Paper Airplanes

By Monica Alexander

Cassie Witter had a perfect life until one night when everything came crashing down around her. Now she’s spending the summer in the town where she grew up, trying to find herself again. But nothing fits like it used to – old friends, old habits and even old boyfriends. What she needs is a fresh start, a chance to get her life back or to at least reshape it in some way that resembles who she used to be. And maybe with someone like Jared Lansing, the cute, quiet guy she who trains her for her new job, she can do that. The only problem is, Jared doesn’t seem to like her very much.

Jared Lansing hates Cassie Witter and what she represents. She was the girl who ignored him throughout high school because he was a nobody and then stood by and laughed as her friends made his life a living hell for four years. But he now finds himself linked to her in more ways than one. Cassie has no clue who he is or what she did to him, which makes it that much worse when he has to work with her. He doesn’t have time for the former Homecoming Queen and all her drama with everything else going on in his life.

But something about Cassie pulls Jared closer, even though it goes against everything he’s ever thought. Something happened to her. She’s different, broken somehow, and he can’t ignore that. He starts to think that it’s possible that they have more in common than he ever thought, and Cassie Witter just might be the kind of girl he could fall in love with – that is if she can let go of the demons that haunt her enough to let him in. But after everything she’s been through, he and Cassie both know that might not be a possibility.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Monica Alexander
• Release date: Feb 16, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311445742

Monica Alexander

Monica Alexander is a writer of contemporary, new adult, and young adult fiction. In 2011, she turned her lifelong love of reading and books into a career when she published her first novel, "Just Watch the Fireworks". When she's not reading and writing, you can find her at the beach, in the mountains, or hiking through a city, soaking all the beauty of the world around her and turning her experiences into inspiration for her next book.

Book preview

Paper Airplanes

By Monica Alexander

Copyright 2014 by Monica Alexander

ISBN: 978-1-3114-4574-2

Cover Image: (c) Fotosearch Gold / www.fotosearch.com Stock Photography

Smashwords Edition

This story is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or personals, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

All Rights Reserved

No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from the author.

The information in this book is distributed as an as is basis, without warranty. Although every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this work, neither the author nor the publisher shall have any liability to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by the information contained in this book.

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Epilogue

About the Author

Playlist

Chapter One

Cassie

Live for the moment, because everything else is uncertain.

– Louis Tomlinson

Come on, Cass, my best friend Marley yelled back at me.

I raced through the snow to catch up to her, practically falling over from the amount of Captain Morgan I’d consumed. It was Friday, I’d finished class earlier in the day, and Marley and I had been celebrating the start of the weekend for several hours. In front of me I heard Aiden, Marley’s boyfriend, laughing as he tripped over something in the street – possibly his own feet – and I watched his younger brother Reese elbow him, which only made him laugh harder.

I heard more laughter behind me as Will Stephens burst out of the fraternity house and yelled, Kiss my ass, Maxwell! to one of the brothers still inside.

He caught up to me quickly since my ballet flats were slipping and sliding over the snow covered ground that was only growing whiter from the falling flakes. Will’s arm looped around my waist, and I squealed as he lifted me off the ground and started to run with me like a football.

Will, put me down! I shrieked, which made Marley turn around and grin at me.

How you ever landed the hottest guy in Alpha Phi Beta, I’ll never know, she yelled at me, hands on her hips, a wide smile on her face.

I just laughed. It was all I could do. But I agreed with her. Will was the hottest guy in the best frat at Coleman College. I knew just how lucky I was every time I looked at him.

Hey, Aiden said, elbowing his girlfriend in the ribs. I thought I was the hottest guy in APB. That’s what you told me.

Marley laughed and turned to him. Sorry, but Will’s hotter, she said, as she planted her hands on her knees and gasped for breath.

Dude, that burns, Reese chimed in, and Aiden turned to him. Reese grinned, taunting him.

Fuck you, pledge. Go get me another drink, Aiden snapped playfully at him.

Reese laughed. My pledge hazing ended last semester after initiation, fucker. Get your own drink.

Will slowly skidded to a stop when we reached our friends, and he set me down, spun me around and smiled at me. The hottest guy in the frat, huh?

I shrugged. Sure, why not? I said nonchalantly. It wasn’t like it was a surprise that I thought Will was hot. Everyone thought that. I wasn’t in the minority.

A smirk crept up on his face, the dimples on either side of his smile popping. Good thing I’m with the hottest girl on campus then.

I couldn’t help the smile that spread across my face. Will Stephens had a way of getting under my skin in a really good way. He was hot and sexy with light brown hair that he wore on the long side. And he was tall and muscular with really sexy legs that mesmerized me when I watched him play indoor intramural soccer. I’d wanted him for a year and a half, ever since Bid Day when I’d been running across campus with Marley after we found out we’d gotten into Gamma Pi.

The frat guys had all lined up on the route that the sorority girls would take to their respective houses, and of course I’d looked over because when hundreds of hot guys are right there, you turn and look. I saw Will looking all tan and beautiful, and then I’d promptly tripped and ran into the poor girl in front of me who’d gone flying into the girl next to her, and we’d all landed in a heap on the ground. My face turned bright red. I’d literally never been so mortified in my life.

I could have slunk away in shame, but instead I looked up and made eye contact with Will who was smirking at me as if he found my gracelessness adorable. I smiled, and he winked at me, forever cementing the most adorable meet-cute I’d ever experienced.

Then, before I knew what was happening, Marley was yelling ‘Sorry!’ to the girls I’d taken out, yanking me to my feet, and we were running toward the Gamma Pi house once more, leaving behind just about the cutest guy I’d ever laid eyes on. But I felt him staring, his eyes burning into the back of my head as I raced away with my best friend’s hand in mine.

I thought about Will – before I’d even known that was his name – all night as I met my new sisters and celebrated my first day as a Gamma Pi. I was dying to know who he was and what house he was in. I’d never met a guy who took my breath away like he did, without even saying a word.

So of course I did what any girl would do. I dragged Marley around to every frat party on campus over the next few weekends until we ended up at APB. I experienced a joyfully giddy feeling of relief when I spotted Will across the room, drinking a beer and laughing with a brunette who was coyly leaning into him. I was so excited that I’d finally found him, knowing we were destined to be together. But as fate would have it, I didn’t even get a chance to talk to him that night, since he disappeared upstairs with the girl before I could work up the nerve to introduce myself.

Fate was a bitch, but I wasn’t going to let her take me down. I vowed the next time I saw Will – which was going to be the next weekend since Marley and I were definitely going back to APB – I was going to talk to him. I wasn’t going to let my fear of embarrassing myself further, or getting spectacularly tongue-tied, get in my way. I was going to be cool and confident and flirt with him.

I’d never been afraid of guys. I’d grown up being friends with the jocks at my high school, so hot, arrogant, beautiful boys had never rattled me. But for some reason, Will Stephens made my mouth dry and my hands sweaty and my brain empty of witty things to say. In my eyes he was perfect. And because of this, my vow ran empty, and I completely chickened out time and again when the opportunity to introduce myself came up.

Weekend after weekend I’d watch him flirt with girl after girl until he started to only flirt with one. Isabella Thomas was beautiful in such an effortless way. She was a volleyball player, so she was tall and lean and strong. She wore hardly any make-up, because she didn’t need it. And I couldn’t even hate her, because she was funny and nice and so incredibly genuine that everyone loved her.

I wanted to hate her, because she’d stolen the guy I’d been crushing on for months, but I couldn’t do it. You couldn’t hate Isabella Thomas. And I really couldn’t hate her after one night in March when she’d held my hair back for me when I’d been puking in the bushes outside the APB house. In truth I sort of owed her a debt of gratitude.

Marley and I had started hanging out there regularly since she had started dating Aiden Keller. I found the fact that she was dating a brother a great excuse for me to not look like a stalker. I was there because of Marley – or at least that’s what everyone thought. Secretly I was keeping a watchful eye on Will, waiting for the day he’d be single again. But it didn’t seem like that was going to happen anytime soon, and since there was always beer flowing at those parties, and I liked to drink, I imbibed – a lot.

Hence the reason I got sick. I’d gone a little nuts celebrating the start of Spring Break, and Isabella just happened to be there. She couldn’t have been nicer to me, holding my hair back, and then giving me a piece of gum and a bottle of water as I sat on the porch and waited for the world to stop violently spinning long enough for me to walk back to my dorm. Since Marley was lost somewhere with Aiden, I was just going to walk home alone before Isabella asked her hot boyfriend, Will Stephens, to drive me home.

Awesome.

After seven months of crushing on the hottest guy I’d ever seen, I finally met him after I’d vomited in his bushes, was drunk as shit and had raccoon eyes from my make-up running. It was not a shining moment for me.

After Will drove me home, Isabella walked me to my dorm and made sure I got up to my room safely. I really couldn’t hate her after that. I wanted to crawl in a hole and stay there, but that wasn’t really an option either.

A few weeks later I was brave enough to show my face at APB again, hoping no one would remember that I was the girl who couldn’t hold her liquor. And thankfully, because a lot of girls had puked before and after me in those same bushes, no one really remembered – except for Will. It would be fitting that he would be the only person to remember my least triumphant moment ever.

In fact the next time I saw him, he sauntered up to me – because once someone drives your drunk ass home, you’re obviously now friends – and he took my beer right out of my hands before he gave me one of his heartbreaker, panty-dropping smiles.

Are you planning to repeat what happened a few weeks ago? he asked me.

My face turned bright red. I couldn’t have stopped it if I tried. I sincerely hope not, I said honestly.

He nodded. How much have you had?

That’s my second.

He handed my beer back to me. Okay, I think you’re alright, but if you find your vision getting blurred or if there are suddenly two of me, it’s time to stop.

I wished there were two of him. Then I could have one and Isabella could keep the other.

You can rest assured that I’m not doing that again, I told him honestly, because spending a full Sunday in bed with the worst hangover in the history of the world hadn’t been fun. I was proceeding with caution from there on out.

Will shrugged. It’s college. It happens.

I wasn’t sure how to respond to that, so we just stood there and stared at each other for a few moments as the awkward silence started to swirl around us.

Thank you for driving me home, I finally said, for lack of anything more insightful. I really appreciated it.

He smiled. I’ve been there. I figured it was the least I could do. Then he clinked his red Solo cup against mine. And no one’s going to fault you for living it up. Like I said, this is college. You’re supposed to have fun, he said. Then he winked at me and walked away.

Will was one of the most laid back people I’d ever met in my life. Not that he was lazy, but he had this way of looking at life differently. He never let things get too heavy. I saw this over and over again as we became friends. Nothing fazed him – or that’s at least what he wanted people to think. If you didn’t know Will, you’d think he never let anything get to him, but I knew him well enough to know when he was putting up a major façade.

It happened from time to time when shit hit the proverbial fan, but no time was more memorable than the day after Isabella had broken up with him. I could tell he was torn up about it, but he’d never have admitted it outright.

It was November, and after Aiden told me what had happened, I went searching for Will to make sure he was okay. Aiden told me he was fine, that Will wasn’t upset, but I knew better. We were good friends by that point, so I knew how he felt about Isabella. For some reason, I was the only person who Will ever opened up to. We’d had long talks about Isabella. I knew he loved her, so I knew how he must have been feeling. She’d broken his heart.

I found him on the rooftop deck in the thirty degree weather drinking a SoCo and Seven, his drink of choice. When I walked outside, he turned to me with a glazed look in his eyes.

Hey Witter, he said nonchalantly, calling me by my last name like he always had.

Hey Will, I said, pulling my coat around me as I sat in the rocking chair next to his. Why the guys had dragged rocking chairs up on the roof was beyond me, but they’d been there since I’d started hanging out at APB. How are you?

He shrugged as if he was fine. I’m single.

That’s not an emotion, I told him, and he just grinned at me before taking a long sip of his drink.

Tis how I feel in this moment in time, he said with just a touch of moroseness in his voice, but his statement was more factual. Single. I was single for a long time, and then I met her, and I didn’t want to be single anymore. I still don’t want to be single.

That was sad. I felt bad for him.

What happened?

I was curious to know because I’d just seen the two of them the weekend before, and they’d seemed happy. Had she cheated on him?

He shrugged. She’s graduating in December and moving to Texas. She doesn’t want to do long distance.

Long distance is hard, I agreed, not sure if I could do it.

I love her, he said, showing me just how vulnerable he really was in the moment.

I know you do.

He turned to look at me then. Do you think she loves me?

I nodded. Yeah, Will. I think she does.

I knew she did.

But she doesn’t want to be with me. She wants to grow up, work a fancy job and be an adult, he said as if it was the worst idea in the world.

We all have to grow up sometime, I told him, and he just shrugged.

I’d rather stay young and immature. It suits me better, he said honestly, and I laughed around a shiver as my body convulsed from the cold.

There will be other girls, I told him, as I nudged his shoulder, knowing it was true. A thousand girls would have given their right arm to be with Will Stephens, including me.

That is true, he said, angling his drink toward me in acknowledgement. You’re so right.

I know I am, I said, hugging myself tighter.

The wind was whipping around the roof making it almost unbearable to sit up there. I was afraid Will was going to get hypothermia if he stayed up there much longer without a jacket on.

Why don’t we go inside? I suggested.

Nah. I’m good, he said, rocking back and forth slowly, his gaze fixed on a middle-distance in the dark night.

Okay, well, I think I’m going to head in.

He nodded. You do that.

Do you want me to bring you your coat? I asked him as I got up from the rocking chair.

No thanks.

Okay, well, come find me when you come back in. We’ll do shots or something.

He nodded but didn’t look back at me. It’s a plan.

As I headed back inside, he called out to me.

Hey Witter?

I turned to look at him. Yeah?

Thanks, he said and shot me a small smile.

You’re welcome, I said, nodding in acknowledgement.

I could have said a million other things in that moment. I could have told him that he could come to me if he needed to talk, if he needed a friend. I could have told him that Isabella was an idiot and he deserved better. I could have told him that break-ups suck and it would get better, but I knew I couldn’t do that with Will. He didn’t want to talk about dark things. He wanted to pretend that everything was fine and his heartbreak could be cured by turning the other cheek and drinking a strong drink. I had to admit, it was a pretty awesome outlook to have. Why waste time on things that made you sad when you could push them down and away? Why dwell?

If only it were that easy.

And after that night, Will seemed to be in a better place. I knew he was still hurting because I’d catch glimpses of the darkness that would flash across his face at odd moments, but he never wanted to talk about how he was feeling. He just acted like everything was great, and because I knew that’s what he needed, I did the same.

Right before we all left to go to our respective hometowns for Christmas break, Marley and I went over to the APB house so she could see Aiden. I ran into Will who convinced me to come up to his room to hang out while Marley and Aiden had ‘quality time’ together. We both knew what that meant and how long they’d take. It wasn’t the first time I’d hung out with Will while I waited for Marley.

But instead of the platonic TV watching we usually engaged in, Will kissed me that night as we watched Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and drank Coors Light. It was the last thing I’d expected since I’d hung out with him too many times to count without him ever making a move. We kissed for a long time, and for as experienced as I knew him to be, I expected him to urge me to take things further, but he didn’t. He just kissed me, seemingly content to do that all night.

And before we said goodnight, because I wasn’t about to ruin things by spending the night so early on in what I hoped was going to be a relationship, Will walked me downstairs and out to where my car was parked. Marley had decided to stay the night with Aiden, so I was going back to our apartment alone. Will kissed me and told me he’d call me over break.

I looked up at him then, needing to ask, because I couldn’t go home for three weeks without knowing. What is this?

He raised an eyebrow and smirked at me before adjusting the beanie I was wearing. The temperature was close to freezing, and snow was expected to fall overnight.

At the moment or in the larger sense of the word? he asked.

I shot him a knowing look. The larger sense, obviously. You’ve never kissed me before.

He looked amused by my question. Do we need to define what we’re doing?

It was such a typical Will response.

I shrugged. I guess not, but I think I need to know that I’m not a rebound for you.

He sighed, his breath visible in the cold night air as his hands slid up and cupped my upper arms. I like you, Cassie. I’ve always liked you, but if you want me to tell you I’m completely over Isabella, I can’t do that. I want to be. I want to move on and let go of her, and I was sort of hoping you’d be the girl who’d help me do that. But I’ll understand if you’re not cool with my baggage.

I wasn’t sure I’d ever had a guy be so honest with me. I hadn’t expected that from Will. What does that mean?

I needed to hear that he wasn’t just looking for something physical. I couldn’t do that. I was already emotionally invested in him. I wouldn’t do just sex.

He dropped his hands then and pulled something out of his pocket. Then he put it in my hand and folded my fingers into a fist around it. I looked down at his hand clenched around mine for a few seconds before I looked up and met his bright-eyed gaze. His brown eyes sparkled as he watched me.

Open it, he said instead of answering my question.

I did, slowly unfolding my fingers to reveal a single charm in the shape of a triangle on a chain. There were some variations to the triangle, some folds, making it look like a paper airplane. I looked up at him in question.

Is it a paper airplane?

He nodded once. It’s supposed to be symbolic of being separated from someone you care about. I figured you could wear it over break and think about me. His eyes shifted away from me for a few seconds before shifting back to meet my gaze. Give me a chance, Cassie.

So this isn’t just a hook up?

He shook his head. I don’t want it to be, he said, and then he kissed me.

I knew right then and there that given the chance, I was going to fall hard for Will Stephens. No one had ever given me such a thoughtful and meaningful gift. And he’d bought it before that night, almost as if he’d known we were going to get together. And that meant more to me than the gift itself.

Everything changed after that night. Suddenly I was Will Stephens’ girlfriend, a spot I’d coveted for a year and a half. I finally had the boy I’d been dreaming about for far too long. Of course it was different on the inside looking out than I’d imagined it to be. Will was broken. Isabella had done a serious number on him, but like he told me he wanted to, he tried to move forward. I could see that, and it meant everything to me.

In some ways it was good that we were separated at the start of our relationship because it gave us time to settle in to knowing each other in a different way. We talked a lot over break, almost every day, and when I got back to school things were good. We’d been together for just five weeks the night we’d gone racing out of the frat house in the snow, and even though Will wasn’t perfect, I already had really strong feelings for him. I knew it was only a matter of time before I fell in love with him. Hell, I was practically already there.

I always get the hottest guys, haven’t you realized that yet? I yelled to my best friend who burst out laughing as Will looked down at me and smiled.

I reached up and straightened the gray beanie I was wearing over my blond hair, trying to block out some of the cold night air. I’d straightened my curly hair earlier in the day, but it had started to annoy me, so I’d pulled it back into a bun at the nape of my neck and shoved my favorite beanie on my head. Just a few pieces of escaped hair were blowing against my face in the cold wind. Will brushed one off of my cheek.

And I always get the hottest girls, he said, planting a kiss on my ice cold lips.

His mouth was warm as his tongue snaked its way into my mouth, claiming me and causing me to forget that it was below freezing and snowing outside, and I wasn’t wearing shoes conducive to either. I didn’t care. When Will kissed me, everything else faded away.

You live a charmed life, my friend, Marley said from behind me, and she was right.

My life so far had been perfect. I wouldn’t have changed one thing about it. I had a hot new boyfriend, amazing friends, and I was loving my collegiate experience. I couldn’t have been happier.

Okay, seriously, what are we doing out here? It’s fucking freezing, Reese complained, as we started walking toward the dining hall.

Will took my hand in his as we walked. It’s cold, I said, huddling against him.

He chuckled as he pulled me closer, his lips landing on my temple. I’ll keep you warm.

I smiled, feeling so lucky in that moment.

Yeah, why are we out here? Marley complained, trailing along behind Aiden.

We’re starving and we need snacks, obviously, Aiden chimed in as he shoved his brother and pulled his girlfriend into his arms. I’m hungry, and the dining hall is the closest option we have.

And we already have drinks, Will said, pulling a flask from his pocket. He took a swig and handed it to me. He winked. Live it up while you’re young, right?

Right, I told him, because I knew he needed to hear it.

Will was a senior, and he was dreading graduating at the end of the summer. I wouldn’t be surprised if he managed to stretch out school for another few years, and I couldn’t blame him. I was only a sophomore, but I knew how crazy it could be in the real world. We had it good with our charmed life in our little, safe bubble.

Or at least we thought we did.

That evening, in the freezing January cold, drunk with my friends and living life to its fullest, I thought we were untouchable. Little did I know that just a few minutes later, everything was going to come crashing down around us.

I want ice cream, Reese called out when we entered the packed dining hall, heading for the back.

Get me some too, Aiden called after him, heading toward the hot food line with Marley trailing behind him saying something about wanting mac and cheese.

What do you want, Witter? Will asked me.

I smiled at him. Definitely not ice cream. I want French fries and gravy.

He smiled back at me, and leaned over to kiss my temple.

It was then that I heard a blood-curling scream that made my heart stop beating for several seconds. It was cut off by the loudest sound I’d ever heard, several loud bangs in quick succession, and before I knew it, I was on the floor, and Will was on top of me.

I heard shouting and screaming and crying, but I was disoriented. Something wet was soaking through my jacket and dripping down the side of my face, the side of my head was on fire all of a sudden, and Will’s weight was crushing me. I couldn’t move.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

More screams. People were crying and running and chairs were scraping. Someone nearby was shouting for everyone to shut the fuck up. His voice was followed by two more bangs. Then the room fell eerily silent. Something told me I needed to get out of there. I needed to run. Something bad was happening, but my brain couldn’t engage what it was.

Will, I groaned, but he didn’t seem hear me. I tried to push him off of me, but I couldn’t. I felt like my head was going to split open. It was burning and aching at the same time, and a wave of nausea was rolling through me. Will.

Shut up, someone hissed to my right, and I turned my head even though it hurt to do it.

I came face to face with a pair of bright blue eyes and a panicked expression. The guy was lying on the floor, part of his body obstructed from my view by the legs of a chair and a backpack. He had a smear of blood on his face, the black baseball cap he was wearing was askew, his chest was rising and falling rapidly, and when I looked down, I could see he was holding his side. A puddle of blood was beneath him.

My eyes got wide as I saw the blood and heard another blast go off. Another scream followed it. I started to open my mouth to scream for help, to scream out of fear, to scream just because I was terrified and disoriented, but the blue eyes staring right into mine widened in fear, making me freeze. I closed my mouth, and he nodded infinitesimally.

I started to push Will off of me, not sure why he wasn’t moving. I needed to get up. I needed to get out of there. I needed to run. Didn’t he realize that? Why wasn’t he moving?

Stop, the boy with the blue eyes hissed, and there was so much fear in his voice that I did what he said.

I didn’t understand why he was telling me to stop, but I listened. I froze, stayed where I was, trapped beneath Will. I couldn’t move. My head ached. It felt like it was literally split open. I figured I must have smacked it against the floor when Will had fallen on top of me. Why had he fallen? Why wasn’t he getting up? Why wasn’t he moving?

I heard another bang. It sounded like a car backfiring, and I jumped inside my skin. I saw tears fill the blue eyes that I couldn’t stop looking at, because at that moment, they were grounding me at a time when I didn’t know what was happening, but I knew enough to be afraid. The look in those eyes told me to be afraid. And in that second, I realized what the loud bangs were.

Panic flooded me as I registered the voice of a guy shouting, barking orders, making demands. Blood flooded my ears, distorting my hearing. I couldn’t understand what he was saying, but something told me I didn’t want to know. Nearby I could hear someone crying, but another loud bang silenced those cries, and I fought to not think about what had just happened less than ten feet from me.

My eyes darted to the left but I couldn’t see anything.

Look at me, I heard from the boy with the blue eyes, and I shifted my gaze back to him, grateful for something to focus on other than the terror surrounding me.

Are you okay? I asked him as softly as I could.

No. He shook his head infinitesimally where it rested on the floor, and then he swallowed hard as if it was difficult for him.

Are you scared?

I saw more tears fill his eyes, spill over and splash to the floor as he nodded. Stay with me, he pleaded, his voice so raspy and strained.

I will, I promised, even though it was getting increasingly difficult to keep my mind focused. I was drifting, but I would do everything I could not to let him go.

He nodded, his gaze never leaving mine.

A few seconds later, panic registered on his face, putting me on high alert. Then I heard footsteps coming closer, boots thumping on the tile floor, and the boy looked at me once more with such desperation before he closed his eyes. His beautiful blue eyes, the only things that had been keeping me grounded, were suddenly shut off to me.

Then he mumbled, Play dead, through barely opened lips.

I did exactly what he said. I lay there as still and as limp as I could. I closed my eyes, and I started to silently pray. The footsteps were slow, deliberate, and they vibrated through the tile floor around me. I held my breath, kept as still as possible and tried to do exactly what the boy had told me. It wasn’t hard, I was starting to drift, to lose consciousness. I fought to stay alert so I could hear what was going on, but I was fighting a losing battle.

The footsteps stopped. I could feel the presence of those boots near my head. I stayed still. I didn’t move. I played dead.

Then I heard Marley. She was softly calling out to Aiden. I didn’t know where she was, where Aiden was or if he was dead or alive. But I knew her voice so well that I could tell it was her, and in that moment, I wanted to scream at her to shut up, but I didn’t dare move. I didn’t say a word.

Then the voice from before, now right above me, shouted, "Shut the fuck up. I will kill you."

Marley started to cry. Then she was begging for her life, and I wanted to cry too. I wanted to scream at him to leave her alone, but I forced myself to stay quiet.

Fucking cunt, the voice above me muttered, and then he stalked away from me, his footsteps receding.

He kept telling Marley to shut up. Then I heard Aiden’s voice. And then there was another gunshot. Marley screamed, and I started to shake as I knew what had happened. My breath started coming in shallow bursts, tears threatened to spill from my closed eyes, but I was afraid to move, afraid the guy with the gun would come back, that he would know I wasn’t dead, and then he would kill me too. My head was on fire, and I couldn’t see anything, but I knew exactly what was happening. I could picture it clearly in my mind’s eye.

I couldn’t hear movement from next to me. I had no idea if the boy with the blue eyes was dead or alive. He’d been bleeding so badly. I didn’t know where my other friends were, if they were okay. All I knew was that I’d never been so scared in my life, and there wasn’t anything I could do about it.

Then slowly, as if the world was fading away, I started to lose consciousness. Just as I blacked out, I heard what I thought was another gunshot, and all I could think was, Please don’t let it be Marley.

Chapter Two

Cassie

I had no idea what day it was or even where I was when I woke up. My mouth was dry, my eyes burned, and the bed I was sleeping in was uncomfortable. I blinked a few times, looking around the room, seeing machines and florescent lights and gray walls.

Oh, my God, you’re awake! I heard, and I swallowed as I looked toward the familiar voice.

I tried to swallow, but it was too hard. Instead I locked eyes with my best friend who suddenly burst into tears. Before I could fully wake up, Marley was hugging me from an awkward angle, her arms wrapped around me from the side, and she was crying. She was crying so hard. Why was she crying?

Mar? I croaked out.

Cass! Oh, Cass, she said, sobbing against my shoulder.

Water, I managed to say.

She pulled back from me, her eyes wet and red-rimmed. It took her a few seconds to comprehend what I’d asked for. Then she nodded, reaching for the pitcher near my bed and filling a plastic cup with water. She handed it to me wordlessly. I tried to take it, but my hand felt like it hadn’t been used in a while, the muscles not working like I wanted them to. Instead of commenting on the fact that I couldn’t quite grasp a plastic cup, Marley tilted it to my lips to let me drink.

I swallowed almost all of it, and then fell back against the pillows, exhausted from the small effort. She was watching me the whole time.

Where am I? I asked her.

The hospital, she said as if I should have realized. Her eyes drifted down. It was like she couldn’t look at me.

Why am I in the hospital? I asked her, panic creeping up on me. What happened?

I couldn’t remember anything. I racked my brain to remember the last thing I’d been doing, and I remembered walking back from class that afternoon. Was it that afternoon? I wasn’t even sure what time it was, but I’d had my chemistry lab. My group had stayed late to finish up our report. Then Marley and I had plans to go to happy hour at APB. I hated chemistry, and after a grueling week of classes and a hellish lab, I needed drinks.

Marley looked up at me, tears in her eyes once more. You don’t remember? she asked, the appalled look on her face matching the tone of her voice.

I shook my head, trying to think back on what she was talking about. Remember what? Had I even made it home? Was there an accident? It had been snowing. I remembered that. There was white everywhere, falling into my hair, the gray beanie I was wearing decorated with snowflakes. One had landed on my gloved hand. It had been one of those perfect formations of crystals that looked like the snowflakes I’d cut out of paper as a kid. It hadn’t looked real.

But after that, after the moment I unlocked my car door, everything was blank. I had no recollection of what came next. Had I crashed my car or something?

Marley started crying all over again. I needed her to stop. I needed her to tell me what was wrong. A few seconds later, my mother walked in the room.

She’s awake! she shrieked, looking at me before she burst into tears.

What the hell was going on? Seriously!

Joel! She’s awake, I heard her say, calling my dad into the room.

Why were my parents there?

In seconds they were surrounding me, hugging me, and now everyone was crying. So out of part fear that something was really wrong and out of part relief that my family was there, and simply because I wasn’t sure why I was upset, but I was, I started crying too.

Warm tears splashed down my cheeks, and oddly, the release felt good. My father was on one side, my mother on the other, arms wrapped around me like a cocoon, and my best friend was holding my hand that was starting

Reviews for Paper Airplanes

[Brooke · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

For such a deep plot, the characters all struck me as pretty juvenile. It seems it would’ve taken place better in high school. The storyline was good but it had a lot of fluff that just made the story longer without ultimately improving the writing or book itself whatsoever. Not my favorite.