Taming Life - Luke Dunphy

two

The next morning Cassandra woke up with a gasp.

She was being suffocated.

She blinked a few times to try and see what was obstructing her windpipe but her vision was still blurry. And then she heard it.

"Ayyyyy, my little Cassandra!"

Cassandra sat bolt upright in bed, now seeing the woman who had attempted to hug her whilst she was asleep and grinned, "TÍA GLORIA!"

Gloria Delgado-Pritchett laughed at little Cassandra's response, "Ey, why so excited of all of sudden, you only saw me, what, two days ago?", she winked at the bushy haired girl in bed before leaving her room.

Cassandra threw the upper half of her body back down onto her bed, grinning. Gloria was one of her most favourite people in the entire world. Although, she was not really her aunt; Gloria and her son Manny had lived in the apartment across the hall from the Ruiz-May's for as long as Cassandra could remember. When Gloria was out late at night working, it was Clara and Pedro Ruiz-May who would take care of Manny. When Cassandra got chicken pox, it was Gloria who would make her feel better with her special Colombian remedies. The two families would even spend Christmas together, all tucked in to one cosy apartment. It was by accident, when she was about five years old that Cassandra let the word "Tía" slip from her mouth when addressing Gloria. To say the least, Gloria was delighted, and absolutely insisted that nobody discourage Cassandra from calling her so.

Those were the good ol' days, as they say. Gloria had soon left the apartment block, and was living 'the good life' with Jay Pritchett. Many people said that Gloria was only in it for the money, but Cassandra completely disagreed, she saw the way Gloria adored Jay, and she would defend that point 'til the day she died. In fact, it's pretty safe to say that Cassandra was fiercely loyal to Gloria. After Gloria moved out, she could have left the entire 'slum' life behind her, but she didn't. Not even a week after she moved out, the Ruiz-May family was invited to her new abode, and met the entirety of Gloria's new family: Mitch, Cam, Phil, Claire, Haley, Alex, and of course, Cassandra's best friend, Luke Dunphy.

The two families merged so well together, that they had barely gone a week without seeing each other since, and Cassandra loved it.

Cassandra hopped out of bed, tugged her brush through her knotty hair and then gently opened her bedroom door. Sat in the lounge area was her Mum, Gloria and Phil. Her mother and Gloria were happily gossiping away; Phil was trying to join in, and laughing at the wrong parts every so often. He looked up at Cassandra and smiled, "Hey superstar!", he said, dragging out the 'y' of his 'hey' ever so slightly. Cassandra returned the smile and walked over to them, "Hi, Phil, what's going on?"

"Well we're selling Gloria's old apartment today, but she was just reminiscing the old times I think, you know?"

Cassandra bit her lip and nodded. She hadn't liked it when Gloria and Manny moved out, no matter how happy they were, and had always dreaded the day when their apartment was officially sold.

Phil watched her reaction thoughtfully, and smiled sadly at her, "I know it's hard to let things of the past go kiddo, but you've still got Gloria, and you've even gained the rest of us for that matter."

Gloria and Carla had listened to what Phil was saying and now Gloria spoke softly, "Ay, what he says is true my Cassandra,", she beamed widely, "it takes a lot more than a ten minute drive to get rid of me."

They all laughed, knowing it was true. Carla turned to her daughter smiling, "What are you doing today, honey? Your father told me that you were up late working hard last night, you deserve to have some fun!"

"Ay, sí, there is so much new pressure in high school now, no? Manny is the same. A beautiful girl like you needs to be having fun as well!" Gloria interrupted.

Cassandra rolled her eyes, "Well I suppose I could see what Luke's doing.. Unless you already know, Phil?"

Phil looked thrown off for a second, "Well he was still in bed when I left..."

"I probably would be as well, if it weren't for you two" Cassandra stuck her tongue out playfully at Gloria and Phil as she walked to the kitchen to grab a breakfast bar.

"Hey, don't you disrespect your Aunty!" Gloria called after her, making her laugh.

Their conversation had resumed when Cassandra walked back through, and she stopped behind her Mum and murmured in her ear, "I'll text Luke, try and get some rest today, you look tired." - she quickly planted a kiss on her mother's cheek and saw her mother smile before going back into her bedroom.

Having located her phone she quickly fired off a text to Luke.

Cassie: Are you free today?
Luke: Yep

Cassandra smiled at their conversation screen; when the Ruiz-May's had met the rest of Gloria's new family Luke had been the first to nickname Cassandra: Cassie. Her train of thought was interrupted as her phone buzzed in her hand again.

Luke: Are you coming over?
Cassie: In that case, yep ;)
Luke: Hurry. The next bus leaves in 10 minutes.

Cassandra couldn't help but laugh as she read the last message; he knew that that would throw her into a frenzy, and it did. She quickly took off her pyjamas and shoved them down her bed before dressing in jeans and an old grey hoodie. She'd brushed her hair before leaving her room earlier so left it down; it was mostly straight, with a few rogue curls here and there.

Cassandra quickly grabbed her phone, earphones and the breakfast bar which she had thrown on her bed. She threw open her bedroom door and stumbled out of it, catching the attention of those in the lounge.

"Can I stay for dinner, Phil?" She asked quickly as she made her way to the door of the apartment. Phil smiled at her over his shoulder, "Sure thing, kiddo!"

With her hand on the door handle Cassandra turned to her Mum beaming, "I'm staying at the Dunphy's for dinner, mama, I'll text you later!"

"Okay, sweetie! Have fun!" Carla laughed.

Cassandra blew a quick kiss to her mother and Gloria, said a rushed "See you later!" to Phil and then she was out.

She paused briefly once the apartment door shut behind her, gathering herself. Her moment of peace was interrupted by the buzzing of her phone and she looked down at the message she had just received.

Luke: Tick tock.

Cassandra's eyes widened: she had to run down two flights of stairs and her street to get to the bus stop.

In an instant, she was sprinting.

A/N: Let me know what you think of the story so far!