“Cassie! Cassie!” Wendy widened her strides to catch up with the Titan, her chest tight from her run through the hallway. This was like chasing Alvin all over again except her target was far larger and easier to keep track of. Even so, having to dodge the feet of other Titans wasn’t helping her cause one bit.

 Cassie stopped mid stride and turned back, her heel raised forty five degrees off the ground.  She looked back at Wendy with her lips curled into a surprised O shape, both straps of her bag over her shoulder.

“Wendy?” Cassie turned back, taken aback by the sight of Wendy coming to her. The feeling she had was the same feeling you got when the person you hate calls out your name and then tries to talk to you.

 Cassie thought about just ignoring her, turning around and walking off, there was no way Wendy’s stubby legs could keep up with her. However, she was keen to know why Wendy would even consider approaching her. However if  she had lost her mind, then Cassie needed to know that Alvin now lived with a lunatic and therefore needed to be made aware of that.  

“ Oh Wendy, it's strange to see you here,” She watched as Wendy came to a stop just under her shadow. She leaned in, wanting to make the size difference clearer to her; in case she wanted to try something funny.

 “ I know. The girl who bullies your friend now comes to you, wanting to talk. Doesn’t get much stranger than that?” Wendy chuckled but to Cassie, it could have been an act and she didn’t even shift from her serious expression, brows turned down as she turned up the pressure on Wendy.

 “ It doesn’t, now what do you want?” Wendy could tell what she was trying to do  and while her technique lacked subtlety , her size compensated for that deficit.

 “I want to talk.About our disagreement,” Wendy looked on with hopeful eyes.

 “ There is no disagreement between us,” Cassie glared at her, unwavering in her stance. She shifted a little closer.

“ Our relationship is fine as it is, there’s no need to change it. You’re right  where you should be,” She stepped even closer. Wendy knew this game, using your size to scare the other. A common trick but it was working. She didn’t move, to do so would concede everything.

 “ I mean a truce,” Wendy’s lip quivered as Cassie’s statuesque form moved ever closer.

 Cassie’s lip curled into a smile, “ I am not interested in one, the current arrangement suits me.”

 She stopped and slowly lowered herself to the ground, bending her knees slowly. Wendy wanted to run, this was too much but she held  on, until Cassie’s jean covered knees touched down.

 “Now, what do you have that could interest me? After all, I kind of enjoy our friendship. Its a fair one too, you receive what you give. You’re like a little stress ball!” She giggled.

Wendy began to feel she was hinting at something, that Cassie was directing it elsewhere. But where?

 “ I don’t want it to continue. I don’t want to keep looking over my shoulder, hoping my next beating isn’t a few steps away. It hurts,” Wendy tried again but Cassie looked apathetic over her plea.

 “ But Wendy, you taught me that. You taught me that the bigger girl gets to decide that. Are you saying its unfair?” Cassie grabbed Wendy and slowly stood up until Wendy was at face level.

Wendy tried to struggle but Cassie’s grip had her locked down.Panic began to set in, what did Cassie want to hear?

 “ No, its not fair! I just want Alvin to forgive me! Is that too much to ask for?”

 Cassie’s brows arched up, surprised to hear it. Still, she knew Wendy was one slippery eel, Alvin had told her about numerous times when she promised a truce only to renege on it whenever it felt convenient.

“ No, but why should I trust you? I know you don’t keep promises. Why now? Because I’m around? Because I’m too big for you? Is that it?” She was almost yelling ,getting a few stares from other Titans as they passed by.

 “ Yes! But I mean it this time!” Wendy cried out.

 Cassie lipsticked coat lips curled into a smile, “ Then why do you come to me for help? Go and tell your brother this, I’m not the one you need to win over.”

Wendy  tried pulling her arms out but Cassie just tightened her grip.

 “ Because I don’t think I can do it on my own, I might be in too deep. You’re like Alvin’s best friend and I know you care a lot about him or else we wouldn’t be here! Damn you’re strong for a thin girl!” She wheezed and tried but it wasn’t enough to even extract herself.

 Cassie brought Wendy closer to her lips, pursed and ready to move.

“ If you ever hurt him again, I will show you the meaning of pain,” Her lips seemed to move slowly, like treacle but Wendy was relieved Cassie wasn’t going to shove her inside of them.

 “ Point taken, now can we talk in a more private place? My personal life isn’t supposed to be broadcasted to the entire school,” Cassie relaxed her grip which gave Wendy an idea.

   “ Sure, I know a place,”  Cassie’s tone remained as chilling as it was before. Wendy pushed against her fingers which caused them to open up, a mistake as she now plummeted to the ground.

“ Shit!” Wendy thought this would be it before Cassie grabbed her arm, her thumb and forefinger keeping Wendy from hitting the ground. From the look of shock, Wendy could tell she never saw it going.

“Idiot,” She remarked from the side of her mouth as she resumed her iron grip on Wendy.

  Wendy half expected the toilet to rear its ugly head again but when Cassie went into an empty classroom, her heart could rest easy.

 Cassie placed Wendy on a table forcefully, the latter tumbling down. Wendy stood up, dusting herself off  while Cassie pulled herself a seat, arms resting on the thick plastic table.

 “Okay, lets hear it.”

 Wendy shot her an annoyed look for the drop.

“No matter how much you think it, I’m a not monster. At least, I didn’t start out as one, no ever becomes one just like that,” Wendy snapped her finger.

 “Okay,” Cassie scrutinised every part of Wendy, looking for a hint of deception. So far, from her quivering lip to her eyes, two dark pools of remorse, felt sincere.

 Wendy sighed, “ The truth is, Alvin and his dad Daniel were the best thing that could have happened to me. My mom and my real dad never planned on having me. I was an accident, the by product of a broken condom during their college days.”

 “ Oh, your mom was a single parent?” Cassie perked her head up, she hadn’t expected this from Wendy.

 Wendy shook her head, “ That would have been better.”

  “Mom was so far behind in her classes that she dropped out altogether to get a job while dad studied. She liked to remind me of this, how I held back her career while she had to get a job at Luxom.  Not the main company like now, we lived in Boston so that was out. . She had to work as a retail assistant in one of their stores, doing double shifts and all sorts of odd hours,” Wendy noted bitterly, tears forming.

“ It would have been fine if Dad had held up his end but he had no intention of ever being a good parent. He didn’t even want to be a parent, said mom should have aborted me but my mother , though she wasn’t a practicing Catholic, believed in it enough to keep me alive,” Wendy started to cry, her tears wearing away at Cassie’s harsh exterior. The bully she saw was dissolving right in front of her.

“ Mom didn’t like that he would go out, party and come back reeking of cheap alcohol. Problem was that Dad turned out to be a wifebeater. Eventually she learned to keep quiet but not before he cut her with a broken bottle after disappearing for a few days without even telling her.”

“What happened?’ Cassie asked, feeling guilt well up in her.

“He didn’t show up as usual, ragged and stinking up the place with his beer breath. After three days, came back and asked if she missed him. Mom got into a rage but Dad was stronger,” Wendy  swallowed the lump in her throat.

“Mom spent a few days in the hospital for that while I, only four years old had to make sure I didn’t starve. I was young but I knew this could be better,” Wendy bent her head low as she cried, she felt ashamed that out of all people, it was Cassie who had to hear it first. She had never revealed this to anyone outside the family . Not even Alvin knew about this, Patricia had sworn Daniel to secrecy.

 “ Mom said she was beautiful and so was dad but having me wrecked it all. He was like a modern day Adonis and while she wasn’t Helen of Troy, people in college envied them. Dad eventually looked more like a pig than Adonis, his beer gut and unemployed shtick got old fast and while Mom still had some feelings for him, she usually tried not to get a beating from him.”

 “Wendy,” Cassie lowered her voice to a consoling whisper. She reached into her bag and pulled out a queen sized tissue.

 “Wendy, wipe yourself off. Please,” Cassie asked sweetly. Wendy tore off a small piece and wiped her eyes and nose, sniffling loudly.

 “ Thank you Cassie, it’s the first nice thing you’ve done for me,” She blew her nose and placed it on the floor.

 “ I’d like to continue, if that’s fine with you,”  Wendy asked.

 Cassie nodded and using her finger, lifted Wendy’s chin up so she could look her in the eye. Wendy no longer saw anger or hatred written on Cassie, this was something new: Sympathy and a touch of...empathy? No, Wendy thought. Impossible, Cassie was supposed to be some goddess, no way she could ever understand her.

 Still, it was a big improvement from the previous moments.

 “ Take all the time you need, I want to hear everything.”

 “Okay, where was I? Oh right, Mom getting beaten. It continued until I was about six  and one night, Dad hit me when I tried to shield Mom. I was a little taller than her but Dad hit me so hard I hit my head on a cabinet.”

 Wendy pushed back her hair, revealing a two inch curved scar just under her left ear. Cassie tried her best to see it but from all that squinting and tilting to get a better angle, Wendy knew she couldn’t see it. Still, her effort counted for something.

 “ You don’t have to try if you can’t see it. It’s small but it was a souvenir from dad, the first time and last time he ever hit me. A few days later, Mum got a call from the police, saying he collided with a truck.

‘Died on impact since the brakes weren’t working. Mum said she meant to bring it to  the auto shop to get it fixed but he insisted on taking it out to get his beer. It was the second best thing to happen to us.”

As Wendy finished this dark chapter, a thin relieved smile began to cross her lips.

“ Because of that we moved out of Boston and while looking for an apartment, Mom met Daniel , raising Alvin by himself because his mother dumped him. For the first time in my life, I was happy, Mum actually smiled again. She was always this bile spewing woman with Dad but Daniel brought out her real persona,” Wendy chuckled.

“Best part was Alvin. You think he’s pretty cool but when I first met him, he was Boy of the Year. He was about waist high to me but he was so confident, so full of life while I was this waifish thing who would yelp whenever he raised his hand. He taught me not to be afraid of men, not anymore.

‘ Biggest change was Mom. She went back to college, paid for by Daniel and although she needed eighteen months, completed her course in only twelve. After that, she got a job at Luxom where she still is now,”

Cassie smiled along, this definitely sounded like Alvin.

“ Sorry but what happened? This sounds like the well adjusted family you deserve,” Cassie meant it. She just couldn’t understand why it all went bad after that.

 “ Fate,” Wendy spat.

 “Or bad luck. It’s funny how when something good happens you call it fate but bad? Misfortune. Just like how my dad died in accident, Daniel died when a drunk driver beat a red light and ran him over,” Wendy laughed mirthlessly at the irony of it all.

 “I’m sorry,” Cassie uttered in disbelief, Wendy’s luck was as if she had crossed a swarm of black cats on Friday the thirteenth.

 Wendy shook her head,” Don’t be. I was only eleven when he went and after that, it was like a darkness settled over the family. Mom became more and more reclusive as the years went by , she only ever came out to give us our allowance or to tell us off when we’d gotten a bad report card.”

 She blew out air from her puffed cheeks, the worst was yet to come.

“Cassie, you were right in the canteen when you told me I was a muscleless and flat Amazon,” Wendy held out her arms to give Cassie a good look. Her midriff baring top and skirt did show off her figure. Cassie bit her lip, embarrassed about this.

“No, I was wrong,” Cassie shook her head.

“I was mad. Mad at you for getting Alvin and I into that monumental snafu but really mad that I never stopped to consider that Alvin was innocent.”

 “Thanks but when you’re growing up and all the other Amazons were getting their curves and muscle, you feel left out. This is me after working my butt off to gain muscle tone or even curves. I guess its the years of malnourishment with Dad that got me in the end. I’m not even eight feet tall for Christ’s sake!”

 “ Is that why you picked on Alvin? Because you thought you were ugly?” Cassie wasn’t sure whether to pity or push her down.

 “ That is half the answer but it was because I got bullied for being as curvy as a plank. There was this big thirteen footer named Trixie who had these huge jugs,” Wendy held out her arms a good eight inches or so from her chest, Cassie’s eyes widening in surprise.

“ And a butt that even J Lo would say was too much and she’s a Titan. She thought it would be fun to pick on a shrimp like me. Every time I walked past her, she’d lift like a set of weights and pretend I was too easy for her. I tried to fight back but I was half her size, it wasn’t a contest,” Wendy rubbed her cheek, a reminder of past injuries.

 “ How does Alvin factor into this?” Cassie enquired.

 “ One day I came home and to this day I don’t know why he even said it but now I think about it, it was probably a joke. A badly timed joke but nothing malicious now that I think about it,” She chuckled at her own foolishness.

“He said I could afford to go braless after he overheard me telling Mom I needed a new bra and I thought he was implying I was too flat to ever need one. So I gave him a backhand and he was shocked. Worse...it felt good. I felt powerful. Whatever Trixie dished out to me, I had an outlet.”

Cassie’s mouth hung agape, horrified at she heard.

 “What happened to Trixie?”

“She transferred out in eighth grade when her mother got a promotion.Didn’t ask where she went, just glad she wasn’t near me,” Wendy shrugged her shoulders.

“ So why didn’t you stop? The source of your pain was gone, there was no longer a reason to pick on your poor stepbrother.”

Wendy’s eyes watered again at the thought of why she persisted.

“Because I got addicted to it. I had power and I didn’t want to let go. After Trixie left, I made up new reasons. Alvin did better than me in a test, he got a smack. He didn’t fold my clothes, another smack. Yes, I made him my servant but so did Mom. I’m not proud of it,” She gushed as she weeped , it was all coming back to her now.

“The list kept me growing and it wasn’t because he pissed me off. Sometimes I just did it for kicks,” Wendy tore another piece of tissue and wiped her face.

“ I’m sorry it came to this, that I needed you to show me how wrong I was. I wish I could have stopped myself but I wasn’t strong enough,” Wendy held up her arms, the very arms she used to beat her former best friend. Now that she thought about it, she turned into her father. The thought was horrifying, turning herself into that monster was exactly what she didn’t want to become.

“I-I am my own father,” She admitted weakly.

“No Wendy, you’re not. You’re better than him. You know why? Because you knew when to stop, your Dad didn’t and it killed him. The fact you came here, to confess is why you’re not him,” Cassie said with rousing conviction.

 “ But why are you telling me this? You should be telling your story to Alvin.”

“I don’t know if he has it in him to forgive the girl who gave him hell for five years. Could I ask you for one thing?” Wendy dried her eyes, now red from sobbing.

“Ask away.”

“ If Alvin refuses it, please talk to him. He’ll listen to you, his guardian angel.” Cassie’s cheeks burned red at the very mention of that.

“I’m no angel, just a good friend,” She answered.

“ Which is exactly what he needed,” Wendy said.

Cassie reached out and pulled Wendy close to her chest,embracing her in a hug. Wendy could smell daffodils, this was definitely better than her stale toes. If this was what her boyfriend smelled while pressed against her bosom, she could see the appeal. Her body heat, the heady aroma of her body wash and Cassie’s embrace made for a place a man could spend hours in.

“ Wendy, I will help you; and I’m sorry. I thought you were a demon but you’re just a very damaged person, crying out for help. If you want to mend bridges with Alvin, I will assist but let me make a suggestion?” She pulled Wendy out , the latter a little dismayed to be pulled free.

“ What is it?”

“You and your mom made him do chores. Help him with them, I bet you’ve never held a broom or mop before. If you do, he might just see how much you mean it,” She suggested.

Wendy nodded heartily, “ That’s brilliant! Cassie, you’re as perfect as they say you are!”

She chuckled as sweeter tears poured from her eyes but Cassie didn’t seem too pleased with it.

“ Don’t believe everything people say, I’m not perfect. I have flaws , just like everyone else.”

Wendy laughed hard, “ I guess having no flaws can count as one.”

“ Ha, they’re there. I just keep them hidden in my closet. You’re pretty strong to be able to force my hand open,” Cassie opened and closed her fingers, some residual pain from the incident.

“ I had to put my back into it, Camilla would have opened it easily,” Wendy grinned.

“She is twice your size but you’re not weak. Just think things through next time, you nearly became a Jackson Pollock painting,” Wendy’s grin drooped.