The Other Side

"Just tell them you're sorry," said Cassadee, rubbing Alex's back gently. They sat on the front porch of Cassadee's house, trying to figure out what to do with the problem at hand.

They haven't communicated with the rest of the Brat Pack in two days, and Cassadee was starting to get worried. She didn't want Alex to completely sever his friendship with his friends all because of her. And she definitely didn't want Jordan to keep distancing himself from her, the way he's doing now.

"But what's there to be sorry about?" Alex pointed out. "They're obviously jealous and selfish. They should be the ones to apologize. I mean, what is the harm in spending time with you, for crying out loud?"

Cassadee merely nodded, trying to sort it all out in her head. So far, she's been hearing Alex's side, and it sort of made sense. They did act like they didn't want the pair to be together at all. Were they that tired of hearing the same story so much that they couldn't bear seeing it happen in front of their faces?

"Well," she said slowly "Someone's gotta make the first move. Otherwise…nothing's going to happen…"

"Cassadee," said Alex, looking at her straight in the eye "I am not going to apologize for something that I didn't do."

"But what's going to happen if this thing isn't resolved?" reasoned Cassadee "It's a total waste. You've been friends with Sierra and Chris for more than three years!"

"And I've been friends with you for 10!"

"That's not the point, Alex. The point is, if you guys don't settle this soon, then your friendship could possibly be torn to shreds. And I don't want that. I don't want this to happen all because I suddenly popped into the picture."

Alex looked thoughtful for a moment. She did have a point. He let out a sigh. "Fine. I'll see what I can do."

"Don't worry Alex," said Cassadee reassuringly "I'm sure they'll come around."

~~/~~

Sierra dug frantically in her locker. She had a chemistry test in about half an hour and of all the times for her scientific calculator to be missing, it had to be now.

"Stupid, stupid calculator," she muttered, pawing through her books and sheets of paper.

Christofer peered over her shoulder. "Hey, little badger. Whatcha doin?"

Sierra looked at him and scowled. "Shut up. I can't find my calculator." She resumed her digging.

He squinted into her locked and shook his head. "I doubt you're going to find anything in there. Your locker looks like a tornado came in and destroyed everything."

"Thanks for the help, Chris," she said, not looking at him "Where's Brian and Jordan?"

"They went on ahead. They both forgot to study for the math test, so they're going to try and cram it few minutes before."

Sierra laughed. "Good luck with that. AHA!" She pulled out her calculator from the mess and held it triumphantly up in the air. "Found you, little sneak!" She kissed it.

"Hey guys," said a voice. They both looked up and frowned. It was the last person they wanted to see.

"What do you want Alex?" demanded Sierra.

"So I've been talking to Cassadee," said Alex, stuffing his hands in his pockets "And she told me that I should apologize for the way I acted. And so yeah…I'm sorry."

Sierra and Christofer exchanged skeptical looks. From the way they were looking at each other, Alex knew they were having a silent conversation. He would know. He'd had a lot of those when he was with the both of them.

Christofer looked back at Alex. 'So…Cassadee told you to apologize?"

"Yup."

Sierra sighed. "I'm sorry, Alex. But we can't accept that apology."

Alex looked dumbstruck. "What? I'm already apologizing for my actions! What more do you want?"

"Uh, sincerity?" said Sierra "If Cassadee told you to apologize, then you're obviously just doing what she says. It's not from your own heart."

Alex pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. "Look, I'm doing this because, if we don't do something about it, then everything's going to fall to complete crap, okay? I'm just doing this to save our friendship!"

"What, apologizing because your friend for 10 years tells you to?" said Christofer, cocking an eyebrow.

"No. I'm doing this because obviously you guys won't apologize for being jerks!"

Sierra's mouth fell open in offense. "Well, maybe you should review the last few weeks and you'll see who the real jerk is." She glanced at Christofer. "Let's go."

Christofer looked at Alex and shook his head. "What happened to you?" He turned and left with Sierra. Alex continued to glare as they disappeared into the throng of students.

He didn't flinch when he felt Cassadee appear at his side. "Well?" she asked.

"They didn't want to accept the apology," he said indignantly "I can't believe what a bunch of thick-headed people they are." He turned and left Cassadee standing in the middle of the hallway.

Cassadee ran her fingers through her hair. This was really starting to get out of hand. She knew what she had to do. It was time to get their side of the story.

~~/~~

"So Hayley, how was school today?" asked Cassadee's mother, turning towards the only redhead at the table.

Hayley looked up from her plate. "Well, I failed the pop quiz in physics."

Her mother gave her a reproachful look. "Again? You can't keep doing this, Hayley."

"Well I'm sorry," said Hayley, stressing how sorry she was by stabbing her broccoli "I don't do physics, nor do I do pop quizzes."

"And yet you always manage to perform surprise maneuvers in Call of Duty," Cassadee pointed out to her sister. Hayley stuck her tongue out at her.

"How about you Jordan?" asked his mother "What did you do today?"

"Well, I got a C in my algebra test," he said, rolling his marble potato around his plate.

"Well, that's…pretty good," said his mother. She turned to face Cassadee. 'What about you sweetheart?"

"Well, I—" began Cassadee.

"Spent the whole day with Alex again?" Jordan finished for her.

"Get out, your friend Alex is here?" said Hayley shocked.

"Oh he's not just here," said Jordan, making sure his eye contact with his cousin held "He's everywhere."

Cassadee narrowed her eyes at him. It was bad enough that he was creating this weird distance between them. Now he was making fun of him in her face. In front of their family.

"What do you mean by that?" asked her mother.

"Yes, Jordan. What do you mean by that?" demanded Cassadee, her fingers gripping her fork tightly.

"I think Cassadee knows exactly what I mean. I'm even surprised that you came home alone today."

"That's because you didn't wait for me."

"Because I didn't feel the need to. I thought prince charming would do it for me." He got up and took his plate to the kitchen. Cassadee was on the verge of throwing the fork at him.

"Well, this is getting a bit awkward," said Hayley, popping a potato in her mouth.

"Cassadee, what's this all about?" demanded her mother.

Cassadee threw down her napkin and stood up from the table. "Excuse me," she muttered. She left the room and followed Jordan up the stairs.

She found him laying comfortably on his bed in the room they shared together. She slammed the door closed and locked it.

"What is wrong with you?" she demanded "You've been acting really weird these past few days and I don't understand what the hell is happening. I mean, I'm already kind of stressed about what's happening between Alex and his friends and it's not helping that you're acting like a complete jerk."

"Well, gee Cass," said Jordan sarcastically "You're a smart girl. Figure it out."

Cassadee narrowed her eyes again. "It's about Alex, isn't it?"

"Bingo. Give the girl a prize."

"I just don't get it, Jordan. What do you have against Alex, huh? You know, when we were kids, this wasn't a problem. We were fine. I don't get why it suddenly came to this."

Jordan got up from the bed. He stepped towards her and stared at her straight in the eye. "Well, maybe it's because you really don't get it."

Cassadee was confused. "What…?"

"You don't know how unfair it is for me, Cassadee. You honestly don't know what it feels like to be replaced. In that short time that you spent with Alex, in that year when you first met him, did you even notice me? Did you even remember that I existed? Because I've always been there Cassadee. I tried really hard to be with you. I depended on you, for God's sake. I never knew my father. My mother works nights just to compensate for our staying with you guys. I hardly saw her when I was young. Hayley had her own friends. In the end, it'd be you I'd always see every single day. At one point, I believed that we were brother and sister, because that's how we treated each other. But ever since Alex came in…I felt…like you were suddenly taken away from me, and you didn't mind at all. I felt replaced, and it's an awful feeling, to be replaced by someone you truly thought was your sister. Sometimes I felt like I didn't matter to you anymore, because you had Alex. That's why, when Alex left, I was so happy because I finally had you all to myself. It's selfish I know. But you had no idea how it felt to spend a whole year by myself, knowing that you were having the time of your life without me."

Cassadee was speechless. She had no idea Jordan had kept this in for so long. A pit formed at the bottom of her stomach. Guilt gnawed at her heart.

"Why didn't you tell me this before?" she asked softly.

Suddenly, Jordan's bright blue eyes darkened. His shoulders drooped. "What was I supposed to say? You were happy with Alex. I didn't want to end that just because my feelings were getting in the way. I mean…I just…" He let out a big sigh. He looked at her with sad eyes. "I just felt kind of bad that he was your top priority and I wasn't…"

Cassadee's chest tightened. She never heard Jordan speak this way before. She bit her lip, trying to stop the guilt from washing over her. Suddenly she got an idea. Crossing the room, she opened her beside table drawer and pulled out a necklace.

"What are you doing?" asked Jordan.

Cassadee sat on the edge of her bed. "You remember when we attended that camp four years ago and that big kid pushed you into the lake?"

"Yeah," said Jordan, sitting on his bed opposite her "But you left me. The camp counselors pulled me out of the lake and, you didn't stay."

"Yeah, but do you remember when we finally saw each other and you saw my black eye and red knuckles and asked what had happened and I told you I accidentally hurt myself?"

"Yeah…?"

"I lied." Cassadee smiled at him. "I beat him up for you."

Jordan's eyes widened in surprise. "So all this time…?"

"I knew I was too small to save you by myself. Even if I was taller than you back then, I still wouldn't have done it. I called the nearest counselor I could find and they rescued you. While they did, I took care of business and beat that kid up. Because there was no way in hell that I would let my own flesh and blood get hurt by some bully."

A small, relieved smile crept up Jordan's mouth. "R-really…?"

Cassadee got up and sat beside him. "I love you, Jordan. You mean the whole world to me. There was also a time where I thought that you really were my brother, because I loved you that way. All this time, I thought I was protecting you from getting hurt. But I didn't realize that I was hurting you myself. And now, hearing it from you, it made me realize how stupid I was for putting my best friend over the cousin who's been with me ever since birth."

She pulled out the necklace and placed it over his neck. "I want you to have this Jordan. And I want you to remember that you will always be my top priority."

Jordan touched the necklace and looked at his cousin. He smiled gratefully and rested his head on her shoulder. "I love you too, Cass. I'm sorry for acting like a jerk."

"Forgiven. I'm sorry I ignored you all this time."

"Forgiven." Then, Jordan had a thought. "Hey, what if you suddenly fall in love with Alex?"

Cassadee snorted with laughter. "What are you talking about?"

Jordan smirked. "Come on. It's possible, with the way you're acting with him and all." He poked her on her side.

"Stop that!" she said, pushing his hand away "I don't think that's ever going to happen. I mean…me and Alex? Boyfriend and girlfriend? Psh, come on."

Jordan straightened up and wiggled his eyebrows at her. "You say that now. But when it happens, be ready cause I'm gonna rub it all in your face that I told you so."

Cassadee gave him a look. "Ha. Ha. Don't think so." She tapped a finger to her chin. "Speaking of Alex, I need to speak with Christofer and Sierra…"

"Good luck with that. They seem set on ignoring Alex for life."

Cassadee looked at him slyly. "Not if I have anything to say about it."

~~/~~

Cassadee sat outside a Starbucks, sipping her mocha Frappucino and patiently waiting for Sierra and Christofer to arrive. She'd texted them about an hour ago, but they haven't shown up. Just wait a bit more Cass, they'll come.

Finally, they appeared into view. Cassadee stood up and waved them over. They found her quickly and made their way to the table.

"Thank you so much for coming!" said Cassadee as they sat down "Do you guys want anything?"

"I'll get a café latte," said Christofer, taking his over-sized jacket off.

"And I'll get a banana nut muffin," said Sierra.

Cassadee looked at them in confusion, seeing as they didn't even stand up to order. "What, you want me to order it for you?"

"Well you did ask us what we wanted," said Christofer, shrugging.

Cassadee sighed. "Alright. Be right back."

She got their orders quickly and appeared back at the table just as fast. The pair thanked her and took their food/beverage.

"Don't worry," said Sierra, taking a piece of her muffin "We do this all the time with Alex. He always buys the stuff."

"Speaking of Alex—" began Cassadee.

"Is this why were here?" asked Christofer, taking a sip of his coffee.

"Sort of."

Sierra sighed with exasperation. 'Cass, if you're going to try and get us back together with Alex, you can forget it. He's being a total asshole right now and I don't want to deal with him anymore."

"Actually," said Cassadee "I wanted to ask you about your history with Alex. I mean, you've already heard my story a billion times. I want to hear yours, for a change."

Sierra and Christofer exchanged glances. They had a short, silent mental conversation before turning back to an expectant Cassadee.

"Well, I met Alex in the third grade," said Christofer "I was a loner since kindergarten. No one wanted to be near me cause I was "that weird kid". But, Alex was different. I was sitting silently in a corner, away from civilization, when Alex suddenly came up to me and asked "Hey, what's your name?". That was the first time I was ever spoken to in how many years. It was really weird, having someone suddenly come up and ask me what my name was. I told him my name was Christofer and just like that, we became friends. It was hard trying to be as friendly and open as Alex was, but he helped me out and showed me things I've never had the guts to explore before. And before I knew it, I became the person I am now, and Alex and I were inseparable."

"So when did you come in?" Cassadee asked Sierra.

Sierra smiled a small smile. "It was in the 7th grade. Believe it or not, I was head cheerleader."

"Oh my god!" exclaimed Cassadee. From the way Sierra dressed, she didn't seem like the cheerleader type at all. She looked like the type that despised cheerleaders.

"I know right? Anyway, I was head cheerleader since the 5th grade and my attitude was ten times as worse as Greta's. In fact, Greta was horribly jealous of me because I was head cheerleader and she wasn't. So because of that jealousy, she vandalized the girl's bathroom and framed me for it. I ended up getting kicked off the squad. It was the worst day of my life. And it just so happened that Alex and Christofer found me crying on the bleachers that very same day. And Alex, being the good soul that he is, came up to me and asked me what's wrong. Still having my snooty attitude, I snapped at him and told him to go away. He then said that it won't get better unless you tell someone about it. I realized it didn't matter whom I poured my heart out to because I really just wanted someone to talk to. I was made a social outcast and everyone ignored me that day. And just saying everything to Alex made me feel a bit better, because at least there was someone listening to me."

"Then he told me something that changed my life."

'What did he tell you?" asked Cassadee.

Sierra's smile became bigger. "He told me that status is just a name. It doesn't define who you are. You define yourself. That's what makes you unique. And so I decided that I did define myself. And I defined myself to be the person I am today, the rebellious teenager who doesn't take crap from anybody."

"Wow," said Cassadee "I had no idea Alex affected you this way."

"So you see why we acted that way when he suddenly left us," said Christofer "I mean, how would you feel if the person who practically changed your life suddenly abandoned you for someone you barely even know?"

"And it was kind of annoying," said Sierra "Because not only was he ignoring us, but he was also hogging you. We expected to really meet you, to see what Alex liked about you so much that he kept talking about you for three whole years. But we didn't because, he was busy "spending time with you"."

"I get it," said Cassadee "I completely understand. I talked with Jordan the other day and found out he was having the same problem too."

"Yeah he kind of told us when you and Alex were having your "moments"," said Sierra, making air quotes.

Cassadee twirled her straw. 'So…you guys thinking about making up with Alex?"

"We still think he has to be the one to apologize," said Christofer "I mean, he's the one really at fault here."

Cassadee nodded in agreement. "True…"

"You know," said Christofer "You're a cool girl, Cass. You're not bad at all."

"Yeah," said Sierra "And if you're blaming yourself for all this, don't. It's not your fault. It's all Alex's."

Christofer took out his phone, which vibrating violently against his pocket, and opened the message. He rolled his eyes. "Of all the times…

"What's up?" asked Sierra.

"Dad just told me to pick some stuff up at the grocery." He got up and put on his jacket. "See you guys later. And nice to finally meet you, Cass!"

He turned and left. Both girls watched his retreating figure disappear in the distance. Cassadee then turned to Sierra.

"So," she said "Are you doing anything later?"

"Nope. Why?"

"I'm thinking of ways to spend time together, to pass the time."

Sierra glanced around the mall and back at Cassadee. "Wanna go shopping?"

Cassadee grinned. "Sounds awesome. Forever 21?"

"You know it. Let's go!"

~~/~~

"I am hurt, Cassadee," said Brian, pretending to be offended "You invited Sierra and Christofer, but not me? Hmph!"

"Brian, come on," said Cassadee, putting a hand on his shoulder "I wanted to know their history so I can help solve the problem!"

"I have history with Alex too, you know."

"Dude," said Sierra, her mouth full of chips "You met the guy a few months ago. That's not much of a history."

"Besides," said Cassadee "I hung out with you most of the morning, didn't I? We had about three classes together."

Brian had to agree. "Yeah, and we spent the whole morning talking about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles."

"And why wasn't I in the conversation?" demanded Jordan "You know how much I love TMNT. Donatello was my hero!"

"Really? I prefer Leonardo," said Christofer.

"There you are, Cass!" cried a voice behind them. They looked and saw Alex looking at Cassadee with relief.

"Yes," she said "Here I am. What is it?"

"I've been looking for you everywhere!"

"And you didn't think she'd be sitting with us?" asked Sierra "She's a part of the Brat Pack too, you know."

"I just thought she'd wait for me outside the classroom…"

Cassadee sighed and faced him. "Alex, we need to talk."

"About what?" Alex was looking at everyone's faces, which remained expressionless.

"I've been talking with everyone about what's been happening, and I've come to a conclusion. The reason they acted that way was because they felt hurt. You were ignoring them, Alex. That's not how you should treat your friends, especially when you mean a lot to them. When Jordan told me how he felt, I understood what I was doing wrong. I'd ignored him. That's how Sierra and Christofer felt too."

Alex glanced at Cassadee to his two best friends. "Is…is that true?"

"Yeah," said Sierra "You'd have to be stupid not to realize it."

"It's the reason we snapped at you," said Christofer "And made you think that we were jerks or something."

Alex shook his head. It was all making sense now. "Wow….I'm such an idiot."

"Yes you are," said Sierra and Christofer in unison.

"I…I'm so sorry guys. I didn't realize…I can't believe I've been ignoring you all this time…I've must've been a real jerk…"

"Yep."

Alex ran his fingers through his hair. "I am so sorry. I was so stupid. I promise this wont happen again. Can you guys forgive me?" He looked straight at them, giving them a sincere gaze that could melt a heart of ice.

Sierra and Christofer exchanged glances and once again, engaged in a silent conversation. Finally they turned back to Alex.

"Sure," said Sierra. Alex grinned and went over to them. He wrapped his arms around both their necks and hugged them.

"I love you guys," he said "I'll never ever, ever do that again. I swear." He hugged them tighter.

"Oh my god. I can't breathe," squeaked Sierra, her voice strained.

"Too. Much. Love," gasped Christofer, tugging at Alex's arm wrapped around his neck. Alex didn't hear them and kept his arms locked.

The rest of the table laughed. Finally, everything was back to normal, the way it should be.