Part 9

Cassidy walked out of her classroom and made her way to the lockers. She had mixed feelings about the previous weekend. She was disappointed that Brandon hadn't been able to go to the ball with her, but was happy with the pictures and the favour she now had to call in, should she need it. She reached her locker and went to swap some books out. As she closed her locker, she heard a familiar voice around the corner and stopped to listen.

"It was a quiet evening, actually," the voice said, Cassidy immediately recognising it as Brandon.

"Weren't you supposed to be going out with that Cassidy girl?" another male voice asked.

"She's weird, man. She kept leaving messages on my phone asking if I was going. I had to tell her that we had a surprise visit from family and couldn't go."

"Maybe she's just enthusiastic?"

"She hugged me tightly after our first date. She kept staring at me during lunch. She's way too clingy. I don't need that right now."

"There must be something you like about her, Brandon."

"Well, she's cute. Really cute. I like her glasses as well, I think they add to it. And her legs in that dress? Damn!"

"Yeah, I have noticed that. She does have nice legs."

Guys like my legs?

Cassidy pondered that for a while before turning to walk away, and in doing so, she almost walked into someone, but managed to just stop herself in time.

"Oh God, I'm so sorry," she said.

"Please, no need to be so formal. 'Pope' will suffice."

Cassidy looked up and noticed it was Tom she'd nearly walked into.

"Oh hello, Tom. Sorry about that, I wasn't paying attention."

"That's OK, Cassidy. I'm glad I bumped into you actually. Or nearly did, at least."

Cassidy smiled and shook her head. "That was awful."

"Sorry, couldn't resist," Tom replied with a smirk, "But seriously, I was hoping to find you today."

"Oh?" Cassidy said, her interest piqued.

"Are you still dating Brandon?" he asked.

"Oh, no. We're not going out anymore," Cassidy answered sadly, forcing herself to smile.

"Well, in that case, I was wondering if you were free to go out somewhere this weekend, maybe catch a movie or something?"

Cassidy's smile was genuine now. She'd secretly hoped that Tom would ask her out for a while now, and thoughts of Brandon were suddenly pushed to the back of her mind.

"Yes, that sounds like a great idea!" she replied.

"Great. Listen, I've got to head to class, but I'll catch you later. I'll give you my number and we can organise something. Bye!" he said as he walked off.

Cassidy watched him leave and let out a small sigh of contentment as she made her way to her next class.


Cassidy walked into her bedroom and closed the door behind her. She walked over to her bed and tossed her book bag onto it before going into the closet and getting changed out of her uniform, and into a red and white checked dress that ran to just above her knees. Taking her glasses off, she cleaned them and replaced before looking at herself in the mirror on the back of her closet door. She tugged down on the hem slightly and stared at her reflection for a moment before pulling the hem of the dress up a little, looking at her reflection again and letting the dress fall back into place. She then took a few of her other dresses and measured them against herself in the mirror. Frowning slightly, she put the dresses back and retrieved her diary from the shelf above.

Upon closing her closet door, Cassidy dropped her diary on her desk and walked over to her CD player. She took the CD out that was currently in it and replaced it with another. Skipping to the track she wanted, she stood back as the opening bars of Moonlight Sonata started playing. She gently hummed along to it as she went and sat at her desk. She'd recently found the tune somewhat soothing when she wrote. Picking up a pen, she opened the diary to the next blank page and started writing.

The art show went pretty well at the weekend. I managed to get some really good photographs, and the people I talked to there were pleasant enough. I talked a lot to a woman called Alison. She's interesting, and I think we will meet again before too long.

She smirked a little at that last line before continuing.

Brandon told me he couldn't go, but he just didn't want to go with me. I'm 'too clingy', apparently. I'm just trying to show I care. There's nothing wrong with that, is there? Still, that's not important now. What IS important is that I'm going out on a date with Thomas Sloane this weekend. But when he asked me out, I felt different compared to when other boys ask me out. There's something about him. He's cute and he seems sweet. He's always been a gentleman when I've seen him at social events.

She glanced at her closet and tapped the end of her pen against her lips before writing some more.

I also found out that guys seem to like my legs. I think I need something different for my wardrobe. Something that shows off my legs a little more. They say "If you've got it, flaunt it."

With that, she sighed and closed her diary.


Cassidy and her mother, Melissa, were in Acute, a clothes boutique in Baltimore, looking for some new outfits. After spending some time looking around, Cassidy picked up a few dresses from various racks. She went to the changing rooms to try them on. The first was a red dress with a sash, but it looked a little too formal for what she wanted it for, and she had no shortage of formal dresses. Next up was a pink coloured dress with translucent shoulder straps. She pushed the dress down as she looked at it. This has potential, she thought.

After a couple more tries, she looked at the last dress. It had yellow and white stripes and actual shoulders. Pleased with the look of it, she slipped into it and went to pull the bottom of the dress down, but noticed that it didn't go far. She looked at the back of the dress in the mirror and noticed it was shorter than any other dress she owned. It wasn't too short, though, just enough to show a good amount of leg. I love it, and he'll love it too.

With that, Cassidy exited the changing room and went to where Melissa was sat outside. She looked up from the book she was reading and Cassidy did a twirl to show off the dress.

"That looks nice, sweetie. But isn't it a little on the short side?" Melissa asked, a slight look of concern on her face.

"It's long enough," Cassidy replied with a smile, "And I love the design."

"You're showing off a lot of leg, though. Is that really the sort of thing you want to wear? It could send bad signals to any boys around."

"I'm going out with Thomas," Cassidy said, frowning slightly with her hands on her hips, "No-one will try anything with him around. And he's always been a gentleman when I've spoken to him."

Melissa saw the look in her daughter's eyes and softened. "Well, it is a nice dress. OK, get changed and we'll get that one."

"Thanks Mom," Cassidy said with a grin as she went back to the changing rooms.

To Be Continued...