Lies Upon Lies ((Carson))

[Casey Allen G5]

With a little magic, Casey pulled her hair into a tight pony-tail. She smiled in the mirror at the dark brown hair that seemed to glitter. What could she say? Casey was rather gifted at beauty charms, but she used them for Eden for than for her. Casey sighed as she walked over to pick up her things. It was just another day of complicated lying for her. She’d have to practice with Carson and lie to him which wasn’t easy. Well, at least Casey hadn’t had a chance to talk to Carson as Casey in awhile. Since Ethan and Ezzie’s break-up, it had been difficult for them to talk. After all, Casey didn’t want to hurt her best-friend’s feelings. Casey sighed. Well, she did get to see Carson as Eden. But even then, all she could do was lie. It was just a big complicated mess really, but there was not much that Casey could do to change that. Well, she could tell Carson the truth just like her dad had told her to over and over. But, she couldn’t. She couldn’t bring herself to tell him that she had been lying to him all this time. And she couldn’t bare for him to like Eden more than he liked her. It would hurt too much. Casey sighed. Wow, her life was complicated, but that would probably never change.

Casey looked at herself in the mirror again. She was wearing her jeans and a cute red top, but only for the moment. In her bag, Casey’s had Eden’s wig and her rehearsal outfit which was basically cute purple sweats. After all, this wasn’t just a practice with the band. It was also a practice with her back-up dancers and vocalists as well. A lot of people were involved in Eden’s show. There was the band and the dancers and vocalists and Eden of course. There was always a lot going on, but Casey was used to it. Casey left her dorm quickly after saying bye to Ezzie real fast. Casey’s life was so hectic that it was amazing that she found time to spend with Ezzie whose life was equally as crazy. Well, at least their singing careers were a bit calmer during the school year. Still, Eden had obligations even during school. Casey’s shoes clicked as she walked. Yep, it would be a crazy day.

Casey speed-walked through Hogsmeade. She had to be extra early so that she could get ready and talk with Bradley of course. They always had a little meeting before rehearsals. Basically they talked about the concerts that were coming up and other Eden stuff. But, they also took the time to talk about father-daughter stuff. True, they both had crazy lives, but they tried to work together and manage the craziness. Casey near the rehearsal space that was in a ware-house type building that was behind the Three Broomsticks. She made a mental-note to get some lunch with the guys afterwards. The band members were like her big brothers. Well, all except for Carson who was still older than her. Whatever. Carson would never be Casey’s big brother and she knew it. Casey tried to speed up her pace. However, she wasn’t paying attention and bumped into someone. Casey and the other person both fell to the ground. “Ah.” She screeched and then she pulled herself up, but didn’t stand up yet. “Carson!” Casey finally realized who it was. Great! More lying. “Um, so sorry. I wasn’t paying attention at all really.” She explained. “You okay?” She asked with a slight worried expression on her face.

[Carson McGreggor H6]

Carson dashed through the corridors, barely missing a group of third year girls (who laughed and giggled as he passed…although Carson didn’t notice this) His guitar was slung lazily over his shoulder and he had a thick wad of paper in his right hand. Today was to be his fist day as Eden Sweden’s guitarist, and he was going to be so late. Why did his parents have to pass down the ever so notorious McGreggor just barely curse? The McGreggors were known for many things, one of them being their bad habit of barely making any event they attend. They will wake up early and get everything ready the night before, but somehow for every event, the McGreggors are cursed with just barely making it on time. Carson glanced down at his watch, which his sister had given him when she found out Carson had gotten his job. “Hurry up! You’ll only barely make it!” Said the watch in a sort of embarrassingly loud tone of voice. Carson dashed through the large oak front doors and hopped in a carriage, which was already occupied by a happy seventh year couple. He smiled weakly and the couple shrugged and continued their conversation. He glanced back at the grounds by the lake. Everyone was preparing for the big bonfire, and Carson was off to work. He couldn’t say he was too disappointed though, as he didn’t have a date anyway, and would feel very uncomfortable going by himself when there were so many couples around him. But what about Casey? Said a little voice in Carson’s head. Surely you want to take Casey to the bonfire. Carson tried to ignore the voice, but the more he thought about it, the more he liked it. Maybe he would go with Casey. Carson made a mental note to himself to find Casey in the Gryffindor common room later and ask her if she wanted to go with him…but only as friends. Carson would never admit to liking Casey, not even to himself.

Carson waved the happy couple goodbye as he walked rather quickly in the direction of the Three Broomsticks. There was a large warehouse type building behind the Three Broomsticks where the practice would be held. Carson was walking so fast that he wasn’t paying attention to his surroundings, causing him to crash into an unsuspecting girl. Both he and the girl fell to the ground with a thud. Carson was a strong guy, so he picked himself up quickly with little effort. He looked down at the girl he had knocked down and couldn’t help but to smile. “Hey Casey. I’m really sorry about that. Do you need any help?” Carson said, holding his arm out. But he was too late. Casey was already up and trying to apologize. “Nah, I’m fine. Thanks anyway, though.” Carson took a deep breath. This was it. He had told himself before that he would ask Casey to the bonfire. It’s no big deal! Carson thought to himself. You’re only going as friends. “Listen Casey…umm..well..I was wondering if..” God, this was a lot harder than Carson thought it would be. Carson ran his fingers through his hair, but was unfortunate enough to come across a large knot. He tried to pull it out, but it was no use. Carson removed his hand from his head and put it down at his side, trying to make it look like nothing had happened. Carson made a mental note to ask Ethan how he did this so effortlessly. Carson stopped himself and then continued speaking again.

“I was wondering if you wanted to go to the bonfire with me?” He said hesitantly. “I could understand if you were busy or didn’t want to or something…” Carson let his sentence trail off, leaving only an awkward silence behind. He had completely forgotten about Eden's band practice.

[Casey Allen G5]

Great. This was quite the predicament Casey had gotten herself into. What was she supposed to do now? After all, she still had to change into her Eden clothes. How could she even explain any of this to Carson? She couldn’t really. Casey just had to make it till she made it. She just had to. Casey eyed Carson. She hated lying. For one thing, Casey was dreadful at it. Really, she had no talent in lying what so ever. But, she had to fake it. There was no debating this issue. Casey stood to her feet quickly. She wasn’t one for humiliation. But, who was? She sighed. Eden was used to it, but Casey wasn’t. That was oh so true. Casey sighed. It was difficult to talk to Carson. With everything that had happened between their friends and everything that Casey was keeping from him. But, they could still be friends despite it all, right? Casey hoped so. She was having a hard time admitting to herself that she liked Carson. After all, she hated to let Ezzie and Ethan be right. But, she was finally seeing the truth it what they had told her all along. Maybe Carson and Casey could be good together. Maybe.

“No, no. It was my fault and I’m fine.” She smiled slightly. She wore the same cute look on her face she always had when she was embarrassed. And her cheeks were that same, rosy shade of pink. “That’s good.” She said as Carson said that he was fine. Casey looked down at her watch. She really had to change before Carson got there and asked where Eden was. What was she supposed to do? She couldn’t just leave him there. That would be rude. She had to talk to him even if just for a minute. Yea, maybe that would be fine. But then again, Casey had to be dressed as Eden and ready for practice in fifteen minutes. Boy was her life complicated! Well, Casey would have to figure something out and fast.

“What?” Woa was that unexpected. Casey stopped thinking about practice or how she should change or any of that drama. Nope. This was clogging her mind. This made her finally tell herself that she liked Carson. Well, kinda. Maybe. Ah! It was so confusing for her. “Huh..I mean..” She paused. Well, she knew the answer, but how was she to get it out? She seemed just as nervous as Carson. “Yea that sounds fun. And I’m not busy or anything.” She smiled a bit. Everything else had completely left her mind and she couldn’t stop smiling. This was probably just a friend thing but Casey didn’t care.

[Carson McGreggor H6]

Carson waited for Casey to reply. He was nervous, but he didn’t know why. Should he be this nervous? Carson was so new at this stuff; it was crazy how much he was missing out on. Many people had already asked Carson on dates and flirted with him and such, but he had always shot every girl down. He refused any kind of relationship that went beyond friendship. He was told by many people (Ethan especially) that he flirted openly with many girls, although he often didn’t even know he was doing it. It seemed that so many rules came along with dating, and he didn’t have the rulebook. All he had was Ethan and Angel, both of whom were not very good at listening to Carson’s problems. Carson corrected his thought. Angel was very good at listening to his problems. She always has been and always will be a very understanding person. She just didn’t have much experience in the field of dating either. Carson didn’t know how she did it. She hung out with the worst influences in the world, yet she still stayed as pure as ever. She never succumbed to peer pressure, or any pressure of any kind. Despite all the times that jerk (whose name Carson will still never mention) tried to advance on Angel, she had still stayed strong…or at least she used to. Now she was agreeing to see that guy every other week alone in Hogsmeade with only AJ as a protector. Even though AJ had muscles, he was normally too lazy to use them. AJ was too lazy to do most things actually. Carson stopped himself in the middle of his mental tangent. He did tend to space out right in the middle of some of the most important conversations. That was how he always failed History of Magic and other stupid subjects that required so much listening and note taking. His mind just tended to wander.

“…sounds fun. And I’m not busy or anything.” Carson only barely caught the end of her sentence, but he didn’t need to hear the entire thing to understand what it meant. This meant that Casey had agreed to going out with Carson for bonfire night! Casey couldn’t stop smiling, and neither could Carson. They just stood there in an awkward silence for a few seconds before a shrill voice could be heard coming from Carson’s wrist. “YOU’RE GUNNA BE LATE! WRAP IT UP, OR YOU’LL LOSE YOUR JOB! LESS GIRLS MORE WORK! CHOP, CHOP, LETS GO!” As soon as Carson heard the obnoxiously loud voice coming from his watch, he tried to cover it with his other hand, but it didn’t work out so well because the voice was still echoing throughout the crowded streets of Hogsmeade. Utterly embarrassed, Carson suddenly remembered he had to be at his band rehearsal in a little bit. He still needed to tune his guitar, which hasn’t been tuned in ages. He wondered what he would do during this band practice. He smiled at Casey as the muffled voice of the watch echoed throughout. He hoped Casey hadn’t heard the noise, but it was obvious that she had. People miles from Hogsmeade could probably hear that blasted thing. Carson made a mental note to chuck the damned thing into the rubbish bin the second he arrived at home.

“Ok, well umm…that’s great. We’ll meet up in the Lounge then?” He asked. “LET’S GO!” cried the annoying watch again. Carson was really starting to hate that blasted thing. Now he knew why Julia didn’t want Carson to open the gift until today. Carson even thought of sending it back to Julia. He surely didn’t want it.

“Well umm, I gotta go to my band practice, so umm I’ll see you tomorrow.” Carson said with a slight smile as he ran off toward the Three Broomsticks and the large building just behind it. He arrived at two large doors and pushed them open. The place was crowded with people. Carson looked around to see if he could find someone he knew. He walked around a bit, and almost tripped over a dancer that was stretching on the floor in front of a large stage. Carson apologized quickly and walked in the direction of the stage, where everyone was already setting their equipment up. He looked down at his beaten up old acoustic guitar. He had completely forgotten. He only had one guitar, and it was this old acoustic. Hopefully one of Eden’s band members had a spare that Carson could borrow until he talked Ezzie into loaning him one of her own. Carson remembered seeing Ezzie’s large collection of guitars. She barely even knew how to play, and yet she had an entire collection of instruments. Carson had to admit, being famous did have its benefits. Hopefully, Carson would get to experience some of these benefits soon as well.