Chapter 14—1425 words ina letter

Despite having seen Vida turned into a vampire, seeing Xander with a huge zit, and then seeing him turned into a tree, Nick was still dwelling on Jeremy and Brice. How could 2 guys affect his life so much? Jeremy was too nice, and Brice was too much of a douche bag. Nick had some serious problems when it came to choosing guys…

"Hey Nick, the rest of us were gonna stop by Rootcore before work, wanna join?" Madison asked perkily.

"What for?" Nick asked in a rather distracted tone.

"Well, we wanted to check on the egg and make sure it's doing okay."

Nick nodded, "Sure…why not."

Madison sighed and watched the red ranger put his books in his locker ever-so sadly.

"Nick, I know you're having troubles with Xander, but you know you can't let that affect your ranger duties."

"And I haven't, okay? I won't. It's just…I really don't want to be around him when I don't have to be," Nick stated evenly.

Madison nodded, "I understand…"

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"Vida, I don't think it's such a good idea for me to be around Nick for too long," Xander explained.

"Yeah, and I'm telling you I don't care. Chip's the only one that doesn't know about this and you two are making it easier and easier to tell something happened. Now either you suck it up or everyone's gonna know," the feistier of the Rocca sisters retorted.

"Why should I care anymore whether or not people know?"

Vida fixed him with a devilish glare, "Don't you even think about it. Nick is our friend; we're not going to put him in that position."

Xander rolled his eyes but agreed nonetheless.

"Hey all," Casey greeted, popping up from nowhere.

"Hey Case," Xander said.

"Hola amigo," Vida returned.

"Anyone got plans after school? I was thinking dinner, movie, maybe a concert?"

Xander looked anxiously at Vida, "Sorry Case, Xander and I have plans with Maddi, Chip and Nick. Maybe tomorrow?"

Casey looked at Vida with a crestfallen expression, "Oh…okay."

"You okay?" Xander asked.

"Yeah, fine. I'll see you guys later," Casey said as he departed.

"See V, I could've just stayed with Casey and everything would've been a-okay. Who needs five people to check on a bloody egg?"

"You never know if we'll get attacked on the way. It's better to go as all five of us," Vida said as they began striding down the hall.

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Turned out, the egg was fine. Xander, however, was not. When he got home that evening, he sat down and though hard. It was the first time in a while he'd been faced with a predicament like the one he was in.

With his mind made up, he pulled out a pen and some paper and began to write. What he was writing, he didn't think about, he just wrote what came from his heart, and before he gave himself a chance to reread it, he folded it up and stuffed them in his pants' pockets for tomorrow.

--XX—

Being turned into a tree gave Xander a valuable life lesson, but it didn't give him the confidence he wanted when he had to do something this troubling. Without thinking, without second guessing, he stuffed one letter into Nick's, and the other into Casey's.

His actions would make the day a whole lot more interesting.

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Nick's day was going from bad to worse. He had to walk to school because Jeremy was gone on a football fieldtrip, and on his way he was splashed with a wave of water from a car, no matter how stereotypical it seemed. Not only did the rain seep through his clothes, but it managed to get through the thin fabric of his backpack and all over his schoolwork and the term paper that was due three days later.

He trudged through the hallways looking like a drenched cat on the prowl. When he reached his locker, it took him three angry tries before it finally squeaked open. He ripped his backpack open and began to unload it when he saw it. A piece of folded up notebook paper. All four corners met perfectly, it wasn't wrinkled, and it looked almost as if it were glowing among the other things in his locker.

Cautiously, Nick opened the letter, but suddenly, he wished he hadn't.

Dear Casey,

I hope you know how much you mean to me and that no matter how threatened you may feel by Nick, I'm completely over him. I don't really know if we'd even had a chance in the first place, but we tried it. I promise you, we won't get back together. He's with Jeremy now, and personally, I don't want anything Jeremy's touched…though Nick's a great guy, it just doesn't seem like we're made for each other.

Nick stopped. There was still another paragraph, but he couldn't bring himself to read it. Was Xander trying to start more trouble? Why would he put a letter meant for Casey in his locker?

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Casey's day couldn't have gotten much better. He was finally able to drive to school in his new car, and he got a great parking spot. On his way to his locker, people he'd never talked to before suddenly spoke to him with familiarity. It was like he was becoming something even he didn't know he was. He'd even managed to get his projects all done ahead of time, and he had a significant amount of money in his wallet from his birthday. Yep, today was definitely his day.

He seemed to float through the hallways with all the grace of a Prince of greatness. He felt as though his feet never even hit the ground. He wondered how his life had gotten so great in less than 3 months. As he opened his locker with great precision, Casey noticed a rather oddly folded note in his locker. It looked as though a fourth grader had folded it, and it seemed to spread dreariness through his otherwise glowing locker.

With curiosity, Casey opened the odd letter and read.

To Nick,

I realize you hate me right now, and I'm sure you have every right to. I know I broke your trust but I didn't mean to hurt you. I jumped to conclusions and it seems as though that's my weakest point. I guess what I'm saying is that I need you as my friend. I miss being content around you. Jeremy's not what you need in someone, no matter what you might think. I'm sure he's been nothing but great to you, but you must admit that he's a little too nice. I really like Casey and everything, so I'm staying with him. But I want you to know that if there's ever a time you want to give it a second try…it's always possible if Casey and I don't work. I'm willing to give that for you Nick.

As if storm clouds had appeared over his head, Casey felt he was struck by lightning. How could something like that happen to him…on a perfect day? Why was it happening to him?

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Nick approached Xander before 1st block even started and he could see the nervous look on his face.

"Come here," Nick said roughly.

Xander followed quickly, much to the amusement of Chip, who remained clueless.

"What the hell was up with the letter? I know you like Casey, why'd you have to rub it in?"

"What?"

Nick took the letter out angrily and smashed it into Xander's chest.

Xander unfolded the paper and immediately knew what he'd done. He gave Nick Casey's letter and Casey Nick's—

"Oh no," Xander gasped. He'd given Casey Nick's letter…meaning that Casey would definitely be pissed.

"What?" Nick asked.

"I gave you the wrong letter."

"It said Casey…I just figured you meant to do that. Ya know, since 'Xander the Great' never makes a mistake."

Xander shook his head; he didn't have time for this.

"Look, I have to go find Casey…I'll be right back."

"I don't think you need to find him," Nick said, "He's right there."

Xander turned around, Casey standing only several feet away, holding the letter with disdain.

"Casey, I'm sorry," Xander began, "I—"

"Here," Casey said, flicking the note at Nick, "I think this was meant for you. And Xander…I really don't care what happened…I think I understand completely what's going on here…"

With that, Casey took off across campus with some anger. Several people approached him on his way out, but Casey was adamant. When he reached his car Xander sighed. What had he created this time?

Sorry it took so long. I started this chapter like Monday night, but my mom made me stop. Anyway, hope you liked it. There are a lot of things people probably won't catch here, I like to hide things, but indulge me and tell me your thesis, and I'd love to hear it!

------------>>Patrick