~
Downstairs, Cassie found her mom pouring a cup of coffee. Her dad was sitting at the dining room table, trying to make a spot for his plate amongst her mom’s mess of papers.
“Hey mom, dad,” Cassie headed for the fridge and pulled out the milk. She grabbed a bowl from the cabinet and placed it on the counter. She turned to get the Lucky Charms cereal from the pantry but her mom already had it in her hand. Cassie took it and smiled at her.
“Sleep alright?” Sylvia asked.
“Yep. Hey Elora called and she wants to hang out. Is that alright?”
Sylvia lifted the cup of coffee as she answered. “That’s fine.” She took a sip and then pinned Cassie with the stare. “So when are we going to get to meet Trik again?”
Cassie’s head whipped around to see if her dad was paying attention. He wasn’t.
“Have you told dad about him?” Cassie’s eyes were wide.
Sylvia grinned mischievously. “Why don’t you ask him?”
Cassie groaned. “Come on, you know how he is. He will drill Trik for an hour and want to know everything right down to his blood type.”
“Well that could be important information. What if you needed blood and he was the only donor and your dad was the only person who was there to tell the doctors his blood type?” Her mom gestured to her. “See, then you would be glad that your dad was so thorough.”
“Seriously, mom?” Cassie threw her hands in the air and marched into the dining room.
“So dad,” she fidgeted with her shirt. “I met this guy, and we’ve sort of been seeing each other and I really like him.”
Her dad smiled up at her and it was a smile that said the cat has caught the canary.
“By all means, invite him for dinner. I would love to meet him.”
“Dad, promise you won’t make him fill out a form with all his information like you did with Cory.”
“That information was important. I needed to know his parents’ names and numbers. What if you two had been in an accident and we found out first?”
“You asked him his sexual orientation and if he had ever been sexually active,” Cassie folded her arms across her chest and tapped her foot.
Her dad frowned. “I still say he was lying.”
“What, like it’s impossible for a seventeen year old guy to be a virgin?”
“I believed that part. I was talking about the sexual orientation,” he told her. “I didn’t think I had anything to worry about with him.”
“Promise me.” Cassie stomped her foot. Her dad started laughing and when her face continued to stay contorted in anger he held his hands up in surrender.
“Okay, okay, I won’t make him fill out a form.”
“Or give him any what if scenarios.”
“Those are important, he needs to be prepared.”
“Dad,” Cassie groaned. “You asked the last guy what he would do if he was intimate with me and realized he didn’t have a condom.”
“And he got it wrong. The correct answer was I wouldn’t be intimate with your daughter, sir. The dummy said, uh, not go any further.”
“Dad,” Cassie growled.
“Fine, no scenarios,” he finally relented.
Cassie stared at him for another minute. A knock at the door finally had her turning away.
She opened the door to Elora’s scowling face.
“Hi sunshine!” Cassie plastered a huge smile on her face.
Elora stomped past her. “Stuff it.”
“Oookay then,” Cassie muttered as she closed the door.
“So where is lover boy?” Elora asked as Cassie closed her bedroom door.
Before Cassie could answer, Trik stepped out of her bedroom mirror.
He walked straight over to Cassie not even bothering to look at Elora.
“Well hello to you too,” she smirked at him.
But Trik’s eyes were on his Chosen.
“Everything okay?” She asked him when he was standing inches from her.
He smiled, but Cassie noticed it didn’t meet his eyes.
“Everything’s fine.” He stood there staring at her. He didn’t try to kiss her or touch her and Cassie was suddenly unsure if she should touch him.
Elora clearing her throat finally breaking through their senses.
Cassie turned to look at her friend. She stepped away from Trik and for the first time he didn’t attempt to keep her close to him.
“Elora has agreed to be my reason for leaving today. I’m going to leave with her and meet you somewhere,” Cassie explained.
Trik nodded, “I’ll meet you at the park downtown.” He stepped up to her and kissed her on the forehead and then he was gone, moving quickly through her window and away from her.
“Did something seem off to you?” Elora asked her.
Cassie nodded. “Maybe Lorsan took it harder than he thought.” Cassie said as way of explanation but not believing a word of it.