You Still Have All My Heart

Cass was getting ready for the party that was starting in two hours. She had finally decided on the dress she was going to wear a couple of minutes ago. She was going to wear her new navy blue dress that had polka dots on it along with a pair of new white pumps she got in San Diego. She finished up her makeup and went down into the kitchen to see if she could help Jenn prepare for the party. She walked into the kitchen to find Jenn staring at the oven and sighing.

“What’s wrong? Is there anything I can do to help?” Cassandra asked her friend.

“I’m really sorry to ask you this but can you watch the cupcakes while I go get changed? I’ll be quick,” Jenn asked her friend quietly.

“Take all of the time you need, there’s no rush,” Cass said with a smile.

“I know but I feel bad asking you to do something when it’s your birthday. You’re not supposed to do anything today! Today’s the day that people are supposed to wait on you and make you happy no matter what,” Jenn pouted.

“Jenn, really, it’s fine. I’m just watching cupcakes. It’s no big deal,” Cass reassured her friend.

“Are you sure? I’ll take ten minutes. I promise. I want to make this day perfect for you! I hardly ever see you now and I want to make this a birthday to remember,” Jenn said.

“Trust me, this will definitely be a birthday to remember and not for the reasons you think. I’d be happy with just having a couple friends over and having a movie marathon. I just want all of the people I care about here to share it with me,” Cass smiled at her friend.

“We can video chat with the guys when the party’s over,” Jenn told her friend, knowing that Cass was missing the guys from Maryland.

“That’d be nice,” Cass said. Jenn smiled and went up to her and Garrett’s room to get changed. Cass turned her attention to the baked goods cooking in the oven. She could start to smell them and she knew that they were going to be mouthwatering just like the ones before. She stared at the cupcakes baking in the oven and her mind started to wander. She couldn’t wait to eat one of them. She loved the way Jenn frosted them and put little sprinkles on them. She wondered how many people would be at the party. Who would show up? All of The Maine guys for sure, there was also Jason, Austin, Jordan, and Alan but that’s all she could think of. She was sure that Jenn would invite more people, there were quite a few bands that were from around here and Cass loved to meet new people so she was excited for this party. She wished that the guys back home could make it. She knew that it would be impossible but that would make the best birthday ever. She was just going to have to deal with seeing them when they arrived back to Baltimore. She was sure that they’d have another kickass party for her. Cassandra was abruptly pulled out of her thoughts when she heard a loud ding fill the room. She saw the timer that Jenn used shaking on the counter signaling that the cupcakes were done cooking. She got up and turned off the timer and opened the hot oven, grabbed an oven mitt and took out the batch of cupcakes. She placed them on the counter, turned the pan upside down and the cupcakes all fell out onto the wax paper Jenn had prepared. She fixed them so that they were all facing up and let them cool. In the meantime, she took out more of the cupcake wrappers and placed them into the hot pan. She filled them up with the cupcake mixture and popped them into the oven for the second batch. She turned the timer back to its original position and waited again. She didn’t have to wait too long because seconds after sitting down again she heard Jenn running down the stairs.

“I’m so sorry I took so long. The dress wasn’t cooperating and then I couldn’t find my tights so it took longer than I intended. You already put in the next batch? You’re the best,” Jenn told the birthday girl.

“Jenn you’re the best. You’re going through all of this trouble to help celebrate my birthday. How could I ever thank you?” Cass asked her friend sincerely.

“There’s not need to thank me. Really, I love baking and you’re my best friend who I haven’t seen in months and I want to do this for you,” Jenn said to the blonde girl. Cassandra hugged her friend after hearing those kind words. “So, the cupcakes should be cooler now, do you want to help me frost them?” she asked.

“Of course!” Cassandra answered with a huge smile on her face.

The girls walked over to where the cupcakes were and got out the containers of chocolate frosting. They each took a knife out for one of the drawers and started putting the frosting all over the top of the cupcakes. When they finished with frosting all of the cupcakes they took out the container of rainbow sprinkles and sprinkled them all over the icing. Right when they finished the finishing touches on the first batch of cupcakes the timer went off and Jenn took the second bath out. They waited a couple of minutes to let them cool before applying the frosting. Then, Jenn placed them on a pretty cupcake tower she had and placed them on the table. She also got out the bowls that she would put the chips and pretzels into as well as the plastic cups they would use for the alcohol. Cassandra helped Jenn set up by filling all of the bowls with the snacks they would put around the house as well as put all of the alcohol in the two coolers Garrett owned. They were just finishing up setting up when Garrett came into the house with the other guys.

“Hey, the party’s going to start in a half an hour, are you guys almost done setting up?” Garrett asked them.

“Yeah, we’re almost finished,” Jenn told her boyfriend.

“Oh yeah, Cass, there are going to be quite a few people you don’t know at the party so Pat, here, will introduce you to them. We invited some of our friends who are also in bands. It would be nice of them to meet you plus they make the parties fun,” Jared explained.

“Ahh, well I’m looking forward to meet them,” Cass said with a smile. Cassandra checked her phone to see how much longer they had until the party started. She saw that they had five minutes until nine and Jordan still hadn’t arrived. Cass excused herself and decided to call her best friend.

“Hey Cass, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!” Jordan greeted into the phone.

“Hey Jordan. The party’s going to star in like five minutes, where are you guys?” Cass asked her friend.

“We’re running into quite a bit of traffic. It’s insane. We’ve been in the same place for around ten minutes already. I’m sorry that I can’t say it to in person but when I see you in a couple hours you’re going to get the best birthday wishes ever. I promise. Ugh, I fucking hate traffic,” Jordan groaned on the other line.

“It’s no problem. You’ll be here in no time,” Cass told her friend, “call me when you’re close.”

“I’m really sorry Cass. If could be there you know I would. Tomorrow I’ll treat you anything you like since I’m being a terrible best friend and missing so much of your birthday,” Jordan said, still feeling bad.

“It’s totally fine. I’ll just be happy when you get here. The party isn’t going to be the same without you,” Cass said.

“I know. I bring the life to the party!” Jordan joked.

“You know you do,” Cass said with a smile, even though her friend couldn’t see it.

“Well, I’ll call you when we’re close. I’ll talk to you in a bit,” Jordan said to the birthday girl.

“Bye, I’ll miss you,” Cass said into the phone.

“I’ll miss you too,” Jordan replied, “bye.”

Cass hung up the phone and walked into the living room where everyone was. She noticed that the guys were already drinking their beer and eating the snacks.

“Cass! You have to wear this too,” Jenn said to her friend, handing her a something to put on her head. Cass took it from her friend and looked at it. It was a crown that had the words birthday girl on it. Cass reluctantly put the crown on her head and when she did all of the guys laughed at her. She glared at them jokingly and stuck her tongue out.

“You’re just jealous that you don’t have one,” Cass told them, sticking out her tongue again. The guys just laughed but they were interrupted when they heard a knock at the door. Pat opened it, since he was the closest to the door and was greeted by five unknown people, four boys a girl. Pat welcomed them in with a smile. They walked in and greeted all of the guys with hugs and went over to where the drinks were.

“Those guys are from a band called The Summer Set,” Pat said explaining to her who the people were. He stood next to her and pointed at the girl who had just walked in. She grabbed a beer and was talking to a tall black haired boy with glasses on. “That’s Jess Bowan, she’s the drummer and she’s talking to John Gomez, one of the guitarist. John’s brother Stephen is over there by the snacks with Josh Montgomery. Stephen’s the bassist and Josh is another guitarist. Then last but not least is Brian Dales. He’s the guy over there,” Pat said pointing to the blonde haired guy staring out the window. “He’s the lead singer.”

“Ahhh, well it’s so nice to meet new people. How do you guys know them?” Cass asked Pat.

“Well, before Kennedy was in The Maine he played in their band. We know them because they’re from around here,” Pat explained.

“Really? That’s interesting. I’m thirsty? Do you wanna get something to drink?” Cass suggested to the drummer. They walked into the kitchen and grabbed two cups from the stack and poured their poison of choice. More people had started to arrive. Cass saw some familiar faces and some not so familiar. However, there was someone who stood out to her from the rest. He was pretty tall, extremely skinny and lanky and the most memorable feature he had was his orangey-red hair. Pat caught Cass staring at the guy and he dragged her over to where he was standing.

“Hey Nick, I just want you to meet the birthday girl. Cass, this is Nick Santino; Nick, this is Cassandra Knowles, birthday girl,” Pat introduced them.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Cass said with a smile.

“Yeah, happy birthday,” Nick said smiling back at her.

“Thanks,” Cass replied. They talked for a little bit longer until someone called Nick over to where they were standing and he excused himself. “He seemed nice,” Cass noted when they were done talking.

“Yeah, he’s a good kid,” Pat said about the boy. Pat started to tell a story about Nick when someone called him over. “Is it alright if I?” Pat asked Cass pointing in the direction he was called.

“Yeah, it’s totally fine. I didn’t mean to keep you,” Cass told him. He smiled and walked over towards a big group of people.

Cass looked around the room, watching all of the people have fun and enjoy themselves. She drank the last bit that was in her cup before heading back to the kitchen to get a refill. She walked in and saw John standing there with a guy who was pretty tall and had brown hair. She walked over towards him and smiled.

“Hey, John, have you heard from Jordan yet?” she asked the lead singer.

“Nopee, have youuu?” he slurred.

“No, are you having fun?” she asked him.

“Tonnsssssss. Thissss party’s the bombbbb,” he told her with a lazy smile.

“That’s good,” Cass said with a smile.

“Hey, do you ever think that Jordan will date me?” he asked her suddenly serious.

“Uhhhh,” Cass said uncertain if she should tell him the truth or a lie.

“It’s okay to tell me the truth. I’m a big boy. I can handle it,” he told her.

“To be honest, I don’t think she ever will. You guys had fun in the past but she really likes this other guy right now and so far you’ve been coming on way to strong,” Cass said honestly.

“Who’s the guy?!” John demanded, “is he better looking than me? You know what? I don’t believe you. I’m going to call her right now and get the truth.” He walked out of the room with his phone out.

"Well, that’s John for you, doing impulsive things when under the influence. He's an impulsive little fuck. However, I can’t really complain much since I’m the same,” the guy who was standing next to John before said.

“Yeah, and I have a feeling it’s not going to end well,” Cass said with a slight frown.

“When does it ever?” he asked.

“That’s true,” Cass said.

“Ahh, sorry, I didn’t introduce myself. I’m Eric Halvorsen but the guys usually just call me Halvo,” he said.

“I’m Cassandra Knowles but everyone calls me Cass,” she said.

“And let me guess, today’s your birthday?” Halvo asked her with a smirk.

“How did you know?” Cass asked surprised that he knew.

“Uhh, it’s kinda obvious,” he said pointing to her head. Cass suddenly remembered she was still wearing the crown that Jenn gave her before. She quickly took it off and blushed in embarrassment.

“I forgot about that,” she said shyly.

“Hahaha, I think you should keep it on,” he said with a chuckle.

“CASS! There you are! I’ve been looking everywhere for you!” someone said behind her. She turned around and saw Jason standing there with a smile on his face.

“Hey Jason,” she said with a smile.

“Happy birthday,” he told her handing her his present. She stared at the present shook her head.

“You didn’t have to,” she said shaking her head.

“No, take it. I wanted to. You need to have a day about you,” Jason told her with a smile.

Cass took the present from his hand and smiled and told him ‘thank you’.

“Halvo! Hey, dude, what’s going on with you?” Jason said to the guy Cass was talking to moments before.

“Hey Jase, haven’t seen you in a while,” Halvo said to him. “Well, if you excuse me I think I hear a game of beer pong calling my name,” he said with a smirk and then left the room.

“So, how’ve you been?” Jason asked her when Halvo left.

“Pretty good, and yourself?” Cass asked her.

“Better now that I’m with you,” Jason said with a wink.

Cassandra just rolled her eyes and said, “we’ve only been talking for five seconds and you’re already hitting on me. Really Jason?”

“Sorry, sorry,” he apologized with his hands up. “Let’s party hardy!” he yelled. They walked over to where everyone else was and started dancing to the music.

The party had been in full swing for quite a while when Cass noticed that there were no more snacks. They had all been eaten. She decided she would go get a couple more bags of chips and pretzels. She was confident that she would be able to drive no problem since had only one drink at the beginning of the party. Before she left she decided to call Jordan to see where they were. She assumed thye would be close since it was a few hours later from when Jordan had called her before. The phone rang a couple of times before Jordan picked it up.

“Hey, I was just wondering where you guys are, the party’s in full swing and I don’t want you guys to miss it,” Cass told her friend.

“Yeah, we’ll be there in about half an hour. This west coast traffic is terrible,” Jordan told her friend.

“Awesome, well, I’m just about to go out and get some more snacks for the party but I’m sure that I’ll be back before you get here. I’ll see you then girly,” Cass said into the phone.

“Yeah, I’ll see you in bit,” Jordan told her friend.

Cassandra hung up the phone and was about to walk out the door when she was stopped by Jason.

“Where are you going birthday girl?” he asked her.

“I’m going to get some more snacks for the party,” she told him.

“Let me accompany you. Don’t want you to get bored or lost,” he said with a smirk.

“Whatever you want,” she told him. The two of them walked out the door and got into the rental car that Cass and Jordan got for the trip. They got in and Cass drove to nearest grocery store. They quickly walked into the store, grabbed their things, paid, and then were on their way back to the party. Jason was telling her a story about what happened between him and this girl that cheated on him. He wasn’t really telling a story it was more like he was rambling about how the girl was a slut and how she would open her legs for any guy in the school. Cass wasn’t really listening to him she was more focused on the road ahead of her. She was trying to find Woodward Drive and she was having trouble seeing the street signs since it was around midnight. She leaned forward and strained her eyes to try and read the upcoming street sign when suddenly Jason screamed.

“CASS! WATCH OUT FOR THE DEER! YOU’RE GOING TO HIT IT! WATCH OUT!” Jason screamed.

Cass swerved when she heard Jason scream out. She didn’t want to kill a deer plus it would be murder on the car. She was frightened and unfamiliar with the area, two terrible combinations. She quickly turned to right and hit the brakes with all of the force she could muster and the next thing she knew the car was out of control. She tried to gain control over the car again by turning the steering wheel in the opposite direction she was spinning but it was no use. The car was out of control. Suddenly they bumped into something with an extremely amount of force which caused both Cass and Jason to jerk around and hit their heads on their windows. Glass was shattered and there was blood everywhere. Cass tried to get out of her seatbelt but her head hurt too much. She brought her hand to the side of her head where she felt the pain and felt something wet. She brought her hand down and her hand was covered in blood. She looked over to Jason and she saw that he was also banged up pretty badly.

“Cass are you alright?” Jason asked her, his voice was scratchy and she could tell that he was in so much pain. His side was the side that got hit so he was in worse condition. Despite the obvious pain he was feeling he tried to unbuckle himself and after a few attempts he succeeded. He then tried to unbuckle Cass and when he did he tried to drag her out through her broken window. He powered through the pain and dragged her to the side of the road before he collapsed next to her. Cassandra looked over at her friend to see how he was doing. She saw that his eyes were fluttering and she, herself, was fighting to keep her eyes opened as well. She wanted to fight he pain and wait for the paramedics to come but it was becoming increasingly difficult as the seconds passed. She was on the verge of giving into the darkness when she heard Jason whisper something to her. “Cass, I know that I may not act like it most of the time but I truly love you,” he told her. That was the last thing she heard before blackness consumed her.