SECOND SHOT

"What were you doing sitting over there all alone Nattie? " Maddie asked in a high-pitched voice, with a nervous smile. Nattie could tell something was different. Maddie never acted nervous, something was up and she was here for the "deets". She was a little more relaxed now seeing as this was not an attack or confrontation as she thought. Ava made room for her on the bench and she sat down, placing her food on the table.

"Didn't realize you guys were over here, sorry bout that" She said smiling at Ava "Hi Ava." She said and gave Ava a side hug. They weren't friends, in fact, Nattie had consciously avoided mingling with the girls in the cheerleading square, for obvious reasons, they were always the center of attention. Which Nattie didn't necessarily like. But they were not enemies either.

They talked for a bit and Maddie started to calm down and breathe properly. She had been running a mental check in her head for the past few minutes. Of how and why she was so attracted to Ava, and the possibility of her being, you know what, "a lesbian", But she knew she wasn't going to get ahead of herself and jump into conclusion.

"Yo Nattie, I haven't seen Cass all day, have you seen her?" Maddie asked on their way back to class. "Cass is homesick, she wouldn't be coming today." "Cass? Isn't that the girl Kate tried to frame some weeks ago? For cheating on a test." Ava piped up looking over at Maddie. "Uhmm yeah. That's Cass, but she didn't do it, she didn't cheat. We figured that out."

"Yh I know, I heard it all. " Ava said with a mischievous grin that didn't go unnoticed by Nattie. They all went their separate ways and went back to class. Cass on the other hand had started to feel better already. She went out and got some groceries for the house then ran some errands for her mom. When school was over she got a text from Nattie, "no harm done, she is pretty cool. Miss you."

She smiled and put down her phone. She got another text but decided to ignore it till she got home. Thinking it was another status report from Nattie. When she Got home and settled In she picked up her phone and decided to read the text. She could feel her mouth go dry, and her heart skip a beat. "Ready for a do-over, I'll be at your place by 5"

It was from Brian, this was their do-over date. She didn't know what to do, "Fuck, I should have just checked my phone earlier." She said as she got up and decided to get ready. She realized she didn't even know what to wear, was this like a casual date, or was it formal? She had to call Nattie, the moment she thought of this she heard a knock on the door.

She froze, was Brian earlier, "oh God no". "Cass, come on open up," Nattie yelled as she rang the doorbell. "Whew! Nattie, you scared me!!! How are ya?" She said as she opened up the door and hugged her. "Care to tell me why my presence scared you? Are you expecting someone" She smiled turning around to look outside.

"There's no time for that now, Brian texted me, he wants a do-over right now and I have no idea what to wear! This is the peak of my crisis!" She said as she threw her hands in the air. Nattie took a deep breath "What would you do without me?" She said with a smile as she dragged her upstairs.

"Okay let's see what we are working with" Nattie said as she set Cass on a stool in front of her. "Your hair is a mess and you look like a 15-year-old soccer player, what did you do all day lay in bed?" Cass laughed, whenever Nattie got like this, you just know a massive transformation was coming. "Okayy, I'll make no promises, but I'll see what I can do."

"There is one problem though" Cass said scratching her hair as she stared at Nattie. "I have no idea where we are going or what to wear." "Oh shit, He didn't tell you! That's cute tho but still ... What now." She said as she walked over to Cassie's closet, searching through all her clothes. "So many clothes, but not one outfit, why is it always like that? We gotta make this work!!! No matter what."

"Heyy, you can never go wrong with a black dress right?" She said as she looked over at Cass holding up a Plain, long-sleeved, body-con black dress. "I haven't worn those in ages, are they still gonna fit?" Cass looked genuinely worried. "We can try" Nattie said with a shrug. She laid the dress on the bed and went back to searching, this wasn't a burial, she had to find something to jazz it up a bit.

"Yes! I think this is gonna work" She said picking out a Black and golden varsity jacket. "Mmhmm, I like that!" Nattie said tapping her chin. "That settles it then we pair these with some Jordans and we're good to go, go shower, so you could come get dressed, I'll get your stuff ready."

"Thank you so much Nattie, I love you" she said as she ran into the bathroom. She quickly showered and got dressed. Nattie helped her with some makeup, but nothing too heavy, she wanted to look as natural as possible. "This is good! I did good, I deserve a pat on the back" Nattie said as she stood back looking at the final results. "I love it and you did it on time too." Cass said and laughed.

"Who owns this by the way." Nattie asked touching the varsity jacket. " It looks pretty cool." "Mac's older brother gave it to me, speak of the devil" Cass said as Mac walked in and stared at the two Ladies. "Who are you getting all dressed up for?" He teased. "I have a date and please don't bug me about it."

"I'll let it slide this one time, I'm making sandwiches, you want some?" He said looking at both Nattie and Cassie "sure I'll take one" Nattie said. "Plus, I would be sleeping over tonight" This wasn't news to Cassie and the fam she was welcome any time. "I'm good, not really hungry." Just then Mac heard the doorbell ring.

"I think your prince charming is here" He said with a smirk. "Oh shut up!!!" Cass said. She was nervous, like really nervous and she really hoped everything went right this time. She put on some perfume and took a deep breath. "Relax, you got this babes" Nattie said, she could sense how tensed up Cass was. She took her hand and they started to walk downstairs.

Mac had opened the door and let Brian in, he was waiting by the door when he heard footsteps coming down the stairs. He looked up and gasped under his breath "oh my!!!" He said as she smiled at him.