Reckless. [TMNT 2012]

2. The Good, the Bad, and Casey Jones; Casey

Song: Losing Myself - State Champs

As soon as class lets out for the day, a sense of freedom overtakes me. The moment I am outside, I whip out my roller skates and toss a hockey puck onto the sidewalk. I skirt around the flood of students leaving the school as I bat the disk around. I nail a few innocent pedestrians in the knees every so often, but I don't pay them much attention. I am solely focused on the game as it helps me relieve my stress from the day.

That is until I see a familiar blob of red and yellow disembarking from the queue.

"Red, wait up!" I call out as I glide towards April. I push some people aside as I make my way towards her, ignoring their protests.

April doesn't even acknowledge me until I'm beside her. In fact, she looks quite embarrassed to be seen with me.

"Casey, stop injuring people," she says out of the corner of her mouth. "They all have feelings, you know."

I shrug and skate backward so I can face her as I talk. "It's your last chance to go to the Halloween party," I remind her casually. I coolly meet her gaze to show her that I'm not desperate; though privately, I kind of am. But not for the reasons that one would first assume.

"No," April puffs as she tries to pass me, but I continue to glide along in front of her.

"If you do, then we'll go egg some houses later or something!" I stubbornly attempt to persuade her.

April makes eye contact with me for the first time. She drops her mouth open and puts an expression of excitement on. "Wow, that totally changed my mind!" she gasps.

I perk up hopefully. "Really?"

April rolls her eyes. "No. What makes you think I would ever want to do that?" she snorts, finally getting passed me as she travels down the sidewalk.

I slow down for a moment to recollect my pride, before speeding after her again.

"Then what do girls do on Halloween?" I interrogate her. "Watch chick-flicks and cry over vampires?"

April smiles a bit at my assessment. "I don't know what most girls do, because I haven't celebrated Halloween since I was ten," she admits.

I can't imagine such a horror, but I recover soon enough to wonder the reason behind it. "Why?" I can't help staring at her in pure shock.

"Well, you know how jumpy my dad is," April elaborates slowly as if she would rather talk about anything else. "He took me trick-or-treating every year. That is until some freak with a fake chainsaw jumped out from a dark alley and startled us. The guy chased him for three blocks. My dad was scarred for life, and ever since then I've been stuck inside every Halloween." April ends her story with a solemn look.

I should respect her disappointment, but I can't help it; I burst into laughter.

"That's it?" I cackle and slap my knee. "That's the most classic Halloween gag of all time! How could that scare him?!" I throw my head back as my amusement carries on, physically unable to stop.

Through my half-open eyes, I see April shake her head and walk away. Immediately, I calm myself down and skate after her again, taking up my usual position beside her.

"Wait, Red," I call as I catch up.

The atmosphere about April is mostly irritation with a hint of sadness. "What, Casey?" she sighs without slacking her pace. "I've got to go study."

I can't keep it cool anymore. "Please go to the party with me," I beg. "It's gonna be super boring without you. Just go for one hour and I'll leave you alone."

April brushes me off. "There will be plenty of other people there," she responds in a mutter.

An embarrassed heat swarms my face. "Well, uh, yeah. But all of them hate me." I hate saying is, but it's true. No one pays me any attention except April. Everyone else labels me as a waste of time. They just don't understand me.

But April seems aware of my dilemma. "They probably don't like you because you've hit half of them in the head with hockey pucks," she points out.

Her reason is probably more accurate than mine, but I just shrug. "I didn't know they would walk down the school hallway," I reply, looking in her eyes as to not hide my indifference.

April gives me a look that suggests I'm mental. "Because the floor obviously wasn't made for walking." Her words drip with sarcasm.

I can't invent a comeback, so I skid to a halt and grab April's shoulder. She pauses and faces me, her lips pursued impatiently. But she maintains interest as she looks up at me.

"Please go with me, Red," I insist as gently as possible. "I don't think I can face going home and spending the holiday without my family. At least I'll have something to look forward to if you agree to go to the party with me."

I sound so unlike myself; but honestly, it doesn't matter to me anymore. I haven't been the same ever since Charlotte died, so I'm not in a hurry to fix myself. I am going to let myself stay broken until I have the guts to clean up the pieces. Though, in the back of my mind, I know even that is going to take a while.

Admitting the truth of why I want her to accompany me to the party seems to win April over. I see her eyes flicker with sympathy for a minute as she gives a relenting nod.

"Fine," she says. "One hour."

Energy surges through me. "Yes, finally!" I shout gleefully as I glide around her in an ecstatic circle.

April grabs me by my shirt collar to stop me. Her brilliant blue eyes bear into mine, leaving me practically breathless from the intensity. "But just to clarify, we're only going as friends. Got it?" she asks sternly.

The fact that she is saying that while tugging me towards her face brings a smirk to my lips. "Whatever you say, Red," I answer with equal tranquility.

Looking a bit flustered, she quickly unclasps her hand from my clothing and returns on her way home. However, I don't miss the tiny grin forming on her mouth before her back is to me.

I watch her disappear. Once she's gone, I fist-pump the air and glide to my own home as quickly as I can. It only multiplies my thrill as the wind buffets my dark hair backward.

For the first time in months, I have something to look forward to.