Five

by Christie Rich

Cassie turned her back to me. I had expected her to laugh, but her breath came in rapid gasps. I waited: No response. Abandoning my bed, she moved to a suitcase and sorted through the contents.

  Maybe this was more serious than I thought? Maybe Cassie did know something? There was only one way to find out. “Aunt Grace told me I was in danger,” I said. “In my estimation that puts you in danger, too.”

  She stopped folding her delicates into neat piles and faced me. Her pale blue eyes brimmed with unshed tears. The smooth angles of her face contorted into a horrible grimace. I cringed when I heard the horror in her voice. “I can’t talk about this.” She covered her eyes with both hands. Her body trembled from thunderous sobs.

  I edged closer to her and placed my hand gently on her shoulder. She shrugged it away.

  I gritted my teeth. “It isn’t like I wouldn’t believe you. First the trip here and then Aunt Grace’s call; I’m up for anything just about now.”

  She thrust her arms violently to her sides. “You can’t possibly understand what it’s like.” She hesitated for a few seconds, her tone frigid with fear. “I spent five years in counseling to combat my hallucinations. I embraced them once, and it cost me. I won’t do it again!” Quicker than I could respond, she spun away from me.

  She thought she was hallucinating? Could two people have the same delusion? I closed the distance between us. “I might understand if you were the only one that saw it. It was black and scary and that guy made me feel…so strange. I need you to tell me what you saw, Cassie.”

  She offered a contemptuous look over her shoulder. “My eyes don’t work any differently than yours do.”

  “Then you did see the pegasus?”

  She huffed, shoving her hands into her hair. “I didn’t say that!”

  I frowned at her. We weren’t kids anymore, and we weren’t playing make-believe. “I guess I imagined the whole thing. Stress got to me. Is that it?”

  She wouldn’t look at me when I stood in front of her. “It could be.”

  “I thought we didn’t have secrets. Going through counseling for that long had to be horrible. I can’t say I understand what it was like to have had hallucinations, but I saw it too. Don’t you understand that? I saw it, Cassie!” Her reaction only solidified Aunt Grace’s claim. If Cassie really had seen the pegasus, that could only mean there was some truth to what Aunt Grace told me. When she didn’t respond, I pressed forward. “What if there is more to this world than we know? What if you weren’t delusional all those years ago? Your stories—”

  “We’re here for school, not to talk about imaginary people.” Cassie narrowed her eyes, sending me a frosty glare. Even with that attempt, she hadn’t covered the fear that lingered beneath the contempt. “I’ll go to Snow if you continue with this nonsense.”

  I clenched my fists at my sides, trying my best to understand her. I couldn’t believe she’s never told me about this. “You would leave over a question?” I couldn’t lose this life before it even started.

  St. Mary’s would be horrible without her. A horrible thought hit me. If she left, would her dad’s money go with her? I hated myself for even thinking about that.

  “I hope I don’t have to.”

  Her gaze chilled me more than her blunt words. I gaped at her. She had only been like this once before.

  Her mother had taken her away for a seven-month sabbatical. She missed half of the sixth-grade. I hadn’t ever fit in with the kids at school. Without Cassie, my days had almost been unbearable.

  When she finally came home, I expected vivid details about India. What I got was, “It was hot, but nice.” She refused to play our usual games after that trip. That was when her obsession with football began.

  I never got the appeal. She loved the games more than my cousin Travis did. I didn’t think that was possible.

  I missed our excursions into fantasy. Unfortunately, I had to make-believe on my own after that. It wasn’t the same, though. Something must have happened while she was away, but there was no way she was going to tell me about it right now. She had on her mask of stone. My tone fell flat when I answered her. “I’ll just have to figure things out without you.”

  She thrust a finger at me before turning to her clothes again. “Grace is trying to teach you a lesson for lying to her. It isn’t anything more than that.” Despite her solid exterior, a shudder rippled along her back. “It can’t be.”

  I didn’t want Cassie to leave, and I didn’t want to push her into talking about something buried so deep. When she was ready, she’d tell me. “I guess so.”

  She pulled away when I tried to hug her. I never thought I would see a day when I would want some distance from Cassie. I was wrong.