are you strung up by the wrists
The house was enormous. Bigger and fancier than any house she'd ever been in before. It was more like a mansion and was in a neighborhood filled with other houses similarly large and extravagant.
It was decorative and... wow.
Cassandra immediately felt intimidated. She knew her single adoptive father, Garret Michael, wasn't rich. She wasn't even lucky enough to be schooled by a mother, school, or a hired tutor.
She could read by the time she was four so her father decided that Cassandra schooling herself at home, with him helping whenever he was around, would be better than changing schools every two to three years due to his job.
They had just recently moved for the last time, not ordered by the military for once, back to her father's hometown and Cassandra felt a strange nostalgia which slightly disgusted her for some reason.
Well, either way, she was there now and apparently going to 'make friends' now.
Cassandra had already decided some time ago that she wasn't meant to have friends. She just never seemed to get the hang of it. Everyone around her seemed to... not need her.
She often wondered, what was the point of friendship? A waste of time she'd often think of it.
Yet, she couldn't deny there was a slight longing there. Really though, what was the point? 'Friends' seemed to be extremely important to a lot of people.
She followed her father to the door of the house which was colorfully painted with flowers and suns. He knocked and the door was shortly answered by an expensive-looking woman with long straight brown hair.
She was elegant and poised in movement but there was something deeper and warmer in the way she smiled. Cassandra looked away, uncomfortable with eye contact, but gave a nod,
"Why hello, you must be the Michael family! Welcome to the Der Sonne residence. I am Mrs Arianna Der Sonne," The woman said, motioning for them do enter.
Inside the house was just as fancy as the outside. High ceilings and lots of natural light. The tile floor almost a mosaic with vibrant shades of browns and beige and colors throughout.
On many walls, painted details similar to the ones on the front door could be seen. Cassandra wondered what could have possessed this rich family to have such strange taste in decor.
At the sound of voices, Cassandra pulled her attention away from the walls and was surprised to see a girl with the longest hair she had every seen. Blonde and probably about down to her ankles. Another girl was braiding it.
"Oh, um- are people here already?" She looked to Mrs. Der Sonne who nodded. The girl smiled and seemed to shake with joy. Cassandra crossed her arms.
A moment later, her hair was fully braided and she stood up, coming towards Cassandra,
"Hi! My name is Rapunzel!" she put out a hand for a handshake. Cassandra took it.
"I'm Cassandra... nice to meet you, Rapunzel," she replied, just trying to be polite.
Rapunzel looked away for a moment, a little grin on her face,
"Wanna come to my room? Get away from these parents for bit?" she asked. Cassandra glanced at her dad who was already chatting it up with Mrs. Der Sonne and her husband. She cringed and then nodded,
"Anything not to see my dad socialize," she deadpanned.
They went to Rapunzels room and the smell of paint was the first thing Cassandra noticed. Second was that the walls of Rapunzel's very large room were even more covered in art than the rest of the house. It was beautiful.
"Whoa, did you do all this?" Cassandra asked, looking around in awe.
Rapunzel chuckled, shrugging shyly,
"Oh, yeah... just a little hobby," she bit her lip. Cassandra studied a detailed sun on the ceiling above Rapunzel's bed.
"It's... awesome," Cassandra said. She appreciated art though usually pretended she didn't as it wasn't her dad's thing.
Rapunzel smiled widely but didn't speak anymore. Cassandra glanced around awkwardly.
In another corner of the room, there was a collection of guitars hung on the wall,
"Oh, do you play?" Cassandra asked. Rapunzel nodded, "Yeah- I mean no- I mean yeah, you know.... uh, yeah," she grabbed an acoustic, slinging the strap over her shoulder. She started playing some chords.
Cassandra just stood and listened. She played the guitar herself a bit but only a bit. She tried to guess what the chords were. She was sure there was an 'E' minor in there.
The rhythm was distinct and Cassandra was sure she had heard it before.
Rapunzel started to sing, high and gently,
"My lover's got humor,
She's the giggle at a funeral
Knows everybody's disapproval..."
Cassandra's eyes widened as she recognized it.
The sound of parents voice laughing and she wanted to put her hands on the guitar to stop it.
Were Rapunzel's parents accepting of...? Cassandra remembered things her father had said about gay people and felt herself shrink a little.
"... Every Sunday's getting more bleak, fresh poison each week. We were born sick, you heard them say it," Cassandra let herself sing along which made Rapunzel even happier and Cassandra let herself smile.
Rapunzel stopped playing and put the guitar back when she became too excited, "Oh my gosh! Wow, we should start a band!" she grabbed Cassandra's hand which then became the only thing Cassandra could focus on.
"I don't know about all that... I do play bass," she mumbled, staring down. She noticed the other girl's bare feet and furrowed her brow.
Rapunzel suddenly twirled Cassandra and then hugged her,
"Whoa!"
Cassandra felt very trapped, "Uh- would you let me go? I'm not much of a hugger..." She said.
"Oh! Sorry... alright, no problem," Rapunzel shrugged casually as she backed away. Cassandra nodded and dusted herself off.
The doorbell rang and Rapunzel was almost animatedly excited,
"More people! Come on!" she said, heading out of her room and waving Cassandra to come along.
They went out and Mrs. Der Sonne was hugging two girls who looked to be near Cassandra and Rapunzel's age.
One had platinum blonde-white hair that was in a fancy-ish braid and scary blue eyes. The other girl with auburn hair seemed just as peppy as Rapunzel- maybe even more so. There was also a blonde boy behind them.
"Oh! Rapunzel, hi!" the girl with auburn hair turned and practically ran into a hug with Rapunzel.
Cassandra moved farther away, hiding in shadows against a wall. The white-haired girl looked young as them but somehow gave off a much more mature air. She stepped gracefully toward them with her hands folded. They were covered with delicate blue gloves.
"Oh, and who's this?" The other girl, Cassandra overhead was named Anna, asked as she finally noticed Cassandra's presence. Cassandra glanced back and forth from the three other girls, trying to gauge how she should speak to them. They all were obviously some type of rich and Cassandra realized she was missing information of how these people expect each other to behave.
She came closer in respect and stood up straight, "I'm- my name is Cassandra," she said, mentally cursing herself for the stutter.
"Elsa," The white haired girl said, extending a hand to shake which Cassandra did.
"I'm Anna," the other girl said and shook her hand, too.
"We're family friends of the Der Sonne's... ever since Rapunzel came back, we've gotten even closer with them. Anna And Rapunzel in particular seem to be stuck like glue," Elsa chuckled. Cassandra glanced at the two smiling girls and nodded.
Suddenly another family came through the door. A large man and a skinny boy with brown hair.
Cassandra wondered why everyone was so white and if she would be the only person with some even slight amount of color in her. She knew from her last name and her slightly tan skin that one of her birth parents must've been some kind of hispanic. Of course, she didn't know what specifically or anything really about being 'hispanic' so she never usually thought about it other than when people brought it up or when people were extremely pale all around her.
"Look, Hiccup's here!" Rapunzel grinned widely, practically screaming at the boy who just gave a little wave.
Cassandra was already tired of all these people.