Two

My mom came into my room a few minutes later "Where were you?" I got up "I lost track of time, I'm sorry." She turned on the light "Don't let it happen again, get in the shower and breakfast will be on the bar." I got up and took a shower. I got dressed and ate breakfast, my mom asked "Did you hear about Ashlyn's grandma? She's passing away from cancer. Ashlyn won't be at school the next couple of weeks." I finished chewing my English muffin "She told me, but didn't say much, how's Daisy dealing with it?"

She handed me a glass of orange juice "She's not in the best shape but she's holding it together for Ashlyn." She put her hands on the bar "So where were you so late?" I hid my face and blushed "I was on the rooftop with this guy I met at school. We lost track of time." She leaned down on the counter "Your first boyfriend?" I looked up "You wish, no he's just a friend. He's pretty cool." She smirked as she took my plate "Casey you know, I know when you're lying." I got up and grabbed my backpack "He's just a friend mom, I have to catch the bus now."

I walked out the back door, and as I walked down the hill to the front of the office; Tomas ran up beside me "Did you get in trouble?" I looked at him "No... Where'd you get that black eye?" He started acting nervous "Got in a fight yesterday, must be showing now." I looked down at the grass as we walked "Shouldn't fight." I had my suspicions he wasn't being honest but didn't say anything "Isn't that the girl from the movies?" I looked back at Kylie "Yeah. Unfortunately, we ride the bus with her."

He quickly grabbed my hand as we walked up to the bus stop, I looked at our hands when I looked up, Kylie turned around "Casey. Nice of you to join us." I gave her a fake smile "It's not my first day. My mom took Ashlyn and me to school yesterday." She faked a smile back "Wow had no idea you date guys your age." The bus pulled up, Tomas said ignoring her comment "Come on babe." We got on the bus and sat in the back, I whispered "You don't have to pretend to be my boyfriend around her anymore."

He leaned closer and whispered, "I don't have a problem with it." I pulled my hand away from his and looked out the window, he asked, "How's your friend?" I looked at him "Ashlyn? She's in Vegas for a couple of days for her grandma." He studied my face until I turned my head forward "What?" He shook his head with a grin "Never noticed you had hazel eyes." I rested my head back on the seat and laughed "They change but yes I do."

The bus arrived at our school, he stood up and started walking off, I followed his hand in my hand; Kylie came off the bus with her best friend Amanda "Casey? Where's your tow package? Forget her today?" I rolled my eyes "You need to stop." We went into the school, he asked "What class do you have first?"

I bit my lip "Mrs. Monroe, forget we have the same class?" He glanced at me "Are you okay?" I nodded my head "Yeah, I just don't want to deal with her today, we missed detention yesterday." He covered his yawn "We should've ditched today, I'm too tired to deal with her." I put my hand in my back pockets and frowned "I don't want to be here without Ashlyn." He suggested "We can ditch?" I looked up at him "I'm down."

We quickly left the campus before the first bell rang, and we walked to the nearby soccer field. We lay in the grass with our heads on our backpacks, staring up at the clouds and trying to find shaped ones. He pointed up at one "That one looks like a ship." I smiled "That one looks like a heart." He looked where I was pointing and laughed "It does." My mind got the best of me and the question running through my head all day slipped, I sat up "Are you going to tell me how you got that black eye?" He sat up and sighed "My mom punched me when I got home." I was surprised he didn't hesitate and came out with it "Why don't you tell someone?"

He took a deep breath "Because she'll deny it and they'll believe her." I put my hand on his knee "No they won't. They'll see your eye and everything will change." He rubbed my hand "To everyone, I'm a troublemaker and asking for attention." I grasped his hand in mine "That's not true." He rubbed his thumb on my hand "I'd move and leave everything. We'd never see... My mom and dad have been fighting in court and it's just made her angry." I caught what he almost said and asked "Why don't you live with your dad? Aren't you old enough to decide that on your own?" He shook his head "Not until I'm 14."

I knew my mom had dealt with this and would know what to do "We can go to my mom and have her help you. She can..." He cut me off "No it's okay Casey. No one will do anything." I felt useless knowing and not doing anything to help him "Okay." I got up and grabbed my backpack, he asked, "Where are you going?" He jumped up following me, I stopped "She's hurting you. You need to tell someone. My mom will believe you. Just let me help you." He finally surrendered "Fine but no one will listen."

When school was over we caught the bus home and went straight to my apartment. My mom wasn't home yet so we hung out in my room. His phone started ringing "It's my mom." I looked up from my laptop, he answered it and started acting differently "Mom I'm at a friend's doing homework... But... fine." I started getting angry when I saw the fear on his face. He hung up "She's still angry, I should get home before she calls the cops again."

I grabbed a sharpie from my desk and wrote my number on his wrist "Text me if something happens." He joked "Took you long enough to give me your number." I gently held his wrist in my hand as I wrote my number "You could stay and wait for my mom to come home. But it's your decision." He stood quietly for a few seconds "If she does something else, then there will be more evidence." I looked up and asked, "Why would you risk hurting yourself more for her to get put away?" He shrugged "I'll text you." He left.

I lay on my bed and put my headphones in while I finished my homework, my mom came home and started dinner. I looked at my phone every five minutes, he never texted me. I looked up to a few taps on my window, I opened it and let him in. I looked at his face in shock "What happened?" He was out of breath as he jumped into the window "Is your mom home?" I grabbed his hand to help him "Yeah has been for a couple of hours, why didn't you text me?" He licked his bleeding lip "She took my phone away." I grabbed a tissue "Here, your nose is bleeding." He held his head back and pinched it till it stopped.

I went into the kitchen for my mom "Mom call the police please." She looked at me with concern "What's going on?" I didn't have the time to explain it to her, it was a matter of time before his mom called them "I'll explain just call them please." She grabbed her phone and followed me into my bedroom, she gave the dispatcher our address and gave her a detailed description "Yeah I have a boy here, he is badly bruised and bleeding. My daughter says his mom did this to him."

The police and a couple of ambulances showed up, the police walked over to his mom's house. They arrested her and her boyfriend, and the paramedics checked him over; his tongue was split open, his eye was bruised shut, his lip was split open and his nose was pouring blood. I stayed by his side the majority of the time. When CPS arrived, they spoke to his dad who allowed him to stay with us due to being out of town. Once everyone left, we sat on the stairway steps outside our front door, he didn't talk; we sat quietly. I didn't know what to say or do to help him.

My mom came out and kneeled in front of him "Hey, it'll be okay. We are here whenever you're ready to talk." He nodded his head "Thanks, both of you. I always thought no one would listen." My mom put her hand on his shoulder "I'm sorry you had to go through this but from here on out, you are stronger and if you need anything ever, feel free to call me. Your dad will be here in the morning to help you get some stuff from the apartment, I'm certain you'll be safe there and he lives close by so you can see Casey."

He faked a smile "Thank you, this means a lot." She stood up "Dinners ready when you guys want to eat." She went back inside, I asked "Are you going to be okay?" He looked at me "My dad is a good person; he has never hit me." I stood up "Let's go inside so we can eat." He got up and followed me inside, we ate and went into the living room to watch movies.

My mom came in "Bedtime guys. Tomas, do you have any clothes you can sleep comfortably in? If not, my oldest son may have some shorts for you. I made up the bed for you in his room." I got up to change in the bathroom, my mom grabbed him a pair of Liam's shorts. I went into my brother's room with my eyes closed "Are you dressed?" He joked "Come on, you know you want to see me naked." I faked a laugh and sarcastically said "Every girl's dream." He laughed "I'm dressed, calm down."

I sat on the bed, he asked "Is your brother not home or something?" I looked around his room "He's in college somewhere away from here." He sat on the bed "Do you get along with him?" I nodded my head "I get along with both of my brothers, but not much with my sisters." He sat on the other side of the bed "I like being an only child." I turned to face him "It has its perks." He glanced at me "Is that why you did that for me?" I fidget with my hands "Why would I allow her to do that?" He shrugged "I don't know I guess I've just gotten used to it." He laid down, facing me "Thank you." My mom came in "Time for bed Casey."

I stood up and said goodnight to him and my mom. As I reached the door I turned back "Bathroom connects to my room so make sure to lock both doors. Goodnight." I went to my room and lay down, my mom came in shortly after "I'm proud of you." I gave her a smile "I wish things like that didn't happen." She brushed my hair back "I know. Me too. I love you." She stood and shut my bedroom door.

I kept tossing and turning, it didn't feel right leaving him alone after that. I got up and snuck to his room, I laid down beside him. He was awake I rubbed his arm "Hey." He turned around "I'm sorry. For all of this." I don't know what overcame me but I pulled him in for a hug "Please don't apologize. This isn't your fault." I felt his breath on my neck and it took everything in me to pull away before I kissed him. I sat up "It's cold in here." He sat up "Are you cold?" I nodded my head as I was about to stand "Yeah, I'll just close the window." He gently pulled me close again "Don't worry about it, come here." He cuddled up with me, I couldn't help but blush. He whispered, "Are you warm now?" I began to stutter a bit "Y-yeah." He laughed quietly "Am I making you nervous?" I put my head down and smiled "No." He tilted my head back up and whispered "Really? Because your stuttering horribly."

I laughed and tried to look back down, he smiled as he leaned forward to kiss me. He held the back of my neck as his other hand held my hair out of my face, he just gave me my first kiss. He pulled away "I'm sorry." I looked down blushing "You don't have to apologize." He smiled "I don't want things to be weird and I just made things weird." I laid on his arm "Don't worry about it." He laid his forehead on my forehead and we accidentally fell asleep.