A/N: I'm baaaaack!! I had a wonderful, fantastic vacation and it was really great to come back and see all the reviews my story's gotten. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for all the positive feedback. Sorry for the wait – but I'm all set and ready to go. Enjoy!

CHAPTER EIGHT - Those Girls

As raindrops hit the glass window, I reached up and my fingers traced their watery trail as they ran down the side of the car. The swishing sound of the wipers and the quiet mumble of the radio were deafening sounds in the silence.

Craig, sitting next to me in the driver's seat, uncomfortably cleared his throat. I looked up and he gave me a half smile, reaching over to pat me on the hand. I returned his smile but drew my hand away and began to nervously fidget with one of the many rings on my fingers.

"Weird how the weather changed so quickly," Pete piped up in the back seat. "It was a perfectly sunny day yesterday." Craig cleared his throat again.

"I know what you mean. The forecast said this week was going to be pure sunshine," he remarked.

"Nah, you can never trust those weather people," Pete chuckled. As Craig quietly laughed, I found myself impulsively rolling my eyes. Was this what we were reduced to? Talking about the damn fucking weather?

Shit. What was happening to me?? Gone was the normal, likeable Cassie – replaced by the bitter and caustic person who was sitting there in my body, in my clothes, pretending to be me. It was all the stress, the pressure. Everything was getting to me.

I shifted uncomfortably in my seat, realizing that every second meant that we were closer and closer to our destination. Craig had picked me and Pete up at our hotel that morning in his black SUV. We were now on the road, heading to his place. Waiting there for us was the mother I knew only by name.

"Are you okay, Cass?" Pete asked. He knew me so well. Craig looked at me with a worried look in his eyes as I shook my head.

"Can – Can we stop at a gas station or something?" I asked, my voice slightly shaking.

"Sure," he replied.

Soon enough, we pulled into a Shell station and as soon as Craig stopped the car, I jumped out and ran for the washroom, not caring that my clothes were getting soaked from the rain. Once there, I rushed to a stall and bent my head over the toilet, gagging and throwing up the eggs and toast that Pete had forced me to eat that morning. With shaking hands, I reached for the toilet paper and wiped my mouth clean, only to double over and puke all over again.

"Oh God," I moaned, tears stinging my eyes.

"Cass?" I heard Pete's voice calling out to me, echoing as it bounced off the bathroom walls. I angrily brushed away my tears and spit into the bowl before flushing all the water down the drain.

"I'm here," I gruffly replied as I walked out of the stall and leaned both hands on the sink. I closed my eyes and felt Pete's strong hands massaging my back.

"Can I please just be alone for a while, Pete?" I asked weakly, keeping my eyes closed. "Please?"

"Sure," he replied. "I'll be right outside waiting for you."

I waited until the sound of his footsteps disappeared before turning the tap on and letting the cool water run through my fingers. I splashed some of it on my face, hoping it would somehow neutralize the acidic smell of the vomit. I reached for paper towels to dry my face off with and sighed as I looked at my reflection in the mirror.

I turned to look back when I heard the door open and a blonde girl who looked like she was my age walked in. She was dressed in a pink sun dress and out of the small pink handbag she was carrying, she took out her pink shaded lipgloss. She shot me a look when she realized that I had been looking at her.

"Is there a problem?" she asked in a haughty tone. She was like a clone of those girls who I was never friends with in high school. She was one of those girls who picked on me when I was in junior high... those girls who knew my name but insisted on calling me "The Adopted Kid" and snickering every time I walked passed them in the hallway. I clenched the paper towel in my fist and threw it roughly in the garbage bin.

"Nope. No problem. None at all," I said with a fake smile as I walked away. She followed me with her gaze, probably thinking how weird I was.

I hadn't thought about those moments in a long time. Those moments made me a stronger person – the person I was now. I just had to remind myself that moments of weakness were normal.. if they weren't, then I wouldn't be human.