September 25th, Tuesday - Casey Silpetti
Getting ready the next morning goes pretty well, since thanks for the first time Casey has a bathroom she doesn’t have to share with anyone else. The cold front that had moved in over the weekend is lingering, and it’s a little chilly outside, so Casey makes sure and dresses appropriately for it.
She makes sure and puts Faust’s book in the same bag as her camera, hoping that she’ll have some time to read it today. She grabs her bag and heads inside for breakfast, finding Sandy and Bianca already sitting at the table sharing bagels. Sandy smiles when he sees her, and pushes over a napkin with a bagel on it for her.
Bianca looks down at her watch and sighs. “I better go get Veronica, I’m sure she was up all night again.” She gives her dad a pointed look that Sandy completely misses – or ignores – then stands and walks out. Sandy busies himself by cutting the bagels and spreading cream cheese on them, looking up at Casey so that he can talk with her.
“So, sleep ok out there? If you need anything, just let me know, I’ll probably be running errands today and I can get it.”
Casey shakes her head vigorously. “No, no, everything’s fine! Really, you didn’t need to go through all the trouble you did. I slept fine, everything is great.”
Sandy doesn’t get the chance to answer, as Madison walks in. She’s clearly just woken up, still dressed in a nightgown and robe, which she pulls closed and ties as she notices Casey sitting there. Even in her current condition, she’s more imperious looking than the pictures Casey’s seen of her. Her cold manner from the last time Casey met her comes to mind, and she certainly gives Casey a long, judging look as she walks to the refrigerator.
Sandy breaks the silence. “Madison dear, I’m sure you remember Casey?”
“Certainly,” she replies in her clipped British accent. “Good morning Casey, I hope that our Pool House was comfortable for you last night.” Her tone is cool, but not completely unfriendly.
“Yes ma’am,” Casey replies instinctively. She’s happy to see Bianca and Veronica walk in right then, Roni yawning and ignoring her sister’s admonishments for staying up late. Roni walks around the table and grabs a bagel, standing close enough to Casey that their shoulders brush together, and once again Casey feels that warm wave of comfort flow from the other girl and through her.
“Morning Case, sleep ok?” she mumbles around a mouthful of bagel. Casey just nods in reply, trying to hold back the smile creeping around the corners of her mouth.
“Good, cause you’ll need it when we start the dance routines. I was thinking…”
Sandy cuts her off, for which Casey could hug him. “Veronica, it’s a little too early in the morning for all that energy, don’t you think? Now grab your things gals, Fetch is waiting outside for you.”
Once at school, they all head into the Student Center to find Harmony and Cadence waiting for them at their regular table. Both girls are once again pushing the limits of their uniform requirements, but looking good at doing it.
Cadence is wearing her glasses instead of her contacts, and when she notices them walking up she pushing her red-streaked hair back behind her ear shyly. Harmony looks up at Casey and pulls her bag out of the seat next to her, motioning for Casey to take the seat.
“So spill Silpetti, how was the auditions? Connors here won’t tell me much.”
Casey shrugs, causing Roni to huff loudly. “Auditions were great! They were a ton of fun, and Casey here blew everyone away. She was the best there, honest! You should come watch them Harmony. Besides, these two weenies could use the moral support. I’m going to make them have fun even if it kills them!”
They all laugh at her serious expression and outburst. Harmony leans closer to Casey, “Well in that case I better get a front row seat!”
Veronica chuckles for a moment, then turns to Cadence. “I’m glad you listened to me and wore your glasses! It’s such a cute look, you really should wear them more often. And you know—”
Bianca turns to Casey and talks over her sister. “So Case, did you get a chance to talk with Aiden? I was going to take you and Veronica out shopping for dresses for your double date. Harm, think you might be up for some makeover shopping?”
Veronica brightens up and turns. “Oh Harmony, would you? You’re always so stylish, that’d be great! And Case, you and Aiden are gonna work things out, aren’t you? I mean, not cause of our double date or anything, it’s just you two are so good for each other.”
Casey only pays her half attention, also noting the subtle look that Bianca is shooting Cadence, who’s just staring back cooly.
Harmony saves Casey from answering by answering Roni. “Sure thing kiddo, if you’re still on for the date, I’ll do some shopping with you. But I think we should give Case some time to work things out with Aiden.”
Cadence stands abruptly. “I left something in my locker, I’ll catch ya’ll later.” Veronica shoots her a questioning look that she ignores as she brushes past. Roni turns back to the table, glancing around to see if anyone else had thought there was something wrong.
Bianca hides a small half smile as she stands too. “Bell’s about to ring, Veronica. Don’t be late to class!” she says lightly. She waves to the rest of them, and walks off. Roni doesn’t pay her any attention, staring into space with a frown on her face.
Casey watches Bianca walk off, and notices Tom walk up to her as they walk out of the Student Center together. The bell rings, and everyone stands. Harmony taps Casey on the shoulder. “Hey, if you want to talk about the Aiden thing later, pass me a note in Math.”
Casey nods to Harmony, and they all leave the table to head to their homerooms.
Casey makes it through homeroom and her first period class without incident, but passes Tom on the way to Chem and he shoots her the same kinda creepy giant grin he had for her yesterday at lunch. She smiles back tentatively, wondering what she did to make him so super happy with her.
Casey gets to second period and finds a still quiet Veronica waiting at the table for her. It’s rare to see little miss sunshine with stormclouds over her head, and this makes twice this week. Casey almost hopes Aiden and Cadence will sit at their own table today, because she can foresee a whole bunch of different conversations come up, and none of them are ones she wants to have.
She sits down, and Veronica comes out of her funk enough to give her a small smile. “Hey Case, sorry about this morning. I don’t want you to think I’m pressuring you about making up with Aiden or anything, I mean, it’s more important that you figure things out on your own time and all.”
She pauses as Aiden and Cadence both walk in together. Aiden looks over at Casey and gives her a smile and small wave as he heads over towards them, only to pause at the last moment as Cadence brushes by and heads to the back table without a word to the two of them. He follows her with his eyes, gives Casey a small shrug, and follows her.
Casey waits for Veronica to start, but the other girl is abnormally quiet throughout the entire first half of the class. In fact, it’s half way through the lab section before she finally blurts out to Casey, “I don’t get it! What did I do to make Cadence upset?” She gives Casey a completely hangdog look, and Casey sighs.
As perceptive as the other girl is, it’s clear that she has no clue about the crush that Cadence has on her. Casey wonders if she should be the one to tell her something, as she’s clearly upset and in the dark. It hasn’t helped that through the whole period, Casey has also glanced back there to notice Cadence ignoring them both even while Aiden keeps shooting her puppy dog eyes.
Casey puts her hand on Veronica’s arm, “Roni, I don’t think it’s anything you did. I just think…ummm…I think maybe…well…” Casey stammers on as Veronica looks at her as if she has all the answers in the worlds, “OK, let’s see…you know how you said yesterday that you just knew Cadence was meant to be your friend when you met her?” Veronica nods and Casey continues after a moment. “Well, maybe she feels it too and doesn’t know how to deal with it…or maybe ummmm…maybe you’re meant to be more for each other and she feels it, but isn’t sure if you do…” Casey finishes in a rush and looks down at her hands, not sure how Veronica will take it.
Veronica stares at Casey for a long moment, the wheels spinning furiously behind her eyes. When she finally speaks, she doesn’t sound anywhere near like the smartest person in school. Instead, she leans forward and exclaims, “Huh?”
Casey can’t help but giggle a little at her reaction, it’s so out of character it’s funny. But Veronica leans forward intently. “No, I mean… what do you mean, ‘maybe you’re meant to be more for each other’? Did you have a vision or something? Or did she have one? That we’re supposed to be more… I mean… you mean like more more?” She gasps and leans even closer, her voice dropping to a whisper. “You can’t mean that you think she has a crush on me, do you? No… it had to be some kinda vision or something.”
She furtively looks over her shoulder at Cadence, and then turns back to Casey, a slightly forlorn look on her face. “I’d get your money back if you had some kinda vision or feeling or something, because you might have been right about Binks and Fetch, but not this. I mean, she’s too cool and all to have… to think of me… I mean, no way.” She sighs. “Even Tom only likes me because I’m the smartest girl here, and it’d be a step up for him to get inroads in with my family. I mean, I’m not exactly Miss Popular or anything.”
“Roni, it wasn’t a vision, it’s just…things I’ve noticed. I think you don’t quite know the impact you have on the people nearest to you. But, if it is a crush…would that be a good thing or a bad thing? I mean, um…” Casey stammers, “It’s just that, well, if it is a crush and you don’t think you’d ever feel the same way about her, then um, maybe you shouldn’t say anything about it…but um, if you think that maybe you might feel the same way, then you should talk to her…and uh, figure it out…”
Veronica is quiet the last few minutes of class, clearly chewing on what Casey just said. The glances she shoots at Casey make it seem that she’s still expecting Casey to say she was just pulling her leg or something.
Casey finally makes it to math class, where she sits next to Harmony and they listen to Ms. Beaupre lecture for a little bit before she has them work on some problems. Casey passes a note to Harmony, “Ditch out on lunch with me?” Harm doesn’t even write back, she just nods yes as soon as she reads it.
The bell rings and Harmony stands up, linking her arm in Casey’s as soon as Casey is up too, and drags her out of the room toward the parking lot, not even letting her stop at her locker. They throw their books into the back seat and Harmony zips out of the lot, making her way to The Max. They grab a booth and order lunch before Harmony digs in, “So what is up with you and Aiden? Are you guys fighting or over or what?”
“We’re not over…I don’t think, and we’re not really fighting. He’s really jealous of Kale and he said that with all the other weird stuff that’s going on that he feels like I don’t need him or he can’t help with whatever…I think he’s just feeling insecure.”
“That’s it? Well mini-Kane is back now, so all the weird stuff should be over right? And he’ll get over the Kale thing…so you guys should be back to normal soon, right?”
Casey laughs, “I hope so, but I don’t think all the weird stuff is over. Plus umm…you know how I ended up in foster care, right? My mom hurting me…”
“Yeah.”
“Aiden kinda…the other night after the movie he…uh, he grabbed my arm.” She pauses as the waitress drops off their food, and then continues once she’s gone. “I still have a bruise and um…I don’t really know what to do.” She rambles on, as Harmony takes her hand. “I mean, I like him, I really, really do, but I just…I don’t know if I can stay with someone who’s capable of hurting me. I’ve had enough of that in my life that I really don’t want to invite someone into it even more when I don’t know if he’ll do it again. And I don’t think he will…but how do I know?”
Harmony sits there just gaping at Casey. “He did what?”
“You heard me, Harm. I just…I really think it was a one time thing, but I don’t know…”
“Does he know he hurt you? You didn’t just bottle it up and not tell him, right?”
“He knows…and I haven’t really talked to him since, except for a couple of emails last night. I’ve been thinking about it and trying to figure out what I want to do, and I still don’t know.”
“I know you Case, and you’ve made it this far by trusting yourself, so I think that’s what you’ve gotta do. Just trust your gut. I’m here for you whatever you choose. Now…eat up! We gotta get back to school.” They chow down, Casey feeling lighter than before after confiding in Harmony. They zip back to school in record time and they each head to their lockers to swap books for their next class.
Casey drifts through her last few classes without really having to pay attention, just losing herself in the work and rhythm of classes. As the day draws to an end, she starts getting a little nervous about the dance audition class, but she pushes it out of her mind. She passes by Mr. Boyd’s to let him know she’s going to see Father Piccoli today, and signs out of the office.
She grabs a bus and once again heads out to Kings Row, walking quickly to St. Alexander Sauli’s Holy Catholic Church. As usual, Father Piccoli is out back in the adjoining lot that has been turned into a playground, and is watching over/horsing around with some of the kids there.
When he sees Casey, he smiles and waves, he asks one of the Sisters to take over for him, and walks over to meet Casey. “Casey, how nice to see you again, it’s been a while child. I hope that you’re doing ok, if you don’t mind me asking? You’re certainly looking well.”
“I’m doing better in a lot of ways than the last time you saw me, but I did see you at the town hall thing, I was taking pictures. You looked really nervous, but then you calmed down and made it through your speech well.”
“Yes, I’m afraid television cameras and all make things a lot different than my normal sermons,” he smiles.
He leads her over to a bench, and they both take seats. She goes over her ideas with him about photographing the homeless, and perhaps turning it into a fundraiser. He’s quite excited over the project, and adds that perhaps they should also think about doing the same for the children on the street and in the bad areas, as he’s been working with Mrs. Carlin-Kane about them ever since the disappearances had begun. Casey tells him that she’s staying with the Carlin-Kane’s right now and that she’ll try to find a good time to talk to her about it if he thinks it really is a project that will work.
He brightens when he hears this. “Oh, that’s wonderful! Sandy is a dear friend, I just wish he wasn’t working such long hours. I haven’t seen him since his daughter was found, a blessing that. Would you mind telling him I’m still waiting for him to show up for dinner?” Casey nods in answer.
“Do you think the people I’ll be taking pictures of will object? It’s just, well, you know I’ve slept here a few times and I know that if it was me, I wouldn’t want someone taking pictures of me for their art…I’d feel like I was being used, but as a um, as a runaway I wouldn’t want them taking pictures cuz I wouldn’t want to get caught and sent back. But I also know that you always need money to keep the shelter going and I just thought that this would be a way to hopefully bring in some decent donations if we set up the fundraiser right.”
“Oh, not all the children are running from something. Some simply have no place left to go. Don’t worry; I would never jeopardize a child in any way. But people need to see what’s going on still in areas of the city. And while whatever villain it was who’s been taking these children off the streets has been quiet lately, we cannot rely on that. Something must be done.”
Casey makes arrangements to come back Saturday morning for the hot breakfast that they serve to start working on her project. Father Piccoli promises to help her smooth things over with the homeless and the street kids as much as he can. He also gets a copy of the model release form she has, so that he can make copies and have them ready.
He also tells her about the memorial to Tina O’Braiden that had been put up, and offers that it would make a fine subject for her skills. He gives her his number, and tells her that he’ll do anything to assist her with the project, hoping that maybe he can even get some backing by Mrs. Carlin-Kane for it.
While she’s taking advantage of the little bit of time she has left to take some pictures of the kids on the playground, she realizes she still hasn’t uploaded any of the ones she took over the weekend.
On the bus ride back, the bus isn’t as full, and she reads through the journal that Faust had given her. There are a lot of cryptic notes, hand drawn pictures, and scrawled descriptions and thoughts. There is also a sticky note from Faust:
Add to this. Use it. You’re in this world now. You’re useless and helpless until you learn about it. Find friends. Find enemies. Explore this world.
There are numerous mythic beings and fairy tales hidden in between the covers of this journal. Elves, goblins, ogres, trolls, werewolves, vampires, demons and angels. Some are descriptions of entire races, some are descriptions of individuals. Some of the earliest notes tell that most of these creatures and beings are masked by a ‘glamour,’ which is how they can move amongst those who are still in the dark. Piercing that glamour is what Faust was teaching her to do the other day, and is what she’s unconsciously almost managed to do with Cadence, Veronica, and the mayor’s men.
She’s so wrapped up in reading it that she has to rush to get off the bus at the right stop before it starts moving again. Suddenly she remembers what’s waiting for her at the auditions, and she groans to herself as she walks into the auditorium.
Veronica is waiting for her, and rushes over. “Case! I was worried you might not be coming when I didn’t see you for lunch. Nobody was there; well, except for me and Kale. I was hoping nothing happened!” She glances around, looking for the third member of their little group.
“Sorry, I just needed to get out of here for a little bit and have some girl time with Harm. I should’ve said something about skipping. What did you and Kale do?”
“Nothing much. He’s kinda shy, and well… so am I. He had a little information for me on a side project I had him working on, but not too much.”
She’s interrupted when instead of Cadence, it’s Harmony who walks up. “Hey guys, I just wanted to wish ya’ll luck. I’ll be watching!” She grins at the two of them, especially reveling in Casey’s misery as she chuckles good-naturedly and walks off.
She brushes past Cadence and stops to wish her luck as well before heading out to her seat. Cadence walks up and turns to Casey. “I was looking for you at lunch. I need your help with something, think you might be able to after this? I really need to try and get it done tonight if you don’t mind.”
Casey nods, and the other girl pulls something out of a pocket, passing one to each of them. “Here are the keys I promised you, to our new clubhouse. I finally had them made.”
“Alright, everyone gather around please!” Sarah calls out.
She passes out the instructions to everyone, and groups people together to learn their dance steps. Much to everyone’s good humor, she doesn’t allow any spectators and calls them down to join the tryouts, putting Harmony with the three of them.
Harmony takes control and reads over the steps before having the other three girls line up behind her. She slowly walks them through the whole dance routine, section by section. It takes them longer than some of the other groups since Veronica and Casey, at least, don’t have any previous dance experience.
They eventually all make it through the entire routine three times in a row. Harmony breezes through learning and teaching the routine. Cadence does pretty well, showing off some grace, but not a lot of technical experience. Her mom glares at her most of the time, and they all seem to be able to feel the vibes coming their way from Sarah. Veronica manages to make it through the whole routine those last two times, but she’s a beat or two behind for the whole thing. She definitely exceeds the other three in excitement and drive, but unfortunately isn’t very graceful while she dances. Even a blind man would see how much fun she’s having. Casey catches onto the routine before Veronica does and manages to stay on the beat, but she’s far from graceful while she dances, completely uncomfortable with the thought of being in the spotlight.
They all grab photocopies of the routine before they leave and the look that Casey sees in Roni’s eye means they have more practice coming later tonight. She groans inwardly at the thought, since her body is already sore from what they did this afternoon.
They all walk out into the night air and head towards the parking lot, grateful it’s over and thinking about the actual tryouts tomorrow. They all joke with Harmony as she grouses about how she ‘just had to listen and come watch ya’ll.’
She hugs them all goodbye, and hops into her car. Loud music fills the air as she peels out of the lot, leaving them standing alone. “You mind coming over to help me Casey? It shouldn’t take too long.”
Roni steps up and twines her arm with Casey’s stubbornly. “Nope, we don’t mind.”
Cadence turns to her, a small frown on her lips. Veronica notices it too, and stiffens a little. “I’m Casey’s ride; I can’t call Fetch until both of us are ready.”
Cadence just smiles and shakes her head. “Ok tiger, I can definitely use all the help I can get right now.” The three of them turn and head towards Cadence’s apartment. On the way, Cadence starts talking. “My mom is mega pissed at me. She saw the MeVid clip from Saturday. Needless to say, it doesn’t exactly match her definition of ‘staying under the radar.’”
She falls silent, and finally Roni asks, “Why are you trying to hide?”
For a moment, Casey wonders if the other girl will answer. “There are people looking for me that are bad news, tiger. Real bad news. It’s kinda why I need ya’lls help tonight.”
They get to the apartment, but instead of going inside Cadence’s side, they go around to the empty half. Cadence lets them in, and Casey notices that the inside of the door frame has been scratched up, some sort of inscription carved into the wood.
Cadence flips on the light, and Casey notices her leather messenger bag on the floor, the book Faust gave her the other day resting on top of it. Cadence sits next to it. “First things first.” She reaches inside the bag and pulls out the pouch that she had Casey sneak in to the hospital to her. From inside, she pulls out a crystal sphere the size of a racquetball.
“I swore an oath that I owed you for your help, Casey. So I want you to have this. If you should ever need me, just hold this, think of me and call my name, and I will know.” She passes the sphere to Casey, who finds it oddly warm instead of cold.
She pulls out a second, this one is glowing a pale yellow, as though lit from within. She places this on top of her bag. She takes Faust’s book, and opens it to a page marked by a different marker than the one he had described to her. “I found this while reading through this, and thought we might find it handy. Faust gave me this so that I could cast a ritual, one that would help hide me from the people looking for me. It’s a really powerful spell.”
“This one is a similar spell, but not the same. With it, we can make this apartment a safe place for us to use. No one we didn’t bring here would ever think to come inside, they’d never rent the place out, etc. People would pretty much just forget about this half of the building. Problem is, I can’t cast it. I can help you Case, but you need to do it.”
“I’ve gone through all the hard prep work. I just need you to read some lines when I’m done. Will you do it?”
Casey feels an excited tingle pass through her. She’s still not used to all this, but it sings to her, it seems almost to have an addictive quality to it. Cadence passes her the book, and points out the lines to her. They seem jibberish at first, but suddenly they snap into focus and Casey can feel them almost burn into her mind, and she knows without a doubt that she can say them. She nods at Cadence.
Cadence stands, and motions for Casey to follow her. Roni gets up and follows behind both of them silently, her eyes widening when Cadence motions for her to grab the first-aid kit left out on the counter.
They walk over to the back door, and Cadence opens it, showing the same inscriptions carved into the frame. Cadence pulls her knife from somewhere hidden on her person, and Casey feels her heartbeat jump in speed. Veronica reaches out to stop her, but Cadence quickly runs the blade down her hand, gritting her teeth around the grunt of pain that escapes.
Casey swears she seems a small wisp of smoke rise from the cut, but Cadence moves before she can look closer, and smears her blood on the door frame. She steps back, and Casey realizes that she’s up.
She looks down at the book, and hesitantly begins to speak the words. Her voice quickly turns confident and strong as the words echo their way through her, etching themselves into her mind and essence, and she knows that she’ll never forget them again. The rush of pleasure that runs through her was just as she feared, and she could see how someone could get addicted to the power she’s wielding at the moment.
She feels the change happen as soon as the words are finished, though they seem to still be echoing almost as though they are floating in the air around her. The very nature of the door frame changes, though not in any way she could describe it. The inscriptions glow for a moment, and then fade from view entirely, as though never carved.
The same procedure is followed at the front door, and this time when she’s finished Casey feels the change not just in the door frame, but the entire apartment. It’s closed in on itself now, as though a bubble adrift in space, totally separate from the world outside. It’s a comforting feeling.
She reflects on all of this as they sit back on the floor, Veronica fussing over Cadence’s hand with the first aid kit. Casey feels lighter somehow, and she realizes that the stored power in her has dipped lower, that her battery isn’t at full charge anymore so to say.
“That better be the last of you hurting yourself, if you think we’re going to help anymore.”
Cadence smiles at her and reaches out to ruffle Veronica’s hair before catching herself. “No, no more hurting myself. This was something I wanted to do for all of us, the next part is just more me. The ritual to hide myself. My mom warned me if I didn’t get it done before Friday, we were leaving town.”
Casey sees Veronica stiffen and her eyes widen, though she carefully doesn’t look up from Cadence’s hand. “What do you need us to do?”
Cadence leans her head back and closes her eyes. “Not much. I have to be the one to cast it. The problem is, I’m not like you Casey. I don’t have the power inside me like that. So I have to… ‘borrow’ some I guess you would say.” She looks back and points at the crystal ball glowing on her bag. “That’s acting as a battery. There’s a spell in the book that allows me to pull energy from someone if they’re willing, just like you do unconsciously Case. I’ve already done it to mom and to—to someone else who helps me out. But it’s not enough; it has to change through the spectrum up to purple. So I still have a way to go.”
“How does it work?”
She stands, leaning over to pick up the crystal. “Like how it does for Casey. The amount I can pull depends on the connection between me and that person. It also depends on how I… I connect with them, I guess you could say. I would get a little bit with a word, or a conversation or a look. With a handshake a little more, etc.” She turns to Casey and grins. “That’s why Casey has so much stored up, with her relationship with Aiden.” She winks jokingly, stepping closer to Casey.
“Don’t worry though, I won’t ask for that much.” She speaks a word, and the crystal flashes even as the word echoes in Casey’s mind, adding itself to the rest written there tonight. Instinctively part of her realizes how the word works, how it opens pathways to allow power to be manipulated.
She forces herself to pay attention to the here and now, and Cadence steps even closer. “Just a hug, Case, if you don’t mind.” She slips up against her, the smaller girl’s arms wrapping warmly around Casey as they clinch. She can feel the power pass through her, through Cadence and into the crystal ball. The power feels like Aiden, and she can feel her ‘battery’ dip even lower, feel the clarity of her knowledge about these things fade a little as her strength weakens.
Cadence slips away from her, and the crystal ball is now glowing a deep sea-green with hints of sky blue. Cadence shivers a second, stepping back a step further. “Thanks Casey, that’s a big step closer. I didn’t think I’d really have a chance to get it done by Friday, but this helps a lot.”
The smaller girl turns to Veronica now, shyly tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “You don’t have to do this tiger, if you don’t want.”
Veronica steps up, her face hard – like she’s about to go into battle – but her eyes worried. Casey sits tiredly as Cadence says the word again, this time it doesn’t seem to echo so loudly between her ears.
Roni steps into Cadence’s hug as the smaller girl steps up to her, and with almost no hesitation other than a quick start-stop-start, she pulls Cadence to her with one hand wrapped around her waist, and other sliding across Cadence’s cheek to cup the back of her neck as she pulls her into a kiss.
It’s isn’t a spectacularly passionate kiss, as Veronica obviously has no experience in the matters and Cadence is completely too shocked to take the initiative. Still, the closed mouth kiss brings the world to a momentary halt, the energy level of the room spiking to insane levels.
Casey can feel the power beat against her skin, can see Roni glow from within, that glow bright enough to almost blind her. The energy filling the room is enough to recharge Casey, and when the younger girl finally pulls away, the crystal about to fall from Cadence’s hand is glowing such an intense violet that it’s almost beyond the range her eyes can see.
Cadence stands shock still, her eyes still closed and for a second Casey wonders if she’s even still breathing. Veronica steps back, but still stands close, her skin burning bright red as she waits for some response. Casey can see the other girl is still glowing, as though there were a bright searchlight just underneath her skin.
Cadence’s eyes finally open and she looks down to the crystal held in her hand even as her other hand reaches up to softly brush her lips. She looks back over to Veronica, confusion dancing in her eyes. “Wha?”
Casey snickers silently to herself, flashing back to Veronica’s response to her earlier in the day in class.
It’s Roni’s turn to look shyly away, luckily for her, her phone starts ringing. She answers it, “Hello? You’re here already? Oh. We’ll be right there Fetch, thanks.” She hangs up, and then slowly turns back to Cadence.
“I didn’t want you to have to leave.” She turns back to Casey. “Fetch is waiting for us in the parking lot, we better go.” She picks up her schoolbag, and heads toward the door. Casey joins her, but Roni pauses and turns before they walk out. “I’ll catch you online tonight?” she asks Cadence.
“Yeah… yeah. After I finish the… yeah, I’ll be on tonight, tiger.”
Veronica smiles and gives a small wave, and she and Casey step out into the night and toward the car to head home.
Casey loosely links arms with Veronica as they walk to the parking lot. “So, I guess you decided it’s a good thing?” she gently teases. Veronica blushes, but smiles and nods and Casey notices that she’s still glowing a little bit. She grins to herself, glad that Roni is happy.
The ride home is quiet, Veronica staring out the window with her small smile growing into a big grin. Casey sits and thinks about what she read in the book Faust gave her, trying to decide if she’s going to show it to anybody else, and trying to figure out when she’s going to be able to go to Legal Tender, since Faust said she needed to. As soon as the car stops, Roni bounds out of the car and up to her room, shouting thanks to Fetch for the ride. Casey gets out more slowly and also thanks Fetch before heading toward the pool house.
Once she’s in the pool house, she pulls out her computer and turns it on, letting it boot up while she changes out of her school uniform. She slips on a pair of jeans and layers a tank top under a t-shirt. She grabs her computer and lounges on the couch with it to check her emails and to upload her photos from the weekend and today. She gets her camera hooked up and starts the upload as her stomach growls loudly.
Casey leaves her camera and computer to upload as she pads into the main part of the house to see what’s for dinner.
For a change, it looks like everyone will be here for dinner. Sandy is busy cooking with Roni assisting, and Madison is setting the table with Bianca’s help. When she sees Casey walk in, she gets another place setting out for her.
Sandy grins at her, his ‘Kiss the Chef’ apron covered in stains. “I hope you’re hungry! Tonight we have some of the very best gumbo, straight from an old southern family recipe.”
Veronica grins and elbows him. “Yeah, not out family though.”
Sandy fakes being upset. “Oh, just wait till I tell Mack that! We’ll see if you get anything from him for your birthday!”
They joke as the food is brought to the table, and they all observe a moment of silence before digging in. The food is quite good, and there’s plenty of it. Once again, Sandy makes it a point to ask all the girls how their day went, and what all is going on with them. Needless to say Veronica doesn’t quite bring up everything, though she’s still excited about the tryouts, and talking about them puts that gleam back in her eye. When she asks Casey if she’ll be ready to practice a bit more after dinner, Casey tries her hardest not to groan. Casey mentions that she met with Father Piccoli today, and tells them about the fundraiser she’s trying to get set up with him to benefit the shelter. She also passes along his message to Sandy.
After dinner Casey asks Sandy if there’s anything new he’s found out about her case, but by his look she can tell there hasn’t been. He makes it a point to warn her that it may take a little time, but tells her not to worry, that he will get things taken care of.
He invites Fetch in to have some leftovers, and ends up sitting downstairs with him talking sports and what not, even as Veronica pulls Casey to the piano room, where there is enough room for them to practice.
The younger girl has too much energy, but finally Casey begs off and manages to pull away and hightail it to the pool house.
She collapses on the bed, her muscles aching from exertion. She glances over to see that the computer has finished uploading everything, and she really should go ahead and work on the pictures before sleeping – at least naming them and adding descriptions.
She also notices poor Lobster is eyeing her moodily, and she dumps some food in his cup that he eagerly devours. She fixes up some of the pictures, and finally closes down the laptop.
She grabs Faust’s journal, and crawls into bed. She doesn’t have much homework, she should be able to finish it in the morning, but the events of the night have her curious about this new world she’s found herself in.
She flips through some of the pages as her eyes start to droop, until something finally catches her attention. She rereads the page several times, her eyes opening wider and wider.
‘I actually met a Star today. She had fallen some time ago, and had adjusted to living here on earth, though she was still looking for a way back to her home in the sky. She glowed as though lit from within, and was so very sweet, though possessing a fiery temper.
I have heard a few legends of Stars, how they are made of pure Possibility, and thus are almost pure magic. The heart of a Star is one of the rarest and most sought after artifacts. Though it is pure evil and stains those who actually imbibe it, it is said that dining on the heart of a Star is enough to grant near eternal life, and great stores of magical power.’
“That’s what she is,” Casey thinks to herself. “How does a star fall? How does she look human?” So many thoughts run through Casey’s head, but no answers come. Eventually she turns off the light, still thinking about stars as she falls asleep from exhaustion.
