About two and a half weeks passed and Riley was still recovering. She came home with them two days after the surgery and Cassidy had her lay down the whole day to help her recover. Now, she still lays down most of the day and still won't eat as much as she used to. Cassidy had to force down some food to get it into her system a couple of times to maintain her weight. She also has to give her daily pills for pain and the healing process.
Ever since Michael killed himself, McKaelah has been quieter but has been hanging out with Cassidy's group. At first, Cass's group wasn't sure about the once school bully joining them, but now everyone has adjusted. All of them knew what McKaelah had been through, so they were very understanding about it. Now everyone gets along great, and McKaelah is happy with her new life with her grandparents. Everything was going good so far, but Cass needed to tell her parents something that she had decided by herself.
So when they were sitting on the couch watching Friends, she approached them to talk.
When they noticed her, they pressed pause on their show, and Cass sat down on the couch next to them.
"Mom, dad. I.. uh... have been thinking about this and I think I've made my final decision."
"Ok, go on," Dad reassured me.
"I don't want to have a birthday this year." She said quickly.
"Why not honey? It's gonna be your 16th birthday. It's a special one, and it's only about a week away now."
"Yeah, but I just don't want to. Riley is still recovering, and then there's the Michael incident..."
"Cassidy, Michael is gone, you don't have to worry about him anymore. Why are you still worrying about him?"
"I don't know, I just..." She then broke into tears.
"It's just, you know, what McKaelah has been through, and Riley. Just everything is hard right now. It's hard to see all of this happen at once. I know I shouldn't worry anymore about McKeilah and Michael, and I will try my best. I will just focus on Riley now. Cause I know she needs me, and I need her too."
"Okay, okay. It's okay. Come here." Mom motioned for her to come sit closer to her, and she continued as Cass sat closer, "Listen, you can stop worrying about Michael and McKaelah now, okay? I want you to just focus on Riley. She needs you as much as you need her. And I'm pretty sure she doesn't like to see you upset and stressed out like this."
Cassidy turned to look at her dog on her bed, watching and listening to their conversation as if she knew what they were saying. Then Cass turned away and looked at her parents, "Okay, I'll do that, for... for Riley."
Her mom smiled and wrapped her into a tight hug, and dad joined in as well.
Mom spoke again, "It's okay. You don't have to have a birthday this year. I understand completely."
"Thanks, mom," Cassidy said through tears.
They all unraveled from their hug and looked at each other. But Cassidy was surprised when she heard a familiar sound. It was Riley's collar's chains clinging together. Cass turned to face her dog and was shocked to see her up on her four legs right beside them. She laid her head on Cassidy's lap and looked up at her with her big, blue eyes. Cassidy felt a sense of happiness inside her and was glad to see Riley up and moving. She silently pet her soft head and just sat there, stroking her as she comfortably sat there next to her parents.
Later that day, her parents had to go out because they needed to go grocery shopping. They said Cassidy could stay home with Riley to keep an eye on her. When her parents left, it was just Cassidy and Riley. The house seemed vacant because it was so quiet. Nothing moved, the whole house was still. Cassidy was sitting in the living room with Riley. She was on the couch and just stared at the TV even though it wasn't on, petting Riley as she laid down next to her on the floor. Not a thing seemed to want to break the silence. But a soft knock on the door decided it wanted to barge in on the nothingness.
Cassidy turned towards the door and just stared at it. Riley perked her head up at the sound and growled a little, still laying there. She didn't know if she should open it or not, but she got up slowly anyways and approached the door. Without thinking, she opened the door, not bothering to look through the peephole at all. As the door's crevice grew wider and wider, it revealed someone familiar. At first, it was the short, dark hair that caught her eyes, but then it was the smile. It was Blake.
He grinned a solemn grin when he saw Cass's face. His grimace made her surroundings seem to darken. "Hello, Cassidy," he said with a smile still planted on his face.
He wore a plain grey T-shirt with a red checkered flannel over it. He had on some jeans and white vans that were already dirty. It looked like he was dressed to go somewhere nice.
"What the hell are you doing here?" She asked sternly.
"Oh, baby. I just wanted to come check on you to see how you are doin because I know your birthday is coming up. Are your parents home?"
"Does it matter? Why do you always need to check on me? I going to be 16, I can take care of myself now. Besides, I have a more responsible, loving dad to take care of me now. So if you'll excuse me, I am going to feed Riley," Cass started to shut the door, but Blake stopped it with his hand.
"That's no way to talk to me like that. I'm still your dad."
"No, you're not. Because if you were, you would be still married to my mom and you would be living here with us. So, no, you're not my dad anymore. So get lost!"
"Oh, I remember the good times with Rebecca. She loved me so much, and I loved her. Oh, and what about Tyler? Is he home yet from college? He looked down and sighed.
Cassidy just looked at him, waiting for him to leave.
Then he looked up and smiled again, "Your parents aren't home are they?" He started to walk towards Cassidy, and she backed up until both of them were in the house. She was too scared to even realize it. "Because if they were, you would've called them by now. Now we could just have me and you time."
Cassidy stood there like a statue, not knowing what to do. Blake looked away from her, turned around and closed the door, locking it as well. Then he turned back from the door and faced her again, "Sit down," he pointed to the couch.
Without hesitation, she quickly walked over the couch and sat down. She had forgotten Riley was laying right next to her on the carpet. She was showing her teeth at Blake as he sat down next to Cassidy on the sofa.
"Wow, I forgot about Riley. Why isn't she getting up, that's not like her?"
"It's none of your business, Blake."
He grabbed her arm and held on tight, "Yes it is my business. I have a right to know. Now, what happened? Cause I know she's didn't age overnight, I know she's only 5 years old." Then he let go of her arm.
"Okay, she had surgery because a guy broke into our house and shot her," She decided to keep it real short because she didn't want him to know all the details. She also didn't mention the Hermangiosarcoma because it still made sense that she got shot and is recovering from surgery.
"Ah, I see. Very well. When was this?"
Cassidy didn't' want to say it was a little while ago because she would've already been recovered by now, so she made up a lie, "Not that long ago, but we are all fine now so there's no need to worry about it."
"Hmm, okay. Well, anyhow..." He pulled out a tiny present from behind him. Cass must have not noticed he was holding it this whole time because she was too focused on Blake himself. "I bought you this for your birthday since it's only a week away. I don't have a card because I didn't have any time."
Cassidy just looked at it. It was in a small yellow bag with Happy Birthday written on it. "I don't want a gift from you. I'm fine without one. The best gift you could give me is to just leave."
He looked surprised, "Well, you are going to open it anyway," He put it on her lap and sat there, waiting.
She looked down at it and started to open it. As she took out the tissue paper, she could see a frame. It was a white painted frame with no gloss coating. She took it out and looked at the picture in the frame. It was a small picture of Blake himself. Only his face showed and he was smiling. His hair was spiked up in the front, and his blue eyes gleamed in the sun. She just stared down at it, and looked up, "What the frick is this supposed to be?"
"It's me! So when you are ever in doubt, you can always look to me. You can hang it up on your wall or put it on your nightstand. I'll always be there with you even though my presence isn't," He seemed so proud of his gift, but Cassidy wasn't, she was furious.
She stood up suddenly as he continued to smile to himself, "God! You are so egotistical, all you do is think about yourself. It's always me me me me, and never about anybody else. I mean, you're so avaricious, frivolous, and a complete psychopath. Why can't you just accept that Rebecca doesn't like you anymore and that your own daughter even wants you to go away? Take a hint, no one wants you here! Can you not process that? It's not that hard, and to be honest I'm ashamed to be called your daughter. That's right, ASHAMED! Even more than that, I feel you like to vex people all the time, especially Rebecca and I can see it in her eyes every time she sees you or talks to you."
All Blake did was sit there, staring at her, but she continued, "You are always consecutively trying to get us back. But you're replaced now. Spencer is so much more than you ever were. He's my dad now, you are far gone from this family. I'm glad to not be a Bonnett anymore because I'm a Readlin now, and I am going to keep it that way. Why don't you just relinquish on getting us back? Cause I'm pretty sure, you're not worth any of mine or Rebecca's time anymore!"
After she was done sharing her feelings in a vehemently way, Riley started growling at Blake again. He didn't look at either one of them, he just sat there with his head down fiddling with the yellow bag the frame had come in. "Very well," He said. If that's really how you feel about me, then I guess I'll stop. But you must keep that picture of me, cause you'll be reminded of me all the time."
It seemed to Cassidy that Blake didn't know when to stop, so she grabbed the frame walked off the rug that lay under the couch and stood on the tile floor. "I am not keeping this crappy piece of junk!" And she threw it to the ground, letting it shatter from beneath her. Pieces of glass and wood went everywhere on the floor in various directions. Then once everything settled, she found the picture of Blake under all the glass pieces and bent down to pick it up. She held it up to him and ripped it in half, then she ripped it again and again and again until it was just a bunch of tiny pieces of paper.
"What the hell?! What is wrong with you? Damn it, you lousy bitch!"
"You deserved it, Blake! Now, I don't ever want to see you again, is that clear? You know how I feel about you now, so I should except you never to return. Spencer doesn't even talk to me that way because he's a good father, unlike you. Neither I or mom loves you anymore, so I want you to go home and find another wife to love and have kids with. And lord help whoever you find. Now get out of my house!!"
Now Blake was the scared one. He got up with shaky legs as Riley watched him, teeth still bare. He walked over to the door, as he walked past the shattered remains of his gift. Cassidy had a dirty look plastered on her face that she kept giving him, even if he wasn't even looking at her. She went over to the door, unlocked it and gladly opened it for him. He walked out onto the porch and turned around to face Cass. She stood in the doorway with only her head peaking out. "Now get lost," She told him.
He looked at her for a brief second and said sternly as if giving a lecture, "I won't be back."
Cassidy just stood there smiling to herself as she saw him walk away and get into his old, white truck and drive off. And she never saw him again.
She slowly closed the door and went to the couch and sat down on it for what seemed like the millionth time that day. She didn't bother to clean up all the glass. She would just wait until her parents got home to explain what happened. She was careful though and made sure neither herself or Riley walked through it.
Riley carefully got up and put her head on Cass as she whined. "Hey, girl. You wanna try to get up here. Come on, you can do it." It took her a
couple of times before she jumped onto the couch and lay there next to her. "Good girl, Riley. Good girl." Cassidy was so happy to see that her dog was getting better, and she couldn't wait to go back to doing the things that they used to do together.
~End of Chapter 15