A/N: I'm SOOO sorry! I bet I have no readers after this long of a break. I've just been caught up in so much other crap, I was in a play and had rehearsals everyday, and my schoolwork was piling up, and ARGH! I'm back, though!!!
R&R, please!!!
-Jacki :)
Chapter Seven: Too Long of a Wait
"D-Rock's successful concert last night starts their three month tour! We're looking forward to see that and hearing more from them. I'm told by an inside source close to the band that their c.d. will be sold at their first stop on their tour." Casey clutched the pillow that lay in her lap so hard her knuckles were turning white. As the reporter went onto less interesting stories, three words repeated in her mind: 'three month tour'. She threw the pillow across the couch and hurried into her room. She was glad no one else was home. It was hard enough convincing herself she wasn't going crazy for missing him, let alone her whole family.
It was Tuesday evening, and usually she would be doing homework, but her heart just wasn't in it, and she kept getting distracted. So that is why she had chosen to go watch T.V. That's when the news had come on and said something about D-Rock, and she had kept the channel there. Now she wished she hadn't. She took a book off her shelf and opened it. She barely glanced at the first few words before losing focus again. She then resorted to music, and turned on her stereo. She turned the sound up loud and began dancing everything away. She danced away all thoughts of Derek, three month tours, and any feelings of loneliness and missing him.
The music was up so loud that she didn't hear her family come back from going out for ice cream. Derek had phoned earlier that night, right before dinner, telling them about their success last night. 'He forgot to mention the three month tour', Casey had thought bitterly on the way up to her room. The family had gone out to celebrate Derek's success, even though there was no Derek to celebrate with. Casey had found that odd, and had volunteered to stay home. So, now, here she was, pitifully dancing around her room, trying to distract herself from missing the one person her whole family was celebrating for.
She was miserable.
It had only been one day, and she was already resorting to intense dance therapy. How could she even stand three months? She had stopped dancing without noticing and had fallen to the floor. Her knees were now stinging sharply and the pain was shooting up her thighs. She then let the rest of her body hit the floor, and her head banged unusually heavily onto the carpeted floor. She closed her eyes and tried to block all thought from her mind. Because no thought was better than thoughts about him. She was focusing so hard on pushing out all thought, that she hadn't noticed her mother and sister standing in the doorway, wearing matching looks of worry and confusion.
"Casey?" Nora asked timidly, as if talking to someone with a mental condition.
Casey didn't reply at first. She was contemplating whether or not she wanted to talk to her mother. She gave in. "Yes?"
"Why are you lying on the floor?"
Casey grimaced and rolled over, opening her eyes and spotting her mother and Lizzie. She forced an unconvincing smile, "Um, I was just so tired I couldn't make it to the bed?" even to her it sounded lame. She rolled her eyes.
Nora walked over and knelt down next to her daughter, "Casey, darling, what's wrong?"
Casey shook her head and sat up, "It's nothing. I'm fine. I was just dancing. Then I fell, and I just didn't get up."
"You never fall when you're dancing."
"That is so not true!" but even as she denied it, she knew it was. She had extremely good balance and never did fall while she danced. While she walked, that was a different story. She was a very graceful dancer.
Nora gave her a look.
"I'm fine, Mom. I really am." She smiled again, "How was ice cream?"
"It was great!" Lizzie said, looking relieved, and finally joining in on the conversation, now that she was reassured her sister wasn't crazy.
"I'm glad you guys had fun, but I'm really tired right now. I just want to go to bed."
Her mother looked at her, doubtful, but then she saw the truth in her daughter's eyes and saw how tired she really looked. She nodded and kissed the top of her head lightly. She then ushered Lizzie out of the room, and closed the door on Casey. She scooted over to the bed and laid her head on it. She closed her eyes and tried to calm down.
After a while, she actually fell asleep with her body leaning up against the bed, and her head lying on it. When she awoke, several hours later, it was early in the morning, very dark, and her neck was sore. She scrunched up her face as she stretched it out, regretting not climbing into bed to sleep. She stood up and held her hand to her face, feeling tears on the corners of her eyes. She must have cried in the night without knowing it. She impatiently wiped them away and walked out of her room and into the bathroom. She washed her face and ran her wet hands through her hair, trying to wake herself up. She pulled her back and slid an elastic around it, getting it out of her face.
After leaving the bathroom, she heard a small noise, like an animal whimpering. She thought it came from Marti's room, and she tip-toed over to the doorway. When she looked in, all she could see was Marti's 'friends', but then she noticed Marti, lying on her bed, curled up in the fetal position, crying and whimpering.
Casey face softened and she made her way over to the bed, careful not to step on anything that would hurt her feet. She sat down on the bed and gently pulled Marti into her arms. The little girl buried her face into Casey's chest, and her tears soaked her shirt.
"You miss him too, huh, Marti?"
She nodded, "Why did he have to leave, Casey?"
Casey shook her head and hugged Marti tighter, "I don't know, sweetie, I don't know."
