(ON HOLD)
heartworm /härt,wərm/ (n.)
a relationship that you cannot get out of your head, which you thought had faded long ago but is still alive and unfinished
in which two old friends try to find their way back to each other.
(𝘕𝘪𝘯𝘪 𝘚𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘻�...
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𝐍𝐢𝐧𝐢 wasn't gonna admit that she knew it was her even before they collided.
She knows she shouldn't have walked backwards in the first place, even if she had a good reason to. It was almost like fate decided that today was the day she was going to embarrass herself in front of Cassie.
Not that she cared.
Nini found herself turning around before she realized what she was doing.
"Cassie," she chuckled nervously. "Hey."
Cassie stood by her open locker awkwardly, giving a smile in return. "Nini."
"How was, uh," she cleared her throat. God, Nini could feel her face burning up. "How was your summer?"
Cassie tried to hide her confusion. She didn't understand why Nini was talking to her, but even after all she did, Cassie wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to talk to her. "It-It was good."
"That's good."
This is so awkward, Nini thought as she faked a smile. Luckily for her, she had spotted the person she was looking for. A nervous look flashed across her eyes as she stared at her soon-to-be-official ex, Ricky Bowen.
Nini cleared her throat. "Oh, that's uh–"
"Yeah, yeah" Cassie waved her hand with encouragement. She didn't mean it, she just wanted Nini to go. "Yeah, go ahead."
After an awkward beat, Nini cleared her throat. "Bye."
"Bye," Cassie whispered as she watched Nini whip her head away from her. Being in love with your friend was such a trope. Yet here she was, pinning over her (kinda?) friend.
"Ugh." She slammed her locker closed. She was hopeless.
Cassie bit the inside of her cheek as she wondered how this even happened. They used to be best friends before the incident went down during the summer of freshman year.
Before that, it had been her, Kourtney and Nini for the longest time. The fearsome trio, as they used to call them (by they, it was just Cassie). It stayed that way until Ricky decided to worm his way into Nini's heart in the third grade. She didn't know why, but felt angry, betrayed and annoyed the more and more they started hanging out.
Cassie felt as if Nini was slipping away from her.
Her frustrations dragged on until the seventh grade when she confided in Kourtney. She had told the other girl about how she felt and how hurt she was that she had lost her best friend years ago to some boy.
To which Kourtney responded with, "Open your eyes, for crying out loud! You like her!"
(Her friend always had a way of opening people's eyes. It was a shame they drifted.)
