Has your life ever been so normal to the point where you'd rather suffocate that live one more day? It is for me…all the time. Sure I have good friends and a nice family, but lately everything has been disconnected and altogether weird. But it all changed when a new student came to school. Everyone could tell that he was different--just passing through town as his parents waited for a job offer to go through. He was tall and looked as though he could pass for a twenty six year old if he grew a beard.
He was in my first class which is when I first noticed him. He was two classes above me, but he hadn't taken the honors English and really wanted to. He leaned over to my desk and tapped my shoulder.
"Hi," he whispered. "What's your name?"
"Amy," I said.
"Cool, I'm Cas."
"Just Cas?"
"Yeah, boring, I know." He flashed me a beautiful white smile that seemed to brighten his impossibly blue eyes.
For the next two weeks he would talk to me every morning, immediately erasing any chance of a bad day. It was as though his objective in life was to make me laugh and smile for him, no matter what. For the first time in a long time I was able to really relax and be happy. Though, there always some part of my mind saying he is way too good to be true. Any moment he'll tell you his father is an ex-con in prison and his mother is a prostitute! But I told that part of my mind to suck it and moved on.
At the end of the two weeks he invited me and a few of my friends to join him at the most important football game of the season.
Everyone arrived at the game in school sweaters, thick scarves, beanies, and gloves.
"Hey, you made it!" Cas said, lighting up the second he saw me. He stood up to make room for me and my friends on the bleachers. He gave me a light hug before sitting down.
"I really hope we win," I said conversationally. "I know a lot of guys out there have football scholarships riding on a win."
"Yeah, some of my new friends," he nodded.
I never knew much about football, well, not a lot. I knew which side our team needed to run the ball over to for a touchdown, when certain tackles were good for us or bad, and when the quarterback did his happy dance his girlfriend was waiting for him behind the bleachers. Though I didn't let it be known because Cas was willing to talk through it most of the game. And I liked hearing his voice and how he laughed when I asked him to explain something twice.
When we won the game, everyone jumped out of their seats and cheered. Cas hugged me tightly and wouldn't let go of my hand as we all ran to the locker room to congratulate the team. Cas stood up on one of the benches and called everyone's attention.
"After party at my place!" he shouted. The team and everyone else nearby cheered and followed him out.
"I've never been to your house," I said as we walked off campus.
"It's big," he said. "My parents paid a fortune just to rent it out for a few months."
"If this turns into a rager, it'll be a mess in the morning," I laughed.
"Eh, Maria won't mind if I maid with her for free."
Cas was telling the truth about his house. Compared to the suburbia that I lived in, it was magnificent. Three floors of royalty. As I had predicted, the party immediately got wild and incredibly loud. When someone brought a keg Cas decided it was time to give me a tour of the house.
It was all so beautiful that I felt like a princess just being in the vicinity. But I was less impressed by his room. It was…normal. A few posters on the wall, a half full bookshelf and a nicely made bed. But he let me go through his notebook of writing, so we stayed put.
"You should become a professional writer," I told him as I flipped through the worn pages of stories written in ballpoint pen. "You're really good."
"Hey, I've read a few of yours," he said. "Maybe we should put our ideas together…make something incredible."
"Maybe," I said with a shy smile. My friends had been pushing me to hit on him since we met, but I always refused. But I was feeling a little risky…
"Novelists or children's books?" he asked.
"Would it be so horrible to attempt both?" I returned.
He looked down to hide his blushing face and smiled.
"Amy, can I tell you a secret? Something I've never told any human being?"
"Of course," I said, growing excited.
He looked up, his blue eyes wide and entrancing. He leaned over and captured my face in his gentle hand, further alluring my mind to his power.
"I'm not who you think I am," he said quietly. "I've been sent to you on a mission of grave importance. I need your help. All you have to do is say yes."
"I-um…usually like t-to know what I'm saying y-yes to," I stuttered.
He turned his head and whispered in my ear. I could barely hear a thing, but some part of my mind processed it perfectly and assured me with warm and light feelings.
"Yes," I whispered.
He lifted me into his arms and gently set me on the bed. He seemed to float over me, pressing his body to mind with the slightest pressure. Then he pressed his smile to my lips and so the story goes…