The Secret Five #Wattys2016

Day 95-Cason

"Thanks Armin. I'm going over there." I went over to where the girls were standing. Anya kept glancing at Armin to make sure he wasn't glaring at her for talking to a guy. Hadley was on her third or fourth beer already. "Hey Lock," I said tapping her shoulder. She turned around and looked at me.

"Hey Cason," she smiled widely and waited for me to talk.

"We have known each other for a very long time," she laughed and nodded. "And for awhile now, I have always liked you a little more than a friend. I was wondering if you want to go out with me." I was being awkward about this but I am taking the next step.

"Like on a date?" she asked.

"Yes, like on a date!" I got excited but contained it so it doesn't sound like I'm desperate. She was smiling. What does that mean? Does she want to go out with me or does she think I'm an idiot for asking?

The silence was consuming me and waiting for an answer was making my nerves go wild. I needed another drink, something strong and heavy to calm me down and forget I even thought for a minute I could be with her.

"Yes," she said.

"What?!" I looked up at her face and can see the light in her eyes, how excited she must be, how I just changed her life in a matter of a couple words and seconds.

"I thought you were never going to ask me," she laughed and hugged me tightly. "Does that mean we are boyfriend and girlfriend?"

"I was hoping to get to that point. Why?"

"We have known each other for years, do we really need to know more about each other. We know everything about each other and I think we should just be boyfriend and girlfriend and skip the dating stage. It's better than going slow when we really know we belong with each other."

"Okay then, we're boyfriend and girlfriend." I then kissed her on the lips and that was when the spark lit, our first kiss and we both knew it was meant to be.

I snapped out of my trance and looked around for Trace. He was bending down and pointing the gun in front of him. I looked to see a moose there. It was a baby and looking innocent. I can't let him shoot it.

"Trace, no!" I yelled and pushed him to the ground.

"Cason Finnegan!" he yelled and watched the moose run away. "What the hell, dude? That could have been dinner for days."

"It was just a baby. You can't kill baby animals for food, that isn't right."

"Seriously? All living things are going to die, no matter what. Why did you let it run away?"

"It was a baby! You wouldn't kill a human baby for food would you?"

"Oh my God!" Trace pushed me off and stood up. "This is different Cason! We are in a life or death situation. I don't ever think of killing a human baby, ever! You know me better than that, but, this is our life at stake. We need meat to survive, to live."

"I'm sorry Trace. Everything is just falling apart it seems." I leaned against the tree and slid down to sit in the snow. I covered my face and took a deep breath.

"What are you talking about?"

"My life. Finding out my father died here, not being able to help Locklyn with the weight gain, watching everyone around me be normal and I can't. It sucks, everything sucks. Right now, I really wish my father was here to teach me how to handle everything. He was about my age when he had me. He was nineteen and knew how to handle the news of becoming a father. He could be here helping me."