Crestfallen

17: Thank You, Casey

"W-Why wouldn't y-you j-just let me c-call an a-ambulance?" I stuttered while my teeth chattered incessantly. "I s-swear if it was j-just p-pride or something d-dumb like t-that..."

"Hey, p-pride very i-important to m-me," Jeremy replied as we entered his shack.

"So w-was it p-pride or not?" I demanded, ready to unleash some supernatural forces up in here.

"Of course n-not," he responded as if it was obvious. I mean, for everyone else it would be, but this is Jeremy Storm we're talking about, he throws kids into lockers for sport.

"S-So why didn't y-you want t-to go to the hospital?" I was trying to stop my teeth from chattering, but there wasn't any heating in his shack.

"Personal r-reasons," he replied as he sat on his mattress. There was a chair and a small table that resembled my bedside table; probably because that's what it was meant to be. I took a seat as Jeremy stretched out his leg sorely.

"Fine, then at least tell me how you got that gash," I countered, crossing my arms over my chest. It probably looked sassy, but I was just trying to collect as much body heat as I could.

Jeremy stayed silent and I glared at him, examining his appearance at the same time. I noticed his feet shaking— something I didn't even know was possible. I sighed and reluctantly asked: "What size are your feet?"

"Why?" He demanded, his eyes flicking up to me.

"Not everyone has ulterior motives, what size are your feet?" I repeated frustratedly, tightening my grip on my arms.

"11 men's," he finally answered, narrowing his eyes at me as if I was going to end his life with the information he'd just given me.

I groaned quietly and took off my boots. They were a size 10 1/2 men's and my feet were 9 women's so they were way too big for me. "Take off your shoes and leave one pair of socks on, here," I stayed, taking off my boots and throwing them in his direction. He caught them effortlessly and frowned at me confusedly.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" Jeremy questioned, his eyebrows drawing together.

I scoffed as I replied, "If only I knew."

"All I've been is mean to you, even borderline cruel. I've never done anything to earn your kindness. Hell, I'm not even a good person, I—" I cut him off with my own argument.

"Trust me, I know, but why do you think you shouldn't receive my kindness? After all, there's something about being a silent brooding jerk that attracts women', right?" I stated with a small smile on my face. Jeremy froze as I repeated the line he'd used with Liam in the hallway earlier.

"How much of that conversation did you hear?" He asked me, his green eyes finding my blue ones.

"I guess it's my turn to be ominous and silent, huh?" I laughed a little as I spoke. Jeremy glared at me before smirking.

"Never mind. I doubt you heard much, if you had, you wouldn't be helping me right now," he stayed with a knowing smirk. I narrowed my eyes and frowned.

"How do you know?" I inquired, rubbing my feet together, the socks creating friction. Jeremy had put my boots on already without thanking me, of course.

"Because, you're nice, but no one is that nice. At least, not if you knew what I'd said," Jeremy stated plainly, his smirk not leaving his pink lips.

"Jeremy, I know you're a bad guy, you do bad things. Me helping you is me not caring about the things you've done in order to help you. For all I know, you're a murderer and this gash was the result of your last victim trying to escape," I explained to him, before widening my eyes. "You're not a murderer, are you?"

Jeremy chuckled before answering: "If I was a murderer, I'd definitely be living in a nicer house."

"Fair enough," I said with a grin. I checked my phone and found it to be 1:20PM already. There was no sun outside because it was blocked by the clouds so it was hard to judge time by the light. There was a singular window in the shack and it looked like it was about to give way to the storm outside.

Just as I thought it, the glass broke and the harsh wind swarmed the little warmth that was inside. Jeremy tried to get up but fell back down with a grunt. I groaned and looked around with a frown. It was a small enough window, but it let in a lot of wind.

"Do you have screws or a screwdriver?" I asked him. He shook his head and I groaned as an idea forced its way into my head.

"You've got to be kidding me. Scissors?" This time, Jeremy nodded and pointed to one of the three drawers in the room. I opened it and found a pair of scissors, along with a single plastic fork, knife, and spoon. I grabbed the scissors and squatted to Jeremy's level. I rolled up his pants, saying, "Hold your breath."

He looked at me with confusion-filled green orbs but did it nonetheless which I appreciated as I ripped off a long piece of duct tape. Good thing I used an excessive amount. Jeremy bit down hard, grinding his teeth together painfully and I cut the piece of tape. I placed it face up on the counter and took off my second sweater. I placed it on the hole in the wall, barely avoiding the glass on the floor. I cut the tape into smaller pieces but thankfully it was a long piece. I placed my sweater on the hole and used the tape to keep it in place. I sighed as it seemed to hold back a rather large amount of wind. It wasn't as effective as the window, but it'd have to do.

The door knocked around, seeming like it was about to fly off its rusty hinges and my sweater was trying its best to keep the storm at bay. I sat back down and eyed the glass on the floor warily. "I'll clean this up in a moment, just give me a sec," I stated, taking a deep breath of cold air. I only had one sweater left and it was my favourite sweater.

I was waiting patiently and Jeremy looked around casually. "A 'thank you, Casey' would be nice right about now."

"Thank you, Casey," he said monotonously. I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms, trying to gather warmth.

"No problem," I muttered as I pulled out my phone. It was 1:30PM, break time between classes. I dialled Macy's number and she picked up on the second ring.

"Where the hell are you? I'm pretty sure I aced that Math exam. Then again, I thought I aced the last one... Anyway, where have you been? I've been alone all day! It's such a bore here without yo—"

"Do you still have that sewing kit at school from that one class you took this semester?" I inquired, ignoring her previous questions.

"Yeah? Why? What's wrong?" Macy questioned, sounding concerned.

"You're gonna need it. You okay with missing Chemistry this afternoon? I need help."

"No problem, where are you?" She asked me. I could hear all the other students in the hallway, making loud noises as lockers slammed shut in the background.

I looked over at Jeremy and he groaned, knowing that I was about to tell her where he lived. I tilted my head with a disbelieving look. I put a hand over the phone and whispered, "You need stitches, plus, Macy has a car."

"You know that shack behind the school?" I questioned while Jeremy groaned across from me.

"Um, yeah? What was that noise?"

"The problem I need you to fix, meet us there." With that, I hung up and looked at Jeremy. I gazed upon him expectantly and he looked at me incredulously. "Come on, seriously? Just say it."

"Thank you, Casey."

"See? That wasn't so hard, was it? Now, we wait."