Title: Another Brick in the Wall

Author: She who has had writers block over break. DAMN!

A/N: I have absolutely no idea how a custody battle goes, so I'm just taking a shot at it. Tell me if I mess anything major up. *sigh*

--- --- ---

Casey didn't like courtrooms. He didn't like this one in particular, because he

a) had to wear a suit

b) was freezing

and most importantly

c) was the subject of a custody battle between his parents.

His father's argument was that "Casey's my boy. He's my man. I am his father, and he needs to have a strong male role model. Casey's not been very able to defend himself or stand up for himself-"

Oh, thanks a lot Dad.

"And I feel if he were around me I could help him through these problems. Patricia would just tell him like always, 'Just ignore it. Let it wash over him like he's a duck.' My son's not a duck."

Obviously.

"He's a man. I've been pushing him to join a sports team here, and he's really going to be able to make it. He has friends here. See them over in the front row?"

Kit, Gracie and a few guys Dad paid in front of the courtroom to come sit and act friendly and supportive.

"They care about him. See, he's happy here. You can't let him move to...Kentucky. He'd be so isolated."

(Sorry, Kay.) Like I'm not already.

Casey shot a nervous glance at the front row and at his two real friends. Gracie's hair was pixie short and blond, a new development. Before it had been a sweet shoulder length. He didn't think the judge liked it very much. Kit looked extremely clean-cut. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail and she was wearing a polo shirt and straight legged jeans. Very country club. Casey barely noticed when his father stopped speaking. Frankly, he didn't really care which way he went. His father and Kit on the one hand, or his mother and total isolation. His mother loved him, but she was extremely strict. His father wanted him to be a jock, and cheated on his marriage. But Kit and Gracie lived in Herrington.

"Patricia Conner?" called the judge. "Make your plea."

"I love my son, but I'm worried about his future. I think he is living dangerously here. The boys at his school are cruel, and his only friends are those two girls in the front row. My ex-husband-" Insert death glare towards Dad here. "- is a bad role model for him. He wants to force him into things he doesn't want to do. He wants him to hit the boys at school, and he wants him to join a sports team. I think Casey needs to come with me and get some counseling when he moves to Kentucky."

Counseling? Casey could see Kit stifle a laugh into her hand, turning it into a cough.

"Thank you, Mrs. Conner. Casey, could you come up to the stand? I'm going to need a written statement from you."

Casey jumped. "What?"

"Yes, come up here."

When Casey came up to the stand, he turned to the judge and whispered quickly, "Your Honor, the person I really depend on in this scenario is my best friend. The, um, one in the polo shirt. Katherine O'Connell. She knows everything that's been going on, probably better than me. I think you should ask her some questions."

"Yes," said the judge, peering over his half-moon glasses at some papers. "Your father said in his statement that she is a bad influence on you."

Casey gasped and shot a look of barely repressed fury towards his father, then looked back at the judge. "Listen, he has no idea what he's talking about. You can see me down there. I don't talk. I'm quiet. I'm not popular. I will never be popular. Kit is the first friend I've had in three years."

"Are you sure," said the judge imperiously, "That you are not so grateful to Miss O'Connell for befriending you that you are willing to look past all her flaws and misguidance?"

"I'm sure. Please, your Honor, I have to stay here. I love my mother, but I would have to start all over again."

The judge nodded slowly. "I see. You may sit down."

--- --- ---

As they were leaving the courtroom, Casey caught up to Kit and Gracie and they made supportive contact, patting his shoulder, ruffling his hair, kissing his cheek.

"Are you okay, Case?" asked Gracie, absently fiddling with a tiny lock of hair by her ear. "He looked pretty intense up there."

"Yeah," replied Casey. "Let's get out of here."

"Ice cream?" asked Kit, keeping her arm around Casey's shoulders like a brace to hold him up. Casey smiled and stepped ahead of his warring parents.

"Sounds great."

--- --- ---

Kit swung the bathroom stall door open in the ice cream parlor and stepped up to the sink. She pumped soap into her hands and stuck them under the faucet, scrubbing at each finger to avoid going out there so quickly. Finally she couldn't dilly-dally any longer, and started out the door. The second she opened the door she found an unwelcome familiar figure waiting for her.

"Zeke, please leave me alone."

Zeke smiled lazily and folded his arms over his chests. "Kit, that's not nice," he said with a tilt of his head. "I usually hang out here. I think it's you who needs to leave me alone."

Kit groaned and shook her head emphatically. "No, Zeke. You need to leave me alone. I am far too stressed to put up with you. So please, Zeke. No offense, but fuck you."

"Your place or mine?"

"I hate you."

--- --- ---

and I hate school, the end. Will write much more in eleven days