Cassie's POV
I was not looking forward to today; in fact I was dreading it. I got ready deliberately slow this morning. I dressed in slow motion and only ate about to bites of cereal before I had to go. I walked outside with my backpack on ad felt the cool air assault my face. Across the street I could see Adam. He was waiting patiently for me—and he had the red gift with him. I smiled. He kept bouncing from one foot to another, a nervous habit of is. I ran across the street and bear hugged him. It's been three days since I've seen him. He grinned and greeted me warmly.
"I have something for you," he said. Holding out the gift he looked at me expectantly so I took it and opened the gift. 'Act surprised' I reminded myself. I reached in and pulled the picture out. I held it up so it blocked my face from him. I gasped in what I hoped sounded like surprise.
"Oh Adam," I started. "I don't know what to say. I. Thanks." I smiled fondly at the picture. I knew right then that I would always have Adam. No matter what. We had both suffered a ton, but there was a single constant in each of our lives and that was that we had each other. I replaced the picture and pulled out the ornament. It was easier to be surprised at this because I was still shocked at how precious this was. I tuned it delicately in my fingers, taking in every detail and rereading the quote again. I gave Adam another massive hug.
"I'll be right back. I'm going to put this in my house. With that I turned and ran to my house. By the time I'd returned we still had a good fifteen minutes before we had to part our separate ways. Separate. I hated that. Adam must have caught my scowl because he asked what was wrong.
"I don't want to go Adam," I admitted. "There's no point in going if you aren't there. And the Hawks will be there, and all of they're mean friends and," I took a breath to compose myself before admitting my problem once again. "I don't want to go."
My words seemed catch him off guard once again. I had a tendency to do that. He frowned at my exasperation.
"I don't know what to do. There's nothing I can do. Maybe we can get a giant box trolley and move your house to this side of the street," he suggested goofily in that sweet nasally voice that I adored so much. I giggled at his suggestion and sighed.
"You always were the problem solver weren't you Adam?" He grinned and mocked a bow. I slugged him in the arm. I laughed more readily when he feigned offense.
Adam's POV
I was relieved to hear her laughing. To be honest I really wished it was that simple to fix our situation. It's going to be a lot harder for her to return to school than me. I was welcomed; she was slowly becoming a reject. The hardest part was that it was my fault. It was my struggle that she as caught up in. And there really wasn't anything I could do. My hands were tied. It was about time to go so we needed to wrap this up.
"Hang in there," I offered. She gave me a small smile.
"Adam?" asked Cassie. "Do you remember what tonight is?" I thought for a moment and then my eyes grew wide. "Your competition! It's tonight!" She smiled and nodded. "I'll be there for sure Cass." I made a mental note to remind my mom when I got home from school.
"So, will you be at the game tomorrow?" I asked. The championship game had finally arrived and it was tomorrow. We would finally be playing the Hawks. "You can sit with my mom, you know, for some company." Cassie smiled and rolled her eyes.
"Of course I'm coming Adam. I wouldn't miss it for the world."
Our time had officially run out. My bus had just pulled over so I could climb aboard.
"I'll see you tonight Cass! I called as I jumped onto the bus.
Evening had finally arrived, I was a little worn down from practice, but nothing was going to keep me from coming tonight. I grabbed my coat as I headed out the door behind my mom. We drove in silence, and eventually I fell asleep. My mom gently shook me awake when we arrived. I blinked the sleepiness away and slipped out of the van. It always blew my mind how these skaters took control of the ice. They were incredible. I mean hockey players were darn good skaters, but we couldn't pull any of this off. The big moment finally arrived and it was Cassie's turn. She skated out to the middle in a stunning purple dress. She skated masterfully and gracefully to the music. Her routine was flawless. When she struck her final pose I was so proud. She smiled sweetly and skated off. I turned to her mom.
"What happens now?" I asked. Cassie's mom explained that those with the top five scores would skate in a final match and then out of that group the winners would be announced. After a short break the judges announced the finalists.
"Adrianna Cramer, Taylor Christianson, Abigail White, Megan Craft, and" I held my breath. "Cassie Jacobs." I sighed in relief and grinned at Mrs. Jacobs.
The first three finalists had performed, and I have to admit, they were good, but now it was Cassie's turn. And I know I'm bias, but Cassie was the best out there. Everything was flowing perfectly when she leapt into a jump. Some idiot threw a stuffed bear onto the ice and she lost her balance trying to avoid it. She twisted painfully throwing out her hands to break her fall. Her arm crumpled underneath her bending in an ungodly angle. My heart stopped. My best friend was lying on the ice writhing and crying out in agony and I was frozen. I sensed Mr. and Mrs. Jacobs stirring to go down to their injured daughter. I finally snapped out of my state of shock when I felt my moms hand protectively on my leg. I looked up at her with fear in my eyes. I then looked over to where the bear had come from. It didn't take me long for me to find the culprit. In a sea of faces sporting looks of horror, sat a thin blonde with a smirk on her face. I was steaming at this point. I knew exactly who that was. Her name was Jennifer Ballwin. She was McGill's girlfriend of like a month. We were all buddies before I switched schools, but even back then this girl had gotten on my last nerve. What further upset me was that on the big screen they kept replaying the fall over and over and over again.
I looked back onto the rink where Cassie was. She had calmed down, but the pain was still evident on her face. A stretcher was being pulled in as paramedics strapped her arm to her chest with a thick black brace. I rose from my seat and looked at my mom. She stood with me offering me an apologetic expression.
"I guess we're going back to the hospital."
