~My Teacher Hits Me~ (Book 1) [Rewritten]

Chapter 2: The Guy you Never want to Meet

"What the hell is up with you man?!" Tuck addresses Cas, perturbed by his silence. "New girl caught your tongue." He teases when Cas doesn't respond.

Cas glares briefly at Tuck beneath his aviators. "No." A moment later he amends, "Maybe."

Tuck smirks and makes googly eyes at Cas. "Aw...You like her, don't you?"

Cas rolls his eyes at Tuck's incessant teasing, but Tuck notices his hands are shaking slightly as he shoves them into his jean pockets. Immediately, he drops his humorous act.

"What's wrong?"

"I don't know." Cas pauses, searching for the right words to answer Tuck's question. "I just...I feel like I'm losing my mind."

"Why?"

"I can't explain it. I'm not sure I even know yet."

Tuck accepts this, still mildly worried, and the two continue walking through the Men's department of JCPenney in silence.

At the other end of the mall, in a girly teen store, Dani and Rylan spin through the racks of glittering and colorful earrings, bracelets, and necklaces. Every now and then one of the girls will gasp and beckon the other to look at what she has found.

"So, where are you from?" Dani asks, testing a bracelet by twisting it back and forth on her wrist.

"My dad and I moved here from Washington state." Rylan says, watching Dani continue to thumb through the jewelry rack.

"Washington? That's cool! I've always wanted to visit the west coast--California and stuff--but my parents tell me I'm too young to travel without them. I guess my brother could take me." She pauses, thinking about it. "If he were so inclined." Dani smiles and peers at Rylan from behind a pair of thick rimmed "geek" glasses.

"You have a brother?" Rylan asks, curious.

"Oh, yeah. Henry. He's in college, but he has to take this next semester off." Dani replies, mentioning the last part sheepishly and sliding the glasses back into their spot on the stand.

Rylan cocks an eyebrow, wondering if she'll continue or leave that information to fester in Rylan's head.

Dani bites her lip. "Well, I'm not really supposed to talk about it, but he sort of got into some trouble at school and basically his punishment is suspension for a semester." She shrugs and says to Rylan in all seriousness, "If we're being honest, he's lucky he gets off this easy."

Dani disappears behind one of the racks, then reappears not a second later wearing glasses with a fake moustache attached to them. She wiggles her nose and Rylan laughs as her initial surprise at Dani's changed appearance fades. Dani giggles.

"It's so nice to have another girl to talk to."

"Are Cas and Tuck your only friends then?" Rylan inquires.

Dani shrugs. "I suppose." She pauses as she tries to recall some bit of information. "I've known Cas for seven years--Tuck for five. It just sort of made sense to hang out with each other. I mean, we all saw each other everyday anyway and after the awful rumors spread about me in middle school, I stopped trying to make girl friends. Guys don't care too much about rumors--at least, they don't hold it against you."

Rylan nods. She wants to know what rumor could be so awful as to prevent her from making friends, but she doesn't feel right asking.

As if reading her thoughts, Dani says, "There seemed to be some belief that I was "into" girls. Don't know where they got the idea from. Probably made it up. But people left me alone when I started hanging out with the guys."