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Cassandra's Pov
((January 21st 2022))
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I hold up the already heating flatirons to my hair and press down on a part I had combed out, sighing as I moved the iron down to my ends and watched as my hair straightened. Heat was never good to my hair but I don't exactly care too much about that right now. I got school in a couple minutes (yes, minutes. i made a choice to drag and be late) and I'm just bored. I clamp down harder on my ends, hearing the irons make a noise, and after a few seconds I sit them on the sink counter. Grabbing the wig brush, I brush it down and down and try to make it look decent but I'm not even giving it my all. With my hair type I really be having to wrestle with it and right now I'm not evening tryna scuffle.

I sigh out loud and just start tiding up the bathroom. I didn't really leave a mess but it didn't look like this when I walked in so it's not finna look like this when I leave out. I put the brushes in they containers, unplug the flatirons, put up all the gel products I was using, and clean the sink free of loose hairs that fell from when I was combing through my hair.

"You ready to leave out?" Reign yawns, knocking on the door once and I yawn right after her, nodding as if she can see me. "Yeah," I grab onto the knob and pull it open to see her standing in front of me, dangling my car keys. She hands them to me and I take 'em from her, walking out the bathroom, mumbling a 'thanks'.

I been staying with Reign and Reign's momma, Ray, for the last week and it's been going fine. It's mostly quiet all the time cause Ray works as a OB/GYN nurse at the hospital in Kenosha, and Reign doesn't really do much around the house but I like it like that. It's a refreshing change from where I used to stay at.

Ray let me move all my stuff in the guest room and she told me I could put all my pictures up and everything. She make this situation so much better I really like how nice she is.

"Do you wanna order something from a restaurant or eat something out the refrigerator?" She asks, and I turn around to see her doing something on her phone.

I slip on my ugg boots and shrug. "We can just eat out the house."

If Ray doesn't work too late she'll come home and cook but if she does end up working late she give us money to order out. Most of the time me and Reign just take the money and buy stuff to make different things to cook. The other night we made Sichuan boiled fish and dumplings.

Then one night I had made salmon croquettes and garlic mashed red potatoes cause that's, like, my specialty. My grandma taught me how to make it when I was fourteen and I seem to be getting better each time. Love that for me.

Putting on my jacket from the coatrack and pulling the beanie I stole from Hailey over my head, I check myself out in the mirror before I decide I'm ready to go. "You ready?" I look over at Reign and she nods. I pick up my keys and we leave out, locking the door behind ourselves. I press the unlock button on my car key and the headlights blink.

We get in and I put on my seatbelt before starting the car up, then backing out the driveway and pressing the gas to move down the street. The radio plays softly and we don't say nothing to each other. After the next twenty minutes I pull into the parking lot at the school and park. We get out and walk in, going our separate ways mumbling a 'see you'.

It's nine o'clock so it's my third period, I walk up to the American Literature room, walking straight in and taking a seat in the middle row, pulling out my laptop to check if he assigned something. He assigned a work seat and I end up finishing it in the next fifteen just in time before the bell rings. I gather my stuff and leave out, walking into the crowed hallway.

My next class on the floor below me so I head for the stairs and start walking down them, and by sum embarrassing reason I feel myself start tripping and when I except to hit the stairs, a hand yanks me back and pulls me into their chest.

I stay like that for awhile but then the smell of axe body start getting to me, causing me to scrunch my nose up in disgust and pulling away. I glance up at them and he smirks. "You almost fell."

"Yeah, thanks for catching me." I mumble, looking up at him.

He a white boy with real light brown hair. It's to the point where it look like it's almost red. He look like he workout but I can't really tell. He got on one of those varsity jackets they give to the football players. I most definitely seen him before but in a crowd of people who look like him, he don't stand out.

"You're Cassie Ambers," He holds his hand out for me to shake. "You're Hailey Aiko's girlfriend."

I shake his hand, letting out a soft hum. "Yeah, she just so happens to be my girlfriend.."

"Well, y'know, I'm a fan. I loved her in Farm Tales. I still turn it on from time to time. And that anime film she did with her Dad? Shit goes hard as hell." He smiles and then it fades after awhile when he see I'm not smiling. "So, are y'all for real together?"

"Didn't you just call her my girlfriend?" I question, looking at him and he shrugs.

"It really ain't confirmed."

"Well it's up to you then," I shrug, continuing to hold the gaze we shared, hugging my jacket to my chest.

"Mhm," He looks around us and I don't know why I don't know how I didn't notice all these damn people watching us, some even filming with they phones.

"Damn." I snap, looking at all them. "Stop counting all my fucking teeth." The crowd start moving around but some of them still stick around.

How weird of them.

"Now, what was you saying?" I huff, turning my attention back to the boy in front of me.

He smiles a bit, briefly running his tongue over his teeth. "Do you have plans today?"

"Something like that," I nod, thinking on the dinner I was gonna cook with Reign tonight.

"You wanna hang out after school? I'm done practice at six." He suggests and I squint at him. "I don't even know you like that."

"Nice to meet you.." He waves. "..I'm Chucky."

"Chucky?" I raise my eyebrows.

Like the red head lil boy from Rugrats.

"It's short for Charles."

His momma actually looked his newborn self in the eyes and named his ass Charles. Messed up. I ain't one to talk though, my name literally Cassandra.

"That don't matter though." I shake my head, backing up a lil. "I told you I had plans and I still don't know you like that."

That sounds rude? I think it does. I didn't have to be like that.

"Understandable." He nods, and without another word I walk away and make my way down the stairs.

I don't even got the money to hang out with nobody. I still didn't get my money back and I haven't been to work in weeks. I'm broke as hell and it's really starting to get to me. But I just try to not think about it too much. I don't even know how the hell I'm gonna explain to Hailey how I'm out of forty-nine thousand forty hundred dollars. I'm probably just gonna have to think of something on the spot.

All my classes fly by and I see Lori, Julia, Chris, and Christiana at lunch. We talk for a little while but I end up leaving so I can talk to my counselor and get some more stuff for college out the way.

We talk about my senior essay, look at more colleges, talk about scholarships, and all that other stuff. Then eventually school over with.

Chucky waves to me as I leave out the school and I wave back to him, Reign giving me a weird look. "What?" I look at her and she furrows her brows.

"Whose that?" She asks curiously.

"Some boy I talked to in the hallway." I shrug and she mumbles a soft 'oh'.

We get in my car and I drive us to maurer's market for the stuff we need to get for whatever we decide to eat.

"Smell this," Reign puts the onion up to my nose and I turn my face up. "Yeah, do you think it smells?"

"Girl, it's an onion. Those things always smell." I tell her, moving away from the onion and picking up a head of lettuce. "Wanna make burritos?"

She nods, and we start picking up stuff to make the burritos. By the time we get done the cart got some tortillas, peppers, steak meat, tomatoes, cheese, beans, cilantro, a big thing of cranberry juice, oreos, fries, tortilla chips, doritos, fruit, and some other stuff.

We tried not getting a lot because we don't wanna keep having to take trips back in forth to car with all the bags.

Lazy. I know.

I used to put, like, five bags on each arm and just thug through it but after years and years I'm tired.

After paying for everything we roll the cart out to the car and put the bags in the trunk, then we get in a drive home.

Eventually we get in the house and make the burritos and then we go sit in the living room, eating our food as the movie 'Brotherly Love' plays on the flatscreen that's mounted onto the wall.

I dip my chip into the green salsa, my eyes not leaving the tv. I really like this movie I just wish Chris woulda never killed her brother like that, but I also still like it cause I like how it ended how it did so I don't really know.

"Oh, something smells good." Ray smiles, coming through the front door.

"We made burritos. We left a few in the oven for you." Reign mumbles and Ray nods, humming as she puts up her coat and takes off her boots, knocking the snow off each one.

"How was work?" I ask politely and she shrugs. "Same old. Busier than usual though. How was school?"

"It was okay," We mumble at the same time and she hums, walking into the kitchen.

"Momma, I got into Weaton in Illinois." Willow announces, pulling a letter off the coffee table.

"Oh, you did?" I ask, smiling and she nods, smiling.

"Congratulations," Ray comes into the living room, taking the letter from Reign's hands and giving her a hug. "Are you going to accept it?" She questions and Reign shakes her head. "I'm still trying to see if I can get into the California Institute of the Arts."

"But remember this still a great thing for you." Ray tells her. "It's always other options if California doesn't end up working out."

"Yeah," Reign nods. "The acceptance rate is pretty low anyway."

"I think they'll accept you though. You submitted some good songs." I say, and she glances back down at the paper. "You still have a lot of other schools to get back to you too. This only one of the letters."

"Yeah, y'all right." She nods.

"Well, I'm finna see what y'all did with these burritos. I hope mine ain't got no damn beans in it." Ray mumbles and Reign's eyes widen for a second.

She most definitely mentioned how her momma didn't like beans in her burritos..

...And we most definitely put beans in her burritos.

Both of them.

"Wait.. wait, you gotta make another one.." She jogs into the kitchen.

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A/N: filler chapter💗. good evening y'all🤝. ‼️4 comments n votes for the next chapter ‼️