CASEY SAT IN HER ROOM, laying on her bed, tired of the long day. With the noise-maker in between her lips, she made a sound. Somehow, the toot of the noise-maker was sad, no matter how ridiculous it sounded. Sad. Just like this stupid day, she thought.
It was fucking insane, how her mom had the audacity to invite Izzie and the track girls. It wasn't her place. After all that happened, the last people Casey wanted to see today were the track team, especially Izzie. She was a bitch to Casey, mistreating her on her first day. Then, they were forced to become friends, and it was easy for a bit.
That friendship was possibly the best thing for Casey, but that ended quickly, when Nate made a move on her. However, that fucking scumbag lied to Izzie, and somehow, she believed him. She wrote "slut" and "hoe" on Casey's shoes, treating her even worse than she had before. And now, the devil herself was here.
Worst of all, her mom and Evan didn't really see what was wrong. And that hurt the most. Casey was hurt; she was hurt that Izzie would ruin everything they had just for Nate, that douche of a guy. She didn't really mind if her entire track team hated her, that was kind of the case back home. But she had Sharice, and she had Izzie, but that was no longer.
Suddenly, someone knocked at the door, interrupting Casey from her thoughts.
"Leave me alone, Mom or Evan," she groaned, kicking the wall slightly.
"Hey," a gentle, unexpected voice came through, and the door opened. It was Izzie. Casey sat up immediately, unsure of what the girl wanted. "Can I come in?"
Casey agreed, "Okay."
With that Izzie stepped in, not sure what to do with herself. She had been in this room before, but even though it was just a couple of weeks ago, it felt like forever ago.
"Your brother's all jazzed up because he found this creepy little gorilla thingy," Izzie said, trying to break the ice while pacing around, hands in the pockets of her jacket.
"It's the Ickle Bickle,"
"Mhm, that's what he told me," Izzie paused, smiling wistfully, before adding, "I like you guys."
There was a long silence. Casey looked lazily over at her ex-friend, still expressionless. Izzie fidgeted a little bit, nervous. The raven-haired girl stared at the girl on the bed, wondering what she should say next. She knew what she wanted to say, but was it the right time?
After taking a deep breath, Izzie sat down on the bed, making sure to keep her distance as she began to speak again, "Dude, I'm sorry. About everything. I was a dick and I got jealous, and I was afraid of losing someone that I love."
"I would never come between you and Nate."
"Screw him. No, I was afraid of losing you,"
Casey was taken aback. "Oh."
"I just..." she trailed off. "Before you got to Clayton, I... felt so out of place, like I couldn't be myself. And with Nate, our lives are just so different."
"Like, he's a huge douche and you're not?"
Izzie nodded, chuckling, "Yes."
There was yet another silence.
"And then you and I got into that big fight and we stopped talking. And... I missed you. I, like really, really missed you. And I just want my girl back." The raven-haired girl paused, mulling over what she just said. "Sorry if that sounds stalkerish."
"It does," Casey laughed, finally talking. It felt good to laugh, especially around a friend she had missed dearly. "But I feel the same, so it's cool."
Izzie had an idea. It was dumb, but it was the only thing she had. She bit her lip, taking her risk, "Hey, let's forehead promise to never leave each other again."
"Okay... What is that?"
"Come here, I'll show you," Izzie grinned, shifting closer to the brunette.
Izzie touched her forehead to Casey's, and the two could not stop giggling. However, the two were close enough so that their lips were only centimeters apart. Casey had no clue why she thought of that first. It was scary to think about it, and it felt wrong.
Casey looked into the other girl's eyes. Their foreheads were touching. It felt strangely intimate, an intimacy that she had never felt before, not even with Evan. Izzie smiled a little bit, breaking the silence with a chuckle. The laugh was contagious, and Casey even laughed a bit, too.
"That's it," the raven-haired girl giggled, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. "Is it obvious that I just made this up?"
Casey looked at Izzie again, their foreheads still touching. She studied her large hoop earrings, defined cheekbones, and almond eyes, before hesitantly looking down at her lips. They looked soft and pink due to her strawberry lip gloss, which Casey knew she never left the house without. Izzie did the same, studying Casey's features. The two kept eye contact, breaking it for seconds at a time to stare at the other's lips.
Izzie bit her lip, wondering what was to happen. At the same time, Casey closed her eyes, leaning closer. Izzie shifted too, and their lips were just about to touch...
"Hey Casey, I..." Elsa interrupted.
The two girls immediately jumped apart.
"Mom," Casey mumbled, bright red with embarrassment.
And just like that, the moment was gone.
***
Izzie didn't know what to do with herself. The two had gone down for cake, and when they saw Evan in the stairwell, Casey immediately kissed him - hard. Izzie was hurt, and that was an understatement. After awkwardly waiting, she decided that it wasn't worth it, and just stayed out of the spotlight for the rest of the party. When they sang Twinkle Twinkle Little Star for Casey's birthday, Izzie had hoped to stand next to her, but Sharice pushed her aside.
It was hard to watch Casey have such a good time, even though their business was far from finished. The raven-haired girl had no idea what the other was thinking, and she was worried. Still, the track captain could not resist smiling at Casey blowing out her candles and having a good time.
She went home that night not really sure how to feel. Sure, Izzie was happy Casey had a good birthday, and that Mrs. Gardner had invited her to come, even though she should have been unwelcome. However, she felt hurt that Casey immediately bounced back to Evan, not batting another eye in her direction the rest of the night. Sure, it probably was awkward, but they were still friends - right?
However, Izzie definitely should've been more upset. Casey kept avoiding her texts, claiming "family time" and being busy. In real life, she did the same, skirting past her and not paying her any attention. However, finally, Izzie managed to get them together to hang out. They were in an empty parking lot, drinking Slurpees.
"I can't believe we drove four towns away just to find a 7-Eleven that serves cotton candy Slurpees," Izzie commented casually.
"I have no regrets," Casey paused, smiling down at her cup. "So guess what? I had sex again."
"With Evan?" Izzie said, rolling her eyes. She tried her best to hide the hurt she felt. That meant that sometime, in the midst of the "I'm busy's" and "I have family time's," she was somewhere. Having sex. With him. She felt a pain inside her as she thought about the two of them together.
"No, with myself," the brunette quipped. "Still counts, though, right?"
"Shut up," the track captain laughed, feeling sort of empty inside.
"Yeah, with Evan," Casey admitted, looking down again. "I really love him."
"I know you do," Izzie deadpanned, suddenly turning emotionless. She had been really happy, as spending this much time with Casey was rare nowadays. However, this bomb of "I had sex with Evan again" was really hard to take in. Apparently, Casey didn't understand when she needed to stop because Izzie was struggling to maintain a stoic facade.
Casey immediately could tell that she misspoke, so she tried to explain herself. "It's just... sometimes a thing feels, like so right... you know?"
Izzie chewed on her lip, looking at Casey through the reflection of the rear-view mirror, then looking back out the window. The two began to interlock fingers, almost involuntarily. it felt like a magnet was bringing them together. Izzie breathed heavily because feeling the soft skin against hers was intoxicating. They fully held hands, in complete silence.
Until Casey's phone began buzzing. Slightly annoyed, Izzie discreetly looked at what she was doing. She definitely saw the name of the contact calling Casey: Evan Tuba. Izzie sucked in a breath, but released it when the brunette declined the call. She hummed, almost in victory.
They sat in silence, solely holding hands, waiting for the next event that the night held.