Dear Diary, I Think I'm In Love

Cassie Wagner Is A Biatch

Dear Diary,

I wasn’t able to fix anything. Eric is still avoiding me and I’m trying hard not to run after him every time I see him. Yes, I’m sitting on the toilet, writing this. Again. It’s a pattern, I know. I just feel more comfortable writing here, than in a classroom, full of prying gazes.

Leslie is probably wondering what’s taking me so long. Oh, God. Cassie and her posse just entered the bathroom. They’re talking about … s**t, I can’t believe I just heard that!

I close the diary and try to figure out how to leave the stall without them noticing that I was there the whole time. It’s impossible, Perrie! Just wait it out! I can be so stupid sometimes.

“…never going to know what hit him,” I hear Cassie’s continuous explaining of her plan. I sit in silence, not moving, hell, not even breathing, because I’m scared that I’ll get caught.

“Do you think it’s going to work, though?” another familiar voice asks with a hint of doubt inside it. Nicole. Yeah, that’s right, girl, give her the benefit of the doubt.

In the silence that follows I can almost imagine Cassie’s gaze, pinned on her friend in a challenging way. The next second, she chuckles sweetly. “Honey, his mom adores me ever since I was born. Our moms are besties, remember? That’s why she has to ‘accidentally’ find out about us. He’ll never be able to let go of me, once she knows,” she beams excitedly.

My jaw drops. So that’s why she wants my parents to find out that she’s dating Aiden. She’s sure that he won’t ever be able to break up with her, because our mom would skin him alive. That’s actually true. f**k. She can’t ever know. No. Hell, no.

I can already see my future flash in front of my eyes. Cassie, in our house. Cassie, spending weekends and holidays with us. Cassie, smiling innocently as I walk in on her and my brother making out. Cassie, winking at me as my brother asks her to follow him to college. AH, NO!

I have to prevent this. Somehow. I know that my brother likes her … I’m not going to comment on his taste. But I’m pretty sure he doesn’t intend to introduce her to our parents as his girlfriend. My brother is a player, for f**k’s sake! Perrie, stop swearing.

“That’s actually kind of genius,” I hear a third person remark. Ah, that would be our sunshine Ally. Cassie lets out a squeal, then chuckles excitedly.

“I know! I’m going to secure the hottest guy in the school for myself. I can’t wait to see the look on everyone’s faces. Especially Perrie’s and that friend of hers … What’s her face again?” she then babbles, making me freeze. She can’t be for real.

“Uh … No idea. Don’t care,” Ally remarks. I hear the water running for a few seconds, and whoever opened it, had the perfect timing. Because the moment those words travel to my ears, I inhale sharply. b***h!

“It’s Leslie. Leslie Black,” Nicole speaks up, but no one really acknowledges her. I raise my eyebrows. Wow. What is she still doing in this friend group?

A moment later, Cassie dictates their next move once again. “Let’s go guys. I don’t want to get detention. There are too many creeps there,” she tells everyone, completely ignoring Nicole’s introduction of my best friend.

I only dare to breathe out, once I hear the door closing. But I don’t even get out then. I’m scared they realized someone’s here and are waiting for me to come out of the stall. I’m tempted to drop on all four and check under the door, but I really don’t want to hang out with all those germs.

In that moment, the door opens again, making me freeze. Oh my God, was I right? Were they still here, waiting for me to come out?

Once a familiar voice travels to my ears, I breathe out in relief. “Perrie, did you faint in here, or what?” my best friend calls out carefully, while I jump on my feet and open the door. She flinches in surprise, then breathes out in relief. “Jeez, I thought something happened to you.”

I shake my head, then wash my hands. “Cassie and the minions were here,” I mumble, making Leslie blink two times, completely unimpressed. She crosses her arms against her chest.

“Yeah? What troubles is the kingdom of bitches facing today? A broken lipstick? Crappy drugstore mascara?” she wonders, making me let out a chuckle. I shake my head, still smiling. Where is she picking those up?

“No,” I tell her, before spilling everything I just heard. Her jaw drops. And she doesn’t just look mad, she seems furious. Actually, she looks like she might punch a wall. I have a hunch what she’s so mad about, but I don’t want to throw any assumptions at her. Especially not now.

She breathes in sharply, then exhales in the same way. Then, she looks at me with the look of complete serenity, before suddenly saying: “I’m going to strangle that b***h. Bye.” With that, she turns around, meaning to leave, but luckily, I come to my senses and pull her back.

“Are you crazy?” I squeal, shaking my head at her in disapproval. I feel like I’m scolding a toddler. “I’m going to talk to Aiden to tell him what she’s up to. He can decide what he wants to do with that information on his own. And yeah, I’d gladly strangle her too, but then my brother would strangle me,” I tell her slowly.

She stares at me blankly, her nostrils fuming as she breathes. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Leslie so angry. I let go of her, hoping that it’s safe now. In the next moment, I flinch, as she slaps her hand against the wall, probably to blow off some steam. “f**k!” she curses, before leaning her forehead against the tiles and closing her eyes.

I watch her in shock for a moment, then place my hand on her shoulder. As she doesn’t brush me off, I dare to pull her into a hug. Literally two seconds later, she’s already sobbing. I run my hand up and down her back, confused by her reaction. Could she … No. But nothing else makes sense.

“It’s okay, Les. Aiden won’t let her pull off this plan of hers,” I try to assure her, feeling like I’m walking on eggshells. I have no idea what her next reaction is going to be.

She sobs even harder, then mumbles something into my shoulder, that makes me freeze. “My parents are getting a divorce.” Her whole body starts trembling while I grow numb. No. Come on, Leslie doesn’t deserve this. No wonder she’s been so serious lately.

“Oh, Les, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know,” I murmur into her hair, holding her tightly. “You can stay at our house for a few days, if you want to,” I then offer, knowing that school is probably her only escape from the chaos in their house.

She pulls away and shakes her head, while trying to brush the tears from her face. “No, it’s … It’s okay, dad’s been sleeping on the couch for quite some time anyway. I’m used to it …” she trails off, then goes to the sink to flush her face with water.

I place my hand on her back and leave it there, wanting her to feel that I’m beside her, whatever she needs. “Okay,” I tell her. “But if you ever feel the need to escape … You’re always welcome to stay with us,” I assure her. She nods as she pats her face with paper towels.

“Yeah … Thanks,” she replies. In that moment, the bell rings, making us share a panicked look, then rush to our next class.

We barely make it to the classroom in time. Everyone is already sitting inside, but luckily, the teacher is just taking off her coat, greeting us cheerfully as we step in.

We greet her back, thankful that she’s not making a fuss about us being late. Miss Garcia is awesome. She teaches Spanish, and she's the youngest out of all our teachers. There have been a few optimistic seniors, who tried to ask her out when she first started her job. But she quickly put them in their place. After spending a week in detention, cleaning old chewing gum from the desks, they never even dared to think about asking her out again.

As I sit down in front of Leslie, I can't help but take some sweet time with taking things out of my backpack. At least that's what I pretend to be doing, because I'm quickly typing a text message to my brother. We need to talk, I inform him, then put the phone away.

I can see the screen lighting up just as I mean to put the backpack away. I look up. Miss Garcia has just started writing something on the blackboard. Okay, I can check quickly.

What's wrong? Aiden wants to know. I check the teacher again, then type that I'll tell him later. I put the phone away just as Miss Garcia turns around to begin the lesson.

During the lesson, I look over my shoulder quite a few times, just to make sure Leslie is okay. Apart from catching her staring at Cassie with a murderous glare a couple of times, she seems completely bummed. It makes me feel so bad that I’m seriously considering pressuring my mom into calling hers. To basically force my best friend to stay with us for a week or something like that. She needs to get away from that house for some time, even if she doesn’t see it.

I’m relieved when Spanish is finally over. It was about time, I need to make sure that my best friend is okay. And I have talk to my brother, before Cassie does whatever she intends to do. I truly hope I’m not too late.

I wait for Leslie to pack up, which takes literally forever, but I can’t really blame her. We only have two more periods today and I can’t wait for them to be over. It’s a good thing that Fall Break starts next week.

When we leave the classroom, I spot the back of Cassie’s head outside, standing on the hallway with her body partially covering somebody else’s. Oh, come on, she can’t be for real. My face falls and I try to pull Leslie away from the scene before she spots it, but I know it’s too late when her hand stiffens in my grip.

I try to make us move past them unnoticed, but I’m too late. My brother must have heard our footsteps, coming from the classroom. “Oh, hey girls. I’ve been waiting for you,” he suddenly remarks, making me freeze in my tracks. Leslie bumps into me as she continues walking.

I send her a look, before turning to Aiden. “Yeah? How come?” I ask, pretending to be completely clueless. I cast a brief glance at Cassie, who’s watching my best friend with a proud, almost victorious smirk plastered on her horse-like face. Yeah, okay, I was really mean right now. It’s not her fault that her front teeth stand out like that when she laughs. But really, can she move her hands off my brother for more than two seconds?

Aiden sends me an annoyed look. “You texted me when this period began,” he reminds me in that tone that always reminds me of our mother. I can’t believe I have just one sibling and he’s been blessed to resemble mom’s character most. Great, huh? Yeah, it was a really fun childhood.

I blink in confusion, before pretending that it suddenly dawned on me. “Oh! Sorry, I forgot about that. It’s nothing that important. We’ll talk about it at home,” I tell him, before smiling sheepishly. “Sorry that I made you rush here,” I then add. Gosh, I deserve an Oscar.

He sends me a pointed look, once again reminding me of our mom, then rolls his eyes. Ah, yes, this is where the resemblance ends. “You could’ve told me that sooner,” he remarks, before turning to his girlfriend. “Doesn’t matter. At least I’ve got an excuse to see you,” he then directs his words to her, smiling. Bleh. He really has no taste.

When they start kissing again, I tug at Leslie’s hand, wanting to get the hell out of there. I really don’t want to watch my brother sticking his tongue down someone’s throat. Especially not Cassie’s throat. I don’t miss the way she glances at us, while Aiden has his eyes closed. Alright, b***h. You win. For now. Just wait until my brother hears what you’re up to.

“I hate her!” Leslie exclaims once we’re far enough behind the corner that she can’t hear us. I send her a sympathetic gaze, then immediately wrap my arms around her as I realize her lower lip is trembling.

“I know, Les, I know. We’ll throw her off her throne, don’t you worry,” I murmur, hoping that I’m not making a false promise.