Cassie's Mistakes #1

Cassie looked in the mirror one last time. For past weeks she tried her best to look perfect. She found peace in finding that perfection in her skin, on her hair, or in her everyday outfits. As never before, her every step, every word, every move was planned out throughly. It was almost as if she was a robot, but it was the only way she could keep her mind somewhat sane. She didn't let her feelings overcome her.

Claded in a dress much too elegant for the occassion, she put on heels similarly special. Finally, it was time. Leaving her safe zone, her little apartment was always hard, but she pushed through. Called taxi and was ready to survive that evening.

___

Arriving at the family house, she was greeted with confused looks. Her elegant dress looked indeed weird amongst sweaters, jeans and simple skirts. "Looks like I am a bit overdressed tonight." She joked with one of those fake giggles she mastered. Nobody laughed with her. Her mother quickly leaded her towards her chair, trying to ignore that little scene that just happened..

Was it a nice evening? Cassie wouldn't know. Her mind was focused on perfecting her reactions, and when it wasn't, it drifted away. To the land of her own fantasies and wishes that could not ever become true. She knew they wouldn't, yet, she had to dream of them. It was quite masochistic, but Cassie needed this. As much as she needed this faked perfection...

As soon as she could, she excused herself, and called taxi. A quiet ride home. Once again she was in her only safe place. The only place where she could be herself.. As she took off her coat and decided it's time to wash off her make-up, she heard a doorbell. It right away pushed her out of her routine, and she really did not like that. Nobody was supposed to come over, and anyway it was getting late already. 

With a little sigh, Cassie went to see who it was, and froze as soon as door opened. Her skin became pale, and her eyes widened. One would think she saw a ghost but it wasn't a ghost at all.

"Caleb."

Right in front of her stood young man, a cause of all that "unhuman" behaviour. Although, this time his outfit was more special than usual, even fitting her dress a little. And first time ever she saw him with a bouqet of roses in his hand.

"Hi." He said quietly. "Here..." He handled her the roses. "It's for you."

Cassie remained silent, but she took the roses in her hand. She looked them over before her eyes returneed to his face, her eyebrow rising in confusion.

Silence. She did not let him inside at all, and he did not ask to be let in. Which she was grateful for. Caleb hid his hands in his pockets and chuckled awkwardly. "That will sound cheesy, but I, uhm, I missed you."

Sounding cheesy is one thing. Yet, those words together with what he did a few months ago, how he broke her world in pieces, well... those words sounded really rude. She looked at roses one more time, before she threw them right into his face and slammed the door shut.

"Fuck! Ouch, Cassie, damn!" It probably hurt. Roses were dangerous in the way. Cassie had to admit she did not think about that. She was breathing heavily, almost panicking, her mind going crazy. She did not know what to think. "Cassie... Fuck, I am sorry, alright. I really miss you!"

Silence. And then sound of her footsteps. She left the little hall and returned to her bedroom. Curled up and let her tears destroy the beautiful make-up she spend almost hours on. Outside the door, Caleb sighed and left.

__

Mysterious Phone Call (Warm Up)

This is a very little piece, which was more to see if I can still do this. It took me somewhere between 10-15 minutes. I kind of liked what I started here so I might come back to this next time. We shall see.

***

Kaitlyn stretched a little and looked again at the screen of her laptop. Not much was happening there, especially that she was just watching it, again and again, with an empty word document open. Apparently today wasn’t a day to write an essay either. She stood up, walked to her kitchen and made some coffee in hope that it will help her brain work. She just did not have energy or willpower to write that essay. Subject was exceptionally boring, the book they were reading right now was the worst thing she has ever read. Apparently, it won some awards and Kaitlyn had to find something special in the story. For her, it wasn’t exactly possible.

That’s why she hated this. She wanted to study literature and hoped for some amazing pieces to work with, but she ended with this crap. She now had to live alone, away from everyone and read stories which for her were simply the worst. The style, the contents, the pace… Everything was terrible. If they got awards then surely she should get some for anything she writes. Maybe even just for that damned essay. What people have seen in those stories? What magic is hidden there? Why she can't see it?

It was getting late. She should work on this… She truly should. Just as that thought passed through her mind she heard her phone ring. It was a bit… surprising. It was late, and she knew her friends usually didn't call this late. Looking at her phone, it showed unknown number. Usually, she wouldn’t pick up such calls but something pushed her to do that tonight. Maybe it was just a boredom of the essay, maybe she just wanted her mind to escape for a moment or two.

“Hello? Who is this?” Her gentle voiced showed that she was a bit nervous. Laughter she heard on the other side sounded familiar, but she wasn’t sure to whom it belonged.

“Have you written your essay yes, Miss Perfect?” Voice was taunting her, and that feeling was similar too. As if she knew that person from somewhere. But from where?

She took a cup of her coffee and made her way back to the room. “Miss Perfect? I think you called a wrong number.” She tried to be sassy but obviously failed, and felt exceptionally cringy that those words left her mouth. She sat down on her bed, put the coffee away. And another burst of laughter on the other side.

“It’s so easy to trick you, Kaitlyn. Too easy, you know.”

“Just tell me who you are. Are you from the Mr. Cardberry’s course?”

“Garret. Have you already forgotten me, Beauty?”

Oh, Garret. Now she remembered. She sighed deeply. Garret having her number was one of the mistakes of that… grand party. There was no food, and plenty of alcohol. Not a good mix at all. Kaitlyn made a lot of bad choices on this party, one of them was giving Garret her number. “Miss Perfect” was probably about how she always finished her homework early. Kaitlyn was sure she shares a few lectures with Garret. Which, once again, didn’t work out so well.

Yeah, she went to the party, she wanted to be a nice, cool girl. Instead of being a weirdo everybody avoided. But, instead she got drunk, and made out with this guy. Garret. Playful and arrogant. A type she always avoids. Yet, that night he seemed so attractive to her…

“Well, um, hey Garret. It took you a while to call.” She commented, knowing it's just a prank, probably. Types like Garret only do booty calls, and Kaitlyn wasn't that kind of girl. Maybe she made out with him, but wouldn’t go further than that.

“Yeah, well, sorry about that. I was thinking if you wanna go out tonight?” He asked in quite serious tone. Kaitlyn was shocked. But then again, he might have want another booty call.

“Where to?” If he invites her to his home, then she’s out.

“Well, you know. Some bar, grab a few drinks. What do you think?” Once again, she wasn’t sure how to react. Well, she doesn’t have to get drunk, right? It seems the evening would be more interesting than she expected.

This time, she wouldn’t finish essay earlier than others, though.