Hideaway: Chapter 8

Hideaway

It was early Saturday night and Arthur was flipping through channels on the television. He had just decided that nothing was on that was worth watching when Paul came back into the room from the showers with a towel around his waist.

“Maybe” Paul said, selecting several items of clothing and moving into the closet to change. “You wanna tag along?”

“No, I should catch up on my reading,” He flipped the channel to a news station and set the remote down on his desk.

Paul emerged from the closet a few moments later in a fresh pair of jeans and one of his favorite T-shirts. “I'm getting sick of trying to pressure you into coming out,” he complained. “Aren't you ever going to relax?”

Arthur narrowed his eyes at him. “We've been out all day at the barbeque... don't you ever get tired of going out?”

“Anyway,” Paul laughed, reaching for his comb by the sink and running it through his hair. “You had a good time today, didn't you?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Oh... no reason,” Paul replied while he worked through a particularly knotty tangle in his hair and then set the comb back down.

“Didn't look like you got anywhere with Becca,”Arthur said when Paul took a seat at his desk and turned on his computer. “Though at least she seemed to be in a good mood.”

“And it's too bad Casey has a boyfriend.”

“Yeah,” Wait a second. “I mean... what?” Arthur backtracked the conversation in his head, and then grit his teeth. “Damn it, Paul!”

Paul grinned at him. “I've had you pegged from day one, my friend,” he said. “You've got the hots for her.”

Arthur glared at him. “You don't know what you're talking about,” he said.

“All I had to do was get you to admit it,” Paul went on. “It was only too easy!”

“I didn't admit anything!” Arthur insisted, leaning forward in his seat.

“Sure you did! When I said, 'it's too bad Casey's got a boyfriend,' you automatically said, 'yeah!'” Paul pointed an accusatory finger at him. “If that doesn't prove it, I don't know what does!”

Arthur could feel his cheeks heating up. “All it proves is that I wasn't listening to you!” he exclaimed, sure his face was bright red, and equally sure that Paul wasn't hearing a word he said.

Paul leaned back against his desk chair and gave Arthur a lazy grin. “Sure, Artie,” he said. “Whatever you say.”

Arthur looked around for something to throw at Paul's head, but all he could find were things that would probably give him a concussion. He settled for giving him an angry glare. “Paul... I'm telling you...” he started to say.

“It's simple,” Paul shrugged. “If you don't think she's the hottest girl on campus, just say so. If there's someone else you'd rather spend time with, ask her out instead.” Paul gave him a sickening smile.

Arthur stood up, shoving his chair so it scraped against the wooden floorboards, and headed for the door, grabbing his keys on the way.

“Artie! Where are you going?” Paul called after him, the smile still infecting his voice before Arthur could slam the door and escape into the hallway.

He stood there for a few seconds, attempting to process what Paul had said, and then decided that if he didn't get some fresh air at that very minute, his lungs might collapse. Not to mention, he thought, glancing back at the door, Paul might come looking for him. He made it down to the courtyard before sinking to the grass alongside the building.

It had been a long time since Arthur had felt like he was in control of his life... but he had never felt quite so desperate before; so fucking hopeless. And no matter what Paul thought, it wasn't just Casey. Paul didn't even know the tip of the iceberg.

*****

Arthur watched several people walk past him while he sat outside, and he ignored them all. He sat there until the sky began to turn a darker shade of blue and the air grew a little bit colder. When he finally got up and went back inside, he figured Paul was probably gone by then, and he wouldn't have to deal with anymore of his questions. Well, not at the moment, anyway. He didn't know what he would say when Paul brought up the subject again, and Arthur knew he would, but Arthur figured he'd deal with it when the time came.

He was walking down the hall and passing the lounge on his floor when he heard someone sniff inside , so he glanced in as he walked by. When he saw Casey sitting on the couch by herself, and she looked up at him, he stopped, putting his hand on the door frame.

“Casey?” he said. “Are you okay?”

She gave him a weak smile, and he took a few steps inside. “I'm okay,” she told him. “Just thinking about some things and wishing my life was a little less complicated.”

Arthur sat down next to her. You and me both, he wanted to say, but asked instead, “Are you getting homesick?”

Casey gave a sad laugh. “No, I'm not homesick at all, but I feel like I should be. That's what's strange...” She looked up at him. “I mean, most people would be homesick a little bit, wouldn't they? But I'm not... I'm having fun here! I mean, I miss some things about LA, sure, but I don't miss the people.”

Arthur perked up, watching her lean back into the couch. She didn't miss anyone in LA? “Not even your parents?” he asked.

“I haven't lived with my parents in a long time,” Casey admitted. “So, yeah, I miss them every now and then... but I've been... well, it's not been completely normal for me.” She looked up at him hesitatingly. “I've been on the road with my aunt a lot. Besides, you know... school.”

Arthur stared at her for a moment. Her life must have been so much different from his. She had been allowed to roam free where he had been stuck beneath his father's thumb. If he were able to leave St Peter, he supposed he wouldn't miss it either.

“I would love to travel the world,” he told her. “You were lucky to have that opportunity.”

“I know I am,” Casey agreed, looking away from him. “And I do miss traveling. But it's just weird to think that everything's going on as normal without me.”

“Think of Minnesota as an extended vacation,” he said, giving her a smile when she looked at him. “When you come back, everything will be the same. Just how it always is.”

“Thanks,” she said, smiling back at him. “I wish I could believe that! You make it sound so easy. But people aren't going to put their lives on hold for me.”

Arthur wondered if she was talking about her boyfriend, but couldn't work up enough courage to ask her. “Real friends won't forget about you,” he said.

Casey fell back against the couch and played with her rings, sighing. “It's my boyfriend,” she admitted, and then looked over at him. “I'm sorry to dump this on you... but if I try and talk to Becca about him, she just jumps up and down and makes this high pitched noise...”

“I get it,” Arthur chuckled. “And it's okay... really.”

She glanced at him. “Thanks. Becca's great, but sometimes she's a little hard to talk to.”

Arthur wasn't sure if it was a good thing that Casey thought he was easy to talk to or not, but he smiled at her anyway.

“I talked to him today, and I guess I thought he would be missing me,” she went on. “I mean, I know we both had busy lives before, but you would think he would miss me a little.”

Arthur raised an eyebrow at her. “But you just said you didn't miss anyone back in LA. Were you including him in on that?”

“I guess I miss him a little,” she sighed again. “I miss hanging out and doing stuff with him.” She looked up at Arthur, leaning in towards him. “Don't you think he should act like he misses me? Even a little bit?”

“Maybe he's just busy?” Arthur suggested, mentally kicking himself for giving her reasons as to why her boyfriend could possibly sound like less of an ass.

“He's usually busy, though,” Casey told him. “That was probably it.”

“Is he in school in California?” Arthur asked.

“Yeah, we went to the same school last year, though he was a year ahead of me.” She paused for a moment, pulling her legs up onto the couch so she could face Arthur. “Maybe we would miss each other more if we actually got to be with each other more last year.”

“But if you went to the same school, wouldn't you have a lot of time to spend together?”

Casey looked up at him. “Oh...” she said “Well... with me traveling with my aunt on my days off, and him... well, he's always busy with school. He's... um... pre-med.”

“Oh,” Arthur said. One of those types. No wonder he didn't miss her... he was probably so busy with classes and homework that he didn't have the chance to think about it. Thinking about school reminded Arthur about his own education, and he looked away from Casey when an unexpected wave of nausea hit him.

“Are you okay?” she asked him. “Your face just went a little white.”

He held up his hand. “I'm fine,” he assured her. “I promise.”

“Are you sure?” Casey went on. “Sometimes when I get dizzy, I come down with a cold the next day.”

Arthur looked back at her and saw genuine concern on her face. “I'm not sick... really,” he said. “Things are just...” He looked back down at his hands... God, he couldn't even say it. He didn't even want to think about it much less say it out loud.

He flinched when she placed her hand on his wrist. “If you want to talk about anything...” she said. “I'm good at listening.”

“Thanks,” Arthur said, trying his best to smile at her. He thought if he was going to tell anyone his problems on anyone, it might as well be someone like Casey... after all, she didn't know his family, and she wouldn't say anything to anyone he knew. But to admit it out loud wasn't a step he was ready to take. “It's just some stuff with my family... and my dad,” he tried to explain to her without really explaining much at all. He ran his fingers through his hair, looking up up at her. “And it's getting a little stressful.”

Casey reached down and squeezed his hand. “Family drama...” she said. “Everyone's got one type or another.”

Arthur found his hand closing around hers. “Not Paul,” he said. “Paul's family loves him no matter what he does.”

“Well, Paul's got other problems,” Casey said, leaning into him and smiling. “Like Becca for instance. He's a complete dunce when it comes to girls!”

Arthur laughed. “That's true,” he agreed. “I keep telling him he's going about it all the wrong way, but he won't listen to me...”

“Maybe if he did, Becca wouldn't want to punch him in the face every other second!” Casey laughed and then stood up from the couch, pulling Arthur along with her. “Come on. Let's go get some ice cream.”

Arthur followed her out into the hallway, a smile still on his face. He had been so depressed over his situation one minute and then laughing about Paul's misfortunes the next, he couldn't help but wonder how Casey had been able to bring about a change in him so quickly. All he knew was that thirty minutes ago he had felt like maybe he wanted to pack up his stuff, shove it all into his car and drive away from St Peter without looking back. And now... he didn't.

*****

After ice cream, Arthur had driven Casey around town and showed her all the popular hangouts from high school, where he had gone to elementary school, and where his grandma had lived before she had passed away a few years ago. He had even brought her to the public playground in the neighborhood, and they sat on the swings, swinging high and seeing who could jump off the farthest.

They ended up on the bleachers of the high school football field, looking out onto the grass with only the light from Arthur's headlights, and they sat there until it got too cold and they were beginning to shiver. By then, it was after one in the morning, and they both laughed, running back to the car, because they hadn't realized how late it had been.

Arthur said goodbye to Casey at her door, and then made his way back to his own room. It was then that it hit him; he was going to have to face Paul. Carefully, he turned the key in the lock and hoped that Paul was sleeping, but didn't count on it. When he opened the door and saw Paul sitting in the chair under his loft in his pajamas with the remote in his hand, Arthur let out his breath and shut the door behind himself.

“And just where have you been?” Paul asked when Arthur had turned around. “I thought you said you had homework?”

“For once in your life, Paul...” Arthur threw his keys on his dresser. “Would you just let it go?”

“You're supposed to be my best friend,” Paul said, and Arthur froze at his desk. “Since when can't you tell me about a girl?”

Arthur turned to look at him. “There's nothing to tell,” he said.

“Bull shit.”

“Damn it, Paul... I'm telling you, there's nothing for me to say!”

Paul leaned forward in his seat. “I know you, Arthur... and I can tell when you're hiding something. You've been on edge since school started. Now what is it? Spill!”

Arthur glared at him. Paul wasn't going to give it up until he got something... and bringing up the whole best friend thing only made it worse. He was going to have to say something to get him to back off. “Fine,” he said. “You win. I like Casey. Are you happy?” He just hoped he wouldn't regret it.

Paul leaned back, grinning. “Artie, I knew it!” he said.

Arthur sank to his desk chair. “Well, obviously,” he muttered.

“Now we just have to work on getting the two of you together...”

“Wait a second.” Arthur sat up straight in his seat. “Listen to me for a change, Paul... there will be no plotting to hook me up with Casey!

Paul's expression changed from one of joy to one of doom and gloom. “You are seriously no fun, Artie.”

“I'm serious!” Arthur insisted. “She's got a boyfriend! I'm not going to go after her, and that's the end of this discussion.”

“Oh, please,” Paul rolled his eyes. “He lives in California! When are they ever going to see each other? They'll be broken up by the end of the month. Mark my words.”

Arthur stared at Paul and took a deep breath. He was already regretting his decision to come clean about Casey. He knew Paul wouldn't leave it be as him just liking her. He always had to take it one... or ten steps further. “Leave it alone, Paul,” he said again, turning away and opening his laptop.

“You're never going to get the girl if I leave it to you!”

Arthur twisted around and gripped the back of his chair, his temper flaring. “Can I make one fucking decision in my life for a change? Is that so much to ask?”

Paul froze for a second and then leaned back in his seat. “Forget I said anything,” he muttered, turning back to the television.

Arthur stared at him for a few moments, listening to his heart beating furiously in his chest and took a few deep breaths. His life was spinning out of control, and the last thing he wanted was to lose his best friend. “Paul,” he said, after he trusted his voice again. “I shouldn't have yelled. I'm sorry. But I mean it. Don't mess with this, okay?”

Paul looked back over at him, a small smile creeping up on the corners of his mouth. “Don't sweat it, Artie. I know you're stressed.”

Arthur suddenly felt extremely tired.

“But one day,” Paul said, smiling at him. “You're going to realize just how right I am.”