12 Friend or foe.

Everyone looked nervous at the waiting room. Dan, the mayor, and his wife Sylvia, sat on a bench opposite me. Sylvia was had her head leaning against Dan's shoulder, crying. She had red puffy eyes. She wouldn't stop crying ever since she got here. Obviously, having Connie in this situation has really shaken her up. Dan was trying to be strong, for both their sake.

And then there's Casey, who for the first time ever, has not even taken time to bully me or insult me. He may be a heartless monster, but even monsters have their weak spots. And Casey's weak spot is Connie.

Casey has been nothing but restless since he arrived outside my place. He was literally shaking...trembling... he was nervous... and he seemed scared, almost vulnerable. I could have sworn that I actually saw him wiping away a tear. This monster really cares a lot about Connie.

Ever since we got here, he has not stayed still for even a single second. He has been sitting down then standing up, pacing around while murmuring to himself. His nervousness has been making me nervous.

And I couldn't help like feel like a had a hand in this. This was somehow all my fault. If I hadn't given in to Troy and his stupid blackmails, then I wouldn't have kissed him in the first place. And if I hadn't kissed him, then Connie would not have found us, and she wouldn't have fainted in the first place.

And if that was not enough, after all this trouble, I didn't even get what led to all this. I lost the letter. Now I will never know what was written on it. I'll never know what my father wanted to tell me. My one chance to communicate with my father is just gone... vanished! And I'll probably never get that chance ever again. Maybe this was the one chance I had to re-write the wrong I made years ago. Maybe this was the only chance I had to meet my father, to beg him to take me back, to go and live with him, far away from my mum, Troy and Casey. This may have been my chance to turn over a new leaf, have a new life, be normal for once in my life, but I let it slip through my fingers.

Too busy in my thoughts, I didn't notice that Casey was in front of me until he cleared his throat. I couldn't read his expression. Was he mad? sad? miserable? One thing was for sure though, his eyes were red, a sure sign that he was from crying.

"Umm... Casey, w... what's up?"

"What happened to her? Why was she even with you, and at your place?" he asked, his voice sounding tired.

"She just fainted,"

"That part, I know. What I don't understand was the reason she fainted,"

"She uh... she___"

"Sarah! Speak clearly,"

How was I seriously supposed to tell him the truth. As far as I'm concerned, Casey and Troy despise each other. And if I tell him the truth, he'll want to know the reason behind the argument. And I don't think he'll like it if he finds out that this all started because of me... because I kissed his cousin's boyfriend. He will despise me even more.

"It was a... um... she had an argument... with uh... with her boyfriend?" It sounded more of a question than a statement.

"Her boyfriend?"

"I guess the argument just kind of stressed her out,"

"What do you mean boyfriend? Connie doesn't have a boyfriend!"

"She does!" a voice from behind joined in the conversation. Speak of the devil and the devil appears. It was none other than...

"Troy? What are you doing here?" Casey asked, his expression becoming sour. Now I could read what was written on his face... he was angry!

"Isn't it obvious? I'm here to see my girlfriend! What about you? What are you doing here?"

"That's none of your business! And how do you even know about Connie?" he asked, and they both turned their attention to me. Were they waiting for me to give them the answer? I hate being put in the spotlight like this. It makes me feel nervous, especially if it's these two guys.

"Troy, this is Casey. Casey, this is Troy,"

"We know each others names," they both said at the same time, not breaking eye contact with each other.

"Fine! Okay. Casey, Troy is... Connie's boyfriend,"

"Boyfriend?"

"And Troy, Casey is Connie's cousin,"

"Cousin?" they both sounded shocked. "So she's like, the mayor's daughter?"

"Don't pretend you didn't know that. We both know that the only reason you're dating my cousin is because she's her dad is mayor!" Casey said, taking an intimidating step towards Troy.

"I didn't even know that her dad was mayor until now!" Troy, didn't back down either.

"Of course you didn't! I know you Winchester! I know how you think! And I won't let you treat my cousin like another one of your other 'girlfriends'. You won't toy with her feelings, not when I'm around!"

"Toying? I'm not toying with her! You don't know anything about me Larson!"

By now, I was almost sandwiched between them. None of them was backing down. For a moment there, I thought they were going to start brawling right here and now. If the doctor didn't appear, I have a feeling they would have killed each other.

The presence of the doctor set everyone in a panic mode. But it saved Dan and Sylvia from having another relative hospitalized. Not that Casey doesn't know how to fight, but I think if the two were to fight, Troy would probably be the one win. Or maybe Casey would. It's hard to tell.

"Mayor Larson?" the doctor began, and Dan and Sylvia stood up. Casey and Troy shot each other a glare before turning their attention to the doctor.

"How is she? Is she okay?"

"She's stable now. She just had another relapse. Nothing major this time. Fortunately, she just lost consciousness," the doctor explained, and everyone, except Troy and I, let out a sigh of relief. I did not really understand what the doctor said, but the others seemed relieved so I guess it's a good thing. I mean, it was confusing how he said 'nothing major this time. fortunately, she just lost consciousness,'.

Did that mean that Connie has been through this before?

"Do you think we can see her?" Sylvia asked, finally wiping away the tears in her eyes.

"Sure. Just don't mention what made her mad in the first place. It might make things worse,"

"Thank you doctor!"

"And with that the doctor left. Sylvia finally afforded a smile. And she gave her husband a hug before facing us.

"Sarah! Hey," she began, giving me a big smile. One would not even tell that she was just from crying. At least now I know where Connie gets her positive and charming attitude from.

"Hi Mrs. Larson,"

"I thought that we agreed that you'd be calling me aunt Sylvia!"

"Sorry Mrs. L... I mean, aunt Sylvia,"

"I want to thank you for helping my daughter out. I have no idea what would have happened if you weren't there," she gave me a big hug.

If only she knew what really happened, she would have her entire law firm on my back by now. Yes, Sylvia is a lawyer. She is the C.E.O of the biggest and most successful law firm in the country. So you can see why the 'Larson family' is a really influential family.

"It was nothing really,"

"You really helped her out." the mayor added.

"As a thank you, maybe after she's been discharged, you can come over for dinner. Or her eighteenth birthday which is in a weeks time. I'm sure she'll enjoy it," Sylvia suggested.

"I don't know if that's such a good idea___"

"Trust me, she will be excited to have you over," she gave me a kiss on the cheek, "It was nice seeing you again Sarah. I hope you'll be visiting more often,"

"We'll go ahead now," the mayor smiled at me, swinging his arm around his wife's waist, and leading her towards Connie's room.

Things somehow got awkward when Dan and Sylvia left. I was left alone with Troy and Casey. Two guys who probably wanted to kill each other more than they wanted to kill me. I don't know which one was worse, the fact that they both hate me and probably want to hit me, or the fact that they might just suddenly break into a brawl here.

Every five minutes, I caught them shooting daggers at each other. And to make things even more uncomfortable, I was right in the middle of it all... literally, cause I was sitting between the two of them.

Was it just me or was time moving in reverse. Everything felt like it was at a stand still.

I'm just glad, that after what felt like forever, Dan and Sylvia came back. And they looked more happy than they did when they left, so I guess that is a good sign, right? And them coming back, also made Casey break his gaze away from Troy and towards Dan and Sylvia.

"Is she okay?" he asked.

"Well, she laughed over the fact that you were crying, so I guess she is!" Sylvia laughed, and so did Dan.

"That definitely sounds like her," Casey chuckled.

"Can I see her?" Troy asked from behind me, and I guess it was only then that his presence was noticed.

"Who are you?" the mayor asked.

"I'm Troy? Your daughter's boyfriend?"

"Bee never told me she had a boyfriend," Sylvia said, in a really excited tone at that.

"She didn't tell me either," I heard Casey mumble under his breath. I guess I was the only one who heard him because he was right next to me.

"It's a long story. I can tell you all about it after I make sure that Connie is okay,"

"Sure. I'll show you her room," the mayor said, leading Troy away from the rest of us. If I'm not wrong, I guess he is going to try and intimidate Troy, or threaten him a bit, or just enough to instill some fear into him.

"And I'll go grab something to eat," Sylvia left.

"I'll go grab some coffee," I said. It was obviously a lie. I didn't want any coffee, I didn't need it. I just needed a reason to stay as far away from Casey as possible. The thought of being stuck under the same roof alone with Casey actually scares me.

But I guess he knew that I was avoiding him cause he grabbed my hand from behind, preventing me from leaving.

"You have some explaining to do Vance," he said, making me turn around to face him.

"I already told you what happened,"

"But you didn't tell me the important part... why did they argue? Cause I'm pretty sure you didn't tell me that part,"

"Just some relationship problems I guess. She really didn't tell me what happened,"

"Why do I have a feeling that you're lying to me Vance?"

"I'm not!"

"Sure! Of course you aren't!"

"She wants to see you Sarah!" Troy interrupted out of nowhere.

I was expecting Casey to object or something, tell me to stay away from his cousin, but I guess he was too busy having a stare contest with Troy, none of them looking like they're going to back down any time soon. With his entire focus on Troy, he didn't even object or question Connie's request.

As I was entering the room, I was really nervous. I'm sure that by now, Connie had an entire set of questions she wanted answers to. And I know she will expect me to answer them all. I guess I'll have to come up with lies to tell her... and quick!

Connie actually looked better than before, despite having machines strapped to her arm. So I guess she is somehow okay, right?

"You wanted to see me?" I asked sitting right next to the chair next to her bed.

"Yeah! Hey! I uh... I wanted to umm... to apologize___"

"Apologize?" this was clearly not what I was expecting. "What for?"

"For overreacting yesterday. Troy explained everything to me. He told me what really happened... what he did. I'm sorry for what he did. I'm sorry for blaming you, and lashing out on you. For making you go through all the trouble of helping me,"

"You have nothing to be sorry for. You have helped me too. I guess I was just returning the favor,"

"Thank you,"

"Can I ask you a question?" I asked. There was really one thing that I was dying to know.

"Sure,"

"The doctor said something about you having some kind of relapse... A relapse of what?"

She was quiet for a while. My guess is that this is a topic she is usually not comfortable speaking about, so I should probably not force her to do anything she doesn't want to.

"You really don't want to tell me if you don't want___"

"No! Its... Its fine! I want to tell someone about this," she sat up straight, "I've never really told anyone this before, not even Tessa. Probably because if I tell people, they'll see me differently. They'll think I'm a monster. Are you sure you want to know?"

I have no idea what she meant by that, but what was the worst that it could be? I nodded to tell her to continue. She took in a deep breath, preparing herself I guess.

"When I was eight years, I was apparently diagnosed with a condition called 'rage blackouts'. It like makes you unconscious when your really mad. The condition can make you... umm... it can make you violent. Normally, one would like blackout... and sleep walk? And you can't control your actions when you're in that state. It happened to me... twice... and I ended up thrashing my room, destroying my father's car... and hurting Casey! I never meant to do it, but I didn't even realize what I was doing until it was too late. When I woke up, it felt like I'd only been out for seconds, when in reality, I was out for hours! After that day, I have always tried to control my anger, for my family's sake! It's the whole reason I always try to be so happy and positive and optimistic about life. But I lost my cool with you and Troy. The doctor says that it's actually a miracle that I didn't hurt you, cause if I did, I don't think I would have been able to forgive myself. I would understand if you said that you never want to see me again. I am kind of psychotic___"

"You aren't psychotic Connie! And I won't quit being your friend just because you have some stupid 'rage blackout' disorder. I'm here for you, just like you there for me,"

"You're a great friend Sarah!" she said giving me a huge hug, which I gladly reciprocated. It felt good to feel this warmth and compassion. I guess I've just gotten myself a new friend.