Imperfect Angel

Prologue

Most babies cry when they come into the world. I fell. You could say, in the words of Family Guy, that I was a prom night dumpster baby. I never knew my parents, and I don't exactly plan on discovering their wretched souls either. My name is Cassie Evans. Well, that's what they call me.

I grew up in Marietta, Georgia with Mama Odie and Jessica. I never really knew anybody outside of them; I refused to associate with others and this is where it got me. Jessica said that I needed to meet some guy that would sweep me off my feet and go on off to community college or whatever. I had no such intentions after experiencing far too much emotional abuse from school. So she got angry at me, and she hauled me off to Wilmington, North Carolina, for the summer. I had just graduated from high school and was laying in the fields one day when she came right up and she gave me my suitcase. I miss Jessica.

Mama Odie adopted me when I was about 2 years old. I hated my life and I hated vegetables even more at that age. She told me that whatever good I do would get sent back to me somehow. But I don't believe in karma. She raised me right and took me to school and fed me and put clothes on me and roof over my head. I told her that I loved her very much when I was 5. You know what she did? She laughed at me. Then she said this, "Sweetheart, I love you too, but angels are supposed to love everybody." Mama Odie thought I was heaven sent and that I was God's greatest present. She adopted pretty little Jessica when I was 10 years old. Jessica was a preppy girl who loved to eat sweet Georgia peaches in the summer and wear silky scarves in the winter. She was my sister and my very best friend.

I miss Georgia and I miss the sounds of the birds chirping their stupid song in the mornings. I miss Mama Odie reading her book of poetry and I miss Jessica singing at the top of her lungs in a falsetto voice that sounded so horrible I couldn't help but laugh. I miss the taste of the peach cobbler we always got down at the local diner. But then I went to North Carolina that summer. And then everything changed.

I lost everything and I gained even more. What I don't understand is why God let me come here and why he made me go through so much pain. I was told the truth, for the very first time, and I lost my family...for the very first time. And I fell in love! It was wonderful when it lasted; but then it ended just as quickly as it started.

So I'm back to exactly where I started 17 years ago: leaning against the dumpster, crying, and falling to pieces.

**Chapter One**

4 years ago

"Cassie Evans," the teacher at the front said. I raised my hand quietly, not saying a word, slouching down in my seat. "Jessica Evans," the teacher said. Jessica replied with a sweet-sounding "present" and a wave of her hand. Her auburn curls bounced effortlessly. Sometimes I really do wish I were her.

It was the first day of high school, and I hadn't been looking forward to it. I was very grateful that me and Jessica had two classes as well as thrid lunch together. I wore a comfortable hoodie from Abercrombie & Fitch and bootcut jeans with beat-up Vans. My backpack contained an old binder and three brand new notebooks. A striped pencilcase remained inside. No one glanced my way and the two pretty brunettes at the front seemed to me laughing at me. I was mortified.

Our homeroom teacher, Mrs. Lange, was a young woman. She was statuesque with long silky black hair. Her eyes were a muddy brown. She had married a European man, which would explain the odd last name considering that she was Asian. A boy in the back, named Thomas, was whispering "chinky eyes" into his friend's ear. I scoffed, disgusted by his racial awareness. Did it really matter what race she was? And why did he have to make fun of it?