Page 28 of The Captain

I reach out to the basket and grab the book. I gasp when I realize it’s a special edition copy of one of my favorite fantasy novels. I gasp harder when I open the cover and see that it’s signed.

Oh no.

My heart thumps.

“Oh dear,” Mom says, eyeing the book in my hand. “He knows my daughter, that’s for sure.”

Oh god. What do I do?

TEN

Lincoln

Five Months Ago

The straw wrapper was twisted into oblivion in my hands, but I couldn’t stop fidgeting while I waited for Cassie.

She was currently helping out her mom with the dinner rush, a job I had no idea she had, but apparently was unofficial.

I was just glad to be there.

After my game last weekend, I was sure things were going to be strained between us. I’d wanted to talk more about the fact that Crew had been lying to me, about how hurt she’d seemed when I told her what I’d heard, and about how she seemed to not hate me as much as I originally thought.

But at the end of our interaction, I saw her realize she was being nice. I saw her walls go right back up to what they were before, and I knew she needed to get back to a safe place again.

I can’t deny that being friendly with her was nice, though. Too nice. It’d been like before.

“Okay, sorry,” Cassie said, throwing herself onto the bench across from me, where her bag was already sitting.

“You okay? I can help out if you need me to.” I glanced around the diner; it was still pretty busy, but she and her mom had worked flawlessly to get everyone settled and eating.

“I’m okay for a bit, I may have to get up again, but I’m sure you don’t have all night.”

It was nice that she was worried about my time, even when hers was clearly so short. “How’s school going for you?”

Cassie looked up, pausing from organizing whatever torture she had for me. “What?”

I hated how surprised she was. I really was a bastard for not asking sooner. “I said, how’s school for you?”

“Uh, fine,” she said, arranging notecards and what looked like a schedule. “So—”

“You have to do a thesis, right?” I asked, ignoring that she was about to start our session. Was I intentionally trying to draw this out? Maybe so.

“Yes, I—” She sighed and shook her head, her big blonde bun coming partially loose. She reached up and took it out, and I found myself staring at how long her hair was. I didn’t understand why she wore buns all the time, her hair was gorgeous and matched the rest of her.

Shifting in my seat, I cleared my throat.

She continued. “I have to make some changes. I’ve been back and forth with my professor a bunch now, and I’m just ready to be done with it.”

I nodded my head, pretending I understood. Mickey was going through her last few months of work too, and I knew from winter break that it was a lot to keep up with.

I could never get a master’s degree. It would kill me.

“I’m sure it’s amazing,” I said with a small smile, hoping we could get back to that ease we found.

She stared at me for a moment, then blinked. “Whatever, let’s get down to it. I got your second semester schedule, so we can anticipate what’s coming.”

I frowned and looked at the paper. She wasn’t kidding, it was from my class with my professor’s name at the top.

---