Things had certainly changed.
The time Naomi and Emily had spent in Goa had been pure, unadulterated bliss. Even with Freddie's death, it was everything they'd hoped for and planned, and it reassured Emily that she and Naomi would, in fact, be together forever. Emily was certain she'd wake up next to Naomi every morning until she was 100. She just knew. They were unbreakable.
But the minute they stepped off the plane, their perfect world began to crumble.
Something changed. Headstrong Naomi grew weary, and her willpower and restraint weakened. There were moments when it seemed Naomi couldn't even look at Emily without getting angry at her. She stopped returning calls and texts. Romantic evenings turned into screaming matches. Naomi became secretive. And Emily broke a little bit inside each day. She was constantly on edge, but she continued to cling to Naomi out of a potent mixture of unconditional love and fear.
Emily couldn't shake the memory of the day it all came crashing down. Without even trying, she could still feel the lurch she felt in her stomach when she'd opened the front door to their apartment that day, and saw Naomi there, naked from the waist up with some tall skinny brunette. Naomi's apathetic voice still echoed in her ears. Her hands still shook like they had as she gathered all of her things, shoving them into a suitcase. None of it's worth shit without her, she remembered thinking. Their breakup zapped the life out of Emily. She became the Emily she'd been while in Katie's shadow all over again, timid and quiet. The only thing colorful about her life now was her hair.
This was all Emily could think about each night as she lay in bed. This was the way it'd been, every night since she'd left.
But tonight, her usual painful mental replay of her and Naomi's time together was interrupted by thoughts of the unusual and striking girl she'd met at the park today. Cassie. Her cheek still burned where Cassie's beautiful mouth had kissed it. Emily wasn't sure why she was so fascinated with this completely random, probably insane (and straight) stranger she'd only known for fifteen minutes, after a funeral no less.
That night, Emily dozed off to dreams that, for the first time in months, featured blonde hair that didn't belong to Naomi.
That first evening after the funeral, Cassie walked to her parent's house. She wasn't sure what for, but it didn't matter because no one was home anyways.
The following day was a complete blur. She half-slept in Tony's guest room the whole time, wrapped up in the heavy grey down comforter, and Sid and Tony never bothered her. And as far as Cassie was concerned, this was the nicest thing they'd ever done for her. Being shut down and escaping the world was Cassie's favorite. Reality was cruel and dark. Inside Cassie's head, she'd created a world where Effy was alive, and together they were living in some exciting big city and surrounding themselves with complete strangers and no one could ever hurt them, not even themselves. Cassie could keep Effy safe.
If only I'd had the chance to protect her before it was too late.
But most importantly, in Cassie's world, there was no Sid. He'd never existed, never come into her life to cause her harm. In reality, Sid held her down like an anchor, and she was having trouble keeping her head up.
The next morning, Cassie very vaguely remembered SId coming into bed with her, rubbing her back, kissing her neck the night before. Cassie couldn't decide whether or not they'd had sex, because she had been so wrapped up in her little world. Everything was fuzzy.
Cassie rolled out of bed, slipped on a pair of silk pink pajama shorts, threw a blanket over a Sid's naked body, and tiptoed down the Stonem's stairs.
"Good morning Cass," Tony greeted her as she stepped into the kitchen. "I'm glad you're walking amongst the living again." He was sitting at the table, sipping a glass of orange juice. It appeared he had slept in his clothes from the day before, and his hair was greasy and slick. Cassie loved him like this.
She flashed him her signature grin, and went straight for the cupboard for a bowl of corn flakes. But before she could grab a spoon, someone rang the door bell.
Emily tried, but she couldn't get Cassie out of her head. The pretty blonde had moved something in her, and all she could think about was seeing her again. Whatever the girl's magic was, Emily wanted another dose.
Her only lead was that Cassie'd mentioned being friends with Effy's brother. Emily thought that maybe if she asked him, he could tell her where to find her. She was uneasy about what exactly she'd do next.
So there she was, at the front door to the Stonem residence, ringing the doorbell. She'd run over what she was going to say a thousand times in her head, and still, she was absolutely petrified for some reason. "Yes, hello, I'm here to about your friend Cassie. Could you tell me where she lives? Or give me her phone number? Why? Because I'm a creepy, obsessive and pathetic stalker, that's why." Yeah, that'd go over well.
After the longest minute of her life, a young man who must've been Effy's older brother opened the door. He looked like he'd had a rough night, yet he was still quite alluring in a way that was strongly reminiscent of Effy.
"Can I help you?" He asked, after giving her a once-over.
"Yes, um…" But Emily was interrupted and struck dumb when Cassie herself appeared over Tony's shoulder. Oh no, Emily thought, her and Effy's brother are fucking. As if I had a chance anyways. Stupid. Why am I even here? What am I supposed to say?
"Oh! Tony! This is my new friend Emily!" Cassie exclaimed, in the same exuberant manner that Emily had witnessed in the park. "Oh, lovely, lovely!" Cassie pushed Tony aside and rushed out to throw her arms around the speechless redhead. "We were just about to have breakfast! Come in!" Cassie grabbed her arm, pulling her into the house. Tony rolled his eyes.
Emily followed them back into the kitchen. She'd only been in Effy's kitchen a couple of times before, but she half expected to see Effy sitting there at the table, waiting for them.
"Do you want anything?" Cassie offered, as Tony finished his orange juice.
"No thank you," Emily answered quietly, taking the seat farthest from Tony. She felt out of place. She had no idea it would go over this way.
"So, Emily, right?" asked Tony.
"Mhm," she replied, not knowing whether or not to mention that she had been friends with his dead sister. She tried not to shake as Cassie took the seat right next to her own.
"I had the strangest dream last night," Cassie started to say, but her facial expression dropped and her spoon fell when a greasy looking boy with glasses entered the room.
"G'morning guys!" the boy said with a yawn.
"It's two o'clock, Sid," Tony said dryly.
"Pleasure to see you too, Tony," Sid said, as he leaned over Cassie's shoulder to kiss her on the cheek.
Cassie stood up without delay, pulled on a yellow sweatshirt, and announced, "Emily and I were just leaving. To go run some errands." Emily's eyes widened as Cassie pulled her out of her chair hurriedly. "See you later!" she called, and before Emily could even say goodbye, she was being yanked through the door.