Casy wrote me a letter every week after that visit. I was so excited for his next one. He was a smart kid but he was gullible. He was wrapped around my finger by letter three.
He also sent drawings with all his letters. I well admit we was a pretty good artist. His letters and pictures hung in my room now. It was fun to exchange letters with him. It was the most amusement I got out of this place.
My parents wrote rarely after our visit. Most of them were from my mom. Just her yelling about how I'm a disappointment to this family so nothing new. The few from my father were kind but had an air of disappointment. I didn't care much that they were disappointed or if they hated me. All I cared about was getting out and getting my beautiful fire back.
After I had gotten four letters from him he promised a visit soon after. The fourth letter told me he planned to come in a few days. I smiled as I read though words. My excitement grew. I was going to get my fire back.
I waited a few more days. Rereading his letters and thinking about how I was going to get such relief. It felt like years but the day finally came.
I remember them coming in and leading me back to the same room as usual. They opened the door and I saw Casy sitting. He was waiting for me. I walked in and sat down. He smiled at me.
"Hey Ed," he said still not breaking him smile.
"Hello," I replied.
"I'm so glad to see you again," he was still smiling as he said this.
"Why are you smiling like an idiot?" I said. He blushed from embarrassment.
"O-oh sorry..." he rubbed his arm sheepishly. He looked at the ground.
"I was just so excited to visit again," he said quietly.
"I've been excited too," I said.
"Really?" He asked. I nodded yes. His smile returned to his face.
"I'm glad," he said.
"So how are things out of this hell?" I asked.
"They are fine. Everyone is still talking about you...the rumors and suspicions are spreading like wildfire. Heh pun intended." I face palmed at that joke and he chuckled a little.
"Bad jokes aside, things are slowly going back to normal. The kids you hurt are just fine and your parents-" I clenched my fists at that. He saw my tension.
"Is something wrong?" He asked.
"Don't tell me about my parents. I don't want to hear about them..." I grumbled.
"Oh okay. Sorry," he rubbed his arm again.
"Anyways how are you?" I asked.
"Huh me?" He questioned. I nodded.
"Well um...nothing is super interesting about me,"
"I think not. Tell me about your home life," I suggested.
"I guess I could... well my home life hasn't been good the last couple years. My parents still call me Cassandra and use female pronouns. My dad refuses to see me as a male and my mom does whatever he says. My friend, Hannah, has been super awesome and supportive with this. She's been helping me save up for hormone therapy. I just hope one day my parents realize this is who I am..." he told me. Wow is this Christmas! He's also has no one to lean on. He's perfect for me to use.
"I hope so too," I lied. He looked up at me and smiled.
"Thanks," he said.
"So tell me about your friends?" I asked.
"My friends are awesome. They keep me alive and happy. My parents don't really care what I do so I hangout with them a lot. Hannah is super cool. She lets me stay over a lot. Her parents are cool too. They are really nice and her mom is an awesome cook. My other friends are Charlene, Thomas, and Maddie. They're also fun and awesome. Even if they are meme addicts." He said with a laugh.
"What kids aren't obsessed with memes now a days," I sighed out.
"How about school?" I asked.
"It's fine. School is just school. I do fine with it. Math sucks though. But math always sucks," he sighed.
"I like math but I know where you are coming from. There's one other thing I'm curious about How'd you get into drawing? How long have you been doing it?"
"A pretty long time even when we were still friends back then. I've always doodled. It's fun and stress relieving. I also use it to vent. I've taken a few art classes here and there. I'm trying some now. I don't just draw too I paint and I'm trying digital art. It's fun. You should try it," he said.
"I doubt is be any good. You can stick to art. I'll stick to being unstable and craving flames," he laughs at what I said.
"Aw come on just try," he hands me a sketchbook from his bag and a pencil. I sigh and decided to amuse him. I started to sketch a picture. I finished turned and showed him.
"I knew you couldn't be bad. It's fine all you have to do is practice," he said.
"I guess so," I muttered. I was starting to get impatient. I wanted what he promised. He looked at the time on his phone. He smiled at me.
"I should get going," he sighed.
"Do you have to? It's boring here," I sighed.
"I've got something to help make it better," he said quietly. He got up and closer to me. He folded my bangs out of my eyes. I felt him stick something behind my ear as he left my hair behind it. My bangs fell back and covered my eye and the gift he left me. He grabbed his bag.
"I'll see you next time okay Ed?" He said.
"Yes. I'll look forward to it," I said. He smiled and waved as the door was opened for him. I smiled back. When he was gone my smile faded. God this being nice shot is hard. Lucky I'm a good actor. He's basically my puppet at this point.
I was lead back to my room again but when I was locked back into my cell I smirked. I shook my hair and felt something fall out and heard it land on the ground. I smiled at it. He really came through!
It was a small bundle of five matches tied together. The was a small piece of paper attached to it. I picked it up and read it.
Sorry I wasn't able to bring more. I'll try to next time.
Love,
           Casy
I smirked. I picked up the gift he left me. I was beyond happy. I took one out of the rubber band he bound them with. I struck it an watched it ignite. I worked quickly and put the small flame on my wrist. I watched it burn at my skin and dance. Sweet euphoria. It was so relieving. I sighed out.
It soon out and my new burn stung. It felt great. I saved the others hiding them under a stack of letters from my parents. I hide the already lite one too so they didn't find it.
I sat down in on my cot and sighed happily. This was the happiest I've been in months and it was all thanks to sweet naïve Casy.