CHASING CARS

two.      sleepy boy

▬▬ CASSIE LAUGHED AS her dad groaned and threw his head back, the girl jumped to her feet, throwing her arms into the air. "Ha! Your team lost!" She teased, making the man laugh as he shook his head at her. It was a Saturday, and if not for Cassie being grounded she would have been out with her friends.

"Don't jump on the couch." He huffed as he watched the girl jump onto the cushions but her movements stopped and she looked over at him. "You think I'm doing this grounding thing wrong?" He asked as the girl flopped onto the couch.

"What do you mean?" She asked as she pulled her legs up under her so that she was sitting criss-crossed.

"I'm pretty sure that you're not supposed to have fun when you're grounded." He told her and she tilted her head as she scrunched her face up a bit, clearly pretending to think over what he had said and it made him chuckle.

"Maybe." She nodded. "But this is purely your fault."

"My fault?" He asked, a smile on his face as he pointed to himself, his finger on his chest.

"You were the one that asked if I wanted to watch the game with you, then you started the whole bet thing, and there was no way I was forfeiting an easy bet."

"Easy bet?" He mocked as he looked back at the tv, a scowl contorting his facial features as they replayed his team's loss.

"Goodnight, Daddy." She shook her head with a laugh, making her way over to his chair, placing a kiss to the top of his head. "Don't stay up too late."

"I thought I was the parent." He joked and she made a face at him before turning and making her way up the stairs. "Goodnight, Cassie." He called after her and she smiled as she waved over her shoulder.

Charlie chuckled to himself, he cherished moments like that with Cassie, carefree and happy moments. But his smile faded as he looked over at the coffee table, his eyes resting on a large, white envelope that he had yet to open. He had thought about it as he stared at it; it was the results of Cassie's DNA test and it held everything that Cassie had ever wanted to know about where she came from.

With a sigh, Charlie stood up, turning the tv off and grabbing the daunting envelope before making his way up to his room, cutting off all the lights as he went.

In her room, Cassie sat on her bed, her eyes scanning the walls that were lined with pictures of her and her friends. Mike and her at the diner, her, Jacob, Embry and Quil at the beach, her and Uncle Billy at his house, her and Charlie at home and many more of her with a few other people from the reservation. She stood up and made her way over to the wall, pulling a picture of her and Charlie off of it. She smiled at it, it was a picture from when she was six and they both held an ice cream cone and both were smiling so wide.

She remembered that day like it was yesterday ― it was the day that her adoption papers had been approved. They had spent most of the day at the courthouse and when it was over, he promised her ice cream and a day at the park. They had gotten huge ice cream cones and spent the rest of the day at the park. Charlie pushed her on the swings, caught her at the end of the twisty slide, and climbed up the monkey bars with her.

She hung the picture back up then wiped her cheeks free of the few tears that had escaped. She hated that she felt so lost and empty because she didn't know who her biological family was, even if she had a great life with Charlie. Shaking the thought she went to take a quick shower before going to bed, which was another long night of her laying there awake as she stared at the glow-in-the-dark stars on her ceiling and her mind ran wild.

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▬▬ WAKING UP TO the annoying buzzing and beeping of her alarm clock, Cassie rolled out of bed with a yawn. She stretched as she stood up, her arms spread as far as they could go and another yawn falling from her lips. She wiped her eyes with her fists before heading down stairs, going straight to the coffee mug that was sitting on the counter. Charlie chuckled at the zombie-like movements she made.

"Poptart?" He held out a strawberry flavored poptart that had different colored sprinkles on it.

"Thank you." She mumbled, leaning forward and taking the pop tart from him with her teeth before she made her way up stairs with her coffee in hand.

"Morning, Cassie." Bella greeted the girl, getting a groan in response. "O. . . kay."

"It's a grumpy morning for her." Charlie told the brunette who nodded before fixing herself some breakfast. The silence felt thick, neither were really sure what to say because they didn't have the bond that he had with Cassie Swan, and he had already given her her birthday presents so there wasn't much more to say. Not that he loved Cassie any more than Bella, she just knew how to talk to people, something he and Bella sometimes had trouble with.

After a few more seconds of awkward silence, Charlie mumbled something about being late for work before he walked out the kitchen, shouting a goodbye up to Cassie.

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▬▬ "MIKEY!" Cassie smiled as she jumped out of Bella's truck, running to hug the boy; Eric and Angela watched them amused.

"Whoa! Don't spill my coffee!" He laughed, moving the styrofoam cup into the air to avoid spilling it, but the girl wrapped her arms tightly around him. "You saw me yesterday." He patted her back with his coffee-free hand.

"You have coffee." She smiled up at him, still wrapped in his arm as she batted her eyelashes at him, Jess rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms over her chest –– clearly upset with the situation.

"Okay." He mumbled, moving his arm down then handing the cup to the girl that kept one arm around him.

"Today's the big day, Bella." Jess called out, looking away from Cassie and Mike as the girl whined because he took his coffee back to take a sip for himself. Bella looked a bit confused, thinking that she was making a big deal about her birthday. "R & J essay due today." She clarified.

"Oh, yeah." The older Swan nodded.

"Wherefore art thou, Bella?" Mike waved his free arm in the air as he used a funny voice.

"Right in front of you, dork." Cassie mumbled and he took her coffee from her. "Mike, I'm sorry!" She shouted, her eyes pleading for the warm beverage, he was quick to cave and hand it back to her which made her smile as she took a sip.

"I wanna take a picture of you guys." Bella mumbled and the five looked over at her. "My mom, she wants me to put together this, like, scrapbook full of memories." Cassie grinned, the others shuffling closer together, Eric with his arm around Angela beside Mike, Cassie still pressed against the blond boy's other side as Jess stepped closer, Mike reaching his arm back to pull her into frame.

"I take 'em, I'm not in 'em." Angela stepped away from her boyfriend only to have him pull her back.

"No, no, no." He secured his arm around her shoulders again as they shuffled closer together, Cassie slipping her arm under Mike's letterman because she was getting cold.

"You'll photoshop it if my nose looks big, right?" Jess asked and Cassie rolled her eyes, she and Jess never really got along.

"Don't worry, I'm in the picture no one will be looking at you guys." Eric told her making Cassie laugh, griping Mike tighter, then Bella took the picture.

"My eyes were closed!" The younger Swan shouted, making Jess groan a little but she smiled as Bella took another one.

"That's great." Bella smiled small at the five, four of them watching as a black car pulled into the parking lot, Cassie was preoccupied with trying to drink the coffee and shield her arms from the cold ― she was using Mike as a shield.

"Oh, good." Mike mumbled. "Cullen's here."

"Yay." Eric added sarcastically.

"We'll talk to you later." Jess told Bella as she turned to walk towards her boyfriend but Mike took his coffee from Cassie and ran towards the school.

"Michael!" She shouted after him, he laughed as he looked over his shoulder at her. When she was close enough she jumped and latched onto his back, making him lose his balance but he quickly regained it.

"That was almost very bad." He chuckled as she reached for her coffee.

"Hey, Cas!" The girl turned at the sound of her name, her smile growing when she spotted Jacob.

"I'll be back." She dropped from Mike's back then took off across the parking lot, jumping onto the boy as the two laughed, she secured her arms around his neck. "What are you doing here?" She asked as he put her on her feet.

"I'm actually here to see Bella." He told her. "But I see you're making just as much trouble here as you were on the rez."

"Half the trouble I got into was because you guys kept daring me." She punched his chest.

"You could've said no."

"No, I couldn't have. It's against the law to not do a dare." She shook her head and he laughed at her, shaking his head. "Well, you go see Bella, I'm gonna catch up to Mike and take his coffee."

"Don't hurt him." He ruffled her hair and she swatted at his hand before turning and running back over to Mike, taking his coffee and darting up the steps.

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▬▬ CASSIE SAT BETWEEN Eric and Mike in class, she laughed silently at the crying boy before turning and poking Mike with her pencil, he was half asleep and she knew that he didn't need another detention this week.

"Mikey." She hummed quietly as she poked the back of his hand that held his head, and his head shot up ― making her jump back a little ― he looked around then at the girl beside him that had covered her mouth to keep from laughing.

"This is your fault." He told her then he yawned. "You drank my coffee." He told her, his eyes falling closed again as his head fell to the side but she was quick to catch it and hold it up for him.

"Aw, sleepy boy." She teased and he blinked a few times as he picked his head up, she sat back in her seat, fixing his letterman around her torso so it was more comfortable ― she had gotten cold and he offered her his jacket which she gladly took, much to Jess' dismay. Then the movie stopped, and they all looked at the teacher hoping he didn't call on them.

"Now, who would like to repeat the last few lines of iambic pentameter just to show they were paying attention?" He asked, his eyes moving to the couple that sat in the back of the room. "Mr. Cullen?"

"Uh, yes, Mr. Berty." Edward took a breath and everyone turned to face him, all waiting to see what he would say. "Oh hear, will I set up my everlasting rest and shake the yoke of inauspicious stars from this world-wearied flesh. Eyes, look your last. Arms, take your last embrace. And lips, Oh you, the doors of breath, seal with a righteous kiss a dateless bargain to engrossing death."

"Eyes on the screen people." Mr. Berty mumbled, slightly irritated that the boy had gotten it right and everyone turned back to the screen, Cassie poking Mike with her pencil when his eyes drooped again and he sat up straighter making her chuckle to herself.

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▬▬ CASSIE SMILED INTO her phone, Mike was on the other end and the two were doing homework. Well, they were supposed to be doing homework.

"I can't believe you're thinking about leaving me." He huffed, turning the page in his notebook, his eyes on his messy scribble.

"My dad and I are still talking about it." She told him, highlighting a sentence in green. "And it's not that I want to leave you, just that I miss my friends. And I'm probably gonna finish out this year then transfer next year, you won't even be in school next year."

"I thought you were graduating early?" He mumbled, confused by the girl. "I mean, you're in most of my classes."

"I don't know." She huffed. "It's a possibility. I just don't have my future planned out yet."

"And I do?" He asked rhetorically and she chuckled.

"Well, we better get back to the homework or neither of us is gonna graduate."

"What'd you get for number 3? And 4? and 5?" He asked, making her laugh.

"I'm not telling you, but I can tell you the formula."

"Fine." He mumbled. "If I flunk it's your fault."

"If you flunk it's your fault." She told him, her smile still very present on her face then there was a knock on the door. "Give me a second."

"Okay, I'll just be here failing at math."

"Drama queen." She mumbled as she put the phone on the bed. "Come in." She called out and the door opened then Quil stuck his head into the room and Cassie smiled. "Hey, what are you doing here?"

"Begging for help." He told her as she walked over and sat on her bed with his book bag over his shoulder. "Please." He mumbled as he pushed out his bottom lip and she smiled at him.

"I can't say no to that face." She reached over and poked his cheek. "But I'm also helping Mike." She picked her phone up and put it on speaker. "Mikey?"

"I'm here."

"Quil's gonna join us." She told him as she laid the phone on the bed. "Just remember that you're doing different homework than us." She told the Quileute boy as he unpacked his bag and he nodded.