Chapter 11: When People Start Talking
1071 Words
Cassandra knew something was different the moment she stepped onto campus that morning.
It wasn’t obvious at first.
Just small things.
Glances that lasted a second too long.
Whispers that stopped when she passed.
Smiles that felt… knowing.
She ignored it.
Or at least, she tried to.
---
“Hmm,” Abena said, walking beside her. “You’re trending.”
Cassandra stopped. “What does that mean?”
Abena tried not to smile. Failed.
“It means people have eyes,” she said. “And they are using them very well.”
Cassandra frowned. “Abena.”
“Okay, okay,” she laughed. “I’ll be serious. People are talking about you and Daniel.”
Cassandra’s heart skipped.
Then immediately hardened.
“There’s nothing to talk about,” she said firmly.
“Apparently, there is,” Abena replied. “Library partners. Walking in the rain. Always together…”
Cassandra looked away.
It sounded different when someone else said it out loud.
Too real.
Too… visible.
---
“I don’t like it,” she said quietly.
Abena studied her face. “You don’t like the talking… or you don’t like that it might be true?”
Cassandra didn’t answer.
Because she didn’t know.
---
By the time she entered the lecture hall, the atmosphere felt heavier.
Her eyes moved automatically—
and found him.
Daniel.
He was already seated, flipping through his notes.
For a second, everything else faded.
Then—
someone leaned toward him, saying something.
He smiled slightly in response.
And just like that—
Cassandra remembered.
People are talking.
---
She walked to her seat without greeting him.
Without even looking in his direction again.
Back to distance.
Back to control.
---
Daniel noticed immediately.
Of course he did.
He watched her sit far away, her posture stiff, her expression unreadable.
Kwame nudged him slightly. “What did you do this time?”
Daniel sighed softly. “I didn’t do anything.”
“Then why is she acting like that?”
He didn’t answer.
Because he didn’t know.
---
After class, Cassandra moved quickly, trying to leave before anything—or anyone—could stop her.
“Cassandra.”
Too late.
She closed her eyes briefly before turning.
“Yes?”
Daniel frowned slightly. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“You don’t look fine.”
“I said I’m fine.”
The sharpness in her tone surprised even her.
---
Daniel paused.
Then nodded slowly. “Alright.”
He didn’t push.
Didn’t question.
And somehow—
that made it worse.
---
“You heard it, didn’t you?” she asked suddenly.
Daniel blinked. “Heard what?”
“The rumors,” she said, her voice tightening. “People talking.”
He looked at her for a moment.
Then shrugged slightly. “People always talk.”
“That doesn’t bother you?” she asked.
“No,” he replied simply.
Cassandra stared at him.
“I don’t like it,” she said.
---
There it was.
The real issue.
Not him.
Not Linda.
Not even her feelings.
But this—
being seen.
Being talked about.
Being… vulnerable.
---
Daniel softened slightly. “It doesn’t change anything.”
“It does,” she said immediately. “It makes everything complicated.”
“How?” he asked.
Cassandra struggled to explain.
Because it wasn’t just one thing.
It was everything.
Expectations. Assumptions. Pressure.
Feelings she wasn’t ready to face.
---
“I don’t want people deciding things for me,” she said finally.
“They’re not deciding anything,” Daniel replied. “They’re just talking.”
“That’s how it starts,” she said.
Her voice was quieter now.
But heavier.
---
Daniel stepped a little closer.
“Then what do you want?” he asked.
The question hit her directly.
No escape.
No distraction.
Just truth.
---
Cassandra opened her mouth—
then closed it again.
Because the answer…
was dangerous.
---
“I want things to stay simple,” she said.
Daniel held her gaze.
“They’re not simple anymore,” he said quietly.
Her heart dropped slightly.
Because she knew that.
---
A silence stretched between them.
Thick.
Unavoidable.
---
“Cassandra…”
Her name sounded different again.
More serious this time.
---
“Yes?”
Daniel took a small breath.
And for a moment—
it felt like everything around them faded.
The noise. The people. The pressure.
---
“I like being around you,” he said.
Simple.
Clear.
Honest.
---
Her heart reacted instantly.
Fast.
Unsteady.
---
“And I think you feel it too,” he added.
That was it.
The moment.
The one she had been avoiding.
Running from.
Pretending didn’t exist.
---
Cassandra’s chest tightened.
Her thoughts raced.
Her instincts screamed at her to step back.
To protect herself.
To stop this before it became something she couldn’t control.
---
“Daniel…”
Her voice came out softer than she expected.
---
“I’m not asking for anything,” he said quickly. “I just—”
But she cut him off.
“I can’t.”
The words came out before she could stop them.
---
Silence.
---
Daniel blinked slightly. “You can’t… what?”
---
Cassandra shook her head.
“I can’t do this,” she said.
There it was.
Clear.
Final.
Safe.
---
The air between them shifted instantly.
---
“Do what?” he asked quietly.
She swallowed.
“This,” she repeated. “Whatever this is.”
---
Daniel’s expression changed.
Not angry.
Not upset.
Just… still.
---
“You’re not even giving it a chance,” he said.
“I don’t want to,” she replied.
And that was the truth.
Or at least—
the version of truth she felt safest holding onto.
---
Another silence.
Heavier this time.
---
“Alright,” Daniel said finally.
Just one word.
But it carried weight.
---
Cassandra’s chest tightened again.
But she didn’t take it back.
Didn’t explain.
Didn’t soften it.
---
Because if she did—
she might not be able to stop.
---
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said quietly, turning away.
---
This time—
Daniel didn’t reply.
---
As Cassandra walked away, her steps felt heavier than before.
Her heart louder.
Her thoughts messier.
---
I did the right thing.
She repeated it in her mind.
Over and over.
---
But deep down—
it didn’t feel right.
- Writer
