Cassandra's Story. Chapter twelve

"So what are we gonna do today?" Mai asked, laying upside down on my bed. Andrew and Ross were playing around throwing my newly acquired stuffed animals. I had never been able to actually have stuffed animals, but I always wanted to.

        "Hey! Stop throwing those!" I said in a loud voice, well, loud for me anyway. I was getting louder when I was speaking but I was still pretty quiet.

        "Fine. Oh hey! I have an idea! Why don't we go to the park? I mean yeah it sounds boring but afterwords we could go get some food. Please?" Ross turned to me making these huge puppy dog eyes.

        "Mai, your boyfriends doing it again!" I complained

        "Ross! Stop. We'll go to the park.Right Cassandra?" She stressed my name.

        "Fine. Fine... We'll go to the park." I sighed.

        "C'mon, it won't be that bad. I'll take you to get some ice cream. I mean that in a non sarcastic way." Andrew bribed.

        "Fine." I got up and went to the door. "Well, what are you waiting for? Lets move." I fell into step with Andrew as we walked to the park. We got to the cross walk where we had to cross to get to the park when a black lexus drove by. From the window I saw a face I would never forget. I gasped and stumbled back a few steps.

        "Cassie?" I didn't respond.

        "Cassie!" Still, I didn't respond

        "Cassandra! Talk to me! Tell me what you saw!" Andrew called, gripping my shoulders.

        "I- I- I know that man." I stammered.

        "What man? We didn't see a man." Mai turned to Ross for conformation.

        "I swear! In the black lexus! Please. I know what I saw." I stammered.

        "I saw the black lexus. But how did you see the face? It was going to fast to see." Mai asked confused.

        "The man in the passenger seat. He was there. He turned his head and... And I know it was him. He did it." I stammered.

        "Who did it? What did he do?" Andrew whispered comfortingly in my ear, still holding me to his chest.

        "He..." I gulped, taking a breath, "He..." I began to take shorter and shorter breaths.

        "Calm down. It's okay. It's going to be okay." He whispered, stroking my hair and gripping my hand, stroking it with his thumb.

        'He's the one that told the other men to kill my parents... And he raped me...'I signed.

        "Come on. We'll go home. You should relax." Andrew soothed, but by his voice I could tell he was strained and trying not to hurt someone. I nodded and got to my feet, still gripping Andrew's hand.

        "Look, I know that now really isn't a good time... But would you like to... Uh... Be my girlfriend?" Andrew whispered in my ear. I stopped walking and turned to him.

        "Yes. Yes. Yes!" I jumped up and hugged him tightly.

        He smiled and hugged me back tightly. "I won't ever let anyone hurt you. I promise." He whispered into my hair. I smiled. This may sound cheesy or what ever, but I feel this connection with this guy and even though he's beaten me up... It's a connection I can't ignore. I think I love him. I hope I love him...