“Okay, what song do you want to sing Cassidy?” Rachel said, lying down on Cassidy’s bedroom floor.
Shelley, Rachel, and Cassidy were figuring out what songs Cassidy was going to sing at the October community festival, which was in two weeks.
“How about this?” Shelley said, holding up a Whitney Houston album, “You should sing ‘Greatest Love of All.’”
“You think so? Alright put that on the list,” she said to Rachel, “but what if I mess up?”
“You won’t! You’ll be fine, trust us,” Shelley said, opening a bag of chips, “besides, we’re gonna be there, and so is Justin.”
“I know. But it’s weird because I don’t really sing in front of crowds,” Cassidy said, leaving back on her headboard. “Would you imagine how dumb I would look if
I messed up? This is a lot harder than I thought.”
“Shut up, you won’t,” Rachel said, tossing a pillow at her, “Hey! How about Barbara Streisand’s ‘Evergreen’? Wasn’t that the song your parents danced to at their wedding, Cassidy?”
“Yeah! Good idea. Alright, so it’s gonna be ‘Greatest Love of All’ and ‘Evergreen’, right?” Her friends nodded. “Great. Now all I need is the song that I’ll be singing with Justin.”
“Did somebody say my name?” Justin said walking in. “Sorry I’m late. I had to deal with some things. Hey Rachel, hi Shelley. Cass, did you finally pick your songs?” He sat down on the far end of her bed.
Cassidy could immediately tell that something was bothering Justin. The way he moved, the tone of his voice, but most of all the look in his eyes. He looked tired, confused, and weak. She decided to talk to him about it later when they were in private.
Remembering Justin had asked her a question, she snapped out of her gaze, “Yeah I decided on ‘Greatest Love of All’ and ‘Evergreen. How about you, what songs are you doing?” she asked him.
“Well,” he said, lying down, “I’m going to do songs from Stevie Wonder, ‘I Just Called to Say I Love You’ and one of my favorites, ‘My Cherie Amour’. But we still need the song we’re gonna do for our duet, remember?”
“Yeah I know. But what?” All four children sat in silence.
Justin began humming a little melody and Cassidy hit him playfully. “Justin! C’mon we gotta pick a song by the end of today.”
“Ow! I know, I know. I just spaced out for a second, gosh-” Justin shifted his weight and pulled an object from underneath him, “What’s this?” It was Michael Jackson’s “Bad” album.
“I got it!” Shelley said, “how about you guys sing ‘The Way You Make Me Feel’?”
Both Cassidy and Justin’s faces lit up.
“That’s a wonderful idea, Shelley! You wanna sing that Justin?” Cassidy said.
“Yeah! Alright, this is going to be the best festival Memphis has ever seen!” Justin said, suddenly hugging Cassidy, “Cass! Thanks so much!”
Rachel took a glance at the time, which read 6:50PM, her mother would be there in ten minutes to take her and Shelley home. Rachel really wanted to see Cassidy and Justin in action so she popped the CD into the stereo, going straight to track two. The sound of the funky beat filled the room.
“How about you two practice right now, while we’re here?” she said, more than asked.
“Umm… I… uhh,” Cassidy stuttered.
“Alright. How about I do the first verse and the first chorus, then you come in with the second verse and the second chorus? Then we do the next bridges and choruses together, and in the end we switch off from time to time? Sound good?” Justin said, standing up, straightening his white striped shirt.
“Alright, I guess…” Cassidy said, standing up next to him. Rachel and Shelley sat on the bed, facing them.
After a few more beats of the introduction, Justin cleared his throat and began to sing the first verse of the song, “Hey pretty baby with the high heels on, you give me fever like I’ve never ever known. You’re just a product of loveliness; I like the groove of your walk, your talk, your dress. I feel your fever from miles around, I’ll pick you up in my car and we’ll paint the town. Just kiss me baby and tell me twice that you’re the one for me,” he started to tap his foot to the beat and snap his fingers as the chorus kicked in, “The way you make me feel, you really turn me on. You knock me off of my feet, my lonely days are gone.”
Overcoming her nervousness, Cassidy opened her mouth to sing the second verse, “I like the feeling you’re giving me, just hold me baby and I’m in ecstasy. Oh I'll be workin' from nine to five to buy you things to keep you by my side. I never felt so in love before. Just promise baby, you'll love me forevermore. I swear I'm keepin' you satisfied 'cause you're the one for me,” she saw Rachel and Shelley swaying from side to side, smiling, “The way you make me feel, you really turn me on. You knock me off of my feet, my lonely days are gone.”
As the song went on, Cassidy began to open up more. She put attitude into her stage presence, and tried to show the natural chemistry that happened whenever she was with Justin. When the song was over, Rachel and Shelley gave them a standing ovation and whistled, “Encore, encore!”
“Cass, I didn’t know you had all that in you,” Justin said, surprised.
“Me neither,” she said, blushing.
There was a knock on the door. It was Joyce.
“Rachel, your mom is here now to take you and Shelley home.” She said, stepping into the room. Joyce was now two months pregnant, but she was beginning to grow a bit of a tummy.
“Alright, c’mon Shelley,” Rachel said, getting up. “Bye, Justin, bye Cassidy. See you guys on Monday.” Both girls thanked Mrs.Sullivan and went out the front door.
“As for you two,” Joyce said with her hands across her chest, “it’s time to eat. Justin, you want to stay for dinner right?”
Justin looked at her, then at the floor. “Actually, Mama Joyce…I think I might go to my house tonight, if that’s okay.”
“Of course that’s okay, sweetheart you don’t need to ask me if you can stay at your own house,” she said laughing, “are you sure you don’t want to stay? Jim made spaghetti tonight.”
“Yeah, I’m sure.” He said, faking a smile, “thanks anyway.”
“No problem, sweetheart,” she said running her fingers through his hair, “But Cass, get ready for dinner, okay?”
“Okay, mom,” she said, as her mom walked out of the room. She turned to Justin who had his hands buried into his pockets. “Justin?” she said, pacing her hand on his shoulder, “what’s wrong? And don’t say ‘nothing’ because I know when you’re lying to me.”
Justin just stared down at the ground for a while before answering, “Cass, can we talk about this later?”
“No, Justin. Tell me why you’re sad.” She was desperate to get to the bottom of this.
“I said we’ll talk about it later okay! You wouldn’t understand.” He looked at her, tears forming in his eyes, “I’m going home. Bye, Cass.”
“Justin, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you mad.” Halfway through her sentence, Justin had already slammed the door on his way out.
“Cassidy, eat your vegetables.” Simone said, spooning some salad into a bowl for herself. Cassidy didn’t answer. “Cassidy? What’s wrong? You didn’t even touch your spaghetti.”
“I’m not hungry,” she replied, sinking further into her chair.
“Well, what happened?” Jim asked.
“Justin and I kind of… got into a fight. When he walked in this afternoon for practice, he looked and acted different. Then I asked him what was wrong, he got upset and took off.”
“I’m sure it’s nothing honey, Justin probably needs time to think about some things.”
“Why was he so mad when I asked what was wrong? I just wanted to help.”
“I know you did, Cass, but give him time to think. He’ll tell you when he’s ready to talk about it.” Joyce said, rubbing Cassidy’s upper arm. “C’mon, eat up.”
Cassidy sat up and twirled some spaghetti onto her fork, but all she could think of was Justin.
Later that night, Cassidy was practicing singing “Greatest Love of All” when she heard the phone ring.
“Hello, Sullivan residence” she said in her innocent voice.
“Cassidy, sweetheart? Hi, it’s Mama Lynn, will you please give the phone to your mom?” she sounded like she had been crying.
“Okay, hold on a moment.” Cassidy covered the phone with one hand and called for her mother.
“Thanks Cass, I got it.”
She hung up the phone and got back to where she was.
“Hey, Lynn.” Joyce said, plopping down on the living room sofa.
“Ohh, Joyce… I just…I don’t know what to do anymore.” She began to sob.
“Wait up, Lynn, what happened?”
“Randy and I…”
Meanwhile, Cassidy was in her room preparing for the festival performance. “Why do I keep messing up on that part!” she said frustrated. She took a deep breath and sang acapella, “I decided long ago, never to walk in anyone's shadows. If I fail, if I succeed, at least I live as I believe.”
Darrin was knocking at her door. “Hey Monster Truck, turn the radio down, would you?” Monster Truck was Darrin’s nickname for her at times, referring to him wanting their parents to name her that.
“That’s not the radio, that’s me,” she said.
“No way?” he said.
“No, really. That was me singing,” she said as if it were no big deal.
“Well Cass, I didn’t think I’d say this but that was awesome.”
“Thanks, Darrin. I just wish Justin was here so I could concentrate.”
“Ahh, don’t worry about it. Remember what mom said, you have to give him time. I’m sure by tomorrow you’ll both forget what happened.”
“I hope so.”
“Don’t worry about it. I wouldn’t be surprised if he climbed to your window tonight.” He said, laughing, “That seven year old has a lot of energy in him you know; he bit me once.”
Cassidy laughed and smiled, showing her little dimples in the corner of her mouth.
“See, I knew that smile was somewhere. Well, I’m gonna go watch some TV and then go to bed. Goodnight Cass,” he said hugging her, then walking out of the room.
Sighing, she looked at the paper in her hand with lyrics to the song and picked up where she left off, “No matter what they take from me they can't take away my dignity.
Because the greatest love of all is happening to me. I found the greatest love of all
inside of me.” Peeling off her purple sweater, she opened the window slightly, “It’s getting hot in here.”
Worn out from practicing, she lied down on her bed near the window. She closed her eyes for a few moments and said to herself, “Let’s just hope that mom and Darrin are right. Tomorrow everything will be okay. Justin and I will be fine…” Cassidy opened her eyes and nearly had a heart attack when she saw someone staring at her right outside the window. She was ready to scream for her dad, until she saw the figures eyes; she knew those eyes from anywhere. It was Justin, -Justin! “ at her window.
“Lord, Justin what are you doing here! It’s 10:30!” she said, placing her hand over her heart, catching her breath, “you practically made my heart leap out of my chest.”
“Shh!” he placed his finger over his lips, “I have to talk to you. Are you gonna let me in or what?”
“Ohh sorry,” she walked over the window and slide the glass up, helping him get inside. “Do your parents know you’re here?”
“No, they don’t. That’s why I snuck through the window. Do you know how hard it was to get on your roof?”
“Why are you here?”
“I need to talk to you about… about something.”
“Let’s sit down, okay?” she said, shutting the window and fixed a spot for him to sit down on the bed.
Justin sat and stared at her closet door, blankly, his hands were once again buried into his pockets. She could barely make out his facial expressions because of the dim lighting, but she could tell that his eyes were red from crying. She could hear his steady slow breathing, as she tried to imagine what he was thinking.
“Look Justin, I’m really sorry about today, I-”
“No, no, Cass. It’s not your fault. I’m sorry for getting so mad. I just didn’t want to think about it.” He said, without even looking in her direction.
“About what?”
When there was no answer, she was ready to tell him to explain to her what he meant. But her mother’s words came back to her; ‘…give him time to think. He’ll tell you when he’s ready to talk about it.”
Cassidy played with the lace trimming on her white pillowcase, hoping Justin would release her from the suspense he was putting her through. Finally, he spoke.
“Cass, lately I’ve been scared of going home.”
She didn’t understand. “What do you mean?”
“Whenever I come home, I’m scared I won’t find my dad there anymore.”
“I don’t… I don’t understand what you’re talking about Justin.” She said, crawling over to him.
“I don’t want to hear them fight anymore, Cass. I don’t want to hear my mom cry. I don’t want to lose my family.” Tears started to roll down his cheeks.
“Justin, slow down. What and who are you talking about?”
For the first time, Justin looked at her right in the eyes. Cassidy felt her heart pounding. “Cass, my parents keep on fighting. And each time, it gets worse and worse. Tonight, I heard my mom yelling at my dad and I heard ‘divorce’ some where in there.” Another tear rolled down his cheek, “Cass, I don’t want to go through that. I don’t know what to do.”
Cassidy felt her heart burning, not knowing what to say at first, she just welcomed him into her loving arms. Cassidy felt the sudden rush of burning tears forming in her own eyes. They stayed like that for quite a while crying and embracing one another, before Cassidy spoke.
“Justin, I don’t know what to say. I don’t want to see you sad. But your parents still love each other; maybe right now they’re just stressed out.”
“They got a funny way of showing that they love each other. Cass, I’m just so scared. I’ve never seen them like this before.”
She hugged him even tighter. “I know, I know. But everything will be okay Justin. Your parents can work it out. And if they don’t, you’ll still be alright because everyone will still love you.”
“I guess you’re right. But what’s going to happen to my family? I don’t want to split up.” The tears continued to fall.
“I know, Justin. It’s alright, okay? I promise if you need anything you can just talk to me. I won’t tell anyone.”
“Thanks, Cass.” Justin and Cassidy just lied there, with a million thoughts running through their head. Wiping the last of his tears, Justin said, above a whisper, “I wish I could stay here with you. But it’s getting late, and my mom is probably gonna check on me soon.” He pulled away from her and stood up, sniffling.
“Alright, will you be okay?” she looked up at him with worried eyes.
“Yeah, I’ll be okay.” He said, trying to believe it. “I… uh… I guess I’m going to go now.” Cassidy stood up and gave Justin a heartfelt, warm, comforting hug. Then she walked over to the window with him and lifted it open, while he slipped outside. They shared one final goodbye and she watched him slip away into the midnight darkness, making sure he made it down the street okay.
She took a deep breath and closed the window. She walked over to her light switch and shut it off. The moonlight shone through like it had the night Justin and her were in the tree house, talking. Cassidy slipped under her covers, and held her pillow tight. She took in the scent of Justin, which still lingered on the fabric, then closed her eyes and drifted to sleep.
Number of reviews: 41
Print:
Chapter or Story