"Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!" Shouted Harriet as she jumped up and down on my bed.
"Go careful, Harriet. My bed isn't built like yours."
"Dad said he's going to take us out for ice cream and waffles!"
"All of us?" I asked as I sat up and gave her a hug.
"Yep. Get dressed. I'll see you in a bit." She giggled.
"Okay. I'll be down in five." I said and watched her run down the stairs.
"Don't run." I warned.
"Okie." She said and carried on running.
If she falls, it isn't my fault, I did warn her.
I chucked on a pair of black leggings and a black jumper with a pair of black Jordans. It was cold and it was early. I couldn't be asked to put on jeans this early. I brushed my teeth and went to the loo before heading downstairs.
"Morning, Cassie."
"Morning, Wendy."
"I thought you would be in your PJs. Why are you dressed so early?"
"Harriet came up and told me we were going out for breakfast."
"Steve, I thought you told her."
"No. You said you were going to tell her."
"Tell me what?"
"The Gardener is coming today and I said you would give him a hand."
"Wait, what? No. I don't garden things."
"That's terrible English."
"I mean, I don't do the garden, that's the whole reason you pay for a Gardener."
"Just give him a hand. He's about your age, I think."
"I don't care how old he is. I'm not doing it."
"If you're going to dress like a boy, you can do a man's job."
"A man's job? What are you going on about?"
"Get dirty. Maybe you'll be a builder one day."
"Whatever. I'm grabbing Breakfast."
"We're taking the kids out because the food delivery hasn't been dropped off yet. Can you collect it when it comes?"
"Sure."
"Thank you. See you later."
"Bye."
I clenched my fists to avoid the anger getting the best of me. Last time I was angry, I threw that glass at my bathroom wall and Harriet cut herself on it.
I was starving. I hadn't eaten in a few days and I wasn't allowed dinner last night after what I did. Or what I apparently did.
I was pulled from my thoughts as the doorbell went off. I trudged over to the door and swung it open to reveal a guy in boots and an apron standing there with a big grin on his face.
"Hey, I'm Barry. The Gardener."
"Hey, Barry. It's just through the back door."
"Okay. Thank you."
"I would offer you a drink but all we have is water."
"I'll go with water, please."
"Sure." I said and made him a glass of water.
Once Barry had left, I cleaned the house and waited for the food delivery to arrive. They dropped it all off, ten bags of it. Like big bags too. I packed all the food away before making myself some lunch and heading up to my room.
"We're home!" Called Wendy as I heard the door shut.
I took my plate downstairs and put it on the side. I went to grab my bag but she stopped me.
"Are you not going to clean it?"
"I already have."
"You don't just leave dirty pates lying around."
"I've cleaned all the other ones."
I walked towards the back door and slipped my shoes on as well as grabbing my bag.
"Where are you going?" Asked Wendy.
"Out."
"Where?"
"To a few shops."
"With who?"
"It's just me."
"Nope. It's getting late."
"I can look after myself. I do it anyways."
"Cassandra!"
"What!?'
"Don't talk to Wendy like that!" Shouted Steve.
"Sorry."
"You should be. You are not leaving this house."
"What? How is that fair?"
"You were rude."
"Whatever." I said and went to walk towards my room but instead I ran out the front door.
"Cassie! Get back here!" Shouted Steve as he swung the door open.
"We'll call the police!" Shouted Wendy.
"See you later." I said and ran down the street.
I ran down a few alleyways and once I was far away enough, I went back to my normal pace. I grabbed my now working phone out of my pocket and chucked in my earphones. I walked down the street, a big smile on my face as I jammed out to my music.
I got to the shop that I needed to and walked through the door, pulling out my earphones.
"Hey, Cassie. How are you, kid?" Asked Andy, the shop owner.
"Hey, Andy. I'm okay. How are you?"
"Happy that you're here. What do you need?"
"If I take Millie's shift that she was supposed to do today, can I have a board?"
"Like your old one?"
"Please." I said and dumped my bag down on the floor behind the desk.
"Alright. Board is here. I'll put it behind the desk. I've got a few people's boards that need new wheels. Think you can do that?"
"Yep." I said and walked off towards the back.
I had been working for around an hour and had already done three boards. I had seventeen more to do and hopefully I could get them done by seven this evening and use my new skateboard for a couple of hours and still be back for curfew.
"You doing okay, kid?"
"Yep. Marty's, Lucy's and Yaz's boards are done."
"Alright. I'll give them a call. When Yaz gets here, I'll let you know. I know you two are friends."
"Thanks, Andy."
"No problem, kid."
I was doing my tenth board when someone knocked on the door. I looked up to see Yaz leaning on the door frame, a cheeky grin spread across her face.
"Cass, nice to see you. Haven't seen you in what, three weeks?" She said with her hands out for a hug.
"A month. I missed you." I said and accepted the hug.
"You got my board?"
"Yep. Right here."
"Thanks. I saw the video. It's mad what happened to your board. Are you okay?"
"Yeah I'm fine. Just got a new board. Well I will have it, once I finish these boards." I said and pointed to the lined up boards.
"Oh that's great. Hopefully I'll see you down there, maybe skip today though."
"Why today?"
"Police are looking for you. Asking a lot of questions."
"You can thank Steve for that one."
"I thought Wendy threatened that."
"She did but has never had the guts. So, it was probably Steve."
"Ah, okay. Just keep it on the down low and stay out of trouble."
"Will do. See you soon, Yaz."
"See ya, Cass."
When I was finished, I made paper signs for each person's boards for when they came to pick them up. I got up off the floor to stretch and then went to the door but stopped when I heard the bell above the door go.
"Hello officers, how can I help you?" Asked Andy as he came and stood by the door.
"Hey. We're looking for a young girl. Blonde hair. Skateboards."
"I know a lot of them. Any other information."
"Her name is Cassandra Mills. Or goes by Cass."
"I know Cassie, what's she done?"
"Her parents are looking for her."
I knew that voice. It was Jay. I wanted to come out from the room but I knew that if I did, I would have to face them as well as my parents. God I hate that word.
"I haven't seen her." Said Andy.
"Mind if we look around the place?" Asked someone with a very rough voice.
I watched them walk around the place before one of them approached the office. I don't know who it was but I knew I had to get away. I ran out the back door and into the alley behind the building before going around the corner. I went to the front of the shop whilst they were in the back and took my bag.
"I'll come back for the board."
"Okay. Be safe. And run." Said Andy.
The door chimed when I had walked in as well as when I had left. I heard heavy footsteps behind me as I ran down the street and towards the seafront.
I just kept on running, even when they weren't behind me. I turned around for two seconds to smile at the sunset and then carried on running. I love this feeling of being free.
I saw someone running round the corner and thought it was them so I ran again but stopped when it realised I had ran into a road. I felt like a deer in headlights because my body froze and my legs refused to move. I raised my hands up to cover my face like that would do something.
I heard a loud horn before something heavy hit me. My eyes were closed shut and it felt like I was being dragged off the road.
"Fuck...me." I said through pants as I opened my eyes and looked up.
I saw a bright light and closed my eyes because of it. Is this what heaven is like?
"You're not dead. Now get up." Said someone but the voice was blurry.
When I didn't get up, someone pulled me up and then another person made sure I was steady on my feet before they left my side.
"Hey! Over here." Said someone and snapped their fingers in my face.
I looked up to at the tall figure who had blocked out the sunlight with their body.
"Hi..." I said with a nervous voice.
"You could've died." They said and pulled me towards a car that was parked by the pier.
"I didn't intend to run into the road. I just didn't want to be caught. Not yet, anyway."
"Are you trying to get killed?" Asked someone who's voice I knew all too well.
"Hey, Jay." I said and gave him a small smile.
"Don't 'hey Jay' me. Do you understand how stupid you just were?"
"I didn't know it was a road. I wasn't really focused on that. I saw someone running at me."
"Yeah, me." Said some very big muscular guy.
"Sorry."
"It's alright. I'm Kevin. I take it your Cassandra?"
"Cassie or Cass. She hates Cassandra." Said Jay and I just smiled at him.
The other members of the team just laughed and shook their heads. They all introduced themselves and then walked me back to the skateboard shop.
"Here's the board." Said Andy.
"Thanks." I said and left the shop.
The team walked me to the 21st where my parents were waiting. Wendy looked like she was in tears as Steve held her.
"Oh my god. You had me so worried." Said Wendy as she came up to me and hugged me.
"Cutting off my oxygen." I said.
"Oh be quiet." She fake laughed and cried into my shoulder.
"Love you, mom." I said back and let a tear fall.
"Oh sweetie. We were so worried." Said Steve and hugged me before taking the board out of my hands.
I went to pull away from the hug but Wendy kept me in it. Steve said he was going to put the board in the car but I knew he was going to dump it.
"Can I just talk to Cass for a moment?" Asked Jay and led me upstairs with Hank.
"Are you okay?" Asked Hank as I was led into an office.
It was small but looked nice. I spotted an American flag at the back and Hank knew I had seen it because he picked it up.
"I lost a partner back in the day. Almost like how we lost you tonight."
"I honestly didn't mean to. I just froze."
"Did you? Or did you want to be hit?"
"No. I like my life."
It wasn't a lie. I do like my life but not the people in it.
"That wasn't my question." Said Hank.
"I froze."
"Why?" Asked Jay as he took a seat on the couch behind me.
"I don't know."
"Yes, you do."
"Fine! I was scared. Everything just flashed before me and I felt scared."
I knew they didn't believe me but they didn't push it. Instead they led me back downstairs and towards Steve. He didn't look sad anymore and neither did Wendy. They went back to their normal selves and faked smiled at the unit as they led me down the steps.