Jane Brewster stood outside, not too far from the man she spoke to. He was crouched, working on what seemed to be a sprinkler or other, talking to her as he did so. The neighborhood was rather quiet for once, the children all in for dinner.
It wasn't too long of a silence, Charley, Jane's son, and his girlfriend, Amy arrived. A quick greeting was made between them all, the male neighbor finally standing. His exit from the group being paused by the loud sound of bass from a car swinging, rather over the posted limit, onto the street. All eyes remained on the car, Amy frowning and the other's watching curiously. The black Ford Escort whipped into the drive of the house on the other side of the male's house.
Jane smiled as the music cut, windows all down, a mane of black hair the only thing visible to the group. The female in the car hardly planted a foot on the ground before being accosted by the friendly single mother.
"Cassandra!" Jane called with a wave, trying to get her to join them.
The girl turned, nose ring glinting in the mostly set sun and street lights. Her pale face was graced with flushed cheeks and a partial sneer. Her eyes flashed angrily for a moment before she quickly got it in check, the grey eyes sparkling for a moment at Jane as she stood from the car. She was not dressed as fashionably as the others, aside from a black and grey hoody with grey cat like ears on it. She was clearly eccentric.
"Howdy, Jane. Sorry. In a rather bit of a rush, I'll have to catch you later," she said quickly, hand slamming the door with far more force than needed. Not once looking at anyone other than Jane before storming toward her front door, back to them. Amy frowned as Cassandra threw the door open already yelling out at somebody seconds after a loud crash.
"Damn it, Jimmy! I told you I was coming home today!" Cassandra yelled furiously. "The hell is this?"
Jane laughed a bit as she smiled at the male again. "Sorry, Cassandra isn't usually the kind to skip out on meeting her neighbors. She's a nice girl. Though a bit on the eccentric side when she wants to be."
"A bit? She's a freak," Amy snips, sending a mean look toward the house with a male running from the front door as fast as he could toward his beat up KIA.
"JIMMY! WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU DONE TO THIS HOUSE?" Cassandra shrilled before rushing out the door after the fleeing man.
"SORRY, CASS!" He yelled, hiding in his now locked car and trying to back out fast.
"Jimmy!" She cries in outraged shock as he sped off. "The hell, you pansy!"
"And that, folks, is our neighborhood drama," Charley mocks as Cassandra kicked once furiously at the pink flamingo that had arrived in her yard while she was gone.
"Charley," Jane lightly scolds, sending him a warning look.
The new male watched the female as she let out a growl, glaring at her house with her hands on her hips. "Flipping pig, gut him-" she started to hiss, stomping the plastic pink lawn ornament to a pulp.
"Everything alright, Cassandra?" Jane calls, fully knowing what it was, but seeming polite. Cassandra had lived in the area for a number of years, previously down the street. When she graduated, her parents left and she got the house closer to Jane's with a roommate she had met from school. In short, Jane had a liking for the girl, she was helpful and didn't hide who she was.
Cassandra paused, seemingly just realizing they were there. She blushed, hand going up to ruffle the hair at the back of her head, the long strands curling half way down. "Uh…Hi, Jane." A nervous laugh left her as she kicked the pink plastic with the back of her foot to get it out of sight. "Sorry, didn't know you were still out here." Jane just arched a brow.
"Good party?"
Cassandra's face twisted to a sneering snarl as the glanced at her open door. "I bet, judging by the thrashed house." She let the hand rest at the back of her head as she glanced toward her long time neighbor, apologetically smiling. "Look, I'm sorry about Jimmy and the trouble while I was out of town. If there is anything I can do to make up for it, just give me a holler. I mean it, Jane."
"Why don't you get a new roommate?" Charley offered in a not so polite tone.
Cassandra glanced at him, eyes flicking over him as she figuring the best way to answer. Her hip cocked out as she flipped the hair from her eyes with one head movement, hands falling to rest on her hips.
"Charley," she said with an even, but clipped tone with a sarcastic smile. "How about you shut the fuck up and learn that we are in a recession and not all of us have mommy to pay the bills." Her eyes flicked to Jane, "No offense to you, Jane, dear." It wasn't a new subject between the two.
The blond mother gave a shrug, eyes glancing over her neighbor's attire and features. "Not much sleep today?"
"Ugh," Cass groaned, shifting her weight, still in her yard. "Hardly any at all. I had to take him to the airport and then get up early so I could get home before I had work. But…" She gave a wide shrug as if to motion to her surroundings. "Turns out I read the schedule wrong I am off tonight, after trying to rush through traffic most of the evening."
"Sorry to hear that. Come over soon and tell me how it all went."
"Sure, Jane," Cassandra said with a warm smile, head tilting a bit.
Charley glanced at Amy who was openly frowning at him. She had caught him looking over the other female. Cassandra had been his sitter for the longest time and was always at his house or around her yard in hardly more than shorts and bathing tops.
Cassandra let out a groan as loud meowing came from the door, a black feline sitting elegantly on the porch, glaring at her owner after her loud attention getter.
"Bastet, you snooty thing," Cassandra frowned, moving toward the cat. "Sorry, later guys."
She scooped the cat up with ease, cradling the cat as she moved inside and shut the door behind her.