"Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you really love. It will not lead you astray."
― Rumi    

The sound of light tapping brought Cassie out of her slumber. She slowly lifted  her eyelids and then she looked up at the ceiling. She scratched her eyes and then she furrowed her eyebrows when she heard the continuous sound that seemed to be  someone typing. In a swift move, she sat up on her bed and lo and behold: Joseph was sat by her desk, with Cassie's laptop in front of him.

"Please, tell me I'm dreaming," she said in her usual lazy morning voice. Joseph turned around with a smug smile plastered on his face. He was dressed in a checkered black and white shirt with a black slim tie around his neck. He had on black trousers and a jacket hung around the backrest of the chair. His hair was neatly combed back. Cassie did not bother asking him what the special occasion was because all the times she had seen him, he dressed like he was ready for a job interview.  He had a mug on the desk in front of him and a plate that had two slices of toast, some bacon, a sausage, and some scrambled eggs.

"How did you get in here?" she placed her feet on the floor and stood by her bed.

"You should really lock your balcony door," he shot her a disappointed look. "I would offer you some breakfast, but I'm really not a courteous person," he smiled. 

Cassie slapped her head and squealed when she realized that she had hit the spot that was wounded. She had forgotten to lock the one door had had direct access to her. She felt so stupid and as much as she disliked Joseph, she was glad that it was him sitting in her room and not the person that attacked her. Usually, she would have had a more aggressive reaction, but she was amused by him, and frankly, she expected that and much worse from him. She also did not have the energy to curse him out or to send him out of her room. She was still mildly in pain and not in the mood.

"What are you doing with my laptop?" She moved closer to him.

"That's really none of your business," he dismissed in an ill-mannered fashion, and then he picked up a slice of toast and took a big bite.

Cassie pushed her head back and scoffed and then she walked into the bathroom. She inspected her face, and when she saw how evident the cut on her lip was, she searched through her mind for some sort of believable excuse to give those that she knew will ask about it. She washed her face and brushed her teeth before going back out to her room.

"You look rather unpleasant in the morning," Joseph commented, once he heard her footsteps. Cassie walked to him and smacked him on the back of his head. He did not flinch.

"And you look rather unpleasant all the time, what the hell are you doing here?" she asked in the angry and frustrated tone she used anytime Joseph was around her, or anytime she was on te phone with him.

"If your tiny brain can recall, you called me and told me some nonsense about Brianna going missing," he crossed his arms over his chest and turned around to Cassie.  He shuddered once he took a good look at her face. "Not that I care, but what happened to you?"

Cassie rolled her eyes but gave him an answer anyway, "Brianna happened to me," she said.

Joseph chuckled "you're telling me that you got beat up?" he kept on laughing, not even having the decency to try to stifle it in. Cassie slapped his arm, but he was not fazed by it, and so she gave him a deadly stare until his laughter came to a halt.

"What's so funny?" she rolled her eyes. 

"The fact that you got beat up is hilarious. But with that being said, I think you've got the wrong person, Cassidy," he said. "Think about it, Brianna just got shot, and she needs our help, why would she beat you up?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out," she poked the insides of her cheeks with her tongue. "I didn't get the chance to see the persons face but it was definitely a woman and she was very strong," she recalled.

"Cross Brianna off your list, it's not her," he seemed sure of it. "It can't be her," he said, and then he took a sip of his coffee.

"Then who?"

"I hate when you ask silly questions, Cassidy," he scoffed "if I knew I would've told you already."

"Then you're of no use to me right now," she dragged him by his shirt in an attempt to pull him up, but he did not budge.

"Don't you think it's about time we find out what that ring means, or at least find some other clues?" he asked.

"Well, he's your dad, you'll have to do that on your own," she replied.

"Don't you think I've already tried? Anytime I bring it up, he's dismissive. He wears it all the time and so there's no way I can steal it."

Cassie groaned and then she walked to her drawer and brought out  the bracelet. She held it up and carefully stared at all the charms that dangled from it. She touched the letter P charm and then she carefully thought about what it could mean. From the memories she had of she and Avril, nothing came to mind that related to the letter P. She looked at the charm of the house and then narrowed it down to either her house or Avril's since those were the only two houses they spent time together in. Next, she looked at the book and that confused her a lot because Avril hated reading, she hated anything that had to do with her learning. She knew that it would be difficult to figure out what that book signified. She looked at the key and bit her lip, a memory came to her mind.

Avril stepped on a tall wooden stool and then she stretched her body up to reach a box that was on a shelf in the attic.

"Be careful so you don't fall,' Cassie warned, she was nervous because the stool seemed unstable and Avril would stumble once in a while.

"I shouldn't have brought you here, you're such a baby," Avril said, and then she jumped down with a box in her hand. She pulled a key from her dress pocket and then she inserted it into the keyhole of the small box. It was a pink box that seemed to be part of the package of a Barbie doll. The key was small and cute, its colour matched that of the box. Avril had decorated the box with random small stickers, and it also had a few scratches on it. The box seemed to be made of hard material. Cassie could tell that despite the fact that it looked like a toy, it was strong.

Avril turned the key to the right and then she could hear a click that indicated the box was open "turn around," she told Cassie.

Cassie rolled her eyes and turned around, she was used to it. She never understood why Avril ever made her accompany her up to the attic whenever she was opening the box when she never let her see what was inside. "Just tell me what's in there, I won't tell anyone... I promise," Cassie tried.

"You shouldn't find out what's in here for your own good, Cassie," Avril said. "if I ever show you what's inside, I'll have to hit you hard on the head with a hammer so you'll forget it," she laughed, although Cassie could tell that it was forced.

"Okay, fine, fine," Cassie groaned, "don't tell me what's inside, we have such a genuine friendship," she said, sarcastically.

It was just then that she realized that Avril might have taken her into the attic whenever she was opening the box so that Cassie could be aware of the existence of the box, but she did not let her see what was inside because she was not ready to show her. Cassie bit her lip and then he flinched when she realized that she bit the part where the injury was. She placed a finger on it to see if she had caused herself to bleed; she hadn't. She had been too careless and forgetful, she made a mental note to herself to remember to be careful not to worsen her injuries. She moved on to the next one which was the lip, and all she could think of was that it stood for something that Avril had told her. The tree for her was easy because of how obvious it was, the only hard part was that she did not know what tree to pay attention to. She and Avril went to the park all the time; the park had a lot of trees. There were also trees outside Avril's house and in both their neighbourhoods.

"You've been standing there and thinking for a while now," Joseph said, "and so I hope you've realized or remembered something important."

"Avril had this pink box," she moved her index finger around in the air as she spoke. "She would never let me see what was inside, she'd only let me see the process of her opening and locking it with a key," she said and then she held up the key charm on the bracelet. "That could be what this means," she finished.

"Where can I find this box and key?" he enquired.

"The box is in the attic. There's this high shelf in there, it's right on top of it. It's pushed to the back so that it's hard to see," she remembered.

Joseph nodded and then he got up, he picked up his jacket that was placed on the backrest of the chair, and then he picked up a bacon strip and tossed it into his mouth. "I'll go see if I can find it. If I do, I'll give you a call," he winked. 

Cassie nodded and then she watched him leave. Once he shut her door, she went over to her desk and then she dug the fork that Joseph was using into the egg. She put a small piece in her mouth and then she nodded in approval of the surprisingly pleasant taste. She put some egg, bacon and the sausage on the toast and then she folded it in half and dug her teeth into the delicious juiciness. She tapped her finger on the touchpad of the laptop and then the screen popped up. She rolled her eyes when she saw that Joseph had changed her wallpaper to a picture of him with 'I LOVE JOSEPH CASTLE' written over it.

How childish! She thought to herself and then she laughed, she found it amusing and so she did not change it.

=======

Cassie stepped out of the bathtub after a cool and relaxing fifteen-minute shower. She dried her wet body with her towel and wrapped a smaller towel around her wet hair. She stopped the music that was blasting through her phone and then she walked to the sink and looked into the mirror above it. Her wound seemed to be in the healing process. She neatly stuck a new band-aid to the cut on her forehead and then she rubbed some petroleum jelly on the cut that was on her lip.

Her parents still were not back, and they could not have picked a better day to stay out overnight. Anytime her parents were out till late at night, they would check into a hotel and go to work from there, and so, she knew for sure that she would not set eyes on them till evening. She wondered if the person that attacked her knew that too.

She did not want to be in the huge house alone and so she had called Danny before her shower,  to pick her up so that she can spend the day with both him and Phoebe. Danny would drive her to Phoebe's place, and then they'll go out after that. They had not planned where they were going to yet. Her last day out with them was ruined by Brianna, and she really needed some alone time with her friends.

She used the towel to remove as much water from her hair as possible, and then she decided to let it dry naturally. She dried her body and then put on her clothes; blue shorts and a white shirt. She put on some makeup to try to hide the scars and bruises on her face. She made sure to apply bold pink lipstick on her lips to distract the attention from her cut to the bold colour. She rubbed some leave-in conditioner into her damp hair and then she gently combed it back, so as to not cut or damage her hair.

She heard her phone vibrating. It was a text from Danny that read 'I'm outside.' Luckily, she was ready. Danny had always complained about how long she made him wait whenever they had plans. She was proud of herself for being ready on time for once. She grabbed her purse, phone and then ran out of her room and down the stairs.

Danny was outside leaning on the driver-side car door, he had his legs crossed and his arms folded. He looked up once he heard the door open. His eyelids went up and his mouth hung open exaggeratedly. "Wow!" he exclaimed " I only waited three minutes," he overreacted.

Cassie narrowed her eyes at him and Danny protected his arms because he knew Cassie so well, and he was sure that she would definitely hit him. As expected, she hit him once she was close to him. "I'm not that bad," she grumbled.

"Yes, you are kiddo," he ruffled her damp hair and laughed.

Cassie felt a hand crawl up her shoulders. She jumped and turned around to see Mrs. Malcolm – the woman that called the cops the night before. "Mrs. Malcolm, you startled me," Cassie said, a bit out of breath. She felt uncomfortable. The old lady was known for running her mouth. She felt so lonely after her husband's passing, she had no one to talk to, and so she talked to everyone she could about everything, as much as she could.

"I'm so sorry honey," she smiled. She looked up at Cassie's wound and then she put her hand over her mouth and opened her eye widely. "My goodness," she gasped. " I hope you're alright dear," she lifted her feeble hands up to touch the Band-Aid that concealed Cassie's wound. "I was so worried about you yesterday when I saw that bad bad person attacking you." She brought her hand down and rested it on her walking stick.

"You saw wrongly ma'am," Cassie said, uncomfortably. She knew that Danny was attentively listening to everything the old woman was saying and that he would use all the information he had heard to question her, like an officer interrogating a criminal.  She would have cut the old lady off to stop her from spilling too much, but she did not want to be rude. "But thanks for calling the cops, I'm grateful," Cassie smiled.

"No, no," the woman shook her head, frantically. "I know what I saw, and your face," her voice broke "the bad person hurt your face," she looked up at Cassie's wounds.

"I fell," Cassie said, "That was what you saw," she said in a dismissive tone. "I'll be leaving now, have a lovely walk," Cassie smiled and then she walked to the passenger side of the car.

"Have a lovely day ma'am," Danny smiled at the astonished-looking woman and then he stepped into his car.

Cassie was already settled with her seatbelt buckled by the time he got in. "What I said to that woman is what you should believe," Cassie said in a stern manner. She was not ready for him to ask the questions that she was so sure he planned on asking. Danny lifted his thumb and then he buckled his seatbelt.  He brought his car to life and slowly backed out of her driveway. He decided to let that one slide. He did not want to anger her by constantly pestering her. He knew she was smart and trusted that she would make wise decisions and not endanger herself. There was an air of awkward silence which quickly dispersed when Danny turned on the radio and a song they both loved came on. They both sang along to the song, and everything went back to normal. They did that throughout the ride; they sang along to every song - even those they did not know the lyrics to.

Danny rolled up in Phoebe's driveway and then he stopped the car. Phoebe still lived in her dad's house, although she lived alone. Like Danny's parents, her dad had also moved out of the country. It was only for a year, and so Phoebe decided to stay at his house till his return. Danny stepped out of the car and made his way toward Phoebe's front door, but stopped when he noticed that Cassie was not beside or behind him. He turned around to see that she was majestically sitting in his car. She signalled her finger to the door and Danny chuckled and walked over to the door. He opened it and waited for her to step down.

They both walked to the front door, but before any of them could knock, the door swung open and Tyler stood before them. He squeezed his face into a frown as soon as he noticed Cassie's cut lip. Her bold pink lipstick distraction did not work after all. He gently touched the wound. "How did this happen?" he asked in a worried tone.

"I fell," she said "but don't worry, I'm fine," she assured him.  She  kissed him lightly on his lips and then pouted, "did Phoebe force you to spend time with her again?" she quickly changed the subject. 

"No," he slipped his hands into his pocket "I did this to myself, she only let me leave because she heard Danny's car pull up," he said. "You're a lifesaver bro," he placed his hands on Danny's shoulders.

"I know," Danny smirked.

"Well," Tyler glanced at his watch "I gotta go now babe, but I'll come over tonight," he kissed her on her forehead and then he stepped out of Phoebe's house. 

Cassie smiled, "Okay, see you this evening, love you," she wrapped her hands around his waist and kissed him. She used her finger to wipe lipstick smudges that she left on his face. 

"Love you too, babe," he said with so much sincerity, as he pierced his brown eyes into hers.

She released him from her embrace and then she stepped into the house. Danny was about to walk after her, but Tyler said, "Can I talk to you for a bit, bro?"

"Yeah, sure," Danny nodded.

Tyler walked to his car which was parked right beside Phoebe's dad's Range Rover, which she sometimes drove. Danny and Cassie did not spot his car because Phoebe's car hid his so well. Danny stood beside him by the hood of his car.

"What's up?" Danny asked.

"You and Phoebe know Cassie the best, and I trust you guys a lot," he said, and then he dug his hands into his pocket, " and that's why I want you both to know about this." He pulled out a small box from his pocket and then he opened it to reveal a big, beautiful diamond ring; an engagement ring.

Danny swallowed hard. He was not prepared for the answer to the question he was about to ask "You're going to ask Cassie to marry you?"

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