july 7, 1989. monday.
"I DON'T THINK SHES BREATHING!" ben hanscom yelled to stanley uris. ben had his fingers pressed to cassandras throat, searching for a pulse.
"move!" stan demanded, and crouched down near cass' side. "c'mon, cass," he muttered, pressing down on her chest a few times. he then tipped her head back, pinched her nose, and pressed his mouth to hers. he blew air into her mouth, then repeated the process of pressing down on her chest.
cass shot up after the third time, coughing up water, tears brimming her eyes. she looked at stan and ben, utterly confused.
"what the hell happened?"
CASS HADN'T REALIZED SHE DIDN'T come up for air until she felt herself slowly slipping out of consciousness. the water filled her lungs, but she didn't mind, and let the blanket of silence fall over her.
shortly after cass fell into the water, ben and stan made their way down to the quarry to birdwatch. stan claimed that around noon was the best time to watch, because the birds were super active.
as stan set up, ben peeked over the edge of the cliff, remembering the day all of the losers came down to swim. he smiled softly, but his smile quickly dropped from his face when he saw the body floating face up in the water.
"holy shit!" he exclaimed, and stan jumped, slightly startled at the outburst.
"what is it?" stan asked, joining ben at the cliffs edge. the curly haired boy gasped when he saw what ben was talking about, but tears quickly filled his eyes when he saw the long brown hair, and the baby blue dress a certain girl loved. "thats cass!" stan exclaimed, then jumped straight into the water. ben jumped after him.
ben got to cass quicker, and he began to drag her towards a small beach that led back up to the cliff. he pulled her onto the sand, and quickly dropped to his knees, feeling around for a pulse, and pressing his ear to her lips.
the lips that had turned a dark shade of purple.
"WE FOUND YOU IN THE WATER, you were close to dead," stan explained.
"did you, did you try to kill yourself?" ben asked, afraid if the answer.
"i can't remember that well. i went over to eddies, then to bevs, and her dad, her dad told me stay away from beverly. i came down here, and i just, i just let myself fall in," cass stopped, and looked towards the water. "i- why were you guys down here?"
"we were going to bird watch," stan explained sheepishly, rubbing at the nape of his neck. cass nodded shortly, not noticing the embarrassed blush on stans cheeks.
"stan why don't you take her home?" ben offered. "i'll grab all of our stuff."
"okay." stanley stood up and offered his hand to cass, who gladly took it. he tried to pull away after she stood, but she grabbed his hand harder.
"please don't let go," she muttered, quiet enough only for stan to hear. he nodded, blushing, and the two walked up a trail that led straight to the road, while ben walked up the trail that led to the cliff.
"WHAT THE FUCK!" DANNY exclaimed, watching stanley uris bring his cousin into their house, soaking wet.
"i fell in at the quarry." cass kicked off her shoes as danny eyed stans and cassies intertwined hands.
"oh," he muttered, and stan stayed silent.
"why were you there?" danny asked.
"i was bird watching." the older boy snorted.
"i'm going upstairs. thank you for walking me home, stan. i appreciate it a lot," cass spoke, smiling softly. she pulled stan in for a hug, and pressed a kiss to his cheek. cass walked upstairs slowly, and as her footsteps faded, stan turned to leave.
"uris! wait!" danny called, walking towards the boy. stans eyes widened, but he turned on his heel to face danny. "why did your face turn so red when cass kissed you on the cheek?"
stans cheeks reddened once more. "i- um- i just-"
"save it. you like her, don't you?" stan sighed and nodded towards the older boy. "shes gay, you know that right?"
"o-of course i know that," stan breathed out, and danny shook his head.
"you're only going to get hurt kid, trust me, shes not into guys." danny ruffled stans hair and the boy nodded, and walked out of the door.
as stanley walked down the street, he let the tears slip from his eyes, and took deep breaths. he finally reached the quarry, where his bike lay on the ground. he hopped on, but noticed cassandras bike in the underbrush. he sighed, grabbed his bike and hers, and began walking back towards cass' house.
he dropped her bike on her front lawn and climbed onto his own, shooting one last glance at the frayser household before pedaling away.
a fee hours later, cass lay on her bed, stripped down to only her bra and underwear.
'stay away from her. stay away from her. stay away from her.' ran through cass' head, and she felt her throat sting. she could only imagine what bevs father did to her when she got home.
"cass?" her aunt called from outside her door.
"hold on! let me get dressed!" she threw on a sweatshirt and a pair of shorts, and jogged over to her door. she turned the knob, and she was met with her aunt. "whats up?"
"bev, called, it sounds pretty urgent. she said to meet her at the park." cass nodded, slightly worried, and ran downstairs. she pulled on her shoes quickly, and shouted a quick love you before opening the door.
"be home by seven!" natalie yelled back. "love you!"
"two hours," cass muttered.
she doubted they would need that much time.
BEV WAS SITTING ON A PARK BENCH, a slight breeze rustling through her short hair. she shuddered slightly, and wrapped her jacket tighter around her.
she didn't want to do this, but she had to. she needed cass, but she needed her father more. he was her own blood. cass would never be able to hate her for that.
[could she?]
"bev?" a familiar voice called, and the redhead turned to face her girlfriend, the breeze blowing her hair around.
"hey, cass," bev spoke, forcing a smile.
"sit down, we need to talk."
"o-okay," cass stuttered out, and sat next to bev, leaving a two inch space between them.
neither girls scooted closer.
"my dad knows about us," bev blurted out.
"i know," cass answered, unable to look at the girl beside her.
"what? how?"
"i, um, stopper by earlier. your dad answered. he told me to stay away from you," cass explained, bev reached for her hand, but cass yanked it away.
"cassie, look," bev started, "i like you, a lot-"
"no! skip the bullshit, bev. i know whats coming. just get it over with, please." cass knew her voice broke, but she didn't care. she furiously wiped her tears and met bevs eyes. "please."
"i, i'm sorry. but its over, cass," bev forced out, fighting back her own tears. she couldn't cry in front of cass, not right now.
but cass wanted her to cry. she wanted to know that bev still cared, but she looked empty. emotionless.
"okay. goodbye, bev." with that cass got up and walked away, letting the tears stream down her face. once she was far enough away from bev, she sobbed. she didn't care about the weird looks people on the street gave her. she didn't care people saw her pain. not anymore.
she decided on taking the long way home, for she didn't want to go home
with tears still streaming down her face. she stopped in an alley for a moment, trying to calm her breathing, and sunk to the floor.
"fuck this," she muttered, picking at her wrist, and pulling the scabs on her most recent cuts on her arms.
"you could get an infection from that," a voice called. "its best to just cut, don't pick at them after. no matter how much they itch." cass turned her head towards the voice, and watched a figure come out of the shadows. once their facial features were recognizable cass gasped, but couldn't bring herself to get up.
"victor?"
•••
things only get worse kids