Hey guys!
So I don't know if any of you are even here anymore, because I published this story a year ago, but I'm back! It's obviously been quite a hiatus and I apologize for that, but I have every intention of continuing to post on here because I still love the MDBC and this community. I'm going to try to update at least once every week or two weeks. I know it was bad for me to just ditch this story, but after hearing about the new MDBC book, I just couldn't help but revisit this story and now I'm addicted all over again. *sigh*
Remember, reviews help chapters come out faster :)
Bye for now, Britt
Where We Left Off: (This is my short summary of what happened so far for those of you that are too lazy to read through it again or don't remember.)
So the story starts by introducing the girls, who hopefully are pretty much the same in disposition as the originals, and how they are going to Hong Kong for their big trip as Gigi is excited to be their tour guide. Naturally, the Berkeleys are staying near the girls so Megan and Cassidy are happy, and Megan is getting her own fashion show. The other girls get to be models in it. In Chapter 2, we get a little sneak peak of Jess/Darcy's relationship, and we see very "subtle" Cassidy-Tristan-Zach love triangle. Then, we get to see a little book club love, and all the girls bond over gardening. We also learn about Cassidy's wish to rejoin the newspaper, which brings on a whole new set of problems as Zach works at the newspaper too. In the last chapter that I posted in June, Cassidy has a nightmare about Zach and texts Emma about it in the middle of the night.
Do we all remember? Yes? Ok, good. Now on to the next chapter! This chapter takes place the day after Emma and Cassidy's texting spree...
Cassidy
I slam my locker shut and shoulder my backpack, giving a tiny freshman a glare as the 5 foot 4 guy bumps into me.
He stammers an apology, but I just brush it off with an impatient smile and a wave of my hand. I know I must seem like a jerk, but I'm stressed out right now.
Ever since Emma's heads up about Zach's sports photography position, I've been worrying about the talk that we're inevitably going to have.
I mean, how am I supposed to have "closure" with an ex that I might have blindsided a year ago when I thought everything was fine?
Suddenly, I hear a guy clear his throat behind me. I can feel my face turning red as I spin around on my heel. Is it Zach?
I'm met with the laughing face of Simon Berkeley, who is standing a few feet away from me, books in hand.
"You look scared, Cassidy," he says, grinning at me, "Who did you think I was?"
It doesn't take much for me to lie. "Oh, you know, I thought it was Mr. Willis or something. You know how scary he gets."
He nods, then motions for me to start walking. "Come on, we have homeroom next. We'd better walk fast."
Our homeroom is halfway across the school, so Simon and I fall into easy conversation as we amble across the grounds. Or maybe, not so easy conversation.
Simon's chattering away about his excitement for joining some of the clubs at Alcott, but his words fade into the distance as I begin to worry about Zach.
"You and Zach are friends, right?"
My sudden question surprises Simon who is mid-sentence, but he nods, giving me a confused look.
"Yeah," he says, "What does he have to do with Ms. Clemen's biology test?"
I don't think Simon or even Tristan knows the complete story behind my break up with Zach, and my discomfort grows as Simon asks the question.
"Well, to be honest, I'm considering rejoining the newspaper, and that means I have to work with Zach again. It's pretty awkward cause I'm dating your brother now, and I haven't really talked to Zach in months."
I can feel my face turn red as I face Simon.
"Wow, that's a lot to handle," he says sympathetically, then he pauses. "So you haven't talked to Zach at all."
The statement isn't phrased as a question, and I hesitate a little before answering.
"No, not since our break up."
"Well, you and Zach have to sort this issue out at some point. I mean, you can't really do much without running into him at some point, right?"
"I guess," I say, looking at him nervously, "I'm planning on talking to him after third period today anyway."
"You should," Simon says encouragingly, "Talk to him, I mean. I'm sure it would do a world of good for him."
I nod as we come to a stop in front of our homeroom class. Simon smiles at me. "If you need to talk later, I'd be happy to listen."
"Thanks, Simon," I say, smiling back at the blonde-haired boy.
My next few periods pass by quickly, and before I know it, my free period is next. Sadly, I'm not looking forward to it. Emma told me to stop by the newspaper room during my free period as that's going to be the only time I'll get to talk to Zach, and eventually my fourth period is going to become the journalism class again.
When I walk into the classroom, I'm met with a smiling Emma, who is busy editing articles on her laptop.
"Cassidy!" She motions for me to come over, and leans over to whisper in my ear. "Zach will be here in a few minutes. Are you okay with talking to him? I have to tell him about your new position before you can talk to him by yourself, by the way."
I swallow nervously. "Yeah, I'll be fine," I say, my voice light as I smile at Emma.
She narrows her eyes at me, but nods anyway. Emma and I have been friends long enough that I can tell she doesn't believe me.
"Emma! How's the article on Alcott's football win going?"
I stiffen as I hear a familiar voice call out behind me. A very familiar, masculine voice.
Taking a deep breath, I flip my hair over my shoulder and turn towards the guy standing there.
Emma rushes over before I can say anything to Zach. "Zach! Hey, could you come over here for a second, we need to talk about your position at the paper." She shoots a nervous glance at me before directing her attention to Zach.
I can hear their muffled conversation as Zach leans down to whisper to my friend.
"What the heck is Cassidy doing here?" he whispers angrily.
"Look, she wants to rejoin the paper as a sports photographer, and I'm contractually obligated to accept anyone who wants to be a part of the paper unless they engage in misconduct. Plus, Cassidy's great at her position, and we need extra help anyways."
"I'll have to work with her again, that's going to be so awkward!" Zach's voice carries out across the room, and I watch him duck his head even lower to avoid being heard.
"Look, you have two choices. You can whine about it and dredge up the past again, or you can act like a professional and work with Cassidy. You guys used to be friends, Zach, I'm sure you'll be able to handle each other for a few hours a week."
Emma gives Zach a look before dragging him over to me.
"Alright, you two. I get that this is going to be awkward for both of you, no doubt about it. But both of you are talented writers and photographers, and I expect full cooperation from both of you. If you guys aren't going to act professional, one of you are going to have to take another position or stop working on the paper and all of us don't want that to happen. Right?"
Emma pauses and waits for us to nod.
"Okay, Zach, why don't you give Cassidy the rundown of what we need to do for this week's issue," she says.
"Wait, Emma-" Zach turns towards Emma, and I watch as his voice falters. "We finished this week's issue, but that's fine."
Emma doesn't hear him at all, and pretty soon she's put in her headphones and is humming along to a new Little Mix song while editing.
It's just Zach and me now, and the tension in the air puts me on edge.
I'm the first one to speak. "I think we should talk," I mumble, before remembering something my mother said a year ago. I guess it really is time to "get my Jane on".
"Yeah," Zach says, "We can go to the back room if you want."
I follow him to the little room at the back of the classroom, and the atmosphere gets even more awkward.
I watch as he cuts a glance to the sky, then looks back down at the ground.
"Why did you break up with me, Cassidy?" Zach's voice is soft, fragile as he stares me straight in the eye.
My eyes immediately fall to the ground. Taking a deep breath, I lift my head. "Look, Zach, when we were dating, I really liked you. But..." I pause. How do I word this?
I fell in love with someone else, specifically, Tristan Berkeley? I didn't like you all of a sudden? Your kisses remind me of my dog?
"My feelings changed, Zach, and I know it's something that might be hard for you to understand, but it's the truth."
Zach doesn't say anything back, but the pain in his eyes isn't hard to miss.
"I guess there's no point in dwelling on the past anymore," Zach says as he forces a fake laugh.
"Yeah-" I'm about to finish my sentence but the bell rings, and Emma walks into the room.
"Alright, time to go, everyone. Let's pack up, fifth period starts in four minutes." She nods at me to follow her, and I shoot an apologetic smile at Zach before hastily leaving.
"I'll be taking pictures of the Alcott vs. Glen basketball game today, so I'll email those to you tonight," I tell Zach over my shoulder as I leave. He just nods and packs up his stuff.
Emma drops her "professional newspaper lady" persona as soon as we are out of earshot of Zach. "How did it go?" She says, looking at me with a worried expression on her face.
I shake my head. "I told him the truth, and I don't how he took it. I just want to get this whole thing over with," I say.
Emma nods sympathetically. "Maybe you should talk to Megan about it, you know, she and Simon had that talk after he kind of dumped her over email. Remember that?" She laughs.
"Yeah, maybe I will." I say.
Emma waves as she heads off to her math class, and I continue walking towards my biology class. Maybe I will talk to Megan tomorrow.
So that's the end of that chapter! I hope you guys like it. I'm glad we finally got Zach and Cassidy's conversation over, but I'm pretty sure that isn't the end of this love triangle.
Leave me a review if you want, and be sure to request POVs in the comments. I know that the last few chapters have been very focused on Cassidy, so I'm excited to write about some other characters soon. I will be replying to reviews now in my author's notes, so feel free to ask questions.
My next chapter will be up tomorrow, so stay tuned for that!
Also, I am planning on updating my collection of one shots, called Captured, with my Zach POV scene that I promised a few months ago, so go check that out!
Thanks to my beta, DreamInitiate, for editing this!
Britt
This next section is my really long character development section. If you don't want to read it, you can skip it. If you'd like to read about my ideas during this chapter, feel free to continue reading!
I'm experimenting with a bit of character development here, so I wanted to provide some explanation for some of the things the characters said and how that fits with my vision of them. Warning: It's long.
1. Emma: For me, Emma develops a very witty but still sweet personality after the sixth book. She isn't completely cupcake icing sweet (for me, that's Jess), but she still is nice to pretty much everyone. I like to imagine her as a natural leader, hence her position as editor-in-chief in the newspaper, as well as her business-like way of dealing with the whole Cassidy and Zach thing. Now, obviously she still is Cassidy's friend, which is crucial to why Cassidy is willing to work at the newspaper with Zach.
2. Cassidy: One of my favorite lines of this chapter is Cassidy's "Your kisses remind me of my dog" part. I don't mean to portray her as a mean person in this chapter, but I do think that brutal honesty is part of her personality, and I want to keep that. Also, that line provides a little comic relief for me because this chapter was so relationship heavy and a little hard to write, not going to lie. As for the rest of her character development, I think Cassidy has matured a lot since the last book, and I like to think that she becomes close (friend-wise, obviously) with Simon because I wanted her to have a confidant who she could completely trust (who wasn't in the book club). In many ways, I think Simon is the epitome of a sweet, understanding friend. As well as that, he doesn't have the same brusqueness as his brother does. (Not that being brusque is a bad thing, but Cassidy and Tristan have already filled that void for me.) :)
3. Zach: He isn't as bitter as he was before, because a good amount of time has passed between the sixth book and now, and I'm not going to portray him as too much of a "bad guy" in this story. Cassidy and Zach aren't going to become best friends or anything like that in this story, but I don't think it's in Zach's character to continue hating anybody, even his ex. And you never know, Sophie Fairfax is still around...
4. Simon: Aside from Darcy, Simon is definitely my next favorite guy in the series. He is so sweet to Megan and has such a great personality. (Yeah, I'm gushing, I know.) Again, I think that Cassidy and Simon don't talk much in the original series, but I'd like to think that they have a great dynamic in terms of their friendship.
Bye! Britt