8. Cassie
Cassie
Things are moving slowly between Tyler and I, two weeks of slowly moving forward.
We study together at the library. Then getting coffee becomes a regular thing. Then Tyler starts walking me home after my shifts at the writing center. Small moments that add up to something bigger.
My anger for him has softened into something I wasn’t ready for.
Not forgiveness, exactly, but acceptance.
Acceptance that people can change. Acceptance that Tyler is genuinely different.
Acceptance that maybe I can let him be part of my life without the weight of sophomore year crushing everything.
“He’s asked you out,” Priya observes one day while we’re getting lunch.
“He has not.”
“He totally has. In like, seventeen different subtle ways.” Priya says again. We haven’t told anyone we’ve been spending time together, and at the moment I don’t want to. It’s only Priya I’ve told about us seeing each other.
“Those aren’t dates. Those are just… hanging out.”
“Cassie. He walks you home from your shifts. He gets you coffee with your exact order memorized. He looks at you like you’re the most important person in the world. Those are date behaviors.”
“We’re taking it slow.”
“You can take it slow and also go on actual dates. The two aren’t mutually exclusive.”
I’m liking Tyler more and more. I want to spend time with him, even after he walks me home and leaves, I still want him there.
Maybe it’s time to take things further with him, because God knows I want to.
The literary magazine is having a spring issue launch party Friday night, at one of the coffee shops downtown. It’s casual, free food, open mic, a celebration of student work.
Tyler’s there, and he’s been keeping his distance all evening, respecting my need for space while still being present. But when I finish my reading of a new piece I wrote, about forgiveness and the possibility of redemption, he's the first person to approach me.
“That was beautiful,” he says, and I can hear the emotion in his voice.
“Thank you.”
“The part about how redemption isn’t about erasing the past, it's about choosing differently in the future. That hit me hard.”
“It was about… well, you can probably guess who it was about.”
“Was it?”
“Yeah. I’ve been thinking about what you said. About how you’d rather die than be that person again. I think I believe you.”
He steps closer. “Yeah?”
“Yeah. Which is terrifying.”
He reaches up, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.
“Cassie. I’ve been falling for you since sophomore year.
Since you wrote that first opinion piece, I realized how much damage I’d caused.
Since I saw you at the literary magazine meeting and had to sit in the back because being anywhere near you made me want to be a better person. ”
“That’s a long time to wait.”
“I’d wait forever if I had to.”
He kisses me, right there in the middle of the coffee shop with all our friends watching. It’s not gentle. It’s hungry and relieved and like he’s been wanting to do this for weeks in front of everyone.
Which he has.
When we break apart, I’m breathless.
“So,” he says, “does this mean I can take you on an actual date now? Seeing as our friend now know about us.”
“Multiple dates.”
“How about starting tonight? After this? There’s a movie showing at the independent theater downtown.”
“Okay. Yeah. Let’s do it.”
Lennox appears beside us, looking smug as hell. “Finally. I was about to lock you both in a room together just so you can get together.”
“You were going to do that anyway,” Tyler says, and it’s clear that Lennox has been orchestrating situations all along.
“I absolutely was. Now go enjoy your date before I change my mind and make you double-date with someone.”