Sorry for the last chapter. Didn't know where I was going. Might've been a bit confusing. I apologize. CX
I realize that I have gone completely off course.
I am going to try to pull myself out of the ditch now. So this chapt. won't be the best.
But I will try to be clearer with this one.
P.S. Who Mark is will be explained in coming chapters. But you'll see why The girls feel the way they do about him.
The next day was a new day. Everything went like a normal day would. It was a little different with the girls around. It was like that until December tenth.
"We need to scout the drains." Destiny explained.
She wanted to have a better picture of their surroundings. She was arguing with the boys. And the girls.
"But DE. Isn't that dangerous?" Cassy asked fearfully. She didn't like drains, sewers, caves. They freaked her out.
"Yeah De, we could die down there." Nicky added.
"You don't know the sewers." Skipper said.
"And you do?" Destiny asked skeptically.
"Yes, as a matter of fact I do" Skipper replied.
"Then take us on a tour" Destiny said. Annoyed. Skipper knew everything. Yeah. Jerk. She thought.
"Fine. We'll give you a tour of the sewer." Skipper sighed, irritated. He didn't like the idea of taking them on yet another tour. They were starting to annoy him. Not threats though. So far. That was good.
"I don't think I'll go." Cassy said. She laughed nervously.
"Fine." Destiny grunted.
"I really don't think I'll be useful down there Skippah. Can I stay here too?" Private asked. He really didn't like the sewers. He was ok in them. He wasn't afraid of them. He just didn't like them.
"Don't mingle." Skipper ordered. He didn't think it was a good idea. But he had other things to worry about.
Then the six of them left. (Destiny, Nicky, Kiki, Kowalski, Rico, Skipper.)
"I don't get why she needs to look at the sewers." Cassy stated. She didn't sound scared anymore. A little annoyed was all.
Private stared at her. She was beautiful. She was short, around his height. She had been very friendly so far. The tour with her was very nice. She was very polite to all of the animals. And she had a sweet giggle. Her laugh was sweet too. But her giggle, it made you think she was the daughter of an angel. She wasn't a total angel. No one was. But if Private didn't know better, he would've said Cassy was an angel. She had purple eyes that shined in the light. She looked happy. Even when she wasn't she still looked like she could be happy. She was beautiful. Just beautiful.
Cassy looked at Private. He was staring at her. She blushed. A boy never stared at her like that before. He was looking at her with baby blue eyes. They were kind and happy eyes. And they were warm. They made her feel like she was really welcome here. He was smiling too. That just added to his welcoming look. He was friendly. She knew that from the tour. He had been very kind to them when he explained things. And smiled while he did it. And she had to admit, he was cute. He was short. Like her. But hadn't made fun of her. She knew that she was shorter than him. She felt it. At least he didn't make her feel bad like the guys back in Florida did. They called her pipsqueak, shortstop, and puny. They pushed her around. They weren't very nice to her. But this, Private fellow. He had been nice to her, to them, from day one. He treated them like guests. That was good. That was more than she expected. Much better than what she had expected.
She smiled back at him. He was nice, cute, and gorgeous. She liked him.
Private realized that he was staring. All of a sudden he felt very embarrassed. She probably thought he was a freak now. She would hate him now. She was nice, pretty, and seemed to have an interesting personality. Now he may never know it.
She saw him look away. His happy welcoming expression flashed into a worried one.
"Are you ok?" She asked concerned. She knew that De wouldn't approve. But she had to talk to him.
Private looked up. She wasn't freaked at all. She was very kind. He smiled. "I think so." He replied.
She giggled. Then covered her beak. She tried not to do that a lot. She was embarrassed by it. Her cheeks turned rosy red.
Private smiled. "It's ok. You can giggle. It's not a bad thing." He reassured. Then he giggled himself to prove it.
It was a nice friendly giggle. And awfully cute. Cassy had to giggle again. Private was so kind. So innocent. Like she was. They were alike in many ways. "I guess it's ok."
"So, what do you do for fun?" Cassy asked a little board.
"Oh um.." Private didn't expect her to ask that. He really didn't know. He watched T.V. a lot. When he was alone. He played checkers, or candy land. He sometimes played card games. But he really didn't know what to say. He thought all of those things would make him deem boring. But he had to tell her something.
"Well, I um, sometimes play checkers, or play card games, or sometimes watch T.V." He said shyly. He really wanted her to like him.
She thought for a moment. Why was he so shy? She liked those things too. She smiled at him. "I like that stuff too." She said happily. She wanted to get to know him. Maybe they would like each other. She hoped so. She was always so afraid, because of Destiny's boyfriends. She was always trying to see if boys could be relied on. They always lied to her. Cassy just didn't want a Mark.
Private was surprised. He thought that she would like more active things. Like walking or climbing. Something like that. But he was happy that she liked checkers and cards, and T.V. Now they could do stuff together. Now he could get to know her better.
He did feel bad about disobeying Skipper. But he was just being paranoid. What could Cassy and him possibly do? What could she possibly do to him? He came up blank. So he would get to know Cassy. And he would enjoy it.
He placed Skipper in the back of hid]s mind, and concentrated on Cassy.
Destiny wouldn't want her to do this. And if she found out, there would be trouble for both of them. They had to be careful. But she didn't think Destiny had a reason to worry. Private didn't seem like the type to harm people. He was nice and friendly.
But even though Destiny didn't say anything, Cassy knew that De expected her to stay away from private. So she felt bad for not doing so. But De's expectations would have to wait. She had a nice, cute bay that she had to know better.
"So, what do you want to do?" Private asked. He felt a little awkward just standing there, doing nothing.
She didn't know. It had to be something that they could talk while doing. "Hmmm. How about checkers?" She suggested. You could play that and do two other things at the same time. It was a simple easy game. And it didn't need a lot of concentration.
"Sounds good." Private agreed happily. Checkers was good. It didn't need much focus. So he could talk to her and play at the same time.
Hopefully, no one would come back before the two were done talking.
They set up the board and pieces on the table in the middle of the room. Then, they started to play.
After a few minutes Cassy couldn't' take it anymore. More and more questions had popped inter her head ever second. She had to know the answers. Her mind was killing her. So she decided to break the silence. "Um….. So." She swallowed. She didn't want to seem like a freak. She couldn't just start asking questions. Then it would seem like an interrogation. She didn't want that. No she wanted Private to like her. So she had to start smoothly. How she was going to do that was the hard part.
She looked at Private. He wasn't staring. He was looking at her curiously. She couldn't get over how, kind he was. He hadn't laughed at her when she drew up blank. In fact he started the conversation.
After Cassy tried to start a conversation, Private noticed that her cheeks turned red again. He knew why. It was embarrassing to want to say something, start, and then come up with nothing you say. He had been doing that a lot lately. He thought it would be best if he started the conversation. He had to think of what to say for a minute. But after he got his thoughts organized, he knew exactly what to say.
"So, why do you like playing checkers?" He asked. He did his best to sound curious. And for the most part it worked. He had a good feeling that she wouldn't feel so embarrassed now. Once a conversation started, it was easy to stray from the main point.
Cassy was relieved that Private started the talking. She wasn't very good at starting. She never was. Now she knew for sure. She knew before, but now there was no doubt in her mind. Private was her prince charming. She felt silly for feeling so afraid of Private being a Mark. He was her perfect match. She could feel it.
She almost forgot he asked a question. "Oh, um..." She had to think for a minute just to remember the question. She knew the answer right away, when she figured out what was asked. "Oh, um. I guess because it's simple. I like simple games. They seem to be more fun." She said casually.
Private didn't like games that needed a lot of thought process. He liked the simple games. Like she did. "I like simple games. They're easier. And easy games are fun to play." Private agreed.
"So…" Cassy said. She really didn't know where to go next. They could play twenty questions. But would Private really want to do that? She thought that she might as well just put that out there. He had proven to be different so far. He was nice, so he wouldn't rudely object the idea. "Um would…would you like to play twenty…um…twenty questions?" She asked, nervously. She squeezed her eyes shut and tilted her head downwards, afraid to watch his reaction.
Private was a little shocked at first. The question came out of the blue. It seemed so out of place. He was confused for a moment. Why would she do that? Just blurt something out like that?
Private glanced over at Cassy. She had he eyes closed tightly like she was anticipating a hit. Private still didn't understand why she was so afraid. Or what she was so afraid of. But he didn't like when people were sad, of frightened. It mad him sad, and angry, sometimes. He had to cheer Cassy up.
"What's the matter Cassy?" Private asked sympathetically. He didn't want her to be afraid around him. It almost made him laugh. He wasn't someone to fear. He couldn't harm her if he tried.
She looked up at him and only saw kindness in his eyes. She didn't know how to tell him. She didn't want to ruin things for him. He didn't want him to hate her. But she couldn't say that. It would sound like she was rushing things. And she wasn't in any position to do that. But she still had to answer him.
Private didn't see fear really. Cassy just looked very nervous. He did too, but Cassy looked worse. She was afraid of something. He only hoped that it wasn't him.
Cassy, wanted to tell him. She felt herself falling for him. She was falling in love with a boy that she hardly knew. Was that even possible? She didn't know. Nor did she care. If this game worked out the way she hoped it would… Than she would know Private enough to tell him that she loved him. But now she had to gather her courage and get things back on track. She was getting to know Private today. And that was final. She would know him by the end of the day. Or whenever everyone came back. But she would know Private. That she knew.
"I'm fine. Just a bad memory. Don't worry. I'm almost over it." She said calmly. It wasn't very far from the truth. She had been harassed by a boy shortly before she left. He had pushed her down. The usual. But then he decided to take it a step farther. He attacked her. And if it hadn't been for Destiny's training than she would've never put run him. That was scary, and still fresh in her mind.
Private took a good look at Cassy. She was hiding something. He didn't know what. But he wanted to find out. Twenty questions was a good suggestion now.
"So are we going to play?" He asked.
"Play what?" Cassy asked confused. She had completely forgotten about the bame.
"Twenty questions right" Private replied. He didn't know if he had heard her right before.
Cassy remembered right away. She felt embarrassed too. "Oh, yeah. Let's play." She said trying to piece together her thoughts. She had let them wonder for a second. What if de came back and saw them like this? Then she got an idea. "Um Private? Do you think we should make it look like we're doing other things? You know, just in case they return?" She asked nervously. She was afraid of what would happen if they returned and she and Private were sitting close together talking.
She remembered what Skipper said "Don't mingle". If he came back and saw Private with her. She didn't want to think about it.
Private knew what she meant right away. If they were caught together, they were dead. It was simple. A deadly simple. She had a good idea. If they looked like they were doing other things, than when everyone came back they could snap into focus (pretended focus) and make it look like they never talked once. Is that what she was hiding? It couldn't be. No that wasn't it. He was eager to start the game. He really did want to get to know Cassy better. She seemed, perfect. For him, that is. She was nice, cute, and pretty. But she liked having fun the same way that he did. They thought about similar things. Well not her memories . or his. But other than that. She felt like his perfect match.
There was only one way to find out.
"That's a good idea. I wouldn't want Skipper to see me going against his order. He doesn't like that." Private agreed. There was a hint of fear in his voice. Just a hint. He didn't like when Sipper got mad at him. Private was afraid of Skipper when he got mad. It never really showed. But he was afraid.
They settled in different corners of the room.
Cassy picked up a picture book, and Private fiddled with a stuffed animal.
"So do you want to start?" Cassy asked, she was excited to get started.
"Ok." Private replied happily.
They both were happy to get the chance to get to know each other.
