The lazed brunette sat in the black leather chair, her slim finger tapping the armrest, though that alone didn't seem to be enough movement for her, as her foot was tapping to a completely different beat than the one that she was tapping her finger to. The atmosphere was suffocating her, and no position that she sat in seemed to please her, so the habit of moving around like some weirdo seemed to manifest in her, as if personifying the bundle of nerves that were linked to anxiety inside of her.
As she let out a light sigh, Cassandra began to look around. Her hazel eyes shifted from place to place, trying to find something -anything, really - besides her mother to look at. She sometimes glanced over at her sister, but looking at Sybil didn't calm her nerves. She looked like she was scared, but Cassandra saw right through the facade that she was holding up. Sybil knew she wasn't in as much trouble as her sister, that's just how it always was.
And as the two sat in their living room with their mother standing before them like a giant, emotions surged through Cassandra, but she wasn't so sure if she shared the same ones with her sister.
Frowning even more, Cassandra tore her gaze from her sister and snuck glanced at her mother. Her mother Sandra stood tall and proud, and she seemed to literally radiate with power. Her tan arms were crossed over one another and her finger tapped against her arm, but other than that, she was completely still, which was something that Cassandra could never be, especially in the
uncomfortable silence between the three. She hated silence and couldn't stand to be near people who were quiet. Not because they were weird, but because she could only think where it was loud. It was crazy, but somehow the chaos around her helped her think. It was silence that drove her mad. In chaos, there were so many things to focus on that she just didn't have to choose what to think about, but in silence, she was left alone to her thoughts. But right now, she was shit out of luck.
In reality, the only thing she truly heard was the ticking of the clock on the wall. But she needed more; something to focus on besides that, and it was driving her insane. She normally couldn't ever just focus on one thing, but the tick tock of the clock was distracting her from doing something important, and that important something was avoiding her mother's piercing gaze. Her mother was famous for giving the coldest stares, even more so than her father. Perhaps it was the piercing light blue eyes she possessed, or maybe it was the fact that she had so much pent up anger behind them.
"Y-you look pretty, mom." Cassandra stutters, attempting giving her mother a small smile, though like most of her smiles, it was shown to be a bit more shady than persuasive. She shifted a bit in her seat as her mother's eyes landed on her. The gaze was colder than before, and if the term "looks could kill" was real, she was sure she'd be dead for sure."Flattery will get you nowhere, Cassandra." Sandra said harshly, earning a quiet snicker from Sybil. Cassandra quickly threw her sister a cold glare, but no matter how much she tried, it was nowhere near as powerful as her mother's.
"Sybil, shut up. And Cassandra, quit with the smart talk." Her mother's voice was cold, harsh, and Cassandra would be lying is she said she wasn't scared of her mother. But with Cassandra being Cassandra, there wasn't much that would keep her from taking out, and a mild case of fear sure wasn't one. "If you want me to cut the smart talk, then I guess you don't want me to talk at all. But then again, Sybil would be the perfect gal to talk with." She threw another look towards her older sister."You're such an asswipe!" She hissed, making Cassandra chuckle.
"Really, out of everything, you come up with idiot? Not even something better, more creative?" She bickered back, causing her sister to turn towards their mother."Can you shut her up?!"
"How about you both shut the hell up before I kill you?" Instead of yelling it, Cassandra's mother spoke with a soft tone. Cassandra would've preferred her mother to yell; that way she knew she was angry, but she wouldn't seem like she was about to go American Psycho on them. "Sorry," Cassandra murmured, shuffling in her seat once more before she began to bite at her lip- a last resosrt to shut herself up.
"Now, " Sandra started, glancing at the two."Who wants to start the lies? Or does someone have the balls to actually tell the truth?"
Sandra watched each of her children, waiting to see who would be the first to talk. A certain change in a sitting position made Sandra look towards Cassandra again; if Cassandra was lucky, then maybe Sandra would be looking towards Sybil instead of her. But then again, Cassandra didn't have the lucky trait. Her traits were specifically talkative, loud, rambunctious, and computer nerd. Luck wasn't apparent in those categories, sadly.
And neither was quiet.
"Well, mom, me and Sybil don't really have any balls. You gave birth to two girls." Cassandra said with a slight shrug in her shoulders and a smile playing on her lips, her gaze going from her mom to her sister. Humor was something she strived for and it was granted to her, but then again, she didn't really know when to be and when to actually take a situation seriously. "But hey, I guess in a certain light Sybil could pass for a convincing tranny."
A low growl came from Sybil, but before she could yell at her younger sister, Sandra yelled to get their attention. "Enough! Cassandra, quit being an ass, and Sybil, just-"She let out an aggravated sigh before continuing."I'm not going to do the whole "Did you really do drugs?" thing, because then both of you would just lie." She sighed and rubbed her temple with her left hand, shutting her eyes momentarily before opening them again, gracing her daughters with a look that could kill.
For a moment, Cassandra thought her mother would finally shut up. But with how angry she was at the two of them, the chance of her slicing their throats with her sharp words would be very high on the things that were to happen that night. "Seriously, how stupid are you two?! Drugs, really?!" Cassandra winced at her mother's yells, but that didn't stop her from yelling. "After what you've seen your father go through, straight from rehab and then into a jail? Do you honestly want to become like him?" The sisters glanced at each other, hazel eyes boring into hazel.
In all honesty, neither of the girls could deny the fact that they'd had drugs. Neither could deny the fact that they had alcohol either; but in Cassandra's defense, Sybil was the one who had dragged her out in the dead of night to a random party that she didn't even want to go to in the first place. What Cassandra didn't know was that her mother's friend was the bouncer at that party, and he happened to know the two girls. Sybil was old enough to get in, but Cassandra only got in by her sister's luck. Even with her sister's abundance of luck, Cassandra's bad luck soon took hold, and with that, the bouncer probably alerted their mother and by the time their mother got there, she'd seen enough to probably want to kill the both of them But when it came to Sybil, their mother was always going to be on her side.
Growing up with an older sister who could lie her ass off with an angelic look on her face was a harsh thing to have. It was Cassandra who had been blessed with a natural blunt nature and a wise attitude; out of the two, Sybil was always the one that everyone would always believe. So no matter what Cassandra would say, Sybil would always be the more reliable one. Whether it be who stole the cookies out of the cookie jar to who really broke the neighbor's window back when Cassandra was in the seventh grade, Cassandra was the one who constantly had blame thrust onto her, and Sybil would always come out as angelic as possible.
"Are either of you going to answer me?" Sandra screamed, causing Cassandra to flinch once more. When neither of the girls spoke, Sandra began to yell again. "You know that all those drugs your father did messed up his teeth, right? How much he fucked up his life?"
"Mom, we know-"
"And yet you two are still caught doing drugs!" She said loudly, interrupting Cassandra. She huffed and adjusted herself in her seat once more as her mother began to speak again. "I could get you both locked up, I hope you know that."
"Mom," this time, it was Sybil's soft voice that was brought up, and it was certainly more convincing and soothing than Cassandra's. "I know you're worried, and I'm sorry that we both did such a terrible thing." Sybil gave her mother a look that would probably make a devil atone for their sins, and Cassandra was jealous that Sybil was able to muster that up, eve with such a terrible sob story "But you've made your point, and we've learned our lesson." Cassandra couldn't help but roll her eyes. If she had been the one to say that, she'd just be chewed out even more than before. Plus, Sybil's speech was utterly clichéd and tacky. Cassandra would've at least put a lot of theatrics in it, just for extra effect.
And surprise, surprise; their mom was quiet as Sybil spoke. "It was a terrible mistake, and we're both very, very sorry."
Now, yet again, there was nothing but silence. The last silence got in her nerves, but this one annoyed her like nails going down a chalk board. She moved around in her chair again, aching to just stand up, or move around; anything but sitting in a chair with eyes piercing her body like knives.
"You're both idiots," her mother finally said. "And for something like drugs, you need to be punished. Sybil," she nodded towards her oldest daughter, who merely blinked in surprise. For a split second, Cassandra was sure that her mother was going to punish her right then and there, but then again, there was literally no luck in that department. "You're an adult. I can't exactly punish you like I can with Cassandra-" Cassandra let out a huff, sending a small glare towards her sister,"-but I can go to the cops with this. And maybe I should." Sandra shifted her weight from one foot to the other, cocking her hip out.
Cassandra almost smiled. If this had been in any other situation, she would've had a full-blown smile at the thought of her sister finally getting into trouble. As she glanced over at her, she could literally see the color drain from her face. If only she had a camera. "But," ah, there it goes. Sandra cleared her throat, running her hands through her short black hair, sighing.
"But, I won't. But I can't trust you. Either of you. Not anymore. So both of you, go to your rooms. I'll call you back in when I've figured out what I'm going to do to you."
Cassandra was the first to bolt out of her chair, thankful that she could leave and walk around now. She stretched a bit and flexed her hands and fingers, itching to leave the heavy gaze of her mother. She soon dashed to her room, which she shared with Sybil. Not even waiting for her elder sister to follow her, she quickly slammed the door to their room and proceeded to walk around.
She couldn't sit down on her bed and just wait for her punishment, but she couldn't leave, either. She already been in enough trouble, and she wasn't itching to get into any more.
"Cassie," Sybil murmured as she opened the door, then shut it firmly behind her. Cassandra looked up at her as she walked to and fro in her room, blatantly ignoring the thought of sitting down. "What?" She questioned before moving her gaze away from her sister. "I just wanted to thank you for not telling her-"
"Syb, even if I did tell her, you know she wouldn't believe me." Her voice was stern, and it shut Sybil up instantly. But as Cassandra glanced at her sister again, she saw that mask. It was the same one she wore whenever she would lie to their parents, but it would never fool her. "I didn't want you to get into trouble, Cassie. I just wanted you to have fun." This time, Cassandra caught something that she normally didn't catch; a micro-expression. Now, to see these, you have to be paying close attention to someone, because they're called micro-expressions for a reason.
And her micro-expression was a smile. Merely a small tug at the corner of her lips that lasted no longer than two seconds, and Cassandra was able to catch onto it. For the second time that night, she was sure that her sister did all of that on purpose; like she wanted to get Cassandra in deep trouble. The question now would be, why? Huffing, she kept walking around, barely looking at her sister."And you know our ideas of fun are two completely different things," Cassandra muttered harshly, causing Sybil to looked back at her to watch Sybil open her mouth ajar before shutting it again. This made Cassandra frown. Cassandra didn't want to hear any more of it. All Sybil was going to say was lies, and then more lies to cover her lies. It was literally a never ending cycle for her.
"All you do is stay on your computer. I just wanted to open you up a bit more, you know? Maybe introduce you to a few of my friends, stuff like that." She scoffed at the idea. Even if that had been the case, Cassandra still wouldn't buy it. It was entirely too wishy-washy and monotonous- which was clearly something her sister was famous for, besides being able to lie with an angelic look on her face. And that angelic look got Cassandra into this mess. She didn't even know why she left with Sybil, to be honest. Sybil just woke her up and literally began to half-drag her out of the window before Cassandra knew what was going on, and by the time she came to her senses, Sybil had conned her into staying with her.
"Yeah, well I didn't know your friend was named Mary-Jane, nor did I know that you had a thing with a guy named Jack Daniels. But, hey, I'm sure they're great friends if they get us into this mess. Real keepers." The bitter tone in Cassandra's voice made Sybil huff, but the sarcasm is what made her frown all together. Sybil crossed her leg over the other and watched her sister trail around the room."Mom's only so upset because of dad, so don't get your panties in a twist. She's probably just going to take away your computer or something."
Cassandra stopped dead in her tracks, sporting a sorrowful look on her face as she turned to glance at her sister. "Oh, wipe that look off of your face. It's only a computer."
"And it was only supposed to be a party, right?" This time, Sybil didn't have a come back. As she crossed her arms, Cassandra watched as her sister ran her hands through her dark hair, a habit and trait that she had picked up from her mom.
"What, are you going to be quiet now? I recall you being very loud at that party." This time, Cassandra earned a glare instead of a disappointed look and a sigh. Obviously another trait Sybil had picked up from her mother, or maybe it was just something that all people did when around Cassandra. "Well excuse me, but you aren't exactly innocent in this. I recall you doing as much as I did."
Snorting, Cassandra started to walk around again"What can I say? My sister is very persuasive."She said with emphasis, giving her sister a sideways glance. Sybil let out a curt chuckle, though it wasn't to be taken out if humor, but out of spite. It sent a shiver down Cassandra's spine, and the look on Sybil's face scared her a bit.
"And that's exactly why mom'll be letting me off the hook while you go to jail. I'd say goodbye to your computers now and learn not to drop the soap." A frown graced Cassandra's features, and she instinctively adjusted the beanie on her head, since she couldn't exactly run her hands through her hair. She was nervous, and Sybil was right. The possibility of Cassandra going to jail was very high.
"You're a little-"
The creak from the door opening is what cut Cassandra's insult short. As the door creaked open, there was her mother, whom of which grasped a phone in her left hand tightly, a solemn look on her face. Cassandra's heart dropped and she immediately stopped pacing the floor. No.
She couldn't be going to jail, could she?
"Well, what's the news?" Cassandra inquired, watching her mother with worried eyes. Sandra barely gave her a glance as she sighed. And for the first time that night, Cassandra saw how tired her mother really was. Bags were present under her eyes, and she swore that she probably gave her mother more white streaks in her hair, and only because with how dark her mother's hair was, she wouldn't ever get grey hair.
Pursing her lips, Sandra looked over at Sybil."Sybil, you're going to be working with me, but only because you're already enrolled to college here." Out of the corner of her eyes, she could see Sybil smirk. But when Cassandra looked back at her mother, she noticed that her eyes weren't on Sybil anymore, they were trained on Cassandra. She shifted her weight from one hip to the other, uncomfortable under her gaze, but anger began to rise in her."You're just letting Sybil off? She did way more than me, and I'm not letting her throw me under the bridge just because-"
"Cassandra, please, baby- shut up." But as Cassandra opened her mouth to counter her mother's words, she stopped short. But it wasn't the words that stopped her, but her mother's gaze. But this time, Cassandra noticed something a bit different about her mother's stare; her anger was still there, but it wasn't as abundant, and Cassandra was almost convinced that there was a look of sorry on her face. Her jaw dropped a bit and she began to fumble with her words.
Since she had stopped pacing, Cassandra took up a new habit, which was tapping her foot on the ground. But once she caught hold of that look, all movements died out entirely. Worry began to set in"Y-you're not sending me to jail, right? Mom, I swear, all I did was smoke and drink; not exactly gateway things to stuff like crack, ok? And mom- mom- look at my body. I'm, like, 5'6" and a pale complexion with the body of a twelve year old boy! I'm not ready to be someone's prison bitch-"
"Oh my gosh, Cassandra, you have a huge mouth on you." Sandra said, shaking her head in amusement, but the look on her face still convinced Cassandra otherwise. "Too big of a mouth for you to go to jail." Cassandra exhaled, and a smile broke out on her face. She wouldn't go to jail, but that didn't mean she wasn't being punished. But in jail, you couldn't have your own computers to run diagnostics on and do stuff like hack into your school's network to change your grade. And besides that, she wasn't sure the punishment would be that bad-
Until she remembered her mother's look."Um, mom? If you're not sending me to jail, then...?"
"Next time, I won't hesitate to send you to jail. Underage drinking and smoking is illegal, and I won't stand for another Finstock to go to jail for something as stupid as that." Cassandra still smiled. No jail equaled computer, and that's all she cared about. Sybil huffed, making Cassandra remember that she had a devil of a sister- one who could probably open her mouth to convince her mother to send her to jail.
"Then what's my punishment, mom?" Cassandra asked quickly, hoping she could get the punishment out in the open before her sister could get any devious ideas. This time Sandra's gaze landed on her phone in her hands, and Cassandra began to get a bit confused. If she didn't call the cops, then who did she call?
"Cassandra, when your father started doing drugs, he didn't listen to me. I told him to stop, that it'd only lead him on a path to destruction, but he still didn't listen. Well, at least, he didn't listen to me." She took a few more steps into the room, her feet shuffling against the wooden floor. Both sisters froze in their spots as their mother took a seat on Sybil's bed. She placed the phone beside her before glancing at Cassandra once more, the look in her blue eyes still there, still worrying Cassandra to death about the truth. She held in a breath as her mother began to speak again.
"Your uncle was always the one that would tell him off. He was never subtle about it, and your father respected that. The two had a close bond, but once your father started to do drugs, it dwindled a little."
Alright, Cassandra was still as confused as before. "Is your heartbreaking story going to ever reach the part where you get to the point?"
A twist in her gut told Cassandra that she shouldn't have said that, but she was thankful that her mother took no notice to her words. A sigh escaped her mother's lips, and that's when Cassandra got the point."Oh," she murmured, causing Sybil to look between her sister and her mother."Oh? Oh what?"
"You're... Sending me off?" She asked, her voice soft. A chuckle came from her mother, confusing Cassandra even more so than before. Why would her mother chuckle."I guess there's no use beating around the bush, Cas. I'm sending you to your uncle Bobby. He's a coach at the high school there, and he could probably show you the pros and cons of your actions better than being someone's prison bitch will." Cassandra almost chuckled at the fact that her mother made a funny, but being frozen in her place stopped her completely.
"And depending on your behavior, we'll see when you come home. If you learn your lesson, you can come back by your senior year."She then stood up abruptly, nodding at Sybil. Sybil sat up in her spot when Sandra took notice in her."Help your sister pack, Syb. She leaves tomorrow."
Sybil nodded and thanked her mother quietly- for what, Cassandra really didn't know. The chance of Sybil getting into any real trouble was as low as an old man's libido. Once their mother left the room, Sybil's calm demeanor fell, and she was jumping off the bed and giggling."I've gotta tell Alexis that I'll be having my own room for a while," she said to heself, but Cassandra knew that the words were used to hurt her, and she probably wasn't even going to tell this Alexis person.
"Shut up," Cassandra muttered back, making her elder sister laugh."Yeah, ok. I'll shut up and leave so you can pack your things. No way am I helping you." She laughed before shuffling out of the room, yelling for her sister to avoid taking any of her things. This normally would've earned a big "fuck you" from Cassandra, but for once in her life, Cassandra was quiet. And now, she was still frozen in place.
She was being shipped off to an uncle she hadn't seen since she was ten. She'd only heard stories about him since then; he lived in some small town called Beacon Hills, was a coach, and he had a really wild hairdo. But that much wasn't enough to go on; she didn't know him well enough to just move out and live with him. She hadn't even seen a Christmas card from him since her father went to jail.
She almost wished she was being sent to jail.