"Cassie, please, wait!"
The voice was unnervingly familiar. And Cassie knew it much better than she wished she did.
'Irene…'
Gritting her teeth, Cassie shook her shoulder, forcing Irene's hand off right as she hurried her steps.
"Cassie, please, wait!" Irene called out again, speeding up just enough to move her hand to Cassie's shoulder again…
Only to have Cassie repeat her actions from before, shrugging Irene's hand off and speeding up.
"Leave me alone," Cassie barked, refusing to even look back at her former friend.
"Stop it!" Irene cried out. She then reached out again and grabbed Cassie's shoulder for the third time.
This time, however, she collapsed her fingers over Cassie's flesh and held on tight enough to prevent the girl from shrugging her off. And then, as if not satisfied with just holding Cassie in place, Irene tugged on her former friend's arm, forcing her to turn around and face her.