[Copyright © 2013 The Daredevil]

All rights reserved.

***

Casey's POV

I stared at the lines on the page, the words jumbling together as my mind strayed from giving them my full attention. It had been three days. Three days, since my name had appeared in that stupid webpage. I never really thought about the consequences of having your name on that webpage; now it was all I could think about. People were still staring, whispering and calling me names. I had been the town's scorn before, I'd felt what it was like to be iced out, what it was like to walk into a room and have everyone in there shut up and stare. I'd worked so hard to gain the respect of these people. I'd worked my ass off to be the person that I was now. One little stupid mistake and it was all for nothing.

I was back to being the subject of everyone's whispers and hushed disgust.

My eyes traveled around the empty library and I found myself sighing. I usually liked that hardly any one came to the library, now it just felt like I was being isolated.

My phone vibrated on the table, the sound it made on the table bouncing of the walls. I looked down and brought it up to my line of vision. It was another message from Nissa.

"Hey! Are you in the library?"

I texted her back that I was, and she replied that she was on her way there.

I placed my phone back on the table and twisted the ring on my thumb. My mind wandered back to the hellish three days I'd had.

"She's such a slut," someone whispered loud enough for me to hear as I walked down the school's hallway.

"I know, right?"

"Did you hear that she's still hanging around him like a lost puppy?" someone else replied.

I didn't have the guts to reply or to look up and see who it was. I kept my head down as I headed to my locker, trying to ignore the stares and the snickers. This had been going on since Monday. People had stared, called me names, glared and even threatened to do very weird stuff to me if I didn't stay away from Ryder.

Ryder of course, had been completely oblivious to everything. The guy lived in his own little world and never really noticed the damage he left in his wake. I wasn't blaming this on Ryder, I just wished I wasn't the only one people called out.

I heard the huge wooden door to the library open and close and I looked up to find both Nissa and Ryder walking in. Nissa looked frustrated and Ryder just looked bored out of his mind.

"Can you tell this idiot what's been going on for the past three days? His ignorance on the subject is annoying the hell out of me," Nissa told me as she and Ryder walked over to me. Ryder gave her a glare and turned to me curiously.

"Why are you in here during lunch?" he asked.

I shrugged, "It's quiet."

"Yeah, I noticed," he muttered as he pulled a chair from one of the tables towards the counter where I was sitting, placing it next to mine, he slumped down in it.

I shrugged again as I grabbed a fry out of the container on the desk. Nadia had been packing my lunch for me since Tuesday. She didn't ask me why I'd suddenly asked this of her, and I was fine with not sharing that I didn't want to walk into a cafeteria full of people staring and pointing at me. If I told Nadia what had been going on at school, she'd march down there and probably curse out every student she came in contact with.

Ryder reached over me and grabbed a few fries. Popping one in his mouth, he grinned when I glared at him. "So, you gonna tell me why you're really hiding out in here?"

Nissa gave me a nod and pulled herself up onto the counter, turning slightly to face us.

"I don't know what you're talking about..." I trailed off.

"Casey, just tell him what's been going on," Nissa pushed. Nissa hadn't been happy at all about what was going on, and she'd been furious when I refused to tell Ryder that his whores were sending me threatening notes. She'd already punched one of the girls in the face when she'd had the guts to call me a slut in front of Nissa. After that, I'd made sure Nissa wasn't present when they called me names. Of course, I couldn't completely avoid it, but I'd kept her out of trouble by reminding her that she already had two strikes with the principal. She would growl and grit her teeth, but in the end she always listened.

"Nothing has been going on," I replied, busying myself with the books on the counter.

"Casey!" Nissa scolded and I brought my eyes up to meet hers. We stared at each other silently arguing.

During this entire thing, Ryder just sat in his chair, eating my fries.

Nissa motioned with her head for me to tell him and I shook my head no. I didn't need Ryder's pity. She growled and pointed at Ryder, mouthing 'tell him.' I shook my head no once again.

"Ryder," Nissa said, trying to get Ryder's attention. He looked up and raised an eyebrow. "Casey's being bullied because of what supposedly happened between you two."

His brows furrowed in confusion as he turned towards me. I looked away, making myself busy, I grabbed the books I'd been using earlier and stood up to go place them where I'd found them.

"Casey, is that true?" Ryder asked, grabbing my arm to stop me.

"It's not a big deal, okay? People are going to talk; I'm used to it," I told him as I pulled my arm out of his grip and walked away. I heard him stand up and follow.

"Who's bullying you?" he asked from behind me.

"No one is, okay?" I answered. "It's not bullying if it doesn't affect me."

"Bullshit!" he replied, his voice raising a little. "If people are bullying you, you need to tell me."

I turned around to face him. "And why do I need to tell you?"

"So I can know who to beat the shit out of," he replied casually and I rolled my eyes.

"Simmer down, John Cena...I can take care of myself," I informed him. Pushing some of the books on the shelf in front of me apart to create a space, I placed one of the books back where I'd found it.

"Trust me, I know. I've been on the wrong end of your anger already, remember?" He raised an eyebrow and I fought the urge to laugh as my mind flashed back toSaturday morning when I'd kneed him and gave him a nurple. "...I just like beating the shit out people," he smirked and I smiled.

"You gotta admit, you totally deserved what you got," I replied as I walked down the aisle.

"I did not," he mock gasped.

"Did too," I replied as I searched for the spot where I'd found the next book in my pile.

"All I did was wake you up," he answered.

"Yeah, with a douse of freezing cold water," I replied dryly.

"In my defense, I had no idea what I was doing. It was like the water was calling out my name, and then my feet took over my body and the last thing I remember is you riding me," he answered trying not to laugh.

I turned around and glared at him. "I did not ride you."

"Sure you did," he answered, pulling out one of the books from the stack in front of him.

"All I remember is you getting your ass kicked by a girl," I taunted him with a smirk.

"I have no recollection of that," he answered, moving around me, he pulled out another book, flipped it open to the end and began to read the last page.

"What are you doing?" I inquired curiously.

He looked up from the book. "What do you mean?"

"You're going to ruin the ending for yourself," I informed him, moving my head in the book's direction.

"Oh...I hate surprises. I never read a book without reading the ending first. That way, if I like the ending, then I can read the book, if I don't like the ending, I know it will be a waste of my time," he answered, his eyes lowering to the book once again.

"Yeah, but know you know what happens in the end, so there is no angst," I told him. "What's the point?"

"The point, sweetheart, is that I don't like wasting time. Let's say I spend two hours reading a book, only to find out that the ending sucked balls. Do you know how much that sucks?" he stated.

"You are a very, very strange boy," I told him, shaking my head.

"Says the girl who eats Hulk's shit for breakfast," he answered, rolling his eyes and flicking his thumb on my nose lightly.

"I told you it's a smoothie," I told him through gritted teeth and he smirked. I rounded the corner and came to a halt, my heart stopping in my chest for a second. "Seth! You scared the living shit out of me!" I exclaimed, laying a hand on my chest, trying to slow down my racing heart.

The boy slouched down on the library's floor, hunched over a book, looked up, pushing his glasses further up the bridge of his nose. "Oh hey, Casey."

"What are you doing here?" I asked, hoisting the books further up in arms.

"I, uh, always eat here during lunch. It's better to be the freak who eats alone in the library than to be the freak sitting alone at a huge table," he muttered, not meeting my eyes.

"Well why don't you join us in front ?" I suggested and he gave me a dry look.

"I don't need your pity, Casey," he answered.

"Hey, nerd, you mind being a little more grateful?" Ryder declared and I elbowed him. He grunted and threw me a surprised glare. "What the hell?" he wheezed out.

"Leave him alone," I ordered and he rolled his eyes. "It's not pity, Seth. I recently realized that the only friends I have are Nissa, who hates anything school related and a self-confessed man whore who's still learning how to speak like a twenty-first century man."

Seth snorted while Ryder gasped with mock offense.

"So as you can probably tell, I find myself in desperate need of a friend who understands my incredibly funny science jokes," I informed him and he grinned. Seth was one of those guys that never really got noticed unless he was needed for anything school related. We were a lot alike in that department. He wasn't hot, but he was cute in a nerdy kind of way. He had brown locks that desperately needed a trim and chocolate brown eyes, that were hidden by big round glasses. He spent most of his time with his nose buried in a comic book or rolling his eyes at our classmates' stupidity. I'd spoken to him every now and then but he'd always muttered something and walked away. He wasn't a social person, but neither was I.

"Okay...if you know this joke, I'll consider your offer," he said and I nodded, indicating for him to speak. "A star walks into a black hole but doesn't seem fazed. The black hole then turns to the star and says..."

I immediately reply, "Sir, I don't think you understand the gravity of this situation." I grab onto my belly as I double over in laughter, Seth joined in and soon we couldn't stop laughing.

"You two are a strange breed of nerd. I mean there is the normal kind of nerd and then there's...you," Ryder spoke up, giving us both a weird look. He turned around and walked away.

"You don't understand the gravity of this situation, " I laugh, my eyes tearing up from laughing so much.

"You are the first person that has answered that correctly," Seth told me with a grin.

"I told you, I know incredibly funny jokes," I reminded him. "So are you going to join us?"

He looked down at his books for a minute. "Sure, why not?"

I nodded and helped gather his stuff. Once he had all his books and backpack we head to the front of the library.

"You two done with your nerdgasm?" Ryder looked up as we approached him and Nissa. I rolled my eyes and flipped him off.

"Hey, Seth," Nissa greeted shyly and I turned wide eyes in her direction. Ooh, she so liked him.

Seth gave her an awkward smile and nod. And he was oh so clueless.

I walked over to the counter and pushed Ryder's legs out of the way. He glared and I shoved my tongue out at him, to which he responded to by wiggling his eyebrows up and down. I ignored him and slumped down in my abandoned chair.

"So how long have you been back there?" Nissa asked Seth.

Seth shrugged. "Since the bell rang for lunch."

"Didn't you notice him come in?" Ryder asked me and I shook my head no distractedly. Where the hell were my fries?

I started moving things around trying to find them. Had I taken them with me? No, I couldn't have, my arms were full with books. What the hell?

I heard Ryder snort next to me and I slowly turned to face him. "If you're looking for your fries, you should start by looking in here," he told me, pointing at his stomach with a smirk. I gasped and started to fling my arms at him in anger. No one ate all of my fries and got away with it. He laughed as he held his arms up to protect himself.

"You bastard! I can't believe you ate all of my fries. That is so not cool, dude!" I exclaimed as I continued my attack. He laughed harder making me angrier.

"It's not my fault you left them alo—ouch," he whined when my hand slammed down on his head.

"Leave my fries alone," I demanded and he tried to fight a laugh.

"That's never gonna happen," he murmured under his breath and I turned to him with warning eyes, the idiot just grinned.

"Hey, Seth, did you know that Ryder got beat up by a girl?" I turned to Seth. I heard Ryder gasp in shock and I smirked.

"If you tell anyone she said that, I will hang you by your underwear on the flag pole," Ryder threatened Seth with squinted eyes.

"Oh please," I snorted and he turned to me.

"Do you have something to say?" he asked and I shrugged.

"I'm just wondering how many girls have made you cry..." I trailed off when he sat up.

"That's it. Run," he warned and I didn't even stop to think as I bolted out the chair.

***

"I heard that she's a witch and she's got him under her spell. Why else would he hang out with her? She's such a freak. Did you hear that she was the fault for her father's death?" I sucked in a breath as the pit in my stomach grew. This was exactly what I was trying to avoid. This was why I never fought to stand out.

"Oh my god, like seriously? She's such an attention whore. Ryder deserves so much better!" Another girl answered in a disapproving tone. Shaking my head, I hugged my arms tighter around my legs. I was currently sitting in one of the bathroom stalls, my chin resting on one of my knees. I liked to think that if I was ever bullied I would stand up to the bully. But we all do, until it happens to us. There is nothing worse than realizing that you're not as brave as you think.

I heard the click clack of their heels fade as they headed to the bathroom's door. Once they exited, the quiet enveloped me like a warm blanket on a cold day. All day I'd had to hear someone take a jab at me. I'd learn long ago to simply keep my head down and pretend that I hadn't heard them. Eventually they would find something new to talk about and forget all about me.

When the bell for the last class of the day rang, I found myself dreading having to go to class. I hated being the center attention and for the last few days, people couldn't stop pointing, staring and whispering. I hated it. I hated it so much.

Ryder had tried to make it stop. He'd threatened to beat the shit out of Max Danvers, punched Craig Brooks and told an entire cafeteria to go fuck themselves, gaining himself detention for a week. As heroic as his efforts were, they'd just made things worse. People found a way to bully me because of it.

Slowly lowering my feet, I pulled the bathroom stall's door open and came to halt. Sitting on the sink, swinging his legs, was Ryder, calmly chewing on a piece of taffy. "Ryder, are you trying to come out to me?"

He gave me a blank look and pulled the taffy out of his mouth, tossing it in the garbage can next to him. "You need to stop hiding from them or they'll never stop."

I averted my eyes and walked over to the sink, turning on the water to busy myself. "Who says I'm hiding?"

"Casey..."

"I'm not hiding, okay?" I added quickly.

"Look, I'm just trying to help. The only way that you can get rid of a bully is by standing up for yourself," he tried again, giving me a pleading look.

"Why do you even care?" I asked, grabbing a paper towel and drying my hands as best as I could with the flimsy piece of paper. Who the hell had even thought to but such a thing in a bathroom? No one could dry their hands with something that dissolved so quickly with water. It was ridiculous.

"I don't." I raised an eyebrow. "Fine, you're my tutor and as much as it pains me to say this, and it really pains me; I need to pass this class and that won't be possible if Stacey and her bitches decide to go through with their threat to skin you alive."

"Colorful," I muttered.

"I know. I have a feeling those girls might be a little more psychotic than people realize." For the first time in a week, I felt a smile slip onto my face. Ryder stared at me for a minute before his own lips curved into a crocked smile. "So you gonna tell those bitches to fuck off or should I start to look for a new tutor?"

I punched him on the shoulder lightly.

"Ow! Watch it, woman, I bruise easily. Can't have this perfect body sporting a purple mark, now can we? Imagine the devastation it will cause. Please, Casey, think of the female population!" He scolded with a small smile and I laughed.

"You're such an asshole." He smirked and shrugged.

"It's all part of the package, sweetheart," he replied, raising his chin obnoxiously and I shook my head. Grabbing him by the shirt, I dragged him out of the bathroom before a teacher found us in there.

"I have to get to class," I told him and he rolled his eyes with a sigh.

"You're such a nerd," he answered and I shoved my tongue out at him, which only caused him to wiggle his eyebrows up and down.

Rolling my eyes, I waved and hurried to class, his words ringing in my head. I knew he was right. I would never admit that to him since it would only inflate his ego, but he was right. I needed to stand up to those girls and it was exactly what I was going to do.

***