A/N: Ahhhh I am such a horrible person; I know. I hardly ever update. I promise I will try to update more often. Also, it has been brought to my attention by a reviewer that I change verb tenses. I'm sorry! I try so hard not to, but I've been told to write in present tense rather than past. I generally like how past tense sounds more, but many English teachers have told me to write in present. Said reviewer suggested that I write in past, but I think I need to challenge myself. Thanks anyway dear! As always, a big 'thank you' to everyone who has reviewed, favorited, or followed. It is truly appreciated! Love you guys 3
Casey stands in the doorway of the computer room in MK's house, leaning against the door frame nonchalantly. She watches the back of her friend who faces the window. "Sooo… Do you have a boyfriend who lives in like Canada or something? Because I've never seen girls talk to a nonexistent boy before." MK spins around and her jaw drops; her face flushes.
"Uh-um," she stutters while twiddling her fingers nervously. She tilts her head down to stare at the floor with wide eyes, trying to think of a logical explanation. She could go along with what Casey had said, but how crazy would she seem? Girls don't normally pretend to talk to boys, do they? And how long has Casey been standing there? Did she notice MK holding her hands to her face or setting Nod down on the windowsill?
How can she get herself out of this?
Casey strolls into the room and plops herself into the swivel chair. She turns her body with it to face MK and places a hand under her chin thoughtfully. "You must really like this guy if you're letting your dad's craziness get to you."
As nervous as she is, MK cannot help but laugh at her friend's remark. The idea of becoming more like her father is so ridiculous, yet so terrifying, that she can't stop the antsy laugh from escaping her lips. "Well…" MK takes a deep breath and then exhales. "Yes, I really do like him… But he's not my boyfriend!" she adds hastily.
"Oh, are you friends with benefits then?" Casey waggles her eyebrows and smirks when MK's already flushed face turns a deeper red. "No!" MK says defensively. Again, she is forced to think of Nod in an intimate way. It freaks her out. She shudders and wipes her clammy hands on her navy blue skirt.
"Wait a second," Casey continues, "Is he that guy you talked about at my parents' cabin during spring break?" When her ginger friend does not reply, a grin spreads across Casey's face. She hops up from the chair and practically glides over to MK. She takes MK's hands in hers.
"Tell me more about him! Has anything saucy happened? Does he live around here? Oh my God, can I meet him?!" Casey almost squeals.
"Will you cut it out?" MK snatches her hands away. "Nothing 'saucy' has happened. And yes, he does live around here, but you can't meet him."
Casey's face immediately crumbles, and her entire figure slumps. MK spies her friend's shrunken stance and notices the shining golden highlights in her hair. Casey is already a natural blonde, but the summer sun has started to give her even more highlights, and the soft beach waves seem to be made of liquid gold. If Casey's head was not dropped, the hazel-brown of her eyes would be staring into MK's emerald ones.
"Why not?"
MK does not like lying to people, especially her friends, but what could she tell Casey?
You can't meet him because he's a tiny, 2-inch person who protects the forest.
As if MK could ever say that. She would seem nuts! Then she'd really seem like her father's daughter. Then again, Casey had not mentioned that MK had held her hands to her face after picking up something from the windowsill, so maybe she had not seen Nod at all.
She hates lying, but maybe she can tell half-truths, like when she said that the boy lives around here, which he does. But what else could she say that would not compromise Nod's… situation?
"You can't meet him because… he already left." MK tries her best to look upset to better convince Casey. To better fool her is more like it, she thought bitterly.
"He left? When?" Casey sits up straighter.
"… Yesterday."
"Yesterday? Why did he leave? Where did he go?"
"He left because he has no family here. He wanted to make a fresh start." With each passing lie, MK feels an imaginary knife repeatedly stabbing her heart. At this statement Casey's eyes soften, and once again, her body slumps.
"What about you?" Casey's soft voice asks.
"What about me?"
"Couldn't you be his family?"
MK feels the strings of her heart being snapped in half.
"I don't think I would ever be enough to fill that void."
The sadness in her voice is no longer acting but true pain. MK had thought about whether she would be enough for Nod countless times, but she had never voiced those lamentations before. Casey stands up, walks over to MK, and puts her arms around her. Neither says a word; MK merely places her arms around Casey's waist and settles her head against the blonde's shoulder. She doesn't notice the tears falling down her face until Casey pulls away from her to wipe them with her fingers.
"When did we become close enough friends for you to let your guard down and cry around me?" Casey asks. A short laugh escapes MK's lips and then she shrugs, a faint smile tugging at her lips. "Come on. You never got us that water," Casey says while placing an arm around her ginger friend's shoulders and leading her out of the room. She doesn't know where the kitchen is, but she knows MK will guide them there.
This was the first time the girls shared an emotional moment together, and Casey finally understands why that is so: MK simply goes through her daily routine. She seems like an ordinary girl- a guarded one, yes, but ordinary still. However, it is upon closer evaluation that a person might see the pain festering in her heart. She never talks about it, but Casey knows that MK lost her mother. Casey does not want the redhead to ever lose a person dear to her again, but it seems as though she just did.
Whoever this boy is, he is clearly important to MK.
Shortly after Casey left, MK's dad arrives home. Professor Bomba bustles about the computer room, occasionally stopping at the wooden table in the middle of the room to view some miscellaneous items he had collected in the forest today. He is much too focused to notice when his 18 year old daughter joins him, but he does notice when she taps him on the shoulder.
"Ah! You startled me, Mary Katherine!" he says in surprise while placing a hand to his chest.
"Sorry, Dad. I just wanted to let you know that I'm going to see Nod now."
"Ohh, well alright then. You have a helmet, right?"
"Yeah. I got it right here," she motions to the helmet held like a basketball in her right arm.
"Good. You kids have fun now! Tell Nod I say hello," he says with a smile.
"I will. See you later!" MK turns around and walks to door. Just as she is about to open it, Ozzie comes running to her out of nowhere. She kneels down to scratch the dog affectionately behind the ears.
"Sorry Ozzie, you can't come with." The dog whines a little as MK holds him back with her leg while opening the door. "Sorry boy!" she says again. And with that, she squeezes through a small opening and shuts the door quickly so as to prevent Ozzie from leaving the house.
Professor Bomba looks at the space his daughter just left. A smile sweeps across his lips. He walks over to Ozzie and sits on the floor with the dog. Ozzie jumps onto his lap and licks the professor's face. Bomba pushes the dog away from his face.
"She's in love with that boy, you know. And he's in love with her. They might get married one day." Ozzie tilts his head seemingly in confusion.
"Well, I'm not sure how the size difference would work, but they'll figure it out." Ozzie licks his owner's hand as though in agreement. For the rest of the night, the professor decides to take a break and sit on the chair swing on the front porch, enjoying the setting sun and the light breeze.
A/N: Thank you everyone! Hopefully you all will like this chapter. I'm going to write more, I promise! Haha I had originally planned to have this fic be completely wrapped up by chapter 6, but it seems like it's gonna be longer. Might be 8 chapters. We'll just see. Please review! Thanks again :D