I scowl as I look through my closet, trying to find an acceptable outfit to wear to dinner. My scowl deepens once I realize just how little color I actually have. I groan in frustration and throw my hands up, abandoning my search to throw myself on my bed. I fling one arm over my eyes and sigh as I worry over what Deanna's parents will think of me.
A knock on the apartment's door rouses me from where I lay, grumbling to myself as I walk towards the door.
"Who is it?" I call through the wood.
"You know exactly who it is! Now, open up and let me in!" The unfortunately familiar voice calls through the door. I groan and unlatch it, letting it swing open as my unwanted guest piles into my tiny apartment. I turn and walk away from her, reentering my room and flinging myself back onto my bed. The last thing I need right now is a visit from her.
"Cassie, is that any way to treat your guest?" My roommate, a British woman named Bathazar reprimands me. I groan and turn over to glare at her.
"Balthy, are you supposed to be in my room?" I reply back, referring to the agreement we both came to upon buying the apartment. She raises her hands in appeasement and backs out of the room until she's standing outside the doorway in the hallway.
"Sorry, but I don't enjoy your sister's surprise visits anymore than you do. If you could just go out there and tell her to bugger off, that would be brilliant." Balth suggests before turning and walking the short distance to her room. I sigh again and heave myself off the bed, walking back out into the living room. My sister Gabrielle sits on the couch, feet on the coffee table despite the numerous threats both Balthazar and I have issued towards her should she keep that up. My eyes narrow as I glare at her from the archway.
"What do you want Gabe?" I ask her, folding my arms over my chest. My sister grins up at me and produces a lollypop from one of her many 'candy pockets', popping it into her mouth.
"What, I can't pop in on my favorite sister to see how she's doing every once in a while?" She asks me, her eyes wide and innocent. My glare deepens.
"No. You can't. Now what do you want?" I ask again. Gabe sighs and stands, walking over to me and putting her arm around my shoulder.
"Cassie, Cassie, Cassie. I'm hurt. You don't text, you don't call. I'd almost say you were avoiding me. Me! Did you know that I had to find out from Meg Masters that you've met your soulmate?" Gabe tuts and clutches a hand to her chest. "I'm your sister! Your own flesh and blood!"
"Gabe, I met her this morning. I didn't really have time to send out newsletters." I shrug off her arm and start steering her towards the door. "Now if you don't mind, I have some things I need to do."
"At least tell me her name!" Gabriel requests as she struggles against me.
"Her name's Deanna, now leave!" I reply, pushing harder. Gabe suddenly stops resisting and I nearly topple over.
"Wait, Deanna? Like, Deanna Winchester, Deanna?" She asks me, her golden eyes wide.
"Yes…" I answer warily, unsure of what my sister's reaction means. Her whole face lights up and a grin stretches across her face, her lollypop nearly falling out.
"This is too perfect." She mutters to herself. "Well, I'll let you get back to… whatever! See you tomorrow!" Gabe dashes out of the apartment and nearly skips down the hall.
"That was weird, wasn't it?" Balthy asks from behind me. "It wasn't just me?"
"No, no that was weird." I reply, shutting the door behind my sister. I glance at the clock and swear. "Balth, I need your help!" I grab my roommate's hand and drag her into my room, planting her in front of my closet.
"What do you need me to do, exactly?" She asks, scanning over the clothes hanging there.
"I need an outfit for tonight, I'm meeting Deanna's family." I tell her quickly. "She said it was going to be 'fairly casual'. I'm begging you, I need your help."
"Give me five minutes." She tells me, diving into the closet and searching through the sea of black and grey. She pulls out something from the back of my closet and throws it on the bed, searching through my drawers for a minute before adding something else to the pile. Finally, she pulls down a bright blue tie from my tie rack and adds it to the small pile. "Okay, put this on over your best lingerie." She orders me, turning away and shutting my door behind her. I blush, but comply anyway, pulling out a matching set of lacy black lingerie that someone had gotten me as a gift at some point (most likely Gabrielle, the little shit).
Balth had pulled out a pair of tight, but still family appropriate, black skinny jeans, a white button up, and my blue tie. It was only a slight variation of my normal outfit, so at the very least I knew I would be comfortable in the style.
"Are you decent?" She calls through my door, knocking on the wood.
"Yes!" I call back. The British woman opens the door and tuts at me. She rushes forward and pulls the shirt out from where I had tucked it into my jeans.
"Never tuck your shirt into your jeans." She berates me. She tugs on my tie until it's loose and unbuttons the top two buttons on my shirt. She steps back to look at me and makes a humming noise. "Roll up your sleeves." She commands. I roll my eyes at her, but comply as she rummages through my make-up box. Most of it has never been used (what with the whole 'no color' thing), but it had been a gift from Anna, so I think it would be safe to assume that all the colors would look good on me.
"What are you doing?" I ask her as she contemplates the two shades of lipstick she has in her hands.
"Which do you think? Dare You or Lady Danger?" Balth asks me, holding up the two shades.
"Uh…" I blink, not sure what the difference is.
"You're right, I should split the difference. Brave Red it is." She recaps the two reds and picks up another one. "Now hold still." She warns me as she holds up the new color. She grabs my face and sets to work, filling in my pale pink lips with the bright red color. She turns back to the case and turns back holding an eye color pallet. She takes a brush and picks up a light grey. "Close your eyes." The brush sweeps over my eyelids and she carefully applies the shadow. The brush leaves my eyelids and I stand there waiting for a few seconds.
"Can I open my eyes?" I ask her.
"Yes, of course." She replies. "You know how to apply mascara, yes?" She asks me, holding out the wand. I take it and roll my eyes again. I apply it easily, even without a mirror, which Balthazar is blocking for some reason.
"Am I done now?" I ask her testily. She runs her eyes over me and hums thoughtfully.
"There's something missing." She mutters, pursing her lips. She snaps her fingers and dashes back over to my closet, pulling out a black vest. "Here." She throws it at me and I slip it on, unsure if I should button it or not. "Leave it open." She clarifies as she sees me fiddling with the buttons.
Balthazar looks me over one last time before smiling and stepping away from the mirror. I gasp as I see myself, stepping closer to get a better look. I look… good. Maybe it's because its the first real look of what I look at with colors, but for the first time in my life I look hot. The outfit is dressy without being too formal, with just the right amount of casual. I kind of look like a rock star, with the bright red lips, smoky eyes, and my hair mussed from constantly running my fingers through it.
"Wow." I breath. Balthazar smirks triumphantly and nods in approval.
"Now let's talk shoes…" She starts but I cut her off with a glare. She raises her hands in defense and backs out of my room. I lock the door behind her and rest my back against it, a smile tugging at the corners of my mouth. My phone buzzes on my bedside table and I rush over to it, grinning as I see the text from Deanna.
From: Deanna
Hey Cas, just checking to make sure you know its at 9
To: Deanna
I remember thank you. Where are we meeting?
From: Deanna
I can pick you up? where's ur dorm?
To: Deanna
Thompson Hall, I'll meet you outside
From: Deanna
Great. See ya in a few ;)
I smile down at the phone before setting it back down. I turn back toward my wardrobe and pull out a pair of old Doc Martens that I've had since my 'eleventh grade punk phase', as Gabrielle likes to call it. I leave them mostly untied, due to the fact that I don't think they would fit over, or under, my skinny jeans, and turn away, taking my trench coat as I do. When I exit my room, I see Balthazar sitting on the couch, watching something on BBC America. Most likely old Doctor Who reruns. I don't focus long enough to confirm anything, grabbing my set of keys on my way toward the door.
"I'll see you later Balth, don't wait up!" I call on my way out the door.
"Good luck Cassie." Blathazar calls after me, laughing to herself as I close the door. I can't keep the excitement to myself as I run down the stairs, the dull thudding sound of my boots echoing behind me as I race down. I burst through the stairwell into the small entry way and take a moment to calm my breathing and straighten my clothes.
A large black muscle car pulls up outside the dorm and Deanna jumps out, grinning at me and waving. She's wearing dark jeans and a green button up, so at least I don't feel too overdressed.
"Hey Cas!" Deanna calls. I walk over and grin at my soulmate.
"Hello, Deanna." I greet her, still smiling.
Deanna looks me up and down and gulps. "Wow, you, uh, you look good. Really, really good."
I blush and look down. "Thank you, Deanna. You look good as well."
"Right, well, uh, why don't you, um, just get in and we'll go." Deanna says awkwardly, rubbing at the back of her neck. I smile at her and open the passenger door, sliding in. Deanna does the same on the driver's side and guns the engine again.
"This is a very nice car, Deanna." I comment as Deanna drives us toward her family's house.
"Yeah, she's a real beauty, isn't she? My aunt Bobbie helped me rebuild her after she was totaled." Deanna's face goes dark. "My ma, Sammie and me were in an accident a few years back. Sammie got out with only a few scrapes and a broken wrist, but me and ma were in the hospital for a while. I, uh, was in a coma for about a month, and when I woke up, they sad ma died." Deanna clenches her jaw and shakes her head. "I dunno why I'm telling you this."
"We're soul mates, Deanna. It's common for soul mates to find themselves revealing more than they normally would, especially when the bond is as new as ours is. Some believe it helps strengthen the bond between the souls, while others think it is due to new hormones released by the body, acting as a sort of truth serum." I inform her.
"And what do you think?" Deanna asks me, glancing over at me as she drives.
"I think that there is no way of knowing which hypothesis is true, or if there is another reason that has yet to be theorized. I believe there is much we do not know about the bonds, but I am curious about their purpose and the way they effect us." I reply.
"So you planning on becoming one of those soulmate specialists, or something?" Deanna asks me, again taking her eyes off the road to look at me.
"I was considering it, yes. And you? Do you have any plans for your career?"
"I dunno. I'm good with cars and I understand the mechanics of most things, but I'm not sure I want to do that for the rest of my life. I used to want to be a firefighter, 'cause our house caught on fire when I was little and it almost killed my mom. Probably would have if the firefighters had been even a minute later. I dunno. I want to do something that will help people, y'know?" Deanna looks over at me with a small smile, and I give her one in return. We hold eye contact for a very long time, which would have been very bad for both of us, had we not been parked outside a large house.
Deanna finally breaks eye contact with me and turns away, turning her car off.
"So, are you ready to meet my family? I'll warn you, they're a bit loud."
"They are the people who made you who you are today. I'm sure they're wonderful." I answer, smiling over at my soulmate.
Together we walk up the short pathway to the front porch, passing a driveway full of cars and trucks. There's an old pick up, a cop car, a beat up yellow bug, a faded grey station wagon, and a newer pick up that Deanna mutters about as they pass. Deanna pauses in front of the door and looks over at me.
"Well, here goes nothing." She says before knocking on the door.