Befriending Cassie Ch. 02

All standard disclaimers apply. This story is complete fiction. Any similarities to anyone living or dead is a coincidence. Both main characters are 18 years old at the time of the story. Any characters involved in any form of sexual activity are 18 years old at the time of said activity.

**Trigger Warning**

This story centers on a character that was the victim of long term sexual abuse. The author DOES NOT condone sexual assault or abuse in any way, shape, or form. Likewise, this story is not intended to glorify or promote sexual assault or abuse. The focus of the story is to follow our female antagonist as she learns to rebuild her life and relationships. Due to the nature of her backstory, there will be instances where her abuse will be described or discussed. If this bothers you, please do not continue.

My focus tends to be on the characters, their relationships, and the story. I don't write quick jerk-off stories. In fact, there may be no sex at all in some chapters. If all you are looking for is a quick way to get off, these stories are not for you.

I'm relatively new to writing and look forward to positive feed back.

Thanks for reading.

I had arrived early at school. I didn't have to. With school starting the football team had moved to having practice once a day after school. It was just something I had done since I started driving to school my sophomore year. It kind of made me feel like I was starting my year off on the right foot. I had only seen Cassie once since the night of the dream. I felt my face flush when I had seen her and was thankful that she hadn't noticed me. I still hadn't been able to come to grips with or understand why I had had such an intense dream about her.

Before long more of my friends had arrived and we had congregated around my car catching up on how our summer had gone. The parking lot was next to the driveway the busses used for picking up and dropping off students. I happened to look up just as the front bus opened it's doors and started letting students off. About halfway through the crowd Cassie had stepped off. She dressed just as I would have predicted. Black from head to toe. She stood out in stark contrast to every other girl in the school. There was something different though. Her defiant sneer was absent from her face. Her eyes looked downward as she negotiated the crowd making her way towards the building. It was hard to tell from this distance, but it was almost like she looked, scared. I felt a bit of a knot in my stomach as I thought about how it must feel. Not only was she in a new school, but she was night and day different from everyone in the school. A fact that was sure to paint a target on her back.

"Earth to Cody!" my buddy Kevin was saying bringing me back to reality.

"Huh, sorry what?"

"I saaiid, get a load of that freak that just got off the bus."

I cringed at Kevin's comment.

"Bro, stop. She's my new neighbor." I said.

"Whaatt? You're living next to Chick Dracula?" he asked laughing.

"Be nice." I said.

"Oooooooo.... I think someone wants something sucked, and it aint your blood." Joe said making the universal blowjob motion with his hand.

I just rolled my eyes "You're such a child." The first bell rang and we all picked up our stuff heading to our separate classes.

The day was a blur. Meeting new teachers, catching up with friends, the endless amounts of "sign this" and "fill that out". The typical swarm of first day activity. I had caught sight of Cassie a couple times but was always too far away to try and interact with her. Finally lunch came. It's strange how, despite a three-month hiatus, we easily fell back into our same routines. I grabbed my food from the lunch line and made my way to my normal table like I had just been there yesterday. Within a few minutes the table was filled with my regular crew. Most of them were fellow football players, others just longtime friends. I was halfway through my meal when I spotted her. Cassie walked across the lunchroom and slipped out the side door leading to the outside picnic tables. I excused my self, grabbed my tray and made my way for the door. Walking outside I found Cassie sitting by herself at a table drawing in a sketch pad.

"Hey there." I said

She looked up closing her book and rolled her eyes.

"What do you want?" she sneered.

"Oh, nothing. Just figured I'd come out and get some fresh air." I lied.

"Uhuh. I saw you sitting with you're dumb jock friends. What? Are you stalking me or something?"

"Ok, ok. You got me. Actually, I just wanted to come and apologize for the other night. I didn't mean to embarrass you. I was just helping your mom fix the water heater."

"Whatever. You probably went home and jerked off perv."

I cringed a little. "No, not exactly" I thought to myself.

"You're not eating?" I asked changing the topic.

"I'm not hungry." Cassie grumbled.

"Oh c'mon, the food's not that bad here. Except Wednesdays. That's mystery meat day. No body has been able to figure out what is in it yet."

"I'll keep that in mind" she said sarcastically.

"Now, this," I said picking up the slice of chocolate cake on my tray, "this stuff is amazing. Mrs. Stein makes it fresh from scratch every Monday. Been doing it since my parents went to school here. "

"Uhuh. Is there a reason you're giving a food lecture?"

"Cause food poisoning sucks?" I said with a grin. Cassie just stared at me obviously unamused She said nothing. Just let out an exasperated sigh.

"You gotta try it. You wont regret it." I told her setting it down with a clean fork. "Anyway. I gotta run. Have a great day." I said turning and walking away.

"Hey!" She yelled. "I said I wasn't hungry."

I acted like I couldn't hear her. I walked around the corner where she couldn't see me then stopped and peeked back around. I watched as she stared at the cake with disgust. Finally, she picked up the fork and picked a small piece off and put it in her mouth. Her body slumped in defeat as she pulled the cake closer and began to eat it. Smiling, I turned and headed to my next class.

That night as I got ready for bed I made my way to the window to close the curtains. My window happened to face Cassie's. As I reached for the curtains, I happened to look across the yard and into her room. She was standing there facing her dresser wrapped in a towel, another wrapped around her hair. I stood there, not intending to spy on her, but unable to move. She reached up and removed the towel from her hair allowing it to cascade down her back. Her jet black hair contrasted with the soft pale skin of her shoulders. She next reached for the towel wrapping her body and pulled it loose. She tossed the towel on her bed and began to rummage through her dresser drawer. Her ass was amazing. It was firm and perfect. It was the kind of ass many women work hours in the gym to achieve. I watched as she pulled a pair of black underwear from the drawer.

Next she opened another drawer and pulled out a t-shirt. When she had found her clothes, she turned away from the dresser. Now facing me, i was met with another beautiful sight. Her breasts were beautiful. Pale, flawless skin covered two modestly sized orbs that seemed to defy gravity. They were capped by two light pink nipples that, from my vantage point appeared to be fully erect. Her stomach was toned and flat. Her pelvis and groin were shaved smooth. She lifted her feet, one and then the other, slipping them into the leg holes of her panties. Each time she did, I cold barely make out the soft, pink lips of her pussy. Having pulled them into position, I watched as she slipped the shirt over her head and pulled it down now obscuring my view of her incredible body. Now that she was clothed, I managed to shake myself back to reality. I suddenly felt a pang of guilt about my voyeurism. I snatched the curtains closed before making my way to my bed.

I woke in the middle of the night, my cock painfully erect. I reached down wrapping my fingers around my six and a half inch shaft and began to stroke it in need of relief. My mind began to run wild with lust. The dream, the one that had been so vivid, flashed into my mind. The way Cassie had thrown herself at me, the feel of her wet pussy wrapped around my hard cock, the way she had begged for me to treat her roughly. Images of her from the night I saw her in the house when I reset the water heater and again tonight in her room. I began to imagine how it would feel to take her breasts into my hands or what her pussy tasted like. I could feel my balls begin tighten as I reached orgasm. After just a few more pumps of my hand my cock erupted spraying hot, sticky cum all over my chest and abdomen. I lay there several minutes panting as I came off of my post orgasm high. Finally I stood making my way to the laundry hamper. I found a towel and cleaned myself up before returning to bed and drifting back to sleep.

Over the next few weeks I developed a new routine. Every lunch period I would find Cassie sitting outside by herself. I would always come up with some cheesy excuse about why I was outside and she would always act like I was the biggest inconvenience in the world. She never ate. She always claimed she wasn't hungry. I would always find some kind of treat and, under her protest, leave it on the table when I walked away. And almost always, she ate it.

It was a month into school when I had the worst day I would have that year. We were having our final practice before the game with our biggest district rival. We were running full speed drills. First string had done their rounds and the second string defense came in. Coach offered to let me sit the series out, but I was having a little issue with the timing of one of the plays. I opted to stay in to try and work it out. The center snapped the ball and I took it. Dropping back, I turned to my left scanning for a receiver. That's the last thing I remember. The next thing I know I'm laying on the ground with the trainer and half the O-line standing over me. Somewhere in the distance I could hear Coach Thurber reaming the ass of who ever it was that had gotten over zealous hitting me helmet to helmet at full speed. The trainer assisted me to my feet. I made it a few steps before I vomited on the field. The golf cart was called for and I was loaded up and driven to the locker room. As I lay in the trainer's office, I could hear the muted voices of coach and the trainer next door in his office. Finally the door swung open and both came in.

"How ya feeling champ." Coach asked.

"I'm good. Just a little sore." It was a lie. My head was killing me.

"Uhuh. Listen, you know I have to put you on concussion protocol, right?" he said regret in his voice.

"C'mon coach. I'm good. Besides, there's supposed to be scouts at the game tomorrow. You cant pull me." I pleaded.

"I don't want to. You know that. But I don't have a choice. It's for your own good."

"Yes sir." I said. I was devastated, but he was right.

"Ok. Its just precautionary. You should be back on the field next week."

"Yea. Sure." I said less than enthused.

"Good deal. Go get cleaned up. You need a ride home? You good to drive?"

"Yes sir." I said sitting up and heading for the shower.

The warm water did wonders. By the time I got out my screaming headache had reduced to a mild throbbing. I gathered my stuff and headed for the car. I was angry. Not at anyone in particular, just at the situation in general. As I made the drive home I was lost in my thoughts. I had come too far and worked to hard to miss out on a scholarship because of this. The sound of the siren behind me snapped me out of my thoughts. Looking in my mirror I saw the telltale blue lights of the police. I pulled over and watched as the officer walked up to my door.

"License, registration, and insurance please." the officer said.

I handed him the documents and waited.

"Any particular reason you failed to stop at the stop sign back there?" he asked.

"Shit!" I thought to myself.

"No sir. I'm sorry. Its been a rough day. I guess I just wasn't paying attention."

"Would have been even rougher if there had been a car coming." he replied.

"Yes sir. I messed up. I'm sorry."

"Sit here, I'll be right back."

The officer returned to his car and sat there for what seemed like an eternity. Finally he returned and handed me back my stuff.

"I appreciate your honesty. Sorry to hear about your day but you cant let a bad day interfere with your driving. You could kill someone that way."

"Yes sir."

"Your driving record is clean, and you were honest and respectful. Because of that I'm going to let you go with a warning. Don't let it happen again."

"Thank you." I said sheepishly.

With that, he returned to his car. I pulled back onto the road making sure to obey every single law as I finished my drive home. I was glad I hadn't gotten a ticket but it didn't change the fact that my dad was going to loose his shit when I told him Id been pulled over.

The conversation had gone better than I thought. Mom and Dad were more concerned about my head injury than the traffic stop (not that they were happy about it, just understanding.). After we were through talking Dad stood up from the table.

"Hand me your keys." he said calmly

"Aww c'mon Dad, it was and accident it wont happen again." I pleaded.

He held up his hand. "It's not really about the stop sign, although it should be. It's more about not wanting you driving while your brain is scrambled. It's just for a few days until you're back to normal."

I knew it was pointless to argue. Especially because I knew he was right. I dug in my pocket and handed him my keys. "How am I getting to school?" I asked.

"You'll just have to ride the bus. Mom can get you from practice in the afternoon.

I groaned. "Great" I thought to myself. "This should be loads of fun."

Mom had suggested I head to bed, but I wasn't really tired. I walked outside and sat sulking on one of the deck chairs. A noise next door caught my attention. Cassie was in the back yard taking the trash out.

"Hey. How was school today?" I asked

"What's it matter to you?" she snapped back.

That was it. All of my stress and anger from the day came boiling to the top. I prided myself on being able to maintain my temper, but when I lost it, I rarely held anything back. It wasn't that I was mad at Cassie per se, she had just been the unfortunate one to pull the cork on the bottle and I let her have it with both barrels.

"HEY!" I yelled as she started to walk away. She spun around, a look of shock on her face.

"What the fuck is your deal?! Jesus Christ, all I have done from day one is try to be nice to you and all you have done is treat me like complete shit. All I have tried to do is be your friend. I can see now why you don't have any. All you do is disrespect everyone around you. Including your mom!"

"I don't disrespect....." she started, but I cut her off.

"You don't disrespect your mom? Is that the lie you're going to try and tell me? I guess that's why she's over here at least once a week balling her eyeballs out to my mom. The one damm person in your life who works her ass of to take care of you and you treat her like complete garbage. And don't tell me you don't because I can hear you yelling at her night after night all the way over here. Listen, if you don't want to be friends fine. I don't fucking care anymore. But is it too God damm much to ask that you at LEAST appreciate the effort? You could start by not being such a raving bitch all the time!"

I stood there panting trying to regain my composure. Cassie stared at me in complete astonishment before breaking into tears and running inside. I stood there feeling like a complete asshole. I didn't think I could feel any worse. And then I did. Glancing towards the side window I saw Ms. Davis staring at me. Alerted by the yelling, she had opened her window and stuck her head out to see what was going on. I don't know how long she had been there, but the look on her face said it had been long enough. I spun around and went inside unable to take the look she was giving me. I bolted to my room and shut the door throwing myself on the bed totally disgusted with myself for my outburst. I'm not sure when it happened, but at some point I fell asleep emotionally exhausted.

I slept like complete shit. I don't know if it was the concussion or the stress, or the shame I felt regarding my behavior but my night was plagued by bad dreams. I found myself in the locker room. College recruiters talking to Coach Thurber about players they wanted to draft. I kept trying to get their attention, but it was like I wasn't there. Finally one of them asked coach "What about that Brannen kid."

"Don't worry about him, his brain is scrambled." coach had said. I bolted from the locker room through the school. All of the kids were laughing and pointing at me. As i reached the school door I ran into my dad.

"Too bad." he said "Could have been a great future, but you messed it up. Such a disappointment."

I raced out the door to my car and jumped in peeling out of the parking lot. I sped down the road. At some point the cops started chasing me. I was busy looking at them in the mirror when I blew through a stop sign. There was a screeching of tires and an awful crunching of metal. I climbed out of the car and saw the crumpled mass of steel that was left from the car I had hit. I ran to the passenger seat to see if anyone was hurt. When I looked in the window, my blood ran cold. There was Cassie. Her body was mangled and covered in blood. She was looking at me with those blue eyes. "All I needed was a friend. Why did you give up on me?" With that, she died. I screamed her name repeatedly trying to get her to respond, but she was gone. "I'll be you're friend. Just come back and I'll be you're friend!"

I woke up in a cold sweat. After gaining my bearings, I checked the clock. Seven a. m.. I didn't have to worry about school. I had doctor's appointments today. My head was throbbing. I made my way to the medicine cabinet and took a couple of Tylenol. Mom and Dad were gone for the morning. I was glad to see it. I was worried they may have caught wind of what happened last night and I really didn't want to rehash it. I walked out on the back porch. The cool morning air felt good. I stood there for several minutes lost in my thoughts. That's when I heard her voice.

"Good morning Cody."

I looked over to see Ms. Davis standing on their deck with a cup of coffee. She had apparently just got home from work and was still wearing her scrubs.

"Oh. Good morning Ms. Davis." I said unable to look her in the eyes.

"Are you ok?" she asked, real concern in her voice.

"Yes ma'am. No ma'am. I mean. I don't really know." I said with a sigh.

"Why don't you come over. I want to talk to you." she said softly.

Oh God, here it comes. "Yes ma'am." I said my gut tightening.

I walked next door feeling like a lamb heading to the slaughter. Ms. Davis met me at the door and ushered me to the kitchen.

"Have a seat. You drink coffee?" she asked.

"Yes ma'am. Black please."

She poured a cup and sat it down in front of me before sitting in the chair next to mine. It was painfully quiet for a minute. Finally I broke.

"Listen, Ms. Davis, I'm really sorry about last night. I was way out of line. I don't know what came over me." I rambled on the verge of tears.

She placed her hand on mine.

"Take a breath. I'm not mad."

"You're not?" I asked confused.

"No. Surprised maybe, but not mad."

It was quiet for a moment before she spoke again.

"Your mom tells me you had a bit of a rough day yesterday. Why don't you tell me about it."

I spilled the whole story. The concussion, being benched before such an important game, the traffic stop, everything. She sat there listening quietly.

"Sounds like a lot." she said sympathetically.

"Yes ma'am. The worst part is that I took it out on Cassie. I really didn't mean to. Now I've probably ruined any chance of friendship."

"I'm going to ask you something, and I want you to be completely honest with me. Why is being Cassie's friend so important to you?" Ms. Davis asked.

I thought for a minute.

"Well, " I started. "I don't know. She just seems like she really needs one. I know she's, well, a bit rough but I just cant help but feel like deep down inside all she needs is someone to care about her. I mean, besides you of course." I said quickly realizing how what I said may have sounded.

"And that's the only reason? No other motive? I mean, I did see the way you looked at her that night you came to fix the water heater."

I felt myself turn bright red. "No ma'am. Honestly. I mean, she's a beautiful girl and all, but, I mean, no I would never, I mean that's not how I think of her." I rambled nervously.

"Hmm. Beautiful. I haven't heard her called that in a long time. Ok, sweetie. I believe you. You're an amazing young man with a good heart, but I just had to ask." she said reassuringly.

"Thank you ma'am." I said meekly.

"Cody," Ms. Davis said with a sigh. "There's some things you should know about Cassie. We've never shared this with anyone but close family. The only reason I'm telling you is because if you really do want to befriend her, you need to know some background. But listen to me," she said, her tone becoming very serious, "you have to promise me that you will never tell anyone what I'm about to tell you. Not even your parents. And you definitely cant tell Cassie I told you."

I was somewhat taken aback by Ms. Davis' tone. I don't think I had ever heard anyone be so serious in my life.

"Yes ma'am. You can trust me. I promise."

Ms. Davis took a deep breath and then started.

"You know that Cassie's dad is no longer in the picture. What you don't know is that it's not just because of a divorce. Cassie's dad is in jail." She paused for a moment before continuing. "He's in jail for sexual battery on a minor."

I sat there stunned. The words echoed in my brain. Ms. Davis sat there and let me process what she had said. And then it hit me like a sledge hammer.

"Wait, do you mean... was he.... was it Cassie?" I asked afraid to hear the answer. She couldn't bring herself to say the words, simply nodded her head as the tears started to stream down her face. A flood of emotions hit me all at once. Anger at her father for what he had done. The fear of not knowing what to do with the information that had been shared, but mostly sadness. The deep, aching sadness that one can only feel for some one they truly cared about. And then disgust. Disgust at my self for the way I had spoken to Cassie the night before. Disgust at myself for the pain I had unwittingly inflicted. And, worst, the disgust at myself for the way I had sexualized her the last few days. It was more than I could handle. I had to fight back the urge to vomit.

"Oh my God. I'm so sorry. Jesus I'm such a jerk. I swear, if I had known I never would have said the things I said." guilt swept over me.

Ms. Davis sensed my pain and reached out wrapping me in a hug. For several minutes we just sat there. Each of us working through our emotions. Finally Ms. Davis broke the hug. She got up retrieving tissues for both of us.

Finally she spoke.

"You're a good person." She said "Cassie doesn't realize it yet, but she's very lucky to have you. I'm sorry to burden you with such terrible news, but I only felt it was fair that you know what you're up against. As far as last night, don't let it eat at you. We're all entitled to bad days. Besides, it's not like she hasn't given you every reason to tell her off. Not only that, she needed to hear the things you said. Sometimes it's the things you want to hear the least that you need to hear the most. I'm thankful to you for what you are doing. You were right when you said there's a different person deep inside her. I lost that person a long time ago. Id do anything to have her back. Please though, don't forget that you cant tell her that we had this talk."

"I promise." I said.

"Good. Now, I need to get some sleep. Thank you for coming over this morning." She leaned forward and gave me a kiss on the head. We stood up. She walked me to the door. As I walked out, she called out to me.

"Hey, don't worry about the scholarship. Those things have a way of working themselves out." She said with a smile.

"Thanks. Get some sleep." I said before heading for my house.