A/N: Damn, this chapter is long! Don't know how that happened. Anyway, hope you guys like it. Don't worry, we're working our way up to those Alex/Casey moments we all know and love :)

"I just don't see what Serena sees in her. She is a complete ass about pretty much everything." Kim rants as she and Alex walk into their Psychology class.

Alex nods her head as she slips into her chair next to the brunette. "I think I asked myself the same question. I mean, I'm not going to lie, Abbie is attractive, but her attitude is horrible."

"It's cuz she has money; that's all. Abbie is the true definition of spoiled rich brat."

"Serena told me that you told her that Abbie wanted to ask her out…"

Kim leans back in her chair and nods. "Yeah, I was hanging around after school and I heard her talking to a few of the soccer girls about it. I told Serena, but I think she over looked me telling her as a warning, rather than me just telling her to get her excited. She has a hard time listening sometimes."

Alex nods again and taps her pen on her notebook. "Obviously. Just wish she was here today so she could see how much a bitch Abbie was being." She says glancing out of the corner of her eye at Casey who is sitting in her usual spot in the corner.

Kim shrugs and they both turn to listen to the teacher who is going on about some random ass project they're going to be starting today.

"This will be an in class project." The teacher says handing out the packets to the students. "You must work with no more than for people, and you cannot do this by yourself. I will give you two minutes to sort out your groups, and then you can all begin reading the directions."

The is a mass noise of scraping chairs and talking as people move around the room to settle in to their groups to begin talking about the project they have just received. Alex and Kim are about to start reading the instructions when Alex glances over her shoulder once again, to see Casey who hasn't even moved out of her desk.

"We should ask her to join our group." Alex says to the brunette, not wanting to exclude the shy girl in the corner.

Kim cranes her neck to see the redhead in the corner who is sadly slumping in her chair with out anyone to work with.

"Hey Casey, come here." Kim calls out, waving the shy girl over to their table.

Casey swallows thickly and slowly makes her way over to where Alex and Kim are sitting with the assignment.

"You can be in our group if you want." Alex says pulling up a chair next to her.

Casey hesitates for a moment before she sits in the chair. She has never really been invited to work with someone before, and the gesture actually thoroughly surprises her.

"So why don't you ever really talk to anyone?" Alex asks once they've started working on the project.

Casey shrugs and continues to do what they're supposed to do. She isn't really much of a talker, and at the moment, she really doesn't know what to say to the two girls. To say that she's intimidated would be a complete understatement.

"You know, you can come and sit with us at lunch if you want to so you don't have to be by yourself." Kim says, trying to make the silent teen feel welcomed.

"I really don't mind being by myself…it's easier." Casey says quietly as she begins to doodle random shapes on her paper.

"Easier…?" Kim and Alex question in unison.

Casey nods her head. "Yeah…If I'm by myself, people can't pick on me, or make fun of me. I just…it's easier."

"Why are kids so mean to you?" Alex asks curiously. She can't physically see any valid reason of why people are horrible to Casey. She seems like she can be a nice person.

Casey shrugs, and still refuses to make eye contact with the girls sitting before her. "I don't know…I guess because I'm different? I'm not as…privileged as everyone else…it gives them a reason to pick on me, or just ignore me."

"You shouldn't let Abbie pick on you like that though…" Alex responds quietly. "What she does to you is horrible."

Casey shrugs again and shakes her head. "I…get used to it. It's really not that big of a deal. We should really not talk about this anymore and just work on the project."

Kim and Alex exchange a look, but silently take the hint that Casey no longer wishes to be the topic of conversation. They vow to discuss it later.

Later

Alex and Kim are exiting the school where they run in to Serena who is trying and failing to hide the fact that she is enjoying Abbie flirting with her.

Alex rolls her eyes and shakes her head, while Kim makes a silent gagging sound as they approach the chatting duo.

"Hi guys!" Serena says excitedly waving to her two friends while Abbie turns around and narrows her eyes at the unwelcome new comers in her conversation.

"Hey…where were you all day?" Alex asks, trying to ignore the silent glare battle that Kim and Abbie are having with each other.

"I had a dentist's appointment. I came right after lunch, and I just didn't see the two of you. Anything interesting happen while I was gone?"

"Oh you know…the usual. People hanging out…being assholes." Kim mutters, earning her a sharp elbow in the ribs from Alex.

Abbie narrows her eyes at the snarky brunette but decides against responding to the comment. Instead she plasters a smile across her face and turns back to Serena. "Hey, I have to go. But I'll see you later, right?"

Serna nods and grins as Abbie walks off. She stares after the taller girl for a moment before she turns back to her friends and sighs dreamily.

"Isn't she just amazing?"

Kim snorts which turns into coughing, while Alex just mutters incoherent words. Serena tilts her head for a moment but shrugs it off, still not coming down from her Abbie high.

The three girls have engaged in to a light conversation, when a black SUV pulls up, followed by a sleek black limo sporting the presidential seal, and another SUV. Alex turns her head just as the driver of the limo gets out and opens the door for her.

"I have to go, I'll see you guys tomorrow." She says, as her friends gawk at her means of transportation. She laughs and shakes her head as she makes her way over to the car.

"I really do wish that was my life." Kim says as the three vehicles pull out of the parking lot and disappear down the street.

"I think we all wish that was our lives…" Serena adds on. "So anyway, do you wanna here how Abbie asked me to be her girlfriend?"

Kim makes a face and shakes her head. "Not really…"

However, Serena's smile doesn't falter a bit. "Oh…well too bad! You see what happened was…"

Alex hums to her self as she stares out the window of the passing city. She giggles to herself at how persistent her dad is being about her protection, and he's even letting her use one of the limousines. The limo she doesn't mind, but the numerous Secret Service agents she could probably do without.

They are slowing to a stop at a traffic light, when she glances out the window where she sees a familiar redhead standing at the bus stop. A sudden thought crosses her mind, and she leans forward towards Edward, the driver.

"Hey Eddie, pull over." Alex says to the man behind thee wheel.

Edward makes a face and glances at Alex in the rearview mirror. "Miss Cabot, can I ask why exactly you would like me to pull over?" he questions curiously.

"Because I see someone that I know." Alex replies blandly.

"I'm not sure if I'm authorized to do this…" Edwards mumbles as he pulls the car over towards the sidewalk.

"You are authorized to do what my father tells you to, and he told you to do what I tell you to, so I am pretty sure that you are authorized to pull over this car when I ask…" Alex says, not really in the mood to argue with the well mannered driver.

Edward sighs and shakes his head. "Of course Miss Cabot…" he mumbles and radios in to the SUV in front of them, letting the agents inside know that they've pulled over. "When did it start coming to me being bosses around by a sixteen year old."

Alex gets out of the limo and tries to ignore the gawking people around her, fumbling to pull out their phones to take pictures of her, the mini motorcade, or both.

"Alex, what are you doing?" Eliza questions, getting out of one of the SUVs.

Alex rolls her eyes and waves off the agent as she approaches Casey who has just now noticed her presence.

"Hey Casey." The blonde says nicely, not wanting to scare the girl off.

Casey swallows thickly, and tries to keep her hands from shaking with nerves. "Uh…um…hi…" she says quietly, averting her eyes to the ground.

"What are you doing here all by yourself?" Alex asks, curiously.

Casey shrugs and shuffles her feet a little. "Waiting for the bus…it's how I get home."

Alex makes a face at the thought of the bus. "The city bus? Ewwww…come on, I can take you home. That way we can talk."

Casey feels her throat go dry, and she hugs her books tighter. "T-talk?"

"Yeah, you know…talk…" Alex says slowly. "So we can maybe become friends…?"

Casey swallows the huge bag of sand in her throat at the word 'friends', simply because she knows that she doesn't have any.

"That…y-you don't have to…I'm fine waiting for the bus…" she mumbles quietly, not wanting to cause any kind of burden.

On the contrary, Alex is having none of it. She grabs Casey's wrist and starts pulling her towards her waiting limousine.

"Nuh uh, it's totally fine. Edward won't mind, and you won't have to wait for the crummy bus. C'mon." she says as she gets in to the car, and slides over to the seat on the opposite side of the car.

Casey hesitates for a moment before she follows Alex and pulls the door shut behind her, settling into the surprisingly comfortable seats of the limo.

"Hey Eddie, this is my friend Casey Novak. Casey, this is Edward, he's the driver." Alex says, introducing Casey to the man behind the wheel.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Miss Novak." Edward says politely turning around in his seat, shaking Casey's hand through the interior reinforced window. "If you don't mind me asking, what is your address, so that I may get you to the proper destination?"

Casey quietly rattles off her street address in which Edward puts it into the GPS system of the car. Not two minutes later, they're pulling back on to the street and away from the crowd that Alex had unintentionally drawn.

"So, how was the rest of your day?" Alex asks, turning to face Casey.

Casey shrinks a little and starts fiddling with her fingers. "It…was okay I guess." She lies, hoping that Alex will let it go.

Alex shakes her head and folds her arms. "You know, I'm a really good listener…you can tell me about it…is it Abbie?"

Casey shrugs and continues to stare at her wringing hands. This response, however, gives Alex all the answer that she needs. She just isn't sure if she should try to dig any deeper.

"What she said to you at lunch horrible, even if I didn't hear all of it. Has she always picked on you like that?" the blonde teen asks softly.

Casey waits for a moment before she slowly nods her head. Should would be lying if she said that she can remember exactly when Abbie or anyone else for the matter starting picking on her. It's happened for so long it's all just kind of melded together.

"You should sit with me and my friends tomorrow at lunch. They really won't mind…" Alex says, praying that she'll get some sort of answer from the shy teen next to her.

Casey shakes her head and hugs her books closer to her once more. "I don't know…I don't think that they really want me there."

"Are you kidding? I don't think they're like that. I mean, they let me sit with them, and I'm still kind of the new kid."

"You're also the president's daughter…they can't really say no to you…"

Alex sighs and runs her hands through her hair. "That's not the point. The point is, that I think you should sit with us so you won't have to sit by yourself anymore. Just sit with us for one day, and then if you don't like it, you don't have to anymore. Deal?"

Casey hesitates for a moment before a small smile spreads across her lips and she nods her head. She really is flattered that Alex of all people is actually interested in talking to her, and actually trying to make friends with her.

"Great!" Alex says excitedly, trying to hold in her triumph at getting Casey to agree to interact with some people.

"So um…this is my house…" Casey says as they come to a stop in front of her home. "Thanks for bringing me home."

"No problem, like I said, Eddie doesn't mind. He has to do what is say anyway." Alex says shrugging.

"I heard that Miss Cabot…" Edward calls into the back seat.

"Well it's true Edward." Alex answers back, causing Casey to laugh quietly. "So I'll see you tomorrow. I hope you have a good rest of your afternoon!"

"You too…thanks…again." Casey says as she exits the car, and makes her way up to her house. She watches as the motorcade carrying the presidential daughter pulls away from her house, and disappears down the street.

After she steps inside, she walks past the kitchen, thoroughly surprised to see that her mother is home so early. She lingers in the kitchen doorway for a moment and watches as her mother is seated at the kitchen table surrounded by various papers.

"Mom? What are you doing here?"

Charlotte Novak looks up from where her head was resting in her hands, and smiles at her oldest daughter.

"Hi honey…I was actually expecting you a little later. Was the bus early?" The elder redhead asks curiously.

Casey chews her lip and contemplates her next answer very carefully. Maybe she'll save the explanation of riding with the president's daughter for a later day, so she just simply nods her head at her mother's question.

"Yeah, it was…a little early but I made it. Why are you home so early?" she asks, taking a seat at one of the chairs at the kitchen table.

Charlotte sighs and runs a tired hand through her hair. "I lost my job today Casey…"

Casey's eyes widen and she blinks several times at what her mother has just told her. "What…? Why? What happened?"

Charlotte sighs again and leans back in her chair. "Lay offs, budget cuts, everything like that. I was just unfortunately one of the teachers they let go. I don't know what we're going to do now Casey…"

"Can't you…find another teaching job until then?"

"It isn't that easy, and what are we going to do until then? I just…I don't know what we're going to do sweetheart."

Casey sighs herself and slumps down into her chair. Her mother is now a single mom raising four girls with out a job. It's no secret that all of their lives are about to get so much harder.

The Next Day

Casey swallows the lump in her throat as she makes her way outside and into the courtyard where most of the upperclassmen who stay on campus hang out for lunch. She sees Kim, Alex, and the rest of their group minus Serena, sitting at a table, laughing about something in their conversation.

"This is it…no turning back…" she mumbles as she makes her way over to the table of girls that Alex says are very friendly. She holds her breath as she reaches the table, and all the girls turn their attention to her. "Um…can…can I sit here?"

Amanda and Connie exchange looks, but slide over none the less, to make room for Casey on the bench. They raise their eyebrows at their two beaming friends across the table, wondering if they've had something to do with actually getting Casey to interact with human beings.

"So, Casey, I see that you like to read a lot. What kind of books do you like?" Kim asks, trying to end the silence, for fear that it would scare the redhead away.

Casey shrugs her shoulders and absentmindedly traces the patterns on the table. "Anything really. I really like science fiction books though. I was reading this really good one the other day until…it was ruined…"

"Oh…that sucks…" Alex says, recalling the torn up book that Casey was flipping through the first time they technically actually spoke to each other.

"What's your favorite color?" Amanda asks curiously, as if that is one question that needs to be asked.

"Um…I don't really know actually. I like blue, but I also really like purple." Casey says, not exactly sure on her favorite color.

"Eeeeeeee I like purple! It is the best color ever! It should definitely be your favorite." Connie says excitedly.

"You'll have to forgive Connie…she gets over excited about some things." Kim says sticking her tongue out at the other brunette.

Connie returns the gesture and rolls her eyes. "Whatever, Greyleck, you just wish you were as awesome as me." she responds.

Alex watches as Casey laughs at the exchange between friends. She hasn't exactly seen Casey laugh at anything and it's kind of nice to see a smile on a sad face.

"What kind of movies do you like?" Alex asks, trying to get Casey comfortable with speaking about herself.

Casey's face contorts into deep thought as she tries to come up with something. "Um…I don't really know that either. I mean, I like a lot of really weird movies. I know one of my favorite movies is Contagion."

Amanda gasps and makes a face at the revelation. "Oh my god, I've seen that! That movie was so weird!"

"Was that the movie about the disease that killed like a huge chunk of the world?" Kim asks wanting clarification at which Casey nods her head.

"I think that I saw that. It had Gwyneth Paltrow in it right?" Alex asks, suddenly recalling the thriller movie.

Casey nods her head, suddenly becoming excited at remember one of her favorite movies. "Yeah! The movie it self was really interesting as well. It showed how a series of events led to a mass pandemic around the world and it all originated from one thing. It all started out with one woman having it and it soon spread to everyone else. It was intriguing to see how just by simply touching the same surface as a sick person you could become infected. While the tone of the movie was very disastrous, I still think it was very interesting."

"It was a pretty cool movie." Alex says simply. "I bet that would be pretty scary, and it's real scary to think about. That just by simply touching something, you would get the contagion."

"Well, I'm sure that if it were real, Serena would most definitely have it by now." Connie states making a face as she stares at something behind the other girls.

Alex and Kim turn around while Amanda and Casey lean over to find Serena making out with Abbie in a far corner of the courtyard. All girls shudder and make faces in unison.

"That's gross…" Alex mutters turning back around to face her friends once again.

"It really is…I'm not one that usual favors viewing public displays off affection." Amanda says shaking her head. "I didn't even know they were…a thing."

"Yeah, for like…a day and a half." Kim says rolling her eyes in disapproval. "Told Serena not to fall for that, but you know she doesn't listen. I bet they're only going out because Abbie wants to get in her pants."

Alex raises her eyebrows and turns to the brunette on her right. "What? You mean, Abbie's like…had sex before?" she asks in shock.

The rest of the girls at the table snort and actually burst into complete laughter. Even Casey cracks quite a large smile at Alex's confusion.

"Duh, it's no secret that she's had sex before. Wouldn't surprise me if she's fucked half the soccer team." Connie says shaking her head.

"I walked in the bathroom once and she had her hand up Laurie Reynolds's skirt." Casey says shaking the image away from her brain. "It wasn't particularly pleasant."

"Shouldn't someone warn Serena?" Alex asks, risking the glance over her shoulder once again.

Amanda snorts at the comment as if it were ridiculous to begin with. "Please, Serena knows this; she's just to ditzy and oblivious to address it. Plus, she doesn't listen. It's all in her hands. If she wants to give up her card to that bitch, then that's her decision. We all have told her not to go out with Abbie."

Alex shakes her head and turns back around once again. "That's horrible. Oh! So, I talked to my dad, and he said that I could have some friends sleep over this weekend, if you guys can come…"

All of the girls sit in complete silence and stare at Alex as if she had just asked them how to cure cancer and the common cold.

"You mean…at your house…?" Connie says slowly.

"Uh…yeah, at my house…." Alex responds, already knowing where this is going.

"You mean…your house…which is the White House…?" Amanda adds on.

"Yes, my house which is the White House…"

"You mean…your house…which is the White House…where the president lives…?"

"Oh my god yes! Where the president lives! Gosh, it's really not that big of a deal!" Alex exclaims, exasperatedly slumping on the bench.

"Well, sorry if we don't get invited to the White House that often…" Kim says sarcastically. "That would be totally awesome. I've always wanted to go."

Alex rolls her eyes but still grins at her friends. "Whatever…but yeah, you guys can sleepover, if you guys don't mind going through all the security clearance...and that means you too Casey." Alex adds on, not wanting the shy girl to think that the offer only extends to the others at the table.

Casey smiles and blushes greatly. She has never been invited anywhere before and here she is, being invited to the White House, by the president's daughter. She just hopes that what with everything going on, her mother will still be in a good enough mood to allow her to go.

Oh my god guys I just saw Contagion for the first time like…today. That's why I used it. Have any of you seen it? Ugh it freaked me out, and now I am legitimately paranoid about touching anything. I mean, I already had issues but now I'm just like...ugh!

Anyway, I think I am slowly adjusting to this mean Abbie persona. I don't know why, but I must guilty admit it's strange yet oddly exciting to write. And you guys thought she was mean in the third chapter. Ha! Lol, leave a review?