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The memories of my parents' divorce are still too fresh in my mind. As opposed to all those horror stories you hear, my parents didn't spend my childhood fighting. It was strange – they grew quiet around one another, and you could cut the tension in the air with a knife.
I guess I saw it coming before they sat me down at the very kitchen table I just had breakfast at, telling me they were going to get a divorce. And that's the reason it's so painful being in that house – I still remember it as a family place, before things went to shit. It's plain weird seeing a different woman in my mother's chair.
Also, Dom.
The guy should not be anyone's stepbrother, because he's walking forbidden fruit.
I sigh, coming to a stop. I look around, now realizing how far I've managed to walk. I started going uphill at some point, and I'm at a sightseeing spot – or rather, the make-out spot, as we used to call it. Too bad I never got to try it out.
Immediately, Dom's grinning face flashes in my mind, and I shake my head to get rid of the unwanted thought. I should not be thinking of him in that way – or any other, for that matter. I've already decided to keep my distance from him and his mother. I don't need the drama.
"Cassidy?" a voice cuts through my thoughts, and I turn around towards the source. There's a pretty, willowy blonde standing a few feet away, and she looks like she's just seen a ghost. "Cassidy Lynn?" she repeats, the surprise evident in her voice.
It takes me a moment to realize I know this girl.
"Susie?" I ask, my eyes wide open with shock.
"Fuck, no," she laughs, and the snorting sound she makes tells me it is her indeed. "It's Susannah now, and if you call me Susie, I'll be forced to slap you."
She comes over to me, and we exchange hugs.
"Fuck, Cassidy, it's been years," she exclaims, getting a good look at me. I love the approval in her eyes, as pathetic as it is.
Susie used to be the popular kid around here. We spent a lot of time together as kids, back when we lived at the beach house, but when Mom and I moved, we lost touch. Judging by her long legs and wild curly blonde hair – plus her silly laugh, of course – she hasn't changed a bit.
"You haven't changed a bit." I repeat my thought out loud, waking up from my reverie with a wide smile, my eyes traveling down her body. "Except your boobs are huge." My eyes widen as I take in the biggest pair of tits I've ever seen on a nineteen-year-old.
"You like?" Susie asks with a pout, squeezing them and wiggling them in my face, making me smile. Her grin is smug as she leans over to explain. "Courtesy of my eighteenth birthday."
I shake my head, but I can't smiling. Susie grabs my hand and drags me over to a bunch of other modelesque girls who make me feel like an ugly duckling.
There's a quick round of introductions, and I'm met with appraising looks and sweet words.
This never would have happened had my mom and I stayed in this town.
The move to LA gave me a chance to reinvent myself. When I was a kid, I was shy and an introvert. Most kids become even more closed up when their parents divorce, but I went the other way.
Mom often says how great it is that I've become so outgoing and confident. But she doesn't know the half of it.
I may put on a good act, but on the inside, I'm the same bookish, naive Cassidy I was when I was a kid. Eternal Daddy's girl, goody-goody-two-shoes. Some things never change.
But gossiping with these girls as we occupy a bench in the park makes me feel like I belong. I might've spilled the beans to Susie had we been alone. It's a constant worry nagging me in the back of my mind, but in this case, I keep my mouth shut.
Besides, I bet she'd look at me like I was a different person if she found out I was a virgin.
I'm eighteen, for fuck's sake!
And I own a mirror, so I know I'm attractive. I'm a natural redhead, complete with a sprinkling of freckles over my nose, but with skin that is easy to tan. Mom says I have the body of a wasp – curvy boobs and hips, but tiny waist.
I know I should be confident, because there's no reason for me to shy away from guys. But somehow, I've gotten the reputation of being an ice princess, and no one even dares to approach me. I liked it at first, the fact that they almost feared me. But as the years went on and all my girlfriends got boyfriends and cried over them, I felt like I was excluded.
