Author's Note: This is a J/C sap story, compensating for the jerk he's being nowadays. There might be a little OOC; don't shoot me. Or Dracon. Or Shredder. Oookay. I've definitely gotten way too far into this. ANYwho, it's a flashback. You just don't get any of these anymore. It's Jake's POV, and an interesting little story, I think. Let me know if you want a sequel, k? Enough blah and blather, lets get on with the fic! (Ranting and raving is getting old.)
PROLOGUE
~In the Hork-Bajir valley~
We were in my little hut. (A/N: I guess you'd call it a hut. Or a shack maybe? Suggestions, anyone?)We being the Animorphs. I called a meeting, but Cassie wasn't there. I went over to her hut and found her still asleep. Weird, Cassie was an early riser. Unless she was sick. My heart sank to the bottom of my stomach, which was doing flip-flops. Or a dang good impression of a washing machine. Then her mom walked in.
"Cassie's gonna have to sit this one out, Jake. She's sick." Cassie's mom said.
"Okay. Tell her I was here when she wakes up." I said
I went back and told everyone. Then Marco launched into some discussion of tactics. I listened with one ear. I was remembering a time not too long before we moved to the valley.
CHAPTER 1
~Friday after school~
I watched Cassie stare out the window of the bus. She normally took a different bus, but she was sleeping over at Rachel's house. Cassie had asked me to tell her where the right stop was.
I realized that we were approaching the stop. "Cassie," I said. No response. "Cassie," I said, this time a little louder. Still no response. OK, she fell asleep. I briefly wondered why. We hadn't had any meetings lately, so she shouldn't have missed that much sleep.
Then I focused on the task at hand. Wake Cassie up. I tried, but to no avail. We passed the stop.
She *finally* woke up, just as we approached my stop. "Cassie, you missed Rachel's stop. We're getting off at my stop and I'll walk you over to Rachel's house."
"Ok Jake," she said. " I'm just so tired, and I don't know why." She sniffled.
"You probably just have a cold or something," I said offhand.
"You're probably right," she said. "I just don't feel 100% good, you know?"
"Yeah." The bus lurched to a stop. "Here's our stop. I'll walk you to Rachel's."
"Ok, she said."
We walked to Rachel's house in silence, each deep in our own thoughts.
Mine happened to be worry about Cassie.
CHAPTER 2
~The following Monday~
I got off the bus and headed into school.
"Hey Jake!"
"Hey Marco. You seen Cassie yet?"
"No, but maybe Rachel has."
"Maybe Rachel has what?" Rachel interrupted.
"Seen Cassie yet. Have you?" I replied.
"Nope. I was hoping you had. I wanted to talk to her," Rachel replied.
"'Bout what?" Marco asked, suddenly interested.
"The math homework. Oh well, I'll call her house. Maybe she missed the bus. Or she's sick," Rachel said offhandedly. (A/N: Is that a word? Spellcheck didn't catch it)
Sick? Cassie, sick? Cassie, the only one of us who didn't get the yamphut, sick? My stomach lurched at the thought.
Marco must have noticed my sudden change of attitude.
"Oh, is little Jakey-poo worried about his lover-girl?" Marco teased.
"Shut *up*. If you must know, yes, but shut up."
I sighed inwardly. We still had 15 minutes before homeroom, but I was anxious to hear about Cassie. *Finally* Rachel returned.
"Well?" I asked impatiently, nervously, and agitatedly all at once.
"Well what? I called, Cassie answered. Yes, she is sick. She has the flu or something. Not the stomach flu, the real deal. Fever, cold symptoms, cough, sore throat. She said she wants one of us to bring her homework. I have gymnastics, so I volunteered you, Jake," She said with a wink. Marco whispered," Wink wink hint hint nudge nudge." "She also says hi to everyone and stuff like that. With a special message for Jake. If only I could remember what it was," she teased, pretending to think really hard. " Oh yeah. It was: Jake, don't worry, I'll be ok. I'm really pretty ok. I'll get better soon. Come bring me my homework later, k? I know Rachel has gymnastics and Marco and I aren't supposed to know each other so you're really the best person to do it. C U soon." Rachel finished up. Marco snickered.
Why are they giving me so much grief about this? I like her, so shoot me. I thought.
All that day I could barely pay attention. At lunch, I didn't eat anything. I was a nervous wreck.
"I can't eat anything, man. I'm too nervous. I'm gonna go call her," I told Marco, and left.
I went to the payphone in the lobby, put in the money,and dialed Cassie's number.
::Ring Ring::
::Ring Ring::
"Hello?" Cassie answered. Her voice sounded hoarse and tired.
"Cassie? It's Jake. I just wanted to um, you know, check on you, see how you were doing, I guess." Gosh, could I sound any more awkward? I thought, berating myself.
"Oh, Jake," Her voice took on a different tone. It had an element of relief to it, and happiness. But it was still hoarse and raw-sounding, and her nose was stuffy, I could tell over the phone. Hearing how bad she sounded over the phone made my insides lurch and my heart sink into the pit of my stomach. My heart ached to see, er, hear the state she was in.
"So, how are you?"
"Well, as you can tell, not great, but I'll live."
"I gotta get back to class now, lunch is almost over."
"You have eaten something, haven't you?" Count on Cassie to be worried about others, even when she's sick.
"Erm, no, not exactly," I answered, fidgeting.
"Eat something. You hear me? Good, you need to keep up your strength; you're coming to visit me and I don't want you to feel this miserable." She lectured.
"I was too worried about you to eat." I answered, hoping against hope that Marco and Rachel hadn't heard. They were nowhere to be seen, but that didn't fool me for a second.
"Ok. Well, I know you've gotta go, c-ya later then," she said.
"Yeah, later," I said, preoccupied. Once I was 99.9999999% sure that Marco and Rachel weren't around to hear, (you can never be 100% sure that one of them wasn't lurking around the corner,I said," Love you, Cass. Bye." And hung up.
The rest of the day passed in a blur. What I do remember? There was, coincidentally, no homework. So I didn't have to go to her house. But I did.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
As soon as I got home, I yelled," I'm going to Cassie's to see her! No homework!Later, Mom, Dad, Tom, whoever!" and left.
As I stepped off the curb...
PART 2
A/N: I forgot the disclaimer! I don't own Animorphs but I wish I did. Etc,etc,etc, yadda yadda blah blah, yackkety yack.
As I stepped off the curb...HONK HONK! CAssie's dad (A/N: Anyone remember his name?) rolled down the window of the truck.
"Hey Jake, where are you going?" he inquired.
"To see Cassie," I said, hoping I appeared nonchalant, hoping that my anxiety and worry and nercousness and apprehension didn't show. If it did, her dad didn't say anything. He knows I like her like her and he respects that. To a certain degree.
"I'm just heading home now. Want a ride?" he asked, being friendly.
"Uh,okay, sure," I said. I'm sure I sounded like the world's biggest doofus, but, again, I don't think he picked up on it. Cassie's empathy must have come from her mom's side of the family.
We drove along in silence until we neared the driveway.
"She's in her bedroom. Go up the stairs, it's the second door on your left." He told me. "Go on in, I'm going into the barn."
Using all my self-control not to run into the house shouting "Cassie! Cassie! It's me, Jake! Are you okay? I'm here, Cassie!" I managed to keep my mouth shut and my pace down to a quick walk. I tiptoed up the stairs instead of ran, in case she was asleep, which she was not. She was anxiously sitting upright, staring at the doorway, apparently waiting for me.
I looked around the room. On Cassie's bedside table were a box of tissues, a bag of cough drops, a bottle of Tylenol, and a few books. Otherwise, her room was spotless.
PROLOGUE
~In the Hork-Bajir valley~
We were in my little hut. (A/N: I guess you'd call it a hut. Or a shack maybe? Suggestions, anyone?)We being the Animorphs. I called a meeting, but Cassie wasn't there. I went over to her hut and found her still asleep. Weird, Cassie was an early riser. Unless she was sick. My heart sank to the bottom of my stomach, which was doing flip-flops. Or a dang good impression of a washing machine. Then her mom walked in.
"Cassie's gonna have to sit this one out, Jake. She's sick." Cassie's mom said.
"Okay. Tell her I was here when she wakes up." I said
I went back and told everyone. Then Marco launched into some discussion of tactics. I listened with one ear. I was remembering a time not too long before we moved to the valley.
CHAPTER 1
~Friday after school~
I watched Cassie stare out the window of the bus. She normally took a different bus, but she was sleeping over at Rachel's house. Cassie had asked me to tell her where the right stop was.
I realized that we were approaching the stop. "Cassie," I said. No response. "Cassie," I said, this time a little louder. Still no response. OK, she fell asleep. I briefly wondered why. We hadn't had any meetings lately, so she shouldn't have missed that much sleep.
Then I focused on the task at hand. Wake Cassie up. I tried, but to no avail. We passed the stop.
She *finally* woke up, just as we approached my stop. "Cassie, you missed Rachel's stop. We're getting off at my stop and I'll walk you over to Rachel's house."
"Ok Jake," she said. " I'm just so tired, and I don't know why." She sniffled.
"You probably just have a cold or something," I said offhand.
"You're probably right," she said. "I just don't feel 100% good, you know?"
"Yeah." The bus lurched to a stop. "Here's our stop. I'll walk you to Rachel's."
"Ok, she said."
We walked to Rachel's house in silence, each deep in our own thoughts.
Mine happened to be worry about Cassie.
CHAPTER 2
~The following Monday~
I got off the bus and headed into school.
"Hey Jake!"
"Hey Marco. You seen Cassie yet?"
"No, but maybe Rachel has."
"Maybe Rachel has what?" Rachel interrupted.
"Seen Cassie yet. Have you?" I replied.
"Nope. I was hoping you had. I wanted to talk to her," Rachel replied.
"'Bout what?" Marco asked, suddenly interested.
"The math homework. Oh well, I'll call her house. Maybe she missed the bus. Or she's sick," Rachel said offhandedly. (A/N: Is that a word? Spellcheck didn't catch it)
Sick? Cassie, sick? Cassie, the only one of us who didn't get the yamphut, sick? My stomach lurched at the thought.
Marco must have noticed my sudden change of attitude.
"Oh, is little Jakey-poo worried about his lover-girl?" Marco teased.
"Shut *up*. If you must know, yes, but shut up."
I sighed inwardly. We still had 15 minutes before homeroom, but I was anxious to hear about Cassie. *Finally* Rachel returned.
"Well?" I asked impatiently, nervously, and agitatedly all at once.
"Well what? I called, Cassie answered. Yes, she is sick. She has the flu or something. Not the stomach flu, the real deal. Fever, cold symptoms, cough, sore throat. She said she wants one of us to bring her homework. I have gymnastics, so I volunteered you, Jake," She said with a wink. Marco whispered," Wink wink hint hint nudge nudge." "She also says hi to everyone and stuff like that. With a special message for Jake. If only I could remember what it was," she teased, pretending to think really hard. " Oh yeah. It was: Jake, don't worry, I'll be ok. I'm really pretty ok. I'll get better soon. Come bring me my homework later, k? I know Rachel has gymnastics and Marco and I aren't supposed to know each other so you're really the best person to do it. C U soon." Rachel finished up. Marco snickered.
Why are they giving me so much grief about this? I like her, so shoot me. I thought.
All that day I could barely pay attention. At lunch, I didn't eat anything. I was a nervous wreck.
"I can't eat anything, man. I'm too nervous. I'm gonna go call her," I told Marco, and left.
I went to the payphone in the lobby, put in the money,and dialed Cassie's number.
::Ring Ring::
::Ring Ring::
"Hello?" Cassie answered. Her voice sounded hoarse and tired.
"Cassie? It's Jake. I just wanted to um, you know, check on you, see how you were doing, I guess." Gosh, could I sound any more awkward? I thought, berating myself.
"Oh, Jake," Her voice took on a different tone. It had an element of relief to it, and happiness. But it was still hoarse and raw-sounding, and her nose was stuffy, I could tell over the phone. Hearing how bad she sounded over the phone made my insides lurch and my heart sink into the pit of my stomach. My heart ached to see, er, hear the state she was in.
"So, how are you?"
"Well, as you can tell, not great, but I'll live."
"I gotta get back to class now, lunch is almost over."
"You have eaten something, haven't you?" Count on Cassie to be worried about others, even when she's sick.
"Erm, no, not exactly," I answered, fidgeting.
"Eat something. You hear me? Good, you need to keep up your strength; you're coming to visit me and I don't want you to feel this miserable." She lectured.
"I was too worried about you to eat." I answered, hoping against hope that Marco and Rachel hadn't heard. They were nowhere to be seen, but that didn't fool me for a second.
"Ok. Well, I know you've gotta go, c-ya later then," she said.
"Yeah, later," I said, preoccupied. Once I was 99.9999999% sure that Marco and Rachel weren't around to hear, (you can never be 100% sure that one of them wasn't lurking around the corner,I said," Love you, Cass. Bye." And hung up.
The rest of the day passed in a blur. What I do remember? There was, coincidentally, no homework. So I didn't have to go to her house. But I did.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
As soon as I got home, I yelled," I'm going to Cassie's to see her! No homework!Later, Mom, Dad, Tom, whoever!" and left.
As I stepped off the curb...
PART 2
A/N: I forgot the disclaimer! I don't own Animorphs but I wish I did. Etc,etc,etc, yadda yadda blah blah, yackkety yack.
As I stepped off the curb...HONK HONK! CAssie's dad (A/N: Anyone remember his name?) rolled down the window of the truck.
"Hey Jake, where are you going?" he inquired.
"To see Cassie," I said, hoping I appeared nonchalant, hoping that my anxiety and worry and nercousness and apprehension didn't show. If it did, her dad didn't say anything. He knows I like her like her and he respects that. To a certain degree.
"I'm just heading home now. Want a ride?" he asked, being friendly.
"Uh,okay, sure," I said. I'm sure I sounded like the world's biggest doofus, but, again, I don't think he picked up on it. Cassie's empathy must have come from her mom's side of the family.
We drove along in silence until we neared the driveway.
"She's in her bedroom. Go up the stairs, it's the second door on your left." He told me. "Go on in, I'm going into the barn."
Using all my self-control not to run into the house shouting "Cassie! Cassie! It's me, Jake! Are you okay? I'm here, Cassie!" I managed to keep my mouth shut and my pace down to a quick walk. I tiptoed up the stairs instead of ran, in case she was asleep, which she was not. She was anxiously sitting upright, staring at the doorway, apparently waiting for me.
I looked around the room. On Cassie's bedside table were a box of tissues, a bag of cough drops, a bottle of Tylenol, and a few books. Otherwise, her room was spotless.