Chapter Text
Cassie was desperate for a lot of things; love, affection, a proper dad… a job. A hobby. Yeah, those two specifically.
Like, okay, she can live without a man, or a woman, she has enough affection from her sister and getting both a job and a hobby would be easier than getting a proper dad. So, yeah, she’s kinda desperate for a lot of things.
Oh, and money, too! Right after she had to bail herself out of jail and get Nate Jacobs’ car fixed since she slashed his tires in honor of her amazing best friend, Maddy Perez, she was pretty much broke. And not just broke—embarrassingly broke. Rue Bennett had to pay for her that one time at lunch. Do you hear that? Rue Bennett, their former resident crackhead, paid for her.
So, yeah, Cassie’s down in a hole at the moment and as much as she loves to hang out with her friends, her hands are pretty much tied.
“Cass, come on, it wouldn’t be fun without you!” A pleading Rue exclaims while Cassie opens the door for her sister, wearing some of her newer clothes while turning back around to face her, giving her sister an eager smile, “Yeah, come on!”
And as much as she wanted to go, as much as she was itching to just ride the car—hell, she was even wearing something decent. She was ready to go! But she didn’t exactly have, you know, the resources to do so.
Plus, she wouldn’t ask her mother for money. She knew she'd give her some, but Cassie didn’t like that. She wasn’t that desperate for it anyway.
“Guys, I’m kinda—” She starts, ready to say her bullshit excuse when all of her friends groan simultaneously, eventually drowning out the loud music blasting from Maddy’s speakers, “Tight? I don’t care. Hop on, bitch, I’m spoiling you tonight.”
Her words made the older Howard flush and shift from the front door, scratching the back of her head. I mean, she certainly didn’t mind if Maddy didn’t mind but… it’s still embarrassing. She was her best friend, not her responsibility.
“Is this your sugar mommy era?” Jules jokes from the backseat, leaning her head against Kat’s shoulder while Lexi keeps the door open, as if inviting her sister in. “It might as well be.” Was the cheerleader’s response, rolling her eyes.
From her seat in between Lexi and Jules, Rue laughs, patting the brunette’s shoulder, “It suits you, not gonna lie.”
Okay, first of all, Cassie wasn’t going to be spoiled like she’s some sugar baby or whatever those type of people are called, and second, she might as well come. They want her to be there anyway.
Sauntering towards the front door, she sighs, “Maddy’s not going to be my sugar mommy.”
Pretending to be offended, Maddy’s perfectly manicured hands clutch her chest, gasping at the blonde with that stupid attractive smirk etched on her face. “Why not, baby girl?” She asks teasingly and if you’re a normal person, if you’re like, any other student in East Highland, if Madeleine Perez called you ‘baby girl,’ you’d probably pass out.
But Cassie was different. She wasn’t just any other student. She was Maddy’s best friend, and she was used to this. With a teasing smile, she heads to the driver’s seat, poking her head in through the open window, “We both know you can’t top, Perez.”
Her response was met by ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ from their friends, quite surprised that she had the guts to stand up to her. But then again, only Cassie could hold Maddy back. Like, physically and emotionally, she’s the only one capable of holding Maddy down.
“Take that back, Howard!” Maddy gasps dramatically, glaring at their friends who were chortling and snickering in the back. The skater could only roll her eyes, opening the door while pushing her away, “And move, I’m driving. At least make me feel like I earned the things you’re going to give me.”
The younger girls in the back cheer at the confirmation of her joining them, I mean, really, it won’t be as fun without Cassie. She’s like their little glue. And she’s the only one responsible enough to make sure nothing bad happens.
“Cassie’s our Uber driver basically.” Kat grins excitedly, especially when the blonde began to drive. “Exactly. Now where to?”
While it sounded like the question was directed to everyone, Cassie’s eyes were only focused on the brunette beside her, smiling down at the shorter girl. Because if anyone’s opinion mattered to her, it had to be Maddy’s. Everybody else can simply fuck off.
“I think you know.”
With that, Cassie drives off to the nearest bowling alley.
What? Partying is overrated anyway.
(Plus, the nearest party was hosted by Nate and none of them exactly wanted to have a party with him…)
For the entire ride, everyone sings along to the music on the radio. And it didn’t matter if it was Taylor fucking Swift on the radio, they were all singing along. Except Cassie, of course, she’s the driver, and she’d rather listen to the girl beside her sing. She’s always been more of a singer than Cassie. Madeleine Perez was a woman of many talents, and that always amazed the blonde.
I mean, why wouldn’t it? Her best friend is the entire package! She’s pretty, she’s smart, she’s witty, she can sing, she can dance, she’s the most popular girl in school… She’s everything. And while other people expect her to be jealous of her, she feels quite the opposite. She loves it, knowing that Maddy was everything and Cassie was, you know, her second in command.
“Bitch, I swear we’re going to have fun!” Maddy grins excitedly the second they are all out of the car, linking her arms with Cassie, and the girl pulls her close on instinct, smiling at her while they all walk inside. No words were exchanged between them until they had all settled on one corner, trying their hardest not to gag at the smell of wax accompanied by ketchup and oil and everything else.
“Are we the team, then?” There was really no point in asking, considering that it was almost automatic. They were a package deal, and the others can’t really do anything about it. A giggle tears through the brunette’s lips, her eyes glinting with absolute mirth as she stares up at the blonde, “I’d never be caught dead teaming up with anybody else.”
To her, Cassie, I mean, that just seems fair. But apparently, not to their friends, especially not to Rue who was halfway into wearing her bowling shoes. “That’s unfair!” She exclaims, ignoring the old people that turned in their direction. Cassie raises an eyebrow, tying her shoes, “What?”
“You two are great! We’re all shit!” Was her complaints, lowering her voice a little in embarrassment while Lexi stares at her in offense, “Hey!” She pouts, ready to tell her that she’s at least decent. Jules and Kat knew they weren’t any good, so they just kept quiet,
“Okay, some of us are shit!” Rue tried to rephrase, only to be shot down by her, well, ex, looking at her with a laugh, “You’re the only one who can’t hold a ball properly.” Jules whispers and the taller girl sighs, “I don’t do bowling…”
Snorting, Cassie rolls her eyes, picking up a ball and rolling it effortlessly down the lane, already hitting a strike, “We can tell, Rue-Rue.”
Yeah, not even her begging to be teammates with Cassie worked. She and Maddy were too inseparable, literally nothing could come in between them.
For the entire night, it was just the two of them. And, from an outsider, you’d think they were together. You’d think they went here separately from their friends and they were on a date. And the stark contrast of Maddy’s thought for her outfit compared to Cassie’s hoodie and jeans combo didn’t matter. They still looked together, they worked.
Have I mentioned Cassie’s crush on Maddy? Or did I skip that entire part? Because Cassandra Howard has an embarrassing crush on her best friend, and only two people other than her knew about it. One was, surprisingly, McKay, and the second one was her sister.
Said sister was looking at them and wiggling her eyebrows when the blonde got too close to the brunette. Said sister, who exclaimed ‘get a room!’ when Cassie began to compliment her friend. Their friends laughed along, even Maddy, although unbeknownst to them, the younger Howard was actually teasing her.
“I’m sorry you literally have to pay for me.” Cassie frowns right after she shoves the last bit of her hotdog into her mouth, wiping the mustard off the side of her lips. She was met by an eye roll from her friend, as well as throwing her a napkin.
Maddy didn’t really mind any of this, in fact, she loved every bit of it. Helping Cassie after she helped her was something she always loved, “What are you talking about? Did you forget that time you had to pay for everything I ate because Nate took my card?”
Her face sours at the memory. The moments where Maddy wouldn’t eat, or get new clothes, or overall function because Nate took her card and the rest of her money so she wouldn’t ‘cheat’ and go out without him flooding her mind. It was a surprise he didn’t come for the skater, considering she bought her like, twelve hoodies and a shit ton of snacks during that entire time.
“Well he was a scumbag! I’m just broke.” Was her argument, but the girl waves her off, “You have a valid reason. It’s not easy to get a job.” She smiles and it would reassure Cassie, yes, but only for a brief moment. “Rue has a job.” She huffs, although the other girl already has a response, “For Fez. They’re like, practically siblings or whatever.”
“You have a job.” Okay, Cassie didn’t exactly think it through when she said that and it didn’t fully click until Maddy was gasping and tilting her head at her like she just said something insulting to her new pair of boots.
“Are you telling me I’m not capable of having a job?” She asks and the blonde’s eyes widen, opening and closing her mouth while sputtering out an excuse, “What—no! No! I just…”
Laughing, Madeleine moves to sit beside her instead, poking her cheek with a giggle, “Cass, I was kidding, come on.” She smiles, and the girl sighs in relief. “You’re an asshole.” She mumbles, although not meaning it, not even the slightest.
Knowing that, the cheerleader smirks, leaning her head on the taller girl’s shoulder while they watched their friends compete for second place. “Mhm, you love it. You love me.”
If you only knew. Cassie had thought. If it was up to her, she’d agree and tell her she loves her more than a best friend.
“Unfortunately.” She answers instead and the girl simply giggles in silence until she starts playing with the blonde’s fingers. “So? Any new man? Or girl?” The question throws Cassie off. Since when did she have interest in Cassie’s love life? In fact, she hated talking about it.
Maddy was possessive beyond her romantic relationships, and the blonde knew that. So this kinda surprised her.
“What?” She laughs anxiously, slightly pulling away to take a better look at the cheerleader. The girl sighs, “Remember New Year’s?” She asks and Cassie snorts, “Oh, of course! I kinda got in jail for slashing Nate’s tires the same time Fez beat his ass up.”
“Well there was a guy I met there…” She starts and the blonde’s heart drops. Here it is. Maddy has a new boyfriend. The tragic sapphic loses again. “Oh. You like him?” She barely manages to say, pretending to smile and act like she wasn’t seconds away from ripping her hair out and start ranting to Lexi when Maddy cuts her off, “He’s boring. He’s not like you.”
That has her stopping in her tracks, completely pulling away to look into Maddy’s eyes, searching for that certain twinkle in them when she was joking around. But it wasn’t there.
“What do you mean?” She whispers, dipping her head a bit when the brunette shrugs, pulling her back to her previous spot to lean her head against her shoulder again, “I mean, I would rather go on a date with you than any other guy, really.”
Lexi, I hope you’re prepared to hear me go on and on about this.
“You sound like you like me, Mads.” She chuckles, trying to act as cool as she could like her heart wasn’t pounding inside her chest and threatening to come out. Acting cool like she wasn’t sweating from her palms down to her feet in anxiousness and excitement.
“I do like you.” That… that made it hard for Cassie to breathe. And, she could’ve lived her life with that, pretending that Maddy liked her back, but her mouth doesn’t stop the words from coming out, “Not like that.” She sighs, only to be met by two more words that would seemingly hit her square in the face.
“Who knows?” Maddy asks, and she was now grinning at the blonde. Hoping she takes it as a joke, Cassie dramatically exhales, “Don’t get my hopes up.” She mumbles, and the shorter girl smirks, “Oh? Maybe you like me.”
“Everybody likes you.” She retorts, almost too quickly, like she practiced it before in her head. She did, actually, Maddy wasn’t going to find out she liked her any time soon.
Maddy acknowledges that with a grin, nodding her head, “That’s true. Do you?”
“I like you a decent amount.” That was a lie, she liked her so much she was willing to run around the town in tie dye shirts and bangs. She liked her so much she’d literally jump off a moving car if she asked her to.
“Cunt.” Maddy replies, shoving her away lightly and Cassie laughs, “You love me.” She grins, knowing that if she asked her that, she’ll at least say yes. “Unfortunately.” The girl sighs, echoing the skater’s own words to her when they see their friends defeatedly surrendering the shoes. “We should probably go home.” Maddy suggests, and a part of her wishes, that Cassie would offer her to sleep over.
“Yeah. Let me just throw these out.” She grins, pointing to the tray. The brunette nods, sighing, “See you in the car?”
“See you in the car!” Just as Maddy got up and met with their friends, Cassie picked up the discarded wrappers and cups and put them all on the tray before heading to the bin. Everything was going smoothly until a guy crashed into her, “Hey!” She exclaims, staring at the guy, but she could barely see his face. “Sorry!” He exclaims, though, and Cassie could only mutter “Ugh…” under her breath as she brushed herself off.
That’s when from the corner of her eye, she notices something on the floor. And, okay, it’s not exactly hygienic to pick something up on the foodcourt of the bowling alley, but the bold letters entice her.
STARK INDUSTRIES, LOS ANGELES IS NOW HIRING!
If you are a mechanic, a developer or a lab engineer, call 3000-616 or email [email protected] for more details.
Walk in interviews are encouraged. Look for ‘Georgia Stark’ at 8AM this Monday.
She looks around before picking the flier up. She has heard about Stark Industries—who wasn’t? And she’s heard about them acquiring the building, which is like, ten minutes away from East Highland.
Huh, maybe this is a sign. Maybe Cassie Howard should apply at Stark Industries.
I mean, come on, what could go wrong?