A Moment in Time

I stood near the entrance of the school, my books in hand. Waiting for Reilly was something I did on a regular basis, especially now that he had Cassie. The two were hardly ever separate, I didn’t mind though; it let me catch up on a few of the girls I rarely got a chance to talk to. I was going to do that too when a boy, a couple years younger than me, came up and handed me a note. Before I could say anything he took off. I shook my head at him before turning my attention to the paper in hand. It said very little, but by the feminine handwriting I smiled. Barn, five minutes. Looking at the door one more in case Reilly decided to make his presence known, I took off for the school’s barn. Not many students came to the old barn and those few who did were always up to something. 1

“Hello?” I called out as I stepped across the barn’s threshold. It wasn’t long before I felt two thin, delicate arms wrap themselves around my waist. Smiling I slowly turned to meet a pair of hazel eyes, hazel eyes I knew all too well. My smile fell as I stepped away. 2

“What are you doing, Cassie?” the blond haired girl smiled at me. If I wasn’t a gentleman I would’ve smacked that smile off of her face. 3

“Isn’t it obvious, Cadell?” I hated that name, it was so, different, which was why very few people were allowed to use it, she wasn’t one of them. 4

“My name’s Cade and it’s not that obvious, no.” I lied. Of course it was obvious. You didn’t meet in the barn unless you wanted to fool around. I’d just never expected her to call me to the barn, especially not while she was with Reilly. 5

“I like Cadell better. Why don’t you come over to me.” I’d backed away several more paces by this point. She was looking at me like she was a cat and I the mouse. I needed to get out of there soon. 6

“I should go see if Reilly’s ready to go home.” I said as I went to move past her, she stepped in front of me. Her hand went gently over my face, I tried not to react. 7

“He’s fine, he’s talking to a teacher.”8

“I should really go, Cassie.”9

“You don’t want me, Cade?” Her expression turned to that of a pout. 10

“No, you’re Reilly’s girl, not mine. Don’t do this.” If word got out that I turned down a girl my reputation would be ruined, but deep down I rathered that than my relationship with Reilly, he was my best friend, my brother. 11

“But I want to.” She put her hand to the back of my head and pulled my face to her own. Her lips came against mine. It shocked me out of any reaction. 12

“What the hell’s going on?” Reilly. I pulled my face away and before I could say anything I felt a hand slap across my face. 13

“Oh, Reilly. I tried to tell him no, he just wouldn’t listen.” Cassie ran to him, she was near tears. I looked from her to him. His light blue eyes caught mine. He was angry and hurt. Not a word was said as he took her from the barn. 14

I mentally kicked myself for not leaving the barn the moment I saw Cassie. Had she planned this? I couldn’t know. All I knew was that she was someone who couldn’t be trusted. With my hands in the pockets of my trousers I stepped out of the barn where my face met a fist. 15

“What the…? Reilly, what are you doing?!” I yelled as I looked up from the ground, wiping some blood from the corner of my mouth. 16

“You can have any girl you want, but when I find one you can’t stand it.”17

“I didn’t mean to do anything.” I told him as I stood up. 18

“Didn’t mean, didn’t think. You never think, Cade, never. Except for yourself, that’s all you think about. I thought we were brothers, but apparently that means nothing.” I watched as he walked off. He wasn’t going to listen, I knew that. 19

The ride home was silent. If I just let him settle down then maybe I could talk to him, until then we would remain silent. I hated it, but if this was the way it was to be, then so be it. 20

When we got home we both went to our separate rooms, still not speaking. I pulled out a book and waited until called for dinner, hoping that in that time Reilly would choose to talk. By the time dinner rolled around he still hadn’t come to me. 21

“What happened to your face, Cadell?” my mother asked. I could feel Reilly looking at me, but I didn’t look back. 22

“It’s stupid really, I was walking outside when I tripped over a root, fell flat on my face.” I told her with a laugh. This battle was between Reilly and myself. We were two seventeen year olds who could argue without parental intervention. 23

“Aww, dear, you should really put some ice on it.”24

“I’m fine, mom. I’ll put something on it later this evening before going to bed.” I told her while taking a bite of the roast beef. She accepted this before turning to her own food. A few minutes later she looked up. 25

“So, how was everyone’s day?”26

“I asked Cassie to the prom today.” Reilly informed her. I kept my attention on my food. 27

“What’d she say, son?” Dad asked, sounding truly interested. 28

“She told me yes.” I suddenly wasn’t very hungry. 29

“I’ve got a headache, mom. I think I’ll turn in early.”30

“Are you sure, honey, don’t you want some more food?”31

“I’ll be fine. See you tomorrow.” I said as I stood up. Giving her a quick kiss on the cheek I made my way to the stairs. 32

I couldn’t understand how he could just accept her lie like that. I was his brother, we’ve grown up together and then she just walked into his life and my word means nothing. Man, I hated her. She was a lying, conniving little….But I have to be good, have to treat her with the dignity and respect all women, according to mom, deserve. I don’t think she deserves anything, not after that stunt she pulled. 33

There was a knock at my door as I settled down at my desk to start my homework. I told whoever it was to come in. 34

“Ready to apologize, Cade?” was he serious? I turned around in my chair and looked at him. 35

“Reilly, I did nothing that needs apologizing for.”36

“Yeah, so what was that I saw in the barn today?”37

“Your girlfriend kissing me.”38

“Yeah, right, Cassie would never because…”39

“Because what, she loves you? No, she doesn’t. I hate to break it to you, brother, but, she doesn’t love you.” I could see the rage in his blue eyes. I knew my words were harsh, but what else was I to do. It wasn’t like she was going to tell him the truth anytime soon. 40

“That’s a lie.”41

“Is it? She asked me to the barn today, speaking of which what were you doing at the barn?” a blush crept up on his pale cheekbones. I smiled knowingly, then within in seconds his blush was gone. 42

“That’s none of your business.”43

“Let me guess, she sent you a note telling you to meet her? That has to be it seeing as the barn’s used for little else.”44

“Shut up, Cade.”45

“She wanted to be caught, because one of two things would happen, she could break it off with you or blame me for seducing her.”46

“Cade, shut up or so help me.”47

“Or what, Reilly, I’m telling you the truth. I didn’t do anything.”48

“Then why were you there?”49

“Because I got a note and I thought it was maybe Maggie or Beth, if I had known it was Cassie I never would’ve gone.” That was the truth too. Maggie and Beth were the two girls that I saw more often than others, they knew about each other and both knew that I wasn’t set for anything serious, but from what I gathered, neither minded. 50

“So what you’re telling me Cassie was playing Potiphar’s wife?”51

“Yeah, basically.”52

“But this is Cassie we’re talking about. She’s sweet and caring. She hates it when people lie.” This was true, or so it had appeared.53

“You do remember she takes theatre right?” which was probably where she learned the skillful art of acting and lying. 54

“Yeah, but…”55

“Don’t let what you see deceive you, Reilly.”56

“But she was just so…”57

“Perfect? I know, but she’s not.”58

“I asked her to prom.”59

“Tell her it’s off now.”60

“Her dad’ll kill me.”61

“You can always avoid him or just join the army.” That got a laugh out of him. 62

“No, Cade, the army’s for you since you refuse to do anything else with your life.”63

“That’s right, you’re the young aspiring doctor.” He rolled his eyes. 64

“So that headache of yours?”65

“Hasn’t left me since I was six.”66

“You’re so annoying, Cade.”67

“But you love me.”68

“Ha, we’ll see.”69

“Whatever, get out of here, I’ve got homework to do.” He shook his head, causing some of his blond hair to fall into his eyes before walking out. Another fight down and we were still alright. 70