Finding Cassidy Read Free Page B

I whispered into the silence, “then I could have it too.”
    I guess I turned off the computer at some point, or maybe I didn’t. I don’t know. All I remember is lying on my bed watching the numbers on my clock tick over and over. Two a.m. Three a.m. Four a.m. As the numbers added up to morning, I added up my blessings.
    And there were lots of them. Because I was under no illusions. I had lived a ridiculously, unbelievably, almost perfect life.
    I was one of the lucky ones. Sure, part of it was because Mom had inherited that Texas oil moneywhen Nana died—I had a car, money to spend whenever I wanted it, trips to Aspen at Christmas, France every second summer. But there was more to my perfect life than money, and I knew that too. I had two parents who loved me. I had Jason. I had friends like Prissy and Brynna.
    I mean, there was nothing bad to say.
    All I could do was pray there’d be nothing bad to say tomorrow. That Dad would be okay. And that I would be, too.
    I had to check in at school the next morning before I went to the hospital. Mom was right—I’d missed so much time I was behind in a couple of classes, including environmental studies, which I had first block.
    Prestwood High had an agreement with the powers that be at Circle Lake. We held our environmental studies class there, and the naturalists taught us about stewardship. In exchange we helped them with projects around the lake. It was an easy class—people rarely failed—and there was usually a spectacular year-end trip. This year, organizers were talking about visiting a sister nature sanctuary in Costa Rica. That’s how Dad had convinced me to enrol. He said it would be a good opportunity to get involved in thecommunity, and to explore my love of birds, but he also mentioned the trip about fifty times. I did too when I convinced Prissy to take the class with me.
    The parking lot was almost full. I pulled my Cabrio in beside a navy blue Smart car and hurried down the path to the nature house.
    We met in the library. Luckily, attendance hadn’t been taken yet. Mr. Edwards was at the front of the room, deep in conversation with one of the naturalists. Scowling, I slid into a chair. I hoped they wrapped it up fast—I wanted to get excused and go to the hospital.
    “What’s wrong, Cass?” James demanded. “Your dog die or something?”
    “She doesn’t have a dog, moron.”
    The words came from Quinn. How would she know? We hadn’t been close since grade eight. I could be on my second set of puppies by now.
    I stared out the window, across the lake. Last night’s clear sky was obliterated by clouds, and a cold front had moved in. Wind rippled across the water, creating a froth of whitecaps on top of grey sludge.
    The whole depressing picture suited my mood perfectly. I must have lost track of time, because before I knew it, Mr. Edwards—Eddie to most of us—started attendance. Then he said, “Okay, people, listen up.There was a party on the dock last night. There’s garbage to dispose of.” Prissy gave me a tiny half-smile. I dropped my eyes. I wasn’t thrilled that the marsh had been trampled, and I was less thrilled at the idea of cleaning up smelly beer cans. “Team A can start with that.”
    Team A was us: Quinn, Prissy and I. My worst nightmare come true. Quinn hated Prissy and her crowd. At first, when the Harpers had sent Quinn to the same private high school as me, I’d been thrilled. I figured I’d make new friends but hold on to my oldest and best friend from elementary school. Unfortunately, Quinn had resented Prissy and her crowd from the start. She hated their values. She said they wouldn’t have given me the time of day if Mom hadn’t inherited that money. That hurt. So did her comment that I was as superficial as they were. But then Quinn crossed a line and did something to try and destroy my new friendships. Instead she’d destroyed ours.
    Now we had to work together for three months. Oh, joy.
    Eddie outlined the