CASEY'S POV

I walked into the cafe putting my keys in my purse so I could barley see where I'm going "Ok Em what was the big…" when I looked up I was surprised to see Amy, Kendra, and Sally sitting with Emily at our table "Umm guys what's going on? Amy why are you here? I thought you hated me…is everyone mad at me or something?"

"Casey its ok we're not mad at you" Emily said trying to calm me down and believe me I was anything but calm.

"What's wrong?"

"You might wanna sit down Case" Sally told me gently of course I trusted her so I did

"Hun its Max" Kendra said sadly

My eyes immediately got big and I started panicking "What's wrong with Max? is he ok? Was there an accident?"

"Hun calm down he's not dieing or anything"

"I wish he was" Amy snapped glaring at the wall everyone else didn't even defend him they just agreed with her.

I went from scared to pissed off "What's wrong with you guys? Why would you wish my boyfriend was dead? I thought you guys liked him"

"We did like him that's why I called you"

"Em what are you talking about? You just agreed with Amy and everybody else now your saying you guys like him?"

"We just wanted to tell you something"

"Well then tell me or I'm leaving" no one said anything we just kept looking at each other wondering who was gonna talk first but no one said anything for like 5 minutes.

"Fine you guys don't want to talk" I grabbed my purse got up and just as I was about to walk out the door…

"We think you should break up with Max" Amy blurted out I could tell I was not the only one who wasn't expecting her to say that.

"Amy!" they all shouted

"What?"

"We were supposed to break it to her gently" Kendra snapped at her

"Well sorry but no one else was saying anything and she needs to know" she snapped back

"Yeah but that's not how we're supposed to tell her" Sally

"Well you guys were just gonna let her go and forget our plan just because you're to chicken to tell her the truth"

"What's going on?" I tried to get their attention

"That is so not true"

"Oh come on Sally you didn't wanna tell her in the first place"

"Guys"

"I did too"

"Guys"

"Yeah right"

"GUYS" I finally got their attention "What's going on?" I sat back down putting my elbows on the table.

Amy sighed "Look I know we didn't always get along…"

I scoffed "Us getting along? That's like saying the titanic didn't get along with the ice burg"

"Ok we always were fighting…more than you and Derek but that's not the point" I sat back and crossed my arms "The point is…we don't think it's a good idea for you to go out with Max" I was about to get up again but her words stopped me "At least hear us out…please Casey"

I sighed "Fine I'm listening"

"Thank you"

"But make it quick…I was supposed to meet him later"

"Fine" she said while gritting her teeth trying to calm down "He's gonna hurt you"

"What do you mean hurt me?"

"I'm mean he's gonna hurt you…as one of his many ex-girlfriends I thought I should warn you…I just wish I should've listened to the one before me" she looked at Sally "I'm sorry"

She tried to smile but I could tell its hard cause she's trying not to cry. "Sally?" I looked at her confused "Is it true?"

She nodded "Its true…I used to go out with him when we were freshmen for almost a year I loved him so much…I thought he loved me too"

"What happened?"

"Everything was going great…at least I thought it was…but then he said 'sorry its over for what its worth you were great' and gave me a light punch on the shoulder walked over to his friends…I started crying they saw it and just laughed at me"

"That's not true" I shook my head not wanting to believe it

"It is" Kendra said I looked at her confused "He did the same thing to me"

"And me" Even after Emily said it I still shook my head covering my ears refusing to believe it…but a part of me does "Case…you have to believe us…I know deep down you do believe it"

"WHY SHOULD I BELIEVE YOU?" I shouted at them "Even if that was true that was in the past…he's different now"

They shook their heads at me "No he's not Case…I'm your best friend and you know I went out with him not that long before you did"

"He is different he told me that 'I'm beautiful…I…."

"I love you" Sally

"I would never change you" Amy

"And you're the…" Kendra

"The only girl for me" they all finished

"Is that what he said?" Amy

"Yeah…how did you know?"

"Cause you weren't the first girl he said that to" she wiped away a tear

"And you're definitely not gonna be his last" Kendra

"No" my voice was breaking down I'm not gonna cry…its not true…he would never do that to me

"He's a devirginizer" Emily

"A player" Sally

"A liar" Kendra

"A heartless bastard" Amy

"Yeah" they all agreed

"No…I refuse to believe it…we haven't slept together and he never pressured me into doing anything with him either"

"Not yet"

"Emily!"

"What? Its true Case" she took a deep breath "Even if he hadn't talk you into doing anything yet doesn't mean he won't and you know I wouldn't just give my virginity to just anybody…he's gonna pressure you into sleeping with him you'll be thinking its not a big deal if you let him get what he wants just this once because you love him you give him everything and then he realizes you actually might fall for him he leaves and go after the next girl"

"You're lying"

"What do we have to gain if you broke up with Max?"

"You're just jealous" Ok that was stupid but it's the only thing I could come up with

"Wow…its sad how much you sounded just like me" Amy looked down then looked at me "Don't make the same mistake I made Casey"

"The only mistake you made was letting him go…and I'm not gonna let him go just because his ex-girlfriends said so"

"Have you ever wondered why most of us got along?" I looked at her confused "Think about it all of us are almost exactly the same we are so gullible when it comes to the guys we like, we're stubborn as hell, always find a way to get what we want, hopeless romantics, would never let our boyfriends go to far but we let Max do whatever he wants…he's always going after the same girls the more morals the better the game is to him"

"You're wrong" I got up grabbed my bag and headed for the exit without looking back

Just as I put my hand on the handle "Don't forget what we said Case"

I turned around "Why are you doing this anyway? Even if what you're saying is true…why go out your way to warn me? You hate me" she shook her head

"No I never hate you…I tried to break you guys to break up cause I didn't want you end up like me…I mean us I didn't want to tell you what he was like cause I knew you didn't believe me…but I can't just sit back and watch him do the same thing again without warning you at least"

I shook my head "You're wrong" I turned around opened the door

"Just don't forget what we said" she shouted as I walked out the door. I went to my car and was about to sit down but I noticed their was a CD case said 'Princess' on the CD. I picked it up sat down started the car put it in backed up and started driving back home. First thing I heard on the CD was Derek's voice.

"Hey Princess…I know you're denying everything the girls were saying but I just want you to at least think about what their saying…if you're angry that's fine but don't be mad at them for warning you be mad at me I convinced them to tell them what they told me…you're probably wondering why do I care? Right? I do care Case believe it or not I care a lot more than you think…anyways here's a song I think you should hear"

[Whitney:] Um? Hey Deb.

[Deborah Cox:] Mmm hmm?

[WH:] Thank you for being woman enough to come.

[DC:] Whitney, what's this about?

[WH:] I know he's leaving me for you.

[DC:] Who said that? Who told you that it's true?

[WH:]What is he tellin' you? Could it be the same things that he told me?

[DC:] He told me that he loved me.

[WH:] I heard that.

[DC:] He told me I was (harmony) beautiful. How did you know? How did you know?

[WH:] Because I played that scene before.

[CHORUS:]This is a retake of my life.

I was his star for many nights.

Now the roles have changed,

And you're the leading lady in his life.

Lights, camera, now you're on.

Just remember you've been warned.

Enjoy it now, 'cause it won't last.

Same script, different cast.

[DC:]What you're saying could be true.

But how can I take advice from you?

[WH:]I'm not hating, But I wish the one before me Would have warned me too babe.

[DC:] Don't say no more. La La La La La La La La La

[WH:] Uncover your ears, girl.

[DC:] I'm not listening. La La La La La La La La La

[WH:]But I know you hear me. Maybe my reasons are wrong, But I know that you believe me.

[CHORUS]

[DC] It's your fault you didn't love him enough.

[WH:]That's the problem. I loved him too much.

And when you love him He becomes unattracted to you.

[DC:] Oh no, he's changed and I'll prove you wrong.

[WH:] No you won't.

[DC:] So go away. Leave us the hell alone! He loves me.

[WH:] He'll hurt you.

[DC:] He'll stay with me.

[WH:] He'll leave you.

[WH and DC:] For sure! For sure!

[CHORUS]

[DC:]This is a retake of my life.

You were his star for many nights.

But now the roles have changed.

I'm the leading lady in his life.

Lights, camera, now you're on.

Just remember you've been warned.

Enjoy it now, 'cause this will last.

I'm the future, you're his past.

[WH:]This is a retake of my life.

I was his star for many nights.

Now the roles have changed, And you're the leading lady in his life.

[WH and DC:]Lights, camera, now you're on.

Just remember you've been warned.

[WH:] Enjoy it now.

[DC:] Enjoy just now.

[WH:] It won't last.

[DC:] I know it will last.

[WH and DC:] Same script, different cast

My eyes starting to fill up with tears but I refused to let them fall just like I refused to believe any of it was true.

"Its not true" I kept repeating Then why are you trying to convince yourself more than them? What are you afraid of? Why are you keep telling yourself you love Max? Is it because you're to scared to let yourself love Derek?

"I don't love him…I love Max" Just because you keep saying that to yourself doesn't mean its eventually gonna come true "Yes it will"

TO BE CONTINUED...