Semi Charmed Life
Warnings: back to the 90s, boys in relationships with boys, underage alcohol use, light swearing, all the drama that comes with being a high school student
Summary: Straight-laced Casey didn't expect his senior year to be so crazy. But between his all-knowing best friend, his jerk-ass lab partner, and the grunge kid who made his heart skip a beat, crazy was inevitable.
Note: I apologize profusely for the late arrival of this chapter. I promise it will never happen again (the worst of this semester is over for me, after all). Updates will come on a more consistent basis from this point forward.
Eight: Comedown
It was warm. He wasn't sure if it was the booze anymore. Bryce's apartment had been on the cold side of things but he had definitely drank himself a warm, comfortable blanket at the party. Casey moved his foot and groaned; no alcohol, it was a real blanket that he was wrapped up in and that was perfectly fine with him.
He had been dozing in and out of sleep all night. He was restless after Bryce and Shane fought; especially so after Shane just left him on the front porch. It was probably only an hour or two ago when the need to sleep finally outweighed the need to worry if Bryce was okay (he couldn't remember) and if he had done something wrong with Shane.
"Casey, you can't lay there forever," a voice told him.
He groaned and rolled over.
"Casey. Come on, I know you're awake right now."
Groan.
"Seriously, buddy, you've slept enough. It's getting late in the day."
"If you keep yelling like that I swear…" Casey mumbled, reaching for the pillow underneath his head. He moved a little so he could fold it over his ears.
"I'm not yelling, sunshine," said the voice. Now that he was definitely awake, he recognized it. Why was Maggie in his bedroom? "Now sit up so you can have some water and take an aspirin or two."
Casey groaned but did as he told. He kept his eyes shut, suddenly deciding that the sunlight was his newfound mortal enemy. He heard Maggie giggle and soon felt a hand pressed against his mouth, so he opened up and two pills fell in. The hand disappeared and was replaced with the unmistakable rim of a cup and the feeling of water on his lips. He took a deep sip and swallowed, consuming the drink and the pills.
But damn his head hurt.
"Where am I?" Casey asked once Maggie moved the cup away. He decided it would be acceptable to open his eyes at this point and nothing from the curtains on the window to the futon he was laying on looked familiar. He definitely wasn't in his bedroom like he originally thought.
"My house," said Maggie. "I thought you were a little too sloshed to make it up to your room without getting in trouble. You're a goody two-shoes, right?"
"Er –" It was the truth, but Casey felt offended by her word choice and didn't really want to answer in the affirmative when his rule-following habit was described like that. He shook his head. "Where's Valerie?"
"She left a long time ago," Maggie shrugged. "Apparently she brought a small alarm clock with her so she could sneak back into the house before her parents woke up. Smart girl."
Casey frowned. "What time is it?"
"Well… I didn't wake up until ten… and I managed to go grocery shopping with mom already," Maggie thought, scratching her chin. "It's gotta be passed noon. Maybe one?"
"One?" Casey shouted, sitting up. He closed his eyes and hissed, his head not really agreeing with his actions and throbbing in severe pain. Aspirin didn't work fast enough, in his opinion.
Maggie shrugged.
"Why didn't you wake me up sooner?" Casey groaned.
"We tried," said the girl, defensively. "But you're really stubborn and really difficult to try to wake."
"Oh my god, my parents are going to kill me!" Casey got off the futon, his muscles aching in protest. "Hey, where are we? Like… what's your address?"
"We're on Fischer Street," Maggie answered. "Do you need a ride home?"
Casey thought about it but then decided against it. He didn't think his parents would appreciate him getting dropped off in a car they didn't recognize. Then they would know he hadn't been up to anything respectable the night before.
"We don't live that far away from each other," Casey finally said. "I think I'm just gonna run home by myself."
"You sure?" Maggie asked, concerned. "It's really no trouble at all."
"Yeah," said Casey. "My parents are kind of uptight. If you ever wanted to come over and hang out any time after this, they wouldn't let you if you dropped me off hungover…"
"If you insist."
Casey smiled at her. "Thanks for putting me up for the night, though, Maggie."
"No problem," said Maggie. "My parents love that I'm keeping drunken teenagers off the streets, out of cars, out of dumpsters, whatever…" She winked at him. "Is there anything you need before you go?"
"No, thanks, I think I'm fine."
"Okay."
Maggie walked him to the door and waved, wishing him luck as he made his way down the street wearing the clothes he had on yesterday, but they were no wrinkled and he smelled a little bad. Most people would definitely call this a walk of shame. With each step he took towards his house, Casey was filled with an odd combination of dread and guilt. He could only hope that his parents wouldn't be too mad at him for being out all night and all morning.
Casey clicked his tongue in disappointment when he saw that both of his parents' cars were in the driveway, signifying that they were both home and at this point probably just waiting for him to walk through the door. He swallowed, partly his pride and mostly any hope of getting out of this unscathed, and walked up to his front door. He turned the doorknob and was surprised to find that it was already unlocked.
Both of his parents were sitting in the living room. The TV wasn't on. They were having a hushed conversation which ended abruptly when they noticed his presence in the door frame.
"Oh, Casey, thank goodness," his mother breathed. She put down the cup of tea that she had been clutching for dear life.
"And just where have you been all night, young man?" his father asked, not bothering to ease his son into a conversation regarding his behavior. He just dived right into it.
Casey frowned. He had two options – tell the truth and get in trouble or lie, get caught, and get in trouble. Sure, lying may buy him time but he thought it was pretty obvious what he had been up to the night before. He could smell it on himself. Maybe his parents did and maybe they didn't. He could always say he was with Valerie all night and just didn't feel like coming home so he crashed on the couch at her place…
"The Hartmans didn't know where you were either," said Brenda.
So much for that idea, Casey thought.
"We were worried sick," Brenda continued.
"I'm sorry…" Casey mumbled. "I just… I went to my friend's birthday party and I fell asleep and -"
"Were you drinking?" Robert asked.
"What?" Maybe playing dumb would help his case.
"Answer the question." Robert's tone was slowly becoming more severe. "I know you heard me."
With a sigh, Casey decided that honest was the best policy in a situation like this. He had never lied to his parents before and just couldn't bring himself to start now. He didn't want to ruin the relationship they had just over one night of poor (in his parent's opinion anyway) decision making. "I did… I'm sorry."
Brenda bit her lip. Casey knew what she was thinking – moms are always so worst-case scenario about everything, after all.
"Mom, I don't have a drinking problem," he said before she could ever bother herself with the task of asking. "I've never had anything alcoholic before last night and with the hangover I had this morning… I don't think I will until I'm legal. And even then, it'll just be a glass of wine or something. I won't be binge drinking or anything." He had no idea why he was rambling so much.
"Honey, you know underage drinking is illegal," said Brenda. "You can't just go around breaking laws. What if someone called the police on the party? What if you had gotten caught? I'm sure Northwestern wouldn't want to accept someone with a criminal record."
"I know, Mom, I know it's just… I was just trying to have some fun for a change," said Casey. "I don't go out too much and the opportunity to drink just kind of presented itself and I didn't see the harm in trying it just once, you know? You were a teenager once."
"Casey, teenager and raging hormones or not, we raised you to do the right thing," said Robert. "That includes not drinking and coming home at a respectable hour, not staying out with who knows what kind of hoodlums and doing who knows what in the streets."
"I know, Dad, and I'm really really sorry," Casey pleaded.
"You knows the rules, son, and you broke them." Robert cracked his knuckles – a menacing gesture, but Casey knew he wasn't going to do anything drastic. When he got stressed, his dad always cracked his knuckles. "You're grounded."
The two words any teenager despises more than homework, detention, and "you need to get a job" combined. Casey's heart felt like it had decided to belly flop into the pit of his stomach. It was his senior year. Most days he was a good kid – the perfect child at home, the perfect student at school. Getting grounded was completely unfair as far as he figured. This was the first time he had ever slipped up.
"For how long?" asked Casey, his head tilted down so he was staring at his feet underneath the plush living room carpet.
"Until I'm happy," said Robert.
Great, Casey's mind seethed. He could keep me grounded for the rest of the year if he's not happy.
"Honey, I think you should at least give him a time frame," said Brenda.
"I'll think of one later." Robert stood up from his chair. "Just know that we're very disappointed in you right now, Casey." He left the living room and headed for the kitchen.
Casey sighed and looked at his mother. "I'm sorry," he repeated for the umpteenth time.
"I know sweetie," said Brenda. "We're just making you sure understand the severity of your actions."
Casey just looked at her still frowning.
"I know you're still a teenager and you're going to make mistakes," Brenda continued to try to make Casey feel better. "I'm okay with that. I'm honestly surprised that you've never given us a reason to worry about anything up until now. I'm sure you won't be grounded for too long. Two weeks tops. Your father's just upset and wants to put the obedience back into you. I know this won't ever happen again, right?"
"Right," Casey affirmed, quickly. He nodded his head for emphasis.
"Good," Brenda smiled at her only child. "Now, run upstairs. Speaking of Northwestern, that early action application isn't going to fill itself out and, since you're grounded, there won't be anything to distract you."
Pennyroyal was gathered in Tommy's basement. They had another show coming up in a few days and Shane made up their practice schedule accordingly. Hungover or not, everyone knew not to miss a rehears and so they loaded up on Tylenol and water before heading over. They were all equally dedicated to putting on a good show, but they knew that Shane was downright anal. No one wanted to deal with his wrath.
Shane sat down on the couch while he belted out the chorus to their original song, Something In Between. They hadn't played it in a while and thought the show would be a great chance to bring it out of retirement. Shane would've been jumping around, standing up, whatever while he sang but Bryce had somehow managed to do quite a number on him Saturday night. His ribs felt so sore.
When the song ended, Craig and Kevin dropped their picks and high-fived one another. They were proud of how well they just played even though they hadn't touched that song in a few months.
"What Nirvana song should we cover this week?" Tommy asked.
Shane took a swig of water from a nearby bottle (it may have been his or it may have been Kevin's, but they were best friends so he really didn't care). "I'm down for anything."
"For our lovesick puppy over here, maybe we should play About a Girl?" Craig suggested with a smirk. Shane flipped him off.
"Or since our lovesick puppy over here likes to get into fights for no apparent reason, maybe we should play All Apologies," said Kevin.
"You guys just won't leave Saturday alone, will you?" Shane snapped.
"Dude, we've been telling you since this stupid feud between you and Bryce started," Tommy said, rather exasperated, which was strange for the typically happy-go-lucky drummer. "We're sick of you two fighting and always trying to make us choose sides."
"I don't make you choose!" Shane argued.
"Yes you do!"
"And, unfortunately, bro," said Craig. "We're team Bryce on what happened this weekend. You know he hates you so you really didn't need to be at the party unless you were seriously looking to start a fight."
"Bryce is not the reason I was there," said Shane. "I went to see Casey."
"What? You can't see your boyfriend any other time on the weekend?" Kevin rolled his eyes.
"No it's just…" Shane sighed. He just wanted to practice, not get lectured. But then, that's what he gets for getting into yet another fight with Bryce. "You know what? I'm done for the day. Sorry guys. I just don't need this right now."
He stood up and left the basement in such a huff. The other three stared at his retreating back until he made his way into the house, slamming the door on his way out. Tommy looked at Craig and Kevin, perplexed.
"Is he okay?" he asked.
"I don't even know anymore," Kevin said with a shrug.
"Maybe we should practice Lithium… that's his favorite song to cover," said Craig. "He could use a pick-me-up this week."
"Yeah," his band mates agreed.
Craig and Kevin busied themselves with picking up their guitar picks and tuning properly while Tommy turned to look back at the door Shane just retreated through. Despite how bleak it seemed, he still had faith in Shane and Bryce becoming friends again. Maybe not in the near future, but one day, and he was waiting for it.
It was almost November and it was getting pretty chilly outside, but that didn't stop Casey and Valerie from keeping their windows open so they could talk to each other while they worked on their homework. Valerie was battling an English essay on the symbolism in As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner and Casey was working on his Northwestern application (he finished all of his homework on Saturday since that was all he could do since he was grounded).
"Man, this book sucks… I hope none of this crap happens when I die," said Valerie. "I don't even know if I want go through the hassle of getting buried. Maybe I should just get cremated. What do you think Casey?"
"Why are you even thinking about your own death right now?" Casey mumbled, his attention still focused more on the papers in front of him than his friend.
Valerie raised an eyebrow. "You sure aren't in a good mood this evening."
Casey leaned over his desk, his arms dangling out of his window and he gave Valerie the most pitiful look he could muster.
"Didn't go so well yesterday morning, I take it?" Valerie asked.
"How could you just leave me at Maggie's like that?" He felt bad blaming Valerie but as far as he was concerned, all roads led back to her. She drank so she couldn't get them home, she left without him in the morning and managed to get back into her house safe and sound.
"Remember the last time I tried to wake you up from a deep sleep?" Valerie asked. "You hit me in the face so hard you snapped the wire on my braces. I'm amazed I even forgave you for that, but I'm sure as hell never even gonna attempt to wake you up against after that."
"Still…" Casey sighed. "I'm grounded. They didn't give me a length of time, but regardless it's not gonna be a fun next few weeks that's for sure."
"I'm sorry, Casey," said Valerie. "I really am. But hey, we don't really have anything going on with our social calendar. And I'm sure they'll still let me come over since I'm pretty much family. Ready to get caught up on the '100 Greatest Movies of the 80s' list we found in that one magazine? I think we left off on Terms of Endearment last time I checked…"
"Aw man," Casey groaned. "Shane has a show this Saturday. What if I don't get off punishment by the end of the week?"
Valerie grinned. "Well, this is a nice turn of events. Remember last time we got invited to see Pennyroyal you didn't even want to go? Now look… if you ask me, someone's a bit smitten with a certain singer."
"Val, please," said Casey, shifting so he was sitting up on his elbow. "I had a good time at the show and I just want to go again."
"Quit lying to yourself, Space Case." Valerie leaned further out of her window. "The sooner you admit that you like him, the soon either one of you kumquats will do something about it. It's like therapy; you have to admit you have a problem before you can do anything about it."
"And what if I do, Val?" Casey shouted. He panicked and looked at his door. He hoped his parents didn't hear him, of if they did then they would just ignore him.
Valerie blinked, curious. Casey had never lost his temper like that with her before; it was certainly something new and she didn't really know how to react to it.
"What's going on Casey?" she asked, softly, offering her full, undivided attention like only a best friend of twelve years could.
"Valerie… Fine, I like him, okay?" Casey said as he exhaled a breath he wasn't even aware he was holding. "I … honestly like him a lot. I didn't want to. It's weird… but I can't help it. I can't help that I'm attracted in every way to this… this guy."
"So you do like him," Valerie stated the obvious. "Well… I've heard through the grapevine that he really likes you too so I see no problem here."
"I never thought I would fall for a guy though," said Casey. "That's the problem."
"I know being gay isn't the most socially approved thing out there right now," said Valerie. "But just look around our neighborhood and at school. Shane's openly gay, Bryce is openly gay. People around here are supportive and accepting. You have nothing to worry about."
"Just remember that the people you listed are our classmates," Casey pointed out. "What about my parents though? I can't imagine the look on their face if I ever told them hey you're straight-laced, heterosexual son really wants to hook up with another boy who listens to grunge music and has no plans to attend college in the future. I don't think it will go over to well with them."
"They'll love you no matter what you say," Valerie was trying her hardest to reassure him. For a second she seemed sincere and serious, but then her trademark grin returned with full force. "And besides, if they don't then my parents will! You've met my gay cousin Raymond before right?"
"Valerie!" Casey shrieked. He shook his head and Valerie laughed.
"Seriously, Case, you shouldn't let little things like fear and anxiety keep you from following your heart." Valerie smiled. "You and Shane would make a fantastic couple."
"Alright, Oprah."
"Hey, don't knock the most beloved black woman in the world," Valerie warned.
Casey held up his hands in mock defense, causing the two to bust out into laughter once again. He was never happier to have such a good friend in such close vicinity as he was in that moment. After all, it wasn't every day he expected to vocalize the fact that he definitely, absolutely had a crush on Shane Phillips, mediocre student and fledging rockstar.
Now he just had to worry about how he was going to tell him. He hoped Valerie was right about Shane liking him so their fake relationship could finally become authentic.