Cassandra Behind Closed Doors. Linda Sorpreso

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      Linda Sorpreso was born and raised in Melbourne.

      I would like to thank my family and friends for all your support. Cat and Amanda, you were both there from the beginning. Thank you for all your encouragement and advice.

      And a special thanks to JoJo Publishing and my editor Julie. Without you, this wouldn’t have been possible. Thank you also to Luke and Marianne of Chameleon Print Design for your attention to detail.

       To my mum and sisters: Thank you for always believing in me. There is no me without you.

       To my dad: I know you’re watching down on me, guiding and giving me the strength.

       To Zia Maria: You were the strongest person I knew and will ever know. I wish you and Dad were here to share this with me. My love for you is eternal.

       Cassandra Behind Closed Doors

      Linda Sorpreso

      First Published 2011 by JoJo Publishing

      This edition published by Woodslane Press 2018

      © 2010 Linda Sorpreso

      All rights reserved. No part of this printed or video publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electrical, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the publisher and copyright owner: (or if a newer statement, use that)

       National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry

      Author: Sorpreso, Linda.

      Title: Cassandra behind closed doors : a teenager’s struggle into adulthood / Linda Sorpreso ;

      Editor, Julie Athanasiou ;

      Designer, Chameleon Print Design.

      ISBN: 9780987410337 (ePub.)

      Target Audience: For young adults.

      Subjects: Romanelli, Cassandra (Fictitious character) Social interaction in adolescence—Fiction.

      Dewey Number: A823.4

      This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination, or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or events is entirely coincidental.

      

Prologue

      M

      y computer is my sanctuary. It’s where I drift off into another world and become another person, someone I choose to be. I run away from who I am and even though my character’s life may be unpleasant, it is far better than my own. I can be anyone: a lawyer battling a hard case, a doctor saving people’s lives or simply a woman finding herself lost in a loveless marriage but this story is different. In this story, I choose to be me.

      As I type this, a flood of memories swirls through my mind. The tears are falling freely now. I wipe those tears away but how can I wipe away the emptiness in my heart? The loneliness. The betrayal. The heartbreak. All the pain and anguish I felt at that moment in my life is now going to resurface, yet I know I must do this. My writing is my own therapy. It has always been my way of dealing with the past and the present. That’s why I know that even though I may hurt my family and friends, I need to do this — I need to do this for me.

      My life is like a book. Each chapter represents a moment of happiness and a wave of downfalls. Therefore, I share with you my hopes, my dreams, my fears and most of all, the way I survived.

      I grab the journals from the purple container stored in my cupboard. I sit in front of the computer; the thick books perched on my desk. I open one marked 1994.

      Now I begin my story.

      

Chapter One

      I

      didn’t know what was louder. My racing heart, thirty-three people shouting over one another or Quando blasting from inside the house. It was so embarrassing. If I could hear it and I was outside, then so could the neighbours and they were probably thinking the same thing I was; “Why the hell are they listening to Italian songs on Christmas Eve instead of carols?” I couldn’t understand it but that was wogs for you, always trying to fill the younger generation with memories of their youth, even though they hadn’t lived in Italy for over twenty-six years.

      Was I embarrassed about my heritage? Definitely not. I was proud to be Italian. We were well known for our culture and elegance; our cuisine was considered a delica-cy in countries all over the world: pizza, gelati, Nutella, mozzarella and over a thousand different recipes involving pasta with their unique sauces. We were noted for our art and history, our fashion, Antonio Sabato Junior; undeni-ably one of the sexiest males on television, and we were known as the world’s best-organised crime.

      When I was five, besides telling people I was a member of the Johnny Young Talent School, I used to brag to my friends that my dad was part of the Mafia. I didn’t understand why I was suddenly playing by myself until I cried to my mum and she brought out the English dictionary. Mafia: International secret criminal organization, orig. Italian.

      Of course, being so young, I didn’t understand those big words, so Mum explained to me what the dictionary didn’t. After that, I stopped, then slowly my friends returned and I could once again tell them stories of Dannii Minogue.

      I loved Dannii Minogue and had been her biggest fan for twelve years. I was a year old when she first joined Young Talent Time in 1982 and Mum told me I used to sit in her lap, mesmerised by Dannii’s voice. Apparently, I started to cry whenever Dannii left the screen and the only way Mum could calm me down was to show reruns of her performances. That phase ended really quickly, but from then on, every Saturday night for six years, my sisters and I would sit in front of the television at six-thirty. We never missed an episode and I would often imagine performing on stage with them, in those brightly coloured costumes, singing All My Loving.

      I bawled my eyes out when Dannii left the show, even though the next week she was on All the Way. I had always hoped Vince would dump Natalie, realise he had always loved Dannii and together they would have formed a duo and re-released The Time of My Life. Then again, if they had been together, perhaps Dannii wouldn’t be the star she is today. And I definitely believed in fate, destiny and the saying ‘things always happened for a reason’ , because if I didn’t, I wouldn’t have been here right now, experiencing a triangle of my own. Actually, it was more of a square but nevertheless the emotions were the same and the betrayal doubled.

      “Cassie, it’s your turn!”

      I spun СКАЧАТЬ