I woke up early the next morning, at around 6 a.m. Casey was fast asleep on the couch in my little hospital room.

"Case?" I whispered softly.

He woke up with a start. "Oh, hey Sammy. Sleep well?"

"Me? What about you? Don't you need to brush your teeth, shower, whatnot? And how can you stand sleeping on that couch?" I thought it was silly the second it came out of my mouth. I've been sleeping on a couch for almost two years now. But as far as couches go, the one Casey was sleeping on was pretty bad. Like he might as well have been sleeping on a rock.

"Nah, it's ok. I stopped by home for a bit. I got back as soon as I could." He shrugged.

"You're too nice."

"I know, right? I'm like Mr. Nice." He flashed me a toothy grin.

"So… what happened to me?"

"Two of your ribs have hairline fractures. Other than that, the doctor says the damage was pretty minimal."

"Why does this feel like déjà vu?"

"Because you're a little troublemaker."

"I know, right? I'm like Mrs. Troublemaker."

"Ms. Troublemaker."

"Yes, that's right. I'm not married… yet."

Casey looked at his feet. "It's a little early for that. Besides, before you get married, you want to make sure that you want to be in it for life. You know, someone who you could watch your grandchildren run around you with." His face flushed red. I fingered my key necklace, trying to avoid the awkward moment.

"Sorry. That was kind of weird."

"It's ok. I agree. I mean, I agree with the whole grandchildren thing. Not the weird thing."

He wrung his hands. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Why do you stick with me?"

"What do you mean?" I asked nervously.

"I mean, why do you still go out with me when there are way better guys out there?"

"WHAT? What are you talking about? You're like the most perfect guy I have ever met!" I exclaimed incredulously.

"I could hardly protect you two times. I screw up, and I can't stop my own sister from messing with you. Even being with me is making you a better target to Heather. So, why?"

"Casey, every night I ask myself why a guy like you would want to go out with me. I'm like a magnet for danger, I'm a fugitive from the law, and I get pretty crazy and reckless a lot. No other guy out there would've been able to protect me from all of these injuries, much less stay with me and ever be as concerned as you have been. I couldn't have asked for anything better."

He walked over and held my hand. "So, you forgive me? For being an idiot?" He stared deep into my eyes with those deep brown hues that would put Ghirardelli to shame.

"Casey, if anyone was an idiot, it was me. Seriously, I deserve the next International Idiocy Award."

"Nominations are next month."

"The competition will probably be so bad that they'll name me International Idiot right on the spot."

"Probably." He grinned. I laughed.

He left to go get some breakfast, and by the time he came back, he had a tray full of morning-meal goodies for him and me to share.

Time had gone by so fast that I hadn't realized that it was already Saturday. I was glad that it had been a teacher work day Friday. Make-up work sucked, especially since I'm a professional procrastinator.

We laughed all the way through breakfast, and after. At around 10, there was a knock on the door.

Carrie Stevens stepped through the door, still clutching her cell phone in her hand. She had soccer gear on, again. Today was game day.

"You will not believe what I just did," she gushed. "Whoa, what happened to you?" She asked, staring at the bandages around my ribcage.

"I got pounded by a Gwen and tripped by a Heather." Casey winced.

"Ooo, that sucks! Happened to me in soccer dozens of times. Whoa, off topic! What I wanted to say is that I got my personal revenge on the queen of mean!"

"What did you do?"

"Well, I was on my way to the hospital to visit you when I saw the Sheffield's house. I tried knocking, but no one answered. So I crept around back and the door was open! I got onto Gwen's computer and wrote a blog! For her! And guess what it said!"

"I have absolutely no idea."

"Read! She took out her cell phone and handed it to me."

Hello people of SMUS. Heather Acosta wets her bed sometimes and she has a crush on Jason McDaniel! Just FYI.

"Wow, way to be blasé about it," I said sarcastically.

"I know, isn't it great!"

"It is actually very clever."

But Casey was frowning. "I sort of wish that you hadn't put the last name in there."

"Oh, that's ok! I can change it right now!"

"How?" he asked.

"I stole Gwen's password into her blog!"

I rolled my eyes. Might was well let Carrie have her fun. She deserved it, after all of the agonizing torture she went through by pretending to be Heather's friend.

"Although I wonder why Gwen's family wasn't at home. It is fairly early." Her face twisted up the way it did when she was doing math problems. In other words, a hopelessly confused face.

"Oh, it's nothing. They're just in jail," I informed her.

"Really?" Her tone turned serious. "Why?"

I didn't know the answer to this, but evidently Casey did. "Extremely illegal weed dealings. They're all in rehab. Gwen's in juvie for two years and Mr. Sheffield and Gwen's brother, Derek are in the Santa Martina County Jail right now."

"Hmm. That makes sense. I always thought it was weird how a lot of gangsters would walk by their house."

"How do you know this?" I asked curiously.

"Oh, Gwen's house is on the way from my house to the soccer complex."

"Right."

The tone in Carrie's voice turned from being serious to way too peppy again. "Well, speaking of soccer, gotta go to practice! Get well!" She dashed off.

Officer Borsch made his entrance as soon as Carrie dashed out. Guess who was with him?

Heather, of course. And her freakish mom was tailing them.

The weird party entered. Heather's mom glared at Casey as soon as she walked in.

"Hey mom," Casey said glumly.

"Shut up, you disgrace of a son." She slapped him across the face. Slapping must run in the family through the women or something.

Casey looked like he wanted to slap her back. But he just walked over to me and held my hand.

Officer Borsch, of course was completely oblivious to this. "Heather has something to say to you as well as I would like to officially state both of your sentences with the two of you together."

I gulped. Here it was. The time to see if all of the bleeding and planning and snooping was worth it.

Officer Borsch cleared his throat loudly. "Samantha Keyes, you are sentenced to 30 hours of community service." My heart was still beating wildly, even at the relief of my minimal sentence.

"Heather Acosta," he began. Heather's mom was sobbing fake tears on the couch. Heather was giving me looks that would give young children nightmares. "You are sentenced to 7 sessions of drug rehab. You are to attend school on a regular basis at your current school, which I believe is Santa Martina Upper School. On weekends, you will return to your regular home, but on weekdays, you will reside in juvenile prison. This arrangement will last for 3 years."

It was perfect! Of course I had to deal with Heather at school… and on weekends… so maybe it wasn't so perfect. But 3 years of juvie on her permanent record? All of the bleeding and planning and snooping was finally worth it.

Unfortunately, Officer Borsch made an unwise decision to leave Heather and her mom alone in the room with Casey and I. Heather's mother took this opportunity to slap me once, and then Casey another time. I stood there, unfazed. I wasn't the one going to juvie.

But I couldn't resist doing something, even if it was small.

"Enjoy juvie, Heather," I whispered as she trailed her mother out the door. She glared one last time and slapped me for what was it? Like the fifth time? My skin must have been used to it already, because I could hardly feel it. But I smiled innocently and waggled my fingers in goodbye.

Marissa and Billy ended up visiting one last time before the hospital released me on Sunday. We had a mini-party late at night. Of course, I had to stay in the hospital bed, but it was fun nevertheless. The radio was blasted (but not loud enough for the nurses outside to hear), and Billy brought an "assortment of crunchy cheese products". In other words, a whole lot of chips. It was great.

I didn't know what Heather would do to me on Monday. I didn't even know what she would possibly do to me tomorrow. All I knew was that I was living in the moment, with friends I could count on, a boyfriend I loved to death, and a hopeful wish for a bright tomorrow.

So, sorry about the weird sentence Heather had to face. I wanted to make it flexible enough so that if I decide to make a sequel, it would still be good. What do you guys think about me making a sequel?

I decided that I am going to write an epilogue, so the story's not quite finished yet! Stay tuned and REVIEW!