The strange boy had been following Cassie for over a week now. Showing up at her high school, her home, the stores she went to and most commonly the stretch of forest behind her house. As Cassie glanced outside at the rain splattering against her window she swore she saw him again, a quick blur of shadows behind the trees. Cassie sighed in frustration. She felt like she was going insane, every time she tried to spot him he was gone even though she knew he was there, at least she thought. He had to be. Cassie was so lost in thought that when her older sister Claire knocked on her bedroom door, she jumped.
"Hey it's time for dinner- wow are you okay? You look like you just saw me throw sinister out of the window". Sinister was Cassie's pet snake. Cassie quickly got up and busied herself with putting her long hair up in a messy bun. "You just startled me." Cassie mumbled
"Yeah no shit" Claire laughed "Anyway dinner's done.
"I'll be down in a minute." Cassie called as her sister walked down the stairs. Cassie looked around her room for a clean pair of sweatpants, self-conscious about the mess. Her walls were painted a deep grey color, She had clear string lights hung around her ceiling, off white carpeting covering her floor along with a few garbage bags filled with clothes. Cassie had just moved in with her sister and mother but had already managed to make it look more homey with the fairy lights, band posters, and her old, beaten up vanity she had painted black. Cassie had begged for a proper vanity a few years ago for Christmas, she wanted to be a makeup artist after she graduated high school.
Cassie dug around the garbage bags until she found a pair of black sweatpants and a Smith's t-shirt.
As Cassie walked downstairs she glanced in her vanity mirror. She had high cheek bones and a sharp jawline, a thin nose, hair so blonde it was almost white and deep brown eyes that had a golden tint in the sunlight. She had a large chest and round hips but was slight and small everywhere else, her mother used to joke that she looked elfin. Cassie looked nothing like her mother or sister, they were both tall and willowy like models with long black hair and striking blue eyes and creamy complexions. Cassie couldn't compare herself to her father because he left before she was even born.
***
During a bland dinner of boxed mac and cheese and chicken (which Claire cooked because their mother never cooked) Cassie got a text from her best friend Emma who insisted that she should go to a party at "Nick's house" because according to Emma " Everyone would be there" and " oh my god Cass please don't dip out on me".
"I guess I'm going to a party with Emma" Cassie announced in a false cheery tone.
"Have fun and drink responsibly" Claire yelled as Cassie walked up the stairs to get ready.
"You know I always do."
