Inside-Out (5/20)

[ibonekoen]

Another installment.  HOpe everybody's enjoying this.  ^_^

 

When I finally get home from the hospital after insisting a million times that I’m fine and almost taking a swing at a doctor, all I want to do is smoke up and go to sleep. This has been one of the worse days of my life.

Stokely was pretty quiet when I explained my whole deal with bringing people out of their shells with dirty sex. Judging by her expression, she either sees me as having more depth than before, or just thinks I’m a total perv.

So I’m in my bedroom, getting ready to light up a joint when the doorbell rings. Who the fuck would be visiting me?

Reluctantly I get up, trudge downstairs and answer the door. It’s Stokely. And Casey. Though he looks VERY uncomfortable and is fidgeting, like he’s ready to bolt at any second.

“Hi Zeke!” Stokely says cheerfully. “Casey and I just wanted to make sure you were okay. Right, Case?”

She nudges him in the elbow. He gives a little squeak and then coughs, looking at me nervously. “Uhh, right.” he says softly.

I really have no fucking clue what to say at the moment. Stokely brought the cock tease to my house the same day as I got the shit kicked out of me. What the fuck is going on here?

I do my best not to look at him. One glimpse of those giant, innocent blue eyes and I just know I’ll do something stupid.

So I just grunt and leave the door open as I head back into the house. I’m smoking a joint, thanks. Don’t bug me.

Well, okay, bug me, but only if it’s in a good way.

I can hear Stokely and Casey behind me, muttering under their breath. Casey seems quite adamant that they should just go and leave me be, but Stokely insists that’s not a good idea. There’s a bit of a scuffle and then Casey gives an ‘oof’ and stumbles into the house. I’m guessing Stokely pushed him.

“Say something.” Stokely hisses at Casey.

“Uhhh.” Casey says, dumbfounded. Good. He’s as lost for words as I am.

“Oh for god’s sake.” Stokely mutters. “You’re both fucking idiots.”

“I’m bleeding internally.” I grunt. “You guys want a beer?”

What the fuck is going on here?

Casey’s eyes widen. “Christ, should you be out of the hospital?” he asks.

Stokely rolls her eyes. “Yeah, Zeke, I’d love a beer. I have a feeling I’m gonna need it.”

I turn and make the mistake of looking at Casey, intent on saying something snarky.

I just end up staring as those fucking song lyrics start rolling through my head again.

He blinks, staring back at me, then curls into himself self-consciously. “What?”

Stokely just has this knowing smirk on her face.

“Uh?” I grunt, finally coming to my senses and tearing my eyes away. “Nothin’. Fuck Casey. Relax. It’s me. Fuck.”

I head into the kitchen to get away from the weirdness.

I hear Stokely and Casey murmuring amongst themselves again and then Casey is protesting rather loudly. Suddenly he’s thrust into the kitchen and skids to a halt, blushing bright red.

“Um. . .Stokely wanted to know if you had any light beer.” he mumbles. “She’s, um, watching her figure.”

His eyes are darting all around the kitchen, looking at everything but me.

“You’re fucking kidding me.” I say, looking in his general direction. I end up looking at his throat because it’s safer. . .sort of. Well, not really, but I’m too sore to really get aroused at the moment, thank god.

If I ever meet the Offspring, I’m going to kick their asses for fucking up my life.

Casey’s Adam’s apple bobs up and down as he swallows. “Uh. . .no.” he says. “She was serious.”

He fidgets again, one hand coming up to scratch at his neck, right above the collar of his shirt.

“Do I look like a guy who has light beer?” I bitch. Then I realize that the whole school thinks I’m gay. Fuck.

“Um, no, not really.” Is that a smile I hear in Casey’s voice?

I look up cautiously and yep, sure enough, he’s smiling slightly. The smile fades as our eyes meet.

“Um, look, why don’t we just go?” he says softly. “I mean, this hasn’t exactly been a great day for you. You probably wanna be alone.”

I’m trying to figure out what the fuck that smile means, so I almost miss the next thing he says.

“I’m assuming you came here for a reason.” I say gruffly. “And I’m guessing that it has something to do with the rumors at school. So since it’s already a shitty day, so what if it gets worse. Spill it.”

Casey sighs. “Okay.” he says quietly. “Stokely seems to think you’ve got the hots for me or something. She dragged me over here to prove some kind of point. I told her it’s bullshit.”

Well, I was in the process of opening the fridge and pulling out three beers, but now I feel like a massive moron, so I’m just standing here with the fridge door open, looking at my own feet and sucking at my cheek. Ow. Bad idea.

“She does, huh?” I say, at a loss for other words for the moment. “Funny. She said the same thing to me about you.”

Okay. That wasn’t so bad. It didn’t sound stupid. Fuck Stokely. What the fuck are you doing?

I grab the beers and close the fridge.

Casey’s eyes widen. “S. . .she what?” he squeaks. “Stokely!”

“What?!” she shouts from the other room. “Fuck, don’t tell me Zeke took a nose dive in his own kit. . .”

She pauses in the doorway, raising her eyebrows as she stares at us. “Chen.” she finishes. “Zeke looks fine to me. What’s the problem?”

“Why don’t you tell us?” I ask as I hand a beer to Casey. I notice one of his fingers is bleeding, as if he’s been biting his nails more than usual. Huh.

Stokely has the nerve to look innocent. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Zeke.”

“Bullshit, Stokely.” Casey says. “You told me Zeke had the hots for me. He said you said the same thing about me.”

Stokely smirks. “Oh. That. We all know I’m right, so what’s the big deal?”

“Stokely, my face looks like a jar of mashed prunes because of shit like that.” I say through gritted teeth as I twist open my beer. “What the fuck are you doing?”

“Trying to get you two idiots to see what’s in front of your fucking faces.” Stokely snaps. “God, could you be anymore dense?”

“Stokely, you’re nuts.” Casey says.

I just roll my eyes and drink my beer. Anything I say now will get me in more trouble than I’m interested in right now, and I still haven’t gotten a chance to smoke up. Life sucks.

“Fine!” Stokely says, throwing her hands up into the air. “I give up! Fuck you both! Live out the rest of your pathetic, miserable lives in denial! I’m going home!”

Casey blinks, looking startled, as she stalks out of the kitchen. A few seconds later, the sound of the front door slamming can be heard. Casey winces.

“Um, I think she’s PMSing.” he mutters. He fiddles with his beer a few seconds before settling it down on the counter. “I should probably go too.”

“Give her a few minutes.” I suggest. “She’ll either be back, or she’ll be close enough to still give you shit when you leave.”

I pull out a lighter and finally light the joint. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. . .that’s a little better. . .

Casey frowns. “Should you be smoking that?” he asks. “I mean, didn’t the doctors give you any kind of pain medication or anything?”

He fidgets, looking unsure as to what he’s supposed to do with himself.

“Haven’t you ever heard of medicinal marijuana use, Case?” I ask, smirking around the joint as I take a hit.

“Want some?” I ask while holding my breath.

Casey looks hesitant for a moment and then nods. “Sure, why not?” he says. “Can’t be any worse than the scat, right?”

“Nah man. This stuff’s mellow.” I insist, passing the joint to him as I finally exhale. Okay. I feel better now. Mellllllllllllllllow.

Casey takes the joint, looks at it uncertainly for a moment, and then takes a tentative hit. He almost immediately starts coughing.

“Fuck, you call that mellow?” he rasps, making a face.

I giggle in spite of myself. First timer.

“I meant the effect.” I explain with a grin before laughing again. “It’s way less dangerous than scat, man. Hee. Scat man. Heheheheheheh.”

God I love weed. A few tokes, and everything’s great again.

“Right.” Casey says, nodding.

He takes another hit, then hands the joint back to me.

“So.” he says awkwardly as he exhales.

“Sooooo.” I agree, nodding. “Look man, I’m sorry about Stokes. She’s cracked out.”

I take another toke, closing my eyes. Okay, my face is starting to hurt less.

Casey shrugs. “It’s okay.” he says. “I think, since she’s hooked up with Stan, she’s decided everybody else needs to be as happy as she is.”

He shakes his head, snorting, as he picks his beer up off the counter and twists off the cap, then takes a sip.

“So she should just let us all fuck Stan.” I quip, grinning. “Maybe he’s got a magic cock or something.”

Casey snickers. “Stan’s not my type.” he mumbles into his beer before taking another sip.

“Yeah. Me either.” I agree with a nod.

I catch myself eyeing Casey sucking on the beer bottle. Ohhhhhhh shit. I forgot the major side effect of me getting stoned. Oh mother of fuck.

Casey catches me staring at him and lowers the bottle. “What?” he says self-consciously. He rubs a hand over his face, checking to make sure he doesn’t have anything on it, I guess.

I grin before I can stop myself.

“You know, most guys would be avoiding me like the plague right now.” I say, before I decide shutting up is a really good idea.

Casey blinks. “Oh. Well, it’s not like I actually believe those rumors.” he says, shrugging. “And besides I was labeled ‘gay’ the day I started school, so what does it matter?”

“You were?” I ask, frowning. Okay, THAT surprises me. “How the fuck did that happen?”

Casey blushes. “I played with the girls during recess.” he mumbles, looking down at his feet.

I chuckle in spite of myself.

“Oh.” I respond, nodding, rolling around the liquid inside my beer bottle. “Well, I guess the whole Delilah thing threw that shit out the window, huh?”

“It did.” Casey says softly. “Until she broke up with me.”

“Good riddance, Case. She’s a skank.” I say. “And a giant cunt. I mean, the way she did it. . . really wrong, man.”

Awwwwww. . .he’s sad. We should snuggle.

. . .

I’m so fucked here.

“I know.” he mumbles. “I was stupid to think Delilah would ever be interested in ME. Geeky little Casey Connor.”

He snorts, shaking his head, as he takes a long sip from his beer. “She’s fucking Gabe now.”

“See, that’s why I made myself scarce after the whole ‘Incident’ went down.” I admit. “Sure, I could’ve gotten laid like crazy, but things eventually go back to normal. Ha. Normal. Right. Now everyone thinks I’m queer.”

I roll my eyes.

“Gabe. I still owe that guy.” I grumble. “He won’t see it coming, and it’s gonna hurt.”

What happened to shutting up? Oh. Right. Drugs.

Puff.

Casey frowns. “Just don’t do anything stupid.” he says. “Although. . .you did a number on Gabe’s thugs before you were taken down. They looked almost as bad as you did.”

He blushes and suddenly falls quiet.

I grin again. Yeah. I’m awesome.

“He’s gotta be fuckin’ worried.” I determine. “Nobody fucks with me.”

I notice the blushing then.

“What?” I ask. Uh oh. My brain can’t take this right now.

His blush deepens. “Nothing.” he insists. “I should get going. My parents will be home soon.”

“Uh. . .fuck. Okay, sure.” I respond, rubbing my face. What the fuck just happened? “You gonna be okay getting home?”

Casey nods. “I’ll be fine.” he says. “Thanks for the beer.”

He sets the half-empty bottle on the counter, then awkwardly rubs his hands on his pants. “You don’t, um, have a breath mint or something, do you?”

“You might want to wash your hair too, if you don’t want to get busted for smelling like dank.” I helpfully suggest. “I’ll open up the windows in here.”

Casey blinks. “Oh. Um, okay. Thanks.”

He remains rooted to the exact same spot, looking like he’s forgotten how to move or something.

I concentrate on my beer. I’m not gonna say anything. I’m not gonna say anything.

Fuck. Yes I am.

“Why the fuck are you still afraid of me, Connor?” I demand as my frustration boils over. Doesn’t he KNOW what that DOES to me?!

He flinches. “I. . .don’t know.” he says softly. “I’m so used to being afraid of everybody else and it’s not like you’ve exactly given me a reason to NOT be afraid of you.”

“Oh fuck no! We just saved the fucking world together!” I exclaim, throwing up my hands. The heater flies off the joint and lands in my hand, and I panic to brush it off.

“Fuck!” I curse. Fortunately, the glowing red chunk of weed falls in the kitchen sink.

Concern flashes across Casey’s face as he takes a step toward me. “You okay?” he asks, frowning.

He seems to refuse to look at me, instead focusing his attention on my injured hand.

“Yeah, I’m. . .what the fuck are you doing, Casey?” I respond. He’s really fucking close. REALLY close.

Cock. Fucking. Tease. I’m telling you. Maybe he really is gay.

Then what the fuck was Delilah all about?

“Just making sure you’re okay.” he insists. He glances up at me, curiosity flickering in his blue eyes. “Why? Am I making you nervous?”

I’m rendered speechless. Damn those eyes. I end up pushing his glasses up his nose, just to come closer to touching him.

. . .

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Casey gulps audibly, licking his lips. “Zeke. . .” he whispers softly, “w. . .why did you just do that?”

“Your glasses were falling down.” I say quickly, then get the fuck out of the kitchen. I misjudge the doorway, bump into the frame, and apologize to it before retreating downstairs. Immediately upon getting downstairs, I start pacing, officially in freak out mode. He HAD to throw in that come fuck me voice, didn’t he? DIDN’T he?!

Stokely knows something. She has to. Maybe Casey was bullshitting earlier too. I mean, I did technically tell Stokes that I wanted to fuck Casey silly. . .in the abstract.

After a few minutes, I hear footsteps on the stairs, then Casey appears, hovering in the doorway. “Zeke?” he says tentatively.

I growl in frustration. Argh! He’s just torturing me now!

“What Casey?” I ask aggressively, then flop down on the couch and hide my face in the cushions. I’m not looking at him. I’m not. I’m stoned and I’m not looking at him.

“I told Stokely this was a mistake.” I hear him mutter under his breath.

Louder, he says, “I just wanted to let you know I’m going. Uh, see you tomorrow.”

He turns around and starts back up the stairs.

I’m pretty sure something in my brain breaks at that point, because I have no idea how to respond.