Dante's POV
"If you're not afraid of me, then what?" I asked Cassia, almost whispering.
"B-Because of your eyes. They're so beautiful and so blue but you seemed to be so lonely and at the same time mad" She answered in a voice barely audible. I couldn't help but to smile at her compliment. I heard her gasped.
"You have beautiful smile" She added while blushing.
"You too, you're so beautiful" Our gazes was still locked as I said those words honestly. Then my eyes went down to her pink lips. I couldn't resist it anymore. I dipped my head and kissed her lightly.
She gasped when our lips touched for the first time but she didn't protest. Instead, she moved her lips against mine shyly. I was tempted to deepen our kiss but I didn't want to scare her. I pulled away after a couple of seconds.
"How old are you?" I couldn't help but ask.
"15" She answered blushing. I smiled at her and was about to hug her when we heard the voice of Kelly.
From that day on, the three of us were always together. I enjoyed their company a lot but I wished that it were only me and Cassia. I always made sure to give her flowers which made Blair squeal and Cassia smiled shyly.
They told me they would stay there for the whole summer break so we spent as much time as possible together. Then one day, we decided to go to the beach.
The two of them were swimming and I on the other hand was at the shore, watching them.
After almost an hour, I saw Blair coming towards me, leaving Cassia swimming alone.
"Why did you leave Cassia alone?" I asked her as she sat down next to me.
"I am tired and my legs are killing me. I need to seat for a little bit.
What about you, why don't you go there and be with her?"
"No. I can't" She frowned at me and was about to ask me something when I noticed Cassia wasn't in her original position anymore and nowhere to be found. Panic flowed throughout my body as I stood up.
Then I heard someone shouting about a person drowning and then I saw Cassia desperately calling for help with her hands before the water totally submerged her.
"Go and save her Dante, please!" Blair shouted desperately. I wanted to go and save her but my feet wouldn't move at all. My mind was desperately telling me to go and help her but they wouldn't budge.
My whole body was trembling and my head suddenly hurts. Then I saw Blair ran swiftly and dived into the water to save Cassia.
After that, I saw Blair swimming to the shore with Cassia who seemed to be unconscious.
Blair's arm was around her neck while she desperately swam them to the shore. I cursed while watching her struggle but my body became stone-like, unable to move at all. My whole body was trembling in fear and I was sweating profusely.
When Blair successfully brought Cassia to the shore, she tried to give her a CPR but she didn't know how to.
"What are you still doing there?! If you know how to do a CPR, come here! Shit! She's not breathing anymore!" She said panicking and my legs miraculously moved. I quickly approached them and stared at Cassia. I wanted to cry seeing her state. I pumped on her chest and then did the mouth to mouth resuscitation. I tried doing it again and after a minute or so, she came to. I sat on the sand in relief.
Then an angry Blair stood in front of me and slapped my cheek.
"Why didn't you rescue her on time?! Uncle Nelson told me you are a good swimmer!"
She shouted at me and was about to slap me again when Cassia intervened.
"It's okay Blair. There must be some reason why he didn't rescue me"
She said breathlessly while staring at me. She still looked weak.
"Why didn't you come to my rescue?" She asked me curiously without a trace of anger in her voice.
My throat tightened as I shut my eyes close then heaved a sigh. I felt so ashamed to the point that I wanted to disappear. She almost died in front of me and I couldn't even do something to help her.
Before they could react, I ran away from them. I knew I was being pathetic but I just want to be alone. Seeing Blair's state made me feel useless and the pain of losing Jasmine came back to me. I wanted to cry but I stopped it. Even during the funeral of Jasmine, I didn't allow myself to cry.
I continued running to God knows where until I couldn't run anymore. I stopped in front of a mahogany tree and punched its branch which made my knuckles bled. I really wanted to cry but I didn't have the right to. I sat under the tree staring at nothing when I felt a presence.
She reached for my bleeding hand and wrapped it with her pink handkerchief.
"What are you doing here? Where is Blair?" I inquired quietly, not looking at her.
"I left her at the beach. I ran after you" she said and sat beside me.
"Why?"
"Because I wanted to. Why did you hurt yourself like that?" She asked again while gently rubbing my injured hand.
"Because I am a useless bastard. I can't do anything"
"That's not true. I know there's a reason why you couldn't save me there and I want to know. I know you are a good person and I like you. It hurts me to see you like that" She confessed shyly while staring down her hands on her lap.
"You don't know what you're talking about. I am ugly and you're a very beautiful girl. You're even 7 years younger than me" I said coldly as I stood up and was about to leave when I felt her hand on my arm.
"No. You're not ugly. I know we've just met each other for almost a month but I'm sure I like you.
I've never felt this to anyone before" I turned around and stared at her blushing face.
"Prove it to me" I challenged her.
She was taken a back for a second before she stepped closer to me in a slow pace then she tiptoed and placed butterfly kisses around my face before finally claiming my waiting lips. It was so obvious that she didn't know how to kiss properly but for some reason, I felt so much desire rising from the pit of my stomach and spread throughout my whole being. I cupped her head and took control of our kiss. She groaned in pleasure which made me more eager to please her more.
"Hey you two! You left me all alone there, worrying for both of you but then you re here enjoying yourselves?" We briefly separated when we heard Blair's teasing voice. We didn't even notice her presence. I looked at Cassia who was now blushing profusely while rubbing her fingers together. I reached for her waist and guided her to hug me.
"Hello Blair, glad you kept up with us" I teased her and she rolled her eyes at me.
"Well duh! I could see you two from afar.
There's not much of trees here so it was easy to spot you"
We sat there for good 30 minutes, enjoying the warm gentle breeze of the summer season. Cassia's head was resting on my shoulder and our fingers were intertwined together while Blair was munching her chips which she brought for our picnic at the beach.
"Dante, do you mind telling us why did you act that way? Well, if it's okay with you" Blair bluntly asked. I wasn't sure if I would tell them but I felt Cassia's reassuring touch on my forearm. I heaved a sigh.
"I-I had an accident months ago which made me like this. I was with my sister. We were on our way home and I was the one driving. Then a truck collided with us because the driver lost control.
The impact ignited a fire. Because of the airbag, I managed to survive the impact so I was just knocked out for a little bit. When I came to, there were a lot of police already. I felt the fire eating the car but my concern was of my sister who was successfully rescued out from the car. My shoulder, back and face was caught by the fire.
The only thing I remember after that was I was screaming my sister's name. When I woke up, I was expecting my sister to be alive because she was rescued first but no. She didn't make it. I don't know but after that incident, whenever there's an emergency, my body freezes and I can't move. I'm sorry if couldn't do anything to rescue you angel eyes".
"It's okay. Sorry for making you remember the accident" Cassia said gently and kissed my hand.
"I'm sorry, I slapped you" Blair apologized guiltily
"It's okay. I understand"