Peach Cocaine

A knocking at the door causes Casey to pause from her Wii game, she glances at the door and shrugs her shoulders. Until another knock. Chum groggily pops his head up from his snooze on the couch. Two quick knocks now. He barks gruffly at first, but strengthens after the doorbell goes off this time.

Shutting down the system, she makes her way over to the door. Casey glances down at Chum, who is excitedly wagging his tail, and wonders who could possibly be visiting at this hour on a Monday night. It is ten o’clock p.m. and Caleb is at work and her parents are off in New York visiting relatives for two months.

She opens the door a peek.

“Jayde! What’re you doing here…?”

“Well, I’ve got something awesome to tell you!” The tall girl pats Casey back, letting herself in. She is polite enough to close the door as she shimmies toward the center of the small living room, grinning like the Cheshire cat. Oh, what a peculiar fish she is.

Clasping her hands together, she says cheerfully, “You’re going to a concert with me this coming Friday! Just me, though. Caleb will be upset if we tell him…. He really doesn’t like-”

“Wait, what?” Casey was still stuck on “going to a concert” part.

“Concert. You, me, this Friday,” Jayde says slowly, a curious look scrawling across her face.

Casey nods, “Why would Caleb be upset?”

“Because he doesn’t like that guy you were with two days ago.”

“Why? And what does ‘that guy’ have to do with this concert?”

“He didn’t really say,” Jayde frowns, her pointer finger presses on the edge of her chin as she stares up at the ceiling, “Oh! No, I take that back, he did mention that the dude was too lanky for his type. Or something like that.”

Casey sighs, “Caleb is so stupid sometimes.”

A guilty smile plays on her lips in agreement, “Anyway, my close friend just happens to be that guy’s brother. What’re the chances, right? His name is Oliver Sykes, yeah?“

Pale Fish. “Yeah.”

“So, apparently, according to Tom, Oli’s brother,” Jayde’s smile somehow manages to grow even wider, it almost looks like her face will split in two. Blood everywhere. She continues, “Oliver has been contemplating on inviting you to this concert! You see, he's the lead singer for the main band that’s gonna be playing. They’re kind of still underground and since his little… mishap a couple months ago, they’re finally starting to get their stuff together again.

And he plans on asking you tomorrow night, I believe! Well, that’s what Tom told me. So just act surprised, okay?”

Casey gives her a stupefied look, “Why are you telling me this again?”

“I want us to be friends,” Jayde says sincerely, glancing down at her hands folded in front of her, “I know a ton of Caleb’s relationships have ended because of yours and his friendship. But I don’t want to be like those other girls, because I’m pretty sure they never took the time to get to know you. So I will!”

Determination is etched into Jayde’s face as she stares at her with the most piercing eyes Casey has ever seen in her entire life. Even her mother’s death glare didn’t compare to the resolve this girl has.

“Well, okay, I’m willing to try if you are,” Casey grins, “You’re the first girl I’ve ever heard that from, so I have very high hopes for you two.”

Jayde ended up spending the night on Casey’s couch after they had plenty of ‘girly fish talk’.