Meeting Cassandra

Later that night, I dreamt. And in my dreams, I saw it over and over again. Its grey, hairy torso all wrinkled up like a prune, its legs which look like those of a goat, its lithe muscular arms, and its face. That horrible, grinning face, with horns where there should be eyes and that stringy dirty hair. In the dreams, it stared straight into my soul and smiled a slow sinister smile.

My eyes snap open, as my heart beats wildly and cold sweat drips down my face. It takes me a moment to realize the thing is not in front of me, that I am safe at home. It is only then that I am able to calm my beating heart.

As I lay down on my bed, my heart beat slowly returning to normal, I wonder once again if I am slowly going mad. Or did my head injury cause some unintentional side effects, like hallucinations? At this point, I am just confused.

First in the hospital, then in my kitchen, and finally on my way back from school. These strange apparitions that no one else can see just keep appearing. What if one just appears right now, in my room. My heart chills at the thought. I might just run mad if I were to see one right now. I look around the room suspiciously. Suddenly the room feels oppressive.

Take it easy, I tell myself, you have to go to sleep. There's still school tomorrow.

With the thought of school, I realize how tired I am. My limbs feel like they have been weighed down with lead and a headache suddenly starts to come up.

Just go back to sleep, I tell myself, you will figure everything out tomorrow. How? I don't know.

With those thoughts I force myself to go back to sleep, hoping there will be no more dreams about that thing.

The next morning I am more tired than I was when I first went to sleep. My mom notices and asks if I want to stay home. I refuse, besides, she does not look much better than me.

In school, I continue with my tests. For some strange reason, the hours seem to pass by slower than they did yesterday. By the time the lunch bell rings, I feel more exhausted than I have ever been in my life.

I ignore almost everything as I get to the cafeteria, heading straight to my usual table. All of a sudden, someone steps in front of me.

"Ian?" a feminine voice says. It sounds like...

"Cassandra?" I say surprised as I see the person in front of me."Hey, long time."

"Yeah," she says smiling, "You look tired."

I groan, the tests I have yet to write coming to mind."I am exhausted. I have so many tests to write." A slight exaggeration, but not one I minded making.

She lets out a small laugh. "God, I'm so happy I'm done writing those. You have it pretty bad..." she trails off for a moment."Well, I'm happy you're okay." She sounds a bit awkward as if she is unsure what to say.

Somehow we had moved until we had gotten to my usual table. I wonder if she will sit with me even as I realize how stupid that thought is. She has friends after all.

"Oh. Thanks by the way." I say as I remember something.

She frowns slightly, the frown somehow making her look a bit cuter. "For what?" she asks as she sits. For some reason, that simple action thrills me.

"You know, the fundraiser."

She scratches the back of her ear, looming a bit embarrassed. "Oh, that. There's no need to thank me, I mean you got injured at my party so...it was the least I could do."

I wanted to tell her it wasn't her fault that guy had come, guns blazing, but I decided against it."Still, thanks. You saved my mom a lot of trouble."

She shrugs it off, but she seems to be avoiding my eyes."So, Emily told me you lost your memory?"

"I did, but I've remembered most of it, the only thing I can't seem to remember is the day of your party."

"How does it feel? Not remembering anything? Do you have problems making new memories? I read online that people suffering from amnesia have problems learning new things, do you?" she asks, looking at me curiously.

The question surprises me a bit."I'm still the same as I was, the only thing is that I can't remember what happened during your party. And I don't have problems learning new things."

"Hey, Cassandra. How's the itch? " At that moment Drew arrives at the table. He nods at me and I nod back.

Cassandra's face lights up in a wide smile as she sees him."Drew! When did you come back?"

"Yesterday. I would have come back earlier but..."

As they spoke, I just stared at both of them as I tried to comprehend what was going on. From what I remember, Drew and Cassandra did not even know each other, now they are talking like long-lost buddies. For some reason it made me feel funny inside.

Soon they finished catching up and Cassandra stood up, probably to go back to her table.

"Bye," she says waving as she flashes me a brief smile. I smile and wave back and before I know it she is gone.

I eat my lunch silently, my gaze is on the table before me but my mind is somewhere else. When did Drew and Cassandra become so chummy? I know that they have the right to become friends with whoever they want to, but I could not help but feel a bit jealous. It's stupid, I know, but no matter how hard I tried I could not get rid of the feeling. I sneak a glance at Drew.

"So, you and Cassandra..." the words came out of my mouth without any conscious thought. I snap my mouth shut when I realize what I am saying, but it is too late.

Drew shoots me an indescribable look."We were the ones who started your fundraiser. We became friends then. Don't worry, I'm not trying to steal your girlfriend."

My mouth opens and closes a few times as my face heats up."I didn't..." My words trail off, I have no idea what to say.

Drew snorts, a slight smile on his face."Dude, anyone with half an eye can see that you have a crush on her. A piece of advice, if you want her you're going to have to be smart about it because you have a competitor. Brian. I wish you good luck."

I understood what he meant when he wished me good luck. Brian had everything going for him: looks, brain, behavior, everything was exceptional. If he really wanted Cassandra then... I still have a chance. Even though it is pretty small.

"I really don't have a chance, do I?" I force myself to ask despite my embarrassment. I truly wanted to know what he thought.

He just shrugs."Time and time again life has been shown to be stranger than fiction, so I really can't say. Anything can happen. Anyway, how were your tests."

"They were okay. I just can't wait for Thursday. I'll be so happy when I'm done with those tests."

As I spoke my mind goes to his words. Even though I frequently imagined and hoped that one day Cassandra would like me, some part of me realized it would be a miracle if she one day liked me back. I might as well give up.

"Don't give up with Cassandra though," Drew says suddenly, as if he just read my mind."At least don't give up until you know how she really feels."

I look up sharply at him."So what do you think I should do?" I ask.

A smug grin appears on his face."Well, I'm a bit of a lady's man but-"

I could not help but laugh as he said that."You, a lady's man? Ha." Until recently he did not even talk to anyone in the school. How then did he become a lady's man?

He glares at me, his eyes cold."Do you want help or not?"

I manage to stop laughing."Okay, I want help, mister ladies man."

"Good. I'll begin tutoring you on Thursday."

"Why Thursday?"

"You have tests to write, you should focus on that for now."

At that moment the bell rings. Lunch is over. All over the cafeteria, people begin leaving to head to their different classes.

"Will it kill them to make lunch break a bit longer?" I grumble. It felt like I had just come here."Okay then, on Thursday we'll begin my tutoring."

With that, I join the crowd of students leaving the hallway. Soon I am in the hallway, heading towards the class where I would write my final test for today.

My eyes were focused on the floor so I did not notice there was someone in front of me until my shoulders bump into the person.

I look up and see it is Arthur. I open my mouth to say sorry when I notice the look on his face. The words curdle in my throat.

He glares at me for a moment before walking off without saying a word. I stand still staring at his retreating back while I try to still my racing heart. What on earth did I do to piss him off?