The Heart Of A Fighter

Chapter Four

One morning, after Cass had finished getting ready for school, she found her mother at the kitchen table, drinking coffee with a distracted look on her face.

Cass sat across from her, "mom, about that money, I won it from a fighting competition. Before you say anything, I know you'll tell me if I wanted to help to get an actual job. I want you to know that I have applied for jobs, but I haven't heard back from any of them, and I make way more money fighting in one night than I would working on an hourly wage after two weeks. That's the only reason why I did it, I'm sorry for not telling you what I was up to and I promise it won't happen again. That's all, I'm going to school now."

Cass slowly moved away from the table, her mother hadn't moved at all, but suddenly hung her head, "I knew what you were doing, I didn't want to believe it, but I knew."

She got up and took her coffee mug to the kitchen sink, "we'll talk about it later, I have to go to work."

Cass watched her mother grab her purse and walk out the door. She was so upset with Cass, that she didn't know how to handle the situation, that's how Cass knew her anger was real.

She sat quietly in class and stared out the window. Mr. Howell was writing questions on the board and was calling on students to answer them. Cade looked over at her with a sympathetic expression.

Mr. Howell interrupted her thoughts, "... Ms. Rourke, exactly what is so interesting out there that you cannot pay attention to the lesson?"

Cass looked up at him blankly and realized he was waiting for her to answer a question, she blushed, "oh, sorry, it looks like there's a storm coming..."

She looked up at the board and answered the question he had originally asked her. Cade left her alone that day, remembering how agitated she had been with him before, even though he had done nothing wrong.

The next day, after school, he saw her walk into the auditorium. He went up to the catwalk, one of his many hiding places around campus, and watched Mr. Howell introduce her to the the drama club.

Cass sat down in their circle and they handed her a script, asking her to read the lines for the lead female role. She read her line in the form of a question.

"Here I wait, in the dragon's keep, waiting for my true love to come rescue me? You're kidding me, right?" Cass scoffed.

"Is there something wrong with your lines Ms. Rourke?" The club president asked sarcastically.

"Yes, but not just my lines, this whole play sucks. Why does there need to be a damsel in distress, why can't she figure her own way out?" Cass asked bluntly. "And furthermore, this whole true love concept is ridiculous, and misleading. Why not do a play with realistic characters and realistic scenarios? I think people might enjoy that more."

"We always put on these types of plays, I haven't heard any complaints," he retorted.

One of the other girls meekly put up her hand, "actually Jayden, I don't like this play either. I think we should give Cassandra a chance to find something for us. She might be onto something."

Jayden, the club president, shot up from his seat, "does anyone else feel this way?" They all mumbled and nodded in agreement, he sighed dramatically, "fine then, it appears, Ms. Rourke, that the club wishes to initiate you this way, are you up for it?"

Cass was taken by surprise at the turn of events, "uh, yeah, I'll do my best."

Cade smirked to himself, "this should be interesting."

As Cade went downstairs and walked down the hall, the girl that had sided with Cass came walking out and spotted him. She ran up to him and hugged his arm, "Cade, you should be in our play this time, it's not going to be one of those silly love stories, you should audition."

He rubbed his neck awkwardly, "man, I don't know Lily, I haven't acted in such a long time."

Cass came out right as he said it, "what are you still doing here?"

Cade shrugged, "no reason, just didn't feel like going home right away."

Cass passed him and exited the building into the school courtyard. She thought about what she had heard, and then realized she had never heard him use the word 'home' before. He hadn't shared any information on himself, but Lily knew something about him, and for some reason, that bothered Cass. She just assumed it was because he knew things about her.

At dinner, Cass pushed her food around her plate, then dropped her fork down and looked up at her mother, "do you know any good plays without the lovey-dovey, damsel-in-distress junk?"

Her mother laughed, "really? Well what exactly did you have in mind? Because honestly dear, most plays have a little romance in them, but why don't you take a classic play and make your own adaptation of it, I think that would be most memorable."

"Hmm, it's worth a shot I guess. I'll suggest it to the club president," Cass scarfed down her food and excused herself.

"I just want to say, thank you Cassie for doing this, it means a lot to me," her mother smiled.

She had extracted the promise from Cass that she'd try something new and completely opposite of fighting. Cass was determined to show her mother she could stay out of trouble. The following club meeting, she was annoyed to see Cade sitting there in their circle on the stage. He listened intently as she pitched some ideas to the club president and other members.

When they were going through the costumes, Cade had stood next to her and started searching the rack with her.

"I've got to hand it to you Rourke, you really commit yourself," he teased.

"I'm here because I made a deal with my mom, what I don't understand is why you're here," Cass pulled a torn costume out and set it to the side.

Cade smirked, "apparently they needed me, they didn't have enough guys in this club to play male roles. You can even ask Lily. She begged me to be here."

Cass glanced over at Lily, who was shyly staring at Cade nearby, "seems to me she has another reason for wanting you to be here."

"Is that so? Are you jealous?" He chuckled.

Cass rolled her eyes, "hardly... I simply feel sorry for the girl for being so oblivious to how irritating you are."

Cade was clearly amused by her, and beneath Lily's charming exterior, she was fuming. She didn't get why Cade was paying so much attention to Cass.

Lily's best friend, Caroline, came and started whispering to her, "I've been hearing things about her, she's trouble. She was expelled from her last school, and she likes to fight. Some kind of wild girl, which means she's probably wild with boys, too."

Jayden was annoyed, "quit with the gossip, we still have a lot of work to do. And Caroline, you should know better than anyone how rumors can effect people, so knock it off before someone gets hurt."

Caroline bit her tongue and continued working. Lily knew they were just rumors, but she couldn't help noticing Cass's skirt seemed shorter than everyone else's, even though she had her sweater tied around her waist. Some of the girls had taken the torn costumes and started mending them, Cass wasn't sure how to do it, so she asked Lily to show her.

Lily was a nice girl by nature, so she smiled and agreed to teach her, "so, Cassie, do you mind if I call you Cassie?"

Cass nodded, "yes, I mean no, I don't mind, thanks for asking."

Lily beamed, "oh, no trouble at all. Where are you from?"

Cass awkwardly explained a little of her back story without going into too much detail. She didn't want Lily to see her as a hooligan and write her off like so many of the other girls had.

"So what brought you here?" Lily asked with interest.

"A few different reasons, but the main one was my mom's job," Cass pricked her finger with a needle and sighed.

Lily watched her with fascination as she sucked on her wound and quickly stopped the bleeding with a tissue, then continued working as if nothing happened. She started noticing all types of scars on Cass's face and hands.

"Not to be insensitive, but how did you get all those?" Lily pointed at them meekly.

Cass turned red and self-consciously pulled her shirt sleeves over her hands, "it would take too long to explain."

Lily was disappointed, but she couldn't blame Cass for distrusting her. She wanted to be friends though, and knew she'd have to work at it to be close with someone like Cass. She knew Caroline probably wasn't the only one who had been talking about her, the girls in their school were such horrible gossips.

"Cade has scars like that on his hands," Lily shyly stated. "From the martial arts tournaments he's been in."

Cass was surprised to hear someone else talk about Cade's fighting skills, "oh, is he any good?"

Lily nodded, "he's always in the top ranks. He dominates his competition, like he's from another world."

"I never would've guessed," Cass played it off and pretended to be unimpressed, though she secretly was. "Does he still compete?"

"It's something he usually does during the summer, so it doesn't conflict with school," Lily had returned her focus back to mending costumes after she noticed Jayden glaring over at her.

Cass carefully concentrated on her stitching, then glanced over at Cade, who was hunched over a stack of scripts with Jayden.

"I never would've guessed he acted either," Cass added nonchalantly, for some reason she wanted to know more.

"Oh yes, he was quite good at it back in middle school, his best role was actually Romeo in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. But he got bullied pretty badly for it," Lily said sadly. "You know how middle school boys are, they pretend they hate all that mushy romance stuff, and they tormented him over the fact that he did kissing scenes. He quit after that. I've been trying to get him to come back for the longest time. I suppose I should be thanking you for that."

"Thank me? But I didn't do anything to get him here," Cass was puzzled by the concept.

"I guess you being here was reason enough for him, oddly enough. He just seems to be drawn to you," Lily had said more sharply than she intended to, and blushed, "sorry that came out a little harsh."

"No, it's alright. If it's any consolation, I don't know why either, I assume he just likes picking on me," Cass smiled awkwardly and continued stitching.

Caroline had been sitting near by and heard their conversation, "Lily only thinks Romeo was his best performance because she was in those kissing scenes, I personally always believed his acting lacked something, there wasn't any feeling behind it. Yeah he's good with lines, but you can totally tell he's just acting."

"Caroline!" Lily blushed.

Cass couldn't help but laugh. Caroline and Lily looked at her in surprise to hear such a sound come from the reputed tough chick. Jayden and Cade even stopped what they were doing to see where the sound was coming from. Cade had heard Cass laugh a little before, but never like that.

Cass stopped herself, "I'm sorry, I'm not laughing at you, you just reminded me of some old friends I have back in the city."

She became quiet again and finished mending the costume she had. Not wanting to make things too awkward, Caroline and Lily changed the subject and returned to their tasks.

After they had finished for the day, Cade walked with her. She kept glancing over at him suspiciously. Cade felt her eyes on him, "what?"

"They say you're good with lines, I don't believe it," Cass teased.

"Oh no?" He handed her a copy of 'Romeo and Juliet' opened to a specific page and dramatically started reciting, "He jests at scars that have never felt a wound. But soft, what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun. Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon, who is already sick and pale with grief, that thou, her maid, art far more fair than she. Be not her maid, since she is envious-"

Cass laughed and pressed the book into his chest, "okay, bravo, well done, I get it. I hate to admit that I'm a little bit jealous, if only I had your brain."

Cade raised an eyebrow at her and smirked, "because I can memorize lines? Anyone can do that. You know, it's funny, yesterday you would've bitten my head off and told me to leave you alone. We're almost to your house now and you haven't shooed me away, what changed?"

"I couldn't tell you if I wanted to, because I don't know. Let's just pretend this never happened," Cass turned red and left him at the corner.

Cade smiled to himself, feeling like he had progressed. Perhaps they could be friends now? He wondered what she was thinking. Cass closed the front door behind her and sank to the floor to remove her muddy shoes.

Her mother popped her head into the entryway, "oh good, you're home. How was your day? I'm ordering takeout tonight, I have the night off."

"It was fine, mostly uneventful, but at least I'm not getting into trouble, right?" Cass put slippers on and stood up as she pulled out her homework.

Her mother fretted, "do you really miss that crazy life of yours that much? Do you really need to get into mischief in order to have a good time?"

Cass rolled her eyes, "no mother, I just miss my friends. Not the getting into trouble part, just the hanging out part."

"I see. Well would it suffice just to hang out with me tonight? We could watch a movie or something, or are you too cool for your mother?" She teased.

Cass just nodded and finished her homework. She listened to her mother talk about work and watched a movie with her, she was about to head upstairs to get ready for bed when her mother stopped her.

"You sure you don't have anything you want to talk about? Like, no new friends or anything?" Her mother hinted.

"Not particularly, why?" Cass knew her mother was up to something.

"Oh nothing dear, I just heard that a boy has been walking you home after school, wasn't that him you left at the corner earlier?" Her mother teased again.

Cass accidentally bit the inside of her cheek at the mention of Cade, "he's no one, just a pest. He doesn't walk me home, he follows me, I don't know why."

Her mother smiled, "really? Why haven't you told me about him before?"

"He's not worth mentioning, he's a troublemaker, you don't want me around troublemakers, right? So I mostly just ignore him," Cass squeezed a throw pillow to her chest.

Her mother laughed, "it's Cade Bourne, isn't it?"

"Yes, how did you know?" Cass turned red.

"We live in a small town now, remember? I work with his mother. According to her, he can't stop talking about you. She tells me stories about him all the time, he doesn't sound like a troublemaker, judging from the stories, he sounds like a sweet and sensitive kid," she takes a sip of tea. "What exactly does he do to get into trouble?"

"Well... I guess he doesn't really do anything, he likes to run in the halls, he keeps to himself, except when he wants to irritate me," Cass wondered what her mother was getting at. "You can't say for sure he isn't a troublemaker though, we don't know what he does outside of school. All I know is that he's always alone."

"Hmm, but perhaps you shouldn't be so quick to judge someone you don't know," her mother gathered the dirty mugs from the coffee table and took them to the kitchen.

Cass was puzzled, it seemed like her mother knew something, but wasn't at all eager to tell her what it was. Now that she thought about it, there was something different about Cade. Cass had known troublemakers all her life, and Cade wasn't like that, he was just a loner, a quiet kid. She remembered what she had learned about him that week, and that there was still so much she didn't know about him.