nineteen

Luca

~

Shit.

What did I do?

How could I be so stupid?

Of course, popularity isn't everything.

The drive back to her house was so quiet that I caught myself holding my breath a few times. It's never been this awkward between us before. I can thank myself for that.

Pulling up into her driveway, I notice her body language change the minute I put my truck into park. She rubs her hands together as she looks down from the window.

I need to say something.

"I'm sorry about earlier—"

"Don't."

My head hangs low as I close my eyes. Shit. She doesn't even want to speak to me. I don't blame her one bit if she called the whole thing off.

She finally glances at me, and I find her gaze. Tears start to burn at her hazel eyes. "You have no idea what I deal with every single day."

Several tears start to fall.

"Talk to me, Cassie. Please."

By this point her face is covered in tears. Leaving her beautiful face red and puffy from trying to wipe them away. It was hard, but I caught myself leaning over to wipe one away also. She looked up the minute my finger brushed her cheek.

"You can talk to me about anything, you know that right?"

She hesitates at first, but slowly nods. "My mom is very sick."

I don't say anything else. A few deep breaths later she tells me more.

"We're not just moving for college, we're moving so she can stay in a psychiatric hospital, it's close to the campus there," she takes another deep breath, trying hard to not choke on her own words. "She has bipolar depression and doesn't take her medication properly. So she needs professional help, because my dad and I are tired. We're so tired." She cries, putting her face into her hands.

I reach over to her and pull her into my chest, clutching her tight to me, letting her cry as long as she needs to. "I'm so sorry, Cassie."

With every sob I held her tighter and every sniffle I rubbed her back. A part of me didn't even want to let her go. A part of me didn't want her to go home tonight.

I just wanted her to be with me.

That night meant a lot to her.

We sat in my truck for what felt like hours. Her perfume welcomed my nose, consuming me with honey and vanilla—while I slowly rubbed her back, keeping her as close to me as possible. The last few minutes we had I didn't want to waste. If only time could stand still, I'd freeze time right now.

"Do you always cry this much?" I ask sarcastically, quirking up a brow.

She looks up from tucking her nose into my neck. "Shut up, Richards."

I run my thumb underneath her right eye, slowly wiping away the tears—which makes her instantly shiver from my touch.

"I'm sorry for my comments earlier. I don't know why I said that, but I don't think that about you at all. I just, I sometimes wish I had your life."

"My life isn't as perfect as you may think."

"I know, again, I'm so—"

"Luca," she scolds. "If you apologize one more time our little deal is off."

My eyes widened. "You wouldn't."

She grins mischievously, sitting up straight as her hands run through her mahogany hair.

"My hair is wet from crying," she giggles. "I better go inside."

"Okay."

"See you tomorrow." She hesitates before continuing, "Boyfriend."

︵‿︵‿︵‿︵

Mrs. Higgins interrupts the classroom for a moment, giving all of us her attention. "Prom is two weeks away, which means your final exam will be that following Monday. So study, study, study—this test will be your last."

I look over at Cassie who gives me a nervous grin, I laugh and shake my head. "You'll be fine."

She pokes out her bottom lip, insinuating that she's pouting. "I'm so going to fail."

"So, I heard about another party tonight. Are you going?" Anderson mumbles from behind me.

I turn around to face him. "Yes, we both are. You wanna come?"

"We are?" Cassie questions, raising a brow.

"Reagan convinced you, I see."

"I told them I would go if you attended."

"So, I'm attending then?"

I rolled my eyes before whispering so that only she and Anderson could hear. "It's part of our deal."

"Right," she sighs. "A taste of popularity."

"That's not what I mea—"

"So, are you going?" She glances over at him, quickly changing the subject.

He shook his head. "Nah, I'm going to stay home. My mom finally dumped Roger, so I need to be there for her."

I give him a small smile with a pat on the back. "It's about time."

He chuckles. "I know."

"Well, she's lucky to have you," she chimes in, with Anderson thanking her right after.

The following night, right after I finished my shift at the diner, I picked up Cassie who was dressed in black leggings and a big light gray long sleeve shirt. Her hair is down, resting on her shoulders, letting her curls flip repeatedly.

She is breathtaking.

"Wow," I smile when she steps inside. "You look great."

Her cheeks go red. "You don't look so bad yourself."

She has to be lying. I'm wearing my class Letterman, ripped jeans, and my dark hair is hiding under my black beanie. She looks much better than I do.

We walked through the crowded house, which happens to be Sara Porter's, one of the bleach blonde cheerleaders that invited me the other day with Reagan. The house is full of sloppy ass drunk kids. Some are off to the side dancing to the awful music playing while the others are either making out on the stairs or passed out on the couch.

"Real crowd pleaser." I lean down to tell Cassie in her ear.

"Aw come on now, Richards. If you want to be a part of my world, you need to fit in."

"Did you just quote The Little Mermaid?"

She rolls her eyes before swatting my arm. "You're so funny."

We make our way through the crowd and find ourselves in the huge rustic kitchen.

I feel like this kitchen takes up the entire house. As Cassie grabs the bottle of vodka that she basically scrambled to find under the pile of liquor bottles and red cups, she spots a nearby shot glass and pours one for me.

"Oh no," I tell her quickly. "Not again."

"You said for me."

"Yeah, but—"

"Please." She begs.

I stand there contemplating on what to do. On one hand I want to, just for her. But, on the other hand I don't because this crap is disgusting. She bats her long black eyelashes at me, giving me a smirk before she puts her bottom lip into her mouth.

Shit.

How can I tell her no?

I quickly grab the shot glass out of her hand. "Ugh."

The clear liquid feels like burning acid running down my throat. I instantly gag, like I did before, and down a flat coke that is sitting by the sink. At this point I could care less if it was piss. As long as I got that awful taste out of my mouth.

She giggles before grabbing my arm. "I won't make you do that again."

I wipe my mouth with the back of my hand. "You promise?"

A look in her hazel eyes tells me that I can trust her. She suddenly nods before answering.

"I promise."

A few moments later, the three blonde amigos enter the kitchen and stand right in front of us. Reagan lifts herself up on the counter while the other two stand on the opposite side of me.

Jesus Christ, what now?

"Hi Luca," Reagan eyes me up and down before twirling her tongue ring between her teeth. I don't even have a chance to respond before she speaks again. "Didn't think you were coming."

I bring Cassie closer to me with my arm resting across her back.

"We were actually just leaving."

I see Cassie eyeing me in my peripheral vision. "We were?"

Reagan stops us as she quickly jumps down from the counter. "But you were fixing to miss out on the best part."

"Best part?" Cassie chimes in again.

Without further ado—Marcus joins us as he slides behind Reagan, giving her a kiss on the shoulder. His ego makes me sick. Reagan loves it.

"Hey Cass."

Just his nickname for her sends a ringing in my ear.

I feel her tiny body tense up beside me. I quickly brought her hand into mine, letting her squeeze mine in return.

He tilts his head. "Can't greet an old friend?"

She still doesn't say anything back. I stand there watching him run his tongue along his bottom lip, staring at Cassie like she's a damn treat. I swallow hard trying to keep myself together.

"What do you want, Marcus?"

He breaks his eye contact with her when he realizes I opened my mouth.

"Oh, I see," he chuckles, leaning against the counter with a smug look on his face. He thinks he's such a comedian. "Her little boy toy is here to save the day."

"Come on." I say to Cassie, keeping a grip on her hand to lead her out of the kitchen. I heard Reagan say something to him, but I couldn't hear much. All I could hear next was Marcus whispering back to her.

"Let them leave, he's too much of a pussy anyways."

I could have kept walking, but I instantly pulled away from Cassie even though she grabbed my arm to hold me back.

"Luca, leave it alone," she whispers but I ignore her completely.

"I'm a pussy?" I question, walking back into the kitchen meeting him halfway.

He smiles, holding a beer in his hand. "You know I just don't get it."

"Get what?"

He takes a swig of his beer and points in my face. "How she left me for you."

I smirk back, letting him know that he didn't faze me. "Maybe she realized how much of a dick you were. Just like your dad."

Cassie and the other girls scream the minute his fist hits my jaw.

I knew that was coming.

"Don't fucking say another word about him, you got me?" He storms off taking a few more sips of his beer before throwing it down onto the ground making it shatter.

"That was awesome," she says to me, wiping away the blood from my lip with a wet rag.

A deep chuckle escapes my mouth.

"Someone had to do it."

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