Sometimes Shadows Aren't Meant to Hide

Nervous anticipation had been building up in Annamarie for the past couple of months, and the day had finally arrived: her first day of her freshman year of college. Her thoughts were actually in such disarray that she forgot her grandmother's golden rule about leaving the house as she bounded into the kitchen. "Annamarie Rowan!" Bettie Rowan's voice snapped like the cracking of a whip. Marie sort of skidded to an awkward stop with a flinch, knowing that tone of voice. "Yes?" she asked nervously, glancing back at her grandmother, a woman whose hair was simply white fluff on her head and whose face was stern. "Are you forgetting something?" No, actually, she didn't believe she was... but Marie looked down at herself anyway, frowning as she inspected her appearance. That was about when she realized that she had forgotten something.

Her grandma was extremely adamant about a few things... Marie had been nearly ten before she'd talked her grandmother into letting her attend a public school, with other kids. Then, it had come with a condition. This condition was one that was still in effect at the age of 18. Part of Marie's unusual affinity towards shadows was that she could disguise herself in a way. The only way she could figure that it worked was that shadows concealed things, and this concealed her after a fashion. There were exactly two people in the world who knew what she really looked like, and she'd forgotten that today. So she hurriedly fixed that.

Her hair soon seemed longer, much curlier, russet colored, and she knew her eyes would be hazel as opposed to their usual blue. Her skin would be darker too, covered in freckles where freckles before had not existed, but it was all a sort of illusion. She was still pale, black-haired, blue-eyed underneath. "Better," her grandma grunted once Marie had taken care of her appearance and went back to sipping her over-creamed coffee that looked more like some sort of tan drink than the dark sludge that few people could stomach. "Cass should be 'round to pick you up soon. I want you to walk to and from school with him every day."

"Still don't trust me to go anywhere on my own then?"

"It isn't you I don't trust, Annamarie. It's the rest of the world."

Thankfully, the door opened before that conversation could continue.

@ Stage Doctor

@ manic;
Cass was whistling to himself as he walked, and was looking at the houses as he passed. He had his bag slung over his left shoulder, and was thinking about the new chapter of his life about to begin as he started his first day of college! He was partially excited to the level of jumping up and down, and partially scared to the level of almost wetting himself. He wasn't quite sure which was more prominent, though, so he just kind of pushed the thought of it altogether to the back of his mind. As he approached the Rowan house, he fixed himself slightly, and ran his hand through his hair in a sort of nervous tick. He wasn't sure why, but Annamarie's grandmother always made him apprehensive in a way. Maybe it was how she put so much faith in him, and talked to him as if it was his responsibility to keep Annamarie safe- which wasn't the part he minded. He would be racked with guilt if anything even came close to happening to her, but he felt that despite what would have happened to Annamarie, he would still be worse off with having to deal with the wrath of her grandmother.

Soon he arrived at the door, though, and smiled as he walked through. "Hey Luuuuucy! I'm hooooome!' he said, in the accent of Ricky Ricardo from the TV show. He closed the door behind him, and then poked his head through a doorway to see Annamarie and her grandmother there, Annamarie already ready to go out in her 'public' form. He smiled to the both of them, and said- still in the Ricky Ricardo accent," Good morning ladies. Well aren't you both looking lovely this morning!" He stepped completely into the room, just to lean against the wall anyway, and ask Annamarie- in his normal, baritone voice this time," Are you ready to start the first day of the rest of our lives?"

@ Stage Doctor
If the sound of a door opening without a preliminary knock or ring of the doorbell hadn't been enough indication, the sound of one of Cass' bad imitations certainly told Marie who was in the house. While her grandma hadn't liked him, in the least, when they had first met and become friends, now she suspected that her grandmother trusted him more than she trusted her own granddaughter. They had known each other for a couple of years now, at the very least, and he was practically like family. He could basically come over whenever he wanted, no matter the time of day, and was probably the only person on the planet who didn't have to let them know he was coming in the house.

"Yes! Let's go!" Marie grabbed up her backpack and headed towards him, ready to end the conversation with her grandma and get going. She was extremely excited, and would be even more so once she got to the point where she got her own place or a dorm room at the very least... she just didn't want to stay, stifled, in this house any longer. She hardly had any freedom, and the stipulation on her going anywhere had pretty much become that Cass had to be with her. She didn't mind him being around -in fact, she loved him to pieces and he was definitely the person she was closest to aside from her grandma- but it was more the principle that bothered her really... "See you later, grandma!" She personally had two classes today, which was a revolutionary idea in her opinion, but she didn't relish the thought of coming right back directly after class. Now, she had a whole free afternoon with which to spend her time.

@ manic;
Cass chuckled, and waved to Marie's grandmother before he turned to follow her out, and said," Good seeing you, Ms. Rowan. Have a good day." He then looked to make sure that Marie was already headed to the door before mouthing,' I'll keep and eye on her'. He then turned around, and followed Marie, catching up in time to open the door and wave Marie through it. He followed her through, and then closed it behind himself, before abruptly saying," I really wish you could come just as you are. I like your natural hair." He chuckled softly, and continued," By the way, just how paranoid was your grandmother this morning before I got there?"

@ Stage Doctor
At the mention of her natural hair, Marie tugged on a strand of the curly orange hair everyone saw and sighed. "I do too. Its much easier to handle, for one thing," she admitted to him as they began walking along the sidewalk. "Well, I came downstairs looking normal and she made sure I didn't forget... and I've been ordered to walk with you to and from school every day." She gave Cass an apologetic smile. "I don't think she realizes that you probably have better things to do than pretending to babysit me for her..." It didn't really occur to her that he might actually watch out for her for real, but mainly because she thought her grandma was paranoid, and she could take care of herself. "Luckily, you showed up just at the right time once again to save the day," she teased as her conclusion, and hip-bumped him with a small grin. "Thanks for that."

@ manic;
Cass chuckled, and hip-bumped her right back, before saying," Well, remind me to thank your grandmother then." He then yawned, and stretched his arms high up in the air, and cracked his neck before continuing," Although, in all truthfulness, if I didn't I would be in your grandmother's position with the whole paranoid worrying bit. It isn't exactly a safe place to be... Us... Nowadays. Do you know what I mean, Marie?" He frowned as he looked down at her, and then converted his frown back to a smile and said," By the way, I'm letting you know now. I'm taking full reign when it comes to the ginger jokes."

double post

@ Stage Doctor
(heading to bed! I'll be on tomorrow night for longer though, since its the weekend ^-^)

Marie knew what Cass meant, because it was the same thing her grandma kept telling her. The mysterious group that wanted to kill people with abilities like her and Cass. But other than from her grandma, she'd never heard of them, or about them being around. Nothing. As Cass threatened her with ginger jokes though, she gave him a half-hearted glare, her mind taken away from more serious subjects. "Don't you dare!" she warned. "I will make sure you never get a date through the rest of college!" She seemed to be good at doing that accidentally anyway, and felt bad about it... but hopefully the thought of running off potential dates on purpose would keep him from making those ginger jokes. Because if most of his dates got run off on accident... well, that small percentage shouldn't be too hard to convince on purpose.

@ manic;
[Same. I'm exhausted. @_@]
Cass laughed, and then said," Well, I think there's already a problem. I usually do a good job of that myself." He then said," Although really? Threatening me that I won't get a date all through college? You really must be soul-less." He burst out laughing, then, and poked Marie in the side as he continued walking, a large beaming smile on his face. He then said," By the way, what classes do you have today? I didn't even think to ask. I remember scheduling classes that started and ended at the same time, but I don't remember which classes it was that you chose."

@ Stage Doctor
(I know the feeling, trust me xD)

Marie automatically moved away as she was poked, though as soon as she felt she was out of danger, she fell in beside Cass again with a grin. "Yes, I am soulless. I thought you knew this by now," she teased. "And I have english and chem today." She gave him a look. "You know, you really don't need to worry about trying to match your schedule to fit mine and all that, Cass... I mean, high school was different since we had to be there all day anyway, but we both gotta do our own thing now, agreed?" She gave him a small smile.

@ manic;
Case chuckled when she remarked about not having to fit her schedule. He knew that she didn't mind, or maybe even didn't want him to, but he knew that he had to. When she asked what classes he had, he pondered for a split second, and then said," I think I have Chemical bonding and Stoichiometry this morning, with one of my acting classes this afternoon. By the way, would you like to grab lunch between classes?"

@ Stage Doctor
"Stoichiometry... the name just sounds so fun, doesn't it?" Marie pointed out to him. That was the same class she had though, and she wondered if they would be in the same class, though she supposed they'd find out once they got there. "Lunch sounds good. We can sit in the grass and make fun of the squirrels while people make fun of us for making fun of squirrels," she grinned at him. By this point, they were approaching college. Other people were walking too, since it really wasn't far from a few subdivisions, others were riding the bus, and then some were driving cars. The latter were who Marie kept a special eye on, because she wouldn't be happy if they tried to run her over.

@ manic;
"Oh, it sounds like oodles and oodles of fun. Almost as fun as actually saying the word oodles," Cass said, chuckling before looking around, instinctually doing the same thing as she was. He then continued," But sure. Watching the squirrels seems perfect. It's a date." With that, they stepped onto the campus, and Cass began leading her to the science building.

@ Stage Doctor
"Hey! Don't make fun of the word oodles. It can be an extremely useful word," Marie grinned at him. Shortly after entering the science building was when they found that somehow they had been put in the same chemistry class. Marie hadn't actually thought that would happen since she figured there were at least two chemistry classes going on this morning alone, but it had happened anyway somehow... which might or might not turn out to be a mistake on the part of whoever organized it.

@ manic;
"Oh, I wasn't making fun of the word oodles! I was just saying that the word oodles is oodles and oodles of fun to say!" Cass said, chuckling as he poked her side, and they stepped into the classroom. He then looked over at her, then, and said," By the way, since this is a class with a lab- do you want to be my lab partner? I mean, if you want to get out there and meet someone new and get a different person to be your lab partner, I completely understand and would support it."

@ Stage Doctor
"If you wanted to get rid of me, you could've just said so," Marie teased him with a small laugh pretty much at the same time that their teacher decided to enter the room. "We can find different lab partners if you want. I definitely don't mind meeting new people," she whispered to him quickly before their professor could start talking. Then it was class time which, in Cass terms, was just oodles and oodles of fun.

@ manic;
Cass laughed, and whispered," Well, I guess I'll stick with you. But you better pull your weight." He chuckled as he teased her, and then poked her side before looking around the room. He spotted the usual few people that you would see in a science class like this- the over achieving group, the group that had to take it, the group that didn't care, and then Cass and Marie...

@ Stage Doctor
Marie squirmed a tad as he poked her, per usual, but no one seemed to notice in the least, not even when she gave Cass a half-hearted, albeit venomous, look. Then the professor was talking. His name -last of course- was Whicker, and he had a syllabus for the course going around, but apparently he didn't want to waste a lot of time going over it, so soon he had notes going up on the board that probably only half the class jotted down.. Marie was one of those people, though she didn't take extremely detailed, meticulous notes like some. It didn't really help that she and Cass passed a note back and forth the entire time either, only made possible because of the lack of actual desks.

@ manic;
Cass couldn't help but chuckle to himself when she shot him the glare. When the professor began spouting information to already be remembered for the first exam, Cass let out a small sigh and pulled out a notebook, and began jotting. Although, he was also the one who started the note back and forth between himself and Marie. He handed it to her, the words on the note reading,' Man, this class is already OODLES and OODLES of fun...'