Taming Life - Luke Dunphy

one

Late on a Friday night, in the 'slum town' in the suburbs of Los Angeles, a girl named Cassandra Andrea Ruiz-May was scratching furiously with a pen at the piece of paper on her desk. Her bedroom door was shut, but the delicious smell of pasta still reached her nose, although this was not really surprising in the one floored apartment her family owned.

The apartment block that their apartment belonged to, to be frank, looked like it was on its last legs, and its surroundings didn't help either. White paint peeled away from the outside walls like it was desperate to escape, whilst full garbage bags had been dumped right outside the apartment block's doors by residents who were too lazy, or too high, to realise that their garbage was now collected from some large communal bins one street away. Cassandra had taken to holding her nose when leaving and entering the building, for fear of actually vomiting from the stench if she didn't.

"Cassandra, cena!" , her father's rough voice called her from outside her door.

She jumped, startled out of her train of thought, and hurriedly stood up from her desk and left her room to enter the lounge/dining area where she sat at the table patiently waiting for her dinner.

Her father entered the lounge/dining area from the doorway at the back of it which led to the kitchen, and he gently placed two plates of pasta on the table, sitting opposite his daughter.

"What have you been doing, hija?"
Cassandra's father, Pedro Ruiz, was a Mexican immigrant; of Spanish looks and tongue, which he had passed down to Cassandra. He  worked hard as a builder to provide for his family the best he could, and he truly loved his daughter. Pedro could only be described as 'earthly', he was honest and kind, and the majority of times he had a thoughtful glint in his eyes.

"Homework, papa,", Cassandra chewed on her pasta slowly before swallowing, "Tell me again how you and mama met?"

Cassandra's mother was called Carla May; American born and bred. She had light blonde hair which reached her shoulders and bright blue eyes, and as well as this she was a nurse. Meaning that her hours were often unpredictable, as well as not ideal. She tried to help Pedro, so that he didn't feel that the financial burden was all on his shoulders, but the truth was that no matter how much they saved, it was unlikely that the Ruiz-May's would be moving out of their apartment any time soon.

"Why?", Cassandra's papa replied, "So you can hear about how I swept her off her feet?" He rose his hand dramatically to his forehead as his spoke, earning a laugh from his daughter.

"Not exactly, it's for my social studies homework." She replied, rolling her eyes.

"Oh I see, they're interested in how to get the women, no? Clearly they think I have some expertise, but I can't blame them, I mean, I have such good looks." Pedro shrugged nonchalantly, scooping more pasta into his mouth.

"You're not as guapo as you think, papa." Cassandra responded cheekily as she stood up to take her plate out to the kitchen, having finished her pasta.

She walked back out into the lounge-dining area and was just about to re-enter her bedroom and finally finish her homework before climbing into bed when her father called her name.

She turned to him, "Yes, papa?"

He had turned in his seat to address her, "Don't work yourself too hard, vale? I worry about you sometimes."

Cassandra smiled, "Of course". She blew him a quick kiss before entering her bedroom and shutting the door

Pedro watched his daughter go and shook his head, bemused, she was something else.

He was right. Cassandra Andrea Ruiz-May was anything but ordinary; after all, he would know. She had light brown hair, brown eyes and fair skin which browned easily, an elegant mixture of her mother and father's genes. Of Latin descent, she had a sharp tongue and fiery nature, as well as mastery of the Spanish language. But coupled with this she was intelligent, kind and excitable.

In short, she was a tornado with constellations in her eyes.