Н’Нˆð‹Ð•Ð„Н‘ Н’НÐ‘НˆðÐ†Ð’ | H. Marin 12

Italics – Flashbacks 

xxx

“Why are you trying to take it off?” Cassandra asked, giving her blonde friend a pointed look as she messed with the “Humpty Dumpty was pushed.” sticker that covered up the message “A” had left. 

“I’m not. I’m trying to keep it on,” she replied, “Believe me, I don’t want to see the autograph that’s under it.” she pushed her palms against the sticker again, her fingers pressing into the cast as her attempts went unveil. 

“Well, we can get you another sticker?” Spencer suggested, taking the crutches from Cassandra and leaning them against the chair. 

“Yeah, this time why don’t you try something mellower like “Save the planet?” Aria said, crossing her arms over her chest.  “Hey, there were not a lot of choices, okay?” Spencer huffed, “It was either Humpty Dumpty or Jesus is coming, look busy.” 

Hanna slowly lifted the bright yellow sticker and pouted, “Oh, God. It’s still there.” she grabbed the cast and prepared to shake it out of frustration. 

Cassandra kneeled down to Hanna’s level on the wheelchair, “Hey, come on. Don’t. Just look around you, because you’re safe, you’re home and you’re alive.” 

“No, I thought I was safe in my hospital room, too.” she said, deciding to change the topic. “You know, what’s going on with Noel Kahn? Is he “A”? Have you talked to him?”

The brunette shook her head, “No, I avoid him. I keep telling him I’m busy. Busy freaking out every time I look at him.” 

She winced when Hanna squinted her eyes and furrowed her brows. She knew she was lying, but she decided to not comment on it, much too Cassandra’s pleasure. 

It was hard for her to avoid the boy she was in love with for so long. 

She couldn’t help it. 

Even if he was an attempted murderer and stalker. 

“Yeah, well, try being run over by him.” she scoffed. 

Emily lifted up the stuffed animal in her hands and waved it around in the air. “Who got you this? Sean?”

“Lucas.” Hanna stated, smirking to herself when she caught Cassandra roll her eyes in annoyance. “Oh, sweet.”

“Anyone else starving or is it just me?” Hanna said, starting to maneuver her wheelchair around to the kitchen. “No, your mom said she left a special dinner for you in the fridge.” Spencer replied. 

“Mm. Pass. No, I want a Poptart.” Hanna denied, puffing her lower lip out at the brunette next to her. She saw Spencer smirk from her peripheral and snapped, “What? I’ve been on hospital food for three weeks. I wanna eat something that doesn’t look like it’s already been chewed.”

Cassandra giggled and kissed the blonde’s cheek before standing up and searching her pantry for the dry pastry Hanna wanted. She saw the three different flavors of strawberry, blueberry and raspberry and picked strawberry, knowing it was her favorite. 

She held out the treat and popped it in the microwave and let it sit while she pushed Hanna to the table. “I could’ve done it myself; you know?” Hanna stated plainly. 

“I know, but I like helping you.” she teased, heading towards the fridge and pouring a glass of apple juice that Hanna loved to sip on with her Poptart’s. The sweet treat popped out of the toaster, signaling it was done. 

So, she tossed it on a plate and walked back over to the table and set down the juice and food, sitting down in the chair next to her. 

Hanna’s eyes lit up at the combination of stuff in front of her and took a big bite. “Thank you! I can’t believe you remembered..” she said, covering her hand over her face as she spoke with the food in her mouth. 

“How could I forget the strange combination you have always adored.” Cassandra smiled, pushing the drink closer to her reach. 

Aria warily watched the interaction, confused as the two seemed to be flirting in front of them with no shame. Or maybe they didn’t even realize they were sweet talking each other. 

She shared a look with the others, and they just shrugged, already used to the two’s playful behavior. 

Perhaps she was just being a good sister and overreacting to situations between the blonde and her sister after she read her diary and was aware of the shared feelings that they had at one point. 

“How about you eat while we go get the rest of your stuff?” Aria said, rubbing her hands on her sister and dragging her outside to the car. 

They walked out to the car and Cassandra lifted up a box, struggling with the heaviness of the weight and tried to act fine, shakily returning back inside. “You good?” Emily asked, holding out her hands if she wanted to give her the box. 

Cassandra nodded, “Perfectly fine.” she gritted her teeth, glaring at the tan skinned girl who laughed at her. “If you plan on laughing, don’t do it in my face.”

“Apologies, madame.” Emily joked, pretending to lift an imaginary hat off her head and bowing down. “I didn’t mean to upset the princess.”

“Better watch out next time, fruit loop.” Cassandra taunted, chuckling when she saw Emily’s face. “What? Don’t give me that look. How could you tell us your gay and not expect me to make jokes?”

“Right, I forgot you’re all about messing around.” Emily sarcastically answered, though the grin never left her face.

“Never forget it. I’m the reason we all aren’t sulking around like depressed kittens.” Cassandra said, following after her sister. 

She set the items down and headed over to the blonde and noticed all of the pasta boxes across the hardwood floor. 

“What happened?” she asked. 

“Oh, nothing. Just, uh, knocked a few boxes down.” she gave a tense smile, trying to act cool but only seeming more suspicious. 

Aria bent down to pick up the mess and Hanna abruptly stopped her, “No! Uh, you can go. Seriously, my mom’s gonna be here soon. So…”

Spencer flipped her hair over her head with a confused expression. “Wait, so now you want us to leave?”

“You don’t have to put on a brave face for us, okay, we get it,” Emily reminded the hurt girl. “If being alone is freaking you out we can absolutely stay.”

“I’m sure Cass wouldn’t mind.” Aria mumbled. Said girl whipped her head around and gave her a ‘Bitch what?? ‘ face. 

Hanna flushed but shook her head. “No, no, no. I’m just… fuzzy and I think it’s from this pain medication. Yeah, I need a nap.” she decided. 

“Okay. Can we help you to the couch?” Emily offered. 

“No, you’ve done enough. Seriously, you guys. Go.” she repeated hastily. 

“Okay. Call me?”

“Yeah.”

“Me too.” Aria added. Spencer watched Hanna clutch the pasta box, “You know you have to boil that first, right?”

“Duh.” Hanna grinned, her dimples popping out. The girls gave their goodbyes and Cassandra kissed the top of the blonde’s head. “Bye.”

Hanna stuttered over a reply and touched her red cheeks with the palm of her hand when the brunette left, trying to cool off the burning sensation that was all over. 

Freaking Cassandra Montgomery. 

xxx

Emily slammed her locker shut and walked the halls with Cassandra. “I’m just not sure I wanna be there.” she admitted, fluffing up her scarf.

“It’ll be fine. Just make sure Maya doesn’t do all of the talking. You know, she starts going over a cliff, you grab the wheel.” Cassandra told her, shoving her big history book in her pull-over bag.

“I have a feeling my mother won’t ever approve of us dating. That scares me. How am I supposed to maintain a healthy relationship if my parents are secretly praying on the downfall?” Emily said. 

“Ignore them. Who cares, Em. It’s not their relationship.” Cassandra shrugged.

“I do. I’ve always been family oriented; I was basically raised that way. Now, my parents see it as Mrs. Stay at home wife to her husband is now trailer park trash with a boy haircut and boxers.” Emily complained, scratching her arm anxiously. 

The last thing she wanted to do was this dinner. She thought she was ready… but now she’s having second thoughts. 

“You can’t let your upbringing define who you are today. You’re not the same person you were at twelve. They need to understand that, and you need to show them that.” Cassandra stated, trying to help out her friend who was struggling. 

“Actually, you’re right. Thank you. I forgot how good you are at giving advice.” Emily responded, pulling the other brunette into a quick hug, almost forgetting they were in the middle of the hallway. 

“Of course, I am. It’s in my nature.” she quipped, releasing from the hug when a voice shouted out to them. 

“Cassandra, Emily, wait up!” the short girl stomped up to them, heels clicking loudly as she did. “I heard Hanna’s mom has some bank thingy in Scranton and won’t be home till really late, so I wanna do a surprise party.” she informed them with a proud look. 

She continued on, “Like a Welcome home, Hanna, we love you with or without your spleen. I checked with Mr. Hanna and Sean was totally down with it.”

Cassandra’s eye twitched at the mention of Hanna’s boyfriend and Mona noticed, a tiny smirk tugging on the corner of her lip, begging to be released. 

“They didn’t even take out her spleen.” Cassandra pointed out. 

“Really? Oh. Then I’ll just change the theme.” Mona brushed off, tucking her hair behind her ear. “I’m not really sure Hanna’s up to hosting a bunch of people at a party.” Cassandra added, thinking about how the blonde would react to people at her home while she’s stuck in a wheelchair. 

“Oh, please. She’s been socializing with IV bags and bedpans. She’ll love it. If you guys don’t want to come, I’m sure she’ll understand.” she finished before leaving the two behind.

“She’s insane.”

xxx

“That’s it, Noel, we’re over!”  Prudence shouted at the boy and stormed off past the crowd. “What?!” he asked, shocked over what just happened. 

But it all added up when he got out of the chair and looked at the posse that stood before him, specifically Alison and Cassandra. 

“Happy now?” he snapped, glaring at the blonde and flaring his nostrils at the brunette. 

“What happened?” Spencer questioned, glancing between the ex-girlfriend of Noel and the petty blonde. 

Alison smirked, “I just put Noel Kahn back on the market for Cassie to snatch up again.”

“How? You broke them up?” Aria curiously wondered, her pink streaks on perfect display with the pigtails she had adorned. 

“We broke them up. Aren’t you still crushing on him, Cassie?” she turned her attention back to the brunette, who sighed and didn’t respond. 

Hanna looked at the floor, suddenly embarrassed that the girl she was fangirling over was still head over heels for her ex. 

“What did we do, Alison?” Spencer muttered out, attitude lacing her voice. “What’s with the ‘tude, guys? I did it for Cassie.”

She paused, “I only kill when we need food. Or when I’m bored.”

“What a doll.” Cassandra sarcastically mumbled, gaining the laughs of everyone. 

“Why are you still fucking around with Ezra? This black mail isn’t fucking funny anymore, Noel.” Cassandra hissed, shoving her hands on the boy in front of her, and focusing Noel instead of the loud music blaring in the background at Hanna’s party. 

“I didn’t black mail anyone. I told him to fix my grade to what it should be, if I worked hard for something I should get the full deal, alright?” he growled. 

“Just quit it.” 

“Wow. If that’s the story he’s gonna put out there then you’ve really gotta wonder who this guy is.” he said, tightening his jaw. 

“Noel, is there something else going on here? Is there some old grudge you’ve got against me and my friends?” she whispered, frowning up at the taller boy. 

His attention fell back onto Sean when he hollered, “Yo, Noel. You’ve gotta come check this out. Pritzker’s got this video of the Barracuda game. It’s your shining moment dude.”

Noel chuckled and followed his friends, basically leaving her in the dust. 

She glowered and searched for Hanna, only to find the girl being unable to get past whatever garbage was on the floor. 

“Hold on.” she grabbed the chunk of cookie and tossed it in the garbage, the blonde thanking her in a small voice. 

“I had a conversation with Noel, but the whole time I kept thinking he was gonna hit me.” she joked, sort of, as she stood awkwardly in front of Hanna, not knowing what to do considering the Marin daughter was significantly lower down. 

“Why did you lie?”

Cassandra sighed, knowing the confrontation was coming sooner than later. “I was… embarrassed and ashamed. It feels wrong talking to him, but some part of me can’t help it. It’s like I’m a mosquito and he’s someone’s blood.”

“He literally uses you for sex and has some weird obsession with you since you came back. It grosses me out.” Hanna stated, applying lip gloss to her chapped lips. 

“I know.”

“You know?! Yet, you still keep crawling back to him?” Hanna asked. 

“It’s complicated. And I don’t really feel like talking about this sober.” Cassandra replied, wheeling Hanna over to Sean, Emily and Noel in the kitchen as she poured herself a drink and chugged it before refilling it and sitting down next to Emily. 

“How was dinner?” she whispered towards the girl. “I’m honestly not sure, I’m still processing.” Emily half-smiled, watching the girl quickly down her drink. 

“You might want to be careful, I bet Mona put a ton of alcohol in that.” Emily scolded, feeling overprotective over her best friend. 

“Okay, mom.” she rolled her eyes and continued drinking, disregarding what Emily said. 

Sean leaned against the counter and went on about some story Cassandra could not give a shit about. She rested her head against Emily’s shoulder and quietly hummed, a habit she picked up from drinking.

She paid no mind to the story until Sean whipped his head around at Lucas aggressively, “What did you say?”

“I mean, so what if they’re lousy guard dogs? They’re big and they’re goofy and if you can get past buckets of drool.” Lucas snarked, referring to Noel and Sean. 

“I think Hermie the Hermaphrodite needs a jumbo coffee.” Mona remarked. 

“I mean, who does not want a big, slobbering beast who can catch a ball in the end zone?” he commented, and Sean slammed his fists on the table and got up, preparing to punch Luca’s square in the face. 

“Sean! Hey, stop!”

“Fight, fight, fight!” Cassandra shouted in Emily’s ear on accident, waving her hand in apology before eyeing the scene before her. 

Sean grabbed ahold of Lucas’s sweatshirt and shook him harshly before Noel interfered, “Sean, stop,” Noel shoved Lucas and held the blonde boy. “It’s like fighting a kid that needs a telethon.”

“Lucas! Can I please talk to you outside?” Hanna asked, pointing at the back door when he just stared at her. 

“Can y-you, uh, bring me home? Pretty please?” Cassandra asked, pouting at Emily. Her drunk brain couldn’t handle all of screaming and fighting. It was too much for one night. 

The other brunette smiled and nodded. 

“Definitely.”

xxx

a/n: shorter chapter today! there weren’t many important key points that needed to be added, so it was really just a little filler chapter for everyone!

Hope you enjoy. -A