Cassandra was not completely sure why she was at this party. It was in somebody's basement, one of the underground ones that only had tiny windows at the top to let in some natural light, but it was dark now and she was having trouble seeing out the window.
There was loud, unpleasant music akin to construction on Cassandra's skull, accompanied by obnoxious flashing red lights. She wasn't sure if the lights were real or if she was just hallucinating again, but it didn't really matter. The effect was the same.
She leaned heavily into the corner she was in and closed her eyes, rubbing the heels of her palms against them roughly to try to clear her head. Why had she agreed to come to this party?
Jake had left her immediately, off to flirt with the host, who had invited Cassandra specifically so they would have a reasonable excuse to invite Jake - you know, close friend of a friend thing. Social politics made no sense to Cassandra.
That left her, all alone, in the corner of a crowded party with painted strangers she only half knew. Everyone was made of glitter and neon lights and Cassandra felt her head swimming.
"Go to the party," her parents had said. "Be a normal high school senior. It's New Year's Eve. Spend it with your friends."
She was quite sure if her parents had known there'd be whatever that bitter-likely-alcoholic drink was, they would have wanted her to stay home. There was nothing normal about a nerd girl with numerous health problems, hallucinating in the middle of a high school extravaganza, straight out of an after-school special warning about the dangers of teen drinking - Cassandra sniffed and got an earful of chill transcendental notes - and smoking pot.
She caught a glimpse of Jake disappearing into a closet with the host. Add teen sex to that list as well. She grumbled angrily, picking at a loose thread in her fingerless knit gloves, and slid down to sit on the floor. The corner was probably clean enough. She hoped. She tucked her legs under herself and pulled her sapphire skirt lower.
Her mother was never allowed to dress her again, she made a mental note. Off the shoulder straps greatly prohibited one's movements, and a white top this expensive did not belong on Cassandra's accident prone body. She'd had to fight tooth and nail for the gloves and the scarf in her hair, the only semblance of "Cassandra Cillian, eclectic queen" on her body.
And the tattoo. But she'd be damned if her mom ever found that. It had been a dumb idea, but she had to take her body back somehow, assert control, remaster the thing that had been causing her so much trouble recently. Just two small lines, Maxwell's equations, for her love of math and science. They were on her right, just above the waist of a pair of jeans, and easily covered by bright floral bathing suits Cassandra loved. Her mom would never know.
She closed her eyes again and tried to let her mind wander, focus on the tattoo and math and the universe, relaxing back into the wall. It was hard to block out all the stimuli around her, her scratchy glittery shoes scraping her skin, the abhorrent music and the lights, the smell of strange concoctions. Sensory overload washed over her and she was caught in the undertow, drowning and barely able to breathe, sucked further and further into the darkness under the waves of her surroundings. She felt wet and she couldn't tell if it was real or a hallucination, if someone had spilled something on her or if she was drowning for real.
"Hey! Fuck off!" A voice broke through Cassandra's spiral, sharp and heavily accented. "Leave her alone; you're not helping."
She refused to open her eyes, but she felt the boy drawing closer. It sounded like Ezekiel Jones, a junior from her school. He was a little one, started school early. She was in the same boat, though - skipped a grade, now the youngest of everyone else.
Boat - ocean - drowning - drowning - she was sucked back under until she felt a pair of strong, gentle hands cover her ears. They pressed in with just the right amount of force, sealing her off from the outside world.
Her own hands were digging into her thighs, painted purples and blues stark against her pale flesh. She lifted them and placed her palms against his hands. He went to pull back but she pressed down, keeping him there, and focused intently on the feeling of his skin and the count of her breathing. In for four, out for four.
Everything grew easier over the course of a few minutes. Breathing, living, everything. She opened her eyes slowly and studied Ezekiel's face, filling her field of view almost completely. The hallucinations were pretty much gone but for the subtle sound of ocean waves in the background and the smell of her grandfather's cologne. That was for love.
"Thank you," she said serenely, once more the picture of composure. Maybe she was still a little out of it. He was very handsome. And she smelled a lot of booze.
She moved her hand to her ponytail. He withdrew his hands from her ears and placed them on his lap, where his legs were folded under himself, mirroring her.
"Um. Why is my hair sticky?" Cassandra's face crinkled.
"They thought you were sleeping so they splashed you with 'water.' Except the water happened to be a mixed drink of vodka and Sprite."
"Oh, shit." Cassandra glanced at her mother's trashed top. "I am...trouble..." she mumbled, turning inward.
"Hi there, Trouble. I'm Ezekiel, and I think I can save your night," he offered. "I had plans before Debbie said I was in charge tonight."
"You're in charge?" she repeated uncertainly.
"This is my house."
"Wait, you're Jazz's brother?"
"Cousin, actually. I moved here from Australia when my mom died and there was some nonsense about custody. I finally got placed with my dad's sister's family. I am 'the responsible one,' I guess." He shrugged. "The life I live."
"You? Responsible?" Cassandra snorted. "I mean, I guess compared to Jazz…" Speaking of, Jake had been in that closet a looooong time now. Cassandra was a little worried.
"I know right? Bizarre." Ezekiel smiled winningly at her. "So anyway, what do you say I make your night spectacular, and you pay me back with information."
"Information?" she questioned as he grabbed her hand and pulled her up.
"About you. Cassandra Cillian, smartest girl in the school, curled up in the corner at my cousin's party."
Cassandra observed him carefully. "Deal. But only if you make my problems go away."
He laughed, sucking in a breath. "All of them? Because whatever the hell just happened might take emmagic/em to solve."
Cassandra felt her heart tingle. "We'll see what you can do."
"First thing's first." He dragged her by the hand, over to the kitchenette, filled to the brim with open alcohol bottles. "Making you the best drink you've ever had."
"The only drink," Cassandra corrected.
"Then my job just got a lot harder." He smiled at her. "Luckily" - he slides some vials out of his pockets - "I'm the special bartender. The 'secret menu' of this party."
"You're the menu?" Cassandra scrunched up her face again. "How does that make sense?"
"You can have anything off it, or just order the whole damn thing," Ezekiel teased.
She laughed. "Smooth, and a nice save. I'll allow it."
"That you kindly." He grabbed a shot glass out of the cabinet and wet the edge. He poured out some rainbow star-shaped sprinkles from one of his jars onto the counter and coated the rim of the shot glass.
He turned back to her. "Favorite flavor of skittle?"
"Green apple!" She was excited and curious where he was going with this. She watched carefully as he ripped open a pack of skittles and split one halfway down the middle, then placed it on the side of the glass.
From another pocket, he whipped out an array of five vials, filled with colored liquids, and selected the green one, pouring it into the glass. Next, he sprinkled in some cinnamon from another one of his mystery bottles. The was caramel sauce on the counter, which he laid out in a lattice over the top of the drink.
"Caramel apple shot. And you struck me as a star sprinkles kind of girl."
"Why just a shot?"
"You said it's your first drink ever. Don't want you wasted before I take you on the best night of your life." Ezekiel smirked. "You're going to want to remember this. Ezekiel Jones doesn't take just any girl out."
"Well, I don't go break rules with just any boy," Cassandra replied, downing her shot while Ezekiel grabbed a soda left unattended and took a sip. "Oooh. Yummy."
"So. Now that you've taken the initiation shot." Ezekiel grinned. "We are gonna fix the shirt situation, get you cleaned up."
"How?" Cassandra asked skeptically, glancing at the ruined fabric skeptically.
Ezekiel grabbed her hand. "Trust me."
She felt the butterflies blossom in her stomach as he dragged her expertly through the throng of wasted high school students. It was still only 9 p.m. and yet everyone was already drunk or high or both. A pretty girl was blowing smoke rings at her boyfriend and trying to make hearts for him.
High school parties really weren't Cassandra's cup of tea.
A pink heart lazily flitted its way across her field of view and she crossed her eyes and blew it away. She felt warm and fuzzy and adventurous. Ezekiel Jones was the delinquent stoner kid who sold things behind the school that he'd stolen: exactly the kind of boy her mother would want her to stay ten miles away from. But all she wanted to do was get closer.
They climbed the basement stairs two at a time and she giggled. He was small, younger than her, but he was nimble and quick. "Jack be nimble, jack be quick," she started to mumble happily as a candle flickered in her ear, softly hissing.
"You're a weirdo," Ezekiel commented.
"So are you. You steal things and sell em to other people." Cassandra almost missed a step and pulled sharply on his arm, but he was sturdy and he helped to steady her.
Ezekiel shrugged. "I fancy myself a sort of Robin Hood for the modern ages. Remember when Tom Richards got his fancy new phone stolen that he was complaining wasn't the right color?"
Cassandra nodded. "That was totally you, wasn't it?"
"Wiped it, reset it, sold it to a new kid, and donated the proceeds to our local animal shelter back when it was in danger of shutting down."
Cassandra crowed happily. "Good! Serves him right." She had a feeling Ezekiel was going to be quite the adventuring partner.
I know it's not New Year's anymore but I'm cross-posting from AO3. I was really excited with this AU and I can't wait to explore it more! I hope you all love it as much as I do.
Let me know what you think by leaving a comment!