The Witch Outcast

8- Excited yet nervous

8- Excited yet nervous

I barely got any sleep yesterday…I should have agreed to let Caspian take me to school today because then I would have been able to sleep longer.

I’m so nervous about starting this thing with Cas but at the same time, I feel excited. It’s so crazy because I didn’t even feel this way about Mike.

Ugh, I don’t know what to wear today. I want to look cute but I don’t want to look as if I’m trying too hard. I want him to keep liking me for me, so I don’t want to be fake.

I pull out a pair of ripped jeans from my closet and an anime t-shirt from my dresser then go to the bathroom to wash up.

When I look at my phone to check the time I see a text from Jeanie saying she’s on her way: “f**k, I need to hurry up” I state while putting my phone down, once I put on my clothes, I put on my air max and brush my hair into a messy bun because I don’t have time for anything else.

Right as I take my phone off the charger I see a text from Jeanie stating she’s outside. Ugh, why is she so damn prompt? Usually, I’m glad she is but not today. My parents are still sleeping so I leave the house quietly and text them as I walk to the car.

“I’m surprised you’re even able to function right now” jokes Peter.

“Sup Peter, hey Jeanie,” I say while mindlessly opening the back door and sitting down in the car while finishing up the text to my parents. When I place my phone in my pocket and I look up I notice Cas sitting right next to me smiling widely.

“Oh! Hey, you’re here” I state while blushing.

“Hey, I was wondering how long it would take you to notice me” he replies.

“I’m sorry, it’s just too early.”

“It really is” he replies, then whispers in my ear: “but it’s totally worth it to see you.”

My cheeks feel as if they’re on fire and it doesn’t help that I see Jeanie looking at us through her rearview mirror. When she notices that I caught her looking she clears her throat and starts driving out my driveway.

“Yo, don’t think about doing anything back there because our backs are turned” warns Peter.

“Shut up Peter, we aren’t even together…besides, that would be embarrassing even though you’re only a year older than us” I respond.

“Ha ha” he replies.

“Leave them alone Peter, I told you he’s a good guy even though he made stupid decisions recently” states Jeanie.

“Yeah we’ll that’s what I’m worried about, him making another stupid decision and hurting my cousin or putting her in danger” Peter admits.

“Oh my god guys, we can hear you, we’re right here you know,” I say with annoyance clear in my tone.

“It’s okay Sol” Cas states in a calm tone as he grabs my hand. “I’m not going to hurt Sol nor put her in any dangerous situations; even though I know she can handle herself if danger finds her.”

“You better not Cas, I’m not warning you, I’m promising you.”

“Chill babe, they’re fine” states Jeanie in a calm tone as she places her hand on Peter’s thigh.”

“Fine,” he responds in a defeated tone as he places his hand over hers.

It’s not until a moment of silence that it registers that Peter is holding my hand and I look from it to him and he has his head leaning against the seat with his eyes closed. So I decide to poke him on his cheek which causes him to look at me questioningly.

“If I can’t sleep then neither can you” I tease playfully.

“Then take a nap with me, it’s a far drive” he replies as he places my head against his shoulder then leans his head back while closing his eyes again.

Suddenly I feel his finger tickling the skin of my knee that’s exposed through the rip on my jeans and it wakes me up: “How long have I been sleeping?”

“Longer than I have” he responds with a chuckle.

“Oh my god, both of you snore,” Jeanie says teasingly.

“No I don’t” Cas and I say in unison.

“Yes you do, now come on if you want free food” states Peter as he steps out of the car.

We all waste no time getting out of the car and following him into the small cafe where he works.

“You want the usual babe?” Peter asks Jeanie.

“Yes please” she responds as she leads us to a booth.

Cas and I sit on one side of the booth while Jeanie sits on the other.

Soon after a couple of other employees enter and Peter comes out with a thermos of hot chocolate and assorted donuts.

“Sorry I can’t stay and eat with you, I have to train those newbies, but let me know when you leave” states Peter before kissing Jeanie and getting back to work.

“So how long has this been going on?” Asks Jeanie as she pours herself some hot chocolate and takes a frosted donut.

“What do you mean? Nothing is going on” I reply before grabbing a glazed donut.

“Cas, do you have anything to add?” She asks and he shrugs, so I elbow him in the side.

“What? I didn’t say anything” he says while laughing.

“You might as well have.”

“Ha!, I knew it!….I knew you two would eventually get together.”

“We’re technically not together but we’ll be going on our first date soon, and we’re seeing where this goes, but I want to keep it hushed around everyone at school… I don’t need any extra attention, as you already know.”

“Of course Sol, your secret is safe we me, besides I only hang out with you guys and your cousins.”

“Thank you, Jeanie.”

“Of course….so when's your date and what are you going to do?”

“I haven’t planned it out yet but I have some ideas, but I can’t tell you because it has to be a surprise” replies Caspian.

“I won’t tell Marisol” Jeanie states disappointingly.

“Bullshit” Caspian states knowingly.

Jeanie laughs and looks at me:” Sorry girl, I tried” Then we all laugh.

Once we’re done eating we say bye to Peter and then get back in the car.

“Whose sitting in the front with me?” asks Jeanie.

“I will” I shout.

“You’re not going to keep me company in the back?” asks Caspian in a saddened voice.

“Nope. You’ll be fine” I state while laughing then I make a move to climb to the back, but Jeanie stops me.

“I’m not letting you leave me alone in the front, besides; if you sit in the back people at school would wonder why you’re sitting in the back with Cas instead of in front with me.”

“You’re right” I reply as I clip my seatbelt again.

“Way to use the situation to your advantage Jeanie” Caspian states while laughing to hide his disappointment.

The ride to school was fun, we sang along to music and laughed at Caspian when he tried to sing high notes. He’s not a bad singer but he definitely can’t hit super high notes. Jeanie sings well and they both claim that I also sing well but I’m not so sure….I mean I know I can sing but I don’t believe I’m as good as they claim I am.

Tiffany wasn’t lying about having guys on the sideline waiting for her. I’ve seen her on multiple occasions making out with different guys. I didn’t hear anyone talking about Caspian breaking up with her so I guess everyone was expecting it to happen.

At lunch, Caspian sat at the table with the popular crowd but kept looking in my direction every chance he got while Jeanie looked back and forth from both of us.

During gym Caspian’s class had to join my class because they were renovating the gym his class usually used. I don’t like participating in gym, so I just hang out on the bleachers while he plays basketball with his friends. He winks at me as he makes shots, and occasionally comes to where I am to drink water from his bag that he strategically left next to me on the bleachers. Some students give me the stink eye when he’s close to me which I ignore and others ask me if I know Caspian and I respond by telling them: “he’s my best friend’s cousin, so we know each other by affiliation.” Satisfied with my answer they go back to their business.

I’ll admit it’s annoying seeing these girls fawn over him, but at the same time I get it, he’s hot, and on top of that he’s popular and he’s powerful so of course they’ll be attracted to him.

I’ll admit, there are plenty of girls in this school who I think are prettier than me and I consider myself average on the outside, but my personality makes me better than Tiffany and her crew.

I’m sure if I acted like the popular crew I could get anyone I want, but that’s just not who I am, and I don’t want to be with someone who won’t want to be with me for me.

After gym class I leave as soon as Caspian grabs his bag and goes to the locker room, since I don’t play in class, I don’t have to worry about changing. I have an agreement with the gym teacher that I won’t have to play as long as I make myself available if someone needs tutoring, luckily for me, no one has needed or wanted a tutor so it’s a win/win.

As I’m halfway to my last period Cas catches up to me: “Hey, why did you leave so fast?”

“I don’t participate in gym so I didn’t have to change” I state with a shrug.

“Oh, can I walk with you to class since we’re going the same way?” He asks unsurely.

“Yeah, of course.”

Suddenly Tiffany walks up to Caspian: “Hey Caspian” Then she looks at me with disgust: “Ew, Caspian, I told you to watch who you hang out with, she’s not worthy of your time.”

I roll my eyes and I’m about to continue walking but Cas tells me to wait and then turns back to Tiffany: “Listen, Tiff, it’s you that’s not worth my time, that’s why I dumped you and I don’t ever want to hear you or ANYONE in this school talking about Marisol in a bad way, or you’ll have to answer to me and I don’t care what the outcome would be….do I make myself clear?”

“Yes Caspian” she responds and her little click shake their heads in agreement.

With that, Cas walks towards me and puts his arm around my shoulder as we walk…I know he was trying to help and I guess he did but now I definitely would get the attention I don’t want. I can’t help but get upset and give Caspian the silent treatment for the rest of the way to the class, but I don’t remove his arm from my shoulder.

Once we get to class I shake his arm off my shoulder and enter the classroom and straight to my desk, he sits on his desk behind me and then whispers: “Hey, are you mad at me?”

I ignore him and take my computer out of my bag. He releases an exasperated sigh and seconds later my phone silently vibrates in my pocket.

*****text convo*****

Cas- Are we having our first fight already?

I leave him on read.

Cas- Sol, come on, talk to me….I know you looked at my text and left me on read purposely,

Me- we’re in class Cas, stop texting me right now.

Cas- so let’s get up and leave so we can talk.

Me- no, I need to keep my grades up.

Cas- fine then I’m not going to stop texting you until you let me say something.

Me- say what you have to say

Cas- I’m sorry…I know you didn’t want any attention on you, but I wasn’t going to stand by and have her do that s**t to you.

Me- Cas, she’s been saying s**t like that and worst since I came here and it’s already been over a year…I learned how to ignore it and keep my cool.

Cas- I wasn’t here at that time but I’m here now and I told you that I will protect you and I got your back.

Me- I know you did it with good intentions but you might have just made things worse.

Cas- trust me, Sol, things will get better for you now when it comes to her and her click and I’ll handle if she tries something stupid.

Me- I wish you would have just left it alone.

Cas- I know but I couldn’t, I won’t ever let anyone disrespect you or anybody else I care about…..please stop being mad at me.

Me- fine, now pay attention to class so I won’t have to spend the time we have together doing something boring like tutoring you instead of fun stuff.

Cas- I can think of a lot of fun stuff we could do.

Me- focus Cas.

I hear him let out a sigh before sending me another text

Cas- fine

*****End of text convo*****

I smile and put my phone back in my pocket, then he pokes my shoulder and whispers: “If you’re going to smile, can you at least look at me when you’re doing it so you can brighten my day.”

I turn and look at him real quick and make a silly face which causes him to laugh and the teacher to clear her throat while giving him a stop-the-s**t expression.

“Sorry Ms.Smith” he states after clearing his throat.

After class, Caspian offers to drive so Jeanie can rest in the back seat. She immediately places her keys in his hand and leans her head against the back seat.

“Well, I guess that means I got shotgun” I state.

“Yes you do my lady” he responds while opening the door for me then closes it once I’m seated in the car.

Once he gets in the car he turns it on and drives out the parking lot: “So where to first?”

“We can either drop off Marisol or we can go straight to pick up Peter” replies Jeanie in a sleepy voice.

“What’s it going to be Sol?” He asks.

“I’ll go with you to pick up Peter and I’ll just text my parents to let them know.”

“Okay, beautiful.”

“If I wasn’t so tired I would tease you, so consider yourself lucky” whispers Jeanie.

“Thanks cuz.”

The car suddenly gets filled with Jeanie’s snores and it causes us to laugh then I lower the volume of the music so it doesn’t wake her.

We used the car ride to get to know each other by taking turns asking each other questions. I learned his favorite color is blue, he likes sports, he’s a gamer and likes dancing, he was in chorus as a child which is why he sings well, his favorite food is pizza, he doesn’t mind reading but he’s not a big book fan, he likes exercising and watching movies in every genre and he likes different music genres as well. He learned that I like the colors pink, purple, turquoise, yellow, purple, emerald green, and white, I don’t like sports, I’m also a gamer, I like dancing and never practiced singing outside of my shower, I like pizza but I also like Chinese, Spanish and Italian food, I like reading fantasy romance and regular books. I prefer not to exercise, I like romance, romantic comedy, regular comedy, and action movies, and I also like music in all genres. He has messed around with a bunch of females before and I only ever had one ex-boyfriend, he’s experienced and I’m not. He doesn’t get along with his parents but gets along with his grandparents, Jeanie’s parents, and her grandparents. He lives with Jeanie. He learned I get along with my parents. He doesn’t have any siblings and neither do I.

We get to Peter’s job before we run out of questions. I send Peter a text letting him know we got here. Shortly after he comes out and laughs lightly when he sees Jeanie snoring in the backseat. He slides into the backseat carefully so he doesn’t wake her then she immediately puts her legs over his and leans her head on his shoulder, without walking up….I guess she’s already used to being in his arms comfortably. Shortly after he falls asleep also.

“Do you have any other questions for me?” Cas questions.

“Um…hmmm… nope, I can’t think of anything else….how about you?”

“What are you doing on Saturday?”

“Nothing, why do you ask?”

“Great, can I pick you up for a date?”

“What do you have planned?” I ask excitedly.

“It’s a secret.”

“But how would I know what to wear?”

“Wear whatever you want “ he responds while laughing.

“Okay.”

He pulls into my driveway.

“wow, we got here way too fast, you should have driven slower” I state laughing.

“I agree, but any slower, and I could have ended up with a ticket for driving too slow” he responds while laughing.

“Come on, I’ll walk you to your door.”

“Okay, thank you.”

I look back at Peter and Jeanie but they’re both knocked out.

Caspian puts the car in park then comes to my door and opens it then puts out his hand for me to grab it.

“Thank you” I state as I grab his hand and step out of the car then I move to the side without releasing his hand so he can close the door.

We walk hand in hand up the driveway and to my door then linger in place awkwardly.

“It was nice getting to know you better” I state shyly.

“I agree…we have some differences but we also have some things in common so it balances itself out.”

“So, I’ll see you tomorrow?” I ask.

“Of course” he responds then hesitates.

“What’s up?”

“Would it be okay if I hug you?” He asks shyly.

“Of course” I respond as I wrap my arms around his neck and place my head on his shoulder then he tightens the hug.

“Thank you” he states then loosens the hug but holds my hands.

“You’re welcome” I state before releasing one hand and placing it on his cheek then I place a kiss on his other cheek.

“Goodnight Cas” I state quickly while putting my key in the door and unlocking it.

He smiles when I look back at him as I step inside then he tells me: “Goodnight Sol” before walking back to the car.

As soon as I close the door he drives off.

Oh my god, I can’t believe I did that….I’m glad I came in when I did or I probably would have let him kiss me without us having our first date yet.