Cassie
"Hey," I called to the guy with the green hair. What was his name again? All I can remember is he loves eating and sleeping."Kasey," Mel whispered beside me."Kasey," I called again."Yes?" he asked, finally turning around. I handed him the slam book he gave me a few days ago. I totally forgot about it until it magically showed itself to me this morning. I didn't know such thing still exists. Even grade school students prefer to use F******k."Seriously, Cass? It's been a week. How can you not know their names?" Mel said as I went back to our station."Uhm, because I'm a visual learner?" I answered. "I’m not really good with names. And I know Clark."Clark, the bassist. He's really nice. He reminds me of an uncle. Not my uncle, though. They’re all bonkers."That's not good enough," Mel said, exasperated.I knew Mel sent our applications forms to them first. A couple of them, actually. But I really didn't think we'd get them. I was merely patronizing her because I knew it's impossible. Turns out it isn't. That girl must have used all her luck in this lifetime.And every day fandom is just too much for me to handle. Call me stiff, but I'm just not cut out for that thing."Look, that guy," he pointed to the short guy with the blue hair. "What's his name?"It was probably because of her tenacity that she was my friend. I sighed. She won't stop until I knew the names of the members of her beloved band."He's the vocalist, right?" I shrugged. At least I know who's who."That's Landon Hart. H - A - R - T," she spelled.I nodded."Of course, I already told you. Kasey is the drummer."Again, I simply nodded."How about the guitarist?" she asked, looking around but he's nowhere to be found."Noodle-hair?" I asked.The one who was missing from the event. The guy who bumped into me. The guy who took my notebook. The guy who tried to kidnap me. Yeah, I know him.First impressions last. And that was more than one.Mel sighed. "How long are you going to call him noodle-hair?""What? His hair looks like noodles," I said defensively."His name is Matthew, okay? Matthew Rayner," she said, as if talking to a preschooler."Are you talking about me?" A voice boomed behind us. It's noodle-hair. I mean Matthew.He was blatantly ignoring me. And I was doing the same thing."Landon was looking for you," Mel told him. Unlike me, she's already pretty comfortable with the band members. Good for her. I'm the awkward one here.Matthew just nodded and went away.I didn't realize that I was holding my breath until I finally let it out as he turned his back on us."Woah, he's so cool!" Mel said, dreamily, resting her head on her palm and watching him walk away."I thought you like Landon?" I asked. She totally had a crush on him."Of course I like Landon best," she said, her voice turned into a whisper.I guess it's unethical to have favoritism in the workplace. Landon's the front man, so the spotlight must be on him. Mel also told me he came from a family of singers."Want me to get you some coffee?" I asked when I noticed Mel yawn. She stayed up late last night finishing a season of Korean drama. Yep, she's into Korean pop, too."I'd love that," she said smiling. "Thanks."Told you so.I made a face at her before I went out to get her coffee. There wasn't much to do here anyway. We’ve been sitting for hours and my legs are getting numb."Cass!" I heard Clark call as I went out the hallway."Oh. Hi," I stopped as he walked towards me."Going somewhere?" he asked."Coffee for Mel. And maybe for the others, too," I answered."I'll come with you," he said. "My treat.""How's your internship going, so far?" he asked as we went to the nearest coffee shop. It wasn't too far. Just enough for a short walk. The weather was nice, too."It's fine," I said. "I just think there isn't really a lot for us to do around here.""How about the guys?" he said, referring to the band members."Believe it or not, I just learned their names today," I said. "Mel grilled me this morning.""Seriously?" he said. I guess it's not really normal for me to not know the names of the people around me. Blame my indifference."Yeah. It actually took me a month to remember Mel's name." Even though we were hanging out together in the library every day. She was a friend of a classmate. I never thought we would become this close."I must be honored you knew mine," Clark said exaggerating."Well, you kinda stood out because you barely wore a shirt," I laughed. I wonder how he never catches a cold staying out in the open like that."Sorry. Does that make you uncomfortable?" he asked as we entered the cafe. The aroma of coffee beans floating in the air."No. Not really," I said, honestly. I really don't like seeing half-naked men but somehow it doesn't bother me."Four Americanos to go," he said to the lady on the counter. "How about you?""I'll have a smoothie," I answered. I don't really drink coffee. I prefer tea or fruit shakes anytime."And two smoothies," he added."It's Matthew, isn't it?" he asked as we took a seat, picking up from our conversation earlier."We're pretty civil," was the only word I could describe our relationship with."You're not much of a talker, aren't you?" he said, smiling. "You remind me of someone.""Who?" I asked curiously."Myself," he said, reminiscing. "When Matthew came with Landon, I didn't really talk much with him for like one year.""You guys seem really close now," I pointed out. They're closer than band mates and friends. Almost like a family. I actually envy them."Yeah, I thought Landon was intimidating but turns out that he's a really good guy. You just have to get to know him," he said, drinking his smoothie. "Same with Matthew. Just give him some time."Matthew, huh?We didn't really have a very good start. I wonder if time could actually make some difference.I gave Clark a small smile. "I'll keep that in mind," I said.MatthewI heard shouts of laughter as I went to the studio. It was a girl's so it was probably Mel. I never thought it would be Cassiopeia. That girl just sits around all day, staring blankly into space."Cassie," I saw Kasey lift her up and spin her into circles. She was obviously enjoying it, since she's not telling him to stop. What is Kasey doing touching a girl carelessly like that?So she knows how to laugh, too. She always looked so serious I thought there was something wrong with her facial expression. She looked scary when she's angry, too."Since when did those two become so friendly?" I asked Landon as I put down my bags."Hmm...Let me think. Since you stopped coming to practice," he said sarcastically."I told you I was visiting my hometown for a while," I said defensively.I did went to my hometown for a few days. He didn't seem to have a problem with it before I left."Do you think we didn't notice that you've been avoiding her?" he said, referr
CassieThe next morning I woke up to a bright sunny day. My dream must have been good, too good to even remember. But it left me with a tingling sensation that I usually carry throughout the day.Mel was still sleeping on the top bunk of our shared room. That slowpoke. I'll bet she'll snooze her alarm for another hour before turning the house upside down just to get to work in time.I went ahead and got dressed but Mel was still dead asleep when I came back to check on her. It won't be of any use trying to wake her up. You could abduct her to another planet and she wouldn't feel a thing. I should be worried about her.I left a sticky note on her forehead and made sure to lock the door when I left. The studio was quite a ways from our apartment, so I had to walk towards the bus stop to get there. It was still pretty early and the warm summer breeze was blowing. I was wearing my rubber shoes since I intended to have a little jog, I was lacking exercise these past few days
Matthew“Matthew,” I felt a hand lightly tapping my cheek. “Matthew, wake up.”I slowly opened my eyes and was greeted by a blinding light. My hair’s plastered to my forehead with sweat. My arm felt stiff and I felt disoriented for a little while. Right, we were up on the hill. I must have fallen asleep. It sure felt nice having some peace and quiet once in a while. Cassie was already up, stretching.“What time is it?” I asked, dusting off some grass from my pants.“It’s nine in the morning,” she said, unbothered.“Already!?” I asked with a jolt. I must have slept more deeply than I thought. I took out my phone and saw missed calls from at least five people. I sighed. Landon left a voice mail. Which in itself was a bad omen.Get your ass in here right this instant, it says.“Did I get you in trouble?” Cassie asked, a crease forming on her forehead. I noticed her eye
Cassie100 facts about Landon Hart100 facts about Matthew Rayner100 facts about Clark ClineI scrolled down the screen but there wasn't one with the same headline as Kasey's. Weird. But what's more weird is how I could work with these people and know next to nothing about them. As a Communications intern, I totally suck. How am I supposed to promote them without even knowing the basic stuff about them? This is so frustrating. I don't know why I prefer to consult Google instead of asking the people themselves."Are you stalking us?" Landon said, rolling his seat towards mine and leaning closer to look at my computer. Unlike Clark, Landon could be a bully at times that's probably the reason why we got along with each other. He’s someone like a partner in crime. We both like playing pranks on the other guys."It's called working," I said making quotation marks with my fingers in the air, emphasizing the word work. "I'm doing my research.""Com
Matthew"Where's Cassie?" I asked. These past few days she's been mostly late for work. Sometimes she doesn't show up all day at all. Mel told us she was having a hard time sleeping at night so she lets her sleep in during the day. At times she doesn't feel so well that we told her to take the day off so she won't get worse."Good morning," Cassie said weakly coming into the room. Her hair was tied into a ponytail, which was a rare sight. I tried to look her in the eye but she was looking down. I can see the layer of dark circles forming under her eyes. She quietly sat on her desk and powered up her computer."Is she okay?" I whispered to Mel who was equally observing her. Cassie moves like a zombie from The Walking Dead. I’m seriously concerned about her.Mel shrugged. "She barely touches her stash on the fridge. I have to force her to have a few spoonfuls every time I eat with her."So she wasn't eating, I thought. No wonder she's too thin. Her cheeks, which was her
CassieI woke up and the memory of what happened last night flashed before my eyes. I instantly slapped myself just for the sake of it.Stupid. Baka. Pabo. Bobo. Calling myself stupid in every language I know wouldn’t cut the embarrassment I’m feeling right now.I buried my face in my pillow and screamed. I just subjected myself to complete and utter humiliation. I swear I won't be able to show my face in the studio after this. At least not to Matthew.Damn it! I hate being sick. I act like a drunk whenever I am. I get upset for reasons that never bothered me on normal days and say whatever I want. I'm perfectly able to handle it on my own but now I realized it's actually very embarrassing when other people get involved.Oh my god! I replayed the things I said last night. Did I just admit to him that I wanted to die? Now he's probably thinking I'm suicidal. I mean I do. I did. But I won't kill myself! Those are just passing thoughts.I picke
CassieIt’s been a month since I've been working with these rock stars but up until now, I still haven't gotten used to all the ruckus they make. For one, the pounding and strumming seems to be getting louder each day but my eardrums have luckily adjusted.If only these people would be a little more serious, I thought as I watched Landon jump up and flail all around the room. It's obvious the kid was playing around."Here, water," I said tossing each one of them a bottle. They instantly gulped mouthfuls before putting down the now empty bottle and wiping their sweat. The room was fully air-conditioned but moving around so much must have caused them to sweat a lot that they started stripping off their soaked shirts before I knew it.I really don't mind seeing half-naked guys, not as much as they wanted to show off. I think Clark's got the best build among the four of them, maybe because he often plays the bass without a shirt. He's tall and lean. Not much tattoos either.
MatthewThat girl, she clearly passed the entire burden on me, I thought as I scanned the album for some possible designs for her first tattoo."Where's she planning to put it?" the tattoo artist asked me. He was Kasey's friend so we could take our time choosing but I didn't think it would be this hard."Collarbone," I answered. I looked over to where Cassie and Kasey were waiting; they looked like they didn't have any problem at all. Well, it was me who's carrying the world on my shoulders. I should watch what I'm saying next time."She's cute," the artist said. "Who's she dating between the two of you?"I gave him a 'mind your own business' look. He seemed to have understood and he looked away from her. It just felt wrong having guys thinking things about her."What about a flower? Or a butterfly? Girls like those stuff," he suggested.I shook my head. Those are too mundane. I was looking for something symbolic."How about a cat? Does she have any pets?" he