CHAPTER THREE

"Hello? Earth to Casey Cartwright. Are you there?"

Casey looked up and gave her best friend Ashleigh a sheepish smile. "Sorry, what were you guys talking about?"

Ashleigh looked over at Rebecca and they both rolled their eyes at Casey. "Now that we have your attention, Rebecca and I are wondering if you wanted to get out of here for a few hours and get pampered."

Rebecca gave her a big smile. "I already booked us appointments at The Pampered Palace to get mani-pedis, facials, and massages. My treat. Actually, my dad's treating." Rebecca laughed, flashing a credit card at them.

Casey forced a smile and tried to be enthusiastic. "That sounds wonderful. Thanks Becks." Casey tried not to wince as she noticed Ashleigh and Rebecca give each other a look. Casey put a piece of cantaloupe in her mouth to avoid saying anything more.

"Casey," Ashleigh started, propping an elbow on the table. "What's going on? You've been acting very weird today and it's only 8:30 in the morning. What's up?"

Rebecca nodded. "You're usually excited for some girl time at the salon, but you did a really poor job at faking enthusiasm. What gives?"

"I'm fine, really. I just had a bad night. Besides, let's forget about my night." She looked at Rebecca and smiled, "How was your date with Mike?"

Ashleigh and Casey couldn't help but notice Rebecca blushing at the mention of Mike's name. Ashleigh laughed and pointed, "Rebecca Logan, are you seriously blushing at the mention of a boy?"

Rebecca smiled and rolled her eyes. "If you must know, Mike was a gentleman. He took me to that new Italian place and we had an amazing time. He's a really cool guy."

"We're glad to hear that," Casey said. "So, did anything else happen?"

"I don't kiss and tell," Rebecca quipped.

Casey and Ashleigh looked at each other and burst out laughing. "Right," Ashleigh said between laughs, "you were always trying to put your relationship with Cappie in Casey's face."

At the mention of Cappie, both Casey and Rebecca looked at each other and shrugged. Casey smiled at Rebecca, "We're past that, Ashleigh. Rebecca and I are in a good place."

Rebecca nodded and agreed. "Exactly."

"I know," Ashleigh said. "I was just teasing. Anyway, quit trying to change the subject Rebecca and give us the details."

Rebecca looked into the distance. "We had an amazing date. All I got from Mike was a kiss at the door." The smile on her pretty face widened. "And it was perfect."

"Wow," Casey exclaimed. "I'm so happy for you. Hopefully there's another date in the future?"

"We're going out tomorrow night." Rebecca told them.

Ashleigh clapped her hands together. "Yay for Mike Templeton and his cute butt!"

"Hey! That cute butt belongs to me." Rebecca declared. The two girls looked over at Casey and realized she was off in a different world again. "Casey?" Rebecca snapped her fingers to bring the blonde back to their conversation.

Casey blinked and blushed. At the mention of Mike's butt, she had thought about someone's butt in particular. "Sorry, I'm back. I second Ashleigh's comment. Yay for Mike's butt."

"Casey, what's going on? And don't tell us it's 'nothing'. We know you." Ashleigh asked.

"I'm fine, really, it's all good."

"Case?" Rebecca asked, giving her a concerned look.

Casey looked at her friends' faces and knew she was defeated. "I don't know if you really want to hear this, Rebecca."

"Let me guess, it has something to do with Cappie declaring his love for you." Rebecca said quickly with a sad smile.

Casey gasped. "How'd you know?"

"As much as I hate to admit, that's the biggest reason why we broke up. I just couldn't be with someone who's obviously in love with someone else."

"I'm sorry Rebecca." Casey said quietly.

"Hey, it's not your fault. You're a vortex and you can't help it." Rebecca grinned at her.

Ashleigh cleared her throat. "As much as I enjoy your little convo here, can we get back to the part where Cappie declared his love for Casey?"

Rebecca and Casey rolled their eyes at Ashleigh. "Fine." Rebecca quipped.

"Casey, please continue." Ashleigh said.

"Cappie came by last night and we went for a walk around campus. We sat down on this bench and talked about our summer plans. Cappie's going to law school. Isn't that amazing?"

"Yeah, superb. Back to the story please." Rebecca teased.

"Fine." Casey said. "So, we're talking about our summer plans and Cappie asked me about California. I told him I was going there two weeks after graduation for my internship and that Max would be nearby at Cal Tech."

"Besides law school, what are Cappie's summer plans?" Ashleigh asked.

"He's going to Europe before he starts school in August. So, we start talking about all the places in Europe we want to see and then out of the blue, Cappie tells me he can't leave CRU without telling me his feelings. And he said it. He still loves me." Casey said, looking at her friends' faces and giving them a sad smile.

"And?" Ashleigh and Rebecca both asked.

"He asked me to go to Europe with him." Casey replied.

"Oh my God!" Ashleigh exclaimed. "This is like something out of the movies."

"Totally," Rebecca agreed. "Are you going to, Case?"

Casey shook her head. "No, I have my internship. And I have Max, who's perfect. I did the right thing, right?"

Ashleigh and Rebecca looked at each other and said in unison, "No!"

Casey's was in shock due to their response. "Excuse me?"

"Casey, are you seriously going to torture yourself for the rest of your life?" Ashleigh asked. "You need to stop denying the truth. You love Cappie; you always have and you always will."

Rebecca nodded. "It's so obvious to everyone else. We've been waiting for you two to finally get together. Do you really want to leave CRU without Cappie?"

Casey rolled her eyes. "I have to, okay? I love Max. He's the perfect guy and I'm not giving up my internship."

"But Casey," Ashleigh started. "Isn't it someone's imperfections what we truly love?"

"No," Casey said with determination. "I want my perfect guy and that's Max. We're done with this subject. I have to go." Casey stood up from the table and made her way to the front door and turned to look at her friends. She gave them a shrug and sad smile and walked out of there with her head held high. She couldn't let them see the tears that were starting to form. Even in the morning light, she had to convince herself that her decision to be with Max was the right one. If that was the case, Casey thought, why does it hurt so much?

Rusty Cartwright made his way into the front doors of the KT house to find Cappie in the kitchen. He was cleaning. Oh boy, Rusty thought, not again.

Cappie was busy scrubbing a pot at the sink and didn't hear Rusty come in. Rusty was shocked to find Beaver and Wade sitting at the counter staring at their president and friend.

"Watch it, Spitter," Beaver whispered. "He's at it again."

"I'm going to kill my sister." Rusty said under his breath.

"We warned him," Wade said quietly.

"I'm standing right here, guys." Cappie finally said, surprising them. "If you want to talk about me, just say it to my face. Come on, you can say it."

"Say what, Cap?" Rusty asked.

Cappie looked at them and rolled his eyes. "You can say, 'I told you so'. I should've listened to you."

"What happened?" Wade asked.

"The same thing that always does. Casey rejected me yet again. I don't know why I keep torturing myself."

"What did you say to her?" Rusty asked.

Cappie looked at him and shrugged. "I'm too wounded to share this with you Spitter. I was an idiot freshmen year and Casey will never forget that."

"But Cap, you've been there for her so much over the last two years. Just try again." Rusty said.

"I thought you and Max are buddies. Why are you trying so hard to pimp me out your sister?"

Wade chuckled. "Spitter's a pimp. Woo-hoo!"

Rusty laughed and gave Cappie a look. "Max is a cool guy, but even I know that you and my sister belong together."

Cappie gave Rusty a sad smile. "Too bad only one Cartwright realizes that."

Beaver stood up and clamped a hand on Cappie's shoulder. "Sorry buddy, I really thought things would work out since we're leaving here in a week."

Cappie shrugged. "What can you do? It's ultimately her decision. And I have to accept it and move on. She'll go off to California and live happily ever after with Max."

"What about law school. Did you tell Casey you'll be near her?" Beaver asked.

"What are you talking about?" Rusty asked, giving Beaver and Cappie a confused look.

Cappie shook his head and shrugged. "It's no big deal."

"Law school, Cap? That's awesome!" Rusty said. "But what is Beaver talking about when he says you'll be near Casey?"

"I'm going to USC for law school, Spitter." Cappie said quietly.

"You have to tell Casey!" Rusty exclaimed.

"She made herself clear when she said Max is the guy for her. I'm just a memory from her freshmen year." Cappie turned his back on the guys and concentrated on scrubbing the pot again.

"Cap?" Rusty started. "Don't do this to yourself. Stop cleaning."

"I'm okay," Cappie said, "I just want to be left alone to my cleaning."

"Cappie," Rusty said.

Wade looked at Rusty and shrugged. "It's no use, Spitter. You know how he gets. Just let him cope the way he needs to."

"It sucks." Rusty said. "I can't bear to stay here and watch Cappie clean like this. I gotta talk to my sister."

Cappie cleared his throat. "Hey guys, I'm still here. Hearing every word you're saying."

Rusty shook his head at them. "I'm out of here. I'm not witnessing this."

Before Rusty walked out the door, Beaver yelled out, "Remember to come back for the party tonight. We're celebrating!"

"Yeah, I'll be back." Rusty yelled back. He hated seeing Cappie in this state. The cleaning was just the tip of the ice berg. Tonight, there was no doubt Cappie would get shit-faced and hide his emotions behind a vast amount of alcohol. He needed to find Casey and talk some sense into her. He had stood by watching these two make mistake-after-mistake with each other. They needed some direction and he intended to help.

"This is for you Cap," Rusty muttered under his breath as he walked out of the KT doors.

A/N: Sorry, I've been MIA for almost a month. It's been a really busy and hard time at work and I haven't had the opportunity or time to write. Please note that my fanfic was created before the "Social Studies" episode. My story has it's own plot line and may not be similar to the rest of Season 2.

Enjoy!