Hey guys! I planned on getting this chapter up earlier, but my dad was "fixing" our home computer system and I lost the internet for the whole freaking day. So, sorry!
Before we left, I called Grams from Marissa's house phone.
"Hello? Sammy?" she said.
"Hey Grams. I just wanted to let you know that I'm going to go get something to eat with Marissa and Casey."
"Casey? So everything's alright now, sweetheart?"
"Yeah, Grams. Everything's great."
"Ok. You kids have fun. And stay out of trouble, you hear me? I don't want to have to fake being Lana again."
I didn't want her to, either. The last time scared the crap out of me. Any chance of me moving to Hollywood with my mother scared the crap out of me.
"I will, Grams. I promise."
Marissa was able to leave Mikey at a neighbor's house, a girl who apparently was going to be a sophomore next year. It took a lot of persuasion, but eventually he agreed to go because Marissa let him bring his goldfish tank. Poor little Mikey- he really needed to get more friends.
So finally we left to Burger Hut. Casey kept on trying to hold my hand, and as much as I wanted to, I felt bad for Marissa because it would make her feel like a third wheel.
"Not now. Marissa!" I whispered.
He grinned. "I can take care of that."
I don't know what he had up his sleeve, but I decided just to wait until we got to the restaurant.
So we walked to Burger Hut like old friends, laughing about random stuff like hobos, moldy pepperoni (don't ask, Marissa's just a weird chick sometimes), and just life in general. My cheeks hurt from smiling so much afterwards.
When we got to the restaurant, Casey finally decided to execute his plan.
"So, Marissa. I hear someone likes you."
Marissa had been poking at her burger, but when she heard the last three words of Casey's sentence, her face immediately lit up and she sat up pin-straight. "Who?"
"Well I suppose he's one of my buddies."
"Who? Is it Danny?" She said Danny's name in reverence as if she was worshipping it.
"We'll see. He's going to ask you out on the first week of school." He winked at me, and like and like the idiot I was, I blushed with vivid shades of red.
"DO NOT LIE TO ME, BOY! I AM NOT THE ONE TO MESS WITH!" Marissa stressed viciously and grabbed the chest part of Casey's shirt. She was a little too loud, if you ask me because everyone within a 15-foot radius of us stared like we were a bunch of clowns in a weird circus act. Which, now that I thought about it, could have been possible by the way we were acting.
"Jeez, chill Marissa. He told me not to tell you and I've already broken half of my promise. So be grateful and wait until school starts."
Now, you maybe wondering how someone going into their freshman year could easily ask out an 8th grader still in junior high. It turns out that the city of Santa Martina had decided to merge the junior high and the high school because of budget cuts. William Rose Middle School was small enough anyway, so the city council people said Why not? and William Rose Middle School and Santa Martina High School became Santa Martina Upper School. A tiny, embarrassing part of me was super-excited because that meant more time with my man. Ugh. Did I seriously just say that? How cliché. Me and my big mouth.
After a while, I decided to ask a burning question. I have these strange natural instincts to… solve stuff.
"So," I tried casually. "Who do you think set us up?" I had a duh! moment 5 milliseconds after I asked the question.
"Heather," all three of us said simultaneously. I chuckled.
"But how?" I asked, seriously wanting to know.
"Well, you didn't leave the note on my door a few days ago, did you?" Casey asked me.
"Noo… did you send me that email message telling me to meet you at the mall?"
"No way! You know what? This is totally something Heather would do. She obviously the password to my email account and sent you that email. Then, she convinced Carrie to, er, be there." He stumbled over the last sentence, obviously still embarrassed about the whole thing.
"So, Sammy?" Marissa was getting excited now. "What are you going to do as revenge?"
Did I really want to stoop to her level? "Nothing. This stupid little fight between us has gone on way too long and I am going to do the mature thing and show her that I'm just going to give it up."
Casey and Marissa cracked up. "You? Do the mature thing?" Marissa was howling with laughter now.
"Yeah, you're probably right. But could you guys at least give me credit for attempting to be mature?"
"Ok, fine. But, when you finally get your revenge, you have to let me be a part of it."
"Count me in, too, Sammy. My wacko sister needs a taste of her own medicine, and there's no way I'm missing any part of it." Casey said.
"Deal."
So, after a few hours of chilling out and laughing our heads off, we all decided that it was time to turn in. We all walked back to Marissa's house. Casey and I grabbed our skateboards and Casey insisted on boarding with me to the Senior Highrise. The streets of Santa Martina were scary at night, but I was glad I was with Casey. One time a few months ago, I was walking in the night by myself. These high-schoolers were smoking something that smelled totally nasty. The scariest part was when they asked me if I wanted to join them. Marijuana, they said it was. I said no and tried to get on my way. One of the creepy guys looked at me with his red eyes and tried to drag me. Man, he was strong, but I took a pen out of my pocket and stabbed his shoulder real hard with my free hand. Definitely one of the scariest moments in my life. But I always felt safe with Casey. It was like he was a protective wall, keeping me from danger. But, on our way back, we were surprised by something strange.
Someone was running.
Away from us.
Out of curiosity, and also because I'm pretty much a certified snooper, I boarded after the person. Casey couldn't do anything except chase on after me.
The person ran into the brick of a building, and apparently decided that they were cornered.
The mystery person turned to face us.
Casey growled. (Yes, growled.) I gasped.
Carrie.
Oooh, suspense! I just wanted to let you guys know that I'll be updating often because the chapters are short and I'm kind of on a roll right now. Also, the Heather/Sammy big showdown is coming soon. And so is Marissa's mystery guy!
Will it be Marissa's old flame, Danny? Or someone new and different? Questions, questions! So keep on reading and waiting for those updates. AND REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW!
Special thanks to xXFreshMuffinsXx, .Person, Swiftpaw109, and HighTops4life for all of their wonderful compliments and ideas. You guys are helping me sooo much!
