September 18th, Tuesday - Casey Silpetti
Casey wakes up with a slight headache as her alarm clock goes off. She finds the note from Aiden on her nightstand and reads it. “Good morning sweetheart. I’ll see you at school.” He even put a little heart on there. She smiles and dresses quickly, though she’s still not too sure about going in. But she can’t have May win, and anyway she’s normally pretty good at fading into the background. She grabs her sunglasses, and heads out to Harmony’s car.
Harmony feels guilty enough that she jumped for the chance to bring Casey in early to talk to Cadence. She’s abnormally quiet on the ride in, as though she’s still waiting on Casey to blame her for what happened.
There are only a handful of students on campus and moving around when they get there, and Harmony bolts off, telling Case she’ll catch her later. Casey heads into the Student Center, grabbing some breakfast while she’s there.
She doesn’t see Cadence in the main room, so she heads off to the side room, the one filled with sofas and chairs mostly used for studying. She does a double take when she finally spots her, in fact she looks completely over her the first two times she scans the room.
The other girl has made it a point to fit in as much as possible. Little or no makeup, hair pulled back into a bun, dressed perfectly in uniform every day so far. Now, it’s like she’s a completely different person.
Her uniform shirt is untucked, the top few and bottom few buttons unbuttoned. She’s wearing a long sleeved grey thermal under the shirt, and her uniform tie is loose around her neck. Her skirt is higher than she’s normally worn it, and instead of her usual flats she’s wearing scuffed and worn combat boots. Her belt hangs low and at an angle around her waist.
Her hair is raven black, and done up in a high, playful ponytail. The sides and bangs are loose and hang down to either side of her face. Her makeup is still simple, but the dark eye shadow looks good, and her lips are a blackberry bruise. A small silver stud on the left side of her nose completes her look.
It seems an odd way to think it, but she seems more comfortable dressed like this. It’s almost as though she had shrugged out of a disguise or something. It’s not an overly drastic look, but for someone who’s gotten used to how she’s been dressing, it’s a shock.
She stands when she sees Casey walk up. “Hey, I’m guessing that the video I got in my email last night kind of goes into what you wanted to talk about? I saw Shelly was in it too.”
Casey sits and tells her story. Going out with Harmony to get her in a better mood. Running into Shelly. The weird way things seemed to go, the drugged feeling, and then waking up at the hotel. May threatening her, and then releasing the tape.
“That bitch! Don’t worry Case, I’ll teach her a lesson.”
“I’m more worried about Shelly, and what happened. I don’t remember drinking anything but bottled water. I thought it was Shelly doing it, but she seemed just as affected. What could it have been, and what is she? I mean it’s like she wagged her finger at me and I couldn’t help but move toward her. After that, everything is pretty much a haze.”
“Well, there are some drugs that are airborne. Or she could have been the cause of it. She could be a vamp, sure. Or a succubus, demon, Fae. Any of those could have pulled that off, and vamps and Fae can be drugged too, not so sure about demons or succubi.”
“I feel like I need to know what she is, but if she caused all this…” Casey laughs a little nervously, “I’m not sure I want to get near her.”
“Well, if she was the cause of it, to get that big a group worked up in that way, I would think vamp or succubus. I’ll use the lab’s computer to take a better look at the video. It’s better than what I have; maybe I’ll notice something I couldn’t catch on mine.”
“Speaking of the video, are you going to be ok?”
“Yeah. Might take a couple days to live this down. I mean, I watched the video, but I still don’t remember doing any of it. It’s a bit surreal…and x-rated.”
“So, what about you? What prompted the new look?”
She grins a toothy smile and looks down at herself. “Well, remember you said we had to get V to get in touch with who she really is? Well, we’ve been talking a lot on Friend Agenda and IM and all, and I’ve been teasing her about letting her mom tell her who to be and all.”
“So I decided to rebel against my own mom, in order to be an example. Mom’s been on me to keep a low profile, on account of the people after me. I’m tired of pretending to be Little Miss Muffet. So here I am. She hasn’t seen me yet, I can’t wait to see her face,” she smiles.
Casey laughs, “And you think that Roni seeing you all rebellious will make her change some things? I guess it could start her going, but I’m not sure I’d expect an instant turnaround…her life’s been all vanilla for too long. Anyway, I like the new look…it suits you. You look more…more comfortable.”
“Thanks, I feel it, though me and mom aren’t exactly speaking right now. And as far as Roni, figured we had to start somewhere. And I couldn’t be a hypocrite telling her to fight to figure out who she was, while hiding who I am.”
They chat about school and other nothing subjects until Casey realizes that everybody walking by them slows down and stares. Casey blushes a little at the attention. “So Cade…do you think they’re staring at you or me? I was kinda hoping to fade into the woodwork today…but hey, maybe you can give me a makeover so no one will recognize me instead…”
“I have a feeling it’s a little bit of both.” She grins, “You had high hopes if you thought you could fade away after that video girl. And sitting next to me, the new fashion disaster billboard, isn’t exactly fading into the woodwork.”
“Hey, a girl can dream right? You don’t happen to have any asprin or ibuprofen or anything do you?”
“Not here. I could run home and get some if you need me to…”
“Nah, I think Harmony keeps some in her locker. I’m gonna go find her and then head to homeroom…where I can hopefully get there early enough for a seat in back.” Casey gives Cadence a quick hug. “I’ll see you later Cade. Don’t get into too much trouble with your new look,” she teases.
Casey finds Harmony and gets some ibuprofen from her. She’s just finishing her drink from the water fountain when an arm snakes around her waist. She turns, seeing that it’s Aiden. He kisses her quickly keeping her in his arms, “How’d you sleep?”
“OK. Thanks for last night. You didn’t have to stick around you know…”
“I wanted to Case. I only left cuz I thought you might need a little space after seeing the video.”
“And thanks for the note. It was sweet.” She nuzzles under his chin, making her way along his jawline to his ear. “And I didn’t get to thank you properly for saving us the other night.” She nips his earlobe, “Remind me to do that later.”
“Do you two ever stop?” Casey hears from over her shoulder, not picking up the joking tone.
She stiffens and turns around, “What we do is none of your…” She stops as she realizes it’s Bianca, and blushes, laughing a little as she relaxes a bit. “Hey…sorry ‘bout that.”
“You ok Casey? I think Veronica’s looking for you too. We were a little worried about you and Harmony after seeing that video. She doesn’t know what happened.”
“I’ve had better days…but then again, I’ve had worse.” Casey shrugs. “Harmony’s really blaming herself for this, and she shouldn’t but…I’m not sure how to make her see…you know, that it’s not her fault.”
“I’ll talk to her. But you two had better get moving, homeroom’s about to start.” She gives Casey’s hand a little squeeze as she heads off to her own homeroom.
“Come on Case, I’ll walk you.” Aiden takes her hand and drops her off at her homeroom before continuing onto his own. “By the way, I saw Bianca when I got here. I told her that someone slipped ya’ll something, so she knows the truth.” He kisses her softly. “Don’t let anyone get to you.”
It isn’t until she’s sitting in the back of homeroom that a thought hits her. ‘At least she didn’t send it to the teacher’s mailing list, as well.’
Homeroom passes quickly and thankfully quietly. A few people glance at her, but nothing too overly bad. Maybe they didn’t watch the whole video, since they didn’t know her or Harm well. Or maybe they just hadn’t checked their emails yet. Either way, she isn’t going to complain.
First period doesn’t go as well. A few of the jocks that actually made it into the class – thinking that it would be easier than normal English – joke that maybe they should be watching a different film in class. Mr. Norman gives them hell, but it doesn’t keep them from snickering and making kissy sounds behind Casey’s back throughout the entire class. She feels the heat in her cheeks and knows she’s blushing but can’t help it.
She rushes from the class as soon as the bell rings, trying her best to ignore the cat-calls left behind. At least she has friends in the next class, with support she can get through worse. She walks in to Prof Z’s class, and one of the guys in the back cheers and applauds.
She flushes as she sits quickly next to Veronica, the only one at their table already. Roni looks with irritation at the guy in the back then turns to Casey.
“Don’t let that brute bother you. He’s just rude.” She pauses for a long moment, and then reaching a hand out to take Casey’s, busts out with, “I don’t care what your life-choices are, you’re still my friend. I’m gonna go give that jerk a piece of my mind!”
She starts to stand, her face turning red. Casey grabs her and pulls her back to into her seat. “Roni, don’t worry about it. And about that video, I don’t remember any of it. Someone slipped all of us something at the club. We didn’t mean to do that.”
Veronica just looks at her for a long moment. “Oh! You mean someone gave you something? But who would do that? You don’t remember any of it?”
Casey shakes her head. “I don’t know who, but there are a lot of bad people out there who do stuff like that. We were careful, we don’t even know how…” She cuts off, because Roni is clearly not paying attention to her, suddenly looking over her shoulder at something.
Cadence plops down next to Veronica, and smiles. “Close your mouth, freckled elf. You’ll catch flies,” she teases.
Roni flushes again. “Don’t make fun of my freckles, and I’m not an elf! So what are you supposed to be?” she huffs, but she can’t help smiling at the other girl.
Cadence waves it off airily. “Oh, me? I’m a princess, but don’t tell anyone, it’s a secret.”
Casey misses the reply, as Aiden sits next to her and takes her hand. “Hey beautiful, how are you doing?”
“I’ve had better. But thanks to all of you, I’ll get through it. You missed Roni, she was gonna go give Jason a piece of her mind when he heckled me.”
“Is that right, tiger? You’re right, maybe you’re too vicious to be an elf,” Cadence teases.
“Yup, Roni doesn’t care about my ‘life-choices.’ I’m assuming that was in reference to the whole making out with girls bit of the video…she’s still my friend…and a good one at that.” Casey grins, winking at Cadence when Roni’s head is turned.
Aiden smiles over at Roni, who’s blushing and looking down in modesty from the sudden attention, but his eyes flick back to Jason sitting in the back, and Casey can see the stormclouds brewing there. She lightly traces circles across the back of his hand, giving him a look to let it drop.
—
Casey has never been both so relieved, and so terrified, that it was lunchtime. After last period, which included the worst heckling of the day – complete with sketched caricatures of her doing things that sooo never even happened on the tape – she just wants to hide with her friends.
But at the same time, lunch means most of the school will be out there, and that’s not a pleasant thought either. She manages to make her way to their back table out in the quad without too much of a fuss, to find Veronica and Bianca sitting there with Harmony.
Aiden shows up a few minutes later than normal, two lunches perched precariously on his tray. “Figured I’d grab you something, let you avoid the crowds in there.” When he sees Harmony, he slides the other lunch over to her, shaking his head when she tries to wave it off.
“We’re practicing tonight, and coach is bringing us food. Plus I’m skipping the last few classes to practice early, got coach’s permission. So I’ll grab something from second lunch. Now take it.”
“Oh crap, I made you miss practice yesterday. Was your coach pissed? I’m sorry Aiden.”
He shrugs. “No big. I just have to go in early and leave late today, so it’s not too bad.”
They sit and talk about nothing important, and then Casey sees the one thing she was afraid to see. May and her cronies, walking down the path in their direction.
Aiden feels Casey tense up and looks over, catching sight of his ex. He starts to stand, but Casey pulls him back down. “Don’t, she’ll just cause a scene, it’s not worth it.”
He starts to turn and argue, when they both notice Cadence come out of nowhere and step in front of May and her goons.
The four of them stop, looking down at the smaller girl standing resolutely in front of them. Casey can make out May asking, “Can I help you?” with that condescending tone she does so well.
Cadence just stands there, saying something too low for Casey to hear. Then, with one quick move, she slaps the tray out of May’s hand, causing her lunch to spill everywhere. May stands there in shock, her skirt drenched in diet-soda and pieces of her salad clinging to her bare legs.
“What the fuck?!” She shouts, and now everyone is paying attention to the drama playing itself out. Luckily no teachers have noticed.
Cadence just stands there, her entire bearing one of composed violence waiting to explode. Casey’s seen what she can do, and suddenly she hopes that May will back down.
Obviously May can see it in Cadence’s face, which Casey can’t see from her angle. She can tell the smaller girl is smiling up at the popular one, and Casey can almost imagine the dead eyes staring back, she’s seen a look similar from Cadence once before when she tried to pry into her past.
May’s minions all step back, and May starts to look even more uncertain as she realizes she doesn’t have any support. Cadence says something else, again too low to hear.
May steps back, and Casey can see her swallow nervously. Finally she sneers, and calls out “Freak!” before spinning in place and walking away, a little more quickly than cool should allow.
Cadence stands there and watches her leave, before slowly turning in place, letting her gaze cover the entire area watching her. Once she gives them all the hairy eyeball, she relaxes, turns, and flounces over to their table.
She plops down at the table, pulling a sack lunch out of her bag. “Sorry I was late guys, got held up in the computer lab.”
Veronica asks her calmly and quietly, “Are you trying to get the tiger nickname back? Cause I’m kinda fond of it.”
Everyone starts to laugh at about the same time, Roni just sitting there with the blissful smile of someone who’s happy just sitting and joking with their friends. Cadence reaches over and playfully punches her arm.
“Oh no, I’m not taking it back. Besides, you were going to go up against Jason, and he’s like four times bigger than May. So you got me beat, tiger!”
They go back to talking and joking. Cadence pulls out a bag of home-made chocolate chip cookies and passes them around to everyone. Casey notices her pull out another bag with a few chocolate, chocolate-chip cookies and pass those to Roni, who glows as she takes them, sharing one with Cadence.
The bell rings, and they all say goodbye as they split up to go to their various classes. Cadence tells Casey to wait for her, and they both start to walk towards the building. “She’s a fang-face. You can tell if you really look hard. She bit Harmony.” Casey’s hand immediately moves to her neck, feeling for bite marks. Cadence tries to say more, but her mom steps out of a classroom in front of them and beckons her over.
She shrugs at Casey, and mouths ‘I’ll talk to you later’ as she walks away. Casey walks to her class in a bit of daze, thinking about what Cadence just told her…more questions popping into her head. She makes it to her art class without much incident. She spends her time tweaking some of her photos of Mors Tower on her laptop. She plays with the light, making the building really stand out in the aerials she took that evening. She also tries some masking, giving some of them funky borders and doing other things with them.
After class, Casey decides to get a checking account set up like Mr. Mors asked her to do. She puts the books she doesn’t need in her locker and grabs the ones she needs for homework, slipping into her jacket before heading outside.
Casey sits on the front steps and fishes out the number for Owen Spiner. She calls him and asks for suggestions on banks she should go to. He gives her a couple names, and she asks if any of them are within walking distance of the school. He names one of them, saying it’s only about 5 blocks away and gives her directions. Casey thanks him and is about to hang up, stopping to ask what she’ll need to bring to open the account. He gives her a list and she thanks him again, hanging up when she’s done.
She walks quickly to the bank, and is surprised when she is given white-glove treatment as soon as they find out her name. They immediately bring her to the office of the bank manager, who treats her like royalty the entire time she’s setting up Casey’s account.
The bank manager overlooks the fact that Casey’s using a PO Box to open the account, telling her that the rules are ‘flexible.’ All in all, it’s painless and quick and the bank manager has her finished in probable record time.
Harmony texts Casey when her last class is finished, “Got another mtg 2day. I’ll txt when done.” Casey makes it back to school in time to see the rest of the soccer team coming out onto the field, and she settles in to work on homework that she is now behind on, thanks to missing school yesterday. After about 30 minutes, she gets another text, this one from Cadence. “You still at school?”
Casey messages back that she is and tells Cadence where she’s at, then puts her books away, knowing she’s not going to get any more homework done. After a couple minutes Cadence and Veronica plop down next to Casey, each one giving her a quick hug.
“Did you have any more trouble this afternoon Case?” asks Veronica.
“Nope. Whatever Miss Cadence here said to May must’ve made an impression.” She turns to Cadence. “What did you say?”
“Just told her that some people don’t care where she stands on the social pecking order around here, and that not everyone was afraid of her. I also told her I’ve dealt with much worse things than her, and if she gave me a reason to ever notice her again, I would ruin the oh-so pretty face that she thinks the world is in love with.”
“Cadence Connor…you’re a rockstar! So, what have you two been doing for the last half hour?”
“We were talking to Cadence’s mom,” Veronica says, blushing a little.
“Yeah, V’s way serious about trying out for the fall show.”
“I’m kinda nervous though. Up on stage with all those people watching me…not sure if I can do it, but I’m gonna try out.” Veronica gets more excited the more she talks about it. “Ms. Connor said try outs are next week. You should try out with me…you both should!” Cadence and Casey both become very interested in the ground, mumbling things that no one else can make out. “Come on…it’ll be fun!”
Cadence speaks up first, “Sorry tiger, but the fall show is a musical. The Wizard of Oz. I don’t think I’m up for yellow brick roads and munchkins and all. Plus, I don’t really sing.” She continues under her breath, Casey and Veronica almost missing the next sentence, “And I’m not sure I can spend that much time with my mom.”
“Well, ummm, maybe you could help with the sets or lights or something. That won’t take as much time, will it? How ‘bout you Casey? Aiden has practice after school and Harmony’s doing the social committee thing…”
Casey stutters, “Uh, well, I uh, I only sing in the shower…plus, I’m not sure anyone would want to come see me in a play.”
Cadence laughs, “Well after that video, I’m sure you can get some guys to come see you.”
Casey and Veronica both laugh too. “Maybe Cade, but I don’t know about being up on stage in front of everyone voluntarily.” She takes a deep breath and smiles at Veronica, “But if it will make you feel better, I suppose I can at least go to try outs. I’m not good enough to actually get cast, right?” Casey tries to laugh off her self-deprecating statement, but doesn’t quite pull it off. “It’ll be something new and different. Where do I sign up?”
Veronica gives Casey a big hug, squeezing her harder than Casey would’ve thought possible. “Come on Cadence, try out with us. Please…”
“Well, my mom did used to love theater before…” She lets that thought die unspoken rather quickly. “Maybe it would give us something to connect over, but I don’t know if she’ll even let me try out. If she does though, I will. Just because you asked me though, tiger.”
Veronica squeals and hugs Cadence tight, the other girl sitting shock still and trying not to blush so hot that she might catch fire.
“Hey, do you guys mind if I do some homework? I’m a little behind after missing yesterday…” Casey asks.
“Actually, I need to get home. My mom’s a bit pissed about my new look, and I don’t really need to give her any more reasons to be mad or I’ll end up locked in the house forever. I’ll see you two tomorrow.” Cadence gives each of them a hug, saying something to Veronica that’s too quiet for Casey to hear before she takes off.
Casey and Veronica both pull out books and quietly study for a while, until both their phones beep almost simultaneously with text messages. Veronica’s is from her sister, wondering if she’s ready to head home. Casey’s is from Harmony, wondering the same thing.
Casey texts back quickly, “I’ll catch a ride with Aiden. CYA at home.”
“I gotta go Casey. Binks is heading home and mom and dad don’t like us splitting the security detail outside of campus if we don’t have to.” She packs up her books, “So, um…are you really gonna try out for the play with me?”
Casey bites her lip, but nods when she sees the hopeful look on Veronica’s face. “Yeah, but don’t be surprised if they hide me way in the back and tell me to lip sync.”
Veronica laughs, her smile lighting up her whole face. “I’m sure you’ll do great Casey. I’ll see you tomorrow.” She gives Casey another tight hug and grabs her bag, heading off to meet up with Bianca and their government ride.
Casey stays where she is, studying until she notices soccer practice wrapping up. She puts her books away and pulls out her laptop, knowing she still has a little wait to go while the team gets a pep talk and goes over strategy for their next game in the locker room. She connects to the internet and signs onto the gmail account she uses for her photography. She finds two emails in her account, but upon checking them she finds they’re just commenting on how much they like certain pictures on her page.
After she’s done there she checks the website to see if Mr. Mors has made any notes about the newest photos she’d put up. There are no notes on any specific pictures, but in the album of pictures taken at the park, there is a simple comment, ‘Find the out of the way places, the unseen things.’
Casey goes ahead and posts the new pictures on the public area of her site and calls the mother from the park to tell her where she can go to look at them, also reminding her of the freebies that Casey promised if she buys any of them.
Casey slips the laptop back into her bag and heads over toward the gym where the team will come out. Aiden and Chance walk out together. Aiden sees her and they change directions. Casey meets them halfway and Aiden slips his arm around her, giving her a quick kiss. “Hi sweetheart.”
“Hey guys. Practice looked good.” They agree and Chance excuses himself. “Ummm, Chance…” Casey stops him with a hand on his arm. “Thank you…for being there the other night and taking care of everything…the rooms, the clothes, calling Aiden. I’m sorry I was a bitch to you that night, it’s just…” She struggles for how to finish the sentence, finally giving up. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s OK. I already told you, Aiden’s my friend and he wasn’t there to watch out for you, so I did.”
“I know, it’s just…you didn’t have to, but I’m glad you did.”
“You’re welcome,” he says as he starts to take off again.
“Uh, Ch…Chance…can I ask you a couple questions?” He turns to fully face Casey and nods. “Ummm…what happened at the club? I mean, I remember running into you and then going to get waters from the bar and then it gets hazy. I saw the video but…”
“Nothing you’ll find interesting,” he says abruptly. “I was making time with some blonde that was there. I didn’t notice anything was going on until the time I ran up there. Just happened to look over and see the Penthouse Forums entry, and then some frat boy step in and put his hands on you. After that I didn’t really pay too much attention, other than who to hit.”
He eyes her stonily. For some reason, it’s like he’s trying to create distance between him and her, almost like he’s slipping into his ass persona for some unknown reason. “You said you had a couple questions…what’s next?”
Casey bites her lip. “Um, what happened after the dance with Roni? It’s just…well, I’d like to hear your side of the story. I…I don’t really know what to believe, I mean…I know what Cadence said and Roni was too worked up the other night to ask about it, and well, there hasn’t really been a good time since for me to ask about her side…but…I’d really like to hear what you have to say…and I’m sorry for jumping to conclusions…”
“I thought she was into me. I took her up on the balcony, gave her a drink. We talked, and I tried to kiss her. She did the whole ‘No’ bit. I pushed my luck, thought she was just playing around. I guess she really is the little innocent, with a sister like her I wouldn’t have believed it. Anyway, little miss White Knight showed up and punched me in the face. Guess she was jealous.”
He shrugs, and turns a little away. “Can I go now? Am I free?”
“Sure… err, thanks. Sorry—” He’s already turned away and starting walking.
She looks over at Aiden, who shrugs. “I don’ know what’s wrong with him, he’s been short all practice.”
They both start walking back towards Aiden’s SUV. He sighs. “Practice was long and tough. Looks like I’ll be running late practice all week, so unfortunately I might be a little out of touch for a bit. Game’s Friday night, so at least I’ll be free the whole weekend though.”
They climb in, and he starts up the truck and pulls out. They talk about school, he asks what she’s been up to since lunch as he drives through the streets. He pulls in to Coffee and Pie, Oh My!
They get a booth, and Aiden waves over the waitress so they can order their dinner. “So, how are you doing? I don’t see any new scars, so I’m guessing you made it through ok. I kinda told the guys to make sure no one gave you a hard time, I was hoping it would help.”
Their food arrives, and they eat in comfortable closeness. “So what are your plans?”
“Not much, really. I have homework to do still, but that’s really it. I did photo stuff while I was waiting for you to get done, so I’m caught up with that until I take more shots.”
They head back outside into a night that’s taken a turn towards the stormy. Lightning flashes throughout the clouds, and the wind has picked up to a fair pace. “I’m kinda beat, but you’re welcome to come home with me if you like. I’d like to spend some more time with you, even if it’s just sleeping with you in my arms. Or is Harm waiting for you?”
“I should probably head back there for a little bit, see how Harm’s doing. Today can’t have been easy for her, no matter what she says. I’ll give you a call later and let you know if I can come over or not, otherwise I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Aiden drives to Harmony’s, and walks Casey to the door once they arrive. He gives her a quick kiss. “Call me if you want to come over later. I’ll come back and pick you up.”
Casey nods, and heads inside and up to Harmony’s room. “How’d the carnival planning go?” She sets her things down just inside Harm’s door, and goes to sit next to her on the bed.
“It was all right. Oh, fair warning. May decided we need a kissing booth as a fundraiser for eh socal events for this year, and she put Caitlyn in charge of getting ‘volunteers.’” Harmony does the quotes sign with her fingers. “So, they’ll probably try to get Aiden to do it.
“Thanks for the heads up, Harm. I’ll tell him. Now, how are you doing day one post-video? And don’t try to tell me it didn’t affect you, I know it had to…”
“There were some extra remarks,” Harmony says with a serious look on her face, “but nothing I can’t get Connor to take care of for me, right?” She tries to keep a straight face but ends up laughing. “Man, she was awesome at lunch! I never would’ve guessed she had it in her.”
Casey can’t help laughing with her. “Yeah, that was prety awesome. But seriously, Harm…”
“There were comments, but it’s nothing that won’t go away in day or two… plus it’s not like this is brand new territory for me, especially after I’ve had a few drinks.” Casey puts her arm across Harmony’s shoulders and they sit like that for a while until Harmony breaks the silence. Her tone makes Casey turn and look at her, realizing she really is bothered by what happened.
“It’s just… I don’t remember what happened even afer seeing it. That scares me, I mean… if it can happen once, what’s to keep somone from doing it again?”
“Harm, i kinda feel the same way, but we don’t know if whoever did this did it on purpose or if they just picked up as random,” Casey says, trying to comfort Harmony and keeping her thoughts about Shelly to herself. She gives Harm a little hug. “It’s bound to blow over sooner rather than later. You doing anything tonight?”
“Homework. I haven’t been keepign up very well and dad will kill me… or at least take away my car if I don’t at least get C’s this year in all my classes. He said I need to ‘start thinking about my future, instead of just what party’s coming up.’ How about you, Case?”
“Same… but I might go over to Aiden’s.” She hesitates for a bit. “You know I really appreciate your dad letting me stay here… umm… will he get mad if I spend the night at Aiden’s?” She rushes on, “I mean, I don’t want him to think I don’t need a place to stay, cuz I do, but…”
Harmony cuts her off by bursting out laughing. “Case, you know how zoned he is in the mornings, and you know he never checks on us at night. As long as you make an appearance every other day or so, he’d never even know if you moved out. Go hang out with Aiden… have I told you I think he’s good for you?”
Casey laughs, relieved. “Yeah, a couple of times. All right. I’ll either do homework here for a bit and then go there, or do my homework over there.” She gives Harmony another hug. “I’ll see you at school tomorrow.”
Casey walks out and brings her stuff into her room. She calls Aiden and he says he’ll be there in an hour and a half to pick her up. She packs some pajamas and some clothes for school the next day, and settles in to do some homework until he comes over.
She finds a note slipped into her books from Cadence. It says: “Harm will be ok, it wasn’t much of a bite. Tattoos on back were symbols of power, don’t know what kind. Be careful.”
Once at Aiden’s, they both change - Aiden just stripping down to his boxers, and Casey putting on the tank top and shorts she brought. They climb into his bed and spoon, talking softly about various things. Eventually they chatter drops off and they snuggle closer, Aiden pulling her tight against him as they fall asleep.
