Like No Other
Chapter 15
Marcus jostled me awake. “That’s it!” I heard his deep voice say, sounding determined. I squinted my eyes open and saw Marcus standing in front of me. “Get the fuck up now.”
“What?” I mumbled, still not fully awake. “What’s going on?” Travis tore down the blanket that I threw over my window, trying to block out the sun.
“This is ridiculous Jeremy. RE-DICK-U-LUSS,” Marcus repeated, adding emphasis on each syllable.
“Yeah,” Drake agreed. “You’ve been sitting in this dark ass house acting like some creepy ass vampire for two weeks now.”
“Get up!” Marcus kicked me.
“Ouch!” he kicked me again. “Stop it you asshole. I’m up!”
I sat up and watched as Travis walked around picking up my empty beer cans, pizza boxes, and take out bowls. “This place is disgusting,” he said throwing them into a big black garbage bag.
“Oh, who cares,” I said. “I don’t give a fuck anymore. I’m drinking again. Happy now?” I asked Marcus.
“You really think you’re going to get her back like this?” Marcus gestured to the room and to me.
“Get her back?” I laughed. “I’m never getting her back. She won’t talk to me or return my calls. And it’s not even my fucking fault!” I wanted to hit something, but the closest object was Drake. I decided not to take my anger out on him.
“What happened exactly?” Travis asked, lost as always. “I didn’t get to hear the whole story.”
So I explained to all of them once again what happened.
Marcus spoke up then, sitting on the edge of my bed. “I saw her yesterday for the first time since that night. We talked for about five minutes.
“What did she say?” I asked, sitting up a little straighter.
“She said her sister’s wedding was this morning…” he paused hesitating, “and that she was going back home to Wisconsin afterwards.
“Did she say anything about me?” I asked, hoping.
“No,” I hated the sympathy in Marcus’s voice.
“So she’s gone?” I asked, feeling hopeless.
“I’m afraid so…” It got quiet.
I laid back down and put the covers over my head.
“Oh hell no,” Drake said, pulling the comforter completely off the bed. “Get back up.”
“Why should I? The girl I love is gone. Probably forever. Where am I ever going to find another girl like her? She’s sexy and smart and amazing and everything I’m looking for.”
We all sat in the room, quiet. Then Marcus got up and left the room. Within seconds, he returned and tossed something at me. It jangled when it hit me in the arm. I looked down. Keys.
“Go,” was all he said. I jumped up, changing into jeans and a hoodie. I ran down the steps of the apartment and to my van. I drove in the direction of Angie’s house. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw Sue sitting in the driveway. I parked by the curb in front of the house and went to the front door, mentally crossing my fingers.
I had shown up here throughout the whole week after we broke up, begging to get a chance to talk to her, but each time was told to go home. When Angie answered the door she rolled her eyes. “What do you want now Jeremy?”
“Is she already gone?” I asked desperately.
“I dropped her off at the airport an hour ago. Yes, she’s gone.”
I sighed and looked down at my feet. Tears snuck up in my eyes and I tried to blink them away. “Please,” my voice cracked. I cleared my throat. “Please, Angie, you gotta believe me. I would NEVER EVER do anything to hurt Cassie in any way. That whole night was just a big misunderstanding and no one will listen to me.”
It was quiet for a moment as Angie thought.
“Come inside. But this story better be quick.” Angie said.
I walked inside and we sat at the kitchen table. “I hope you know the only reason I’m letting you talk right now is because I know you do love Cassie and she loves you very much.”
“Not any more…” I trailed off. “She probably hates me now.”
“She’s hurt,” Angie said. “So what happened? And hurry. Our plane leaves in two hours.”
I gave her the short version of the night’s events. She sighed. “I knew you wouldn’t do that to her but I just didn’t know what to believe at the time.”
“Yeah, I just don’t know what to do now that she’s gone.”
She grabbed a pen and a napkin that was sitting on the table and wrote down something really fast. She pushed it across the table to me and I looked at it. It was an address. In Wisconsin. Her address. “Let’s go. We both have a plane to catch.”
Jack and I carried out their luggage and I followed behind the coop all the way to the airport. When we got there, we left Jack and went over to an elderly lady behind a desk.
“Mam?” Angie got the woman’s attention. She was deeply engrossed in the daily crossword puzzle that you usually find in the back of the newspaper.
She looked up, “How may I help you today?”
“I was wondering if you had any available flights to Wisconsin for tonight?”
She looked at her computer for a few minutes. “I’m sorry. The next available flight in in two days.”
“Thanks for your help,” Angie said before we walked away.
“What do I do now?” I asked.
She gave me a funny look.
“What?” I heard the desperation in my voice.
“I hope you have gas.
**********
When I boarded the 2:30 plane to go back to my hometown, I thought I would feel better since I was getting away from the city and more importantly the person that caused me so much heartbreak. But I didn’t. As I watched the houses below me turn into tiny monopoly pieces, I felt even sadder. Yes, I was leaving behind Jeremy and all the pain he caused me, but I was also leaving behind Jeremy and all the love he gave me. It felt impossible that something that felt so incredibly right turned into this big horrible lie.
I wiped the tears away quickly before my mom, who sitting beside me noticed. When the flight attendant came around, I asked for some water and a pack of crackers. All that I’d had to eat all day was a piece of cake at the reception.
“You okay honey?” my mom asked when I sniffled.
“Oh, yeah, my uh, allergies have been acting up real bad,” I cleared my throat.
“Well the flight is only about two hours so when we get home I’ll get you some medicine,” she smiled at me which I returned with the fake smile I had so perfectly mastered.
Only two hours until I could stop faking it and be in my nice comfortable room where I could cry myself to sleep however long I wanted. I sighed.
My mom had come in two days ago for Angie’s wedding. Dad had left right after the ceremony, heading back to California, where he had to attend a conference for his job. The past few days had been so hectic as we had been putting the final touches for the wedding together. I had only gotten about five hours of sleep in the past three days. But it was so worth it. The wedding was beautiful.
They had it set up on the beach. The altar’s back faced the ocean. There was an aisle and about ten rows of chairs which were all filled up tightly. The sand was sparkling against all the white and purple decorations.
I wound up crying when I watched my sister walk down the aisle in her lacy white dress, her train flowing behind her elegantly. There was a big purple ribbon that wrapped around the front of the dress and tied in the back in a big dramatic bow. Amethyst gems decorated her veil and hair, which was up, sleek and blonde. She looked absolutely stunning.
She smiled at Jack like he was the only one standing on the beach. I envied her. But when she handed me her bouquet of irises, violets, tulips, and pansies I felt so proud. She winked at me before turning back around to her soul mate.
After the reception and a few Champaign glasses later, she was kissing me and my mother goodbye. Now I was in a plane, on my way back to the place, where just two months ago, I ran away. Then I realized all I was doing was running away once again.
**********
It was a fifteen hour drive to the small town of Janesville, Wisconsin. Fifteen long, agonizing hours. I drove in silence for a while until I thought my head was going to explode of my own thoughts. I turned on the radio to some rap station and turned up the volume. I bobbed my head to the beat for a little bit and then gave up and stuck in an old mix tape from a couple years ago. I’m more of an acoustic and jazz type of guy myself.
I felt like I’d been driving through Pennsylvania for the longest time. It is probably the most boring state to drive through. But I did enjoy seeing the Amish people in their buggies and carriages. I tried a few things to get the time to go by, like eat, count how many lines were on the road, which was impossible since I was going about 80mph. When I got on the interstate I tried counting how many green cars I saw. When I got to 123 I was yawning. I looked at the clock. Two hours had gone by. It was 10:12.
When I got to Indiana, it was 2 in the morning. I had to pull over for a little bit. I pulled into a dinky motel and ordered a room for the night which I only spent about two hours sleeping in. I kept tossing and turning, worrying about Cassie and dying to have her in my arms again.
Will she even take me back? How am I going to get her to believe me? What if she doesn’t believe me? What do I do then? I mean, at least I tried but is all this for nothing? The questions circled in my head all night.
I left the hotel, knowing I wasn’t going to get anymore sleep. I only had six more hours to go. I stopped at McDonalds and got some breakfast, even though my stomach was in cramps from anxiety. My GPS which I had bought before I left, gave me directions back to the interstate.
When I passed the sign that read “Welcome to Wisconsin” I almost cried. Only two hours to go now. I was singing along with some old CD’s I had found in my glove box when the song “Gravity” came on. I remembered Cassie, singing with her sweet voice along to mine.
An hour later, it was 12:54 and I had finally entered the Janesville city limits. My GPS told me to take a right and then another right. I eventually ended up in this really nice neighborhood. I turned my radio off and began looking out the windows. The house I passed said 5683 Willow Street. I checked the piece of paper Angie had given me. Cassie’s was 5670. The numbers kept getting smaller and smaller. 5675. 5674. 5673. 5672. 5671.
5670. By this time, my heart felt like it was about to beat out of my chest. I wiped the sweat off my brow and got out of the old mini-van. I walked up the pathway to the blue door and rang the doorbell. A middle-aged woman with Cassie’s eyes opened the door, a polite smile on her face.
“Hello,” she greeted me.
“Hi,” I said feeling awkward. “Um, is Cassie home? You’re Cassie’s mom right?”
“Yes, I would be the one,” she chuckled. “Cassie is actually out right now. Do you need something?”
“I just need to see her, talk to her. Do you mind telling me where she is?”
I saw Cassie’s mom hesitate.
“I’m sorry,” I jumped in and held out my hand. “My name is Jeremy Fielding. I’m a friend of your daughter.”
“Oh, well yes. I’m afraid she didn’t tell me exactly where she was going; just that she was going out running. Would you like me to tell her that you dropped by? She should be back soon.”
“No, no, that won’t be necessary,” I shook my head, backing away from the front door.
“Are you sure?” Mrs. Newcomb called out to me.
“Yeah, it’s fine. I’ll just catch up with her later,” I walked back to the van and hopped in. I took a few deep breaths in and out, trying not to lose it.
After about five minutes of just sitting there outside Cassie’s house, I started the ignition and began driving around deciding on what I should do. It started raining then and just when I was about to call Marcus and tell him I gave up I saw a girl, running along the track in a park, her brown, curly hair flowing behind her.
“Cassie?” I squinted my eyes, trying to see through the rain. I pulled over and rolled down the window. “Cassie!” I yelled out, trying to get her attention.
She looked around, not sure where the voice was coming from. I jumped out of the van and ran towards the girl of my dreams, determined to get her back.
**********
I thought I was dreaming when I heard my voice being called from a distance. I looked around confused. The voice sounded familiar, but different. I didn’t see anyone around the park for everyone had cleared out when it had started to downpour. But I kept running, not slowing my pace and loving the feel of the cold raindrops hitting my face, mixing in with the tears that steadily ran down. I just wanted to get away and get some time to myself.
I remember right after the accident I’d go running. Not stopping for hours even when it felt like my knees where going to buckle under me. This one time I probably ran five miles straight before coming to a stop and collapsing into the grass.
I heard my name being called again, this time closer and coming from behind me. Jeremy? I recognized the voice. I turned around and sure enough, there he was trying to catch up with me. He was breathing hard but his long legs didn’t deceive him and sooner or later he was beside me. But I didn’t stop. Did he come here all the way from Bridgeport?
"What the hell are you doing here?"
“Cassie, stop. We need to talk. Now,” Jeremy’s deep voice cut like rocks against my ears. I winced, wanting so badly to forget about him and everything that ever happened between us. I just ran faster, but he kept pace beside me. “Cassie, please,” he begged. When he realized I wasn’t going to stop he tackled me to the ground. We landed in the wet grass, the rain still pouring over us.
“Get off of me!” I yelled, trying to push him from atop of me. But it was useless, I was too weak.
“No!” he yelled back, scaring me a little. “You’re going to listen to me. And if I have to keep you pinned down in order for that to happen then so be it!”
I felt like I couldn’t breathe. “Please Jeremy. Just get off. You’re hurting me,” I whimpered at the pain where his hands held my wrist tightly. I stopped fighting him. “Please, I can’t breathe.”
“Are you going to talk to me?” he loosened his grip on my wrist, but he kept his legs straddling my waist tightly.
I just nodded, taking a few deep breaths. I searched through my brain for the breathing exercises my psychologist taught me for when I felt an anxiety attack coming on. Jeremy looked in my eyes for a few more seconds, making sure I wasn’t going to run off anywhere and then got up, helping me up with him.
“Damn Cassie,” he was shivering as the cold rain came down on his bare arms.
I went over to a bench sitting under a tree and sat down, trying to catch my breath and get to breathing normally. Once I did I stood up and went over to him.
“What do you want?” I yelled in his face. “Why are you here?”
“Because I love you and—“
“Bullshit. Stop lying to me,” I interrupted him. I couldn’t help sobbing any longer. “Stop lying to me Jeremy. Tell me the truth.”
“That is the truth! You never listen to me. You never give me a chance to explain!”
“How can you explain the fact that I walked in on you and that Vanessa chick, who, oh by the way, I found out you slept with back in high school, upstairs practically naked and on top of each other,” the rain kept coming down even harder. Thunder boomed around us.
“I’ve been trying to tell you that it wasn’t like that. She came onto me and I was trying to get her off me when you walked in,” his voice sounded desperate and pathetic.
“Oh don’t use that trick! It doesn’t work on me Jeremy! Do you think I’m stupid or something?” I yelled, pushing him back. “Go home!”
“No! I won’t! Listen to me dammit!” he yelled when I was about to say something again. I shut up; scared he was going to lash out on me. I’d never seen him like this before. “I love you Cassie Newcomb, and you know that I do. I told you the truth, the whole story of what happened. You have to believe me! Why would I come all the way out here to beg you to come back with me if I didn’t love you? I would never ever hurt you like that Cassie. You know deep down inside that is not who I am,” his voice was filled with passion.
“How do you think I feel Jeremy?” I asked. The rain lightened up a little, “I love you! I love you more than anybody in the entire world and then you go and I find you with this girl the night I was going to tell you—“ I stopped myself from saying much more.
“Tell me what?” he asked, his voice lighter.
“Nothing. It doesn’t matter,” I turned away from him.
“Don’t turn away from me Cassie!” he turned me around, forcing me to look at him. I blinked the tears out of my eyes. “What were you going to tell me?”
I don’t know what it was, but suddenly I didn’t care. I had to tell him. I cried and sobbed as I told him what I’d never felt I’d been able to tell him before. I didn’t care that he did or didn't cheat or that we were standing in the pouring rain, lightning and thunder cackling around us.
That’s it!” I said when I finished telling him my story, the tears still falling from my face. His face was unreadable but suddenly he was crying too. “Are you happy now? Are you going to hold me close when I tell you how I looked over inside that totaled car and saw the crushed bodies of my friends around me before passing out? Well guess what. I don’t need your sympathy. And if you would just stop being so—“
Suddenly he was pulling me against him, his lips locking with mine. I kissed him back with everything in me, with all the energy in my body. We both slumped against each other when we were through as if we couldn’t hold ourselves up.
“I promise I told you the truth,” he said to me, pleading once again. “You are the most amazing girl I’ve ever met. You’re like no other girl I’ve ever been with or any of the girls around me. No one can compare to you. Not Vanessa or Becca or Sandy or Tina. I love you.”
When I looked into his deep brown eyes and saw the love and passion in them, I finally believed him and every word he said to me. The rain was now just a light mist around us. I kept crying, this time tears of joy. Joy that I had found such an amazing guy who loved me for me. Who loved me like no other.
I smiled. “I love you too.”
THE END!!! c:
“What?” I mumbled, still not fully awake. “What’s going on?” Travis tore down the blanket that I threw over my window, trying to block out the sun.
“This is ridiculous Jeremy. RE-DICK-U-LUSS,” Marcus repeated, adding emphasis on each syllable.
“Yeah,” Drake agreed. “You’ve been sitting in this dark ass house acting like some creepy ass vampire for two weeks now.”
“Get up!” Marcus kicked me.
“Ouch!” he kicked me again. “Stop it you asshole. I’m up!”
I sat up and watched as Travis walked around picking up my empty beer cans, pizza boxes, and take out bowls. “This place is disgusting,” he said throwing them into a big black garbage bag.
“Oh, who cares,” I said. “I don’t give a fuck anymore. I’m drinking again. Happy now?” I asked Marcus.
“You really think you’re going to get her back like this?” Marcus gestured to the room and to me.
“Get her back?” I laughed. “I’m never getting her back. She won’t talk to me or return my calls. And it’s not even my fucking fault!” I wanted to hit something, but the closest object was Drake. I decided not to take my anger out on him.
“What happened exactly?” Travis asked, lost as always. “I didn’t get to hear the whole story.”
So I explained to all of them once again what happened.
Marcus spoke up then, sitting on the edge of my bed. “I saw her yesterday for the first time since that night. We talked for about five minutes.
“What did she say?” I asked, sitting up a little straighter.
“She said her sister’s wedding was this morning…” he paused hesitating, “and that she was going back home to Wisconsin afterwards.
“Did she say anything about me?” I asked, hoping.
“No,” I hated the sympathy in Marcus’s voice.
“So she’s gone?” I asked, feeling hopeless.
“I’m afraid so…” It got quiet.
I laid back down and put the covers over my head.
“Oh hell no,” Drake said, pulling the comforter completely off the bed. “Get back up.”
“Why should I? The girl I love is gone. Probably forever. Where am I ever going to find another girl like her? She’s sexy and smart and amazing and everything I’m looking for.”
We all sat in the room, quiet. Then Marcus got up and left the room. Within seconds, he returned and tossed something at me. It jangled when it hit me in the arm. I looked down. Keys.
“Go,” was all he said. I jumped up, changing into jeans and a hoodie. I ran down the steps of the apartment and to my van. I drove in the direction of Angie’s house. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw Sue sitting in the driveway. I parked by the curb in front of the house and went to the front door, mentally crossing my fingers.
I had shown up here throughout the whole week after we broke up, begging to get a chance to talk to her, but each time was told to go home. When Angie answered the door she rolled her eyes. “What do you want now Jeremy?”
“Is she already gone?” I asked desperately.
“I dropped her off at the airport an hour ago. Yes, she’s gone.”
I sighed and looked down at my feet. Tears snuck up in my eyes and I tried to blink them away. “Please,” my voice cracked. I cleared my throat. “Please, Angie, you gotta believe me. I would NEVER EVER do anything to hurt Cassie in any way. That whole night was just a big misunderstanding and no one will listen to me.”
It was quiet for a moment as Angie thought.
“Come inside. But this story better be quick.” Angie said.
I walked inside and we sat at the kitchen table. “I hope you know the only reason I’m letting you talk right now is because I know you do love Cassie and she loves you very much.”
“Not any more…” I trailed off. “She probably hates me now.”
“She’s hurt,” Angie said. “So what happened? And hurry. Our plane leaves in two hours.”
I gave her the short version of the night’s events. She sighed. “I knew you wouldn’t do that to her but I just didn’t know what to believe at the time.”
“Yeah, I just don’t know what to do now that she’s gone.”
She grabbed a pen and a napkin that was sitting on the table and wrote down something really fast. She pushed it across the table to me and I looked at it. It was an address. In Wisconsin. Her address. “Let’s go. We both have a plane to catch.”
Jack and I carried out their luggage and I followed behind the coop all the way to the airport. When we got there, we left Jack and went over to an elderly lady behind a desk.
“Mam?” Angie got the woman’s attention. She was deeply engrossed in the daily crossword puzzle that you usually find in the back of the newspaper.
She looked up, “How may I help you today?”
“I was wondering if you had any available flights to Wisconsin for tonight?”
She looked at her computer for a few minutes. “I’m sorry. The next available flight in in two days.”
“Thanks for your help,” Angie said before we walked away.
“What do I do now?” I asked.
She gave me a funny look.
“What?” I heard the desperation in my voice.
“I hope you have gas.
**********
When I boarded the 2:30 plane to go back to my hometown, I thought I would feel better since I was getting away from the city and more importantly the person that caused me so much heartbreak. But I didn’t. As I watched the houses below me turn into tiny monopoly pieces, I felt even sadder. Yes, I was leaving behind Jeremy and all the pain he caused me, but I was also leaving behind Jeremy and all the love he gave me. It felt impossible that something that felt so incredibly right turned into this big horrible lie.
I wiped the tears away quickly before my mom, who sitting beside me noticed. When the flight attendant came around, I asked for some water and a pack of crackers. All that I’d had to eat all day was a piece of cake at the reception.
“You okay honey?” my mom asked when I sniffled.
“Oh, yeah, my uh, allergies have been acting up real bad,” I cleared my throat.
“Well the flight is only about two hours so when we get home I’ll get you some medicine,” she smiled at me which I returned with the fake smile I had so perfectly mastered.
Only two hours until I could stop faking it and be in my nice comfortable room where I could cry myself to sleep however long I wanted. I sighed.
My mom had come in two days ago for Angie’s wedding. Dad had left right after the ceremony, heading back to California, where he had to attend a conference for his job. The past few days had been so hectic as we had been putting the final touches for the wedding together. I had only gotten about five hours of sleep in the past three days. But it was so worth it. The wedding was beautiful.
They had it set up on the beach. The altar’s back faced the ocean. There was an aisle and about ten rows of chairs which were all filled up tightly. The sand was sparkling against all the white and purple decorations.
I wound up crying when I watched my sister walk down the aisle in her lacy white dress, her train flowing behind her elegantly. There was a big purple ribbon that wrapped around the front of the dress and tied in the back in a big dramatic bow. Amethyst gems decorated her veil and hair, which was up, sleek and blonde. She looked absolutely stunning.
She smiled at Jack like he was the only one standing on the beach. I envied her. But when she handed me her bouquet of irises, violets, tulips, and pansies I felt so proud. She winked at me before turning back around to her soul mate.
After the reception and a few Champaign glasses later, she was kissing me and my mother goodbye. Now I was in a plane, on my way back to the place, where just two months ago, I ran away. Then I realized all I was doing was running away once again.
**********
It was a fifteen hour drive to the small town of Janesville, Wisconsin. Fifteen long, agonizing hours. I drove in silence for a while until I thought my head was going to explode of my own thoughts. I turned on the radio to some rap station and turned up the volume. I bobbed my head to the beat for a little bit and then gave up and stuck in an old mix tape from a couple years ago. I’m more of an acoustic and jazz type of guy myself.
I felt like I’d been driving through Pennsylvania for the longest time. It is probably the most boring state to drive through. But I did enjoy seeing the Amish people in their buggies and carriages. I tried a few things to get the time to go by, like eat, count how many lines were on the road, which was impossible since I was going about 80mph. When I got on the interstate I tried counting how many green cars I saw. When I got to 123 I was yawning. I looked at the clock. Two hours had gone by. It was 10:12.
When I got to Indiana, it was 2 in the morning. I had to pull over for a little bit. I pulled into a dinky motel and ordered a room for the night which I only spent about two hours sleeping in. I kept tossing and turning, worrying about Cassie and dying to have her in my arms again.
Will she even take me back? How am I going to get her to believe me? What if she doesn’t believe me? What do I do then? I mean, at least I tried but is all this for nothing? The questions circled in my head all night.
I left the hotel, knowing I wasn’t going to get anymore sleep. I only had six more hours to go. I stopped at McDonalds and got some breakfast, even though my stomach was in cramps from anxiety. My GPS which I had bought before I left, gave me directions back to the interstate.
When I passed the sign that read “Welcome to Wisconsin” I almost cried. Only two hours to go now. I was singing along with some old CD’s I had found in my glove box when the song “Gravity” came on. I remembered Cassie, singing with her sweet voice along to mine.
An hour later, it was 12:54 and I had finally entered the Janesville city limits. My GPS told me to take a right and then another right. I eventually ended up in this really nice neighborhood. I turned my radio off and began looking out the windows. The house I passed said 5683 Willow Street. I checked the piece of paper Angie had given me. Cassie’s was 5670. The numbers kept getting smaller and smaller. 5675. 5674. 5673. 5672. 5671.
5670. By this time, my heart felt like it was about to beat out of my chest. I wiped the sweat off my brow and got out of the old mini-van. I walked up the pathway to the blue door and rang the doorbell. A middle-aged woman with Cassie’s eyes opened the door, a polite smile on her face.
“Hello,” she greeted me.
“Hi,” I said feeling awkward. “Um, is Cassie home? You’re Cassie’s mom right?”
“Yes, I would be the one,” she chuckled. “Cassie is actually out right now. Do you need something?”
“I just need to see her, talk to her. Do you mind telling me where she is?”
I saw Cassie’s mom hesitate.
“I’m sorry,” I jumped in and held out my hand. “My name is Jeremy Fielding. I’m a friend of your daughter.”
“Oh, well yes. I’m afraid she didn’t tell me exactly where she was going; just that she was going out running. Would you like me to tell her that you dropped by? She should be back soon.”
“No, no, that won’t be necessary,” I shook my head, backing away from the front door.
“Are you sure?” Mrs. Newcomb called out to me.
“Yeah, it’s fine. I’ll just catch up with her later,” I walked back to the van and hopped in. I took a few deep breaths in and out, trying not to lose it.
After about five minutes of just sitting there outside Cassie’s house, I started the ignition and began driving around deciding on what I should do. It started raining then and just when I was about to call Marcus and tell him I gave up I saw a girl, running along the track in a park, her brown, curly hair flowing behind her.
“Cassie?” I squinted my eyes, trying to see through the rain. I pulled over and rolled down the window. “Cassie!” I yelled out, trying to get her attention.
She looked around, not sure where the voice was coming from. I jumped out of the van and ran towards the girl of my dreams, determined to get her back.
**********
I thought I was dreaming when I heard my voice being called from a distance. I looked around confused. The voice sounded familiar, but different. I didn’t see anyone around the park for everyone had cleared out when it had started to downpour. But I kept running, not slowing my pace and loving the feel of the cold raindrops hitting my face, mixing in with the tears that steadily ran down. I just wanted to get away and get some time to myself.
I remember right after the accident I’d go running. Not stopping for hours even when it felt like my knees where going to buckle under me. This one time I probably ran five miles straight before coming to a stop and collapsing into the grass.
I heard my name being called again, this time closer and coming from behind me. Jeremy? I recognized the voice. I turned around and sure enough, there he was trying to catch up with me. He was breathing hard but his long legs didn’t deceive him and sooner or later he was beside me. But I didn’t stop. Did he come here all the way from Bridgeport?
"What the hell are you doing here?"
“Cassie, stop. We need to talk. Now,” Jeremy’s deep voice cut like rocks against my ears. I winced, wanting so badly to forget about him and everything that ever happened between us. I just ran faster, but he kept pace beside me. “Cassie, please,” he begged. When he realized I wasn’t going to stop he tackled me to the ground. We landed in the wet grass, the rain still pouring over us.
“Get off of me!” I yelled, trying to push him from atop of me. But it was useless, I was too weak.
“No!” he yelled back, scaring me a little. “You’re going to listen to me. And if I have to keep you pinned down in order for that to happen then so be it!”
I felt like I couldn’t breathe. “Please Jeremy. Just get off. You’re hurting me,” I whimpered at the pain where his hands held my wrist tightly. I stopped fighting him. “Please, I can’t breathe.”
“Are you going to talk to me?” he loosened his grip on my wrist, but he kept his legs straddling my waist tightly.
I just nodded, taking a few deep breaths. I searched through my brain for the breathing exercises my psychologist taught me for when I felt an anxiety attack coming on. Jeremy looked in my eyes for a few more seconds, making sure I wasn’t going to run off anywhere and then got up, helping me up with him.
“Damn Cassie,” he was shivering as the cold rain came down on his bare arms.
I went over to a bench sitting under a tree and sat down, trying to catch my breath and get to breathing normally. Once I did I stood up and went over to him.
“What do you want?” I yelled in his face. “Why are you here?”
“Because I love you and—“
“Bullshit. Stop lying to me,” I interrupted him. I couldn’t help sobbing any longer. “Stop lying to me Jeremy. Tell me the truth.”
“That is the truth! You never listen to me. You never give me a chance to explain!”
“How can you explain the fact that I walked in on you and that Vanessa chick, who, oh by the way, I found out you slept with back in high school, upstairs practically naked and on top of each other,” the rain kept coming down even harder. Thunder boomed around us.
“I’ve been trying to tell you that it wasn’t like that. She came onto me and I was trying to get her off me when you walked in,” his voice sounded desperate and pathetic.
“Oh don’t use that trick! It doesn’t work on me Jeremy! Do you think I’m stupid or something?” I yelled, pushing him back. “Go home!”
“No! I won’t! Listen to me dammit!” he yelled when I was about to say something again. I shut up; scared he was going to lash out on me. I’d never seen him like this before. “I love you Cassie Newcomb, and you know that I do. I told you the truth, the whole story of what happened. You have to believe me! Why would I come all the way out here to beg you to come back with me if I didn’t love you? I would never ever hurt you like that Cassie. You know deep down inside that is not who I am,” his voice was filled with passion.
“How do you think I feel Jeremy?” I asked. The rain lightened up a little, “I love you! I love you more than anybody in the entire world and then you go and I find you with this girl the night I was going to tell you—“ I stopped myself from saying much more.
“Tell me what?” he asked, his voice lighter.
“Nothing. It doesn’t matter,” I turned away from him.
“Don’t turn away from me Cassie!” he turned me around, forcing me to look at him. I blinked the tears out of my eyes. “What were you going to tell me?”
I don’t know what it was, but suddenly I didn’t care. I had to tell him. I cried and sobbed as I told him what I’d never felt I’d been able to tell him before. I didn’t care that he did or didn't cheat or that we were standing in the pouring rain, lightning and thunder cackling around us.
That’s it!” I said when I finished telling him my story, the tears still falling from my face. His face was unreadable but suddenly he was crying too. “Are you happy now? Are you going to hold me close when I tell you how I looked over inside that totaled car and saw the crushed bodies of my friends around me before passing out? Well guess what. I don’t need your sympathy. And if you would just stop being so—“
Suddenly he was pulling me against him, his lips locking with mine. I kissed him back with everything in me, with all the energy in my body. We both slumped against each other when we were through as if we couldn’t hold ourselves up.
“I promise I told you the truth,” he said to me, pleading once again. “You are the most amazing girl I’ve ever met. You’re like no other girl I’ve ever been with or any of the girls around me. No one can compare to you. Not Vanessa or Becca or Sandy or Tina. I love you.”
When I looked into his deep brown eyes and saw the love and passion in them, I finally believed him and every word he said to me. The rain was now just a light mist around us. I kept crying, this time tears of joy. Joy that I had found such an amazing guy who loved me for me. Who loved me like no other.
I smiled. “I love you too.”
THE END!!! c: