When Cassandra stormed into her house, she found that there was nobody there to yell at. "Hello?" she called, but no one answered. "They must all be out or at Jonathan's house," she mumbled to herself. She sat down on the stairs and, leaning over, put her head in her hands. She tried to make some sense out of last night's encounter, but she couldn't. She had seen Nick and Kimberly together, on her bed no less, and it angered her that he could be so...stupid. She started thinking about the times where she had been mad at him, but she couldn't think of many. There had only, really, been one time and she began to start having flashbacks of that time. They were choppy, but one followed right after the other.
"Cassie, what is all of this?" Nick asked confused.
"I am going home, Isabella needs me," Cassandra answered while finishing up with all of her packing.
"So you are just going to leave me here, alone?"
"Oh Nick," she whispered. Cassandra sat down on the bed next to him. "You know that I wouldn't leave unless I had a good enough reason to. You can come with me. Call the airport and you could be gone by tomorrow. I will pick you up at the airport if you would like."
"You didn't buy me a ticket?"
"No...I couldn't. I was in a hurry."
"Yeah, I noticed."
"Look Nick, if you must know, Isabella saw A.J. making out with Lucy. As her sister, I have an obligation to go. Now will you drive me to the airport, or do I need to call for a cab?"
"I'm not going to drive you! I am not going to drive you away from me!" Nick said. He got up and walked into the bathroom.
"Fine, suit yourself!" Cassandra yelled after him. She grabbed her suitcase and walked out of the door. She walked down the stairs and out the door.
"Nick I love you too, and you mean more to me than anything. That is not all that matters to me, but I can't get away from the fact that I'm not happy here."
"So finally being alone with me, and I mean really alone with me, isn't good enough for you? What haven't I done to make you happy?"
"Nick, you're twisting my words!"
"Then fine, go! Leave when things start to get a little tough, just like you did before. Are you going to leave me again? For how long this time? Six months? A year? Forever?"
"Nick that's not fair! You know damn well why I had to leave, and you promised me that you had accepted that!"
"You just don't get it, do you Cassandra? Tell everyone that I said hello."
With that, Nick went upstairs. Cassandra took a deep breath and sighed. She didn't know why Nick was acting like this, he never had before. She could feel her eyes well up with tears.
"What are you doing here?" said Nick coldly to Cassandra.
Cassandra was kind of getting fed up with Nick. She put her feelings aside for a second. "Nick if you would shut up for two seconds and listen to me God damn it!" She was shocked by her words. She had never talked to him like that before. "If you weren't so caught up in your hatred for me, you would know that I had to leave to find my long lost sister! And if you weren't so caught up in getting back at me, you would see that Andrew is standing right next to me!"
"Oh my God, I had no idea. Andrew how?" studdered Nick.
"You're right! You didn't have any idea. And if you feel that you can handle coming to my house, Andrew, Mariah, and I are going to explain to everyone," said Cassandra.
"Mariah?" asked Nick.
"Yeah, my sister." Nick watched Cassandra and Andrew as they walked out of the door, followed by Brian carrying Mercedes.
She managed to stop her flashbacks, but then she stumbled on to a more devastating time: the time that she had had to leave Nick and was gone for three months. Her mind roamed to that day and her flashbacks started with the conversation with the mysterious caller.
The phone rang.
"I'll get it!" said Cassandra. She picked up the phone, but almost dropped it.
"I am only telling you this once, so listen up. I have your fourth sister and your best friend."
"No, I think you have the wrong number. I don't-"
"Yes, you have a fourth sister in addition to you, Isabella and Coreene. And your best friend, Andrew, isn't dead."
"You have the wrong person-"
"You must leave and come out to L.A. right away. I have your flight all set. And I would write your little boyfriend a letter, but you cannot, under any circumstances, repeat any of this conversation or what you are doing."
"When-"
"Now."
"Now?"
"Yes! There's no other time."
"But, are you sure?"
"I see that you don't care-"
"All right, all right. I'll be there as soon as I can." She slowly hung up the phone and stunned, she blinked back tears. She sat down at the kitchen table and pulled out a pen and a piece of paper, and started to write a letter.
She remembered that when she had written that letter to Nick, that it had been the hardest thing that she had ever had to do in her life. She had prayed that Nick would read the explanation that she could give and understand and wait for her to come home. But things hadn't gone that way. Her thoughts were interrupted when Angel unexpectedly walked through the door.
"Hey, Cassandra!" she said and sat down next to her on the stairs. "Hey, penny for your thoughts?"
"Oh, naw, I'll give 'em to you for free."
"Really? Now aren't I special."
Cassandra laughed a little. "Well I was just thinking about the time that I was in L.A. with you."
"Really."
"Do you remember the time that you, me, and Andrew, or at least who we thought was Jacob, went out to that night club-"
"Yeah, the one where we got kicked out of-"
"Because we kicked the performers off stage and started our own band?"
They broke into laughter.
"Oh, how could I forget?"
"I don't know!" Cassandra screeched. "Oh those were good times."
"Yes they were. I remember the time that you and I first met."
"I was walking out of my hotel room-"
"And I was walking out of mine at the same time-"
"And we crashed into each other."
"And it happened about six other times," said Angel, "before I finally asked you to come into my room and talk."
Cassandra shook her head and smiled. "In the time that I was out there, I had totally forgotten about everyone out here and all of my problems."
"Especially the ones with you and Nick."
"You remember that?"
"How could I forget? Especially that night where you came over crying because you had missed him so much so I made you tell me the story about how you got a phone call about your sister and how you had to write that terrible note to Nick."
"You have such a good memory!"
"Tell me about it," Angel said and smirked. "What ever happened after that month and a half? You just disappeared."
"Oh. I was there at the hotel with you for a month and a half and then I got the next phone call to go to my sister. I went to this place, I don't remember where, and there she was. She looked just like all of us and right away, I knew that she was my sister. The documents and pictures of her and mom didn't hurt either."
"But what about Jacob? You're boyfriend who was actually your best friend?"
"Okay, this is a hard one. Andrew, the person that I thought was my best friend, turned on me and I don't know where he is right now. The person that I met in L.A. was only someone hired to impersonate Andrew and that's why I didn't recognize him right away as being my Andrew. Also because he had changed his name and he didn't act the same."
"Who hired him?"
"My fucking ex-boyfriend, Bobby. You know?"
"Yeah. But why?"
"To break up Nick and I."
"It didn't work for long! You guys had such a strong love, and I know that you still do."
"Thanks, Angel. You and Howie seem very well matched, also."
"Thanks, I know that we are."
"Are there marriage plans any time soon?"
"Oh, I hope so. But with all that's going on, I think that we can wait."
"Hey are you hungry at all?" Cassandra asked standing up.
"Actually I am. Care to continue talking over breakfast?"
"I'd love to!" With that, Angel and Cassandra walked into the kitchen to find something to eat.
Back at the guys' house, Emalia and Kevin were sitting upstairs in his room.
I have to tell him now, Emalia thought to herself. "Hey Kevin, I need to tell you something?"
"Sure, Honey, what is it?"
Just say it. "Honey, Everett and I have been seeing each other."
Kevin hesitated a response. "No way."
Emalia freaked. "No! Not like that! We just, like, went to the movies the other day, and he thinks you're cool and he admires you."
"Is that all? You made it seem like something was wrong! He thinks that I'm cool? Aww, how cute."
"I just wanted to tell you that I think you're cool, too." Emalia smiled.
"Thanks, Babe," he said and kissed her. "Hold that thought, I have to go to the bathroom." Kevin scurried out of the room and Emalia fell over on the bed.
Why couldn't I have just told him the truth? Shit, I have to tell him sometime.
"She did what?" Nick screamed at Kimberly.
"She said that she hated you and that she wished that she had never married you, that you're a two-timing loser and that the sex was never that great."
"But why? Why would my Cassie say that about me?"
"I guess that someone told her. Probably A.J."
"Told her what?"
"About us, Nicky," Kimberly said and put her arm around his waist. "About what we did on her bed the other night."
Nick was totally confused. "I-I don't understand. She says that she hates me because she thinks that I'm with you? What did we do? She thinks that we did something?"
"Well, yeah."
"But that's totally ridiculous!" Nick moved away from Kimberly.
She moved right back next to him. "You said it yourself. You told me that you wanted me."
"I've used the word want a lot in my lifetime, Kim. I've said, 'Brian, I want that!' or, 'Because I want it that way!' or 'Cassandra, I want you back,' or maybe even, 'I want you,' but you took it the wrong way. If I really wanted you, it would be out of love, and I don't love you."
"I can't believe you Nickolas!"
"What? What did I do this time?"
"You lied to me!"
"No. You lied to yourself. You know damn well that I am still madly in love with Cassandra and I will always be until we are back together again, and after that, I will continue to love her."
Kimberly walked up to Nick and slapped him across the face. "Well fuck you, Nick. She doesn't want you anymore! Can't you see that she's moved on? When you finally figure it out that she doesn't want you and that the real person that you love is me, I won't be here! So get a grip and decide what you want right now!" Oh I should win an award, Kimberly thought.
Nick knew exactly what Kimberly was up to. He had seen this look on her face before and he knew just what she was thinking. "You're right," Nick said.
What did he just say? "I am?"
"Yes, you're absolutely right. I should decide what I want right here and now and I'll tell you what I want."
"Yes?"
"What I really, really want is-"
"Yes?"
"To be alive again so I could make love to my wife!"
"Oh, you!" Kimberly said and stormed away.
As soon as she was out of sight, Nick started to laugh. "She is something else." He shook his head and walked away to find Cassandra.
When Jonathan walked into the girls' house, he heard a roar of laughter coming from within the kitchen.
"...when you tripped him down the hallway!" he heard Cassandra say.
"...and you caught him dancing with the broom!" he heard someone else say, and they burst into laughter again.
"...or the time that we tried to hit it from the window!"
When Jonathan walked into the kitchen he saw that Cassandra was laughing with Angel. He cleared his throat and they both looked up. "Hi, ladies," he said.
"Oh, hey Jonathan!" Angel said, wiping tears from her eyes.
"Are you guys okay?"
"Yeah," said Cassandra. "We're just talking about old times."
"Speaking of old times, I just came over to invite you and to ask for your permission to have a cook out tonight."
"Why would you need our permission?"
"Actually, just yours, Cassandra."
"But why?" Cassandra asked.
"Because of...the...you know..."
"Fire?" Cassandra finished.
"Well, actually-"
"It's okay. We'll be there. What time?"
"About in an hour, and bring your bathing suits, too. We're going to do things that we haven't done in a long time!"
"Like party? Have fun? Smile?"
"All of those and more!"
"Sounds great!" said Angel. "Do you want us to make any dessert or anything?"
"Well, actually...that was going to be my next question. Would you...possibly..."
"We'll whip up something," Cassandra offered.
"Thanks. See ya then!" Jonathan called and walked out of the house.
"Now," said Angel, "what are we going to make?"
"Cassandra?" Angel called into the closet.
"Yeah?" Cassandra called back.
"I called Howie to make sure that he was coming down from my sister's, but he may be a little late and I just remembered that I left my bathing suit up at my sister's house. We only have ten minutes left and I didn't tell Howie!"
"It's okay! I have plenty of bathing suits you could borrow."
"Seriously?"
Cassandra walked out of her closet carrying an armload of bathing suits and dropped them in a pile on her bed. "Seriously." She smiled.
As soon as Angel had chosen a bathing suit, she and Cassandra got the chocolate mousse that they had made, out of the fridge and headed over to Jonathan's house. Angel was about to knock on the door, but Cassandra stopped her and walked right in.
"Hey, Cassie! Angel!" Jonathan greeted them both. "I'll take this," he said and took the glass bowl full of chocolate mousse from Cassandra's hands. "Everyone's out back and I think that dinner is almost ready."
"Can I help you set the table?" Cassandra offered.
"Sure!"
"Is Howie here yet?" Angel asked.
"Um, yeah. I think that he's out back, also."
"Hey, thanks!" Angel said and skipped outside to find Howie.
Cassandra followed Jonathan into the kitchen and started to take down plates. "How many of each do we need?" she asked.
"Well let's see," Jonathan said and counted on his fingers. "There's me, you, Angel, Howie, Nicole, Coreene, Brian, Mercedes, Emalia and Kevin. That's ten. Is that right?"
Cassandra recounted. "Yeah." Cassandra took down ten plates from the cupboard and headed for the backyard.
"Can you carry all of those?" Jonathan asked concerned.
"I've made it this far!" Cassandra called back as she stepped out onto the porch.
"Oh, let me help you with those," Brian said standing up and taking the plates from Cassandra.
"Thanks," she said. "Did Angel find Howie?" Brian didn't reply; he only smiled and pointed over to a lounge chair at the far end of the yard. Cassandra looked over and saw Howie and Angel kissing and occasionally fitting in a few words. "That's so cute," Cassandra commented.
"Whatever you say, Cassie!" Brian said and sat down next to Mercedes again.
Cassandra saw Kevin standing at the grill and walked over to him. "Whatcha doing?" she said.
"I'm...grilling," Kevin said.
"Sorry, stupid question. So, how are you?"
"Just fine! How are you?"
"I'm good, I'm good. Everything all right?"
"Yup! The grill hasn't caught on fire yet and I'm almost done!"
"Good for you," Cassandra said sarcastically and patted him on the back. She walked back over to the table and joined Brian, Mercedes, Nicole and Coreene. "Hey guys," she said to them.
"Hey," they all said.
From force of habit, Cassandra began to pull on her ring finger, but felt that her rings weren't there. She looked down and thought, Oh yeah. I threw them yesterday.
"Cassie?" Brian said, bringing her back into reality. "Are you okay?"
"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine!" Cassandra said, and strangely enough, that's exactly how she felt. Fine. It was so weird for her to just be feeling fine once again.
After the food had been grilled and everyone had eaten, Jonathan brought out the chocolate mousse that Cassandra and Angel had made. He served some out to everyone and then brought out a bottle of wine.
"Jonathan-" everyone said.
"Yeah, yeah, too young. But I bet that none of you will be complaining when you're drinking it!" They all looked at each other. Jonathan smiled and raised his glass. "First I would like to compliment the chefs tonight. Kevin, for the wonderful dinner and Cassandra and Angel who made the mousse which we're not sure if they poisoned or not-"
"Jonathan!" Angel and Cassandra both said.
"Just kidding!" he defended and everyone laughed. "And to us..."
"What about us?" Brian said.
"I really don't know. I hadn't really thought about it."
"How about," Nicole said, "just to us."
"Good idea," said Jonathan. They all touched their glasses and Jonathan and Nicole gave each other a quick kiss, and so did Brian and Mercedes, and Kevin and Emalia, and Howie and Angel, and Nick gave Cassandra one, too. Brian and Kevin who were sitting on either side of Cassandra looked at each other and smiled wickedly.
"Guys-" Cassandra started. Brian nodded his head and at the same time, they kissed Cassandra's face on either side. "Eew," she said quietly as everyone laughed.