Cassia Dunlain had never once in her life been on a boat. Not once. She had planned on keeping it that way, too, until Andrea and Amy had come along and practically forced her into the boat themselves. Well, that was a slight exaggeration... it was more like a lot of whining and pleading and the beginnings of a headache. This was how she eventually found herself tucked up in the foetal position, smack bang in the center of the boat, while Andrea and Amy reminisced about their seperate childhoods, due to the age gap between them, and how their father treated them differently. Cassia was beginning to suspect they had forgotten she was there until Andrea fixed her notorious blue eyes on her,
"So... your baby. It's Daryl's right?" She asked, and Cassia could tell the other woman was hoping and praying that she wouldn't reply with 'No, actually, it's Merle's.'
Cassia cringed at the thought. Bleh. No siree. Cassia nodded shortly, stretching out as much as she dared to, very aware of the balance of the boat,
"Yep. It's Daryl's."
Andrea seemed to relax after this and fell silent for a bit, eyes on the water, tampering around with her fishing rod before she spoke up again, her voice was softer, distant, wistful now,
"We gotta make sure to give that kid the best childhood that we can... growing up with all thi-" Amy whipped her head around and shushed Andrea, shaking her head with wide eyes. She'd been the only one to notice how Cassia's face had fallen, and how her frame had sagged, how the moisture had gathered in her eyes. Andrea bit down on her lip and very nearly smacked herself up the side of the head, "Cassie, I- I'm sorry. I wasn't thinkin'-" She apologised, but Cassia shook her head with a sniff and a small gulp before she sat upright again,
"No, nah- You're right." Was all she said, but it was enough, and the trio fell silent once again. A longer period of time fell between conversation this time, and Amy was the one to perk up this time,
"Where'd you grow up, Cass?" She asked amicably, offering her companion a soft smile. Cassia returned warmly. She liked these two. They were probably the closest she had to friends. Carol always sent her scornful looks because she felt Cassia had worsened things for her and Ed and even Sophia. The woman might have been right, but Cassia couldn't just stand around and watch him humiliate, harrass and abuse Carol and Sophia. Was that selfish? Maybe. It was her morales. And then there was Jacqui, who she knew disapproved of Cassia's being pregnant outside of wedlock. Daryl could be husband material, but Cass doubted he would want to marry her. Alas, their child would be born a bastard, and what a practically satanic thing that was. Cassia couldn't help how sarcastic and even rude her thoughts had gotten, but Jacqui was definitely being too nosey, judgemental, prejudiced and holy about it all. Shit happens.
Cassia felt like she'd spent four years thinking this all up, when in reality it had only been about forty seconds,
"I was born in Bloomington, Minnesota. Grew up there, too." She answered, her face was angled towards the sun now, her eyes closed, and as a result, her voice was serene and calming. It was nice to feel this way, for a change. Amy seemed to really like this answer,
"I've never been to Minnesota? What's it like? Actually- Nevermind. I don't wanna go." Cassia shrugged. How brutally honest. Amy carried on, "So, what're you doing in Georgia, then, if you live in Minnesota?"
Cass smiled briefly, a sigh became the transition for her expression to turn somber, and she shuffled about to face Amy, her eyes opened to look at her directly. The atmosphere shifted lightly, and she wasn't sure if this was due to a change in the direction the wind was blowing, or because the tone of the conversation had shifted so drastically, but it was palpable.
"This was supposed to be stop number one for my roadtrip." She informed Amy lightly, her voice had gone quiet now, and both girls strained to hear it, giving each other a curious glance. There was certainly more to this story. They were nearing the shore now,
"Who were you travelling with?" Andrea asked and Cassia almost winced,
"My best friend, Valerie, and..." Her eyes glazed over for a moment and she licked her lips, "my boyfriend."
"Daryl?"
"Nope. His name was Ross."
