Codename: Red

Chapter 1

Written by Hayako Rin
Edited by Chi Rei

~ Love has ended before it starts?

It was Thursday that afternoon. Casey Kandice was held up with her class activity. They were to re-enact a chapter of a story in the book assigned to their group; and the next day was their turn to perform, so she had to stay for practice.

"Okay Everyone! Let's take a five minutes break." Says the group leader.

While everyone was out for a bite, Casey stayed guard with their belongings, siting on the floor. It was so quiet, she could hear her breathing and not so long she doze off.

After some time, a guy named Derek Forrest was first to return and saw Casey, who seems to be having a nightmare; he wakes her -gently shaking her shoulder, Casey slowly opened her eyes, still feeling a bit drowsy -rubs her eyes, as she regained a bit of her senses, she saw Derek and was so startled that she moved back a little.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. You look troubled in your sleep so, I tried to wake you. If you want, you take this seat."

Realizing that they were alone together, she grows wary towards him -she shakes her head to refuse, but Derek insisted and brought the chair to her. Casey, whose already plenty nervous, stiffly stood up. "I-I don't n-need it. Y-you can have it." Jittery she says then distanced herself on the corner.

In the corner of her eyes, she saw Derek walking towards her.

Whispering softly with a bright red face, he asked "Would you go out with me?"

"Huh?" -surprised, she immediately averted her eyes and hesitated to look back at him.

"Nothing, Please forget what I said." He replied while scratching his head, he glanced at her -blushing and so was she.

The rest of the group came back and acted like nothing happened. Since then, Casey had a crush on him and kept thinking about him. Those words kept on going inside her head, wondering if she might have misheard him and so, starts her unnecessary sleepless nights.

Normally during recess, she eats inside the classroom; but ever since that happened, she would specifically go out and eat on the school garden or cafeteria. She often daydreams and scribbles on the back of her notebook and make a long deep sighs.

One day, Casey unexpectedly got to school early; no one was around yet so she wandered around the classroom. On the board she wrote "RED" inside a heart shape on the lower left corner and sat below it. She could feel the breeze coming from the window near the board. She decided to take a short nap, knowing there is still much time before class starts, when suddenly she hears a loud bang from the back of the classroom. Derek half drenched from the sudden rain walks in and greets her.

"Good Morning Casey!" He said naturally.

Casey all flustered. "Excuse me. I forgot something." Quickly she ran off.

She kept running -panting heavily. When she noticed that she had run far enough, she sheltered herself from the rain and rest, trying to catch her breath. Suddenly, she felt a piercing pain around her chest -pounding louder and louder; she grips her hand on to where her chest hurts. After a while, the rain had stop. She has finally calmed down and realized that she haven't erased her writing on the board and that running off made it more difficult for her to return; she had no choice but to wait for the class to start. When she got back to the room, it was already erased.

A few days later, during recess, before she could go out and eat her lunch, a guy from his class named Ryan Houston called her out and confessed his feelings for her. Her heart did not skip a beat like it did with Derek. Immediately, she turned him down.

"I'm sorry but I can't go out with you." She said apologetically.

"Could you tell me the reason?"

"You're... not the type of guy I like." Hesitantly she replied with a soft voice.

"Then what type of guy do you like?"

Seeing Casey in a tight situation, her friend Heather, who is quite eccentric, decided to jump in and complicate things. She suggested that Casey should write down on a piece of paper her ideal type and traits opposite of Ryan to make him give up. Heather, was actually scheming something far more interesting. She took the paper and storms off. Meanwhile...

"That's easy! I'll just have to be your Ideal type of guy." Ryan said, brimming with confidence.

"That won't do!" She shouted.

She takes a deep breath; battling in her head -a way to convince the guy without hurting him. "What I'm trying to say is that I have some-..." was cut off before she could finish.

"Can't you see you're bothering her? And besides I'm her guy (he was trying to imply that he fits all of the description she wrote on the paper), right Casey?" Derek said while walking closely to where they are.

Casey turned red from neck to her ears, she could have run but her legs were all jelly.

"If you choose me, I will treasure you." Derek added.

Casey shove and ran past them, covering her face and about to cry.

Later that afternoon. She stayed in school for a bit longer, to make sure she won't bump into them. She loitered around the school cafeteria, got some of her homework done. She didn't realize the time, it was getting late, she decided to go home assuming those two had already gone and left. From a far she sees a back of a guy leaning towards the front gate door, who seems to be waiting for someone. As she gets closer, the guy turns his back.

"Uh..."

Utterly dumbfounded -her mind overwhelmed from what had happen earlier. She tries her best to force a smile -still feeling anxious, releasing a trembling voice. "D-Derek? W-Why are you still here?"  She couldn't take off the idea that it might be a confession; she clenched her hand, preparing to hear whatever he has to say.

He scratched the back of his head and look at her hesitantly. "I just wanted to say sorry about earlier, and the other day too, that's all. Take care your way home. Bye." He walks away without looking back.

She look at his back as he goes further and further, lost in her thought, with a tinge of disappointment. "Why did he apologize?"