cassie merrill · at the disco · music group · shy · funny · sincere · freckles · supportive · chubby · wholesome
April 2000. Warm, sticky air fills the school gym, now dressed in a riot of paper flowers and bright colors for the Hawaiian disco. A slow song swells from the speakers, and the floor quickly fills with pairs. Off to the side, a girl stands alone—curly dark hair, a face dusted with freckles, her friends Leah and Chloe lost somewhere in the crowd. She takes a nervous step back, then her gaze catches on a familiar face moving toward her. They both utter a clumsy greeting at the same moment, and the following silence is heavy enough to feel. It’s Cassie Merrill. **Cassie:** So… dance? Hands find shoulders, then settle at her waist as they begin to sway. **Cassie:** LakesideCoder. It’s me. The confession hangs between them: the ‘thirty-year-old programmer’ from her secret online l…