♘ Be Brave ♘

LXXV

Cassandra smiles as she admires our artwork. "Not bad," she muses. "Not bad at all." She grins. "I have an idea." The next thing I know, she's dragging me off toward the mess hall, where she orders a huge slice of cake. "What-" She gives me a quick kiss and smiles. "No questions. Not yet."

She takes my hand and leads me to the opposite side of the pit, to and obscure corner of the room, where an elevator is hidden. It suddenly dawns on me that this is the one Zeke and Lauren showed us the last time we "went out," and they made out.

I blush, feeling I have a pretty good idea of where this is going. Cassandra presses the button labeled 100 and notices the look on my face as the doors of the elevator close behind us. "Don't worry," she says. "We won't follow in their steps. Yet."

She smirks and puts her arm around me as we wait for the doors to open. When they do, a gust of wind hits me in the face. We walk over to the edge, and look out over the city below. "You hungry?" Cassandra takes a seat on the ground and I follow suit.

"Starved." I grab for the cake and she frowns. "Hey!" I laugh and kiss her, completely oblivious to how high off the ground I currently am. When we pull away, she splits the cake in half and we dig in.

We're silent the first few minutes, until I hear Cassandra cough. "Um, Cassie?" She looks up. "Yeah?" I clear my throat, knowing how she will react to what I'm about to say. "Have you... have you been having any more nosebleeds?" She narrows her eyes. "Why do you ask?" I flinch. "I'm just asking." She glares at me.

"I'm fine, alright? And I don't need to go to a doctor." I sigh. "Alright." She looks away. "I'm sorry. It's just... I'll be okay. I know I will. I hate going to hospitals. They weren't able to cure my dad, and they sure as hell won't be able to cure me."

Her eyes widen. "If I were sick, that is," she hastily adds. "Which I'm not." I nod hesitantly. "Okay. I believe you." Not. I was determined to get to the bottom of this. If a few temper tantrums would be what it'd take, then so be it.

Cassandra takes my hand. "Come on. Let's dance." I'm about to protest, but she forces me to get up before I can say anything. "I have no idea how to dance!" She smiles. "That's why I'm going to teach you. Come on."

She leads me away from the edge, and places one hand on my arm, then the other in mine. "Your other hand go here," she says, and demonstrates by placing it on her waist. "Now, just... follow my lead." She begins to sway from side to side, and, after a few minutes, I find myself enjoying it. "Where did you learn how to dance?"

She laughs. "You call this dancing? It's awful! Now, David, he was the dancer of the family. Every single girl in Amity was crazy about him, but every time we held a dance in the compound, I'd be his only partner. I know for sure we must've looked ridiculous, but he always wanted to dance with me anyway."

She's silent for a minute, and her eyes fill with tears. "I miss him so much." I kiss her forehead. "I know you do. But I'm sure he'd want you to keep going, no matter what."

She gives me a small smile. "You're right. I think that's why I met you." I brush her hair back. "Why's that?" She sighs. "Because David sent you here. To protect me."