DISCLAIMER

Belongs to New Line Cinema and Canadian Television.

Later that morning, Casey reached into her drawer, where she had hidden medicine, bandages, and gauzes. She disinfected the burn and wrapped it in a gauze. Then, she got dressed and went downstairs to the kitchen.

"Morning, everybody," she greeted.

"Good morning, sweetie," her mother, Nora MacDonald responded. "Are you okay? You're looking a bit pale," she continued.

"I had a weird dream last night, but I'm okay," Casey assured her.

"All right," Nora accepted. Casey got her cereal from a shelf, not noticing when her stepbrother, Derek Venturi, grinned. She opened the box.

"DER-EK!" she screamed when she saw that it was empty. Derek laughed.

"What's the matter, Casey? Run out?" he taunted. His younger brother Edwin laughed, but stopped when he saw Casey's younger sister Lizzie glaring at him. Marti, as usual was in her own world.

"Really, Derek. Was it necessary to take her cereal?" his father, George, scolded.

"You can have some of mine," Casey's Lizzie offered.

"Thanks, Liz," the older girl said with a grateful smile, sitting down. After finishing breakfast, everyone continued their morning routine. When they were finally ready, they left. Once at J. Thompson High, Casey immediately met up with her best friend, Emily Davids at their lockers.

"Hey, Em," Casey greeted.

"Hi yourself," Emily acknowledged. Then, "You okay? You look a little frazzled."

"I'm fine. I just had a weird dream last night," Casey answered, getting the books she needed.

"You sure?" Emily checked.

"Yeah," Casey nodded. Emily looked past Casey.

"Who is that?" she queried. Puzzled at the intrigued sound of her friend's voice, Casey turned around. A boy with longish brown hair and brown eyes, wearing a green shirt with different picture designs, along with a blue jacket with a white fuzzy collar, decorated with three buttons on the right side positioned in a Mickey Mouse fashion and blue jeans ripped at the knees.

"Joey?" Casey asked in surprise.

"Casey!" Joey Crusel called. With a laugh, Casey dropped her backpack and bounded over to her friend, who took her into a crushing hug.

"Oh, man! I missed you," he said.

"I missed you too," she told him. "Did you just transfer here?" she queried, pulling back to look at him.

"Yeah," he answered.

"I'm glad you're here. We need to talk," Casey said.

"What is it?" Joey asked, becoming serious.

"Not here," Casey replied. "Let's wait until we can talk in private," she continued, as they walked back to where Emily was standing. She bent down to pick up her backpack.

"What happened to your hand?" Emily wondered, seeing the large bandage. He followed the girl's gaze.

"Casey? What's going on?" Joey asked in concern, as he gently cradled her hand.

"Look, Joey…we can't do this here," Casey insisted just as the warning bell rang. "What's your first class?" Casey wondered. Joey showed her his schedule.

"Oh, you're in luck. Your first class is also mine," Casey commented. They walked off. In the class, Derek watched as his stepsister and a boy walked in together.

"You must be new," he stated. He had to be. That was the only explanation for hanging out with his dorky stepsister.

"Gee, what was your first clue?" the boy retorted. Derek let out a small, scoffing laugh.

"You're new here, so I'm going to let that remark pass," he said. "I'm Derek Venturi," he continued.

"Is that supposed to impress me?" the boy asked. Derek stared in shocked annoyance. Who did this guy think he was talking to him like that?

"Forget it, Joey. He's too full of himself to have a real conversation with anyone," Casey told the boy. Joey laughed. Before Derek could come up with a good response, the teacher walked in and everyone took their seats.

"Good morning class," the woman greeted. Half of the class returned the greeting. "Class, we have a new student. I want everyone to give a warm welcome to Joey Crusel," she continued. The class greeted him and Joey gave a curt nod. Then, the woman moved on. Though he concentrated on the class, Joey found himself sneaking glances at Casey. Was she okay? She seemed really wound. And what was up with that gauze? Unfortunately, Joey didn't get a chance to ask his question until their lunch break. Joey grabbed Casey's arm and pulled her into a secluded section of the hall.

"Okay, what's going on?" he demanded.

"Fred Krueger's back," she answered. Joey's face paled.