In a few minutes I hear a car door slam and just pray it isn't my mom. The front door opens and close. "I'm home!" I hear my sister call out.
Relieved, I shout a reply. "I'll be right down Cassidy! I have to do something really quick!" I grab my phone out of my pocket. Realizing Will probably won't have his phone, I text Kelley. 'Please tell Will he was right and that I'm sorry.' I press SEND, grab my shirt, and put it on as I walk downstairs.
Cassidy is sitting on the couch, flipping channels. She looks up when she hears me come in. "Mom is still at the hospital, they let her stay longer because Deborah convinced the nurse that she is Will's aunt, which is basically the truth right? I mean, she is his godmother, so it's almost the same thing. She's pissed at you though. What did you do?"
I shake my head. "It's a long story. Did you finish your homework?" She nods her head. "What do you want for dinner? Something easy." I don't know why I bother asking.
"Chocolate chip pancakes." We say in unison, Cassidy is much more enthusiastic than I am. That has been her favorite dinner since she was in first grade and eight years later, as an eighth grader, she still loves them. Even things at home are predictable.
I nod and turn into the kitchen. Cassidy follows right behind me. This is really the only time we bond, while making chocolate chip pancakes together. It was one of these times that I found out about her first boyfriend, and later her first heartbreak, let's just say, the kid got what was coming to him. We are slowly entering a phase where most of her friends have little crushes on me, which is completely hilarious.
I like having this time with my sister, when our parents aren't home and we make dinner together, but I'm glad it doesn't happen too often because then it would get old and it wouldn't be special.
I grab the eggs, pancake batter and chocolate chips while Cassidy gets out the pan, bowl, spoon and measuring cups. Cassidy grabs a pair of scissors to open the mix, and then we begin to throw in the ingredients.
Finally, it's time for a tradition my sister and I have every time we make pancakes. One of us turns away while the other puts something extra in the batter. It used to be a surprise every time but we have both gotten to have favorites. I feel like changing it up today. When Cassidy turns around, instead of going for the bananas, I grab a small handful of mini marshmallows. After I stir them in, I turn around so Cassidy can put in her ingredient. Usually, she puts in white chocolate bits that we discovered one day that my mom thinks are hidden really well. She still doesn't know that we've discovered her stash.
We start to pour batter onto the pan. "So Cassie, how is school going?" I ask, using my nickname for her. If I ever used it in regular conversation, she would kill me. She pretends to hate it, even though I know she doesn't mind it.
"Are we really going to talk about school? Ick. Well, you know how my teachers are. You had the same ones. But I'm doing well; of course they all still love me thanks to you." She smiles, it's an ongoing joke between the two of us, and all of the teachers love her because I was a good student. I turned in my homework and participated in class, etc. they all say they won't treat her special, but it's clear she is always a favorite.
"Anyone I need to beat up?" I ask, half joking. Cassidy always knows to tell me when guys are giving her crap. At this point, though they know not to mess with my sister.
"Nah, they're all too scared of you to do anything to me." She says, laughing. "But you know; I have to worry about this too. At this rate, I'll never get another boyfriend."
"Damn right you won't." I say, cracking my knuckles, sending her into a fit of giggles. "Do you have your eye on anyone?" I ask. I'm glad that Cassidy and I have the kind of relationship where she knows she can talk about this sort of stuff. Heck, I know more about my little sister's love life than my mother does.
She nods bashfully. "Matthew Grey. He's cute. He plays basketball, he's really good."
"Chris' little brother? He's a nice kid, I've met him one or twice. How's it going with that?"
"Um, good I suppose. Somewhat of a new crush, you know?"
I laugh. "No, not really. I've never been a teenage girl crushing on her older brother's friend's brother." She gives me a little shove and takes the pancakes off the pan.
"Dinner's ready." She announces. I grab one off the top of the huge pile, we never eat all of them, but there is nothing like pancakes for breakfast the following morning. I bite into it, and I don't taste any white chocolate. Cassidy has one as well and closes her eyes, then takes a bite. She opens her eyes and looks at it quizzically. "Where is the banana?" She asks.
"I did something different today." I reply. "You should be one to talk though. I don’t taste any white chocolate. What did you use instead?"
"I used mini marshmallows." She admits. I start to laugh.
"No way, you did not use marshmallows. I used the same thing." We've only done the same ingredient a few times though this is the first time we have ever used marshmallows. It's good, really good. I grab another pancake. Cassidy grabs another and we both laugh, marshmallows in chocolate chip pancakes, who would have guessed?
The front door closes and I hear my mom call from the entrance, "who made s'mores?"
She walks into the kitchen and see Cassidy and I cracking up, pancakes in hand and the kitchen a mess around us. My mom immediately goes into drill sergeant mode.
"Clean up the kitchen! What is so funny? Why does it smell like s'mores?" She demands.
Cassidy and I immediately sober up. We finish the pancakes in our hands and scramble to clean up the mess. Cassidy starts to wash the pan while I grab the garbage and throw it out.
Cassidy is now washing the bowl while I dry the pan and put it away.
After five minutes, the kitchen is spotless and we have plates piled high with pancakes, now with a knife and fork each.
My mom in the meantime has gone into the bathroom and grabbed a few Tylenol. She emerges and motions for me to come over to her and she leads me into the living room. Cassidy mouths "good luck" and I thank her silently before following right behind my mother.
"Dylan, what happened with Will? He was very upset after you left and refused to talk about it with any of us, not even Kelley, it upset Deborah immensely." She says sternly.
"We got into an argument. I realized he was right and I apologized a little while ago. Everything is fine, it's just that Kate and I aren't together anymore because of him." I explain.
She sighs. "Again? Dylan, you two need to work this out. It's getting old."
"I know Mom, we did. Everything is done between us. We won't be getting back together. It's done and I don't really want to talk about it."
My mom opens her mouth to speak but I brush past her and grab my pancake plate before heading upstairs to my room.
I open my window and put my plate on the roof, to the side of my window. Then I climb out after it. The roof under my windows is fairly even, so it's easy to sit on and easy to access from my bedroom. It rests over my porch, giving me a nice view of the neighborhood. I come out here a lot to think, to calm down at night when it's too dark to run.
I watch the sun slip down behind the houses and the streetlights turn on as the world goes to sleep around me. I eat my pancakes, which have now gotten cold. I shiver a little, regretting having not brought out a jacket, but I'm not cold enough to want to get up and go get one.
Once I start to get really cold, I go inside. I slink downstairs to put my dish in the sink and I hear the television on in the living room. I peek in to see my mom and dad watching the news. Funny, I never saw him come home; I guess I got really distracted. I hope he didn't see me on the roof; my mom doesn't like it when I go out there. I sneak out and place my plate carefully into the dishwasher and creep back upstairs.
When I pass Cassidy's room, I hear her whisper loudly to me "wait." I stop and walk into her room. The purple walls are covered in posters of celebrities and her blue carpet is splattered with magazines. It screams thirteen year old girl.
Cassidy is sitting at her desk; pen in hand, presumably doing homework. "What's up?" I ask crossing over to her. "Homework question?"
"No, I heard you tell Mom that you and Kate and over. Is it true?" She asks, trying in vainly to hide her excitement.
"Yeah. Kate and I are through. Things just got too complicated and superficial. We weren't really doing it for us anymore, it was more because it was easy and it was what is expected of us." I explain.
"Good. I never liked her, she wasn't right for you." She states, crossing her arms across her chest.
I smile. "I know you didn't like her. You made that clear constantly. I think that everyone in Oakland knows you don't like her."
She nods. "Okay, well it’s good to know things are finally over between you two."
I nod again and look over at her pink iPod dock for the time. 10:53, a lot later than I thought. How did it get so late? I wonder. "Come on Cass, time to go to bed. It's really late. Did you finish your homework?"
She nods and glances over at the clock and laughs. "That clock is an hour fast I never changed it, it's only 9:53." She explains. It feels like so much later, I'm exhausted.
"Well, whatever time it is, I'm tired. I'm going to head off to bed and I suggest you do the same soon as well. It's been a long day. Goodnight Cassidy."
"Goodnight Dylan." She whispers. "Thanks for dinner."
I smile and ruffle her hair. Despite her protests, her giggles tell me that she doesn't mind. "You're welcome kiddo. Goodnight."
Walking into my room, today's events wash over me. The old house sold, moving trucks outside, late to pick up Nathan, Kate, Emma, Will's accident, Kelley, Kate, Kate, Kate, my fight with Emma, Kate, my fight with Will, Kate again. Ugh.
I turn off my light and close my eyes. Taking off my jeans and shirt, I lay down in my bed, eyes still closed. My brain won't shut off. I lay my head on my pillow, counting to one hundred. 1, 2, 3... I fall asleep as soon as I'm finished; before my brain even registers I'm done.
*****
A/N
I love this chapter because I think it gives you a better idea of Cassidy and Dylan's relationship. I hope you all liked it!! Let me know what you think by leaving a comment or voting! Thanks for sticking around so far!
-Eryn