Casey and Me

"The show must go on"

Those were Oswald's words of advice to us on Monday afternoon. Our first official game was on Saturday, and we were up against - you guessed it - Silver Cross. "I know we're all worrying ourselves sick over this whole nonsense," she summed up, "but we've got to channel that worry into action. And I say we channel that worry into smacking Silver Cross around the pool a few times on Saturday."

Come Saturday, that's what we did. Silver Cross was very disappointed at getting their arses kicked, and their captain warned us it wasn't over. "Just you wait till the finals," he snarled. "You might've got lucky, but now that you're missing your pet rapist..."

"Hey," Sophia warned. Rape was as sensitive a topic for her as it was for Sally - her sister had been sexually assaulted over the Christmas break by their father, and Sophia was extremely on edge as a result. "One more word outta you, and you'll be spitting teeth, so help me God."

The Silver Cross captain - a very unpleasant young man by the name of Jake - sneered. "Aw, whassa matter?" he taunted. "Is the poor widdle girl all scared?"

THWACK

"I did warn you," Sophia said angrily, as Jake was carted off by his shamefaced teammates, who promised he'd get his just desserts for his remarks.

Of course, there was an investigation afterwards, but once the adults in charge determined that Jake had gone way too far, Sophia was cleared, and Jake was kicked off the team, much to his displeasure. According to Mr Slate, headmaster of Silver Cross, Jake had been skating on thin ice for a while, and only his influential parents had prevented any decisive action from being taken. But now Jake had taken his one step too far, and was now off the team for good. His co-captain - a much more level-headed girl by the name of Ellie - promised us that our next encounter would be much more civil. 

"Jake's an arse," she said. "But we'll just moan and threaten to come back stronger next year." 

"Thanks," David said gratefully, shaking hands with her. And that was that. 

Casey returned to school two weeks later, and, following my promise to Mum, I approached her at first break. "Are you okay?" I asked, noting how pale she looked. 

She shook her head. "Fuckin' baby's killin' me," she muttered. "Can't stop bein' sick all the fuckin' time, and I keep wantin' to eat the strangest fuckin' things... God. I can't wait for all this to be over." 

I touched her arm lightly. "Hey, at least you'll have a little girl or little boy to love," I said gently.

"Fuck you," she snarled, jerking back as if my touch were physically repulsive to her. ""What the fuck good have you ever done for me? You fuckin' abandoned me."

"The hell I did," I said angrily. "You were the one who acted like a jealous girlfriend, and you decided to damn well seduce Ellis into sleeping with you, all so you could 'take him away' from me." 

"I did it for you!" Casey shouted, giving me a furious, poisonous glare. "You were the first person to ever treat me like I wasn't some fuckin' freak of nature, and when the goin' got tough, you fuckin' ditched me, like I was fuckin' trash on your shoe!"

"You didn't exactly cover yourself with glory," I reminded her. "If you'd been a bit less clingy, you wouldn't have driven me away." 

"Just fuck off and leave me the fuck alone," she said, closing her eyes as the colour drained from her face. "You're no fuckin' good to me now." 

I stayed, against my better judgement, taking her by the arm as she swayed. "I'm not leaving you like this," I said firmly. "Come on."

She tried fighting me, of course, but she was too weak, and grudgingly allowed me to take her to the infirmary. Once I was assured she was in good hands, I left in tears, shaking from head to toe. "Why?" I asked the empty corridor.