Cassandra Behind Closed Doors. Linda Sorpreso

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СКАЧАТЬ I stayed I knew there would be more trouble.

      The car beeped at exactly seven-thirty. As Abby and I went outside, my legs started to tremble. I had expected to see Zia’s car parked outside the gate, but it wasn’t. There was a van instead and there was only one person I knew who drove a van. Bob Tammurello — Brayden’s dad.

      “Abby,” I squeaked, grabbing her arm.

      “I know.”

      “I can’t believe Brayden’s here. Sav didn’t even tell me he was coming.”

      “Just relax!”

      “Relax? How can I? How do I look?”

      She laughed at me. “You look great.”

      “Hi,” we said, getting into the van in the last row. Tessa and Sav were sitting in the middle, with Brayden in the front with his dad. Brayden smiled at me and I wished I had ice to cool me down.

      We arrived at the bowling centre within ten minutes, which were ten whole minutes of small talk and the nervous fluttering in my chest. I didn’t speak to Brayden once. I didn’t want him to think the kisses meant anything but I didn’t know how to act around him.

      We paid for the game and received our shoes, walking up to the lane. As I was putting on the bubble-toe footwear, thinking the red and black stripes would have looked better on a clown instead of on my small feet, Brayden walked past me and casually thumped me on the arm.

      “Ouch!” I said, hitting him back. It didn’t really hurt, but I thought I would boost his ego a little bit. Besides, it was a way to start a conversation with him.

      “Did that hurt?” he asked.

      “Yeah it did.”

      “Sorry,” he said laughing.

      “Shut up,” I said, going to hit him again. He moved away from me, still laughing.

      “You’re such a girl,” Sav said.

      “Well, I am a girl; didn’t your parents ever teach you the differences?”

      “Ha ha, you’re funny.”

      “Yeah I think I am,” I said, walking up to Tessa and Abby who were typing in our names on the computer.

      “Who’s going first?” I asked them.

      “Can’t you read?” Abby snickered.

      “Shut up bitch.”

      “Brayden’s going first, then Sav, you, me and Tessa.”

      “Okay then, sounds good.”

      I was hopeless at bowling. I had only played it a couple of times and I really sucked the last time I did.

      Brayden picked up a ball and rolled it down the lane, hitting eight pins. Pretty good, I thought. I would be lucky if I even hit one. Brayden had another turn and received a spare. He sat down next to me and we watched as Sav ran down like a professional bowler, swinging the ball high in the air, and then released it down the lane. I tried not to laugh at him. He seemed as if he knew what he was doing. I was sure he was going to get a strike, yet he only knocked five of the pins right down the centre. The rest would be harder to get as there were two on one side and three on the other.

      “I called Lizzie today,” Brayden said.

      “Oh did you? What did she say?” I asked, pretending to be interested in the game and trying to conceal my despair. I knew I shouldn’t be upset but I was.

      “She’s going to call you so we could make plans or something. Maybe watch a movie?”

      “Sounds good.”

      “You spoke to Vinnie today, huh?”

      “Yeah, how do you know?”

      “Well, he rang me this morning to see if I would come with him to visit you. Then he called me straight after you did, to tell me you couldn’t make it.”

      “Yeah, I was busy. I just called to say thanks for the gift.” And if I knew you were going to come with him, I definitely would have made the effort.

      “Hey guys, are you watching me?” Sav called out.

      “Yes we are,” I said, glad for the interruption. Sav threw the ball and managed to hit another three.

      I was next. I got up nervously from my seat and picked up a ball. It was so heavy that I almost dropped it. I put it down and selected a lighter one. I walked down towards the line. I held the round, shiny object above my waist, back bent and extended it, watching it as it rolled straight into a gutter. I was so embarrassed. I could hear the laughter from the others as I turned away from the pins and faced them.

      “Ha, ha,” I said. “I’m just warming up.”

      “Yeah right,” Sav said.

      I waited for the ball to return and grabbed it. I’d show them, I thought. Just as I was about to throw it, I changed my mind, took my fingers out of the holes and heaved it up in the air. It landed with a loud thump against the pine boards but went straight down the alley and smacked down all of the pins. I couldn’t believe it — a strike! Well, technically just a spare but I had knocked them all down in the one shot.

      “Whoo hoo!” I yelled, grinning.

      “You cheated!” Sav shouted.

      “It’s a technique, not cheating!”

      I sat back next to Brayden, flicking my hair behind me. “See, that’s how a real player bowls,” I said. He laughed at me.

      I continued to play like that for the entire night, except I didn’t have as much luck as I did in the beginning. Tessa was the winner, scoring over two hundred points. I never knew she was so good at this game. Maybe she could teach me a few pointers since I ended up coming last, though I didn’t care. Apart from Sav who kept telling me I had a great arse whenever I bent down, I had a blast. Sav made me feel so self-conscious that I stopped playing my way.

      Brayden and I spent most of the night together, talking, laughing and at times flirting. I couldn’t help myself and besides it was him too, not only me. On the way home, he opted to sit in the back with me and we kept hitting each other. I didn’t know if he still thought of me as a cousin, sister or whatever. I had reached my decision and I think I always knew. I wanted Brayden.

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