A/N: Same
Casey Novak sat in 2nd period Economics, listening to Mr. Raffle ramble on about how the gas prices have increased. She had parked in a different spot this morning, not sure of how to react to Bobby, he was very strange, after all. She couldn't remember for how long she had been day dreaming when the fire alarm went off.
"Okay everyone, out to the field," Mr. Raffle said with a disappointed face that the fire drill had put an end to his tirade.
Casey walked behind the girl in front of her, Holly, when she heard her name being called from behind.
"Hey Case! Wait up!" Alex Eames said, running to catch up to her side.
"What's up?" Casey said casually, still a little ticked about the incident Friday night.
"We're still cool right? I honestly didn't mean a thing by it."
"Yeah, Alex, I told you, we're fine, really," Casey said, descending down the stairs towards the back exit to the field.
"What happened with you and Bobby on Friday night?" Alex inquired, her gold shoulder-length hair glistening as they walked towards the field.
"Uh, nothing. What do you mean?" Casey asked, caught off guard.
"Bobby has been talking about you incessantly. He likes you."
"How do you know?" Casey asked, her stomach fluttering a bit.
"I've known Bobby forever. I've been there for his many girlfriends."
"Oh really?" Casey asked. "Does he date a lot?"
"He used to. But nothing ever lasted," Alex said, stopping under a tree until the all clear bell rang. "No one could tolerate Bobby."
Casey laughed. "He does talk a lot."
"Not that," Alex said, shaking her head. "He's so...so smart. He's very serious also. When he gets into a relationship, he's very realistic about it. None of that highschool puppy love shit."
"Oh," Casey said, admiring the idea that she had met someone so down to earth.
"Hello," came the voice of Bobby Goren, behind Casey. She jumped as he laid his hand on her shoulder.
"Oh Jesus Bobby, you scared the hell out of me," Casey said, not sure of what to say.
"Hey, I'm going to go talk to Monique. I'll see you guys later," Alex said, quickly making her exit.
Before Casey could open her mouth, Bobby didn't miss a beat. "Alex told me everything that happened on Friday night. With Brian."
"Oh," Casey said, a bit embarrassed. "I didn't really like him, I uh, just, thought he was cute or whatever," Casey stuttered, shuffling her feet.
"Oh," Bobby said, watching her intently. "Do you shuffle your feet when you're nervous?"
"Oh, uh, yeah, how did you know that?" Casey asked, feeling a bit violated.
"I just know," Bobby said before an awkward silence filled the moment. "You know, Alex really meant no harm..."
"I know!" Casey yelled, frustrated at the issue this had been made into.
"Oh well, sorry," Bobby said, feeling awkward.
"No, Bobby, it's my fault, really," Casey said, making a quick recovery. "Just, Alex said sorry already like 3 times, it really wasn't even that big of a deal. I had barely even talked to him, I didn't have real feelings for him," she said as the all clear bell rang and her and Bobby began to walk back.
"Oh, gotcha," Bobby said.
"Yeah, thanks for understanding," Casey said.
"No problem," Bobby said, opening the door for her. "Well," Bobby began a new sentence as they climbed the stairs. "Early dismissal today for parent teacher conferences. Do you want to get together and rent a movie or something?"
"Uh, um," Casey pondered, completely shocked at the sudden proposal. "Sure," she finally sputtered out. "Do you want to come over at 2:00?"
"Sure," Bobby said. "What are the directions to your house."
Casey quickly scribbled the directions down on Bobby's hand with a pen outside her classroom. She had just finished writing down her cell phone number when Mr. Raffle stepped outside.
"Ms. Novak, could we please save the teenage romance until noon when you're dismissed?"
Casey began to blush a deep red color as she apologized. "Sorry Mr. Raffle," she said, walking inside the classroom.
'See you later,' she mouthed to Bobby, who just smiled.
"Hi Bobby," Casey said to her mirror. "Hey Bobby," she repeated, in a more casual voice. "Why are you making this a big deal?" she said to herself, walking to the bathroom. "This is not a dramatic first date. This is me and Bobby taking time to get to know eachother. Not a date."
Casey grabbed the horror movie from her bedroom floor and set it on top of the DVD player when the doorbell rang. She glanced at the clock. Exactly 2:00 PM.
"Hey Bobby," Casey said, opening the door.
"Hi," Bobby said, walking inside after her.
"Is that your car?" Casey asked, looking at the Ford F150 in her driveway.
"Yeah," Bobby responded, facing her in the entryway as she shut the door.
"Why don't you drive to school then?"
"Well, Alex drives me because I help her with her math homework. It's our little exchange."
"Oh, do you guys live in the same neighborhood then?" Casey said, leading Bobby to her room, shutting the door behind her.
"Sort of," Bobby chuckled. "We're neighbors."
"Oh," Casey laughed; she felt better as the mood lightened.
"Um," Bobby said, his gaze narrowing on something behind Casey.
"What?" Casey asked, turning around, realizing that the object he was staring at was her white and pink polka dot bra. "Oh, oops," Casey said, blushing as she picked up the under garment and placed it in her dirty clothes hamper.
"No big deal," Bobby said, picking the movie up on top of her DVD player. "Is this what we're watching?"
"Yes," Casey said, walking back to sit on the bed while Bobby loaded the DVD in the DVD player.
"A scary movie? Well Casey Novak, if I didn't know better, I would think you were up to something," Bobby said with a grin.
Casey blushed slightly, returning the sly comment. "Well you don't know better, do you Bobby?"
Bobby's grin only widened as he removed his shoes to sit on the bed next to her as the movie began.
"Is your mom home?" Bobby asked.
"Nope, she works late on Mondays. She won't be home till 9:00."
"Oh, so I take it your 3 week progress reports were good since your mom isn't going the conferences."
"Yeah, all A's two B's. You?"
"About the same," Bobby said, settling back against the bed post, the inches closing between them.
About 45 minutes into the movie, the climax of the movie began to highten. Casey grabbed Bobby's hand as the main character discovered the dead body of her husband in the basement.
"Are you okay?" Bobby asked, turning to face her. "You're sort of cutting off my circulation," Bobby said with a slight laugh.
"Oh yeah," Casey said, flushing slightly, "sorry," she finished as she withdrew her hand.
"It's fine," Casey said, turning her attention back to the movie.
"Hey," Casey said to Alex Cabot as she sat down next to her in Criminal Justice.
"Hey," Alex said, turning to face Casey, opening her mouth just as Mr. Munch cut her off.
"Class, turn your attention towards me please, that means you, Ms. Cabot, save the conversation for later," Mr. Munch said, turning to face the chalkboard. "Today we will be discussing the roles of Sex Crimes detectives..." he said as she felt Alex poke her arm. Casey turned to face her and saw Alex holding out a neatly folded note.
Casey unfolded the note and read the careful and elegant handwriting. 'I heard you and Bobby Goren are dating,' the note said.
Casey shook her head at how amazing the rumors were at public school between such a tight-knit group of friends.
'We're not dating. He just came over and watched a movie with me at my house on Monday night. No big,' Casey wrote back before she handed the note back to Alex.
'Well Alex Eames told me that he's going to ask you to the movies again on tomorrow night,' the note said back. Casey had just read the note before she saw a hand snatch it up from her desk. 'Uh oh,' she thought as Mr. Munch brought it to the front of the class and unfolded it as he began to read it aloud.
"Girls, please save the chit chat for after class," Mr. Munch said as Casey sank into her seat, trying to stifle her nervous giggles.
"So, after he picked up your note, did you talk to Alex C. anymore?" Olivia asked as they ate their sandwiches on the lawn outside of the cafeteria.
"Yeah, she just said that she heard from Alex E. that he's supposed to ask me to the movies again for tomorrow night."
"Wow, someone's got a hot Friday night date," Olivia said with a laugh as Casey blushed.
"Oh shut up, Liv, it's not like you don't either. Aren't you going out to eat with Elliot tomorrow?"
"Yeah," Olivia said, picking up a Cheeto and popping it in her mouth. "We're going to that new Italian restaurant on the corner of Fatchel and Beaumont."
"Ooh la la," Casey said, laughing. "Sounds like a little black dress affair to me," Casey said as Olivia swatted her leg playfully.
"You're so immature sometimes," Olivia said, rolling her eyes.
"Oh you want immature? Olivia's got a boyfriend! Olivia's got a boyfriend!" Casey chanted as Olivia laughed.
"Hey there's Bobby, he's walking over here. Shhh," she said quietly.
"Hey Case," Bobby said, sitting down next to her.
"Hey Bobby," Casey said enthusiastically; since their get together on Monday afternoon Casey and Bobby had become good friends, including talking on the phone.
"What are you ladies up to?" Bobby said, leaning on his elbow as he laid sideways.
"Um, lunch," Casey giggled. "What else would we be up to?"
"Oh I don't know," Bobby said with a nod. "Discussing this weekend."
Casey was amazed at how he knew exactly what she was doing all the time. "Yeah, we were sort of talking about that."
"What are you doing this weekend?" Bobby inquired with a smile.
"Nothing so far," Casey said casually.
"Do you want to go out tomorrow?" Bobby asked confidently.
"Sure, what do you want to do?" Casey asked, looking at her nails as if they were the most fascinating things in the world.
"It's a surprise," Bobby said, getting to his feet as the bell rang.
"How did you know I would consent?" Casey asked secretively.
"I didn't need to," Bobby said as he walked towards the building and Casey and Olivia began to pack up their lunch.
"Please tell me where we're going," Casey said as she began to get frantic when she saw the city limits sign and the Manhattan lights got smaller as they drove.
"Just trust me," Bobby said, glancing behind him to shift lanes.
"Well alright," Casey said uneasily as she looked out the window.
After ten minutes had passed, Bobby made an exit and turned right at a light. He pulled into a parking lot of a large, one-story building with a light-up sign that read "Real Wheels."
"Bobby what is this?" Casey asked as Bobby got out of the car and she glanced at her watch, which read 8:15.
"We're going to roller blade," Bobby said, opening her car door for her and locking his truck.
"What!" Casey asked as mental pictures of her falling popped into her head.
"Yeah, I used to go here all the time with my mom when I was younger, before she left."
"Where's your mom now?" Casey asked as they entered the park.
"She has a rare disease and is at a hospital in Queens," Bobby said a bit quietly.
"Oh," Casey said. "I suck at roller blading, you will have to help me," she said, quickly changing the subject.
"Alright," Bobby said as he walked up and ordered skates for the two of them.
Casey put hers on and started to stand, but wobbled a bit and fell back onto the bench where Bobby finished.
"Easy there," he said, putting his right arm around her waist and his left hand in hers, pulling her towards the rink where several other teenagers skated as well.
"Thanks," Casey said, relaxing into Bobby's grip. He smelled a lot like laundry detergent and some cologne she couldn't quite identify.
The skated several laps around the rink until Casey became comfortable and only needed the comfort of Bobby's right hand in her left hand.
"So Alex said you don't date much," Casey said, striking up the dull conversation.
"Not so much as I used to," Bobby said. "It's hard to find someone compatible in such a stereotypical school."
"Yeah," Casey said, thinking back to her days at private school and how she had only dated once.
"It seems like everyone is one way, there are no mixes of the cliques, except for you. You seem sporty yet preppy yet wild at the same time."
"Thanks for the analysis of who I am," Casey said with a laugh.
"What can I say?" Bobby shrugged. "I'm a very observant person."
"And how do you know I'm wild?" Casey wondered as they rounded the rink again.
"That small metal object puncturing your linguistic muscle inside your mouth, better known as your tongue," Bobby said confidently.
"How did you notice? It's so small," Casey said, a bit flustered.
"Like I said, I'm a very observant person."
Casey and Bobby skated for the next half hour before they decided to call it a night at about 9:30.
"Ready to drive back?" Bobby asked, grabbing Casey's hand as they walked out to his car.
"More or less," Casey said with a shrug as he opened the car door for her.
"What do you mean?" Bobby asked.
"Well it's only 9:30," Casey said as they backed out of the parking lot with a smile on her face.
"I know," Bobby said as he began to drive back towards the city. "But what else would you like to do?"
"Hm, I don't know," Casey said with a slight smile on her face. Bobby just gave her a half smile and an awkward silence followed.
When they pulled up in front of Casey's house at 10:00 PM, Bobby was the first to speak.
"See you on Monday," Bobby said.
Casey made a frown as he initiated the depart.
"Eventually," Bobby said, knowing she wanted just a slight step towards the first kiss.
"I know," Casey sighed. "Thanks for tonight, I had fun," she said, forcing a smile.
"See you later," Bobby said, watching her get inside her house.
"Bobby Goren," Casey muttered walking to her room. "Our first kiss better be good."