"Fate or luck," Cassie repeated with a small smile. "It seemed to be on my side that week."
----------------------
Ophilia Villa, Willow Creek, 2000
"Alright, Cas," Bella said.
It was morning, near the end of the week, a few days after we'd last talked about the sleepover. We hadn't spoken about it since. Both my father and Edwards insisted I should give Bella the time she'd asked for to think things over.
"Alright what?" I said bitterly, wondering what I'd done wrong this time.
"Alright, you can go to Carmilla's sleepover," Bella said.
"I knew you'd say n... wait, what?" I gasped. "I can go?!"
"You can go," Bella chuckled. "I meant what I said..."
"Right, right," I agreed. "No pranks, no leaving the house. I'll even tell Carmilla to cancel the keg and male strippers."
"Cas," Bella said warningly.
"God, I'm kidding. You know my friends, Bella," I laughed. "I can really go?"
"You can really go," Bella nodded.
"You're the best," I said. Actually, I might have squealed at that point. There may also have been bouncing.
As I dashed upstairs, to call Carmilla and tell her, I overheard Edwards and Bella talking.
"It's good to let her go, ma'am," Edwards said to her.
"You agree with Mortimer that I'm being overprotective," Bella said.
"It's not my place to say," Edwards said. "Still, she's not a little girl anymore. She's grown into a fine young woman."
"The world can be a dangerous place, especially for 'fine young women,'" Bella sighed. "We both know that."
Up in my room, after calling Carmilla, I was faced with what, at the time, seemed to be the most important choice of my life - What was I going to wear?
I mean, it was a sleepover, so it was going to be sleepwear... but my usual sleepwear in those days was an old tank-top and pajama pants. Comfortable but not really... well... not really intended to make an impression.
The tank-top would be OK, I thought. Maybe I could swap the pajama pants for a nice pair of shorts. That would still be comfortable, while showing off my legs to nice effect. After all, I had nice legs. I mean, if I wanted to make an impression maybe...
Of course, given the fact that our school uniform included those ridiculous pleated skirts, it wasn't like she... I mean, my friends... hadn't seen my legs.
Maybe...
I mean, there were people who did sleep in a tank-top and underwear... and it wasn't like those panties were really that small. I mean... they would definitely make an impression...
Alexander chose that moment to barge into my bedroom. "Cas, I... Why are you checking out your own butt?"
"Alexander!" I shrieked.
"I wanted to talk to you," my annoying little brother insisted.
"Knock first!" I snapped. "Creepy little geek."
"What were you doing?" Alexander asked.
"None of your business," I snarled, pulling on my pajama pants.
"Oooh," Alexander grinned. "I get it."
"No, you don't," I said firmly.
"You're going on that sleepover," Alexander crowed. "Gwen's going to be there, and you want her to check out your butt!"
"No!" I gasped.
"You want Gwen to look at your butt, because you LIKE her!" he said. "Gwen and Cas/sitting in a tree/K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"
"Shut up, geek," I growled.
"No," Alexander laughed. "Besides, Gwen's nice. I like her... and you LIKE her. Don't worry, I won't tell mom you're going to show her your butt."
"I... I'm not... I'm not doing that," I stammered. "And I don't... I mean... I..."
"Yes, you do," Alexander laughed again. "You should just kiss her."
"What do you want, Alexander?" I said.
"I need a favor," Alexander said, hopping up on my bed, "before you go on your sleepover."
"Oh, good job buttering me up first," I said sarcastically, sitting down next to him. "I'm totally in the mood to do you a favor now."
"Come on, Cas," he wheedled. "Don't be like that..."
"What do you want," I sighed.
"Can you... can you spray for the monster under my bed before you go," Alexander asked quickly. "'cause only sometimes mom isn't here to do it and dad's busy writing and Edwards locks his door at night and..."
You might think it was weird for my brother, who was almost twelve, to still be worried about the Monster Under the Bed... but we're Goths. The occasional, mostly imaginary, Monster is part of the deal, and everyone knew Ophilia Villa was supposed to be haunted. So, waking up in the middle of the night to spray under Alexander's bed and drive away the Monster was pretty normal for me.
"Of course, I will," I said with a smile. "Don't let me leave without doing it."
"Thanks Cas," Alexander smiled.
I mean, Alexander was a geek and an annoying pest, but he's my little brother. We've got to stick together, especially when it comes to monsters.
