Black and White (Based off the Books, not the show)

by mrodd02

(This is incomplete and I might not be able to continue it for a year from personal circumstances) Cassius Sternenlicht is your ordinary teenage boy, he's moody and rude, but he has his moments. One day, Cassius meets the girl of his dreams in the Pandemonium, literally the girl of his dreams. Cassius swore he saw her in one, but he'll have to dig deeper to find out more.

Black and White – Draft [:)]

Chapter 1 – Imagination

December 2007

The world isn't just black and white.

My mother told me one day when I was a child, when I asked her, "mother, isn't it bad to kill people? So why do people kill each other?" My mother simply shook her head and looked down at me sympathetically. "Not everything is as simple as good and evil, Cassius. The world isn't just black and white," she told me, it left me to contemplate her words, as a child I didn't understand what it meant, I guess I was just innocent. Cassius Sternenlicht was a lonely child, often isolated due to his odd name. Cassius came home one day, crying. When his parents asked him why, it was because of the kids making fun of his silly name. "What's wrong with it?" My father asked confusedly, Cassius sobbed louder. "It sounds weird!" He screamed, banging on the table, Cassius' mother laughed, and his father smiled exasperatedly. "Cassius, do you want to know what it means?" My father asked amusedly, Cassius didn't reply. "It means starlight, because no matter how difficult life is, no matter how impossible everything seems, we triumph, and shine in glory," his father said proudly, Cassius stared at how proud his father had seemed, how his mother punched his shoulder teasingly, Cassius had no idea that was one of the last times he would see his parents.

It was a cold winter night on a Saturday, Cassius was sitting on the ledge of his bedroom window, watching the traffic below. He let the sounds of the traffic lull him, endlessly honking horns and raging commuters. Cassius heard the door to their Prospect Heights apartment click; his parents were home. Cassius swiveled his head to the direction of the door for a moment before sliding off the ledge and racing to his bedroom door. Cassius' parents disappeared for days at a time, occasionally weeks, they said it was because they worked far away. When Cassius opened the door a crack, he saw that his parents were arguing, still wearing their peculiar, black uniforms. "The Clave is calling for all shadowhunters, including us. We have no choice but to go to Idris- "His father argued, gesturing with his hands, he was always an expressive man. "If we leave New York for Idris, we will have to bring Cass with us. What do you think his reaction will be when he sees the glass towers? The weapon shops? The Academy? For God's sake Theo, we would have to reveal the Shadow World to him!" His mother shouted, her feet planted, eyes burning angrily. "I know that we have worked hard for the past 13 years to hide the truth from him, but do you want to risk his life here? Where nothing is protecting him except for wards and us? Where he's in danger 24/7? You're asking for the boy to die, Hannah!" Cassius' father met her rage with equal anger, the silence after my father's words was deafening, like a weight pressing down on them from all sides. After a while of standing there, Theo's face softened, his anger leaving him. Then he collapsed onto a nearby chair, putting his head in his hands. Hannah also calmed down, still panting, she slowly walked to Theo and sat down next him, it was probably uncomfortably tight, but she ignored it and hugged him. "We wont just leave Cass here, we'll… We'll give him over to a babysitter, then after the meeting, we can come back and pretend nothing happened." Cassius' mother said resolutely, watching my father's face for a reaction. "What if… What if we're not going to come back? I know all they're asking for is a meeting, but it sounds like they're preparing for a battle, against Sebastian," my father seemed paranoid, his eyes staring ahead of him as if he couldn't make sense of what he was looking at. "The Clave wouldn't do that," my mother said assuredly, but her body language was different. She pursed her lips, as if it was something they would do. "And if we are going to battle," my father seemed not to hear her words, "what if we die?" This time, my father looked at my mother, slowly turning his head, his eyes wide with horror. My mother pressed her forehead to his, "remember the Starlight legacy, 'even in the darkest of nights, the most despairing of prospects, we will rise from the shadows, and shine in glory.'" She closed her eyes, so did Theo. "Are you sending me away?" Cassius asked, opening the door wide and walking into the room, staring at Theo and Hannah, they seemed startled to see him. "C-Cassius! Why are you awake!? I thought you were asleep!" Cassius' mother exclaimed, trying to sound energetic and happy, and failing miserably. "Are you?" Cassius asked quietly, Cassius always had an eerie calm to his aura when he spoke like this, now it seemed that calm had a tinge of anger splashed across it. His mother and father looked at him hopelessly before Hannah sighed and walked across the room to kneel in front of him. "Look, me and your father are going away for a few weeks, so we'll have to leave you with a babysitter for now, but we promise we'll come back, okay?" Hannah smiled, speaking in that same assuring tone she spoke to Theo, a voice of lies. "You promise?" Cassius said, despite knowing that neither Hannah nor Theo was going to keep it, despite knowing that they might leave him forever, Hannah nodded. "We promise," she said, and she straightened, so did Cassius' father, he had the face of someone who knew someone else had said empty words to a child. He walked to the exit silently, with Cassius' mother, who looked back with one final smile before she left and closed the door behind her. Cassius would never forget her words, words that would haunt him forever, words that would torture him in his sleep. Cassius' mother's last words to him were lies. Cassius never forgave her since then, but he believed her words. The world wasn't just black and white after all.

It turns out, babysitters were really, really annoying.

On an uninterrupted Sunday afternoon, Cassius was starting to have a moderately good day, when Cassius heard the doorbell ring and opened the door to their apartment. Only to find a teenage girl standing in the doorway, smiling stupidly down at him, it made him want to punch her. "Hi! My name is Ariana, and I'm here to babysit you! Hooray!" The girl pulled out a confetti spray from somewhere and pulled it, showering Cassius in confetti, the urge to punch her was irresistible. "How old are you?" Cassius asked suspiciously, he suspected the girl was probably 10 years old, based on her crooked grin and behavior. "I'm 15! Of course, you would want somebody old and responsible to look after you, right?" She laughed, Cassius thought that the most responsible thing she could have possibly done in her life was shut up after someone told her to, and even Cassius thought that was unlikely to happen. "Anyways, can you let me in? 'Cause, like, it's super cold out here, and, like, I need to do my job." She kept that stupid grin on her face the entire time. On one hand, Cassius felt inclined to leave her out in the cold, preferably making her take off her jacket beforehand and make her die of hypothermia, on the other hand, it would make Cassius' parents mad at him. "Fine, come in," Cassius grumbled, stepping away from the door to let her in. She grinned, if possible, even wider, then she walked in with a hop in her step, she whistled. "Nice place," she complimented, Cassius felt this was probably the only thing they were going to agree on in their lives. When you entered our house, the first thing you saw was the living room. The floor was mostly covered with white carpet, in the center was a glass table tinted black, snacks of all kinds filled a black bowl placed neatly on the center of the table. White couches were placed parallel to the four sides of the table, and with some recliners in the corners. The walls were painted grey (the only grey thing in the entire living room) and decorated with paintings my parents bought at auctions, their price tags still attached, $850,000; $500,000; $1,500,000; and shelves were also next to them, flowers of every color, books, even a random statue my father looked fondly upon every time he woke up. Whatever jobs my parents had, it paid well. "Do what you like, I don't care," Cassius said before snatching a book from one of the shelves and plopping himself down onto the couch. In truth, Cassius wasn't reading the book, not really. Cassius was looking at Ariana whenever she wasn't paying attention. Ariana was way prettier than Cassius gave her credit for. Blond, wavy hair, velvet eyes, smooth white skin, high cheekbones, blindingly white teeth, and ridiculously long curling eyelashes a tinge darker than her hair. Okay, Cassius had to admit, she wasn't hideous. Ariana caught Cassius' eye before he could look away and grinned, the grin that made Cassius want to hit her. "Stunned by my beauty? Don't worry, you're not the first," Ariana smiled smugly as she posed for Cassius. She looked like a teenage model, not that he liked it, it was just sort of pleasing for his eyes, Cassius rolled them. "Whatever, who are you texting anyway?" Cassius asked, slightly out of curiosity, more for a change of topic than anything. Ariana had been absorbed in texting someone for the past few minutes. "Just my bae, who else?" Ariana shrugged delicately, she looked like she was trying to be graceful, finally, a flaw. "You have a boyfriend at the age of 15?" Cassius was genuinely bewildered and looked at Ariana as if she was a new kind of alien species, Ariana was looking at me as if I was a fascinating insect in a museum. "Duh, of course! Being single in high school is totally embarrassing. Just imagine yourself standing alone in a hallway while everyone is flirting and making out!" Ariana rolled her eyes this time, she looked as if she actually did this every day and all day, girls, Cassius thought exasperatedly. "You know, you're pretty mature for a 13-year-old," Ariana eyed me as if I was a 50-year-old in disguise, about to assault her. "Maybe you're just immature," Cassius muttered under his breath, returning to his book.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"I know you said something."

"No I didn't."

"What did you say!"

"Something."

"You said you said nothing."

"This is hurting my brain," Cassius rubbed his temples, his head getting a serious migraine. Ariana continued eyeing me for a second before glancing down at her phone, then gasping theatrically. "Oh. My. God. He's breaking up with me? After one week he decides that I'm not good enough for him? Oh, he is so screwed." Ariana begins texting furiously, Cassius still reading his book lazily. One hour passes by in a flash, and Ariana drops her phone on the couch and stretches languorously. Standing up, she looks down at me now lying down on the floor. I was progressively doing weirder and weirder positions on the couch until I somehow managed to reach the floor, I lower my book to look up at her. "What?" I ask her, the sun was setting now, it's orange glow casting shadows across the room. Cassius hadn't bothered turning on the lights, he liked it dark. "Wanna go out? Eat some China? I'm pretty hungry." Ariana yawned, rubbing her stomach under her sweatshirt. "I think I prefer staying here," Cassius was about to raise the book again when Ariana snatched it out of his grasp. Cassius exclaimed but Ariana pointed a stern finger at him. "Oh no, you young man are eating outside, clearly for the past few days you have not got out or properly given yourself nutrition. It's time for me to do my job and feed you," Ariana looked proud for sounding so posh, or she probably thought she sounded posh, to Cassius she sounded like a condescending five-year-old. "You do know you are supposed to be my caretaker, and listen to whatever I need, right? Well right now, what I need is some alone time- HEY!" Ariana grabbed Cassius under the arms and hauled him to his feet. Admittedly, Ariana was at least seven inches taller than him, so Cassius was dangling in the air, Ariana smiled at him from behind as she carried him like an overgrown baby trying to act adult. "Leave this place, get some fresh air, you look like a vampire," Ariana observed, Cassius was pale as paper, so white he seemed to have come from a picture in the 1920's, only his eyes and clothes had color, which were purple. "Fine, fine- I SAID FINE!" Cassius squirmed as Ariana dangled him around like she was trying to lull a baby, she laughed, then set him on the floor. "I'm giving you five minutes, then you better come back here- "Ariana frowned. "Actually, I don't even know your name, what is it?" Ariana asked as Cassius brushed off his knees, glaring up at her. "Cassius, Cassius Sternenlicht," Cassius glared even harder at her, daring her to laugh, Ariana only smiled kindly at him. "Can I call you Cass?" Ariana asked tentatively, Cassius only stared at her, who then walked away silently without answering to his bedroom. "I'll take that as a yes!" Ariana shouted after him as he slammed it shut. Behind him, Ariana only grinned wider.

So, Ariana and Cass were outside, walking through the streets of Manhattan, Chinatown. Ariana was sporting a thick, pink jacket, with a fluffy hood, covered with patterns of stars or splashes of white. Wearing a pink turtleneck sweatshirt underneath and black jogging pants that flattered her body, and some designer boots, which, based off the price tag still attached, cost $500. Cass was just wearing a thermal shirt the color black, and some jeans with ripped knees, he wore a black trench coat over it all, and black sneakers with white outlines. "You must really like the color black, huh?" Ariana mentioned as she took in what he was wearing, indeed, Ariana thought that if the lights of Manhattan weren't so bright, Cass would have been near invisible in the background. "It's the ideal color for winter, black absorbs more heat, makes you feel hotter," Cass replied blankly, staring at the colorful neon signs in Chinatown, Chinese lettering was almost always accompanied by English words as translation. "Literally, or figuratively?" Ariana grinned again; Cass looked away. "Both," Cass was still looking away, but Ariana suspected he was blushing to have said something so bold, Ariana laughed. Passerby craned their necks to look back at Ariana, wherever Ariana went, she drew attention like a supermodel. Ariana was born beautiful since the day she was born, and she knew it. God blessed her with beauty so that she could do good with it. Of course, when she meant good, she meant good for herself. Ariana knew she was classified as the "Hot Girl Next Door" stereotype in school, always hanging out with the popular kids, always a cheerleader, she fulfilled the role perfectly. Ariana dated nearly every guy stereotype in her school, the "Jock", the "Cool Kid", the "Tortured Artist", heck, even the "Geek". But even after going through all of them, she never found a guy that sit well with her, one that she could joke and laugh with easily, one that didn't only like her stereotype. "'Take out only, no dine-in'? They've got to be joking," Cass interrupted her reverie, Cass stopped walking and was staring at a sign outside a Chinese diner. The diner was beat-up and run-down (how could it be up and down at once?), Ariana couldn't tell from the outside, but it looked like it had two floors. The door was on the far left, with two windows to it's right, above it were three standing oblong windows, which were grimy from gathered dirt. "Who knows? Maybe they have a rat infestation that's so bad they can't let anyone in anymore," Ariana joked, smiling down at Cass, who shook his head. "Why own a building for a restaurant if you're not going to let anybody inside?" Cass continued walking, so did Ariana who caught up next to him. "So, ever eaten Chinese before?" Ariana asked Cass, having to look down to see his face clearly, from the outside perspective, they probably looked like siblings, just hanging out in Chinatown, looking for a place to eat. "No, my parents always cooked for me," Cass said mutely, which made no absolute sense, how could you talk mutely? "Then let me take you to the best place in town," Ariana said excitedly, Cass looked like he felt a sense of foreboding. "Does it involve overly sweet candy? Because I prefer bitter or sour food," he said warily, Ariana giggled, something that only made Cass even warier. "You'll see," was all Ariana said, she walked toward the east village, or at least in the general direction of it. Cass stood frozen there before he cursed under his breath and hurried to catch up with her.

"Tada!" Ariana said, flourishing her hands as she took me to one of Cass's most dreaded places, the Pandemonium. "Do they even sell food in there?" Cass asked exasperatedly, Cass watched the long line of teenagers waiting outside the Pandemonium, wearing the most bizarre clothing Cass had ever seen. Poison green vests, purple shorts, violent red hats that Cass didn't know what to call, it was the basic opposite of Cass's clothing which was pure no-nonsense. "Course they do, now come on!" Ariana pulled Cass into the line, waiting eagerly for the entrance, Cass leaned to see where the line ended. It was at least twenty people between them and the entrance, this was going to take a while. After a quarter of an hour, it was their turn, the bouncer looked Cass up and down before he grunted, who was pulled by Ariana by the hand. "That couple looks pretty adorable, they remind me of us," a girl mentioned to a boy, the boy smirked and kissed the girl on the cheek. Cass cringed and thought, definitely not like them. When Cass entered the Pandemonium, it was like he entered another world, bright lights shone on his face, blinding him, the room was full of writhing bodies, it smelled of sweat and perfume, choking him. "Food's up there!" Ariana pointed to bar somewhere in the corner, Ariana dragged Cass again, who made no attempt to resist this time. When they arrived in the bar, they were greeted by a boy who looked about 19-years-old, he raised an eyebrow at me, but all doubt left his eyes when he spotted Ariana, he winked at Cass as if to say, good for you man. Cass shook his head fiercely, no, not good for me, please help, but the barman seemed not to notice. "Two Choco shakes with extra whipped cream, oh, and add some milk!" Ariana beamed at the barman, who disappeared under the counter and pulled out two gargantuan cups, he went to the back to a machine, which filled both cops with cold chocolate milk, he put it under another machine which sprayed the top of the cups with a lot of whipped cream, it was a miracle none of it was spilling. Lastly, he put two straws deep inside each of the cups and inserted the straws into another machine, milk poured into the straw to appear under all the chocolate, then he gave it with a flourish to both of them. After a while in the bar, Cass realized it wasn't so much of a bar as opposed to a giant snack machine. They sold all kinds of chocolate, all kinds of juice, all kinds of chips with so much salt and sugar Cass felt his entire kidney would solidify into one giant kidney-stone. Cass felt loaded with food inside his stomach and collapsed face-down onto the table counter, meanwhile, Ariana continued eating to her heart's content, it was as if chocolate was the fuel that kept her alive. "The total bill's $1000," the barman told both of them worriedly, Ariana gaped, then cleared her throat and smiled sweetly at Cass, who glared at her. "You're lucky I'm rich…" Cass muttered, he pulled out his wallet, filled to the brim with $100 bills, Cass handed over 10 bills, which barely scratched his wallet, then put it back inside his pocket. He glanced up at Ariana, then stood up. "Let's go home…" Cass started, but Ariana whined. "Aw… But I had so much fun! Let's dance!" Ariana pointed to the center, on which was a dance floor. Teenagers their age or older were dancing around wildly, some of them weren't even dancing and just moving randomly, wearing suede jackets or low-cut dresses and tank tops, definitely not Cass's people. "Pretty please?" Ariana took on that same smile she probably used to charm people, grumbling, Cass nodded. The song was techno, matching the rhythm of the dancers.

Don't fret, I don't ever want to see you and I never want to meet you again.

One thing, when you're angry you're a jerk and you treat me like I'm worth nothin'

Don't fret, I don't ever want to see you and I never want to meet you again.

It wont happen again, but I watch it happen over and over again.

The song dropped the beat and people shouted along with the lyrics. It struck Cass as funny, despite the lyrics being about hate and broken-heartedness, they sang along to it as if they loved it. Cass chuckled and Ariana beamed, finding hope that this wasn't going to be as miserable as she thought. Ariana ran to the center, nearly making Cass trip behind her as he stumbled over his own feet. As Ariana abruptly stopped, Cass bumped into her, feeling softness and warmth as he landed head-first into the back of her fluffy jacket. Ariana turned around and smirked at him shaking his head, trying to clear the dizziness. "Shall we dance, my lord?" Ariana asked gracefully, putting a hand on Cass's shoulder and offering her other hand. Cass looked up, he watched her smile in the dark, the strobe lights making her teeth shine whiter than diamond, her red eyes like rubies, her hair like pouring gold. Cass placed a hand on her waist and held her other hand. "Gladly," Cass replied simply, pulling Ariana this time, sending her whirling around and around under his arm. Ariana became breathless as Cass took the initiative, sending her into a dance so fast she could barely keep up. Everything was timeless, Cass didn't know how long he danced, hours, days, years, decades, centuries. Cass guided her by pulling her hand, spinning faster and faster as Cass closed his eyes, getting lost in the music, the lights, the dark, and the warmth. Ariana stopped spinning and Cass felt something pressed against him. He opened his eyes to see Ariana looking down at him, the lights were now focused on both of them like the light from the moon, around them, the others continued dancing, but Cass felt as if time had stopped. "You stopped," Cass said, barely even panting or drained of energy. "I'm tired," Ariana was breathing as if she had just run a marathon, sweat dripping down her forehead profusely, she laughed softly and quietly, as if she didn't have enough air. "Then let's go home," Cass said, and he let go of Ariana's hand, dropping his and placing them in his pocket, suddenly feeling awkward and trying not to show it. Cass turned around and headed for the door, he looked back and saw Ariana still frozen, as if she was planted there. "Are you coming or not?" Cass asked over his shoulder, Ariana nodded mutely and hurried after him.

It was 11:00PM, it was a school day tomorrow and Cass felt he would probably regret staying up this late. He looked at the shop windows as he strolled home to Prospect Heights, Ariana right beside him. "Well, did you have fun?" Ariana asked, bending into his point of view to get his attention, Cass felt empty, but mildly exhilarated at the same time. "I guess," Cass said quietly, still looking inside the shop windows. As he passed a toy store, he saw a group of people inside, his eyes passed over them for a moment but then he recoiled, did he see that right? "What's wrong?" Ariana asked curiously, looking back at him. Cass didn't reply but stayed still, looking through the window, Cass wasn't sure about what he saw when he first saw it, but now he was convinced it was what he saw. The group of people inside the toy shop were a mix of elegant and ruffian-looking people, two girls, who were at the head of each group, were shaking hands, behind the elegant looking girl was a pile of a dress that was a person. The pile of a dress that was a person, Cass swore he saw the person wearing that dress turn into a pile of ash, but that was ridiculous, that wasn't possible. Cass blinked, and the group of people disappeared.

"What the f- "

"Language, Cassius."

"Did you see that?"

"See what?" Ariana asked as she investigated the shop window with him, squinting hard. Cass looked back at the spot, but the group of people were still gone, now Ariana was looking at him as if he had gone crazy. "You need some sleep," Ariana said sternly, Ariana grabbed Cassius by the shoulders, and steered him toward the street again, making him walk. "But- But I swear I saw someone- I saw someone turn to ash…" Cass whispered the last part, if he told Ariana that, she would probably think he was lacking sleep, maybe that he was insane. "Sleep," Ariana said again even more sternly, and as Cass looked back, he saw the air in the toy store shimmer, was it just his imagination?

Cass and Ariana arrived home, Ariana immediately collapsed onto the nearest couch and snored faster than Cass could think. But Cass ignored her and walked straight to his room, he didn't even bother changing, he just stripped off his shoes and lay down on his bed, looking up at the roof of his room. What did he see? Why did he see? Did he even see it right? Was it just his imagination that someone randomly transformed into a pile of smoking ash? Cass made a face, even if he did have mild schizophrenia, he doubted his mind would just suddenly conjure that. But Cass couldn't deny that it seemed so clear, as if it was real and it happened, as if it was as true as the fact he was alive. Cass rolled over on his bed and looked out the window, no matter what time, there was always some sort of car horn honking or a flash of light that went through his window, it was New York, the city never slept. Cass had always had schizophrenia since he was a child, Cass had one day saw the most peculiar thing, faeries walking through Central Park. Of course, as a child, Cass didn't know what that meant. Cass mentioned it one day to his parents while they were eating dinner, Theo dropped his spoon, Hannah nearly poured the scalding hot coffee on herself, and they looked at Cass as if he just announced he was dying. When Theo and Hannah took Cass to a doctor, she said that Cass had a mild case of schizophrenia, as Cass looked at her, it seemed the doctor had only blue skin, the doctor said there was no cure and that it would worsen over time. As Cass got older, he realized the gravity of his situation, that he would slowly go insane and that he would never be able to tell between what was real and what was fake anymore. It was sort of like waiting for death except the process was much faster and significantly more terrifying. Cass stared at his own hand as he raised it up to look at it, was this how his life would end? A life where he would look over his shoulder trying to discern reality and imagination? If so, he would prefer dying. Cass felt emptier than ever, he wasn't really seeing, just looking, looking at his own reflection in the glossy ceiling, looking for all the world as if it wanted to end itself. Cass closed his eyes, tomorrow, he told himself, be better than you were today, like dad told you. This is your imagination.

Chapter 2 –

December 2011

Cass woke up to his phone, blaring it's usual annoyingly loud alarm, which Cass made to be annoyingly loud. He slammed the stop button on his alarm and grabbed his phone to check the time, he groaned. Monday morning, 5:00AM. Of course, he forgot he had to be at school early today since he was Vice President on the Student Council, and they always led the Flag Ceremony every Monday, which was severely annoying. Cass yawned and sat up on his bed, itching his back under his black thermal shirt, hard, solid skin. As Cass stood up and opened the door to his bedroom, Cass saw the door to Ariana's bedroom crack open, previously his parents' bedroom. Ariana emerged, still wearing the T-shirt and jacket from last night, the front covered in vomit. Ariana groaned and held her head, evidently having a hangover from last night's drinking. "I told you you would regret it," I say to Ariana as she nearly falls to the ground, trying to stumble to the laundry room to dump her clothes into the machine. "Worth it," she muttered as she retched, nothing came out, obviously already drained from vomiting last night. Cass rolled his eyes and headed to the bathroom. Cass turned on the light and closed the door behind him. When Cass stripped and headed into the shower, the first thing he saw was the vomit on the floor, Cass cursed Ariana silently and stepped backward. He turned on the water in the shower to let it wash the vomit away, but Cass was sure it wouldn't get rid of all of it, it would probably even stay there forever. Cass leaned over the sink and stared at himself in the mirror. He had grown well, despite being seventeen he probably looked like he was in college because of how tall he was. His muscles filled out his shirt tightly, even though when he bought this when he was fifteen it was incredibly loose. He had gone to the gym regularly, he knew that, but it felt weird to be this muscular. His jawline was soft, and his cheekbones were clear. His purple eyes were the same as always, hunter's eyes. His dark hair was longer than when it had been when he was a kid, it got in the way of his eyes now, and it nearly hid his ears, he could feel it tickling his nape. Cass heard a knock on his door, and Ariana shouting. "Are you done in there!?" Ariana asked, from the sound of the echoes, she was leaning against the wall. "No! Did you forget you puked all over the shower floor!?" Cass shouted back, Ariana retched again, it sounded like she was sliding slowly to the floor. "Hurry up!" Was all she said, before Cass heard her stalking away. Cass turned back to the shower door and glanced down, most if it was gone, but just as Cass suspected, traces of it still stayed, Cass sighed, knowing nothing could be done.

Cass toweled himself off when he finished showering, rubbing his feet vigorously on Ariana's towel, he stepped on the vomit. When Cass changed his clothes-A long-sleeved sweater that was tight around the neck and jeans with holes in the knees-he entered the kitchen to see Ariana standing near the stove, now wearing a turtlenecked tank top and jogging pants, with bare feet, Cass wondered how she could stand the cold. Ariana glanced up, still with that agonized look in her eyes, as she cooked sausages. "Did you leave any hot water for me?" Ariana asked, her voice was drawling, slightly slurred, I didn't answer which Ariana took to mean "no." Ariana crossed her arms and pouted, "you're such a meanie, don't you consi- OH SH- "Ariana proceeded to let out a steady stream of curse words as she speared the sausages out of the pan into a bowl. Cass sat down at the dining table and watched her as she placed the smoking-hot sausages into a bowl, Cass was raised with his parents ordering food, sometimes his mom cooked, he was never taught how to cook and never had the time to do so. Ariana carefully carried the bowl of sausages onto the dining table and speared a sausage herself. "How's high school?" Ariana asked Cass as she chewed her sausage loudly. "Nothing much, being Vice President is easy, all I have to do is give them money," Cass picked up a sausage with his bare hands and launched it in the air. It was something he did for fun, he would spin a sausage in the air, trying to make it last as long as it could, while waiting for it to cool down. "Aren't you basically the school wallet? And you can't keep giving them money forever, you'll run out one day," Ariana mentioned as she finished chewing, and gulped, she looked at him seriously. "Cass, how much money do you have left?" Ariana asked, Cass sighed and dropped the sausage into the bowl, then he headed into the basement. Cass turned on the lights, shining brightly and saw his parents' safe, huge, and solid. Cass opened it and when he looked inside, it was still half-full, his parent basically set him for the rest of his life. Cass went back upstairs and picked up a sausage, biting into it savagely. "A lot," Cass replied, Ariana continued looking at him worriedly anyway. "Cass, just because you have a lot doesn't mean it's inexhaustible. Remember, there's only so much you can use up until it runs out," Ariana took another sausage and placed it into her mouth, she stood up and grabbed a coat from a rack, she shoved on some socks and placed her feet into engineer boots. "Anyway, I need to go, college starts in one hour and I need to be early," Ariana waved goodbye and swung the door wide open, letting snow in, for a moment she blinked in the sunrise, then she left. Cass checked the time on the wall clock, 5:30AM, he would have to arrive at 7:00, he continued eating slowly. He went to St. Xavier's, which was close by, about a ten-minute walk. As he ate the remaining sausages, he thought about how his life had spiraled here, how he managed to even get here. Cass's parents never came back from their "work", which didn't really affect Cass that much, but he cried about it sometimes when he was still a kid. Ariana had become his sort of guardian, more like an older sister. Even after the one month his parents hired Ariana to take care of Cass, Ariana argued with her parents to adopt Cass. As a result, the house and all properties Cass's parents used to own were now owned by Ariana's parents, but they let him use it for himself. Cass finished eating and placed the bowl inside the sink and washed his hands, then he wiped it off with a towel. The room was the mix of the kitchen and the living room, since the space was unnecessarily huge. Cass went over by the door where all of their shoes were placed and grabbed his Air Jordan Highs, pure white. He grabbed his white jacket from the same rack Ariana grabbed her coat from, and only inserted his arms, he didn't bother zipping it up. Grabbing a black scarf from a nearby shelf, he took one last look at the room before he left, feeling nostalgic.

Cass arrived at St. Xavier's, and as always on a quiet Monday morning, no one was there. Except, of course, the other Student Council members, our very own President was sitting on the front steps of the entrance as he watched the other members doing their jobs. The President smiled kindly as he saw me walk up the front drive, in my white jacket, the wind blowing the scarf into my face. "Bad mood, Cassius?" He suggested as he saw me with my scowl. "I'm always in a bad mood, Julian," Cass replied as he looked down at Julian on the steps. Julian Lysander was our President of the Student Council, and one of the most irresistibly charming men in the world, which was what made him annoying, he was older than Cass by a year, and he reminded Cass of Ariana. Julian chuckled and stood up, now, they were eye-to-eye, though Julian was lankier and taller, Cass was built along the lines of a newly started bodybuilder. "Brianna needs some help with the flagpole, she's not strong enough to pull the flag down herself," Julian shrugged, an elegant gesture that seemed to brighten his presence even more. "I won't blame her, the lock they attached to that thing is stubborn, it won't budge," even though Julian was about the same height as Cass, it seemed that he was looking down on you, but not in a bad way, in a sort of saving angel way. "She can't pull the flag down, how weak is she?" Cass shook his head but turned to help Brianna. Julian grabbed his arm before he could leave. "You do know she likes you right? So, stop insulting her, it would hurt her," Julian said the last part as if it was the most natural thing in the world, Cass rolled his eyes and pulled away. Cass walked lazily towards the flagpole, where Brianna was waiting. Brianna was a short, shy girl and the Secretary of the Council. She wore glasses and had brown hair and freckles all over her face, she looked average but wasn't ugly either, she was just there. Brianna turned a faint sheen of red as she watched me approach, and she started to stutter. "G-good morning, Cassius. I was just trying to lower the flag…" Her voice trailed away as Cass grabbed the rope for the flag and yanked down hard on it. The flag fell immediately, falling quickly to land on Cassius's head, which he didn't expect. Cass spluttered as the flag covered him in its soft fabric. Brianna laughed softly but quickly cut off as Cass took the flag off himself and glared at her, then Cass looked away. "I guess it was a little funny…" Cass said grudgingly, Brianna just gaped at him for a moment, then started to laugh again. She laughed so hard she was running out of breath, getting a stitch on her side, her hand covering her mouth. Cass started to smile, then laughed as well. "Done over here, lovebirds?" A girl walked up to them, she was tall, striking, and her name was Angelina Xaras. Angelina was the Treasurer of the Council, and rightly too. Despite her bratty appearance and arrogance, Angelina was surprisingly smart, and she knew it. "Good, because those speakers are outrageously heavy, and I need our little macho man here to carry them," Angelina snapped her fingers and pointed to the speakers, which were only about a foot away from their place and probably no heavier than 40kg. "Angelina," I said carefully, "even Julian would be able to carry those things, and he weighs 60kg." Cass emphasized the weight ratio; the speakers were about 67% of Julian's weight and he would probably carry them with ease. "Well, you're the man, and I'm a woman," was all Angelina said as if that explanation was enough. "Go, move them for me," Angelina snapped her fingers again. Cass muttered insults to her and headed over to the speakers. Cass then kicked the speakers to their position, exerting as little force as possible to prove my point to Angelina. "There you go, see? It's that easy," I gestured to the speakers, now lying in their proper place.