24 Hours With You

I was in complete and utter shock. James Neal, the guy I'd been pining over for a month, liked me too. I stood in a trance, still trying to process it all. I just couldn't believe it. After a minute or two with
no reply, he broke the silence.

"Cass?" He said with his hands resting on my sides and worry written all over his face.

"How could it be anyone but you?" He smirked when I said that and pulled me in to him so our faces were a mere inch apart. My knees were weak and I would've dropped to the ground if it weren't for
him holding me up.

"I was hoping you'd say that." He said with a toothy smile that reached his ears.

"Yeah?" I felt my cheeks heat up and I bit my lip as I could feel myself starting to smile too.

"Yes." My smile matched his when he said that and I couldn't have been happier with the way it all worked out. He grabbed a hold of my hand then and lead me to the couch where we just laid down
together. He had his arms wrapped around me and my head was on his chest. I picked the remote up off the table and turned on the first movie I could find on tv.

"I thought you were leaving for Florida?" I looked up at him with my hand on his chest and my chin resting on my hand.

"After I talked to you I couldn't get on that plane without telling you the truth. I quickly talked to Dan about it after I hung up and he said I could catch a flight tomorrow, as long as I'm there for practice
and the game the day after."

"So you told him?" He nodded.

"What did he say?" I smiled, knowing it would be good.

"He said it was about time." We both laughed. Dan never held back, that was one thing I learned about him from the brief times I'd spoken to him and things I'd heard.

"So what do you want to do?" I asked a few minutes later. I hoped that he'd spend the rest of the day with me before he left, but I didn't want to stop him from doing what he wanted.

"Well.. I was thinking I could take you out on a date tonight." I could hear a slight hint of nervousness in his voice, and I mentally swooned. I rolled over so my back was leaned against his chest and rested
my head just below his shoulder before I spoke. I looked up at the ceiling pretending to weigh my options.

"Hmmmm I don't know... let me think about it." I said, joking as if it was actually possible for me to say no to the suggestion.

"Hey!" He said and began tickling me. I managed to roll off the couch but he pinned me to the floor before I could get away and kept on with his attack.

"Stop!" I laughed. "Please I'm begging you!" I pleaded breathlessly while I squirmed underneath him. I tried pushing him off of me but there was no hope, he was just too strong compared to my weak self.

"Only if you agree." He continued with his attack until I could stop laughing long enough to speak again.

"Fine." I sighed dramatically.

"Okay I'll pick you up at 7." He smirked as he stood up from his position on top of me and helped me peel myself off my living room floor. Once we were both up, he headed back towards the front door.

"Where are you going?" I asked, following him.

"Well I'm going to bring my suitcase back to my place and get ready for tonight." I pouted when he said he wouldn't be staying.

"You have a date with Josie before I get you all to myself remember?" He winked.

"Oh my god I completely forgot!" I said running to the living room to grab my phone in case she texted or called.

"Wait... How did you know about that?" I asked, walking back to where I previously stood. I was sure that I didn't tell him.

"I told her my plan as soon as I left the airport this morning, she's known how I feel about you for a while now. That girl is good." He said matter-of-factly.

"She knew the whole time?" I was surprised that she could keep it to herself for that long.

"Yup, pretty much." He nodded.

"Wow, I'm surprised." I commented.

"Anyway, you should get going. I have to get ready before she's here and I only have a half hour!" I pushed him towards the doorway before he even had his shoes on.

"Shooing me out the door? Are you sure it's Josie coming and not another guy?" He winked jokingly.

"Maybe. I guess you'll never know." I smiled deviously at him and he looked at me feigning shock with one hand on his chest and his mouth in the shape of an O.

"Maybe I should stay here then!" He said and wrapped his arms around my waist. I returned the hug before pushing him out the door.

"See you at 7!" I said and he left with a smile on his face.

I leaned back against the door and just sat there for a few minutes processing it all. I couldn't believe all that happened in such a short span of time. The kiss was perfect. His lips were tender and soft, and I could still feel mine tingling after he left. I couldn't wait for 7 o'clock to come to see what he had planned for our night together.

I got up after a few minutes and raced into my room to get ready before Josie arrived. I pulled on a pair of faded jeans with a nice grey v-neck and grabbed a blue sweater from my closet in case I got
cold. I was ready and waiting in the living room watching the movie James and I didn't get to finish, when Josie knocked at the door. I hopped off the couch and turned the tv off before running to the
door and throwing it open enthusiastically.

"Josie!" I threw my arms open and brought her in for a hug as soon as she was in the door.

"Somebody's in a good mood!" She said laughing.

"Well I would tell you why but I've been told that you already know." I said.

"I've wanted to tell you ever since I found out but I had to let him do it at his own pace or it wouldn't have been the same." She said defensively, I figured she thought I was mad at her for not telling me.

"It's okay I understand. I'm just surprised you could keep your mouth shut with all my whining." I joked.

"Believe me, it wasn't easy." She said before turning around and exiting the apartment. I followed suit and we got the elevator down to the parking lot.

"Okay, I want details!" She said once we were safely in her car.

"Alright where do you want me to start?" I asked.

"From the beginning of course!" She replied, and I told her the everything, starting from a few nights before at the bar and ending with him leaving my apartment earlier that day. I finished up just as we
pulled in to the parking lot of the nail salon.

"I'm proud you stood your ground and fought him, otherwise he might not have smartened up and told you how he feels. Which by the way was the cutest thing ever!" She said grinning form ear to ear.

"Thanks Josie." I smiled back at her and we both got out of the car and walked to the doors of the salon.

"So how did you and Brandon meet? Was it love at first sight?" I asked curiously, since we'd never really talked about it. Before she got a chance to respond, we were greeted by two lovely ladies who
gladly directed us to some comfortable chairs for us to sit in while we got our toe nails painted. Once they sat us down she turned her head to face me.

"Long version or short?" She asked.

"Long of course!" I replied and she told me everything.

"Well we went to high school together. Of course he was the jock that everybody loved and all the girls wanted to be with, but I wasn't much. I kept to myself for most of high school because I didn't
want any attention on me, especially no negative attention. I had a few classes with him and he'd say hi to me every now and then and he'd sometimes chat with me before classes started but that was it. Anyway, one day when my dad was driving me to school, we got into a big argument. It was over his drinking which I thought he did too much of, he was drunk every night which made him more of an asshole than he already was so I asked him to at least try to stop, even if only for a little while. He flew off the handle at the suggestion and just before I got out of the car at school, he hit me. I got out of the car as fast as I could, without saying another word to him. I started crying the second I was out of the car, but kept walking toward the school with my head down, trying not to cause a scene. I was only a few steps before I felt a light tug on my arm. When I turned around and looked up, it was Brandon. He asked me if I was okay and I said yes pretending I didn't know what he was talking about. He said he saw what happened, then put his arm around me and told me to come with him. For whatever reason, I did. He drove me back to his place and I told him what went down and he comforted me and helped me through it all. I was afraid of what would happen if I went home that night so he asked his parents if I could stay in their guest bedroom for a few days until I figured out what to do. They said they didn't want to see me get hurt so I could stay as long as I needed. I decided that I couldn't go back to living with my dad, the drinking was a vicious habit that I wanted to get away from. I was going to rent an apartment, but both Brandon and his parents insisted on letting me stay and finish my grade 12 year without having to worry about paying rent and things like that, so that's what I did. The looks we got the first day we drove to school together were the funniest. I can still remember like it was yesterday. His ex-girlfriend stared at us full of hate and a few of his other "fans" gave me glares too. His friends were welcoming though, thankfully. After that we became really close and we started hanging out more and more often until he eventually got his shit together and asked me to be his date to prom and the rest is history." She said the last part with a smile.

I was shocked. I couldn't believe what she'd just told me. I felt so bad that the sweetest person I knew had to go through such a hard time, but I was thankful for Brandon being there for her. He was
her saviour.

"Oh my god... that must have been so hard for you." I said and leaned over the arm of my chair to give her a hug.

"It was, but his whole family was really caring and supportive. They treated me like family and his parents were better to me than my dad ever was." She said matter-of-factly.

"Did you ever see him after?"

"He never called or looked for me after that day in the parking lot, and the only time I went back home was to pick up all my stuff one day when I knew he'd be at work." She shrugged.

"Wow... What about your mom?" I asked, curious as to where she was while Josie's dad was being an asshole her whole life.

"She died in a car crash when I was three. That's when my dad's drinking problem started, and it just kept getting progressively worse over time." She said sadly, and her eyes became glossy.

"I'm so sorry Jose." I grabbed her hand that was resting on the arm of her chair and squeezed it.

"So Brandon asked you to prom and then what? I want details!" I asked a few minutes later, trying to get her to think about happier times in her life.

"Well a few of us rented a hotel room to crash in that night and we slept in the same bed. When I woke up the next morning, he had me pulled into him with his arms wrapped around me. He woke up
not long after, looked me in the eye with a groggy smile and said "If I could wake up like this every morning I would." then he kissed me, and asked me to be his girlfriend." She had the biggest smile on
her face re-telling the story, I could tell just how happy he made her.

"Now THAT is the cutest thing I've ever heard!" I squealed, which made her laugh.

"Looks like we've both got keepers." She grinned. After that, we kept up light conversation about anything and everything while the ladies moved on to our finger nails.

By the time we were all done, it was 3:30 and we were getting a little bit hungry so we decided to grab something light from Starbucks. We were there just chatting and snacking for half an hour before we drove back to my apartment and Josie and helped me pick out my outfit for my date with James.

"What do you think about this? Too short?" I asked as I walked out of the bathroom in a tight red dress.

"It'd be okay for clubbing, but it's not first date material. Let me have a look at what else you've got in there." She got slightly frustrated trying to help because we'd been through half of my closet and
nothing was right. I flopped onto my bed for a break while she stood, scouring my closet for the perfect outfit.

"Hmm.. what about this?" When I sat up to see which dress she was talking about, she was holding the one I'd worn on my first date with Michael.

"Yeah, no. That can go in the garbage." I took it out of her hands and tossed it.

"Why? It's so cute!" She pouted.

"I wore that on my first date with Michael."

"Oh.. good idea to throw it out." She said giving me a thumbs up.

"Okay so you don't have anything BUT, I might have just the thing for this occasion. Give me twenty minutes tops and I'll be back!" She said as she grabbed her keys off the desk and ran out of my room and out of the apartment.

I sat on my bed and looked around at the mess I had to clean up later. There was clothes thrown everywhere; on the floor, the bed, the dresser and even on the tv. I decided instead of leaving it, that
I could at least try to get some of it cleaned up while I was waiting for Josie to get back. It was an easy task so it didn't take long to get things put back in the closet, and by the time Josie walked in I
had most of it done.

"Okay what do you think?" She asked as she pulled a really cute dress out from behind her back. It was a mint coloured, knee length, 3/4 sleeve skater dress with a criss-cross back.

"It's perfect!" I replied joyfully. She handed it over to me and I headed straight to the bathroom to try it on. It over my head easily and when I turned to look in the mirror I knew it was just right. When I
walked into my room where Josie was waiting, I could tell she felt the same way by the expression on her face.

"You have to wear it. It looks so good on you." She gushed.

"Thanks Jose." I smiled and did a twirl for her.

"Alright girl I'm gonna head out so you can get ready. Have fun! Tell me all about it tomorrow." She said and gave me a smile and a wink before she left my room and headed back to her place.

I checked the clock once she was gone and it read 5:30. I ran to the bathroom as quick as I could, peeled off the dress and jumped in the shower. I was ready by 6:55, with my hair in loose curls and
light make-up. I grabbed a pair of plain black heels out of my closet to wear and left them next to the door so I could slip them on quickly when James arrived.

The second I heard a knock at my door, there were butterflies in my stomach. I was excited to see him but nervous at the same time.

I jumped up from the spot on the couch where I was waiting, and walked slowly to the door trying to calm myself down on the way. When I opened it, the person on the other side was not who I was
expecting to see.