Disclaimer: Don't own, not making money off of it.
It's really strange to have your entire vision go red. Not, like, everything has a pink wash on it, but to have your blood pound so hard that all you can see is red, and all you can think of doing is finding something to take your anger out on, some wall or face to smash in until your knuckles are raw and the anger goes away. But I couldn't do that. I could still feel Casey against me and I knew that if I let my temper run wild, one or both of us would end up getting hurt.
"It's pretty dumb, huh?" she sniffled, trying to quit crying. "To get so upset over something so small. I mean, he just didn't want to date me anymore, and I should just move on, right?"
My rage was amplified.
"Casey, you're an idiot," popped out of my mouth before I could think. Not that I could even begin to think about my mouth when all of my energy was being channeled into not finding Max and pulverizing him. Literally beating him into a bloody pulp. It took a moment for me to notice that Casey was gaping at me, tears flowing down her face even harder than before. "Case-"
"God, Derek! I can't believe I thought you could be nice for two and a half seconds. I just bared my soul to you, and this is how you react. You call me an idiot for being upset? You-you-you complete and utter prick." She tried to get off the bench, but I held her down with my arm around her waist..
"Casey, will you shut up for a minute! Quit jumping to conclusions and let me explain!" I glared at her. She glared right back at me, but remained silent. This probably had more to do with me pinning her down than actually wanting to hear what I had to say.
"Thank you. I didn't mean that you were an idiot for being upset. I think you're an idiot for thinking that you're dumb. Because, and here's a real shocker, you're not. I don't think you've ever been dumb in your entire life. Except, possibly, for dating Max. He's a sleeze. He's a- a-. I'm so furious, I can't even think of a word for how disgusting and low he is. Casey, what he did to you, what he said, is probably the scummiest, dirtiest, meanest thing I've heard. He doesn't realize that he's nothing compared to you, and he was trying to bring you down beneath him. There is absolutely no reason for you to think that you are a waste of time to anyone, Casey, not anyone." I grabbed her chin and looked her straight in the eyes. "You are amazing, and strong, and wonderful. Don't you ever let anyone take that away from you. Do you understand?" She was still crying, but at least she wasn't angry anymore, at least, not at me.
"I don't think dating Max was dumb," she retorted, probably just disagreeing with me out of habit. "We had a lot of fun. I liked being with me. He was really good to me."
"Casey, because of him, you let go of a big part of yourself that you weren't really ready to let go of. A lot of your friends could see it. You didn't hang out with Emily as much, because you were too busy with Max. You quit reading and writing, and you would have quit dancing, too, except you got to do that while you were cheerleading. Your grades even started to slip a little, because you were too busy most nights to put the same amount of effort into your homework. It starts out slow, but if you hadn't stood up to him, you probably would have lost a lot more of yourself." Casey stared back at me, but she wasn't looking at me. She was thinking hard. I let go of her chin.
"I-" she trailed off as she was trying to argue against me. "I didn't quit hanging out with Emily."
"No, Casey, but you probably would have. Every part of your life was beginning to get Max-centric. Maybe you should ask Em about it." She looked down, guiltily. I think she was starting to realize that I was right. It was a minute before she spoke again.
"Derek, next time you decide to be deep and insightful, please warn me beforehand. My brain might explode next time." I chuckled and smirked at her. 'Typical Casey.'
We sat in silence for a while, eating our cookies and sharing our milk, until Casey's phone rang. She looked at the screen and groaned. I glanced over and saw a picture of Nora on the screen.
"You gonna answer that?"
"Fiiiiiine," she said, putting her phone to her ear. I couldn't help but laugh at the conversation.
"Hi, Mom. Yes, I do know how much trouble I'm in. No, I'm not trying to be a smart alec. … No. No! Mom. Mom. MOM! Will you listen for a minute? I'm sorry that the Davis' called you, but I really had nothing to do with that part of it. I couldn't handle the stress, so I took a personal day. … I'm at the park on fourteenth street. … No, Mom, I'm not. I'm with Derek. … Yes, Mom, Derek Venturi. … Yes, George's son. … No, I've not had a lobotomy in the past six hours. … Yes, he took a personal day, too. … I don't know why they didn't call you. He's probably blackmailing someone in the attendance office." Casey sighed heavily. "It was a joke, Mom. … Mom, calm down. I asked him to cut class. Yes, really. … No, I don't have a fever. I needed a ride, Mom." There was a long pause, during which I could hear Nora make various sounds of disbelief. "Okay, Mom." Casey lowered the phone and looked at me. "She wants to talk to you." I grabbed the phone and put it to my ear.
"Yo."
"Derek Venturi! Did you give my daughter drugs?"
"No, Nora." I figured shot answers would be best in this situation.
"Is she alright? No head trauma?" I laughed a little and I swear I heard Nora growl.
"No, Nora. She's fine. She just didn't want to deal with all the drama surrounding the break-up."
"Well, whatever the case maybe, I want the two of you to come home right away," Nora told me.
"I don't know if that's a good idea. I think Casey needs to get away from everything for a little while before she goes home."
"Derek! That's ludicrous." I got off the bench and walked away from Casey as Nora was talking. She tried to follow, but I glared at her and she actually sat back down. "Bring her home, now. I want to talk to her."
I figured I was far enough away that Casey wouldn't hear me, but I turned away from her, just to be sure. "Nora, please just trust me. Casey's not herself right now. I'm not going to tell you what happened, that's not my place. But, just believe me when I say that Casey doesn't need to be smothered right now. I know that's what you want to do. You want to me to take her home so that the two of you can sit down on the couch and watch girly movies and eat ice-cream and talk about it, but I don't think Casey needs to talk about it again. It's too new. Just give her a little while to try to deal with it on her own."
Nora spluttered on the phone, but it didn't sound angry. It sounded shocked.
"Derek…" she trailed off, but her voice was much softer, and she wasn't using my last name, so I figured I was out of the danger zone, for now.
"I promise we won't do anything delinquent." Nora chuckled a little.
"There is no guarantee of that with you, Derek," she said, but she sounded amused. "Just, be careful, okay? And Derek… Thank you. Thank you for keeping from going into full Mom mode. I think you're right about giving Casey space. I forget sometimes that she's a young woman, not a little girl." I smiled.
"You're welcome, Nora. We will be. Will you just call the school and excuse our absences?"
"Ours, huh? So, you're not blackmailing someone in the attendance office?'
"Nah, bribery is much more effective."
Nora laughed. "Tell Casey I love her. I love you, too, Derek."
"Love you, Nora." She hung up.
I walked back to the bench and Casey was glaring up at me, as usual.
"How much trouble am I in now?" she demanded.
"None," I told her smugly, handing back her phone. "And, Nora is going to excuse your absence and we have the day all to ourselves. And, I'm supposed to tell you she loves you. So, what do you want to do?"
Casey looked astonished for a moment, but her face quickly morphed into a devilish grin. I went a little weak in the knees.
"We could go… prom shopping," she suggested.
I moaned at the thought of walking around all day, shopping. "Are you trying to kill me? Prom shopping doesn't even involve girls trying on skimpy bathing suits!"
"Oh, so you would be willing to go if I agreed to try on skimpy clothes? You perv!" I probably should've come up with a witty retort faster, but I was distracted by the thought of Casey trying on skimpy clothing.
It took a minute before I could eek out a "No, way, Case," which is admittedly not my best comeback.
"Please, Derek? I need a corsage and shoes that match my dress and maybe we could find some of those really pretty gloves that go up to the elbow!"
I was really tempted to point out that she didn't need any of those things, she only wanted them, but seeing the way her face lit up at the thought of everything being just perfect made me crack.
"Fine," I muttered, looking upward. She squealed and threw her arms around my neck. Instinctively, I wrapped my arms around her waist. She looked up at me with those big, blue eyes so full of gratitude and, now, happiness. All I could think about was the fact that her face was inches from mine. A slight tilt of the head and I could be kissing her, again.
I let go of her, instead and reached into my pocket for the keys to the car. She walked over to a trash bin and threw away the remains of our milk and cookies. Maybe it was wishful thinking, but she looked a little wistful.
'You're in so much trouble, Venturi.'
