CHAPTER ONE
The mid afternoon sun was gleaming brightlyand cheerfully over the tops of the city
buildings on this nearly picture perfect mid June Friday. Radiant rays of warm sun shone through the occasional white fluffy cloud and flowed across the painted white lines of the athletic fieldbehind Hancock High School in New York City. A soft, comforting breeze ruffled the caps and gowns of the hundreds of graduating students that stood eagerly and excitedly upon the bleachers in front of their parents.
Many of the students were displaying mixed emotions about their upcoming rite of passage. Some were smiling over joyously, glad to finally be facing the end of their schooling, at least until college in the fall. Some were crying, sad to see the end of times, but still, there couldn't have been a nicer day to graduate.
The ceremony was coming to a close and the students, ready to get on with life, seemed to be paying their soon-to-be former principal no attention as he finished shuffling papers to get his long winded speech completed. The teachers all began to take their positions at each end of the bleachers and behind the principal, all smiling, happy to see their students finally graduating after a long semester.
One by one the students came forth at the announcement of their name, received their ceremonial diplomas and marched prominently off the make-shift stage, flowing together into giddy huddling groups on the turf as they found their friends and began proudly celebrating their high school graduation and talking about life to come, including all the big parties that would be going on this weekend.
Cassandra Reynolds eagerly chatted amongst a group of her now ex-classmates, smiling wildly and removing her boring, square graduating cap with its annoying tassel that had kept bopping her in the forehead throughout the entire graduation. She quickly fidgeted with her hair being sure that not one strand had come loose from its meticulous placement and that her makeup was not smudged or running. Once she was sure her long, black hair was not ruined by the cap, she cast her eyes back to the stage, quickly scanning for Stephanie, her best friend.
Both girls made sure their hair and makeup and fingernails and toenails were perfect as each had descended off the stage to join their friends. Though their clothes were hidden by standard issue graduation robes in a dull blue and poorly matched supposed-to-be-gold, but-looks-more-like-yellow-trim, each had shoes that easily cost more than the class's entire robes put together. Cassandra and Stephanie both had the best in wardrobe, there was no other way. Style was of upmost importance, and how one looked in public was critical if you were to get anywhere in the fashion world.
Once Stephanie had descended from the stage, she immediately wove through the hordes of mingling students and joined Cassandra and a few other girls, all squealing and jumping up and down with excitement. Their conversation jumped quickly from joy that they were done with high school to college, to parties on the weekend, while each girl took photos of the group and themselves and posted immediately to update their status.
"Oh my God, Cassy," Stephanie said as she scrolled through social media updates, her perfectly manicured nails gliding over the screen, "Ryan is totally having a party this weekend. We have to go, he's so hot."
"Ryan… but, what about Dave?" Cassandra rebutted.
Stephanie looked torn between the two options.
"I think they're both hot, but you know, Dave's got the whole bad boy band thing going on…" One of the other girls added in and the group laughed.
"Cassandra!" "Cassandra!" A voice called from the crowd and the girls looked over to see her aunt moving towards them.
"Cassy, you totally have to get your aunt and uncle to let you come to the party." Stephanie whispered quickly before her aunt got too near.
She smiled and greeted her aunt.
"Your mother's on the phone!" She said as she handed Cassandra a phone, with the video chat
already running.
Cassandra and Stephanie had both been accepted into the Fashion School of New York. They would be moving into an apartment in downtown Manhattan in just a few weeks, courtesy of Stephanie's father. They could not wait.
She was certain that their fashions would be the trend setters for the fashion industry someday. She could see tall models wearing their designs and strutting the catwalk in high style. It was destiny. No doubt it was going to be a long hard road, but she was enthusiastic and ready for the grueling fight she would have to endure to get there. There were no doubts in her mind, as she finished up her conversation with her mother and handed the phone back off to her aunt, that all her dreams were certain to come true.
For the last four years, Cassandra and Stephanie had worked hard to mold their future. They were going to be big someday, very big.
They simply could not wait to start into the illustrious fashion school, and they were looking forward to opening their college life with a bang. Already, they were beginning to make their mark into society. One of their dresses was going to be debuted next month in a fashion and makeup show in Central Park.
They had designed and created dresses for many of the girls in their class for the semi-formal dance and the senior prom. Prom dresses weren't totally their style, but it was lots of fun and all of their experimental customers were very happy with their products. They had even offered to redesign the school's graduation attire for their year's class, but were sternly turned down by the administration. No matter, they were not gearing up for a glorious life of making graduation gowns and prom dresses, they were dead set intent on the high time fashion design for the A list.
Stephanie and Cassandra had already discussed on many occasions and in great detail how they would spend their riches from being the top name designers in the country. Of course they would buy a yacht, own a house and stable in the Hamptons, and belong to the best society clubs in the world, there was no question. Stephanie had decided she would own a small armada of limousines and a personal driver for each one. They would all be different color for each day of the week and each mood she was in that day.
Cassandra had decided she would prefer to look of a sports car herself. Perhaps a Lamborghini, but possibly something even more exotic, in bright purple. And with a car that powerful and beautiful, it would be a pity to pay someone else to drive the thing.
Despite all the fantasizing about wealth, neither girl led a shabby existence. About the only thing currently missing in both their lives, was indeed, a car. However, a car in New York City was more a nuisance than a convenience anyway. They were both content currently with riding with their parents or friends, or taking the subway to their destinations.
Stephanie lived in Greenwich Village. She maintained that she lived only three doors down from one of the many homes of Leona Caraccini, the single most famous runway model in the world, but this story had yet to be confirmed in the four years Cassandra had known Stephanie.
The home she lived in was beautiful and surrounded by luxury and wealth, provided solely by her father. He was a famous plastic surgeon. Cassandra had only met Stephanie's father no more than four or five times. He was almost never home. He had opened a practice in Florida and another California and spent most of his time travelling between the two, leaving Stephanie and her mother alone in New York most of the time.
Cassandra's eyes floated to the parents, many of whom were still seated, watching their children mingle with one another, but some were gloating over their embarrassed offspring, snapping pictures and kissing cheeks with teary eyes.
Cassandra was originally from Sacramento. She had moved to New York four years ago to get herself situated, plan for college, and be where things happened.
So, she left her hillside home in Sacramento and moved into her mother's sister and husband's townhome near Midtown. In two weeks, she and Stephanie were going to move into the apartment in overlooking 44th Street, just near 10th Avenue.
The first apartment. It was going to be perfect. It was going to be their first niche into New York society and they were already mentally decorating the place. Of course, it would be of absolutely no good to have a beautifully decorated apartment if no one comes to see it. So, naturally, they were already also secretly, for if their parents were to find out there would be hell, planning a big move in bash the first weekend after they got the place ready to be seen.
Cassandra smiled slightly as she thought just how cool it was going to be to finally host her own big party, instead of going to other people's when their parents were away. This summer was going to be the time of her life, there was no doubt about it, and it was just the beginning.
She felt a nudge into her rid, jabbing her back into reality.
"Sheesh, where were you?"
"What?" Cassandra said as Stephanie removed her elbow from her ribcage and gave her a quizzical look. "What did I miss?"
Stephanie rolled her eyes, "Well? Can you go?"
She said slowly, with a tone that suggested she had already once asked this question and did not appreciate the lack of response.
The other girls giggled softly as Cassandra tried to figure out where it was exactly that she was being invited to go.
"Where, sorry, I was thinking about the apartment. I just can't wait." she smiled, feeling rather foolish for not having been paying attention to her bustle of friends. "Where are we going?"
"Yeah, it's gonna be great!" Stephanie said with a thrill in her voice as she jumped onto her heels slightly.
"Ryan's party!" Stephanie said.
"Wait, I thought we were going to Dave's?" Cassandra sorted out.
Cassandra forgot completely that she had already promised to go with her aunt, uncle and cousin for dinner after graduation, but decided she would be able to get out of the commitment. She was already thinking about the outfit she would wear to the party.
Not long after the graduates began to disperse, Stephanie, who had joined her mother, grabbed a bag from her and excitedly handed it to Cassandra.
"What's this?" Cassandra asked.
"Open it! It's a gift!" Stephanie squealed with so much excitement she could barely contain herself.
"For the apartment, dear," Stephanie's mother added. "It'll look beautiful with the sofa you girls picked out."
Cassandra glanced quizzically at Stephanie and lipped the word 'sofa' with a questioning glance.
Stephanie frowned, "it was supposed to be a surprise. We got it last week, you're gonna love it."
She quickly changed the subject and Cassandra got the impression that she would not be as happy as Stephanie had thought with the sofa. After all, Stephanie was truly a talented, brilliant designer with wonderfully chic tastes. She also had an amazing talent for hair and make up too, but every now and then, she would come up with off the wall bizarre creations that completely clashed with everything else in the space around them.
Cassandra eyed Stephanie suspiciously, wondering if this was going to be another disaster in the making. Still, she had not done any furniture scouting, so at least this was one item off the checklist of things needed. Cassandra was more into in tune to what color rug, drapes, wall paint, and dishes to get as well as the layout of the apartment and the moods of the room. So any sofa, even if it was bizarre, was better than no sofa at all, she supposed.
The content of the bag was a throw pillow with a bold green pattern, but it was pretty.
Stephanie snatched the bag back and headed off with her mom. "See you later tonight, Cassy!"
Cassandra turned back to Stephanie and called out, "See you tomorrow!"
She could already feel the burning stare of her aunt down the back of her neck before she turned to face her.
"What are you doing tomorrow?" She asked quickly and abruptly.
"Just a little get-together with former schoolmates…." Cassandra responded casually, her voice trailing off in a futile attempt to make the invitation sound less like a party and more like a civilized get together at a library. " I wanted to ask you, it is ok?"
Her aunt paused briefly, a flash of dismay flickering across her grimace.
"Well, you know we had plans, Cassandra…."
Cassandra interrupted quickly, shrugging her shoulders and for added effect, flicked her hand dismissively.
"You know, they were just asking, it's not a big deal."
"Oh, Cassandra," her aunt said with a sigh and shook her head softly.
The look in her uncle's eyes seemed to be a little more understanding of Cassandra's desires. Her aunt seemed utterly disappointed that Cassandra would rather party with her friends, but still she nodded her head.
"Fine."
Cassandra's face gleamed, "Thanks!"
Just before eleven the following, Cassandra finally rose from her silky bedsheets and headed for the shower. Eventually, after a nearly ceremonial full hour showering, repainting nails, styling hair, putting on make up and most importantly figuring out what to wear for the day and what to change into for the night, Cassandra made her appearance to the family in the living room.
"Well, it lives," her uncle called out from behind the newspaper he was intently reading. She did not pay attention to a small blip in the corner with a headline about a deadly animal attack in the suburbs.
Cassandra rolled her eyes and smiled slightly.
"Want something to eat?" Her aunt asked as she saw Cassandra reaching into the refrigerator.
"No, I'm good," she said. She took out a drink bottle and shut the door. "I'm going to go over to Stephanie's."
"OK, well have fun. What time are you going to be out to?"
"Umm..." Cassandra swung a night bag over her shoulder, and looked back, "Well, I just thought I'd probably sleep over."
"You did..." her aunt said very flatly. "Just call us OK?"
Cassandra smiled.
"Yeah, OK. Is everything ok?" She asked before she turned to leave, noticing that both her aunt and uncle's attention had turned completely the news broadcast.
"Of course," they both answered quietly answered.
"Just watch yourself," her uncle added.
Cassandra shrugged and turned out the door.
She found the train station packed as usual for a Saturday afternoon, full of passengers trying to navigate the Big Apple.
The City was always so busy and the commuter modalities to get around never suffered from a passenger lull. There was no difference from a weekday to a weekend when it came to travelling around Manhattan. Cassandra walked down the block from the subway stop to the usual meeting place, a small latte shop that was always full. Stephanie was on the side walk patio, sipping from an icy cup of coffee. Cassandra quickly joined her.
"Hey," she said as she sat on a stool next to Stephanie and was handed a cup of her own from Stephanie. "Thanks."
Stephanie barely said hello before jumping into describing what she was going to do and wear and hope to accomplish at the party that night.
While she described her outfit and her desires in great detail, Cassandra did a quick, habitual scan of the people in the coffee shop. It was a great little place, trendy, social, and always packed with people from every walk of life, perfect for people viewing, which always provided inspiration for fashion.
Today, there were slightly less business suits strutting around. After all, it was Saturday. A fine group of chic ladies sat at a back table laughing and carrying on. They were dressed sharply, but their personal bags at their feet left a lot to be desired to create a matched, flowing look to their outfits, Cassandra thought. There were a few casually dressed obvious tourists sitting on the patio gawking at the swarms of people passing by. Mostly everyone seemed to be hurriedly getting through their lattes and croissants while quickly skimming through newspapers as usual. It did not matter what the day of the week it was, everyone was always in a hurry.
Cassandra turned back to Stephanie, who was smiling and almost blushing as she talked about the party. The girls talked and giggled for a few minutes more, then stood and headed off to a nearby shop that Stephanie had heard was carrying the prettiest dinner plates for the new apartment.
A few blocks later they found themselves debating whether the transparent dark blue dishware, or the green and white checkerboard dishware was going to look better with the deep marbled gray countertops in the kitchenette. The fact that the apartment had been selected and leased by Stephanie's father and that neither girl had even seen the place did not really matter. It was in Manhattan, on a top floor, and it did not get any better than that.
"You know," Cassandra said, holding the deep blue dish sample, "it would be a lot easier to decide if I knew what the sofa was going to look like."
Stephanie smiled and said, "Well, let's just say it would look alright with either one, but would probably look nicer with the green in these dishes," as she pointed to green and white plates.
Cassandra frowned. That wasn't answer she was looking for. She just wanted to know what Stephanie had come up with for a sofa. Of course, since everything had to match, decorating the apartment was getting difficult without knowing what the main piece of living room furniture looked like, let alone what the apartment room layout was like. They ended up leaving the store with some decorative oil bottles, figuring it was hard to go wrong with those, and continued on their way to meet a few more friends as they got out of work before they all headed to the party.
Not long after dusk descended upon greater Manhattan, Cassandra and Stephanie and just over twenty others had piled into David Tessler's father's apartment. The party started sometime around eight, though when Cassandra and the others had arrived a little before eight o'clock, there was already a dozen people in the apartment. Cassandra briefly wondered if their apartment would be anywhere close in stature to the place.
"What does David's dad do?" She whispered to Stephanie as they walked in through the massive oak double doors, across the elaborate tile floor, passed the marble end tables, under a beautiful crystal chandelier, around a rather hideous but obviously expensive deep mahogany leather sofa and into the wide open space of the living area.
Stephanie shrugged, "I dunno."
It wasn't important anyway, but the apartment was fabulous. The trendy kitchen and bar were a gathering point for most of the people in the place. Bottles and cans and cups and glasses were scattered over the white countertops, offering a wide selection for recently graduated ex high-schoolers to relax with. On the other side of the large living area drums were set up, and a guitar lay next to them, along with three microphones. It didn't take long for a flurry of begging girls to get the band playing. Within a few minutes happy ex-students were celebrating their freedoms and adult hood and dancing and drinking the hours away.
During breaks between songs Stephanie could be found cuddled on an oversized seat that matched the large leather sofa, with her arms around David. She had one arm wrapped around his waist and Cassandra wasn't quite sure where her other arm was. David was trying to play the cool guy and kept one hand a little more than a little above Stephanie's knee, but at the same time he never quite made eye contact with her. Cassandra moved over to Stephanie with an amused smirk on her face. Stephanie moved her starry eyes off David and winked at Cassandra as she approached.
David, by rank according to about ninety percent of the girls in the entire school, was actually the number three most eligible bachelor. He had reddish blonde hair and was macho guy. He worked out nearly all the time when he wasn't strumming his guitar, and felt no modesty when it came to showing off his ever growing biceps and pectorals. Though he was cute, macho, and currently available, he was overshadowed on the popularity, and hotness, ladder by two of his band mates. And below him came the other two of his band mates, making the boy band the hottest going from their old high school.
Just as Cassandra and Stephanie were certain they would hit the big time with their fashions, David, Josh, Shawn, Peter, and Kyle, otherwise referred to as the Whizzkids, were just as certain they would be the hot band someday. Naturally, every girl in school fawned and fought over their affections, all vying to be their girlfriends when the big labels finally called upon the group.
As Cassandra glanced around the room, it seemed as though each one of the Whizzkids would find themselves a girlfriend, at least for that night. She could help but feel a little disappointed each time she managed to catch a glimpse of Kyle whenever he wasn't behind his drums. He was number one on the most eligible bachelor list, and with his looks, she had a hard time figuring why he was even on the list at all. She caught herself on more than several occasions smiling in his direction despite the fact that most of the girls in the apartment were trying to woo him. Nearly every time she casually glanced towards him, he had a different girl wrapping her arm around him.
Kyle seemed to be forcibly trying not to pay too much attention to Cassandra, she thought. They had always had this sort of forced, hard-to-get-type of semi-friendship relationship throughout the last two years of high school since they had first got introduced. From time to time Kyle seemed truly interested in her, and she was truly interested in him. However, when too many people were around, or he felt he was being looked upon by another boy, or other girls, the 'Joe Cool' personae would emerge and Kyle would almost immediately break eye contact, spot some guy, whether he knew him or not, Cassandra was never sure, and give a deep throaty "Yo" to the passerby to change the aura around him.
Admitting you like a girl, when you're a Whizzkid, wasn't a very cool thing to do, especially in a place like the school courtyard, or out in the hallways. Cassandra had first played the game well, just like every other girl in school did with every member of the band. The more the male ego bursted out, the more the girls desired them. It was like a race, and who ever ended up with any one of the band members, to some girls it didn't matter which one, was the winner. She ran that race for about three months. Then after that, her studies, her designing, her plans for her future, and other such things starting to take command of her life and she, unlike Stephanie found herself unable to balance boy chasing and fashion design on top of making good grades. None of the Whizzkids seemed to care about that, either. They all had good looks and bad grades in common, which made them just that much cooler.
As Cassandra glanced from time to time at Kyle she felt very funny about the whole thing. Now that she was an adult, a graduated, free adult, the whole thing seemed sort of juvenile. None of the girls clinging to Kyle were really interested in anything but stepping up a notch on the popularity scale, which was also directly linked to the jealousy ladder.
Well, perhaps they were interested in a bit more than that tonight, but Cassandra put that thought out of her mind and headed off to chat with a group of girls, although she still caught herself glancing at Kyle. She was barely listening to any of the music they were playing.
Stephanie mingled close to the band, careful not to let David get out of her sight, like a lioness watching a gazelle. Throughout most of the evening she maintained herself in a dangerously close proximity to David. Cassandra would from time to time join Stephanie, and with David at her side, Kyle often lurked not too far off. At least four very awkward moments had already popped up throughout the evening. An uncomfortable greeting and a quick get away from both Cassandra and Kyle was the result. At the last encounter of this sort, Cassandra earned herself a vicious glare from the newest girl to Velcro herself to Kyle's side. Cassandra returned the glare without thinking, then, blushing feverishly she quickly turned and escaped from the spot. Stephanie found her on the other side of the apartment sitting in a quiet corner trying to look interested the bottle she was holding.
"You OK, Cassy?" she asked.
Cassandra smirked, looking rather disappointed with herself, but still nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine."
Stephanie shrugged, "Why don't you just talk to him? Give it a try, at least!"
She did not seem inspired.
"Really, Cassy, you're both out of high school now, he's too chicken to make a move, but I know for a fact that he really, really likes you."
Cassandra raised her head, her eyes suddenly looked much livelier.
"Just say 'hi'." Stephanie said as she prodded her shoulder.
Smiling, Cassandra rose. "I really want him to say hi first."
"Well, I'm gonna go tell him for you then," Stephanie started off without hesitation.
Incredibly embarrassed Cassandra quickly grabbed her friend back, "No, no, no, Steph don't" she whined. "I will talk to him. I will, really, I just want to catch him …alone," She said nodding as she glanced over towards him behind the drums again.
"Well, that' s not gonna' happen tonight, so just do it anyway, OK. You'll be so much happier I promise."
They rejoined the main group of girls in the kitchen and Cassandra's mind stewed ways of approaching Kyle. She was feeling rather frustrated with herself. Such a simple thing should not be so difficult. It was crazy. Just walk over and say 'hi' and don't let the eye contact break. Kyle always seemed uncomfortable around her, though. Cassandra was getting bored with the 'macho-tude' that would almost always kick in whenever she was near. She always felt that it was a cover to hide his true feelings, but sooner or later she really was hoping that the cover would slip off.
She did noticed Stephanie slip off with David after the next song ended. Cassandra noticed Kyle alone and he walked towards her direction. She eyed the kitchen like she was looking for a good place to hide. Kyle came up to the other side of the bar, reached for a bottle quite deliberately directly in front of Cassandra and, for what felt like the first time in months, finally said more than one word to her before running off.
"Hey, havin' fun?"
"Oh yeah," she said, almost too shocked to speak.
Kyle nodded coolly. "Want a drink?"
"Sure,"
He popped the top on the bottle in his hands and handed it to her.
"Thanks."
She took a sip as she silently chastised herself for not coming up with anything more interesting to say.
Reaching into her brain for anything she could think of, the best thing she could think of was, "Was that song you guys just played new? I haven't heard it before I don't think."
Kyle nodded.
"Yeah, it was," he seemed somewhat surprised that Cassandra recognized the new song. He seriously doubted that anyone else would have picked up on that.
Cassandra was equally surprised. She had no idea that the song was actually new. Honestly, a lot of their slightly-softer-than-hard-rock sounded very, very similar. Although, in retrospect, that last song was a lot milder than most of the tunes the band had been playing over the last three and half hours.
"Which one of you wrote it," she asked in a tone that sounded like she was expecting him to say he wrote the music.
"Uhhh... Peter did."
"Oh...Cool." Cassandra tried again to find a topic to talk about.
There was a very thick, although invisible, slab of ice separating the pair over the bar. She was hell bent on taking the opportunity to break it and was cursing herself for not being to find the words to break it with.
"Well, umm.." was all she could come up to blurt out.
She rolled her eyes at herself in her mind and thumped her forehead with her hand as well, fortunately, she got off the hook. Kyle took command of the ice breaking ceremony now.
"So, what are your plans for college?"
He probably knew it already from Stephanie through David, but at least it was conversation and Kyle played the role of remotely interested as she told him of their enrollment into the Fashion Institute as well as the apartment in Manhattan.
"Cool, I'd love to come over when you're moved in." He said.
"Yeah," she jumped onto that band wagon eagerly. "Well, we're already planning a party after it's all decorated and all." She smiled, "but you can come over before that. I mean, that would be really cool."
"Yeah."
Again a silence fell. Cassandra took her turn to fill in the dead air, trying desperately to find something to say to him other than 'God you're cute.'
"So, what about you? College?"
Kyle smirked, "Nah," he shook his head.
The 'cool-dude-tude' came back on almost instantly as though he was trying to defend himself regarding his choice to not pursue higher education.
"This is New York, you know. Me and the guys, we're all gonna try to go label. We're gonna go for the big time. We just have a few kinks to work out."
"Like what?" Cassandra asked, trying to keep the conversation engaged and smooth out his defensive start.
"Well, Pete's been writing this soft-crap a lot more lately and Shawn likes it, but the rest of us... we just don't think it's what the band's about."
Cassandra dared not interject that she preferred the "soft-crap". It wasn't important anyway.
"Oh well, it sounded good, I mean, you know, it's not all that bad."
She nearly subconsciously kicked herself. One part of her brain tried to avoid saying that, and yet her mouth did it anyway. Kyle shrugged.
"I guess so, I mean, it's O.K. I guess."
Just then David, unwinding himself from Stephanie, called Kyle back to the band area for another round of music. Part of Cassandra was grateful that he had a distraction to separate him from her and another part of her was worried that she wouldn't get him back after they were done playing. About halfway through the song the telephone rang but the few people that heard it dared not answer. This was David's house it was up to him to answer the phone and he was busy bringing his guitar to life. Besides, who would be calling at nearly midnight.
Several more times the phone rang during the next set of songs, but the music was still so loud it drowned out the ringing except for those standing right next to it. Finally someone, laughing loudly, picked up the receiver.
"Hello?"
She barely spoke the words when the voice on the other end came through so loudly it made mostly everyone in the kitchen stop for a moment to listen to the very angry voice on the other end.
Just then a knock on the door echoed as the last song was quieting down.
David's eyes grew wide with a look of fear and humiliation as he placed his guitar on the ground and made for the door. His former classmates glanced from him to the door, and some to the telephone with the still screaming neighbor blaring through and back again. Several people cracked smiles, finding the situation very amusing. David's heart started pumping as he reached for the doorknob, fearing not only who was on the other side, but also that his cool-factor had just diminished tremendously. He glanced through the peep hole and hung his head.
"Damn," he whispered loud enough that those near him could hear.
Hesitantly, he opened the door just enough to pop his through and greet a very stern looking building manager, who instantly started very loudly, lecturing the boy on the time of night and the decibels of his music. Right around the time the grizzly man outside was shouting something about telling his parents, David slunk the rest of his body through the small opening in the door and shut it behind him so the people inside would hopefully not hear anymore. Several people crept forward, smiling slightly, and put their ears closer to the door.
"What are they saying?" Someone in the room asked.
"Hmmm..." one boy started, still listening. "He's threatening to call the police. He figures we're all drinking in here."
Another mostly-drunk teen bursted out, "Drinking? What's that he said! Are we drinking?"
Several people laughed and a few of the boys around him started cackling loudly.
Stephanie and Cassandra exchanged disappointed glances. David came back into the room and the atmosphere had changed drastically.
"Well, I think the party's over," Cassandra whispered.
Stephanie shrugged and smiled, "Well, the music is anyway, but this place has four bedrooms!"
Cassandra smiled and shook her head at her tipsy friend. David barely spoke as he hovered over the band area and started unplugging the equipment. A few people started teasing him and he look so embarrassed Cassandra thought he looked as though he might cry. Stephanie immediately moved over to him to console him.
Several people started to make for the door over the next few minutes, while others splayed onto the furniture or floor. Cassandra found her night bag in a small closet near the entrance and turned around.
"Are you leaving?"
She hadn't noticed Kyle come up right behind her.
Startled she made intense eye contact with her backpack. "No, I was...I was gonna stay, just need some things."
"Cool," Kyle smiled. "Come on, let me show you the place," he invited.
She smiled and headed through the living room and towards the bedrooms with Kyle. They walked down a short hallway to one of the unoccupied bedrooms and Kyle shut the door behind them. Cassandra immediately felt her nerves blast through the ceiling as she turned and tried to look casual and cool. She glanced around the room and then eyed the door.
"You know, I really just needed to use the bathroom…" her voice trailed off and Kyle came closer, putting his arms around her without hesitation.
He pressed his lips to hers and Cassandra shut her eyes. She had always dreamed of the first kiss with Kyle. She imagined sparks; the proverbial "fireworks". He smelled like beer and did not seem to feel her braced up resistance in her body as he slid his hands down over her butt.
She pulled back, whispering defensively. "Kyle…."
"What? Just relax, Cassy. It's cool."
She shook her head and pulled backwards, but he grabbed her tighter and before she knew it, they were toppling backwards onto the bed. Kyles hand ran up her thigh and under her skirt.
"No, seriously Kyle," she said she bent her knee up between them and pressed her patella into his chest, while pushing his hand away.
Kyle laughed softly. "You've been playing hard to get for years, Cassy. Don't do it again tonight."
She pulled back more, harder, and forced him back. "I'm not, I just…."
She paused, at a loss for words and as voices filled the hallway outside along with the sounds of stomping footsteps, they both glanced at the door. Cassandra used the moment to slide away from him and hop off the other side of the bed.
Kyle glared at her and quickly caught up with her at the foot of the bed, but she resisted firmly.
"No, Kyle. I don't want this. I'm not ready."
"You're…." he whispered with a smirk "tsk" sound in his voice. "You're not ready? It's just a kiss, Cassy."
"That was not a kiss!" She snapped.
"What, come on, you're not a virgin, are you?"
Cassandra fell silent and glared at him. She shot for the door and whipped it open before he could stop her.
"Cassy, there you are!" Stephanie, who clearly noticed the frazzled look on her face as Kyle appeared in the doorway behind her, trying to look cool and collected, lunged forward and grabbed her arm, yanking her away into another bedroom full of girls.
"What happened?"
Cassandra shook her head and muttered, "Nothing. Nothing happened. He's an ass."
Stephanie smiled and giggled, and Cassandra, feeling relieved, soon found herself laughing it off, too.
When the mid-morning rolled around and Cassandra awoke, she zipped into one of the bathrooms the moment one became available and started in on her ritual process of showering and styling and adding make up tones to her face. She locked the door to keep her privacy. She did not wish to be seen in yesterday's clothes and with ruffled hair. Meanwhile, in the living room, hung over teens were helping themselves to food or complaining that there wasn't enough to eat.
"Man, is all that pizza gone?" Someone in their underwear said as he walked into the kitchen. David looked around quickly, "Yeah, I think so," he said as he went back to holding Stephanie, who was already dressed to perfection.
Kyle walked out looking somehow less cute than Cassandra remembered him to ever be. Another girl, wearing his shirt, walked out behind him.
"Hey Dude," David said to him with a nod. "S'up?"
"Hey," Kyle acknowledged everyone and gave a sultry glance to the girl hanging off him.
"I'm sorry I need to get going," Cassandra whispered to Stephanie, quickly hopping up from the sofa.
Stephanie ticked her lips and glared at her.
"Sorry, my aunt will kill me. It's almost noon. I'm supposed to spend the day with them."
Cassandra dismissed herself from the awkward moment and quickly gathered her things and
headed out. Although she didn't have to, Stephanie joined her and headed home, too.