Chapter 2: Mirroring the Past

Cassy lies in her bed and trying to rock herself to sleep. She is thinking about her childhood friend, Leon. His gesture today really touches her heart.

She can still vividly remember how he meets him 13 years ago when they moved next to them.

She stopped walking in front of a pale and thin boy and asked, “What’s your name?”.

The boy was startled. He looked up at her and she can obviously see how shy he is. 

“I—m, mmm—y name is…” he utters.

“Hmnnn..” she tries to meet his eyes as she waits for him to say his name.

“My name is … Leonorado but my mom calls me Leon..” he said in a shy voice.

“Hi, Leon! I am Cassandra and we are new here.” She said happily. “Can I be your friend?”. She innocently asked.

Leon was shocked.

“ Is there something wrong?” Cassy asks.

Leon is still in shock and he doesn’t know how to answer Cassy’s question. Is she sure that she wanted him to be his friend?

“I am new here and I don’t have any friends to play with. I can see you’re alone so I guess we can be friends and playmates too.” She continues ignoring his reaction.

“Can I be your friend, Leon?” Cassy asks again.

Leon recovered from the sudden shock he experienced. Of course, he wanted Cassy to be his friend! This is the first time that someone asks him to be their friend. 

“Of course, but are you sure?” Leon said still in a shy voice.

“Yes, I am sure,” Cassy answered quickly.

“What are you playing?” Cassy continues to ask him.

“ I am playing cards. W—would you like to join?” he asked in a very soft voice.

Starting that day, Cassy and Leon became friends and together almost every day.

Cassy and Leon also went to the same school since they live next to each other, they always come to school and go home together.

But one day, Cassy learned why Leon is very happy when she asks him to be his friend but in a way that she cannot imagine...

Her teacher was sick, they were dismissed a bit early than usual. Instead of going straight to their house, Cassy will be going to Leon’s room so they can walk together on their way home.

No teacher is inside the room. Her eyes widen when she saw Leon. Leon was pushed and stumbled to the floor.

5 kids are around him and it seems that they are forcing Leon to do something.

Leon is thin and he cannot do anything with these kids. 

Leon though doesn’t show any emotions. He just literally looking down as he clenched his fist. Obviously, he knows that he cannot do anything with these big kids around him.

“Thin boy, give us your allowance so we can buy a snack. We promise you that we won’t be doing anything to you.” One of the kids says to Leon.

Cassy recovered from the shock, walk inside the room and push one of the kids that try to bully Leon. 

“And who do you think you are?” Cassy shouted to the big kid who asks to hand over Leon’s allowance.

Leon was surprised. He didn’t see Cassy coming in.

“Cassy, it’s okay.” Leon softly said. 

“No, it’s not. Obviously, these kids are trying to bully you.” Cassy exclaimed.

“Don’t you have your own allowance that you need to bully and hurt other kids?” she continues.

“If you won’t stop doing this to Leon, I will assure you that I won’t let this go and I will head to the principal’s office and report you.” Cassy confidently said. No trace of fear can be seen on her face.

Leon can see that the kids started to move, and he can see the fear on their faces.

“We will let this for now, but we will surely get back to you, ugly girl!” the big kid said.

“I will wait for that day then. “Cassy answered back not even bothered with the threat.

Cassy reached out for him and said, “Get up, don’t let those kids bully you.”

Then she walked out of the room.

While Leon and Cassy walk in their way home. No one dares to speak or tell a story like their usual end of the day.

Cassy portrays a blank face. Leon doesn’t know what his friend thinks at the moment.

Leon stopped walking. He reached for Cassy’s hands.

Cassy stopped walking. 

“ I am s—orry, Cassy”, Leon sadly uttered.

“Why?” she asked.

“Because you saw me in that kind of situation.” He responded.

“I can’t say it’s okay. You shouldn’t be allowing those kids to bully you.” She disappointingly said.

“We are friends and your parents love you so much but those kids who don’t make any effort for you. Shame you and treat you like trash, why didn’t you say anything about them?” she continues.

“ I am sorry, Cassy. I cannot do anything; they are 5 big kids and what would a pale and thin kid can do against them?” he softly answered.

“Exactly!” Cassy exclaimed. “You cannot do anything against them, but you can at least let someone know so they can learn their lesson.” 

“You aren’t alone. Now, I understand why you are so surprised the day we first met and when I asked you if I can be your friend. Do not let anyone do that again to you. Never let anyone look down on you no matter how you look like. If you want to be my friend, then learn how to protect yourself. Those kids deserve to be at the principal’s office. Since when they started to do this to you?”, Cassy asked Leon looking straight into his eyes.

Leon just looked down again. He is so ashamed that he cannot look directly at Cassy. She is the girl, but she is the one who protects him from being bullied.

No words came out until they arrived at their respective houses.

Since that day, Cassy protects Leon from the school bullies and now that they are already teenagers, it seems that Leon is protecting her. His gestures yesterday bring strange emotions to Cassy, but she doesn’t want to think anything else. Leon is like a brother to her. 

Though Dash is an asshole who just broke up with her without any solid reason, she doesn’t know why she still hopes that one day, Dash will be back to her. Dash is known for his reputation of playing with girls, but she didn’t believe this. 

When Dash started to court her, she felt as if the luckiest girl in their school. Her heartbeat changes every time he's beside her.

She isn’t a beauty but she can say that she has the charm towards boys but Dash is her first boyfriend that’s why she cannot understand what happened to both of them. 

Dash may have a reputation, but she can see the goodness with this man. He sees to it that he is up to date in his class and never to disappoint his parents. Their relationship is a picture-perfect relationship.

She suddenly stopped, could that be the reason? She asked herself. They have misunderstandings but for a couple of months being together there’s nothing that they weren’t able to work out.

Other people may say that Dash just played to her feelings but that isn’t what she felt. No matter what other people say, she doesn’t regret the relationship she had with that guy. She may be wanting to punch his face, but she cannot deny the fact that her heart screams for Dash.

No matter how much she is hurt now, she believes that it’s not about how much you are hurt or how much you have suffered because, in the end, it's how much you have loved and how much you are willing to do for love.

Maybe with other people, they will start looking for someone else if they broke up with their loved ones but not her. It might be torture for her but she will keep loving Dash until her heart gets tired of loving him. 

She wants to be free until the day that Dash comes back, and everything will be smooth for them and there will be no complications. Silly her, right? But she is hoping that heaven and earth will work together to help them fix their relationship.

Thinking of this made her feel persistent to wait at the same time, she must admit that she feels a bit lonely for herself. She felt shattered into pieces the day that Dash broke up with her. 

It seems the rumor was true after all. It's so easy to break someone's heart for him.

He invested so much in my heart as if it's actually a piggy bank. He saved up there the love and happiness and then out of the blue, he smashed it letting it be broken into pieces.

How can she love so strong and selfless at this very young age?

She can’t help but shook her head. She is like a fool. How can she still love Dash when he did nothing but hurt her. 

She is like waiting in vain. 

Still, she doesn’t care, if she won’t be fighting the love she has with Dash, she can feel that’s harder for her. The more she pushes herself to move on, to more she finds it hard to do so. So, she will just let her heart love Dash until her heart gets used to being without him and the feeling will just go away. Let time decide and heal her broken heart.