Strings - For the 'Single' Readers

Chapter One - The Nerd Herd

I take out my homework as well as my textbook, and open to the right page, trying to concentrate on the lesson from my seat in the back. When Casey walks back in the room, I immediately look down, feeling my face burn. He then takes his seat next to me and I sneak a look over at him. He's looking down at his paper, a small frown on his face. I realize that he's not looking at his paper, but at his phone.

Coincidently, right in that moment, I feel my phone buzz in my back pocket again, so I take it out and put it on my lap. When I turn it on, I see that I have two new messages from a number I didn't recognize. I read the messages.

Hey, Clare :)

I frown. Who is this? I open up the next message.

Look next to you.

Wait, what? Could it be... I look to my right at Casey, but he's just staring at his phone. I let out a breath I didn't realize I'd been keeping in. My phone buzzes again.

Your other side

I look quickly to my left at Arabella, another one of my friends. Now it made sense... She just got a new phone so that must have been her new number. She has a confused look on her face. Then, she texts me again.

Why were you so late to class? She texts me. God. I was only five minutes late. I look at the clock. Okay, so I was ten minutes late. So? Instead of responding, I shrug at her and smile a bit, then cast a glance at Casey, who notices me look at him and looks to me, smiling. I look down and smile at my textbook. Throughout the rest of the period, I keep getting texts, but I ignore them, absorbed by the thoughts in my head.

The bell rings and I get up, noticing a sniffling sound next to me. I look to see Casey in almost tears, but he leaves before I could do anything. At lunch, I didn't see him. Then, near the end of the day in chemistry, he wasn't there either. By the time school ended, I was getting pretty worried. I think through all the possibilities. Maybe someone in his family died? Maybe a divorce?

Outside of the school, I sit on a bench and wait for my bus, when someone sits down next to me. My heart begins to race. I look to see who it is, but disappointment set in as I realize that it's just Bella.

"What," I say, annoyed and tired.

"What's with you, huh?" She tilts her head and frowns. "This morning you were literally the happiest person on earth. Now you're... " She gestures to my slouched posture, frown, and pondering look.

"Well... " I smile, remembering this morning, then frown again, thinking of what happened right after.

"So... What happened?" Arabella smiles, not getting the hint at me frowning.

"I kind of ran into Casey before Algebra..." I say, smiling again.

"What do you mean? What did he say?" Bella nudges me with her elbow.

"I literally ran into him, Bell. Like... literally." I smile sheepishly.

"Oh my God! That's the best news ever, Clare!" She squeals. I frown.

"I walked right into him, Bell. How is that good?" I think for a second. "But then he started talking to me. And then... " I slow down and raise my eyebrows.

"And then what?" Bell screams and punches my arm.

"Well... He said I was good at playing guitar," I say, and look down at my ripped skinny jeans, blushing.

"Oh my God!" someone from behind me hugs me, choking me. Megan. "He's totally into you!" She shouts, earning glares from everyone around us. I jump.

"You were listening this whole time," I ask, not that annoyed at her.

"Yup," she says nonchalantly. "I can't believe this! My baby is all grown up!" I scowl at her and look down, blushing. Then, my bus comes.

"Bye," I say abruptly, getting on my bus. Honestly, I was not really in the mood to chat about Casey for much longer. Although he was really really REALLY cute... Stop! You see? I'm obsessed with him...

I get on the bus and plug headphones into my iPod, then turn on some Shawn Mendes. Eventually, I fall asleep, then wake up to honking. Apparently, I was at my stop.

I get off my bus, then begin to walk to my house, which was pretty far away. I pass Casey's house, which was two houses down from me, and stop. Faint sounds of guitar drift from his porch. I keep walking, not paying much attention to it. Then, words are added. I stop and look at the house.

Casey is sitting on a rocking chair on his porch, guitar in hand and earbuds plugged in. He's singing Bring it Back by Shawn Mendes, one of my favourites. I stand there and watch him, getting lost in the tune and the lyrics. Then, he stops playing and puts a capo on his guitar, fingerpicking a tune that I've never heard before. He starts to sing quietly, then builds of volume. I can't hear him in the beginning, but then he starts to sing louder as the chorus builds.

Why can't things be different,

Why can't I be who I wanna be.

If only I....

He stops and puts a hand to his eyes, wiping away tears. Then, he looks up, looks down again, then looks back up and stares at me. Casey puts down his guitar and stands up from his place on the rocking chair. I debate walking away, but he's already seen me. And now he was coming over. He stops at his fence and looks at me, a small smile trying to cover his tears.

"Hey," he says.

"Hey, uh, what's up?" I say, feeling awkward just standing there. He shrugs and looks down and I feel a pang of guilt. It wasn't my business why he was crying.

"How... How long were you there?" He looks back up to me and crosses his arms on top of his fence, laying his head down on them.

"Just a few minutes, I guess..." I look at him and feel my heart throb as his eyes got watery again. "What happened? You, uh, left the school," I say in almost a whisper.

"Oh... It's nothing. Just... Yeah," He wipes his eyes with his sleeve and turns away. "I'll see you tomorrow," he says, his back to me. His voice wavers, on the verge of tears.

"Wait!" I try to call after him, but he's already gone. Well. I walk the rest of the way home, confused and feeling guilty.

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Again, this is not a love story. If you want you can read this chapter. Unless you're reading this now, which probably means you already have read the chapter. Right.

So yeah. Like, subscribe, and rate! I sound like a peppy YouTuber. So yeah.

I'll update if this gets 20 reads. >U<