Reckless. [TMNT 2012]

17. Beyond The Known Circumstances; Evelyn

Song: In - Simple Plan

The next day inches around the corner as if it is afraid to face me. I exhaustedly drag myself into school, having stayed up half the night thinking about what I witnessed. I'm not sure if I should report it to the authorities. If I do, at least they will be aware of what happened. At the same time, though, who would believe that a fish out of water knocked a boy unconscious?

    I decide to keep the scene to myself. Mostly so I don't get sent to an insane asylum.

    When I meet Casey at the park that afternoon, I am astonished at his appearance. One of his eyes is half closed and purple. His cheek has a shallow but long cut going across it, and he has a slight limp.

    "What happened to you?" I ask with almost no emotion; the opposite of how I really feel. I can't take my gaze off his bruised eye.

    "I got in a fight at school. It's no biggy," Casey replies so smoothly that I almost believe him. But something about the look in his brown eyes is off. He isn't telling me the whole truth.

    "I didn't hear anything about a fight," I veer hesitantly. I have to know what really happened, because I have a sinking feeling that I know too much already.

    Casey looks dead into my eyes with a scarily serious expression. "You really think the teachers are gonna go around telling the students? They're supposed to, like, discourage violence and what not," he responds with a shrug.

    I blink and gaze at him for a moment longer. If he's lying, then he is doing a very good job at hiding it. The expression on his face is so convincing that I feel embarrassed for mentioning it.

    I shiver and pull my coat tighter around me. Snow flurries have been accumulating since last night and they haven't let up all day. It has cooled the city down into the negatives.

    "You cold?" Casey asks with a tilt of his head. "Wanna use my jacket?"

    Instantly shy towards his offer, I shake my head. "I'm fine," I reassure him. Besides, if I take his jacket, then he'll be the one that's freezing. That would be inappropriate for a tutor to do, anyway.

    Casey seems set on warming me up, however. "We should go get some hot chocolate," he suggests. "There's an epic café just down the street."

    Either Casey is genuinely worried about my body temperature, or he's trying to find a way out of studying. I decide on the latter reason.

    "I'm here to assist you in your schoolwork," I remind him, annoyed that I can't stop shivering.

    Casey refuses to hear a word against his idea. "Come on!" Without warning, he leaps up and bolts down the frozen sidewalk.

    "Casey Jones, wait!" I yell after him. I hastily drop my textbooks onto the bench and dart after him, nearly slipping in the process.

    Even with a slight limp, Casey is fast. I struggle to keep up with him, and the slick sidewalk doesn't help.

    Noticing my slacking pace, Casey slows his own and falls into step next to me. I can't ignore the smug expression on his face. He got what he wanted: he's away from anatomy.

    As I step into the little café, however, my point of view begins to change. The warmth of the building is like a big hug. The scent of vanilla and coffee wakes me up much more than the cold ever can. Even the happy atmosphere of the employees is a lovely welcome.

    "Was that run a pre-hot chocolate warm up?" I joke lightly. That's something I never do with someone I barely know, but the quick pace has loosened up my mood quite a lot.

    "Duh," Casey replies with a smirk. "No one actually drinks it while they're cold."

    "Welcome in, guys," a cashier about my age greets us. Her hazel eyes glow with friendliness. "What can I get you?"

    "We need two hot chocolates," Casey orders as he approaches the counter.

    "Please," I add, with a glance at him. He sticks his tongue out in response.

    "Will do," the cashier says as she types something into her register. "That'll be $5.04," she announces, before disappearing into the kitchen.

    I reach my hand into my purse and pull out a few dollar bills. I start to lay them on the counter, but Casey pushes my hand away and places his own cash there instead.

    "I got it," he says.

    I look up at him in faint shock. This isn't like him. "You don't have to do that," I tell him. "I have money."

    "I know," Casey replies without looking at me. He smiles a bit as the cashier returns with two cups of hot chocolate. "Thanks," he says as he takes the beverages and hands one to me.

    "No problem," she responds with a grin.

    Casey and I take our places at a table. "Thank you," I tell him in a quiet voice, suddenly feeling a bit weird around him.

    Casey just smiles and begins to drink his hot chocolate in a cool manner. However, as the liquid touches his lips, he lets out a yelp and puts the cup back down. "That's hot!"

    I giggle, a sound foreign to my vocal cords. "Well it is called hot chocolate," I remind him cheekily.

    Casey Jones is not what I expected. Beneath that layer of laziness and arrogance, he is funny and talkative. Sure, he can be a bit obnoxious, but no one is perfect. I'm starting to like being   around him.

    We easily kill an hour just sitting and talking. I find out that he has a best friend named April who has fiery red hair. He also mentions the fact that he calls her "Red". After the "Goldie" nickname he gave to me, I'm not even remotely surprised.

    I end up telling him about my family and what they do for a living. I tell him how I basically spend my life studying. Somehow, that doesn't seem to surprise him either.

    During one of our pauses between conversations, I glance out the window beside us. The sun has completely set and the outside world is pitch black. The only thing you can see are the streetlights glowing off the pavement.

    Casey and I both agree it's time to go. We head back towards the park, snickering about yet another story we shared.

    The snowflakes swirling around us start to increase in size and number. Eventually, there are so many that I can barely see two feet in front of me. And suddenly, a horrifying thought shakes me.

    "My textbooks!" I exclaim as I look at Casey with wide eyes.

    Casey seems bewilder. "What about them?" he asks in puzzlement.

    "They're going to be soaking wet!" I gasp. We stare at each other for a moment longer, then we take off at top speed while batting snowflakes out of our vision.

    I skid to a halt beside the park bench and scoop up my textbook. It is soaked through and through. I squeeze it and melted snow drips out of it and onto the ground.

    I look up at Casey as he pauses beside me. Then, for some reason, we both burst into laughter. And not the awkward kind; it's deep belly laughter that is hard to stop.

    It's been so long since I've felt this alive.