A/N: Hey all!! Sorry I haven't updated in a while. This stupid site was
down for like a day and then I was in New York for my sister's baby shower
this weekend. So, I haven't been able to post and write and all that good
crap. Um...this chapter kinda gets into Casey's personal life so be
prepared to hear about her past relationships. I'm also gonna try to get a
couple more chapters up before I move into my dorm room on Sunday. I don't
know when I'll be able to update after that. It may be a while before I
get some new chapters up. I don't know how hectic things are gonna get so
just bare with me!! Well, on with the story!! ENJOY
"How come we keep finding you two in bed together?" Amy said as she shook us awake. I sat up and looked at her. When my eyes focused on her I groaned and laid back on Jeff's chest. "Get up!!! You have a plane to catch in a couple hours."
"Amy, I was in the middle of a very, VERY nice dream. Thank you for ruining it!" I said crawling out of bed.
"Any time!" She left the room as I stuck my tongue out at her.
"What was your dream about?" Jeff said in the middle of a yawn.
"About me and Shane. God Jeff, it was such an awesome date. He was sweet, funny, romantic. I couldn't have asked for a better date." I smiled as Jeff sat up.
"Did you two kiss?"
"Yeah. It was short but very sweet. I loved every second that our lips were together." I walked out the door and into the bathroom. Jeff sighed and walked downstairs.
"Why must you two insist on sleeping together?" Amy asked.
"You two slept together again?" Matt asked.
"Yeah. Man, why does she have to like Shane?" Jeff walked out the door and drove home.
"What does he mean by that? What's wrong with Case liking Shane?" Amy asked.
"Ames, you can't see it? He likes her. And I mean really likes her."
"No way. Oh man, I've been pushing her towards Shane too. I should have been pushing her towards Jeff," Amy said pouring a bowl of cereal.
"Amy, it's not your fault. You can't make her like Jeff. I can tell she really likes Shane and Shane really likes her. You can't change that. No one can change that. That's just the way things are." Matt gave Amy a reassuring kiss on the cheek and poured himself a cup of coffee.
"I still feel bad. Maybe if Shannon and I hadn't made up that plan than she would have gone out with Jeff last nite." Amy sighed as she ate her cereal.
"Ames, it's better this way. I mean, Casey and Jeff are gonna be split up next week anyways. She'll be with Shane. That's the way things are gonna be for a while." I stood at the top of the stairs listening to Matt and Amy.
"I know, but still. I know they could have worked things out. You can't tell me that you don't see that spark between the two of them. They're perfect together. They have so much in common."
"Yeah, but Amy, they're friends. And Shane and Casey have a spark too. You saw it, if you hadn't you wouldn't have tried to fix them up." Matt sat next to Amy at the kitchen table as I walked in.
"Jeff and I are gonna be split up?" I asked as a tear rolled down my cheek.
"Casey, you weren't supposed to hear any of our conversation. How much of it did you actually hear?" Matt asked looking at me.
"Enough to know that I'm not gonna be with Jeff anymore. That I'll be with Shane. They're putting me on Smackdown?" Matt took my arm and gently pulled me towards him. He sat me on his lap and wrapped his arms around me. Amy looked at me and began to cry.
"Casey, I have completely screwed up your life. I'm so sorry," she sobbed putting her head in her hands.
"Case, you can't let anyone know that you're moving to Smackdown. You weren't supposed to know until it happened in Seattle."
"Matt, I'm not gonna be with Jeff anymore?" He shook his head and held me tightly. "Why? Was I not good enough on RAW? What's gonna happen with my training?"
"No, you were great for RAW. It's just that they wanted another girl on Smackdown, to kinda replace Stacy for when she comes over to RAW. As for your training, I'm still gonna train you. Maybe I'm not the flier Jeff is, but I still want you to be my student. You are going to make one awesome flier. I'm sure Shannon and Shane would love to help out. Maybe even get Rey Mysterio to help. He's one of the best fliers out there. You were meant to be a flier. You will be a flier!" I smiled as I walked over to Amy. She lifted her head as I wrapped my arms around her in a hug.
"Amy, you didn't screw up my life. I don't know why you would think that you did. You made me have one of the best nites in my life last nite. And I have you and Shannon to thank for that."
"So you didn't hear the first part of our conversation?" Matt asked as I wiped my face.
I shook my head and looked at him confused. "I came in when you two were talking about me and Jeff being split. Why? What else did you have to say about me?"
"Nothing. We didn't say anything else about you," Matt said smiling sweetly. I knew him better than to believe that, but I figured I would let it go anyways. I started to walk out of the kitchen and noticed Amy following me. I stopped and looked at her.
"Well, you said you had one of the best nites of your life last nite and I wanna know why. So, TELL ME!!!" Amy said smiling. I grabbed her hand and pulled her upstairs with me. I smiled as we sat on the bed.
"Do you want the PG or XXX rated version???" I questioned mischievously.
"What the hell did you two do, girl? You and Shane didn't sleep together did you?" she asked seriously. I began to laugh and she looked at me confused.
"No. I was totally joking. It's all PG. It was such a romantic nite. I loved every minute of it!" I exclaimed lying back on the bed.
"Well, spill!! I want all the details," she said. I explained everything that happened. From the dinner, to the fans, to the kiss and I packed while doing all this. She seemed so excited. Almost as excited as I was! "That is so awesome!! Oh my God!! I'm so happy you two hit it off so well. And that kiss, I bet that was the best!"
"I was almost afraid he wasn't going to kiss me. He just seemed to wait so long to kiss me. But when he did, I was just in awe!" I looked around the room to make sure I packed everything. I looked at Amy and realized I had a pile of clothes that would never fit in my bags.
"Wow, where are you gonna put all that stuff?" Amy asked as Jeff barged into the room. I looked at him with my eyes wide and put my hands on my hips.
"Why don't you knock?!" I exclaimed.
"I'm here to the rescue." I raised my eyebrows and crossed my arms.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Amy asked. He held out a black suitcase with wheels on the bottom.
"I have brought you a suitcase. Now who's the superhero?" Jeff asked smiling.
"Shane," I said without hesitation. Amy began to laugh as Jeff's smile faded. I broke into a smile and took the suitcase from him. "Thanks. Just what I needed to put these clothes into."
"You know, you could have thought about your answer before giving it to me!!!" Jeff exclaimed running down the stairs. I looked at Amy as I shook my head.
"Are you sure he's not on drugs?" I asked. Amy nodded as I finished packing.
Matt, Jeff, and I said goodbye to Amy and we left for the airport. I took my seat on the plane between Jeff and Matt and slipped my headphones on. Music was blaring from them as I wrote in my journal. Jeff didn't even bother to listen to his own music because of how loud mine was. We arrived in Orlando around 4:00. Matt went to get his rental car as Jeff and I grabbed all of our luggage. When we were sure we had it all, we joined an angry Matt at the Enterprise counter.
"Matt, what's goin on?" Jeff asked.
"They booked me a tiny Fox instead of the Celica. They said I wanted a Fox. Do I look like a man that would get in a Fox??" Matt yelled as Jeff and I held our laughs back.
"I'm sorry bro. Maybe they can find a different car," Jeff chuckled as we continued to picture Matt in a Fox. Matt growled as he turned back to the counter.
"Can I help you?" a sweet old lady asked from behind the counter.
"Yeah, I called about renting an Eclipse yesterday. My name is Jeff Hardy." He dug out his license as she checked the computer. I pulled out my camera as Matt yelled at the young guy that had screwed up the car situation. I took a couple personal pictures of them so I could eventually start a website about them. "Ready?"
"Yeah. Hey Matt, good luck. We'll see ya later!" I said giving him a hug. We followed the lady out to the car and threw our bags in it. We headed to the Holiday Inn we were staying at in Daytona about an hour away from the airport. We checked into the room we decided to share and I changed into the only pair of jean shorts that I had and a white tank top.
"Where are you going?" Jeff asked from the bed he chose to sleep on.
"WE are going shopping. I want to get a bathing suit. WE are going to the beach tonite. I have to go to the beach!!" I said pulling him out the door. We drove to a nearby mall and into Pacific Sunwear.
"You are gonna model them for me, RIGHT?" he asked raising his eyebrows. I grabbed a light blue halter-top and black boy shorts, a red tank top and matching bikini bottom, and a Hawaiian patterned bikini top and matching string bikini bottom. I took his hand and pulled him towards the dressing rooms. I stepped into one and changed into the halter and boy short combo and showed him. He scrunched his nose up and shook his head. I tried on the bikini combo and he shrugged. Then I came out in the other bathing suit and he smiled.
"So this is the one?" I asked looking at myself in the mirror.
"Definitely. You look awesome in that," he complimented me.
I paid for the bathing suit and we headed back to the hotel to change. We grabbed a towel and extra clothes to change into afterwards. I grabbed my cell and we to Daytona Beach. Once there we set our stuff down and I ran for the water. I dived into it and stood up once I was waist deep. The water was like a warm bathtub. It was a big difference from the water in Maine. There you always froze. It only got up to like 60 degrees on the hottest days of the year. I looked at Jeff as he stood by our stuff with his arms crossed.
"Come on!!! Hardy, get your ass in here!" I yelled. He ran at me and picked me up. He lifted me as high as he could and walked deeper into the water as he threw me in. I stood up and lunged at him. We fell into the water laughing as a wave washed over us. We stood up and walked back to the beach and sat on the towels watching a bunch of kids building sandcastles. I leaned back onto my elbows and watched the waves of the ocean. Jeff leaned over me and smiled. I smiled back looking into his green eyes.
"Matt told me you heard about being moved to Smackdown." He sat back as I sat up. I crossed my legs and looked at him.
"Yeah, I don't want to leave. I've got too many friends on RAW. I don't understand why they're moving me. You're not gonna be training me anymore. Who's gonna teach me all the good moves?"
"Matt's an awesome wrestler. He'll teach so much that I can't. Plus Shannon does the same moves I do and then some, so he'll do an awesome job teaching you. You'll do really well on Smackdown. I know you will. I even heard Vince talking about making you a tryout match in a couple weeks to see how you're coming along. Maybe you'll be working house shows soon."
"I still don't wanna leave you and Trish. It's gonna be like starting over again."
"Yeah, but you started your life from scratch a month ago and now look at you. You're working for the WWE and getting your pictures put into magazines. And someday you'll be one of the best women wrestlers out there. Maybe you'll even be the undisputed champion or something!"
"You sure have a lot of faith in me."
"That's because I believe in you! You have a lot of talent. You just need to raise up your confidence. You seem to think you're not good enough. Once you get some confidence you'll be unstoppable! Just believe in yourself!" He leaned over and kissed my cheek lightly. I smiled and reached for my cell. "Who are you calling?"
"Trish. I promised her I would tell her all about my date with Shane." He sighed deeply as I called Trish and told her all about my nite.
After my phone call with Trish we went into changing areas on the beach and I changed into a pair of jeans and a dark green tank top. We got into to the car and went to a nearby restaurant. We had a good time just the two of us. We were interrupted by fans a couple times, but Jeff was very polite to them and gave them autographs.
"What kind of ice cream do you want?" Jeff asked as we walked up to an ice cream shack. He pulled out his wallet and waited for my answer. "Hmmm..you look like a chocolate soft serve with chocolate and rainbow sprinkles."
"Whoa, how'd you guess that?" I asked shocked.
"I really don't know..that's just the kind of person you look to be."
"Can I help you?" a 15 teen year old guy asked through a window.
"Yeah, we'll have a medium mint chip ice cream cone and a medium chocolate cone with chocolate and rainbow sprinkles," Jeff said as the guy wrote down the order. Jeff paid the guy before he closed the screen to the window and walked away.
"You are amazing!" I said grabbing some napkins.
"Why?"
"How would you know something like what kind of ice cream I like? That's so weird. It's like you could read my mind or something." I smiled as the guy came back with our ice cream. I took mine and we walked onto a pier and sat on a bench.
"I've told you tons of times that I know you. Do you believe me yet?"
"No..but if you keep this up I will be."
"So, you really did have a good time with Shane?"
"Yeah, I really did. I like him a lot. I've never met anyone like him."
"Shane's a really good person. I'm glad that if you were gonna go out with anyone it was him. There are a lot of guys out there that I wouldn't trust, but Shane I do to a point. Just be careful with him. I don't want to see you get hurt," Jeff said sweetly. It was almost a brotherly tone.
"Jeff, where is all this coming from? I mean, it's almost like you're trying to protect me."
"I guess in a way I am. I don't know, ever since you came into my life, I've felt like I've needed to be there for you make sure you didn't get hurt. You're a very special person and you don't deserve to be hurt."
"Thanks for all you've done for me, but I can take care of myself. Gees, it's like you think you're my big brother or something. Next you're gonna interrogate my dates or something to make sure that they're up to your standards." I laughed as he sat there with a serious expression on his face. I looked over at him and smiled. "I guess, I wouldn't mind having someone like you being my big brother. I already consider Matt my brother, but he doesn't try to protect me like you do. At times I do consider you like my brother. You're always there for my when I need you, you always seem to care about me even if I piss you off, and you do tease me like I was a little sister."
"I've always considered you my little sister. We are a lot alike and we do get along great. You are part of my family in my mind!" He smiled and tried to hide the fact that he was lying. Deep down he was hurting; he didn't want to be considered my brother. I guess I was too stupid to see that.
"I think I have the best family in the world right now. I have two great brothers, two great sisters, and so many others that consider me either their sister or daughter. Look at how Mark Callaway treats me. He's just like a father to me. He's so sweet and loving. I can't believe I'm that close to the Undertaker. It's so weird to think about."
"You have a lot of people in the company that love you. I don't think one person doesn't. And RAW is really gonna miss you. Hell, I'm really gonna miss you!" He threw his arms around me in a giant hug. I went with it and wrapped my arms around him.
"Jeff, it's gonna be so hard for me to leave you and everyone else I've become close with. I seriously don't want to leave."
Jeff and I watched the sun set over the ocean and went back to the hotel. We watched some t.v., I talked to Shane, and we were asleep by 10:00. In the morning we drove to the where Ozzfest was and went backstage to speak with a bunch of the artists. I took pictures of Jeff and various musicians and enjoyed the concert. Rob Zombie was definitely the best performer with System of a Down close behind. After the concert we went back to the hotel and slept. In the morning we met up with Matt at the airport and flew back to North Carolina.
"I feel like I haven't done any training for ever! Can we when we get back?" I asked lowering my headphones. Matt looked over at me from reading a magazine while Jeff slept. I sighed and looked at Matt.
"Yeah, I don't see why not. We'll head to the gym when we land. I'll just call Amy and let her know." He went back to his magazine and I put my headphones back on. I glanced past Jeff and looked out the window. I watch the clouds float by and began writing a poem in my journal. Jeff woke up and stretched as he casually looked over my shoulder, trying to read my work. I rolled my eyes and handed the book to him. He smiled as he read it.
When we landed in Raleigh, we got into Jeff's corvette and drove to the gym they worked out at. There was a ring set up and we headed right for it. I warmed up with some bumps then Jeff brought out a ladder. I put my hands on my hips and looked at him nervously.
"Well, I feel you're ready for a ladder. You have no fear jumping off the post or anything else for the matter. So, I think a ladder is the next step for you," he said as he slid it into the ring. Matt's eyes grew wide as he stared at his little brother.
"Dude, are you trying to kill her? I agree that she's an excellent wrestler, but I don't think we need or should use a ladder at this stage in her training," Matt argued. I stood there with my arms crossed as Jeff opened up the ladder. He walked over to Matt and began arguing with him. I rolled my eyes and began to climb to the top of the ladder. Once I felt stable, I took in a deep breath and did a swanton onto the mat. When Matt and Jeff heard the impact they quickly looked at me. I sat up and smiled at them. They ran over to me with their eyes bulging out of their sockets and helped me up.
"Are you okay?!" Jeff asked examining me to make sure I was still in one piece.
"Oh yeah, I'm totally fine!! That was a sweet rush!!! I wanna do it again!" Matt's jaw dropped to the floor as Jeff began to laugh.
"You want to do that again?" Matt asked shocked.
"Hell yeah!! That was awesome!! Dude, I haven't done anything that exciting!" I exclaimed. Matt shook his head as Jeff continued to laugh.
"What are you laughing at?" Matt asked.
"And you thought she wasn't ready! I think she took the fall better than either one of us have ever done! Not a scratch, bump, or bruise on her! If that was one of us, we'd be in search for some ice right now," Jeff laughed. He looked at me and pointed to the ladder. "Well, show us some moves girl!"
I nodded and climbed up the ladder. I did some more moves off of the ladder and the guys were pretty impressed. Of course by the end of training, I had gathered a few new bumps and bruises, but that comes with the business. We were back at the Hardy's house by 3:00 and Amy greeted us happily.
"I'm so glad you guys are home!!!" Amy said giving Matt a kiss.
"Ames, we've only been gone for a couple days," Matt said with his arms around her waist.
"I still missed ya'll!"
"I'm gonna go home and do some dirt biking. I'll talk to you all later," Jeff said getting back into the car.
"Wait! Jeff, can I come? I would love to watch and maybe even get a ride?" I asked.
"Yeah, sure. Get in!" He smiled as I got into the passenger seat. We rode the few minutes down the road to his house and he showed me around his house. It was beautifully built and fairly big. The backyard was set up as a dirt biking course with jumps and a volcano. Jeff wheeled out one of his bikes out of his garage and put a helmet on. He revved the bike up and sped around his homemade course.
I cheered for him as he went over some of the jumps. After he got some of his energy out he stopped in front of me and got off. He took his helmet off and shook out his hair. He handed me the helmet and pointed to the bike. He showed me the basics and I took off in a flash. Dust flew up behind me as I sped off and around the jumps. It was an awesome feeling that I've never felt before. I loved the speed and the danger of it. I even braved a jump going against Jeff's wishes. I skidded to stop in front of him and turned the bike off. I took the helmet off and ran a hand through my hair. I smiled at him as he shook his head.
"You really are fearless aren't you?" I nodded and got off the bike. He wheeled it into the garage and we walked in his house. I took a quick shower and went into the living room where Jeff was playing on his guitar.
"Thanks for teaching me to ride your bike. Think I could drive your corvette next?" I asked hopefully. He turned his head sharply at me as he hit a wrong cord.
"Not a chance!! It's not that I don't trust you; it's just that my car is very precious to me and if anything happened to it I would be very upset." He went back to his guitar as I sat on the couch. He looked over at me as I watched him and smiled. "Do you wanna just spend the nite here?"
"Yeah, sure. That would be fine." I smiled and pulled my legs up. I rested my head on my knees and sighed. "Do you think you could maybe take me for a ride on your motorcycle?"
"You sure as hell make a lot of requests! Yeah sure. Come on. I'll take you to a lake that's nearby. It's really peaceful there." He stood up and took my hand. I pulled my shoes on and we got on his bike. I wrapped my arms around his waist as we rode down some back roads to a grassy open field. We rode through the field and parked in front of a crystal blue lake.
"This is beautiful," I said sliding off the bike. I walked over to a wooden bench and examined it. "Jeff and Beth forever. Hmm..I'm guessing you and Beth came here a lot."
"Yeah. I actually built that bench. This used to be kinda our place, ya know? It's just a real secluded area where we could just be alone." He sat down and pulled me down next to him. We watched as a mother duck guided her babies across the lake. I smiled as the wind lightly blew against my face. Jeff softly put his arm around me and his other hand lightly on my knee.
"So, were you in love with Beth?" I asked.
"Yeah, at one time I was. I thought she loved me too. But then I heard about her and Lee, and well, that stopped all the feelings I had for her."
"I'm really sorry. Did you think you would marry her?"
"At one time I thought I could, but like I said, the thing with her and Lee kinda screwed everything up."
"Do you miss her?"
"I never really thought about it much. Now that I am, no, I don't miss her. I thought I would, but I really don't. I think towards the end of the relationship we were sort of parting ways. We weren't as close as we use to be. But enough about me and Beth. Have you ever been in love?"
"No. I haven't. The closest I was to being in love was with my last boyfriend."
"Why'd you break up?"
"The drugs he was taking were just too much for me to handle. We had been goin out for about 8 months. In the beginning I thought I could handle it, but I really couldn't. I had to always make sure I didn't smell like it whenever I left him or my parents would have killed me. I was depressed over the break up for like 2 weeks. I couldn't even look at him. I really liked him, but he wouldn't stop the drugs for me, so he obviously didn't like me that much back. He really meant a lot to me and still does." I stared off across the lake and thought about Wade. He was a couple years younger than me, but he was very mature.
"Well, he's a jerk to have let you go. You deserve much better." He wrapped his other arm around me and gave me slight squeeze. I smiled and looked into his deep green eyes. "How old were you when you had your first kiss?"
"My very first kiss was in 1st grade, but the first kiss that meant anything to me was with my first real boyfriend when I was 16."
"Really? Wow, I would have thought you would have been younger."
"Well, this guy was my boss. I was working at a park as the assistant park director and he was the main park director. He was really sweet, funny, and adorable. He's one of the best swimmers in the state of Maine. After the summer, we broke up. He went to a different school than me and we knew it would be too hard to be together. So, that was it. We split up to never talk to each other again."
"Again, another jerk. Well, I know Shane will be better for you than them!"
"Shane and I went on one date. We're not an official couple. Hell, I don't know if we'll even go out again. I mean I'd like to, but I'm not gonna wait my whole life for it. I'm gonna date who I wanna date, when I wanna date em, and where I wanna date em," I said a matter a factly.
"I completely understand that. I know this is gonna sound pretty personal and you don't have to answer it if you don't want to. In fact, I'll understand if you slap me!" I began to laugh and he looked at me strangely.
"Gees, it's got to be pretty bad if you think I could slap you! But I promise you I wont."
"Well, just to be on the safe side, I'm gonna stand up and move over here. I don't want to really be on the receiving end of one of your slaps." He walked over by tree and crossed his arms. "Anyways, are you a virgin?"
My eyes grew wide as I stared at him. He backed up into the tree and stood safely behind it. "It's okay, I'm not gonna hit you or anything. Come back here and sit down."
"Your not? Are you sure?" he asked peeking around the tree. I nodded as he walked back to the bench and sat down.
"No, I'm not a virgin. I lost it this past year with my last boyfriend."
"The druggy?"
"Yeah, the druggy. I told you I thought I could have fallen in love with him." I smiled sadly as I thought about that nite. It was really nice and romantic. Something I always pictured. "Is that a bad thing?"
"No! I really don't care, but it was just a curiosity type thing." He put his arms around me again as it started getting darker. I moved closer to him and put my head on his shoulder. "If you could date anyone in the world, who would it be?"
"Hmm...I guess I'd pick Justin Timberlake. How about you?"
"I'd pick Trish, but you can't tell her." I nodded and shivered as he pulled me closer. "You wanna go home?"
"No, I'm fine right where I am." I smiled as I looked at the stars. The moon was full and reflected in the water. It was a perfect, romantic nite. Unfortunately I was with someone I considered family. But you take what you can get.
About a half hour later, we got back on the bike and rode back to Jeff's. He put a frozen pizza in the oven and we had a pizza, movie nite. We sat in front of the couch on the floor with blankets draped over us. We watched 2 movies before we fell asleep together in the middle of The Crow.
"How come we keep finding you two in bed together?" Amy said as she shook us awake. I sat up and looked at her. When my eyes focused on her I groaned and laid back on Jeff's chest. "Get up!!! You have a plane to catch in a couple hours."
"Amy, I was in the middle of a very, VERY nice dream. Thank you for ruining it!" I said crawling out of bed.
"Any time!" She left the room as I stuck my tongue out at her.
"What was your dream about?" Jeff said in the middle of a yawn.
"About me and Shane. God Jeff, it was such an awesome date. He was sweet, funny, romantic. I couldn't have asked for a better date." I smiled as Jeff sat up.
"Did you two kiss?"
"Yeah. It was short but very sweet. I loved every second that our lips were together." I walked out the door and into the bathroom. Jeff sighed and walked downstairs.
"Why must you two insist on sleeping together?" Amy asked.
"You two slept together again?" Matt asked.
"Yeah. Man, why does she have to like Shane?" Jeff walked out the door and drove home.
"What does he mean by that? What's wrong with Case liking Shane?" Amy asked.
"Ames, you can't see it? He likes her. And I mean really likes her."
"No way. Oh man, I've been pushing her towards Shane too. I should have been pushing her towards Jeff," Amy said pouring a bowl of cereal.
"Amy, it's not your fault. You can't make her like Jeff. I can tell she really likes Shane and Shane really likes her. You can't change that. No one can change that. That's just the way things are." Matt gave Amy a reassuring kiss on the cheek and poured himself a cup of coffee.
"I still feel bad. Maybe if Shannon and I hadn't made up that plan than she would have gone out with Jeff last nite." Amy sighed as she ate her cereal.
"Ames, it's better this way. I mean, Casey and Jeff are gonna be split up next week anyways. She'll be with Shane. That's the way things are gonna be for a while." I stood at the top of the stairs listening to Matt and Amy.
"I know, but still. I know they could have worked things out. You can't tell me that you don't see that spark between the two of them. They're perfect together. They have so much in common."
"Yeah, but Amy, they're friends. And Shane and Casey have a spark too. You saw it, if you hadn't you wouldn't have tried to fix them up." Matt sat next to Amy at the kitchen table as I walked in.
"Jeff and I are gonna be split up?" I asked as a tear rolled down my cheek.
"Casey, you weren't supposed to hear any of our conversation. How much of it did you actually hear?" Matt asked looking at me.
"Enough to know that I'm not gonna be with Jeff anymore. That I'll be with Shane. They're putting me on Smackdown?" Matt took my arm and gently pulled me towards him. He sat me on his lap and wrapped his arms around me. Amy looked at me and began to cry.
"Casey, I have completely screwed up your life. I'm so sorry," she sobbed putting her head in her hands.
"Case, you can't let anyone know that you're moving to Smackdown. You weren't supposed to know until it happened in Seattle."
"Matt, I'm not gonna be with Jeff anymore?" He shook his head and held me tightly. "Why? Was I not good enough on RAW? What's gonna happen with my training?"
"No, you were great for RAW. It's just that they wanted another girl on Smackdown, to kinda replace Stacy for when she comes over to RAW. As for your training, I'm still gonna train you. Maybe I'm not the flier Jeff is, but I still want you to be my student. You are going to make one awesome flier. I'm sure Shannon and Shane would love to help out. Maybe even get Rey Mysterio to help. He's one of the best fliers out there. You were meant to be a flier. You will be a flier!" I smiled as I walked over to Amy. She lifted her head as I wrapped my arms around her in a hug.
"Amy, you didn't screw up my life. I don't know why you would think that you did. You made me have one of the best nites in my life last nite. And I have you and Shannon to thank for that."
"So you didn't hear the first part of our conversation?" Matt asked as I wiped my face.
I shook my head and looked at him confused. "I came in when you two were talking about me and Jeff being split. Why? What else did you have to say about me?"
"Nothing. We didn't say anything else about you," Matt said smiling sweetly. I knew him better than to believe that, but I figured I would let it go anyways. I started to walk out of the kitchen and noticed Amy following me. I stopped and looked at her.
"Well, you said you had one of the best nites of your life last nite and I wanna know why. So, TELL ME!!!" Amy said smiling. I grabbed her hand and pulled her upstairs with me. I smiled as we sat on the bed.
"Do you want the PG or XXX rated version???" I questioned mischievously.
"What the hell did you two do, girl? You and Shane didn't sleep together did you?" she asked seriously. I began to laugh and she looked at me confused.
"No. I was totally joking. It's all PG. It was such a romantic nite. I loved every minute of it!" I exclaimed lying back on the bed.
"Well, spill!! I want all the details," she said. I explained everything that happened. From the dinner, to the fans, to the kiss and I packed while doing all this. She seemed so excited. Almost as excited as I was! "That is so awesome!! Oh my God!! I'm so happy you two hit it off so well. And that kiss, I bet that was the best!"
"I was almost afraid he wasn't going to kiss me. He just seemed to wait so long to kiss me. But when he did, I was just in awe!" I looked around the room to make sure I packed everything. I looked at Amy and realized I had a pile of clothes that would never fit in my bags.
"Wow, where are you gonna put all that stuff?" Amy asked as Jeff barged into the room. I looked at him with my eyes wide and put my hands on my hips.
"Why don't you knock?!" I exclaimed.
"I'm here to the rescue." I raised my eyebrows and crossed my arms.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Amy asked. He held out a black suitcase with wheels on the bottom.
"I have brought you a suitcase. Now who's the superhero?" Jeff asked smiling.
"Shane," I said without hesitation. Amy began to laugh as Jeff's smile faded. I broke into a smile and took the suitcase from him. "Thanks. Just what I needed to put these clothes into."
"You know, you could have thought about your answer before giving it to me!!!" Jeff exclaimed running down the stairs. I looked at Amy as I shook my head.
"Are you sure he's not on drugs?" I asked. Amy nodded as I finished packing.
Matt, Jeff, and I said goodbye to Amy and we left for the airport. I took my seat on the plane between Jeff and Matt and slipped my headphones on. Music was blaring from them as I wrote in my journal. Jeff didn't even bother to listen to his own music because of how loud mine was. We arrived in Orlando around 4:00. Matt went to get his rental car as Jeff and I grabbed all of our luggage. When we were sure we had it all, we joined an angry Matt at the Enterprise counter.
"Matt, what's goin on?" Jeff asked.
"They booked me a tiny Fox instead of the Celica. They said I wanted a Fox. Do I look like a man that would get in a Fox??" Matt yelled as Jeff and I held our laughs back.
"I'm sorry bro. Maybe they can find a different car," Jeff chuckled as we continued to picture Matt in a Fox. Matt growled as he turned back to the counter.
"Can I help you?" a sweet old lady asked from behind the counter.
"Yeah, I called about renting an Eclipse yesterday. My name is Jeff Hardy." He dug out his license as she checked the computer. I pulled out my camera as Matt yelled at the young guy that had screwed up the car situation. I took a couple personal pictures of them so I could eventually start a website about them. "Ready?"
"Yeah. Hey Matt, good luck. We'll see ya later!" I said giving him a hug. We followed the lady out to the car and threw our bags in it. We headed to the Holiday Inn we were staying at in Daytona about an hour away from the airport. We checked into the room we decided to share and I changed into the only pair of jean shorts that I had and a white tank top.
"Where are you going?" Jeff asked from the bed he chose to sleep on.
"WE are going shopping. I want to get a bathing suit. WE are going to the beach tonite. I have to go to the beach!!" I said pulling him out the door. We drove to a nearby mall and into Pacific Sunwear.
"You are gonna model them for me, RIGHT?" he asked raising his eyebrows. I grabbed a light blue halter-top and black boy shorts, a red tank top and matching bikini bottom, and a Hawaiian patterned bikini top and matching string bikini bottom. I took his hand and pulled him towards the dressing rooms. I stepped into one and changed into the halter and boy short combo and showed him. He scrunched his nose up and shook his head. I tried on the bikini combo and he shrugged. Then I came out in the other bathing suit and he smiled.
"So this is the one?" I asked looking at myself in the mirror.
"Definitely. You look awesome in that," he complimented me.
I paid for the bathing suit and we headed back to the hotel to change. We grabbed a towel and extra clothes to change into afterwards. I grabbed my cell and we to Daytona Beach. Once there we set our stuff down and I ran for the water. I dived into it and stood up once I was waist deep. The water was like a warm bathtub. It was a big difference from the water in Maine. There you always froze. It only got up to like 60 degrees on the hottest days of the year. I looked at Jeff as he stood by our stuff with his arms crossed.
"Come on!!! Hardy, get your ass in here!" I yelled. He ran at me and picked me up. He lifted me as high as he could and walked deeper into the water as he threw me in. I stood up and lunged at him. We fell into the water laughing as a wave washed over us. We stood up and walked back to the beach and sat on the towels watching a bunch of kids building sandcastles. I leaned back onto my elbows and watched the waves of the ocean. Jeff leaned over me and smiled. I smiled back looking into his green eyes.
"Matt told me you heard about being moved to Smackdown." He sat back as I sat up. I crossed my legs and looked at him.
"Yeah, I don't want to leave. I've got too many friends on RAW. I don't understand why they're moving me. You're not gonna be training me anymore. Who's gonna teach me all the good moves?"
"Matt's an awesome wrestler. He'll teach so much that I can't. Plus Shannon does the same moves I do and then some, so he'll do an awesome job teaching you. You'll do really well on Smackdown. I know you will. I even heard Vince talking about making you a tryout match in a couple weeks to see how you're coming along. Maybe you'll be working house shows soon."
"I still don't wanna leave you and Trish. It's gonna be like starting over again."
"Yeah, but you started your life from scratch a month ago and now look at you. You're working for the WWE and getting your pictures put into magazines. And someday you'll be one of the best women wrestlers out there. Maybe you'll even be the undisputed champion or something!"
"You sure have a lot of faith in me."
"That's because I believe in you! You have a lot of talent. You just need to raise up your confidence. You seem to think you're not good enough. Once you get some confidence you'll be unstoppable! Just believe in yourself!" He leaned over and kissed my cheek lightly. I smiled and reached for my cell. "Who are you calling?"
"Trish. I promised her I would tell her all about my date with Shane." He sighed deeply as I called Trish and told her all about my nite.
After my phone call with Trish we went into changing areas on the beach and I changed into a pair of jeans and a dark green tank top. We got into to the car and went to a nearby restaurant. We had a good time just the two of us. We were interrupted by fans a couple times, but Jeff was very polite to them and gave them autographs.
"What kind of ice cream do you want?" Jeff asked as we walked up to an ice cream shack. He pulled out his wallet and waited for my answer. "Hmmm..you look like a chocolate soft serve with chocolate and rainbow sprinkles."
"Whoa, how'd you guess that?" I asked shocked.
"I really don't know..that's just the kind of person you look to be."
"Can I help you?" a 15 teen year old guy asked through a window.
"Yeah, we'll have a medium mint chip ice cream cone and a medium chocolate cone with chocolate and rainbow sprinkles," Jeff said as the guy wrote down the order. Jeff paid the guy before he closed the screen to the window and walked away.
"You are amazing!" I said grabbing some napkins.
"Why?"
"How would you know something like what kind of ice cream I like? That's so weird. It's like you could read my mind or something." I smiled as the guy came back with our ice cream. I took mine and we walked onto a pier and sat on a bench.
"I've told you tons of times that I know you. Do you believe me yet?"
"No..but if you keep this up I will be."
"So, you really did have a good time with Shane?"
"Yeah, I really did. I like him a lot. I've never met anyone like him."
"Shane's a really good person. I'm glad that if you were gonna go out with anyone it was him. There are a lot of guys out there that I wouldn't trust, but Shane I do to a point. Just be careful with him. I don't want to see you get hurt," Jeff said sweetly. It was almost a brotherly tone.
"Jeff, where is all this coming from? I mean, it's almost like you're trying to protect me."
"I guess in a way I am. I don't know, ever since you came into my life, I've felt like I've needed to be there for you make sure you didn't get hurt. You're a very special person and you don't deserve to be hurt."
"Thanks for all you've done for me, but I can take care of myself. Gees, it's like you think you're my big brother or something. Next you're gonna interrogate my dates or something to make sure that they're up to your standards." I laughed as he sat there with a serious expression on his face. I looked over at him and smiled. "I guess, I wouldn't mind having someone like you being my big brother. I already consider Matt my brother, but he doesn't try to protect me like you do. At times I do consider you like my brother. You're always there for my when I need you, you always seem to care about me even if I piss you off, and you do tease me like I was a little sister."
"I've always considered you my little sister. We are a lot alike and we do get along great. You are part of my family in my mind!" He smiled and tried to hide the fact that he was lying. Deep down he was hurting; he didn't want to be considered my brother. I guess I was too stupid to see that.
"I think I have the best family in the world right now. I have two great brothers, two great sisters, and so many others that consider me either their sister or daughter. Look at how Mark Callaway treats me. He's just like a father to me. He's so sweet and loving. I can't believe I'm that close to the Undertaker. It's so weird to think about."
"You have a lot of people in the company that love you. I don't think one person doesn't. And RAW is really gonna miss you. Hell, I'm really gonna miss you!" He threw his arms around me in a giant hug. I went with it and wrapped my arms around him.
"Jeff, it's gonna be so hard for me to leave you and everyone else I've become close with. I seriously don't want to leave."
Jeff and I watched the sun set over the ocean and went back to the hotel. We watched some t.v., I talked to Shane, and we were asleep by 10:00. In the morning we drove to the where Ozzfest was and went backstage to speak with a bunch of the artists. I took pictures of Jeff and various musicians and enjoyed the concert. Rob Zombie was definitely the best performer with System of a Down close behind. After the concert we went back to the hotel and slept. In the morning we met up with Matt at the airport and flew back to North Carolina.
"I feel like I haven't done any training for ever! Can we when we get back?" I asked lowering my headphones. Matt looked over at me from reading a magazine while Jeff slept. I sighed and looked at Matt.
"Yeah, I don't see why not. We'll head to the gym when we land. I'll just call Amy and let her know." He went back to his magazine and I put my headphones back on. I glanced past Jeff and looked out the window. I watch the clouds float by and began writing a poem in my journal. Jeff woke up and stretched as he casually looked over my shoulder, trying to read my work. I rolled my eyes and handed the book to him. He smiled as he read it.
When we landed in Raleigh, we got into Jeff's corvette and drove to the gym they worked out at. There was a ring set up and we headed right for it. I warmed up with some bumps then Jeff brought out a ladder. I put my hands on my hips and looked at him nervously.
"Well, I feel you're ready for a ladder. You have no fear jumping off the post or anything else for the matter. So, I think a ladder is the next step for you," he said as he slid it into the ring. Matt's eyes grew wide as he stared at his little brother.
"Dude, are you trying to kill her? I agree that she's an excellent wrestler, but I don't think we need or should use a ladder at this stage in her training," Matt argued. I stood there with my arms crossed as Jeff opened up the ladder. He walked over to Matt and began arguing with him. I rolled my eyes and began to climb to the top of the ladder. Once I felt stable, I took in a deep breath and did a swanton onto the mat. When Matt and Jeff heard the impact they quickly looked at me. I sat up and smiled at them. They ran over to me with their eyes bulging out of their sockets and helped me up.
"Are you okay?!" Jeff asked examining me to make sure I was still in one piece.
"Oh yeah, I'm totally fine!! That was a sweet rush!!! I wanna do it again!" Matt's jaw dropped to the floor as Jeff began to laugh.
"You want to do that again?" Matt asked shocked.
"Hell yeah!! That was awesome!! Dude, I haven't done anything that exciting!" I exclaimed. Matt shook his head as Jeff continued to laugh.
"What are you laughing at?" Matt asked.
"And you thought she wasn't ready! I think she took the fall better than either one of us have ever done! Not a scratch, bump, or bruise on her! If that was one of us, we'd be in search for some ice right now," Jeff laughed. He looked at me and pointed to the ladder. "Well, show us some moves girl!"
I nodded and climbed up the ladder. I did some more moves off of the ladder and the guys were pretty impressed. Of course by the end of training, I had gathered a few new bumps and bruises, but that comes with the business. We were back at the Hardy's house by 3:00 and Amy greeted us happily.
"I'm so glad you guys are home!!!" Amy said giving Matt a kiss.
"Ames, we've only been gone for a couple days," Matt said with his arms around her waist.
"I still missed ya'll!"
"I'm gonna go home and do some dirt biking. I'll talk to you all later," Jeff said getting back into the car.
"Wait! Jeff, can I come? I would love to watch and maybe even get a ride?" I asked.
"Yeah, sure. Get in!" He smiled as I got into the passenger seat. We rode the few minutes down the road to his house and he showed me around his house. It was beautifully built and fairly big. The backyard was set up as a dirt biking course with jumps and a volcano. Jeff wheeled out one of his bikes out of his garage and put a helmet on. He revved the bike up and sped around his homemade course.
I cheered for him as he went over some of the jumps. After he got some of his energy out he stopped in front of me and got off. He took his helmet off and shook out his hair. He handed me the helmet and pointed to the bike. He showed me the basics and I took off in a flash. Dust flew up behind me as I sped off and around the jumps. It was an awesome feeling that I've never felt before. I loved the speed and the danger of it. I even braved a jump going against Jeff's wishes. I skidded to stop in front of him and turned the bike off. I took the helmet off and ran a hand through my hair. I smiled at him as he shook his head.
"You really are fearless aren't you?" I nodded and got off the bike. He wheeled it into the garage and we walked in his house. I took a quick shower and went into the living room where Jeff was playing on his guitar.
"Thanks for teaching me to ride your bike. Think I could drive your corvette next?" I asked hopefully. He turned his head sharply at me as he hit a wrong cord.
"Not a chance!! It's not that I don't trust you; it's just that my car is very precious to me and if anything happened to it I would be very upset." He went back to his guitar as I sat on the couch. He looked over at me as I watched him and smiled. "Do you wanna just spend the nite here?"
"Yeah, sure. That would be fine." I smiled and pulled my legs up. I rested my head on my knees and sighed. "Do you think you could maybe take me for a ride on your motorcycle?"
"You sure as hell make a lot of requests! Yeah sure. Come on. I'll take you to a lake that's nearby. It's really peaceful there." He stood up and took my hand. I pulled my shoes on and we got on his bike. I wrapped my arms around his waist as we rode down some back roads to a grassy open field. We rode through the field and parked in front of a crystal blue lake.
"This is beautiful," I said sliding off the bike. I walked over to a wooden bench and examined it. "Jeff and Beth forever. Hmm..I'm guessing you and Beth came here a lot."
"Yeah. I actually built that bench. This used to be kinda our place, ya know? It's just a real secluded area where we could just be alone." He sat down and pulled me down next to him. We watched as a mother duck guided her babies across the lake. I smiled as the wind lightly blew against my face. Jeff softly put his arm around me and his other hand lightly on my knee.
"So, were you in love with Beth?" I asked.
"Yeah, at one time I was. I thought she loved me too. But then I heard about her and Lee, and well, that stopped all the feelings I had for her."
"I'm really sorry. Did you think you would marry her?"
"At one time I thought I could, but like I said, the thing with her and Lee kinda screwed everything up."
"Do you miss her?"
"I never really thought about it much. Now that I am, no, I don't miss her. I thought I would, but I really don't. I think towards the end of the relationship we were sort of parting ways. We weren't as close as we use to be. But enough about me and Beth. Have you ever been in love?"
"No. I haven't. The closest I was to being in love was with my last boyfriend."
"Why'd you break up?"
"The drugs he was taking were just too much for me to handle. We had been goin out for about 8 months. In the beginning I thought I could handle it, but I really couldn't. I had to always make sure I didn't smell like it whenever I left him or my parents would have killed me. I was depressed over the break up for like 2 weeks. I couldn't even look at him. I really liked him, but he wouldn't stop the drugs for me, so he obviously didn't like me that much back. He really meant a lot to me and still does." I stared off across the lake and thought about Wade. He was a couple years younger than me, but he was very mature.
"Well, he's a jerk to have let you go. You deserve much better." He wrapped his other arm around me and gave me slight squeeze. I smiled and looked into his deep green eyes. "How old were you when you had your first kiss?"
"My very first kiss was in 1st grade, but the first kiss that meant anything to me was with my first real boyfriend when I was 16."
"Really? Wow, I would have thought you would have been younger."
"Well, this guy was my boss. I was working at a park as the assistant park director and he was the main park director. He was really sweet, funny, and adorable. He's one of the best swimmers in the state of Maine. After the summer, we broke up. He went to a different school than me and we knew it would be too hard to be together. So, that was it. We split up to never talk to each other again."
"Again, another jerk. Well, I know Shane will be better for you than them!"
"Shane and I went on one date. We're not an official couple. Hell, I don't know if we'll even go out again. I mean I'd like to, but I'm not gonna wait my whole life for it. I'm gonna date who I wanna date, when I wanna date em, and where I wanna date em," I said a matter a factly.
"I completely understand that. I know this is gonna sound pretty personal and you don't have to answer it if you don't want to. In fact, I'll understand if you slap me!" I began to laugh and he looked at me strangely.
"Gees, it's got to be pretty bad if you think I could slap you! But I promise you I wont."
"Well, just to be on the safe side, I'm gonna stand up and move over here. I don't want to really be on the receiving end of one of your slaps." He walked over by tree and crossed his arms. "Anyways, are you a virgin?"
My eyes grew wide as I stared at him. He backed up into the tree and stood safely behind it. "It's okay, I'm not gonna hit you or anything. Come back here and sit down."
"Your not? Are you sure?" he asked peeking around the tree. I nodded as he walked back to the bench and sat down.
"No, I'm not a virgin. I lost it this past year with my last boyfriend."
"The druggy?"
"Yeah, the druggy. I told you I thought I could have fallen in love with him." I smiled sadly as I thought about that nite. It was really nice and romantic. Something I always pictured. "Is that a bad thing?"
"No! I really don't care, but it was just a curiosity type thing." He put his arms around me again as it started getting darker. I moved closer to him and put my head on his shoulder. "If you could date anyone in the world, who would it be?"
"Hmm...I guess I'd pick Justin Timberlake. How about you?"
"I'd pick Trish, but you can't tell her." I nodded and shivered as he pulled me closer. "You wanna go home?"
"No, I'm fine right where I am." I smiled as I looked at the stars. The moon was full and reflected in the water. It was a perfect, romantic nite. Unfortunately I was with someone I considered family. But you take what you can get.
About a half hour later, we got back on the bike and rode back to Jeff's. He put a frozen pizza in the oven and we had a pizza, movie nite. We sat in front of the couch on the floor with blankets draped over us. We watched 2 movies before we fell asleep together in the middle of The Crow.