Casey Barnes Eponymous - By E.A. Rigg Page 0,6
library.”
“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me this before!”
“I was stressed about the tick--”
“What, exactly, did you hear?”
“Another girl asked her if she and Alex went to Maxine French’s party over the weekend.”
Casey made a face. Maxine French was queen of the school and, in a crappy taste in music meets hummer limo kind of way, awful.
“Anyone who likes The Ramones would not be caught dead attending a party at that cretin’s abode.”
“He went,” Leigh said, “Melanie didn’t. But they already broke up two days before, which is why Melanie didn’t go.”
“Who broke up with who?”
“Couldn’t tell. All I heard Melanie say was that it’s over.”
Casey beamed. Leigh looked at her suspiciously. “Just because he and her broke up doesn’t mean he didn’t act meanly to you.”
Casey felt panicky as she remembered what she said to him in the library. What if one of the reasons he came in was to talk to her? And there she was, going on about some imaginary beau. Oh. But then again maybe it was a good thing to do. She looked to Leigh for guidance. “I…”
She could not finish her sentence. She knew, from the look Leigh was shooting her, that she would not approve of her obsessing over Alex Deal. “You what?” Leigh asked.
“’Meanly’ isn’t a word. And I have to go. My favorite television program’s on tonight.” She stood. Her mind went back to him. Had it really been that bad, what he had done?
“What program is that?” Leigh asked.
Maybe there was a whole other side to it, one she did not know because they never spoke after everything went down.
“Casey?”
“Huh?”
“What T.V. show?”
“American Idol.”
“You hate that show.”
“I happen to find it inspiring.”
“Bullcrap,” Leigh said, “and if I catch you playing Ishmael to Alex Deal’s Moby tomorrow…”
Casey had no idea which Moby song Leigh was referring to and she did not care. She was too busy thinking about him. Maybe there was an explanation for everything. Maybe he and Melanie Corcoran…Yuck. The thought of it made her feel nauseous. Leigh prattled on. “You did read Moby Dick last year, didn’t you?”
“Of course,” she snapped, “though honestly I think Marilyn Monroe was an influence, despite what my English teacher said.”
“Marilyn Monroe?” Leigh shook her head. “Casey, Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible.” He looked jealous earlier that day. Of that much, at least, she was sure. “Casey?”
All she wanted to do was think and talk about Alex Deal. And since she couldn’t talk about him with Leigh, she could at least think about him. But Leigh was going on and on about Arthur something. She told her she had to go, and got herself out of the house and onto her bike as fast as she could. Then and only then did she allow herself to relive in detail what had gone down with Alex Deal.
5
It happened the last week of summer. Until then Casey was away at a performing arts camp in Michigan. The day after she got back she went to the guitar store in downtown Bethesda. She played a Martin they were displaying in the window. She could not afford it and, given the sorry state of her grades freshman year, she wasn’t expecting a big gift from Tricia anytime soon. But a girl could dream.
When she was done playing she gave the guitar back to the guy behind the counter. That was when Alex Deal walked into the store. She recognized him from Walton because his band had played in talent show the year before.
Being in talent show was a big deal. It fell two days before the first football game. Unlike school plays, which were okay to take part in if you were a girl but borderline dorky if you were a guy, (except of course if you were Yull), it was considered cool to be in talent show. And, as the show only had ten acts, it was hard to get in. Kids joked that auditions for it were as much about talent as they were about popularity.
He checked out a Strat. She walked to the counter, picked out a few picks, and paid. He asked how much the Strat was. She watched him. He was tall with longish dark hair, a strong jaw, and big green eyes. He was wearing a Kurt Cobain T-shirt.
She placed a hand on the counter. The guy told him how much the Strat cost. Alex Deal gave Casey a once-over, plugged the Strat in, and played one half of “Heart-Shaped Box.” He