movie nights - casey gardner (discontinued)

season 1 - chapter 6

Harriet woke up the next morning still tired, she barely got any sleep thinking about her feelings for Casey. She couldn't like her best friend, could she? Was this why she didn't like Fred? How was she gonna tell her that she was gay? Does she like Evan? 

Loads of thoughts plagued her mind as she swung her legs out of her bed. The only plus she could think of was that Casey had rejected Evan the night before.

On another note, Sam's date was tonight and he was running around like a crazy person trying to get ready for it, even though it was only 6 am. He said that it was because he wanted to be prepared. Harriet was in the bathroom brushing her teeth when Casey walked in, "Where was your wake up call this morning?" She said jokingly, but she seemed a little hurt. Casey always slept in and it was rare that Harriet didn't wake her up.

"Oh, sorry. I woke up a little late. Didn't get much sleep." She spat the toothpaste in the sink.

"Why? What's wrong?" She asked, getting closer, genuine worry in her voice. She knew that Harriet only missed sleep when she was upset or worried about something.

"Nothing, don't worry about it." She said, still facing the sink.

"I know you better than that." Casey whispered turning the other girl around by the shoulders so the were face to face, she had to look down because of the height difference.

"It's just stuff about my parents." She lied, well, it wasn't really a lie. She was upset about her parents still but she just hadn't been thinking about them all night, what she had been thinking about all night stood in front of her.

Casey didn't buy it but she didn't want to keep pushing the girl so she said, "Okay." Smiling softly before engulfing the girl in a hug.

Harriet smiled and the butterflies were back and as strong as ever. They both pulled back, smiling a half smile at each other. Harriet left the bathroom to let Casey shower, she skipped her shower this morning, hoping to get in a run before school.

Casey and Harriet were both sitting on the couch waiting for Sam to come home from his date, Harriet had a bad feeling about it and as you know her instincts rarely let her down. 

They were expecting him home any minute now and they were both really anxious and trying their best not to show it, trying to seem brave for the other. Neither of them knew why they felt the need to seem brave for one another seeing as they were always together in their most vulnerable moments.

Right on cue, Sam walked through the door looking very disheartened. The girls assumed that the date didn't go well. "What happened?" Harriet asked as Elsa walked into the living room. 

"Oh, Sam." Elsa said, something told Harriet that Elsa knew this was a bad idea to let Sam date.

Sam told them all about the date, telling them that it was very awkward and he didn't know what to say the whole time. He even told her that she had 'serious bug eyes' and her 'ass was on the phone'. Harriet thought it better not to ask. So, she just put her hand on his shoulder.

Casey and Harriet were coming to the end of their run, they ran down the driveway and Evan was sitting on the hood of his car, "Hey." He said looking right at Casey. Harriet accepted defeat and said, "I'm gonna..." She pointed at the door looking rather solemn. She ran inside and pressed her ear against the front door. Sure, it was stalkerish but she she had every right to stalk Casey, she would do the same thing and Harriet knew it.

"What're you doing?" She heard the girls voice through the door, it was muffled but she could make out what she was saying. 

"I just came to see if you changed your mind about going out with me." Harriet saw that coming a mile off but it still made her heartache. She didn't know whether she wished she knew about her feelings before Evan swooped in, wished they were never there or wished that Casey would say no and run to Harriet instead. But she knew that none of them would come true so she'd have to suck it up. "I brought you this."

"What is it with your family bringing me sweets?"

"I don't know. I like you." 'Well, so do I, Evan.' She thought.

"Why?" 'Because you're beautiful, smart, funny and the best friend I could ever have.'

"Uh..." He hesitated, Harriet would never hesitate, there is so much to like about Casey that she didn't even need to think. "'Cause most people don't stand up to assholes, you do." 'That's a shit reason' They both stopped talking. She heard the car dip and she guessed that Casey sat next to him on the hood. She walked away from the door and sat on the couch putting her head in her hands. 

After a while, the door opened. Harriet raised her head up from her hands and saw Sam walk into the house, her eyes were red from crying and so was Sam's. Casey was short on his tail buts Harriet didn't care. She opened her arms and held the boy she saw as her brother in her arms for a while and they both cried. Casey joined in too and eventually so did Evan. 

Evan was a good guy. Harriet liked him, she just didn't like the fact that Casey liked him. They broke apart and Casey went into the kitchen, she was making hot chocolate. She always did that when Sam or Harriet were upset and right now they both were. Sam, Evan and Harriet all sat on the stair and a few minutes later Casey came out with three mugs of hot chocolate. She handed one to Sam and one to Harriet. "Careful, it's hot."

"Thanks, Brown" She said as she smiled at the girl who sat down next to her. 

"Hey, dude. Don't feel too bad. The first time is always a shitshow." Evan said, he was right, he was growing on Harriet. "My first time was on a ping pong table and it collapsed like two seconds in. My balls got all wrapped up in the net, really freaked her out. How about about you guys, Case, Harriet? Was it crappy your first time, too?"

"Ew" Harriet laughed.

"Okay, gross. I am not discussing my sex life in front of my brother." She paused. "Not that there's anything to discuss." Casey and Evan shared  a look and the jealousy was back again. Harriet looked down, so did Evan.

Sam finally spoke up, "Sometimes, I wish I was normal." Hearing Sam say that broke her heart. But Evan proved himself again.

"Well, dude..." He put his hand on his shoulder. Harriet suddenly saw how similar Evan was to herself. "...nobody's normal." Harriet laid her head on Sam's shoulder as they all shared a heavy silence, not heavy in a bad way, but heavy in an important way.

After the moment that the four had shared Harriet was laying in her bed, arms spread out like she was falling. She knew that Sam would be lying in his bed, too, in his green hoodie. She heard the door open and in walked Casey. "Can I come in?"

"Yeah." She stayed laying on the bed as Casey came and laid next to her.

"What's wrong?" When Casey said that, Harriet burst into tears, she couldn't help it. She wasn't even crying about Evan. This time she was crying about her parents. The whole Sam situation reminded her of how her mom would comfort her when she was sad and now she was doing the same for Sam. Casey wrapped her arms around Harriet's shaking frame and held her tight.

Once she had stopped crying Casey turned to her and said "Follow me." She walked over to the window.

"What is this? Are you gonna turn into Peter Pan?"

"Shut up." Casey laughed. "No." She opened the window and crawled out onto the roof, beckoning Harriet to follow. So, she did. 

"Are you gonna push me off the roof? What's happening?"

"No! Trust me."

"Okay, okay." She made it fully out the window now and Casey had climbed to the top of the roof. Harriet followed, smiling as she did so. She sat down next to Casey.

"Look." She said, pointing up to the sky. The stars were all perfectly visible, there were no clouds in the sky and the full moon shone down onto the two teens. 

"Woah." Harriet said looking up.

Casey pointed out a constellation in the sky, "Look that's the Connecticut constellation." She was pointing to a 'z' shaped constellation and it was beautiful. 

"Wow." She looked back to Casey. "Who knew you were a nerd, Gardner?"

"Oh, shut up. Sam taught me that." Harriet smiled at her.

"If you say so." Casey lay her head on Harriet's shoulder and they stayed there, blissfully.

Author's note: END OF EPISODE ONE!!!!