New Book Idea

This is an idea I've been exploring which I finally put to paper, in a way. The beginning of yet another book.

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Cass was late, but she was perpetually late. It was hereditary in her family, at least that’s how she always explained her tardiness. In reality, she had no sense of time, especially when she got involved in something. He mind just got into the zone and everything else didn’t matter. In this respect, she mimicked her father and mother both, which is why she continually claimed her behavior had been passed down to her through multiple generations. This time, however, her lateness was solely her fault, but for reasons other than her inherent family trait. The fact of the matter was she didn’t know what to pack, how much to pack, or even how to fit it all into a suitcase. And though she’d traveled before, none of it mattered like this trip did because on this trip she had to be both rough and tumble as well as studious, which didn’t lend itself to easy wardrobe decisions though no one else seemed to have the same problem.

“Cassandra Jean Thurston!”

“I’m coming,” Cass yelled at the closed door in utter panic, though she was nowhere near finished. Of course, Sarah, her roommate, knew this which was why she was prodding her forward like a horse with a switch.

“They’re gonna leave without you,” Sarah impatiently yelled back.

“They wouldn’t dare,” Cassandra responded, suddenly standing defiantly tall while placing her fist on her hips clearly mirroring her mother’s behavior. Then, almost as quickly, she realized she didn’t have time to be proud and went back to packing.

“None refundable tickets,” Sarah taunted.

Crap. Bending forward, Cass grabbed an armload of clothes, scooped them up, and stuffed them all into the suitcase before squishing it all down enough for her to pull the zipper closed. A moment later she swung the door open with a proud look on her face as if she was the cat who’d eaten the canary. “Told you I was ready,” she said with a lifted chin.

Her roommate only looked at her with disdain, glance down at the overstuffed piece of luggage with a smirk, then shook her head. “Now you just have to haul it down three flights of stairs. Good luck with that.”

“Shit,” Cass cursed as she tried to heft the bag out of her room into the small shared living area. “Can you help me? Please,” she pleaded desperately only to receive a shake of her roommates head. “I’ll pay you,” she implored.

“A hundred bucks,” Sarah answered.

“No way,” Cass immediately replied only to see Sarah shrug one and sit herself comfortably on the leather sofa with a broad smile. Then with a look down at the heavy suitcase, she realized she’d already reached her limit of frustration and verged on mental collapse. “Fine,” Cass said, not wanting to deal with any of this anymore. After all, mundane tasks like this were why a person had servants. And though Sarah wasn’t a servant, she also knew Cass hadn’t done a hard day’s worth of work in her life. She also knew if Cass was allowed one, she’d have a servant here at the university. Her parents would disagree with it, which is where Sarah came in. Sarah’s family wasn’t as well-off, so she exploited Cass to no end about things like this and Cass knew it. Cass didn’t care though because she had the money, or rather her parents had the money.

“Pay me first,” Sarah said, standing with her palm out.

“This is ridiculous,” Cass stated. “I don’t have time for this.”

“Then carry it down yourself.”

“Ahhh,” Cass groaned in frustration even as she pulled her purse out and thumbed out a hundred dollar bill, slapping into Sarah’s palm. “Just hurry up,” Cass ordered in defeat before grabbing her laptop bag and marching out the door.

Three flights later Cass leaned out over the curb looking up and down the street incredulously.

“They’re gone,” Cass stated in skepticism. Then, as Sarah plopped the suitcase down beside her, all her disbelief turned to anger. “This is all your fault. If you wouldn’t have made me pay you on the spot we would've made it in time!”

“Ah, shit, time!” Sarah exclaimed. “I forgot its daylight savings today. And I didn’t set the clocks back,” she grinned mischievously.

“What?!” Cass exclaimed then realization struck. “You did this on purpose!”

“Prove it,” Sarah replied with a sly wink. “And just think of it this way, you’ll be early for once.”

Cass gritted her teeth and, if she was at all a physical person, she might’ve slapped Sarah, but all she could do was tremble as Sarah turned away to return to the oversized sorority house. Inside Cass’s head, though, all sorts of heinous acts were playing themselves out.

Beep, beep.

Cass jumped, startled out of her trance of hatred only to realize her schoolmates had arrived.

“Hey, Cass,” Tom said, climbing out of the car while handing over a twenty to Jerry, who sat in the driver’s seat.

“Hey,” Cass replied with a wave then paused. “What was that about,” she motioned to Tom’s hand.

“Oh, nothing,” Tom said, grabbing hold of Cass’s suitcase and hauling toward the trunk. “Just a little bet we had.”

One plus one all of a sudden made two within her head as she realized the world had turned against her today. Her friends, well not necessarily her friends, but her companions for the next three weeks had all conspired to alter the one trait she was known for and it frustrated her to no end. However, she was above all this childish behavior. So with a lift of her chin and a stiff stride, she moved around the car to the passenger seat and looked hard as Fontaine. “Move!” A moment later she was sitting shotgun as Fontaine and Tom silently squished themselves into the backseat without a word.

As the car pulled away from the curb, Cass could only wonder how the rest of this trip to England would turn out because so far it was just going peachy.