"L- I- O- N- S what's that spell," Casey shouted with the rest of the cheerleaders. "Lions!"

She pumped her fist in the air and smiled brightly. It was Casey's first semester at East Dillion. She had been a Panther for the first semester of classes, but her family moved halfway through the year and she was now a Lion. It was funny how things worked out like that. She'd gone from dating the starting quarterback of one of the most popular high school football teams in the state of Texas, to being a virtual nobody.

Having cheered for the Panthers, she thought making the team at East Dillion would be a piece of cake. She was wrong.

The head cheerleader, a snotty girl named Kimberly, eyed her as she prepared to do the dance routine. They had chosen a Britney Spears song that was forever old. Casey rolled her neck and joined the line of girls. The routine flowed smoothly with several hip hop and cheer moves.

The music ended and Kimberly was still staring at Casey. "What's your name," she called.

"Casey Morris," Casey replied with a smile.

"Can I see you hit a double front flip please," Kimberly asked sweetly.

"Sure," Casey said smirking slightly. She'd been in gymnastics since she was 6 years old. Casey moved across the mat and picked a corner. She bounced slightly on her heels before she ran forward several steps and threw the stunt. Landing, Casey threw her arms up in the air and smiled brightly.

"Thank you," Kimberly said shortly. "That's all for today the list will be up tomorrow. Casey, can I talk to you for a moment?"

Casey nodded slowly and pursed her lips. She waited until the other girls had left the gym before making her way over to Kimberly.

"Listen," Kimberly said with a bright smile. "I know that you cheered for the Panthers, they are a good team, I mean they are the Panthers after all."

"Yeah they are," Casey said slowly.

"However, I don't know that you are the best fit for our squad. I mean coming over from West in the middle of the year doesn't look good for you. You come from the rival school and most of the other girls aren't going to trust you. For all we know you could be a spy! I hope you understand but you can't be on our squad, not this year anyway."

"Yeah, I totally understand," Casey said with a false smile. She shifted her gym bag on her shoulder and strode toward the door. Pushing it open Casey plowed right into a young man coming out of the guy's locker room.

"Whoa, slow down," he said as Casey stepped around him. Casey shook her head and kept walking. "Wait, Casey?" His knowing her name gave her reason to stop.

She turned slowly and studied the boy in front of her. "Luke," she asked in surprise. "Oh thank god, I do know someone else at this school!" Casey rushed forward and wrapped her arms around his neck. He was surprised by her warm greeting, but hugged her back.

"What are you doing here? I thought you were a Panther girl, in more way than one," Luke teased.

Casey smacked his arm as she pulled away from him. "My dad got a new job so they could afford to buy a new house, the new one is here in East Dillion," Casey explained.

"What did JD say," Luke asked curiously. At West, JD and Casey were basically the it couple. He was the starting quarterback, she was on the cheerleading squad, it just worked.

"JD's not happy, but he gets it. I didn't have a choice in the matter," Casey replied.

"What are you doing here now," Luke asked glancing at the doors to the gym. Kimberly pushed the door open and was talking on her cell. She paused and smiled at Luke ignoring Casey.

"Luke, hi hon," Kimberly said brightly.

"Hey Kimberly," Luke said politely. "Have you met my friend Casey?"

"Yes I have," Kimberly said glancing briefly at Casey. "Anyway I am having a party this weekend, you should totally come. You can come too Cathy."

"That's so sweet of you Courtney," Casey said brightly. "Thanks."

"No problem," Kimberly said flashing a fake smile. "See you there Luke."

Luke waited until Kimberly had rounded the corner before speaking again. "Want to explain what that was about?"

"I just tried out for the cheerleading squad and apparently I can't be on it because I'm a spy for the Panther's," Casey explained.

"She doesn't like you because you are better than her," Luke surmised.

"Who cares? There's still dance team," Casey pointed out.

"That's the Casey I know," Luke said with a laugh. He headed toward the parking lot with Casey babbling away about JD. "You think it's going to work? You here and him there?"

"Why wouldn't it work," Casey said quickly. "I mean, we talked about it. Me going to a different school doesn't change anything. There's a party at his house this weekend though, you should come with me!"

"I'll think about it ok," Luke said as they arrived at Casey's car.

"Ok, well I guess I will see you around," Casey said as she unlocked the doors. Luke started to walk away but stopped when Casey grabbed his arm. "What English class are you taking?"

"British Literature with Mrs. Cunningham, why," Luke asked.

"I'm in the same class, I guess we have it at different times. Do you think you could help me? We hadn't started Shakespeare yet at West and I am really behind," Casey explained.

"Sure, when?"

"Um, what are you doing now?"

"Going home, why don't you follow me over there and we can study there?"

"Ok, sounds good to me."

"So this is where the mysterious Luke Cafferty lives," Casey said as she climbed out of her car. She looked around taking in the barn and the small house. "It's nice Luke."

"Well it's not the McCoy compound but I like it," Luke replied.

"Please, JD's house is way too big especially for only 3 people," Casey pointed out. "I mean there are like 12 bedrooms!"

"We have two of those," Luke replied as he held the door open for her. Casey stepped inside and came face to face with Mrs. Cafferty. Luke walked into Casey not realizing she had stopped. "Mom, hey, this is Casey Morris. Her family just moved and now she goes to East. She's dating JD."

"It's nice to meet you Mrs. Cafferty," Casey said quickly sticking her hand out.

Luke's mom appraised her slightly as she shook Casey's hand. "You too dear," she said before moving back into the kitchen.

"We're going to study mom," Luke said putting a hand on Casey's back. He pushed her down the hallway and into his room. "Sorry, my mom likes to think that I'm still 6 and think girls have cooties."

"You mean they don't?"

"Last time I checked girls don't have cooties. Ok, so Hamlet, prince of Denmark…"

"Is an incredibly boring play written by a dead white guy, that makes zero sense! I'm serious do you get what they are saying? I have no idea!"

"Come on Casey, it's not that hard," Luke said as he sat down on the bed. Casey joined him on the bed and sighed.

"It's not that I don't get it. When it's explained in normal English it makes sense, but written like this I can't understand it!"

"I've got an idea," Luke pushed himself off the bed and headed toward his bookshelf. He grabbed one off the top shelf and handed it to Casey. "Try that, it's got a modern translation next to the original text."

Casey opened the book and read the first couple of lines both ways. "Where did you get this Luke? It makes so much more sense like this!"

"My mom found it at a bookstore in town." Luke sat back down on the bed next to Casey.

"Your mom is a lifesaver, so are you," Casey said as she turned to look at him. She was surprised by how close he was to her. She blushed slightly and glanced away. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Uh sure," Luke said carefully.

"It's about me and JD," Casey warned him.

"Ok, shoot."

"We've been together 5 months and we haven't… but lately JD has been putting a lot of pressure on me. Do you think that I should?"

Luke blinked several times and looked away from Casey. "Uh, listen Casey it's not any of my business what you and JD do."

"Luke, I'm asking you because you are his friend and mine too. Ok, think about it like this, if it were you, would you want us to do it or would you want to keep waiting?"

"Do you think you are ready Casey?"

"I don't know, maybe sex isn't as big a deal as people make it out to be." Casey flopped back on the bed and sighed loudly. She covered her face with her hands and shook her head. "I don't know what to do and it makes me feel stupid."

Luke leaned back next to her and stared up at the ceiling. He contemplated his answer for several seconds before speaking. "If it were me, I wouldn't want you to do it before you are ready. It can ruin things."

Casey rolled her head to the side and met his gaze. "How do I tell him that?"

"Tell him that if he cares about you, he'll wait," Luke said as he sat up. "Can we get back to Shakespeare now?"