Unexpected Secrets

By angellwings

Prologue: Answering Machine

Casey sat on the floor of the loft staring at the phone in his hands. This would be the third time he's had to call and lie to his sister. Wednesday was the day his family usually called her to check in and let her know they were all still alive. He glanced around the room and realized his alibi was far from close to his reality. His family thought he was enrolled in a private boarding school on a full athletic scholarship. Master Mao had suggested that he not tell his family about Pai Zhuq. Casey wasn't sure why. He knew Lily and Theo's parents knew about the place, but somehow Master Mao felt it would be easier if his family didn't know. Well, it wasn't easier for him. He didn't like lying to his siblings.

Every time he did it he wondered how long it would be before the whole thing blew up in his face. Plus, every time he made the call home RJ gave him a strange look. It was like he knew something Casey didn't.

For the past four years he'd practically told his sister everything. Things had changed so much for their family that they all felt they couldn't afford secrets or mistrust. The five of them were all each other had which is what made Casey hate keeping this secret so much. Not to mention his sister tended to rattle off her hopes for his academic future, and Casey hated getting her hopes up. He wasn't in some exclusive private school like she thought. He wouldn't be getting into a prestigious college as a result either. Which meant Jules was in for disappointment.

Casey sighed in frustration. He wondered how different things would be if his parents were still around. Would he feel this much guilt about lying to them? Would he even HAVE to lie to them? Maybe Master Mao was having him keep it a secret because it WAS his siblings and NOT his parents. Casey shook his head. That didn't even make sense. It was times like this when Casey missed his parents the most. He wanted advice from them. They knew Jules, and so they would know what to tell him.

He also wasn't quite sure what was preventing him from telling Theo, Lily, Fran, and RJ about his family situation. Not that it was really any of their business, but he found himself being afraid that they would one day ask about his family. He wasn't sure why but he didn't really want to share about his parent's tragic car accident or the fact that his sister gave up so much to make sure they all stayed together. Something about it just seemed so cliché and well…Lifetime Original Movie-esque.

Casey took a nervous breath and dialed the familiar number. He let out a sigh of relief when the answering machine picked up. Not having to actually talk to his sister always made the lying easier.

"Hey, sis! Looks like I missed you again. Just wanted to check in and let you know how things were going. Since you were probably about to call and check up on me anyway," He said as he forced cheerfulness into his tone. "The guys and I have a long afternoon practice today so you might not be able to get a hold of me until later tonight. If you don't call me first then I'll call you back later tonight."

Casey hung up the phone and then ran a hand through his hair.

"Casey? Are you okay?" Lily asked as she entered the loft and noticed him sitting in the middle of the floor.

"Yeah, I'm fine," He said as he smiled up at his team mate.

"C'mon, RJ and Theo are waiting for us," Lily said as she helped him up and they headed off to train.

He couldn't worry about this right now. He needed to focus on his training. He had a lot to learn if he wanted to catch up to Theo and Lily.

I did not intend on giving myself TEN in progress stories to work on, but this one just kind of happened. I was rewatching "A Tate of Poison" the other day, and well...darn it Casey mentioned having "sisters" (In the plural sense), and I got the impression that he was the baby of the family. Put those things together and you get this story...

DJ Rocca, M14Mouse, and Jade all took their turns looking over this for me. As a matter of fact this Casey POV prologue is a result of that. So...THANKS GUYS!

anyway...Enjoy!

angellwings