Chapter Text
Breathing deeply with her dark brown hair covering her face, she almost slept through her alarm if it hadn't been for her sister jumping into her bed.
"Cassie! Cassie! Wake up! You're going to be late."
Cassandra groaned, swiping away her sister, who giggled. Her eyes fluttered open slowly, revealing eyes the same color as the hair on her head, a brown that was dazed with sleep still.
"Fair Farah, just five more minutes," she muttered as she closed her eyes again, attempting to have as much dramaticism in it as she could. It was ruined by the fact that she sounded too sleepy for it to sound properly.
Farah laughed and Cassandra reluctantly opened her eyes to see her sister grinning down at her. Brown hair lighter than her own, but with eyes that looked more gray than anything, Farah looked anything but like Cassandra. For one thing, she was more muscular because she was more athletic, but Cassandra had never claimed to like any type of physical activity. She wondered if that contributed to why her sister was always more awake and perky in the mornings, but it could also be because she was adopted and so the reason why morning lucidity escaped Cassandra so easily compared to her.
Yawning, she let Farah yank her up and out of bed before she ended up shooing her out so she could grab her clothes and begin to get ready for her day. After her morning routine, she slowly made her way down the stairs and to the kitchen, still feeling tired and not ready to be awake.
"Ah, I was going to tell Cassie today -" she heard Farah say.
Frowning, she entered the kitchen. "Tell me what?"
Farah looked sheepish. "There you are," she said and Cassandra glanced at her and then their parents suspiciously.
Her mother gave her a reassuring smile, even as she tugged at her father's sleeve. "Come, Terry. Let the girls handle this."
"But Tausa -" her father protested, but a raised eyebrow from her mother made him sigh and follow her out of the kitchen. That just made Cassandra become confuse, looking to Farah for clarification.
Farah cleared her throat and gave her an embarrassed smile. "Sorry, Cassie. I was, um...going to tell you earlier."
"Tell me earlier about what?" she cautiously asked, entering the kitchen more fully and heading towards her.
"So I know the Senior Trip is tomorrow," Farah started nervously, "and we were both looking forward to going to it together."
"Yeah, so?" Anxiety entered her then.
Farah gave her an apologetic look. "I'm not going to be able to go."
Cassandra looked at her sister in shock. "What? Why?"
Her sister winced. "Remember how I was offered a scholarship to Berkeley?"
"Yeah?"
"Well, this Saturday I have to go there and get a tour and stuff," she tried to explain and Cassandra tried not to make a face.
"I-I get it," she forced out. She gave her sister a smile. "It's cool, Farah. This is more important. I don't feel like going anyway. It's probably going to be really hot and crowded, you know?"
Farah shook her head, heading over to her. "Wait, Cassie! Just because I'm not going doesn't mean you don't have to either!"
Cassandra made a face then and gave Farah a look. "It's okay. Really! I don't really care that much to go."
"Just think it over first, alright?" Farah insisted. "Don't make up your mind about it already."
"Okay, okay," Cassandra agreed, though she was already dubious.
But she didn't have any real reason to go.
@};-
All throughout the car ride to school, Cassandra was quiet and lost inthought. She was well aware of the frequent looks from her sister, but she didn't have much else to say about the news she got.
What would she do on the trip without Farah? She didn't really have any friends. She got along well with everyone and could hang out with anyone if she had to, but Farah was her best friend and the only one she really hung out with and did things with. If she went to Disneyland without her, what would she really do there without someone she would've been able to have fun and experience the place with?
Her father fumbled with the radio, eventually landing on a channel with pop music. He hummed along to it and she felt her lips twitch upwards. She looked over to Farah, who was echoing her. Their father always did have the unintentional ability to lighten things up without meaning to.
Whether or not she was going to go, she'd think about it later. It wasn't something she really wanted to think about right then anyway, especially since they had reached their school.
"See ya, Dad!" Farah said, already starting to walk away from the car.
"Bye, Dad," she said quietly.
"Goodbye, Sweet Pea," he smiled at her. "Don't think too much about the trip. It's not something you should stress too much about."
She knew that, but somehow it was still bothering her.
Leaving him behind, she caught up with her sister, who had been slightly ahead of her already but had slowed down to let her catch up.
"What took you so long?," Farah poked her.
Cassandra shrugged. "Missed me already?" she stuck her tongue out at her.
Farah huffed. "You haven't been gone long enough," she stuck her tongue right back out at Cassandra. She looked at her watch. "Got to go, Cassie. See you later?"
"Yeah, see you," she said, smiling until her sister had left her sight. Then she dropped it and kept walking on slowly. Her thoughts were going to cycle right back around to that stupid trip.
A commotion around the corner met her ears and when she turned around it, she saw a small group of students standing around a tall man, one of his hands awkwardly scratching the back of his auburn head. When he glanced up and saw her, his amber colored eyes met her dark brown ones, and he smiled politely and gave a small wave with the hand that had been scratching his head in bemusement. She gave a shy smile back and continued on her way past them.
Principal Alain Rousseau was relatively new, having been at Northwest High for only three years. Despite his semi-formal appearance, always with a button up shirt and tie with dress pants, he'd always been slightly awkward and yet somewhat popular with the student body. She hadn't had much personal interaction with him, but she knew he was nice enough and always had time to talk to students.
At that moment, the bell rung and signaled that school was about to start, so she hurried to her first class of the day and did her best to clear her thoughts of the trip and of the principal.
@};-
Despite school being part of her preoccupation, she hadn't been able to shake off thoughts of the school trip all day like she'd wanted. She'd sit in class trying to pay attention, but would suddenly drift off and think about whether or not it was worth going. Her family could use the money if she didn't go, and that'd be double since both she and Farah wouldn't be going. Farah wasn't going, so she definitely had no urge to go now anyway. There was that she wouldn't really have anyone to hang out with, even if she did decide to go. There would be no fun in going on the trip and just going around Disneyland on her own and have no one to have fun with. If she did go with others, she wasn't really close enough with them to have fun and might end up being a "third wheel" and just some hanger-on.
Even as Economics finished up, Cassandra was still debating with herself on whether or not she should go on the trip without Farah. As far as she was concerned, she had no actual desire to go without her. She had always gone everywhere and done practically everything with Farah. It just didn't seem like she would be okay and enjoy herself there without her.
Her arm was being yanked all of a sudden, but before she could yell at who it was, she saw her sister hurriedly dragging her off.
"Hey! You could just yell my name or tap my arm, you know?" Cassandra yelped.
"You were too distracted and you get terribly lost in thought for a while," Farah pointed out. "And it's really hard to get you out of your thoughts."
"Really?" she asked in surprise, having not known that.
"Yep."
By then, Farah had managed to drag her into an empty classroom. She turned to Cassandra and held her shoulders.
"Go on the trip," she said firmly.
"What? Why?"
Farah lightly pushed at Cassandra's arm. "Come on, Cassie. You hardly do anything. And this is our Senior Year! Our Senior Trip! It's once in a lifetime kind of thing, you know? Don't miss out on things. I have something to do, so it can't be helped, but you should go and have fun. Create some memories, you dork."
Cassandra bit her lip, looking searchingly into her sister's eyes.
"I...O-okay," she hesitantly agreed.
Farah was practically beaming at her. "Good! Have fun! Enough for the both of us, yeah?"
Well, Cassandra would at least try, even if it was just for her sister's sake.