Heatherfield, Sheffield Institute

"Hey Cass, are you coming with us? We'll have classes in the afternoon" Halinor invited her friend.

"Actually, I have something else to do before" Cassidy tried to say.

"You're going to see Edward? Again?".

"I've never said...yes, ok it's Edward. He asked me to meet him after school".

Halinor looked confused, and this surprised Cassidy. "I'm sorry..." Cassidy tried to apologize.

"You don't have to apologize" Halinor smiled "You know I have three more stupid girls to stay with" and blinked.

Cassidy laughed. "Thanks".

Halinor smiled and walked off. "Have a nice date!".

Cassidy smiled again, grinning. "Sure thing".

She was already near the fence of the school and looked for Edward.

She couldn't find him anywhere.

It was cold outside and she covered herself with her coat. She had a little book in her hands, and thought she could read something in the meantime.

"Sorry if I'm late" she heard. Edward came in front of her, smiling.

"Hi".

"Better if we go drinking some hot chocolate, what do you think?It's cold out here" He said, a huge smile on his face.

Cassidy smiled back "Great idea".

They walked together along the sidewalk, to the nearest pub in the town centre. "How was your day at school?" he asked smiling, both his hands in his pants' pockets.

"Not bad. And yours?" she replied.

Edward smirked, opening the door of the pub. "Not bad".

They sat at a table near a window and ordered two hot chocolates.

"What's that?" he asked, referring to the little book Cassidy had in her hands.

Cassidy put it on the table. "The Spoon River Anthology...do you know that?".

Edward shook his head. "What is it?"

"It's poetry..It's about the dead inhabitants of Spoon River who are telling their experiences of life through their epitaphes" she explained.

"Well" Edward smiled "it sounds good. May I..." he said, trying to grab the book.

"Yeah, sure" Cassidy said and gave it to him.

Edward started to browse it and read some short poems. "They're really beatiful..what's your favorite one?".

Cassidy smiled "I have many" she grabbed the book and started to find something. "Maybe this is my favorite one".

Alexander Throckmorton

In youth my wings were strong and tireless,

but I did not know the mountains.

In age I knew the mountains

but my weary wings could not follow my vision.

Genius is wisdom and youth.

Edward smiled and frowned at the same time.

"Do you want to give your interpretation?" Cassidy said softly.

Edward smiled sadly. "I guess I'm not good at it to give the right one".

Cassidy smiled. "I guess poetry's too free to have a right or a wrong one".

She gave him a moment, then supported him. "Just have a try".

Edward concentrated. "So..ehr...I guess...I guess he wanted to say...that he had the possibilities to do something...when he could do something...but he didn't do anything because he didn't know how to use his means..." he said shamfully. Edward kept on looking at the poem, thoughtfully.

Cassidy was still observing him.

"What are you thinking?" she questioned.

Edward looked up. "I'm wondering if it could be real".

She smiled. "Authors are real. And what they think is real too. As real as what you are thinking now".

He sighed.

"I must go now. I'll lend you the book if you wish. And thanks for the chocolate" she said. She was uncertain if leaving or not, she would have liked to stay there a little longer. She hesitated.

"So...ehr..see you again?" she asked, blushing.

He smiled. "Sure thing, Cass".

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Heatherfield, Cassidy's house

The girl went into the living room, where his brother was drinking a cup of tea.

"Hi brother" she greeted.

"Hi sis".

The redhead girl sat on the sofa, with her cup of green tea in her hand.

"So...how it goes with that guy?" he asked, sincerely.

Cassidy paled and her heart and had a skipped heartbeat. She knew how protective her brother could be. "What guy?".

"C'mon Cass, I know that, everybody in the school know you crashed on this new guy Edward at school". He insisted.

"I didn't have crash on anyone. He's just a friend. Nothing more, nothing less" she answered, clearly fed up.

William sighed heavily. "Why didn't you tell me?".

"I really don't think I must come to you telling certain things everytime I meet somebody who's simply male" Cassidy answered "And make your own business, please!" she said and walked away.

She was going to her bedroom, when she saw her mother on the stairway.

"Hey sweetheart, what's your problem? You look...".

"My problem is my brother who acts as if he was your husband and my father!" she cried, walking to her room and shutting the door behind her.

Her mother, Emily, looked puzzled. She made her way downstairs, then to the living room where she met her son, whose eyes were lost on the floor.

"So" she said "Seeing that it seems your sister doesn't feel like talking, would you explain to me, please, what's happening?".

William winced. "We've just argued. Better, I told her something, she got angry and went off".

Emily sat on the sofa where her daughter was before. "About what?".

William waited a few seconds. He didn't want his mother to know his sister's issues, but he couldn't be silent in front of her.

He opened his mouth twice, but he pronounced nothing. Then he spoke. "I just think that she's too mature in compared to her peers and don't want her to find some guy who can makes her suffer".

Emily smirked, noticing her son worrying about his sister. She wished she had a brother like him, but on the other hand she couldn't blame her daughter's desire to do wathever she liked to do.

"I agree with you" she said "but you can't force her not to do something just for fear. Life always go on" she smiled. "Maybe she will be disappointed, or she will risk something and she will learn not to do that again. As you should do. Believe me, I guess she knows this".

William smirked. "I guess so, you are stuffed with the best feminist theories".

Emily laughed. She then took her son's face through her hands and kissed his forehead. And smiled. "Doing what you want is the best way to dreams, you know?Don't give up" she said, and left. "And don't forget, you two will always be my pups!" she added, with a warm smile.

"Mooom..." William replied, wincing.

Cassidy was in her room, laying on her bed, her eyes to the ceiling. She had an only one thought in her mind, but couldn't explicate any concrete idea. Edward. She was at first suspicious of this new entry at Sheffield Institute. As far as she knew, he didn't make any friends there and he only knew her and her friends. And this was strange, she thought, since he had approached her and her friends easily. And that's still strange. But on the other hand, she couldn't make her heart slow down when beating too fast. He was able to listen to her when speaking of her most favourite topics. She had never been able to do that with other people, and used to talk about this kind of things with her mother, who used to lend her some books of her own. Well, he was unaware about this kind of themes, but his curiosity did credit to him. He was happy to discover new things, just like her.

Maybe yes, she seriously was having a crush on him. But she wanted to know more about him.

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Heatherfield, Edward's apartment

He had to try contacting Karesh to keep him up to date on his mission. His little tablet was on the bedside table. He was merely grabbing it, when he saw the book the girl had given to him. Duty was calling. But on the other hand he wanted to see if there could be some more interesting things in it. He remained uncertain for a few seconds.

"You can wait, uncle" he finally said, grabbed the book and layed on the bed.

He started from the first page of poems and read the name of the character. Ollie McGee. He began reading the poems, one by one, trying to see each one's meanings. He kept on reading 'til night, when he fell asleep with the book opened on his chest.

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Heatherfield, Sheffield Institute

"So, how is he?" Nerissa asked, smiling, to her friend.

Cassidy smiled. "Well..interesting".

"Do you think he could be the right one?" the raven haired girl asked again, softly.

In that moment, she saw Edward in front of his locket, who glimpsed at Cassidy and Nerissa.

Cassidy paralyzed for a second. "Well...I sometimes hope so.." she said, never stopping looking at him, like Edward did.