It's been 15 minutes and she's still not there. It's almost 1:30 pm. She didn't answer my messages or calls... could it be that she was just fooling me...? I got up and went back towards the stop to go home. I texted her that I was sorry and that I was going home. When I got to the stop, I thought to myself that she maybe read my message, but she didn't... When my bus got to the stop and, someone grabbed me by my back and hugged me.…
"I'm sorry I'm sorry, I'm sorry please forgive me".
I turn around and saw... Casy holding on to me tightly.…
"I'm really sorry that I had to keep you waiting for so long".
I saw some people start to stare at us.
"Everything's fine Casy, I'm not mad at you".
Her wet eyes looked at me and began to grow larger. A smile suddenly appears on her sad face. She hugs me much tighter, even tighter than Anna did back then.
"And you're not mad at me at all?".
"Of course not, stop worrying".
For some reason my arms moved on their own and hugged her too.
"Come on, let's go somewhere else for a moment".
She quickly replies with a yes and we went somewhere quieter. We came to a school and sat on a bench there. As we sat down, Casy started to explain why she was late.
"Before I left, I spilled a bottle of water, and all the water ruined my dress. Then I looked for another dress and couldn't find anything good".
I only now realized what she was wearing. A red dress that is not too long, but not too short, and a denim jacket. She looked beautiful.…
"And then I thought maybe I could dry my dress quickly. I took my dress, a towel and a hairdryer".
"Wait, don't tell me you dried your dress with a hairdryer?".
She became very quiet for a moment and her face turned completely red from embarrassment .
"E-Eh N-No…" she stutters.
"You could have just worn a hoodie or something else".
"I really wanted to wear this dress" she replies to me.
"You could have texted that to me then I would know that something had happened".
"Yes… I'm sorry about that too".
"It's okay, you don't have to apologize. The main thing is that you are fine".
Suddenly she starts looking at me smiling. I noticed her hair. Somehow, they look different than usual….
"Your hair…".
"Yeah, what about them?" she asks me.
"You look… somehow different than usual…".
"Eh… Yes, I thought I would do it like that".
She normally wears her hair up short, but now her hair is open and almost down under her shoulders.
"I usually cut my hair almost below my shoulders but this time I thought I would let it grow longer to see what hair styles I could try".
"They suit you…".
Her eyes also started to laugh, she blushed again but this time she didn't look away, she looked me straight in the face.
"Thank you… How about we walk down the main street and see what we find". she says.
We walked back to the main street entrance. This time I wasn't alone, and I didn't feel so lonely anymore.
"Tell me Ace... You said you're never really in the town".
"Yes, but only with my mother, when we go shopping for clothes , that's all we do".
"May I ask why?".
I don't want to say that I don't have any friends or anything like that, it sounds like I would seek attention. I don't want to be like that. But I also don't want to lie to her.…
"I don't really have a lot of friends to hang out with".
Casy looked at me briefly and said.
"I don't believe you, someone like you must have a few friends".
"Unfortunately, you're wrong, I'm not really that popular with other people."
There was a brief silence between us. Did I say something wrong? Shouldn't I have said something like that?
"I don't have that many friends either" Casy answers me.
"I don't believe you either, You got at least a few".
"I know but for some reason some people don't really like me. At first I thought maybe it was my hair".
"Your hair? How can your hair be the reason?".
I looked at her confused.
"As soon as people look different, there are people who either don't dare approach someone like that or think straight away that they're looking for attention"
"And you think that's thanks to your red hair?".
"Your hair is just as unusual".
She's right... Is it really that people keep their distance as soon as they see someone who looks different?
"Oh, how about we go in here?".
It's a clothing store. We went in. There were only women's clothes right on the first floor. I felt a little out of place.
"Ace, are you okay? You seem kind of nervous".
Nervous, am I? I seriously didn't realize that I was completely nervous.
"Come on, let's see if there's something for you too. But of course, not here for women".
She turns to me and grabs my arm and pulls me onto the escalators.
"Although I would like to see you in a dress." She laughs….
"You better get that image out of your head".
"Oh why? I'm just interested. Maybe you would look good?" she teases me
. When we got to the top she went straight to the hoodies. I was walking behind here. She took a white hoodie and held it right in front of me and looked at me.
"Try this on".
"Why sh-".
"I said put it on" she said more seriously.
I put on the white hoodie and stood by a mirror.
"It really suits you" she says.
"Do you think?".
"Yeah, the white hoodie with your white hair goes really well. We still need black pants".
Casy disappeared for a brief moment, and I took a closer look at myself in the mirror. I never thought a white hoodie would suit me so well.
"So, I think these pants should fit you. Change your clothes".
"Right now?".
"It's best not here, but yes".
I went to the locker room and changed. The pants were way too tight.
"It's a little too tight" I said to her.
"Come out for a moment so I can see".
It's a miracle that I could somehow move my legs, as tight as they are.
"It's actually tight".
"No shit sherlock".
"Go back in and change".
The pants were so tight that I had trouble taking them off. As I finished and went out of the cabin Casy said to me.
"Turn around for a moment".
Turn around?
"OK? Why's that?".
"Only for a second".
She grabs my pants from behind and checks the size. I immediately turned around and was embarrassed.
"YOU COULD ALSO JUST SAY THAT YOU ONLY NEED THE SIZE AND NOT TAKE MY PANTS OFF".
It was completely embarrassing for me, but it was far too funny for Casy that she couldn't really get it together anymore. We both walked to the pants, me completely red and Casy almost crying with laughter. She walked closer to me than usual. When we looked around for pants, Casy found some.
"How about this one?" she asked me.
A pair of pitch-black jeans.
"Try these on".
I took it and went into the locker room right next to us. This time it wasn't too tight, but not too wide either. I adjusted myself in the mirror and showed Casy the result.
"Yes, the pants look good… try the hoodie".
I took the hoodie and pulled it right over my t-shirt.
"Well, how does it look?" I ask her.
I just notice her just looking at me and she fell into some kind of trance. I waved in front of her face.
"Casy, are you okay? Answer me".
After a few seconds she came back.
"Oh... Eh... l-looks g-good..." she stutters.
"Are you alright?".
"Y-Yes, everything is ok…".
"Ok, if you say so, I'll change my clothes again".
I turned around and went into the locker room. Casy was frozen when she saw me. I went back out and saw Casy sitting on a stool at the end of the hallway, typing on her cell phone. Casy saw me and ran to me.
"Is everything alright?" I asked her again to make sure everything was okay.
"Oh... Eh... Yes, everything's okay really...".
"I've never seen you freeze like that, and I was a bit worried".
"Oh right…".
She looked briefly at the floor and gradually begun to blush.
"You just looked good…" she says and ran away from me.
Just like she did before, I froze in place.
Before she disappears somewhere, I quickly followed her. My face was no longer red, as if nothing had happened. The two of us walked out of the shop back onto the main street. This time there were fewer people walking around. I looked at the time on my phone and noticed it was already 5 p.m. I thought about what we could do next and just as I was about to say if she would like some ice cream, we both said.
"How about some ice cream?"
We just looked at each other and Casy said with a big smile.
"Sure why not".
This time she took my arm and wrapped it around her left arm. I tried to ignore it as much as possible and not look at her. I just noticed from the corner of my eye that she was just smiling.
"Tell me Ace... Has anyone ever been this close to you?" she asked me out of nowhere.
"I don't want to talk about it right now…" I answer her.
"Oh…".
her grip became looser.
"But you can still hold my arm".
She started smiling again and her grip tightened again. I don't like talking about things like that.... At that moment I thought, I hope none of my friends here see me like th-
"Yo, Ace!".
I looked to my right and saw... Ethan... walking out of a store...
"H-Hi Ethan, l-long-time no see"
It was so uncomfortable. Ethan looked at me and then at Casy.
"My name is Ethan, I'm a friend of Ace and may I ask who you are?".
"I'm Cassidy".
"Are you dating her?".
"Eh actually n-". Casy interrupts me.
"Yes, we are" she says with a big smile.
Ethan looks at me with wide eyes. I tried to give an "we aren't trust me" look. He turns to Casy and says.
"You two are really a good couple!".
My mouth just went down, and Ethan grinned at me.
"All right, I'll let you lovebirds continue your romantic day. See you!".
Ethan whispers to me, "Tonight" while he is walking by. I was completely confused and filtered out everything Casy said to me. Maybe he found something out…. When I came to myself again, the unpleasant feeling came back.
"It was one of your friends, right?".
"I'll explain it to you while we eat ice cream".
When we got to the ice cream Parlor and ordered something, I started explaining her who it was.
"Oh! So, you helped him last night?".
"Yes, and we've been friends ever since".
"Sounds like fate" she said and laughed. I laughed too.
"If I'm honest… I've seen him somewhere before".
"What do you mean?" I asked her.
"I don't even know myself… I think in a dream…".
"In a dream?".
"No, it wasn't him, but his face resembled her shape".
"Of her? Ethan is a guy".
"I know that I'm not stupid".
She looked at her ice cream.
"She was so beautiful…".
"Hm?".
"The girl... she had a long white dress and long platinum blonde hair... She looked so beautiful... Her face was similar to your friend... Gray eyes as well... I can only vaguely remember the dream... but I am 100% sure that I have never known him or seen him anywhere other than just now".
I thought for a moment.
"Maybe it was just the eyes that is similar and nothing more".
"Maybe".
The two of us were chatting about something else and by the time we were done it was already 6pm. It was getting a bit dark. As we walked out of the ice cream Parlor, Casy clung to my arm again. The streetlights were on and very few people were still walking around.