Peach Cocaine

Pale Fish, she never expected to meet him again in a place like this, stood awkwardly behind the Backwater building beside a garbage bin in a grungy ally, and it was beginning to look like this would soon become a rape and murder case. He is even silhouetted by a cliché outdoor light and the sun is nearly down.

Casey is sure to quickly shove that thought aside.

Matt quietly stands beside her, giving her reassuring smiles, his dimples doing all of the work on calming her. She braces herself for Pale Fish to speak, her tongue feels numb and it is like she swallowed needles, all of them jabbing and pricking her stomach.

“Uh-” Begins, falters and mentally flails, “I’m Oliver.”

She suppresses a look of confusion, something is different about him from what she remembered. Casey brushes it off, it’s been six months since she last laid eyes on him in person, of course things seem weird.

“Nice to meet you, Oliver,” She says cheerfully, though deep down her stomach feels like it is going to split in two, “I’m Casey.”

Oliver sort of smiles and reaches out a hand for her to shake, she takes it and is taken aback by how firm his handshake is. Considering how twitchy and self-conscious he is acting every time his gaze lands on her, she expected it to be sweaty and cold.

“Nice to meet you too, Casey.”



Oliver clung to Casey’s side during the concert after their brief meeting, it was like he was afraid he would lose her and never find her again. It made her feel good, but also rather fearful. He had gone to a rehabilitation center for a cocaine addiction, and it made her wonder what other crap he had dug himself into besides that.

Which meant he wasn’t exactly good news, or a wonderful person to be spotted around.

Besides that, where was Seductress Fish? Casey didn’t remember hearing a thing about her ending up in rehab, if even mentioned at all on the news for that matter. Actually, there had not been a single report of the fake boobed fish once from what she could recall, and Casey refused to ask where Seductress Fish was at, so it would remain a mystery until further notice.

“May I have a sip?” Oliver asks politely, giving Casey a small smile, careful on not showing his teeth.

Casey began wishing that he would smile like he did the first day she met him. How confident he had seemed then, and so sure of himself.

Not this meek, confused man that he is now. She wondered what it was like to go through an intervention, how much it really screws someone up until their addiction is eliminated. Or at least shoved to the back of their mind, being threatened with spears and clubs.

She hands Pale Fish her bottle of water, he thanks her and ends up guzzling down more then half the bottle.

“Oh.” A look of confusion passes his features as he stares down at the object clutched in his hands. Without a word he grabs her wrist and leads her to a counter. A chubby, bald fish with a peculiar curly moustache waddles over to them and grins, “A bottled water, please?”

The bald man, who’s name tag read Robert in small, clear letters, nods. After a few minutes of him digging in a large, metal cooler he comes back with what Oliver had asked for.

“Here,” Oliver offers, “I’ll take the more empty one.”

“Why did you want to find-” me?

“Casey Fish!” Caleb yells, interrupting her and she whirls around to find where his voice is coming from.

Caleb breaches out of a mass of people like a whale breaking out of the water, Jayde clinging to his arm. Jayde’s mascara and eyeliner is smeared across her eyes and her usually perfect platinum blonde hair is disheveled and clinging to her sweat streaked face and neck. The thin, light blue tank top she is wearing fully exposes her pink bra underneath, since it too, is covered in body sweat.

She appears to be in a much better mood then when they first arrived, a grin a mile wide plastered to her face. Casey noticed how beautiful the girl really is. Not the snooty brat she had first met three months ago. Maybe this girl is the one for Caleb? A sprout of happiness grows in her thoughts as Casey returns the smile.

To her surprise the tall, curvy girl leans in to give her a hug and kisses her on the cheek.

“You having fun?” Jayde pauses, suddenly aware of Pale fish standing behind, but close, to Casey, “Oh? Who’s this?”

“Um, this is my friend, Oliver,” Casey pulls him up beside her, he tilts his head slightly and says a “hello” only loud enough for Jayde and Casey to hear.

Caleb gives him a doubtful look, there is something he just doesn’t trust about him.
His lanky figure, or his large eyes? Where had he seen him before? Suddenly he has the urge to punch Oliver, just to see him sprout some bright red blood. Clenching his fist he inches closer behind Jayde.

“Come on you two, we should leave before everyone else decides to.”

Casey frowns, furrowing her brows, “But Caleb, your favorite band is next, Asking Alexandria?”

“I can always see them another time,” He replies stiffly, half-growling the words out.

And out the door they went, Casey was sure to locate Matt first so Oliver wouldn’t be completely abandoned.