10: I hate this day already.

Connie.

“So Sarah, I had a brilliant ide___” she rushed right past me, ignoring my callings and not even looking back at me. “Sarah? Sarah! Sarah wait... Up,”

I heard the door bang, and I guess that was it... She was out of the house. I was about to follow her but...

“Just let her go Bee, she wants to be alone right now,” Casey said from the dining table,eating his cake with absolutely no care in the world.

This has Casey written all over it.

“What have you done to Sarah this time?” I stood opposite him, behind one of the seats.

“What have I done? I haven't done anything, ” he tried to put on an innocent face, but I know him better than that. I know he's done something or said something to Sarah! I could have sworn I saw her crying when she rushed out of the door.

“Casey I know you... And I know you don't like Sarah___”

“And I have my reasons,”

“Which most probably don't make sense! You should take time to actually get to know her, Sarah is a great person,”

“Great person?!” she scoffed, “Well you and I clearly have different definitions of 'great'. I know Sarah... You only think you do,”

“You know, I don't get you. I don't understand why you have so much bitterness for Sarah. You had a childish feud so you're going to be bitter for the rest of your lives?!”

“This isn't because of a childish feud!”

“Oh it's not? You two used to be friends!”

“Past tense... Used to!”

“Casey___”

“Wait a minute, why are you even defending her? You seem to be taking everyone's side by mine!”

“Are you serious? Don't even dare go there Casey! I am always taking your side... In everything! I've stood up against my parents, your father, my friends, everyone! All for you! And then you dare try to play the victim card? ”

“Then why are you taking Sarah's side?”

“She was okay when I went upstairs... I come back and she's crying!”

“So you naturally assumed I did something to her?”

“Well did you?”

He kept quiet... Giving me a sideways glance before returning his eyes to his plate.

“I don't know what you're talking about,” the minute he said that, I knew instantly that he was definitely lying. He was guilty of something... I just don't know what!

“Sarah left here crying. And you... You just sat there eating your cake!”

“Great cake by the way,”

“Stop avoiding the topic Casey,"

“What topic?”

There he goes... Testing me! This is how he acts when he's lying. First, he'll try to justify himself without him being proven guilty in the first place. Then he'll play the victim card, making himself look like an angel. And if that doesn't work, he'll play dumb... Like he's doing right now.

He'll stall and stall and then finally just ignore and forget the topic altogether.

And the bad thing is, I don't have any proof that he really did do something wrong to Sarah... It's only a hunch!

“I didn't do anything to Sarah,” he pushed his cake aside, staring right at me, “She received a phone call, and it left her devastated. I had nothing to do with it. Now if this conversation is done, maybe you can take me to go fetch my car,”

For everyone's own wellbeing, Casey had better not be lying. Because if he is... And he did what I think he did, things are definitely not going to be okay between the two of us.

“I'll just go grab my purse then,”

“You do that! Then maybe on the way, you can tell me about that 'guy' who you left your phone with,”

Oh, that's just great! He still hasn't forgotten about that. But to be honest, even I don't have any idea who the guy is... Or even where my phone is in the first place.

As far as I'm concerned, it may be anywhere, half way around the world even! That guy might have gone with it, or he might have left it there and someone else picked it up... Or maybe the one who threw the party found it when he was cleaning up? Who knows?!

Not that I'm willing to ask Casey... He tends to overreact sometimes. But now that I'm driving him there, I might as well take the opportunity to check if my phone is still around. I simply hope it is... It had better not be with that guy, cause I DO NOT want to cross paths with him again!

*****

Sure, my memory isn't usually good at remembering stuff, but when it comes to directions, I'm a solid pro. So driving back to last night's address wasn't really a big deal. I didn't even need Casey to direct me there.

So here we are now, at the entrance of the mansion. And unlike last night, it actually looked peaceful... Without all the cars and noise that is.

Casey, acting like he owned the place, simply took a key from under the mat, opened the door, and led me in.

“Aren't you going to at least knock?” I whispered, afraid of waking whoever was here up, “This isn't our place you know,”

“The guy is probably still asleep. He wouldn't hear us even if we were to knock,” he didn't bother whispering.

The house was a mess. I guess with everyone so crowded last night, I couldn't see it. But now I could... And it was awful. Perhaps I even considered it yesterday.

Cigarette butts on the table, plastic cups on the floor, the white couch soaked in red, a few bras hanging on the wall... I do not want to know how these even got there! A few broken glasses here and there, even a family picture.

“Does your friend live alone?” I had to ask. With all these broken objects, and the mess, he might as well be grounded for life... I know I would.

“Come on Bee, he's still in high school. How the hell would he afford this mansion?”

“I don't know what he does in his free time, but by the mess in this place, it can't be anything good,”

“He doesn't leave alone, okay? His parents are just out of town for a couple of days,”

“And the most logical thing to do would be to throw a party... Of course. How have I never thought of that?” if he didn't catch the sarcasm in my voice, then I guess he's just plain dumb.

“It's called living Bee... Thinking like a teenager,”

“And how exactly do teenagers think?”

“Not like you that's for sure,” and he chuckled lightly... This must have been really funny for him.

“Nothing good ever comes from living in the moment,”

“God! You sound like my mom!” he groaned, “Just make yourself at home, I'll just go look for my keys upstairs,”

Make myself at home? This place is far from home! It's disgusting and it makes me sick to the stomach. A few more minutes in here, and I might end up seriously sick... Crazy even!

Upstairs he went, leaving me in this God-forsaken place. I wanted to sit down on the couch, but when I remembered what went down on the very same couch last night, not to mention the red stain, I'd rather remain standing.

Logically speaking, the only room which should be not as bad as the living room is... the kitchen. I mean come on, what awful stuff could have possibly happened there? You know what, don't answer that.

But thank the heavens I was right, cause I would have left and to go wait in the car.

I grabbed myself a seat at the counter. There was a bowl of punch on the counter... a couple of plastic cups on the floor and others on the counter. A spill of the drink on the counter but nothing major. This was paradise compared to the living room, which was nothing less of a pigsty mess.

All I needed to calm my nerves and get my head out of yesterday's events was listen to a bit of music... And I'm grateful that the songs on Casey's phone weren't all completely bogus!

Zombies by The

Cranberries boomed through my earphones, and I very much welcomed the distraction.

But of course it wouldn't last forever. My idiotic cousin wouldn't allow it. He covered my eyes with his huge hands, which I found pointless cause come on, who else could it possibly be?

“Real mature of you Casey,”was all I said. He didn't reply... I honestly didn't expect him to. But something didn't exactly seem right. His hands seemed more rough, not to mention the fact that they had become way colder than they were just a couple of seconds ago.

The weirdest part though,was his cologne. Casey's cologne was somehow woodsy...and the person behind me reeked of alcohol!

I may have slightly panicked, so I aggressively pushed whoever was behind me, throwing a random punch in the air before it connected with something... Or rather, someone.

“ Easy there tiger!” he said rubbing his jaw in a way that looked almost painful,“ Fuck! You punch extremely hard princess! ”and he looked right into my eyes...and I looked into his. And it was only then that I realized...

“It's you!!!”