Carl was in deep. He knew that.

Though he didn't know Kacey super well, he was already sure he liked her. Which is basically what he told her.

When the words had slipped out of his mouth, she hadn't been able to contain her shock. I mean, he had surprised himself with his confession. Carl was actually pretty shy. Most people didn't assume that, but he was.

He had known that Kacey would react like that; he understood that she was cautious when it came to him, and any guy in general.

Because of her dad.

Carl had been able to sense her unwillingness to talk about her dad. She had seemed anxious whenever he was brought up. But Carl couldn't lie to himself: he wanted Kacey to talk about him. He wanted to know if she was okay. The thought of her dad being like Frank made Carl angry. And sad. He felt an urge to shield her from it all. She was so innocent. Not helpless, just…hurt. He could sense that she had been through a lot of bullshit.

Carl was confused why he was so protective over her already. Even the first time they had hung out and gotten Slurpees, he had told her he wouldn't let Wesley or Zack mess with her, and he had meant it. Kacey was incredibly tough, yes. But she was also the nicest person Carl had ever met. Rage flooded through his veins when he thought about those guys or her dad trying to harm her, whether that meant physically or emotionally.

His feelings for her were unprecedented; he hadn't felt anything like this for Dominique. This felt more intense. He hadn't even thought about sex or any of that stuff when it came to Kacey. I mean yeah, he was attracted to her. But he felt something deeper than what he had felt for Dominique.

What the hell is happening to me?

The Monday after they hung out, Carl dragged himself out of bed when Fiona burst through the door, and then did his morning routine. Obviously, he wish he could have slept in (like he did every morning), but to be totally honest, he was a little happier than usual to be going to school. He was excited to see Kacey.

Shit. Carl groaned in frustration and held his head in his hands while he was eating breakfast in the kitchen.

Get a fucking grip!

She was already in her seat when he entered the classroom. As he was making his way towards his seat in the back, they locked eyes. He instantly smirked at her and she rolled her eyes, trying to hide the grin tugging at her lips as she looked down at her desk. He didn't care if anyone noticed.

Does Kacey?

It wasn't like they were dating. They were just spending time together. But still, no one would care what the truth was. They would just make stuff up and gossip about it.

Stupid assholes.

Carl was woken out of his trance when he heard Kacey's voice. She was answering a question the teacher had just asked (Carl had failed to notice the teacher was even in the room).

For once, Carl actually paid attention.

"Holden's hat represents his individuality. He likes that it's different. It's his way of saying he won't conform to the standards that society has created."

"Exactly." Their teacher replied. Then, she moved on to the next question. Carl blocked her out again. He was still staring at Kacey. He knew she was smart, but he hadn't really realized how smart until now.

Insecurity started to creep up on him.

Why would she hang out with someone like me?

Carl had never asked her that, even though she had asked him the same thing about herself.

Should I ask her?

Carl looked at the tile floor, deep in thought.

Why not?

The bell rang and Carl grabbed his bag and threw it over his shoulder. He saw Kacey glance at him then walk out of the door. He immediately ran to catch up with her, shoving people out of the way.

He gently grabbed her arm when he approached her, and she turned around.

Her blue eyes lit up and she smiled, which made him smile. "Hey." She said cheerfully.

"What are you doing after school?" He blurted out.

Carl didn't even plan on asking her to hang out, but once he said it he was glad he did. He wanted to spend time with her.

Kacey looked a little surprised at how direct he was. "I'm not doing anything."

"Wanna do something?" He asked, feeling a little nervous. His heart was beating kind of fast.

Fucking relax.

"How about a drive?" Kacey smiled.

Carl chuckled. "You really like driving."

Kacey giggled and looked at the ground. "Yeah, I do." She peeked back up at him. "Wanna meet me in the parking lot after last period?"

Carl grinned. "Yep. I'll see you then."

"See you later." She replied, beaming at him.

Can she just stop?

"It's a good song!" Carl protested.

"Yeah, okay, sure." Kacey replied sarcastically.

"Fine. Then what do you listen to?"

"Not rap." Kacey said back to him.

Carl laughed. "There's nothing wrong with it!"

"I have nothing against it. It just gets old after you listen to it for a while."

Carl shook his head. "That hurts."

Kacey giggled.

His last class felt like an eternity. He had been fidgeting nervously waiting for the bell to ring, When they had met up in the parking lot some people in their grade had stared at them. When Carl opened the door to the passenger side of Kacey's Jeep, he could see the shocked and confused faces on some people. Even though their staring annoyed him, this made him want to ask her why she wanted to spend time with him even more. He felt like such a pussy for feeling so insecure, but he was genuinely curious about it.

Kacey was driving him home. During the short drive, he was building up the courage to bring it up. A few minutes later (which Carl had spent trying to convince Kacey to give rap another chance), Kacey pulled up in front of his house.

She parked the car and there were a few seconds of silence as Carl looked out the window. He could feel Kacey looking at him.

Ask her.

"So." She stated.

He slowly turned his head and met her eyes. "So." He smirked coyly at her.

Kacey snorted. "Get out."

"Nope."

"You suck."

"Yet you still drove me home."

Kacey laughed. "Shut up."

Carl grinned and looked out the window again. He drummed his fingers on his thigh and bit his lip. For some reason, he knew Kacey could tell that he wanted to say something. She waited patiently in the silence as he stared at his front door.

Carl swallowed, still looking at his house. "So, I wanted to ask you something." He turned his head back towards her.

"What is it?" She asked, curious (and a little nervous) as to what he would say.

He took a small breath. "Why do you want to hang out with me?"

Carl said it kind of quickly, but once Kacey registered what he had said she instantly looked confused.

After a moment of she broke the silence. "Why wouldn't I want to?"

Because you're innocent.

Carl parted his lips to reply but hesitated to collect his thoughts.

"I'm not really your type." He mumbled.

"My type?" She asked, furrowing her eyebrows.

"Yeah. Like, I'm not rich. Or smart. And I have a criminal record."

Kacey looked almost offended. "I don't care about any of that. And don't say that you're not smart, because you are."

Carl snorted. "No, really. I'm not."

Kacey shook her head. "I'm not talking about what grades you get, that doesn't count. You're just…" She struggled to find the right words and looked down at her hands, appearing as if she was deep in thought. Then she took a breath and exhaled, meeting his gaze again."You've dealt with more shit than any kid I know. Yet, you keep going on despite the bad stuff that's happened. And I respect that so much."

Carl was frozen. He had never received a compliment like that before. In fact, he had never really received any compliment before.

This girl.

They stared at each other for a few seconds before Carl softly smiled at her and raised his eyebrows. "Did you just compliment me?"

Kacey rolled her eyes. "I hate you." She moved to playfully slap him but Carl grabbed her hand before she could and clutched it to his chest.

"So when are we having another date?" He asked as he smirked, clutching her hand with both of his as she tried to wiggle free.

She struggled for a couple of seconds then stopped trying to get away. She sighed in fake frustration. "If you don't let go, never. And it can't be a date if I say it's not."

"I won't let go until you answer." He gently moved his thumb over her small palm which caused her to freeze for a moment.

Her hands are so soft...

OH MY GOD SNAP OUT OF IT YOU LITTLE FUCK.

Carl internally scolded himself, then got his shit together. "And fine. You don't have to call it a date. Just two people hanging out. Who like each other."

"Who said I liked you?"

"Yeah, nice try. It's kind of obvious."

Kacey tried to suppress a smile. "You're pretty cocky, you know that?"

"But you still respect me." He smirked at her and she ripped her hand free.

"Get out!" She pretended to be mad as she suppressed a smile.

"Fine." Carl purposely took his sweet time as he opened the door and threw his backpack over his shoulder. Kacey watched him with an annoyed (but slightly amused) expression. Before he closed the door he faced her. "So? Are you going to answer me?"

Kacey glared at him. "Friday. Now stop annoying me."

Carl smiled at her and closed the car door.

Thursday.

Debbie came in the living room and plunked down next to Carl on the green sofa, staring at him.

Carl could feel her gaze on him as he focused on the TV. She didn't look away.

He turned towards her a few seconds later. "What?" He asked sharply.

Debbie crossed her arms over her ̶p̶r̶e̶g̶n̶a̶n̶t̶ stomach. "Are you dating Kacey Bruno?"

Carl rolled his eyes and looked back at the TV. "Leave me alone."

Debbie frowned. "I saw you getting in her car."

"So?" Carl said, annoyed.

When will people mind their own fucking business?

"Why would you hang out with her?! Her friends are total assholes!"

Carl scowled. "That's not true. She doesn't hang out with those people."

"Oh, so you know all about her personal life now?" Debbie asked, her voice raised slightly.

He started to get really aggravated. "Why do you care so much? She's never done anything to you."

Debbie scoffed. "Her stupid friends have been harassing me."

"That's not her fault. And again, she's not friends with them." He retorted waspishly. He focused back on the TV. Debbie was pushing it.

She sighed loudly and stood up. "Why are you so defensive over her?! You barely know her!"

Carl stayed silent. He was tired of dealing with gossip and people delving into his personal life. And he was especially tired of everyone judging Kacey when they didn't even know her.

"UGH FINE. I'll leave you alone!" She aggressively turned around and started to move towards the stairs.

Finally.

But he heard Debbie's footsteps stop midway on the staircase. "It's not going to last, you know."

Carl turned around. 'What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"You and Kacey. It won't last long."

Carl furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "What are you talking about?" He felt a ripple of irritation.

"It's only a matter of time before you realize that she's just another rich bitch who —"

Carl jolted off of the couch.

"LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE!"

Debbie looked shocked for a couple of seconds. However, she recovered quickly and rolled her eyes.

He glared at her until she bounded up the stairs, then listened for her door to shut.

Carl threw himself back on the sofa. He could feel his heart beating a little faster and took deep breaths to calm down.

Why am I so angry?

He closed his eyes and leaned back to rest his head on the cushion, groaning in frustration.

This girl. She's going to kill me.