Passion

Chapter 3

The next morning, Tomas' dad, Rob came to pick him up, I got up and got dressed for school. My mom drove me to school before she went to work, I walked into the double doors. Ashlyn ran into my arms "Casey!" I looked up from my phone "You're back?" She nodded her head "Where's Tomas?" I shrugged "I don't know. He's here somewhere." She crossed her arms and smirked "Okay what don't I know? Spill now." I continued walking toward class "Not much. How's your grandma?" She grinned "She's fighting, she's looking up."

We walked into math class, I sat at my desk Ashlyn asked "Was he on the bus?" I shrugged as I pulled out my notebook "My mom drove me to school and he lives with his dad now." She sat at his desk "What happened with his mom?" I zipped up my backpack "If he wants to tell you then he will, I don't want to say anything he doesn't want someone to know." The teacher came into the classroom "Everyone take your seat please." Ashlyn went to her desk, Tomas walked in late with an excuse note from the office, and he took his seat next to me. Mrs. Monroe gave Tomas and me a warning "No talking you two. I won't put up with it today."

I put my thumb up to let her know I heard her, he looked at me and asked "Do you have a pencil?" He seemed to be in a bad mood so I didn't say much. I reached into my backpack and handed one to him. We sat quietly the whole class, we actually did our work for once; after class during the passing period; Tomas took off with a few of his friends. Ashlyn came up beside me "What's going on with him? Are you two fighting or something?" I turned to her "Ask him okay? We are fine." She followed me to the gym "Did you tell him you liked him?" I stopped "He just needs some time to cope with what's going on. Has nothing to do with me. He doesn't like me, okay." I knew he did but the way he was acting seemed otherwise.

She grabbed my arm before I walked off "He likes you Casey, quit being down on yourself all the time." I got upset with her "I have tryouts for volleyball after school. I'll see you at home." I headed to the gym, I changed quickly in the locker room and headed out to the gym to speak to the coaches. Tomas jogged up "You're trying out for volleyball? That's what Ashlyn told me." I nodded my head "Yeah I am. Look I didn't..."

I was cut off when the coach blew her whistle "Come on guys start your laps." We walked out to the track, he asked "I know what you wanted to say and Ashlyn told me you wanted to respect my privacy. I appreciate it." I looked at him "Not my story to tell." He sighed "I thought you were mad at me earlier." I giggled "Why would I be mad at you?" He shrugged "I asked you for a pencil in math and you seemed agitated at me." I tied my hair up in a ponytail "That was you. I didn't say anything." He sighed "I had a bad morning, it wasn't you." I adjusted my ponytail "It's fine." Then I started jogging, he hollered "Casey!" He ran to catch up with me "You just leave me behind?" I smirked "This is leaving you behind." I started running, he ran to catch up with me, I stopped and he ran into my back, I laughed "We are going to get in trouble."

Our coach blew her whistle "In the gym!" We started jogging back to the gym, we went inside and volleyball courts were set up. He smirked at me "Looks like you can show me how good you are." I playfully rolled my eyes "Keep dreaming. We won't be on the same team." The coach assigned us teams, I was right, we were assigned different teams; a girl named Alisha came up "Casey, right? I heard from Ashlyn, you're trying out for volleyball?"

I turned around "Yeah I am, why?" She smiled "I hope you get picked." She tossed the ball at me, I served it to the other team. I started getting competitive and another girl on the other team challenged me. I almost missed the ball until I slid on the gym floor and hit it up, I scraped my knee, and Alisha helped me up "Wow, that was amazing. Have you played before?"

I looked over at Tomas, Kylie's best friend, Amanda was talking to him. Alisha looked over at him "Kylie has that girl do everything for her." I got up and turned my back to them "If she wants him, she can have him. We're only friends." Alisha looked at me confused "I could've sworn he was your boyfriend. The whole school thought so." I was surprised "No. He told Kylie we were but..." I paused. She grabbed the ball from one of the girls on our team "Hit her in the head or I will. He's too good for Kylie or Amanda." I grabbed the ball from her and served it at Amanda's head, I covered my mouth; Tomas looked at me and tried to keep from laughing.