Can't Live It Down

Chin up, chest out. Put one foot in front of the other. These words were repeated in Casey’s mind over and over through the morning. From the moment she stepped on the crowded school bus to the moment she entered the gym, where freshman orientation would be held. In less the fifteen minutes, the principle of Ashford High school would step up to the podium and begin the speech that some thought was amazing but others thought was just boring. Casey was one of those people that worked hard to get good grades but wasn’t a snob about it. She paid attention in class, but when it came to orientations and assemblies she wasn’t hanging onto every word the man, or women, at the front was saying.

Just like every other lost and confused freshman, whether they showed it or not, she followed the person in front of her into the gym, taking a spot on the cold bleachers and as she glanced around the new gym, she suddenly seemed smaller then a mouse sitting there. Quickly dismissing the thought, she pushed it back into her head that she had ever boy and girl looking at her. Maybe it was because of the drastic change, maybe it was because she had something in her teeth. She didn’t want to think about that, so she tried looking at the teachers at the front of the gym. As they all gathered around the podium, they didn’t seem that bad. Maybe this year, she would get a few good teachers that actually ran the class instead of spending their time letting children teach themselves.

“Children?” a small whisper escaped Casey’s mouth without meaning to, and she looked to the right of her to see if the person next to her heard her. Her worries were over when she saw the girl next to her was happily chatting to another girl, twirling her hair. “Great, now I’m talking to myself but at least no one heard me. I’d be dubbed insane for the rest of high school.”

A sudden noise to the left of her startled her, making her quickly clamp her hand over her mouth before letting out a squeal of surprise. Her eyes met with another set of orbs, only his eyes were a light mixture of blue and green giving his eyes a haunting look. “You’re only crazy if you answer yourself back.”

Casey laughed, moving her hand from her mouth and shrugged a bit at the nameless boy in front of her. Running her hand through her hand, she kept eye contact with the boy who amazingly stared right back at her and not down at the obvious. Her chest bloomed quickly over the summer but was constantly hidden behind the baggy shirts and overalls. Now that the fabric of her dress pressed against her body, her budded chest usually would be the first thing boys noticed but as this boy in front of her stared into her boring eyes, she couldn’t help but smile and introduce herself, “I’m Casey Mae.” she stuck her hand out for him to shake and he took it, bringing it to his mouth and pecking the back of her hand softly with his lips.

“Andrew Mason, but you can call me Andy. Pleased to meet you, Casey Mae. That’s a beautiful name.”

Casey’s mother wouldn’t be pleased if she knew that she was talking to this boy. Her mothers priorities for Casey were school, work, family, self. No where in that list was room for boys, but Casey assumed that boys were on the very bottom. Just because he was a boy, didn’t mean she couldn’t be friends with him. He seemed nice enough, he seemed new too. He didn’t know what she used to look like or how unpopular she used to be and even if she wasn’t popular now, she could at least have a friend.

Their conversation continued at a interesting pace as the man at the podium continued talking about the year they had ahead of them. Andy and Casey whispered and giggled, scooting closer to each other by the second and by the time the assembly was over, she was nearly doubled over in his lap giggling with the jokes he had continued to tell her about his old school in South Dakota and as they exited the gym Casey’s eyes were glued onto his, not watching where she was going.

All at once, Jacob was next to her with a smile on his face, Andy was reaching for her and Casey was being pushed forward into a janitors mop bucket. Dirty water splashed down Casey’s red dress, turning it a dark red and ruining the fabric. Upon falling, the corner of the dress got caught and ripped straight up to the middle of her stomach showing half the school her panties. Jacob laughed heartily and Andy glared at him, pulling his new friend from the bucket and dragging her with him to his locker saying something about having a pair of shorts and a t-shirt in his locker and that he’d be glad to loan it to her.

Great, she thought. It was the first day of school, her new friend gets to see her in a t-shirt and shorts just like she always has to wear back home and on top of that, Jacob had gotten her back and ruined her dress in the process. He even might have ruined her life along with it. Wiping the tears from her eyes, she followed Andy the rest of the way to his locker while Jacob was trying to convince his new vice-principle that it was just an accident, while yelling a fake sorry in Casey’s direction.

“He doesn’t mean it, does he?” Andy looked over at her, keeping one hand on her elbow supporting her crying body from falling from anger.

“Not one bit,” her voice was harsher then usual. It would have taken her hours to clean the dress but now that it was ripped, it wasn’t fixable at all. She would get him back. She would get him back no matter what she had to do, she was determined to embarrass him just as much as he had her.