As she sat, a little boy, no more than three, wandered across the path, stumbling along on short, chubby legs. He stopped next to Cassie's swing, and she looked down at him with saddened eyes. His face was innocent, pure, eyes that had never been forced to witness his dreams being crushed to death.
"Hi!" he said with a bright smile, dimples like little stars appearing on his cheeks.
They stared at each other for a moment, and then the boy laughed, face scrunched up in that mischievous but adorable expression that only a child could manage. "Swing!" he said again, holding out his arms to be picked up.
Cassie opened her mouth to reply when suddenly his mother appeared out of nowhere and scooped him up into her arms. "Don't you run away like that!" she scolded gently. "I was so worried – were you bothering the nice lady?"
"It's okay," Cassie said quickly.
The little boy squirmed in his mother's arms. "Mama, swing!"
"No more swings. We have to go pick up your sister from school. Say goodbye to the lady," the mother instructed, unwilling to acknowledge Cassandra's presence except through a third party.
Cassie waved half-heartedly as the woman dragged the now-screaming child towards the car while delivering a furious don't-talk-to-strangers speech. As they drove off, she began to swing, slowly at first, then with increasing ferocity. Tears began to form, concealed behind closed lids, as she tried to forget everything but the feel of the wind on her face.
Sam found Cassie in the park, swinging as if her life depended on it. Sam sat down on the swing next to her. "Hey, Cass. You wanna talk?"
Cassie kept on swinging as though she hadn't heard.
Sam sighed and stared ahead. "Your principal called. Apparently you've earned yourself a one-day suspension."
Cassie stopped swinging. "They think that's a punishment?"
"They also want you to have a talk with the school psychologist."
"What am I supposed to tell him? He doesn't have security clearance."
"Than you can talk to someone who does. Or you can talk to me, if you want."
Cassie shook her head and started swinging again, blinking furiously to hide her tears. "Talking won't bring her back."
"No," Sam said gently. "But it could help you work this out." She paused, waiting for the reply that she hoped for but didn't really expect. "I took the day off from work tomorrow. I thought since you're not going to school, maybe we could spend some time together."
"Don't bother."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means you've never made time for me before. Don't let a little thing like my mother dying ruin your precious work schedule."
Sam just stared as Cassie walked away, feeling the pain of a physical blow. Recovering, she followed Cassie with a long, purposeful stride.
"Is that how you really feel?" she asked.
"Don't talk to me."
"Cassie – "
"Don't talk to me!" she screamed. "Leave me alone!" People turned to stare, and Cassie ran.
"Cassandra! Wait!" Sam called after her. She briefly considered chasing the teenager, but thought better of it. Trying to talk now would only cause more problems. Cassie would come to her when she was ready. At least, that was what she wanted to believe. But it had been several weeks already and Cassandra still regarded every attempted communication as a personal attack. From the moment they found her alone on her planet, she hadn't been particularly talkative. And practically as soon as she began to open up, she was entering her teenage years, when anything and everything was as secretive as possible. But even so, this new side of Cassie seemed so...wrong.
Was it her? Sam wondered. Was it her fault? Maybe they had just grown too far apart.
"How's everything going with Cassie?" Jack asked Sam as she stepped into the elevator.
Sam shook her head. "Not too good, sir. She's completely closed up. She won't even talk to me, and I feel like it's partly my fault."
"Carter, you can't blame yourself."
"I just feel like I should have been there for her more." Sam had tried to see Cassie when she could, and there was always chess on Saturdays... But sometime in the past two years, she had pulled away, found more things to do at work instead. She sighed. "It's like I'm married to my job."
"Never bothered you before," he said lightly.
"Maybe it should have."
He tried another tactic. "Cassie's eighteen now. Legally, she's an adult. You're not responsible for her."
"Than why do I feel so responsible?"
"Maybe she doesn't want to talk because she needs a little space."
"You think so?"
He shrugged. "Couldn't hurt."
Well, that was helpful.
The elevator doors slid open. "Thanks, sir," Sam said, and stepped out.
"You're welcome," he replied as the doors closed in his face.
So that was it? Cassie thought. Sam was just giving up?
She'd spent all of the previous day home alone, suspended. Then this morning she'd endured lectures from three different teachers about how bright she was and how she was going to college next year and not to endanger her scholarship with a bad case of senioritis. Senioritis. Like she didn't have a legitimate reason for not caring.
As she sat down in her first period class, her cell phone rang. She'd forgotten she left it on. She glanced at the caller ID, seeing if it was worth getting into more trouble for answering her phone in class.
It was Sam.
Angrily, Cassie cut the power off. Of course she would call during a class. Locked up in that mountain day and night, she had no sense of time.
The second intrusion came in the form of a hand on the back of her chair. Cassie turned, eyes following the arm to where it connected with its owner. Just her luck – the other last person she wanted to talk to. Her ex-boyfriend, Dominic.
To his credit, he looked genuinely concerned. "Hi, Cassie. I know I haven't seen you in a while. I just wanted to say I heard about your mom. I'm sorry."
"You know, I hate it when people say that like it's supposed to change something."
Was she really as bitter as she sounded?
"I didn't mean – " he said hastily.
"Please, just don't talk to me." She turned around and scooted her chair forwards.
"Cassie!" He reached out and touched her shoulder.
She stood up, eyes wide with terror, knocking her desk and chair over in one smooth, almost graceful motion. Letting out a strangled cry, she backed away towards the door. Dominic tried to follow her, confused, and she screamed.
"Don't touch me!"
"What is going on here?" asked the teacher from the doorway. Cassie backed into him, saw that she was trapped, and pressed herself against the wall. She slid herself down until she was on the floor, knees hugged close to her chest. Dominic reached out a hand to help her, and she curled up tighter.
"Get away!"
"You," the teacher pointed to Dominic, "go get the nurse." Dominic hesitated. "Go!" Dominic ran down the hall, casting backward glances over his shoulder.
The teacher knelt down next to Cassie. "What's wrong?" he asked.
"Call Sam," Cassie mumbled. "I need to call Sam."