I'm sure you've got a poodle to fluff or something."

"One of these days, Greg, I'm going to-"

"Quit holding up traffic, Mika." The woman from earlier said, as she walked into the hall. "I'm Emily by the way. You may have been regaled of my exploits by Gregory the Wunderkind and if not, I'm sure he'll get around to it. The Castles are waiting for you."

With a frustrated, strangled sort of noise, the girl, Mika turned on her heel and made a beeline for the front door.

Emily stood there with her hand on her hip and shook her head. "We're going to have to keep an eye on that girl. She's like an over-filled water balloon... one wrong move and we all get wet."

"Okay that was a weird analogy." Greg raised an eyebrow at her and she shrugged it off. Emily took off down the hall and beckoned for us to follow. She navigated the huge house with ease and I could feel myself already getting lost. We finally came to a closed set of double doors. She flicked one of them open and gestured for us to go in.

It was a beautiful old-school styled library. There was a big cherry wood desk near the bay windows with one of those green and brass lawyer's lamps and the walls were all bookshelves. There was a pair of oversized leather couches facing each other and a fireplace on the only wall without books. A painting was hung over the fireplace with a woman standing on a cliff overlooking the sea with a lighthouse in the distance. It felt very nostalgic and I couldn't help but wonder what the woman was looking for; a lost love or a vessel carrying her family across the seas? Or maybe she was waiting for a ship to take her away...

"We are sorry about this morning Cassie, are you feeling any better?" I pried my eyes away from the painting and nodded at Katherine. "Are you up to talking?"

I nodded again and the man that had been there earlier, who I assumed was Greg's father spoke up. "Please sit down Cassie."

I did as I was asked and he introduced himself as Michael. He and Katherine sat on the leather sofa across from me and Greg sat beside me. Emily paced the room in a way that was obviously trying Michael's patience. He didn't seem like a patient man to begin with. Where Katherine was grace and ease, he was austere and exacting. It wasn't as though I instantly disliked him, but I could see that many might feel that way. This was a man who was accustomed to things being a certain way. I wasn't sure if I had upset that equilibrium, and if I had, was that a good thing?

"Before I tell you what I learned from Jack, I need to know about you."

I told him I was 17 and the things that I liked. I told him about school being difficult, but it hadn't always been that way. I told him of my love for dancing and music. I deliberately avoided mentioning Jack, and he didn't pry. It all came so easily. He asked me questions and I answered as best as I could. Then he started asking about my fourteenth birthday.