flashback: eighteen and life
Oct 17, 2016 21:40:27 GMT -5
Post by Admin on Oct 17, 2016 21:40:27 GMT -5
Phoenix, Arizona || Thursday, August 27, 2009, 12:06 PM (OFF CAMERA)
Kasey Summers eased through the door of the hayloft apartment her uncle had been letting their newest student Alex Collins use, giving him more privacy than the others who bunked in the school's barracks. She froze when she heard the sound of his voice.
"WHAT?! He said..." Alex stood there with his cell phone pressed to his ear, shook his head, confused as Barry explained the contents of Stephen Saint's shoot promo on the steps of the EWC Hall of Fame. "Why would he... I ain't that kinda... damn." He swung his legs out of the bed, tossing aside the twisted up covers, oblivious to the fact that he was in nothing but his boxers and he had an audience. "Okay, no. Thanks for tellin' me. I'll see if I can get hold of a camera. Get someth'n in."
He sat there his head hanging, stifling a yawn. He nodded slowly, the anger fading, replaced with a small smile. "Saint's talkin' a whole lot of sh-" he looked up, the words dying on his lips as he spotted Kasey standing there like a deer in the headlights.
The smile that came over his face was like the sun breaking through the clouds and she almost felt like she was going to pass right out. "I gotta go, Barry. Thanks for lettin' me know." He snapped the flip closed and let the phone drop on the table before flopping back on the bed with a sigh. "Goddamn," he groaned, rubbing his hands across his face, trying like hell to rub away the reality of the situation. He was tired, down deep to the bone, and Barry had just told him that he needed to cut a promo, pronto and get it over to the EWC offices so they could air it. "Not gonna get a pass, am I?"
Kasey licked her lips, easing a bit closer. "Uhm, a pass on what?"
Grunting softly, he turned his head and looked up at her with glassy and bloodshot eyes. "Hey, Kase."
"Hi," she said, forcing a smile his way. "Sorry I just stormed in. I thought maybe... Uncle Billy's working with the beginners today. Uhm... and your group has a free day so I thought maybe we could do lunch or something. Just us..." she trailed off, biting her lip as she took in how bad he looked, completely strung out. "Are you okay?" It was a ridiculous question because obviously he wasn't.
"Yeah," he shrugged and finally found what he'd been looking for on the floor beside the bed. With a sigh, he lifted the can to his lips, taking a noisy slurp of the warm beer. "Just not sleepin' too good. I got this match comin' up. Gotta fly out in the mornin' an' I guess I'm just..."
"Oh." Ten days had gone by in a blur. She sat down on the edge of the bed, resisting the urge to grab him and hug him until that smile came back. "Do you need anything? I mean, besides a camera?"
"Fifteen... maybe twenty stiff drinks?" He chuckled ruefully. "I dunno, Kase. Billy says I'm ready but I'm just y'know... yips or whatever, I guess. First time in the big leagues. Won the first match. Just don't wanna screw the pooch just yet."
She reached over and placed a hand on his bicep, giving it a comforting squeeze. "You won't. You're too good for that."
He flinched like she'd hit him, pulling away from that contact. "Don't say that," the words came out harder than he'd intended and Kasey pulled away.
She felt like she was going to start crying, feeling exactly like some dumb kid. "I didn't mean..."
"Shit," he muttered and then that can was bumping against her arm, "you want a drink? S'the last one. Kinda warm though."
If her uncle knew he'd been drinking up here, there would be hell to pay. Doubly if he knew she was doing it too. She shook her head, biting her lip for a second. "No. You go ahead." She looked from his face to the pillows behind him. "You know maybe you should just get some sleep. I can make sure you're up in time for dinner and everything." Impulsively, she reached for his hand where it rested on the mattress.
He didn't pull away this time. "Sleep's no good... don't wanna go alone."
"But you need it," she kept hold of his hand and looked down at him, stuffing down every urge to throw her arms around his body and comfort him in the way she really wanted to. "Lex, you really, really need it."
He stared at her for a few seconds, his dark eyes picking up the TV's glow but otherwise unreadable. "How come you're here?"
"Uhm... what?" She laughed, not getting the question at first. "I live here, silly."
"I mean," he shook his head, crumpling the now-empty can and letting it fall with the others on the floor. "Why'd you vouch for me? Why're you here right now, Kase? What're you gettin' outta-"
"Oh." She swallowed hard, avoiding eye contact, fussing instead with her hair that she'd fixed after that first day. No tell-tale red roots. She looked like a punk now with her dark eye makeup and the blackest black hair falling over her shoulders. "We're friends." The words came out so casually and sincerely. It wasn't a hard question to answer; it was, after all, a variation on the truth. She didn't tell him that she'd had a giant crush the moment she'd watched him stumble his way through an awkward vignette. She didn't tell him that she wanted to bring him here in the hopes that she could convince him to take her with him when he left again. "It doesn't matter, Lex. You're here. And I'm gonna look out for you 'cause that's just what we do here at Wild Ones. You're family now." She hated herself for saying that because it felt so wrong but he seemed to accept the words.
"I'm not..." he stifled a yawn, his body betraying him as she shoved him back against the pillows, "Kase, you don't gotta do this."
"You make it sound like it's a chore or something. You rest. I'll find a camera so you can record something when you get up. Don't worry. I'll help." She was not oblivious to the fact that he was just in his boxers and she did her best to keep her focus on his face instead of drifting down over that body that was a hell of a lot stronger than it looked.
"Yeah, you don't haveta do that," he averted his eyes.
"It's really no trouble, Lex. It'll take ten minutes, tops." She took a step away from the bed and was going to leave but his voice stopped her in her tracks.
"I mean," he paused, licking his lips before he reached up and scratched the back of his head. "You don't haveta leave... unless there's somewhere else you needta be. I just..." his voice dropped to a pained whisper, "I don't really wanna be alone, y'know?"
"Oh," she sounded pleasantly surprised. "Of course, yeah I don't have to be anywhere." She turned back in his direction, a little awkwardly. "I can stay as long as you want me to." The thought of being in the same bed as him made her cheeks flame red.
He patted the mattress beside him, waiting until she laid down before rolling over towards her. "Kase, how come you don't got a boyfriend?"
The question caught her off guard as she quickly shook her head. "There really isn't anyone I want to date. I mean... training takes up a lot of time and I'm just not really that interested in anyone." It was a lie for the most part, but she couldn't tell him the truth. "So, yeah..."
He shook his head, "nobody out there that you want? Must get pretty lonely, huh?"
"I don't really think too much about it." She had to choose her words carefully or she was going to set herself up for embarrassment pretty darn quick. "Doesn't bother me a lot. I have other stuff. Friends and uhm... the wrestling."
"That's......." he sounded so far away and when she looked at him, she realized he was already about to drift off.
She lifted her hand to his cheek, stroking it gently. "Take me with you," she whispered, pretty sure he wouldn't hear her, "when you go. Take me with you, please?"
"You love me," he said slowly, eyes still closed, "doncha?"
She froze, her cheeks blazing even redder. "We don't have to talk about this now, you should sleep." She hadn't wanted to be called out like that. "You're really great and nice and sweet and you like the same music I do and I mean we both love wrestling and hate the other stuff that goes with it and I'm eighteen now and I just think we'd be a really good..."
He was snoring softly. She adjusted her position, cuddling up close to him, her head on his chest so she could hear his heart beating.
