Unknown (The Secret Life of Cassie Martin #1)(40)

With him calmed down, I give him a sad smile. “All part of life, my friend. It will take a lot more than name calling to take me out.”

I grab his hand and pull him into the room. The boys stop and focus on us. Noah wiggles his eyebrows in a suggestive manner. “What were you two doing out there? Huh, huh?”

I wad up a piece of paper and throw it at him. “Really, Noah! You think so little of me that I would make out with Lucca in the hallway? Lucca would never let that happen. He’s much more romantic than that.” After I say it, I bite my lip, realizing how that sounds and how our hallway conversation went. “Not that Lucca and I will be making out anytime soon. We just met. You should know me better than that by now.”

The boys remain silent. I don’t want to know what’s on their minds right now. I refuse to go down this route, so I distance myself mentally. They, like everyone else in my life, will leave. At least with them, I know when it’s coming.

I clap my hands. “What are we working on, peeps?”

Parker smiles over at me. “We have a final task for the week. We should be ready for it without much prep.”

“That’s good, because I’m tired of observing.” Jay shifts from foot to foot, anxious to be out of the room. I hope it’s not because of me. “Are we still doing our task today?”

“We’ll head out in a few.” Parker settles into his position as leader and gestures for everyone to huddle in. “I just want everyone to know about tomorrow night first. From what they’ve sent us, we’ll be attending a formal dinner where we’re to observe and report.”

I frown at Parker. That sounds too easy. “Have they done this before? What are we observing?”

“They’ve never done this before,” Noah responds before Parker chimes back in. “This is new. I’m guessing things will change during the night, and we’re to watch for those changes. The note doesn’t say anything else other than we have to dress up.”

“Dress up?” Surprised, I consider what all I brought with me and find my options lacking. I’ll have to see if Lily has something I can borrow. I just have some sundresses and skirts. Nothing nice. Another thought occurs to me, and my chest tightens with panic. “We don’t have to know Miss Manner’s table etiquette or anything, do we?” My hands shake, and I press them against my thighs. I’m not rude at the table, but I’ve never been in a formal setting.

“It doesn’t say, but it wouldn’t hurt.” Parker shrugs, not really concerned. “You can go over some of that with Lucca this afternoon if you finish off your pictures.”

“I’ll give you the highlights, Lucca reassures me. “I don’t think you’ll need to know too many specifics. I’ve dined with all sorts of important and wealthy people because of my parents. It wasn’t anything you couldn’t figure out if you had to. The times you have to worry are when you’re in another country and don’t know their social rules.”

Lucca’s explanation makes me feel a little better, and the panic subsides.

Ever the leader, Parker gets us back on track. “Let’s get going. We’ll meet back up at dinner and talk about this more.”

“After dinner, Cassie wants to work with Jay on some martial arts techniques or self-defense,” Lucca informs everyone, relaying part of our earlier conversation.

“That’s a good idea. It’ll take time to build up some of those skills, and we’ll need them by the time we’re at our last task.” Jay stands and heads to the door.

“Okay. Here’s our plan. Lucca and Cassie will stay here until dinner to finish the pictures.” Parker joins Jay at the door. “Jay, Noah, and I will go ask for a bonus task. We’ll meet up for dinner at six, and then go to the playground to work on the self-defense later.”

“Why the playground?” I ask because we never go there.

“The ground’s covered in this soft, rubbery material to stop people from getting hurt if they fall,” Parker explains. “It will be a good cushion for us to use on drops and throws. We don’t want to hurt each other, and there are no other good places to do this kind of workout.”

“Sounds like a plan.” I wave as they walk out the door.





~





Friday brings sore muscles I didn’t know I had. Jay thought I did well by being able to pull from my dance and gymnastics background, but the moves were different, so now I hurt. I hide it from the others, though. Bringing attention to it will do me no good if it means they go all crazy protective and stop letting me practice. I want to learn, and the idea of being able to protect myself is invigorating.

We decide to break early in the afternoon to get ready for dinner. As we leave, Parker stops me. “We’ll meet you at your cabin at five-thirty so we can walk back up here together.”

I frown, confused why they would do that. “I can meet you on the path. There’s no reason to walk all the way to my cabin and then back past yours on the way here.”

“It’s not a problem.” He walks out the door before I can convince him otherwise.

When I get back to my cabin, I discover Lily laid a dress on the bed for me to use. When I change into it, the rich lavender, strapless dress with a handkerchief hemline hits just over my knees. The bodice is tight, then it flares out at the waist. I’ve never worn anything so pretty. She also lent me a pair of silver, low-heeled sandals to round out the outfit.