"You should really consider wearing a helmet big boy", a short average-built guy said to me as soon as I parked my bike at the school parking lot.

He was short, weighed a good 119 pounds with a big head and cute blue eyes. He had dark brown short straight hair and beautiful pink lips. He had feminine beauty, although if a guy told him that, he would probably kick him on the shin. He did not talk much, but gave really good advice (I'd never tell him that), even when not needed. Ladies and gentlemen, meet Cassidy "Cass" Stone. I called him Casey. I just had to be different.

"For the last time Casey, I am not an amateur. I am not about to crash my bike", I said getting off my bike.

"You know, 99% of people involved in accidents do not plan them", he said as we walked to class.

"I'll be the 1% and I haven't planned my accident, so relax. I'm not suicidal", I counter-attacked, smirking.

He rolled his cute blue eyes.

"Careful, they'll fall out. Then you'll just be half-adorable", I teased, prompting him to punch me on the arm.

I cursed under my breath. Casey had always been quick with his punches, but I always knew what he was going to do before he did it. When he raised his fist, I almost created a barrier around me. Like mom suggested, no one knew about my powers.

"What was that?" he asked, moving her ear closer to my mouth dramatically.

I frowned, "Nothing".

"I could swear it was something. Say it so I can punch you again".

I smiled down at the cute guy next to me in amusement. I was the only guy Casey could hit and get away with it. I let him do it. It was his way of hiding something. I just wasn't certain what.

We walked on towards the school building entrance, Casey telling me about his brother Calvin. I was only half-listening. It was common for Casey to rant about how he wanted to hate his brother. That made me appreciate being an only child. Of course when mom paid more attention to me, I wished she had another child who'd steal the spotlight. Intense scrutiny by parents on their children should have been against the law. If you are reading this in 2016, it probably should still be.

"Are you even listening?" Casey asked, standing in front of me, bringing me to a halt.

I looked slightly down. "Of course I am Casey. Calvin thinks you don't look like a guy and you want to shove your foot down his ass".

"I never mentioned shoving my foot anywhere", he said, starting to walk again.

"...but you were thinking it", I said.

"Well I might have", he said. He stopped again. "You think I look like a guy, right?"

Honestly, I thought Casey looked like the most beautiful guy I had ever seen, but I wasn't going to tell him that, and not only because he'd hit me. He had soft features and the softest hair. He'd make the best cuddle buddy.

Was I really thinking of cuddling with my best friend? In what way is that normal?

I didn't look at him when I replied. "You look like you Casey, different from all these Matt wannabes. Why do you care anyway?" I asked, pulling him.

"I...I don't care", he said shrugging.

I remembered something. "Hey Casey, remember the party at Eric's last night?"

"Uh...No?"

"Wrong answer. As far as mom knows, I was at the party and you were there too. Make sure she doesn't know otherwise", I said.

Casey stopped walking, again. "What do you mean? You went to the party?"

"No, but mom thinks I did and you were there. Keep it that way".

"You actually want her to think you went to the party she told you not to? What's going on? Where were you last night? What place could possibly be worse than the party in your mom's eyes?"

"Phew. That's a lot of questions, none of which I'm going to answer".

"Oh no! I am not lying for you if I don't know where you were!" Casey said.

"Start walking", I gave an order, which Casey followed. "Remember that guy I told you about? I followed him".

"And...?"

"And it started raining, so I turned back. There was mansion up ahead. I think he lives there", I replied.

"You know, I still don't get why you don't just ask your mom about him. You'll scare the guy away with your stalker tactics".

"Uh yeah, I'm not going to ask my 74 year old mother if she's dating a 55 year old guy at most", I said.

"You think they are dating?" Casey asked, looking shocked.

We came upon a group of guys near the lockers.

"Hey Riley", Matt said to me.

Matt was an 18 year old senior in 12th grade, like Casey and I. He was the ladies man. He was good-looking and his father was rich. What more did you need to be popular? I could swear half of the girls in our class had a crush on him.... maybe even three quarters? I didn't care. Of course he loved the attention. We were not exactly friends.

"Hi Matt," I said. "Steve, Connor, Jake, Mike", I said, acknowledging the others.

"Oh Cass, I didn't see you there", Matt said, making fun of Casey's height.

Casey was not really that short. He was just short compared to the other guys in the school, who were all gigantic like they had the genes of a giraffe, according to him.

"Well, I saw that huge head of yours from far", Casey said to Matt, smiling sweetly.

"Tut, tut now, small tiger, no need to get your claws out", Matt said.

Casey rolled his eyes.

I probably should have mentioned; Casey was gay, short and cute. I probably did, but I have to do it again. He attracted attention he didn't want. If Matt and his friends weren't making fun of Casey's height, they were making fun of his soft facial features.

The bell rang, bringing an end to the meeting. Casey and I rushed to our class while the others rushed to theirs.

As usual I zoned out in all my classes until it was time to leave the school. I had gone through a day of behaving, yay me!

"I can't find my stupid keys", Casey was saying, rummaging through his backpack. We were at the parking lot near Casey's truck. "I could swear I threw them in here".

"Want a ride...on my dick?" I said and burst out laughing.

Casey blushed scarlet and hit me on the arm. "I'll pass".

"Well then there was no need to hit me", I said ducking purposely late. "Seriously though, do you want a ride?"

"Like I keep telling you time and time again, I am not getting on your bike or anyone's bike for that matter", he said shaking his bag.

I scanned through his bag. I could see his keys at the bottom corner of his bag. They were entangled in some threads.

"I'm leaving, so good luck finding them", I said.

I could have helped him out and suggested where to look, but I didn't want to. Casey was deathly scared of being on a bike. I had been trying unsuccessfully to get him to face his phobia. I guess it didn't help that I wasn't such a...safe driver.

"I'll find them. I know they are in here", he said determinedly.

"Good lord, have you tried the corners?" I said resignedly.

"I did. I..." he said and found his keys. "Look at that, you were right. I was seconds from emptying the bag on the floor".

"I'm hungry. Am I riding to my house or yours?" I said.

"There's leftover parmesan chicken", he said.

"I'm sold. Race you. I win and I want a piggyback ride up the stairs", I said and ran to my bike before Casey could protest.

The ride to Casey's house was uneventful. I didn't cheat, although I taunted Casey a lot. I stayed behind him most of the time, and then shot past him when he slowed down for a red light. I could bet he was swearing at me, more for riding dangerously than taunting him. Of course I got to his house first.

He found me at the door of the house when he turned onto the driveway of his modern beautiful house. Owned by a successful lawyer, Casey's 4 bedroom house was elegant compared to mine. It had that modern touch with brick and siding, low slung roof and contemporary feel.

"Keys", I shouted as soon as the car stopped.

Casey opened the window and tossed the house keys. I let myself in and went straight to the fridge. I opened the leftover container and delved in.

"You are going to eat it cold?" Casey said as he walked in. "My friend is a savage", he said shaking his head.

"You love me anyway", I said with a smug smile. "And I was just tasting it. Who eats cheese cold?"

I put the container in the microwave while Casey looked on.

"I'm taking my bag to my room", he said.

"Great. Piggyback ride time", I screamed.

"Gosh it's like you are 10. You know you weren't fair right? I never agreed to anything", he said as he got to the bottom of the stairs.

I left my food to go harass him because piggyback rides from Casey were just that amazing. He couldn't give me a piggyback ride on level ground, there was no way he could carry me up the stairs. I just liked tormenting him.

"Arms wide Casey", I said taking the bag away from him.

"You just want to see me in hospital, don't you?" he said stretching his arms wide.

"Ready?" I said.

"No", he said as if it was the most obvious thing.

"Whatever", I said as I balanced myself on his shoulders and proceeded to climb onto his back.

Casey leaned backwards, helping gravity pull me to the ground. I didn't go alone though. I pulled him with and we tumbled to the floor with him on top of me.

He tried to get up and run off but I wrapped my legs and hands around him, keeping him close to me. He squirmed against me. We looked like we were wrestling, with me winning of course.

"Ping!" the microwave went off, momentarily distracting me. Casey managed to untangle himself and run up the stairs. He was slow; I could catch up to him. I decided not to. Something urgent had come up. My food was ready.

"God I'm so full", I complained, slumping on Casey's bed diagonally, clutching my stomach.

"I told you not to eat so much", Casey said putting the empty food container on his desk. "You ate what I would eat in two different sittings".

"Whatever", I groaned.

"Will you at least get on the bed properly? Unlike the food you just ate, can you please share the bed?"

"No", I said and closed my eyes.

I could see Casey's movements even though my eyes were closed. He moved over to place his hands underneath my t-shirt on the side of my spinal cord. Casey knew where I was most ticklish and he was using that to his advantage. I closed my eyes tightly and braced myself.

When Casey's fingers lightly brushed me I let out a giggle I couldn't help and flipped over, wrapped my arms around him and pulled him on top of me.

"You should never do that", I said.

"You should never lay on my bed like you own it", he said.

"Okay okay, I can share", I said and made space for Casey, letting go of him.

We weren't touching anymore but we were really close. It wasn't awkward at all. Casey and I ended up in intimate positions many times. We were just that comfortable with each other.

"Wake me up some point in time, okay?" I said.

"If I wake up", he said.

Minutes later I dozed off. I don't know how long I slept but was woken up by Casey's door opening.

"Whatever happened to taking your bag to your..." Casey's dad was standing at the door. He stopped talking when he saw me. "Hi Riley".

"Hi Mr. Stone".

"Is he okay?" he said indicating a fast-asleep Casey with his head.

"Yeah. He just ate too much", I replied.

"Okay. Nice seeing you", Mr. Stone said closing the door.

"Nice seeing you too", I said.

The door opened abruptly.

"Can I talk to you in private?" Mr. Stone said.

I was caught off-guard. "Um...uh...yeah sure".

Was he going to complain about my many visits to the house and my incessant appetite? I admit, I ate a lot and treated his kitchen like I owned it. He'd never complained.

I got off the bed slowly, careful not to wake up Casey. He had his arm slightly on me. I carefully removed it and walked out of the room onto the hallway.

"Come to my office. It's best if Cass doesn't hear this", Mr. Stone said.

Now I was becoming scared. Whatever he wanted to say seemed serious. I followed him to the office timidly.

When we were inside and the door closed, he turned to me.

"Is there anything between you and Cass?" he asked.

"No!" I was quick to say. "We are just friends".

"He's going to hate me for this, but...Riley, you've been there for him. You know he's being through a lot. You guys are inseparable. I just...I don't want him to get the wrong idea. I don't want him to get hurt", he rambled.

"I'm not gonna hurt him. He's my best friend", I said.

"I know...I just... don't lead him on", he said.

I nodded. I had no idea what he was talking about. I wasn't leading Casey anywhere. Casey and I knew where we stood. He was gay and I was something I had yet to figure out. We were best friends. I wouldn't even dare think of hurting him.

"Look Riley, I'm sorry. After Eugene, I don't want him to be hurt again", Mr. Stone said.

"You can relax. I don't want anything beyond friendship with him. He knows that", I said.

He nodded. "Can you keep this talk between us?"

"Yeah, sure", I said.

When I walked into Casey's room, he had just woken up.

"I thought you left without saying goodbye", he purred. He loved even more adorable when he had just woken up, with messy hair and half-open eyes.

"Like I'd ever do that", I said.

"Where'd you go?"

"To the bathroom", I said.

"You obviously passed a mirror", he said grinning. "Come here"

I sat on the bed and he knelt behind me. I knew what he had in mind, not because of my "powers" but because I knew Casey. His hand reached for my hair and he ruffled it.

"And you said I'm 10", I said.

He giggled. "I'm more grown up than you'll ever be".

"I gotta get going before my mom bursts an artery", I said brushing my long hair back.

"You missed a spot", Casey said.

"Yeah right", I said standing up. "Your dad is home by the way. Not pleased about your bag".

*