Casey and Me

Ouch is putting it mildly!

"Oh, God. My head is killing me."

Those were the first words I uttered as I came to. The world was spinning, I felt like throwing up, and my head felt as if an express train had slammed into it at fifty miles an hour. As my senses recovered one by one, I became aware of a furious argument, and I turned my head ever-so-carefully to source the commotion. "Oh, God," I repeated. "Her?"

"Her" was Olivia, getting the dressing down of a lifetime. Rocky was only 5'2", a good head or so shorter than Olivia, but he more than made up for it with his blistering words and stinging insults. Olivia looked ready to sink into the floor as Rocky finished telling her exactly what he thought of her, but even as he retired, Danielle let fly. She was half Irish, with the temper to match, and I winced. "What happened?" I finally asked.

"Olivia, who else?" This was Oswald, who, despite the male name, was actually a girl; transgender, in fact. She'd transitioned with her parents' permission two years ago, and unless you looked very closely, you'd never know she'd been born a boy. In a departure from convention, she'd retained her birth name, saying she figured it would be easier to leave it as is, rather than go through all the hassle of changing her birth certificate and so on. "She decided it would be fun to 'accidentally' kick you in the head and knock you out. David nearly tore her to pieces once you were out of the water and revived, and I had to hold him back from breaking her in two. Not that she didn't deserve it, mind you, but we want someone to read the riot act to."

I groaned. "Bloody hell," I swore. "Is she that messed up?"

"Yes," David said, his voice so tight with anger it was a wonder the pool didn't turn to steam. He carefully assisted me into a sitting position - I was both touched and embarrassed to discover it was his lap I'd been cradled in - but let me rest against his shoulder, given how wiped out I was from my near-drowning. "Do you remember anything?"

"I saw a foot coming for me, and then it was lights out," I said, frowning as I tried to recall the events leading up to this latest round of asshattery. "Did she try and stop anyone from saving me?"

"Yes," Oswald said in a clipped voice. "Don't tell anyone, but I did cheat and use my former, ah, strength to hold her in place while David pulled you out. And yes, I made sure her head was above water, but I might have 'accidentally' let her sink once you were safe. No one really bothered coming to her rescue, I noticed, but since she's such a 'good' swimmer, we figured she could look after herself."

The dressing down had finished by now; Mr Gladstone, Mr FitzGerald - who'd been brought in as a temporary coach during Ellis' suspension - and Miss Ainsworth were now all on the scene, and their faces said it all. "Well?" Miss Ainsworth said coldly.

Olivia wilted. "Casey told me to do it," she confessed, throwing me a shamefaced look. 

"Why?" Mr FitzGerald asked. He was a mild-mannered man, but right now, he looked ready to chew rocks.

"She wanted to teach Sarah a lesson," Olivia said. "She didn't like that Sarah 'dismissed' Ellis so fast. So she told me to drive her and David apart, so she'd really know what it was like to suffer. But when I told her that Sarah was pushing on, she told me to just go hammer and tongs and do whatever was necessary."

"Up to and including attempted fuckin' murder?" Danielle growled.

Miss Ainsworth held up her hand. "Stay calm, at least until you're out of earshot," she advised. "David, get Sarah over to the infirmary and get her checked out. Stay with her until she's given the all clear, and then both of you report to my office immediately." 

Her tone warned of dire consequences if we disobeyed, and I shivered with a strong feeling of deja vu as David helped me to my feet. "This is how Casey and I met," I said uneasily. 

David put his arm around me. "At least you know I won't stab you in the back," he said. 

I looked up at him, and just like that, felt something click into place. "You'd better not," I warned, half-joking, half-serious. "I've had enough of that to last me a damn lifetime."

"I can try," David said, giving me the half-smile I'd unconsciously grown to love. It was odd, I thought, as we left the pool, how fate could lead you through so many mishaps to the one person designed for you from birth. "Might take me a lifetime to get used to having you around," he added with a wink, "but I can live with that."

I had to laugh. "Dinner?"

"Only if you let me pay," David said with another wink. "I can't have my new girlfriend paying on the first date. I'd never live it down."

"Oh, hush up," I said, blushing as we reached the infirmary. It was nice to be called his girlfriend, though. "You can pay for dinner, but I am paying for dessert."

David shrugged. "Deal," he agreed, and I knew that this was going to be the first of many such interesting - and heartwarming - mini-spats. I was rather looking forward to it.