Fictober 2019

"Yes, I'm aware. Your point?" - Cazzie

Summary: The track team from Newton High School vandalises Casey's new school Clayton Preparatory School by spray painting "traitor" on the wall late at night.

* * *
'Hey, thanks for letting me crash again,' Izzie thanked the brunette under their makeshift blanket fort.

'You know you're always welcome here. You're a great reminder that there are more dysfunctional families than mine, and you know how that boosts my mood,' Casey Gardner joked.

'I'm glad my misery will benefit at least one person on this planet. Now I can say I've left my mark in this world,' the dark haired student returned with a grin.

'For real though, our door's always open for you. And if it's not, you'll just have to wait on the porch until one of us comes home to let you in,' the record-breaker told her humorously.

'You're a life-saver, Newton,' Izzie smiled softly.

'Some people know the difference between a tortoise and a turtle, I save lives. It's called natural talent,' the recruited student nodded, feigning seriousness.

'Both are great life skills to have,' the Clayton Prep student concurred.

'By the way, you didn't invite Nate this time, did you? Because if you did, then I have to go and get my lipgloss and prepare these babies for another unwanted smooch,' Casey pouted her lips to make her point.

The other girl nudged her with her elbow playfully. 'God, no. If that asshole even looks in my direction, I will kick him in the balls.'

'That's a little aggressive. You sure you want to risk expulsion over that jerk?' The athlete pointed out.

'Correction: I will imagine myself kicking him in the balls,' her teammate said. 'It's the thought that counts, right?'

'Um, no. In that case, guaranteed it would feel ten times better to actually do the deed,' Casey disagreed wholeheartedly. 'Maybe you can ask Penelope to do it for you. She'll probably just get a new pair of shoes.'

Izzie laughed at the jab. 'The worst part is, that's probably not too far from the truth. God, those privileged, rich bitches are so..., ugh.'

'Privileged?' The Gardner sibling offered helpfully.

The other track runner bit her lip and smiled, 'yeah. Exactly.'

Before Casey could speak, her phone lit up with a notification, making a frown appear on her face.

'What's wrong?' Izzie asked with concern.

'Nothing. It's just um, a girl on Newton's track team is doing an Instagram live and she tagged me in it,' the brunette explained. 'It's probably nothing.' She locked the screen, but the other student grabbed her phone instead.

'What's your code?' The dark-haired girl questioned before unlocking it successfully. 'You don't have a code? Newton, you're an open phone. Now, let's see what they're up to.'

Both ladies watched the small screen attentively. The whole Newton High track team was present, save for Sharice. An uneasy feeling filled Casey's stomach as she slowly made out the setting of the nocturnal outing.

'Hey, isn't that-?'

'Clayton Preparatory School,' the former Newton High student finished affirmatively.

'What are they doing there? Shit, is that-? They're graffitiing the wall,' Izzie exclaimed angrily.

'We should go. Let's go, maybe we can stop them,' Casey stumbled out of their comfortable fort in a hurry.

'Casey,' the Clayton Prep student called, quickly following her. 'It'll take an hour to drive there. They'll already be gone by then.'

The brunette frantically searched for the car keys, 'well, then we'll check if they used real paint and figure out how the hell we're going to get it off.'

'Fine, but try to chill a little. This is not your fault, okay?' Her best friend reassured as they exited the house and jumped into the red truck.

'Those fucking bitches, I swear,' the track runner cursed from the driver's seat. 'Are they still streaming it?'

'Yeah, they're showing off their masterpiece. They wrote 'traitor',' Izzie watched the girls high-five each other before the video went dark and Casey's Instagram feed filled the screen. 'They're done.' She locked the device and placed it between her legs.

The Gardner sister clenched her jaw and drove the rest of the route in silence.

*

'They fucking did it. They spray painted 'traitor' on the fucking wall. Are they out of their minds?' Casey was close to yelling as she paced back and forth in front of her new school.

'Look, we can tell the principle first thing tomorrow morning. The cleaner will take care of this, and maybe those girls will get suspended,' Izzie rationalised. It was late and pitch-black outside, and they didn't have anything to remove the paint with. Besides, it wasn't like the school was open at this hour and that they could raid the supply closet.

'No. This is my mess, and I'm going to clean it up,' the track runner insisted.

'How-?' Before she could finish her sentence, a pair of headlights illuminated the brick wall behind them. A familiar figure exited the vehicle and approached them rapidly.

'I'm sorry, Case,' Sharice apologised genuinely.

'You knew?' Izzie accused, her arms crossed as she stood protectively in front of the former Newton High student.

'No, of course not. I saw the last five seconds of the live video and hurried my ass out of bed. I figured you'd come here to scour the scene so I stopped by the Home Depot and got here as quickly as I could,' the athlete clarified before handing them the bucket filled with supplies.

'Hey, it's fine,' Casey placed her hand on Izzie's arm to calm her down. 'Thanks, Sharice. We really appreciate it. God, I can't believe they're still hung up on me leaving. It's been five months.'

'It would take more than a couple of months to get over you,' the other Clayton Prep student assured certainly, making Sharice raise her eyebrows curiously. 'You're a valuable asset to the team and with you gone, they have no chance of making it to the state finals.'

'Gee, thanks for making me feel like a tool. Fuck. How does this even work?' The record-breaker cursed as she read the instructions on the Krud Kutter, using her phone as a source of light. She sprayed the graffiti remover on the wall and waited impatiently for the three minutes to pass, before scrubbing the paint off rather aggressively with the brush her best friend had brought along.

'Newton,' Izzie called out.

'What?'

'At the rate you're going, we'll still be here by morning,' she teased lightly.

'Yes, I'm aware. Your point?' Casey asked impatiently.

'My point is, hand me the spray and scoot over. We're here to help,' her teammate told her with a brush in her hand and a soft smile on her face.

'You heard her. We'll be the best cleaning crew Clayton Prep has ever seen,' her former teammate joined them. True to her word, Clayton Prep's wall looked spotless after a few laborious hours and it was as if the graffiti had never even been there.