Hey Cassandra (Chapter 1)

By Alasse Fefalas

Cassandra's hands shook slightly as she held the letter firmly in her hands. This time, it was from excitement and not as a side effect of one of her medication. She was glad she was already seated on her bed because her legs were feeling all jittery.

Her name and address were written in a flourish, cursive sort of handwriting - the kind she would normally find addressed to her mother for a wedding invitation. The watermark on the stamp indicated it was from outside the state, but it was close by.

Only an eight hour drive away, she thought. Catching herself, she almost laughed at the idea of ever meeting the person. No, she was a cancer patient dependent on the drugs that she ate to try and save her life. She was only on the penpal programme because her parents wanted her to do something from inside the house. They had seen her moping around the house when they pulled her out of school three months ago because her condition had worsened so much she couldn't even get up to go to school.

Two weeks ago, she had sent an application to the programme and received a reply stating that her application had been accepted. Her name was now on the list and if she was lucky, someone would pick her name and address to start writing to.

And here it was. A letter. Addressed to her. Mailed to her. Placed inside her mailbox. Handed to her by her father. Her letter.

She gingerly flipped the envelope onto its back and read the return address. It was to a class - Non-Fiction Writing - in a college.

Unable to contain her excitement any longer, she tore open the envelope with a finger and pulled the letter out. Unfolding it, she found it was written on a piece of foolscap. The handwriting inside wasn't as elegant as the one on the exterior but it was still neat and strong. Giggling to herself, she read the contents.

Hey Cassandra,

I'm Ezekiel Jones. I'm only writing this because my college professor wanted us to choose a random penpal to write to. It's kind of a balls sort of excuse but I had to look busy.

Oh god my hand is getting tired. Why couldn't I just type this out? Would've been much easier. Seriously.

Oops, there she goes. She just passed by me. Look Prof! I'm writing! Hi!

I really shouldn't have taken this class. My genius is much better suited to electronics than this. God I hate Stone for dragging me into this.

And now I bet you're wondering who's Stone. Yeah, well, wonder away.

Well, this has been a tiring experience. Whoever you are, Cassandra Cillian, I hope you have a good day.

Bye!

Ezekiel Jones

Cassandra read the letter over and over again. It didn't matter that someone chose to write to her because of a class assignment; What mattered was that someone chose to write to her. And if it was for a class, they would probably be doing it every week.

She grinned at that thought and rushed around the room, grabbing her stationery, writing pad and an envelope. The sudden activity gave her a head rush, causing her to stop and knead away the headache that was beginning to creep in.

"Slow down, Cassie. It's just a letter. You have a whole day to write it," she told herself out loud.

Walking over to her table slowly, she put down her load and sank into her chair. She arranged the items neatly on the table before taking out a pen and start writing.

Hello Ezekiel,

It's Cassandra here. Thank you for your letter! I've been looking forward to receiving a letter ever since I signed up for the programme! I feel lucky you chose me. Thank you.

I know you're doing this just to look busy in class so let me make it a little easier for you by writing back. At least next time you won't have to think of something new to say for an introduction and you can just answer my questions if your professor ever passes by again.

Yes! I'm wondering who Stone is? Is that his real name? Or is it a nickname? Is he your friend? I guess you guys would be friends if you're blaming it on him that you're taking this class... or maybe he's your brother?

How old are you? I'm seventeen. I was in my final year of college majoring in Mathematics (I know this might seem like I'm inflating my own ego by telling extravagant lies but I swear it's true) before I dropped out. I wish I could have finished it.

I hope you have a better college experience than I did! Is your major electronics? That sounds really interesting! All that math needed to create an item...

I love math, by the way. A little bit of an understatement maybe, but I absolutely love it. And I'm really good at it. Like super good. Maybe in your next letter you could give me a hard equation and I'll show you how fast I can solve it - without a calculator. I'll time myself with a stopwatch. I'll even take a selfie and print it out. That is, if you want me to.

I hope your writing gets better. Maybe your should practice more by... I don't know? Replying to me? I look forward to your letter, Ezekiel Jones! Have a nice day!

Love,

Cassandra Cillian

Cassandra reread her reply, wondering whether she wanted to modify it. Deciding to leave it as it was, she addressed the envelope to the same one that was written on the back of the letter she received. She folded the letter and pushed it into the envelope before sealing it with a lick of her tongue. Peeling out a stamp, she stuck it on a corner of the envelope.

She hummed to herself excitedly. She couldn't wait for tomorrow to come so that she could pass it to Jenkins the mailman to help post it for her. And hopefully, by the same time next week, she would have another letter waiting for her to reply to.

A/N: Omg it's a multi-chaptered AU fic. I never write these kind of things (because I'm bad at keeping up with fics and I can't write AU for nuts) but this one was just begging for me to write it.

I have a vague direction of where to go with this but I'm sure it won't be a very happy ending. If that doesn't sit well with you, I would advise you to close this story and never come back. If it's fine with you, you're welcome to join in on my ride and discover how this story will enfold (coz I don't know either).

Critiques are very welcome and comments are much loved. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy the ride!