Cassy Brooks
May 05, 2010 8:50 PM
Wanting someone to talk to. (Tag: Mr. Perfect) by Cassy Brooks
Cassy yawned, stretching out on the grass. With no homework to do (or maybe there was, she couldn't remember) and no Quidditch practice, she was left with nothing to do. Classes were over for the day and she had met about two new people. Were they interesting? She didn't know, couldn't tell, actually.At the present moment, she was bored. It should be obvious, really. She loved the feeling of grass beneath her skin, even if ants crept into her shaggy hair. Her stunning green eyes fluttered open to stare at the clouds. It was a fun hobby of hers, cloudgazing. She used to do it with her mother, back when she was still alive. Her mother would describe it as the world's own personal magic, the clouds. Watching the light hit the clouds, pink or blue, grey or purple, it was beautiful. Even rainy days held a certain appeal for her mom.
The sun was getting in her eyes though. She should have sat beneath the trees. Well, it wouldn't have provided a good view of the clouds, and the clear blue sky. Still, shade would be nice. The air was getting rather hot and sticky.
And that was when a falcon came. It was flapping it's wings over her, protecting her from the sun's rays. Cassy raised an eyebrow as she sat up, her falcon, Hermes, (Her father was into Greek Gods.) landing next to her. She untied the letter from his leg, stroking his soft feathers before Hermes cried out and flew away. Her name, Caspia, was written in elegant penmanship and she just knew that it was from her stepmom. She was sorely tempted to just ignore the letter completely. But she was curious- Vivian hardly ever wrote to her.
'Dear Caspia,
I am holding a ball during your midterm so that my family may know you, and my children, a bit better. I expect you to be on your best behavior when you arrive and dress nothing like that horrid mother of yours. Make no mention of the muggle woman- it would be in both our best interests if my family does not know.
Your father sends his regards,
Vivian.'
Immediately, Cassy crumpled up the paper and tossed it aside, angry. How dare that woman speak to her in such a way?!? She was fourteen, she could bloody well act however she wanted. Clenching her fist, Cassy grabbed her wand and blasted the paper on the ground. That'll teach the horrid woman. She would not act like a stupid pureblood bint with nothing better to do than serve tea and make a fool of herself.
And how dare she talk about her mother that way? If anyone was horrible it was her! Her mother was darn near perfect compared to that awful woman. Vivian was nothing but a conceited harlot with nothing better on her hands than to spend her father's money and raise her children to be spoiled brats. Her mother had been nothing but loving and had loved her father dearly. She didn't care about his fortune, or the fact that he was a wizard! For Vivian, that was all she thought about- blood and money.
Cassy turned around as she paced back and forth, fuming, when she ran into someone. She blinked, and glared. "Sorry, but you really should watch where your going." She spat. She was in no mood for this.
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Cassy Brooks
Wanting someone to talk to. (Tag: Mr. Perfect)
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Cassy Brooks
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Daniel Perfect II
May 06, 2010 1:30 PM
Is there something wrong with my name? by Daniel Perfect II
Daniel did not go in the Gardens often. Firstly, there was dirt and sometimes wind, and neither of those were conducive to maintaining his high appearance standards. Secondly, Holly was sometimes out there, and he was currently not speaking to his sister. Thirdly, he was usually too busy to go into the Gardens and he preferred to spend what little free time he did have in the library or his room anyway.In fact, he wouldn't even be out here now, but he thought he dropped one of his notebooks on the way back from Care of Magical Creatures, and he kind of needed it before tomorrow. So here he was, retracing his steps.
And, apparently, walking into people.
He jumped back at the first contact of the collision and managed not to be completely bowled over as Cassy Brooks came to a stop in the same space Daniel had been about to occupy.
Trying on an innocent look as she glared and snapped at him, Daniel raised his hands in a gesture of placating surrender. "I promise to try harder to divine that I'm not about to walk into somebody in the future," he vowed, since he was pretty sure it was at least half her fault and nothing short of actual divination could have prevented a collision when neither of them was watching where they were going.
"You haven't seen a blue spiral notebook anywhere, have you? Says 'Charms' on it in large black letters? Mine's missing and the last time I distinctly recall having it was during Care of Magical Creatures."
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Daniel Perfect II
Is there something wrong with my name?
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Daniel Perfect II
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Cassy
May 06, 2010 5:33 PM
No, just your face. ;) by Cassy
Cassy blinked. Oh. It was Daniel. She calmed down a little, seeing a familiar face. She hasn't seen him since Divination class. She beamed at him, then she smirked slightly at his comment. "Glad to hear it." When he asked about his notebook, she had to raise her eyebrow. She hadn't seen anything, and she has been here for at least an hour. She tapped her chin. Spiral notebook... spiral notebook... She might have thrown one when she was having a fit. Well, she wasn't sure. She tended to black out when angry. But she couldn't have been that angry, could she? Nah, it was just a... no, it wasn't stupid. It was probably just her poor memory coming into play."Um..." she paused. She scrunched up her face for a second, then brought out her wand. When all else failed? Use Magic. That was her motto. Well, one of them. It was on a list of "Motto's about being Lazy" she had. "Accio Mr. Perfect's Charms notebook!" She said, pointing in a random direction. For a second, when nothing happened, she thought she had done something wrong. Retrieving something with magic? Not her forte. Screwing something up with magic? Not a skill, but an art. And she had perfected it. But then it came zooming towards them, with papers flying out of it. Cassy cried out as she ducked, otherwise the thing would have hit her right in the head, and that would have been pleasant.
"Well, that could have gone better," she mused, picking up the random pieces of paper flying in the air. The paper stuck to her skin because of the sweat- it was getting a little too hot out here. Cassy sighed. She should just take off her robes. It wasn't against the rules, was it? Probably not. She returned her thoughts to the task at hand. Cassy did her best not to scrunch all of the papers up, considering how pristine Mr. Perfect liked his stuff. Well, he could always use repairo on it. She remembered how she had done the same thing in Divination, though she hadn't figured that out after most of her paper was ruined and her quills broken.
"Sorry about that." She told him. She couldn't tell if he was angry or not. Annoyed, maybe. Probably. It was a pretty dumb move, she should have thought it all through. Well, whatever. She would have to buy him a new notebook, if it was all ruined. Then a thought struck her. Wasn't he a pureblood? Why was he carrying around a notebook? She glanced at him. He acted haughty, but it wasn't like he was really like that. Just a joke, or whatever. He probably wasn't one of those supremest purebloods. He didn't look like one. She hoped she wasn't.
"How could you be so careless to lose your notebook anyway? I should call you Mr. Almost-Perfect." She teased lightly, handing him back his papers.
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Cassy
No, just your face. ;)
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Cassy
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Daniel
May 07, 2010 3:40 PM
I just check a mirror two minutes ago; my face is fine. by Daniel
For a moment, it looked like Cassy might have seen it and was trying to recall where, so Daniel held his tongue and let her think. But instead of answering him, she instead took out her wand. It took him a moment, but he figured out what she was going to do right before she did it. That was, unfortunately, just a few seconds too long. He hadn't quite gotten his mouth open or his hand up to protest before she was casting.He dropped the hand from its aborted 'Stop!' gesture, and the "No! Don't!" died stillborn on his tongue. He closed his eyes and sighed. There was a reason he hadn't tried that already. Muggleborn, he might be, but he'd been a wizard long enough that he was familiar with the summoning charm. And more importantly, he was familiar when not to use the summoning charm.
For a moment, he almost allowed himself to hope that it hadn't worked. On the other hand, that would have gone counter to his natural pessimism, so of course it did. And there it came now, trailing all the papers he'd had tucked into it along behind.
There went three years worth of Charms notes and careful organization.
He closed his eyes again, as much to spare himself the pain as to make counting to ten a more effective calming technique. He pressed the palms of his hands together in front of him as though praying and rested his nose against both middle fingers as he breathed in and out slowly. He would not get hysterical. That was entirely within Holly's purview.
"Please don't help me anymore," he said, sounding calm and normal, so he allowed himself to open his eyes again and take in the wreckage that had been his Charms notebook. He saw a lot of transcription into a new five subject notebook in his future. Fortunately, he had a spare in his room for just this sort of emergency. Also, transcription went a lot easier with magic than it would have with only a pen.
He collected as many of the pages as he could from Cassy and from the ground (he had to put a knee in the dirt to reach them more easily, but his notes and past assignments were more important that the pants he was currently wearing - pants could be replaced) and settled them into as neat a pile as it was possible to achieve given their current condition. He needed to use a flattening charm on some of the pages with the worst creases and crinkles in them.
"I took it out of my bag so that I could fit my folded up robe into it. The notebook can handle a little dirt, the robes can't. I must have forgotten to put it back in." He looked along the straight as-the-crow-flies route between where they were and where the classroom was set up, which the notebook must have taken to get to them. It looked like it had been pretty much exactly where he'd thought he left it. Now he was going to have to go cross-country through at least three hedges to make sure he got all his papers back. He preemptively wrote off his current outfit as a complete loss so he wouldn't be upset about it later.
He should have just let his school robes get dirty during class and saved himself all this effort and grief. Cleaning charms weren't perfect, but they would have served well enough until he could get the robes replaced.
More importantly, he should never have mentioned he was looking for his notebook to Cassy. This was why he preferred the company of other Aladrens. If he had asked, say, Quentin - who was the Aladren least likely to answer a question the way you expect it to be answered - if he'd seen Daniel's charms notebook, Quentin would have said 'Yes' and left it at that. He certainly wouldn't have gone and accioed it.
When he spent any time at all with people from other Houses, terrible things happened. Lita was perhaps the only exception.
He flipped through the notebook to assess how much was still missing, and was surprised to find it all there. The protection charms he'd put on it must have worked better than he'd had any right to expect. He let out a small breath of relief. Only his pants were ruined. The notebook could be salvaged.
This might actually still qualify as a better experience than his first date with Charlie.
He stood up again and tucked the notebook carefully back into his bag at looked at Cassy again. "It looks like its all there." If she had been Holly or Molly, she would have understood the unspoken 'so I guess I can let you live,' but Cassy wasn't a sister, a half-sister, or even the half-sister of a half-sister, so she probably wasn't aware how close to retribution she had come.
Still, he was feeling a little vindictive for putting his notebook through that kind of abuse. Mols had once suffered the kidnapping of all her stuffed animals and baby dolls after she tried to help make Daniel's copy of Robert Louis Stevenson's Kidnapped 'prettier' with the help of pink and purple crayons - he'd been pretty proud of the poetic justice of it. Even Molly's parents hadn't really yelled at him for it much, which he'd been glad about, because he'd been a guest in their house while both of his parents were away.
Unfortunately, he couldn't think of a likewise appropriate retaliation in his Charms book's honor, so he just lifted his eyebrows into a mildly curious expression and asked, "So how's your day going?" as if he didn't remember that she'd been fuming mad when they literally ran into each other. Petty, yes, but she was a classmate, not a sister, and so anything more overt would just come across as mean.
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Daniel
I just check a mirror two minutes ago; my face is fine.
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Daniel
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Cassy
May 07, 2010 5:16 PM
Eh, there's a smidgen of dirt on your nose. by Cassy
Yup, dumb idea, Cassy thought again. She shrugged. Whatever. Her father would always reprimand her for never thinking things through. It wasn't like she was an idiot, she was intelligent, but she'd rather die than focus on books or lessons or, Merlin forbid, homework. Those things just weren't all that important to her. Sure, she'd make sure she'd pass, but that was it. She knew that common sense was never actually listed under those categories, but she was done with thinking for the rest of the day. She glanced at Daniel again. At least his papers were still there, that would have been horrid. He would have, most likely, never spoken to her again because of his poor notebook. Well, that would have been.... okay? She didn't know."Sorry about that," she said again, scratching the back of her head. Wasn't one of her best ideas. It reminded her of when she had tried to frame her little sisters for making the bathroom toilet explode as their first signs of magic. Turns out her stepmother wasn't actually angry- she was proud. Her father knew it was her, but never said anything about it. He replaced the toilet and her stepmom had spent weeks trying to get them to do it again.
"Wonderful," she told him in a false cheery accent, in answer to his question. "My horrid stepmother just told me that my mother, my dead mother, is a horrible woman and I shouldn't act like her near her parents. I've got to attend a wonderful little tea party in England so they can adore and spoil my halfsisters, and compare their success to my oh so horrible failure." She shrugged again. She was still angry about it, she wanted to blow someone's head up, actually. Who were they to judge her, in all honesty? They meant nothing to her- and her father didn't actually care for the in-laws either. But he was wrapped up around Vivian's stuck up finger, and would do whatever she wanted.
"They're just bloody awful!" Cassy exclaimed suddenly. "All they ever do is pick and scratch at an old wound and they never leave it alone. They compare me to the devils I have to call my sisters, exclaiming how charmingly perfect they are, and how I am such a spoiled, ignorant, ugly child not worthy of the dirt beneath their shoes. I do not want to go home," Cassy groaned. She sighed, sitting down in the shade beneath her favorite tree. She needed that rant, she actually felt better. Cassy looked up at Daniel and almost felt sorry for him. She hadn't actually treated him all that well either. She did abuse his notebook, after all.
She smiled slightly and said, "Sorry bout all that, didn't mean to rant at you. Thanks for listening, regardless of whether you wanted to or not." She snorted. Probably not. Who wanted to hear her rant? "Eh, anyways, how are you doin'?"
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Cassy
Eh, there's a smidgen of dirt on your nose.
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Cassy
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Daniel
May 12, 2010 7:06 PM
*pulls out pocket mirror and wet towelette* by Daniel
Daniel tried not to stare as Cassy went into exactly what it was that was bothering her. He almost felt bad for asking - for his own sake if not for hers - but what her step-mother did was just wrong and she probably needed to get it off her chest every bit as much as Daniel had needed to talk about his Mom's wedding at the Feast or his Mom's engagement at the previous year's Feast. Taylor and Charlie had both been very understanding about it and hadn't shied away from talking about the things that were actually bothering Daniel about those situations.Of course, he had had far more of a existing relationship with both girls at those Feasts (even if the one with Taylor was more of a same-background sense of familiarity than actually knowing her very well) than he did with Cassy. He was pretty sure they both liked him, at least, which he wasn't so sure he about in regards to his own opinion on Cassy, but she obviously had bigger issues than whether or not Daniel thought much of her.
"That sucks," he said, which was entirely understated, but what could you say to something like that? Maybe Barry could have scripted a better line for him, but improvisation wasn't really Daniel's strong suit, and he didn't have days to play with a word processor to come up with the best turn of phrase.
At least it was an honest sentiment, which was rare for Daniel.
"Suddenly, Holly, Mom, and Anton being too happy isn't nearly as bad a thing as I thought it was." Oh, it was still bad, don't get him wrong, but by comparison . . . not the end of the world. It was now less of the apocalypse he'd been viewing it as and more like a small quake. Still destructive, but not completely devastating. It could be so much worse.
That was oddly comforting.
He'd survived six divorces already. Holly had survived six divorces already. No. Eight. Holly had survived eight divorces already. She had her dad's and Daniel's to count, while he hadn't been born yet for either of those. Luke and Mom had even more under their belts than Holly. Luke most of all, since Daniel's oldest sibling and only brother had to deal with this from both parents, not just their shared mother. One more wouldn't break any of them. Old hat.
Daniel just had accept that this was part of his life and be ready to be the shoulder for Holly and Mom to cry on once the inevitable happened. He was a realist. No sense in borrowing trouble and getting worked up over something that he couldn't change. He had already closed out Anton. Aside from the effect on Holly and Mom, there was no reason he should be upset when Step-Dad Number Seven left them, and he'd be able to support his mom and sister better if he wasn't coming down off a marriage-long nervous breakdown caused by the anticipation of something that wasn't even going to affect him.
He felt calmer than he had in two years.
He smiled at Cassy, "My day is actually looking a lot better than it was an hour ago. I got my notebook back; which is going to take a little work to put back together properly, but it can be fixed. More importantly, I just psycho-analyzed myself out of some chronic stress and a potential onset of major depression," which diagnosis sounded much better than both 'nervous breakdown' and 'hysteria' which weren't real psychological disorders anyway, "so I'm doing well."
He hesitated a moment, wondering if it was his place to say anything about what Cassy had told him, or if anything he said could do anything but make things worse, but he decided to try anyway. She had an honest-to-God evil stepmother right out of Holly's fairy tales, and she was at a new school and probably didn't have anybody better to talk to. "You can probably assume everything Ms. Vivian says is wrong. She sounds like a real piece of work. I'm already tentatively labeling her with at least two mental and psychological disorders."
But then, with his sister being who she was and his consequent certainty that he'd develop a few himself, he may be just a little obsessed with mental disorders, and he may therefore be biased. But Cassy didn't need to know any of that.
"Have you considered 'losing' your passport before you went to England? Then you would have a legally unassailable reason to stay behind. I'd recommend burning, probably two days before, so alternate plans can be made but it's too close to the trip date that a new one can't be acquired in time no matter how much money is thrown at the problem.
"I'm assuming, of course, that magical travel between foreign countries still requires passports, and that governmental bureaucracy hasn't gotten any better with the addition of magic. I'm muggleborn, so I'm really not sure about the technical issues involved with international . . . whatever the magical equivalent of a plane flight is. I'm also assuming that you're a good enough liar that you can keep anyone from finding out you had anything to do with it going missing. I can provide acting lessons, if necessary. I'm the best liar in the school." Or, at least, the only one getting paid obscene amounts of money for the talent, so he felt it was a justified claim.
"Alternatively, my parents are both very successful and wealthy individuals, so I was raised on all kinds of etiquette lessons. I could show you how to act so that she has nothing to complain about, but that seems like a cheap victory since you're basically giving her what she wants. On rare occasions, though, it can induce very satisfying gaping and apoplexy, or severe disappointment when the target can't find anything to nitpick about, but that has to be timed very precisely for best results."
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Daniel
*pulls out pocket mirror and wet towelette*
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Daniel
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Cassy
May 15, 2010 12:09 PM
o.O wet towelette huh? by Cassy
Cassy sat there and listened to him, staring up at the sky and suddenly having the urge to climb the nearest tree. So as he spoke top her, still intently listening to him and his day. She grinned when he said he had just psycho analyzed himself. She didn't know why, but she found it oddly funny. Psycho analysis. Myabe she needed that? Probably would do her some good, maybe it would help her deal with her anger issues.Vivian? Having Psychological issues? Oh she would dread to hear that! Cassy laughed, it was just too funny. Of course Vivian had issues, and she knew for a fact that she was wrong with whatever she said about her mother. Of course her mother had an obsession with unicorns, she shuddered at the thought, but she was a wonderful mother who did her best for both Cassy and her father.
She listened as he explained about his parents- and she was surprised. She had been sure he was a pureblood- but he wasn't! He was a muggleborn! Wow. His parents must be rich if he had etiquette lessons and that sort of thing. A good liar, too. Well that's something she could appreciate. She was a somewhat good of a liar,it was her temper she had issues with. If she wasn't so easily angered, she could probably lie better than her devil sisters, and they were masters at it.
"Thanks," she said, grinning, "but as much as I don't want to go, I have to. I rarely see my dad as it is. Even if the evil in-laws are there, I'll still go." She sighed before staring down at him again, her head tilted to the side. "Viv says she hates it when I don't act like my blood, well my father's half, as he's a pureblood, but I think I've told you that before... Anyway, she loves it when her parents are around so she has an excuse to insult me, and they just love participating... Can I take you up on your offer for lessons? If it'll ease up their insults I think I'll do it. Besides, I can always play a prank or two." She grinned at him.
Daniel was turning out to be a pretty cool guy. Sure, he wasn't necessarily a 'go with the flow' kind of guy, he was in Aladren for Merlin's sake, but that didn't bother her. He reminded her of her uncle Charlie. Charlie was her mother's brother, and he was always an organized, stick to the plan kind of guy. Not necessarily uptight, but he was relaxed when everything was in it's place and that sort of thing. What was it? OCD. Yes, Uncle Charlie was very much OCD.
As for her mother, she was the complete opposite of Charlie. She was very relaxed and lenient and a fun-loving gal. She liked fantasy novels of far off places and magic in a world not unlike their own. Cassy was like her mother in some respects, but her mother was very patient and kind. She wasn't.
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Cassy
o.O wet towelette huh?
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Cassy
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Daniel
May 17, 2010 11:11 AM
I take pride in my impeccable appearance. by Daniel
Daniel nodded slowly, supposing he understood why she had to go even though she obviously didn't want to. He wasn't going to avoid seeing Mom just because Anton was living in her house now. Still, he was just as glad Dad had primary custody of him at the present time and that the arrangement was unlikely to change in the near future. His resolve to stay aloof from Anton's attempts to bond might be sorely tested if he had to spend two whole weeks at a time in the same house as the guy. A weekend here and there, when the show's filming schedule allowed it, was much more manageable.Of course, fending off would-be paternal advances was a very different thing than fending off insults and derision.
"Of course," he agreed, because helping Cassy lessen any of that was something he wouldn't back down from. He'd be nearly as bad as her step-mother if he didn't do what he could, and while Daniel was aware that he was also somewhat narcissistic (though, obviously, not to the same degree Vivian was), he wasn't completely unsympathetic to the plights of others. Besides, a few etiquette lessons certainly wouldn't hurt the Pecari girl any.
He smiled crookedly in response to her grin and declaration of intent to commit pranks, because this Vivian woman and her parents obvious deserved anything Cassy could throw at them. "Good luck with that," he told her sincerely.
After a moment, he canted his head and let his smile fall into a small smirk. "I have to admit, as an Aladren, I didn't expect the first subject I started tutoring people in would be etiquette." He shook his head in amusement, "Even back home, I'm not really the prime candidate for this kind of thing. Child actors don't really have the best reputation. The tabloids are probably waiting for me to go into rehab, not teach people how to hold their forks."
He shrugged, shook his head, and dismissed the thought as unimportant. The tabloids had been a unavoidable presence in his life since before his birth. Dismissing and ignoring them up was as natural as breathing. "So when do you want to start? We'll have to work around the Aladren Quidditch practices, and I'm the new Library monitor, so I've got some time commitments there, too." He pulled out his appointment book and considered his week's schedule. "How do Saturday evenings work for you? I can pencil you in between dinner and CATS prep." Sure the tests were still more than a year away, but it was never too early to start studying for the CATS. Another thought occurred to him and he added, "Actually, we should have it include dinner, because a lot of etiquette rules involve table manners."
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Daniel
I take pride in my impeccable appearance.
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Daniel
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Cassy
May 17, 2010 7:52 PM
No doubt. Should I start? by Cassy
"Wait, hold up! Child actor?" Cassy jumped down, stared at him, circling him like a predator would with prey. He was taller than her, but that wasn't too hard to accomplish, so it made it a bit hard to look intimidating. She narrowed her eyes as she stared at him, but shrugged and smiled a few minutes later. It explained a lot, she mused, especially if he was a good liar."Well," she said, "whatever. The press can shove it, I doubt you're the kind of guy to get into drugs anyway. Besides, I need all the lessons I can get. I've ignored all the lessons she's given me thus far." Cassy watched as he pulled out what looked like an appointment book and sniggered. Okay, it was sort of expected, him being an Aladren and all. Sides, if he was an actor, he had to keep a set schedule otherwise he might forget everything. Well, no, she didn't believe that. He probably remembered everything.
"That's fine," she told him. "Whatever works. I've got Quiddtich Practice sometimes too, but it'll be before then."
Cassy watched as he penciled her in with a smile on her face. Well it was more like a smirk. She couldn't wait to see the look on Vivian's face when she had to go to England. She would be a 'proper lady' for a few weeks, and just before the evil in-laws left, an onslaught of pranks of every nature would greet them. It will be wonderful, Cassy thought, swooning.
"Oh, before I forget, call me Caspia," she shuddered as she said her name, "I may as well get used to it. Just never in public." She nodded with determination. She'd be ruined. She didn't know why her mother had given her such an awful name, but she had to get used to it because that'd be all they'd call her. Still, if any of her peers called her that, she'd punch them right in the face. If Daniel called her that before she gave him permission, she'd do the same thing. But now that she has, he has nothing to worry about.
She was glad he was helping her out. She didn't know anybody else in this school, besides, he was perfect for the job. He was in Aladren, he actually cared about what people thought of him, (or it seemed like it, all things considered,) and if anyone could teach her something, it'd be him. Cassy grinned, giving him a quick hug in thanks before saying goodbye.
"See you Saturday!!" she called behind her, skipping away.
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Cassy
No doubt. Should I start?
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Cassy
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Daniel
May 24, 2010 5:00 PM
Nah, I did. It's in the Cascade Hall (nm) by Daniel
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Daniel
Nah, I did. It's in the Cascade Hall (nm)
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Daniel
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