Growing up together

Chapter One

"Some friends meet and grow up together. Or they grow up and drift apart. But true friendships will always continue growing somehow, providing a shelter in the storm of life."

Cassidy considered the framed quote, tapping her pen absent mindedly on her to do list. Out of all the pictures with quotes she'd had framed and hung on the wall above her desk, this one was her favourite. Not only because the quote spoke to her – they all did – but because the picture used in it was with her favourite person; her best friend Lina. Lina had also been the one to give it to her, to add to the collection Cassidy herself had created. They all had the exact same white frames, except the one Lina had gifted her, which had a slightly different white frame. Cassidy thought her OCD would kick in and she'd be bothered by it when Lina had given it to her, but it had almost immediately become her favourite and had the central spot on her wall.

Cassidy looked back down at her to do list, chastising herself for getting distracted. It was a Saturday morning, early, and she had things to do. Too early for a teenager to be awake, she knew that - but really - that was the beauty of being up early. She had plenty of quiet to get things done while her brother and sister slept. It also meant that once she was done with her list of things, she had the whole weekend to enjoy. She looked down at her 'to do' list:

- Clean room ✔️

- Wash and curl hair✔️

- Wash clothes✔️

- Nails

- Do Homework

The ticks next to the first three items meant she only had two things left – and giving her nails a manicure was next. As she pulled out the basket that she kept her nail polish and nail tools in, she heard loud laughter coming from outside her window.

Cassidy had heard a whole lot of commotion going on outside her house for a couple of hours, but had decidedly ignored it. She had enough to do on a Saturday morning without worrying about who was moving in next door, and why they chose a Saturday morning as the ideal time to do it.

She was putting on the last coat of nail polish, when she heard her mother calling out to her.

"Cassidy! Come down stairs and meet the new neighbours!" Belle O'Shea called up the stairs, with a voice that always reached its intended target, no matter how far away.

"I'm busyyy!" Cassidy bellowed back, trying to inflict her voice with just the right amount of impatience so that her mother knew she meant it, without calling her out for having 'an attitude'.

Her mother didn't reply, and Cassidy assumed (with satisfaction) that was the end of it. She stuck her fingers inside the UV dryer she'd saved her allowance for weeks to buy, thinking (after she pulled them out ten minutes later) how great an investment it had been.

French Manicures were the foundation of the nail polish world, she thought, touching each nail with the tip of her tongue gently to check they were dry. There was no way she could get in trouble for wearing nail polish at school when it looked so natural.

She ticked off 'nails' on her list and was about to start working on her homework, when her partially closed bedroom door was pushed open, and her mother appeared.

"Come outside please," her mother said, in a tone that indicated she was not making a request.

Cassidy gave a small roll of her eyes and an exasperated sigh, "Mum, I was just about to do my homework. I know you don't want me to be distracted from that," she said knowingly, pleased she'd left her homework until last. Mainly because if anything in her room or on herself was out of place she wouldn't be able to concentrate.