Chapter Text
Casey Jones was five years old when his mom announced that she was pregnant for the second time to him and his dad.
Casey was overjoyed at the news and was instantly convinced that he would have a younger brother; even with his mom’s constant correcting with that they don’t know what the baby was going to be yet.
Casey wanted a brother and he was so sure he would get a brother! Someone that he could play with that wasn’t his mom, finally! He would teach him how to play football, play tag and ride a bike! All activities that he had to learn himself or be taught by his friends.
While his mom was crying tears of joy as she shared the news, dad looked… well he looked like he always did. It wasn’t a new expression. He looked exactly like when mom told dad anything about Casey.
“Casey made a new friend today.”
”…”
“Have I told you yet? Casey got one-hundred percent on his spelling test today!”
“…”
“Casey says he wants to try hockey, just like you did when we were younger. The lessons don’t cost that much and-“
“No. We can’t afford that.”
”I think you should play football with Casey today. He would love that.”
”No.”
”You never do anything with him. How do you think he feels when he sees the others kids playing with their dads? While his doesn’t even want to look at him?”
”I have no time for him, I’m busy.”
When Casey got older and looked back at these times he would connect the pieces and come to the painful realisation that his dad was bored and annoyed whenever he was brought up.
“Mom?”
”Yes honey?”
”Why does dad hate me?”
”…”
”Every time I wanna talk to him he tells me to go away. Is there a different way I can talk to him?”
”Casey, listen to me. Your dad does love you, he.. he just shows it differently. It… might look mean and hurt you but he loves you very much.”
This annoyance towards him only seemed to worsen as another child was going to be added to their family.
He’s realised a lot of things now that he was older, some that his child-mind would’ve never thought twice about.
Just like how when his sister, much to his younger self’s disappointment, was born their lives changed. An outsider would’ve called it for the worst, but Casey loved his sister so he wouldn’t.
No matter how much life sucked, she was the ray of sunshine to make it all better. Especially when his mom’s sunshine quickly began to fade.
His mom became unwell, and no matter how many cups of water he gave her it did nothing to help. His dad had told him,
“Not sick that way, Casey. She’s sick in the head. It’s all that fucking babies fault. I knew she should’ve aborted it. One was too much already.”
Casey didn’t understand what that meant, none of it. How could someone be sick in their head? That wasn’t where their stomaches were. Why was it the babies fault? She hadn’t done anything, but she did cry a lot. Is that making mom sick? What did aborted mean?
He wanted to ask all these questions but his dad quickly shooed him away, wanting to be alone ‘without any fucking kids’ for a while.
Casey Jones started swearing at the ripe age of eight. His sister, Angel, wouldn’t start until she was seven.
Casey had actually chose the name for her. Dad couldn’t care less and Mom was in the hospital a lot, so she was too busy. He started calling her Angel and his parents must’ve picked up on it as it became her official name.
In the following months after Angel’s birth, mom began to change. One second she would be calmly feeding Angel her bottle, but if the baby started to cry then it was a total flip and she would start yelling at her to get her to shut up.
It never worked of course, and every single time Casey would come running into the room to help. Only to get Angel pushed into his hands and his mom storming out of the room.
It was after the tenth time it happened that Casey got the handle of calming down a crying baby. Angel liked to be rocked while being fed.
Dad never took care of Angel, always refusing to take her when Mom asked him. And when Mom forced him to hold her he would leave her on the floor and walk away or give her to Casey if he was close enough.
Casey would hear his sister crying and see no one around to comfort her and take on the responsibility to calm her down. He didn’t mind it as he loved his sister, he never saw her as a burden or a chore. She was his sister, how could he think of her that way?
He was helping his parents by calming her down and he was prideful of that. Casey could do something they couldn’t and be helpful. Maybe if dad had saw this he would be proud, maybe he could finally look at Casey without it feeling like he was doing charity work by just looking at him.
Then… it happened.
It was a month after Casey’s sixth birthday and he noticed that his mother was… more unhappy then normal. He’s been trying to cheer her up, he thinks he remembers his dad trying to as well.
Then the afternoon of a windy Tuesday rolled around, Casey had gotten home with Angel a few hours ago and mom hadn’t greeted them.
He hadn’t seen his mom the entire time he was home and had started to get worried that she was upset again. He hadn’t seen his dad either but that was normal. It would be unnatural to see him a lot during the day.
Casey got up and he went and knocked on his parents’ bedroom door. No response. But they were in there. He knew that for certain.
He knocked again. No response.
He knocked once more and once again, no response.
He opened the door.
Casey doesn’t like to think about that night, how he had to pick up the phone and call the emergency number with shaking hands because his dad refused to do anything else other then stare at the scene. The police sirens, the ambulances, all the strangers entering his home without a single one explaining to him what he saw.
He had to learn himself that when the paramedics came to take his mom, she wouldn’t be coming back. The last time he ever saw his mom she didn’t see him back.
Dad wasn’t the same, he must’ve been in the room when it happened. Empty bottles of alcohol would become the common thing to find around the apartment. Casey took care of Angel full time now; Casey knows that the only reason that Angel was even enrolled in school was so that dad could get rid of her for a couple hours.
It was a quick change for when his dad started to hit him. It made Casey think how long he had been wanting to do that for it to be so easy for him to do for the first time.
Then that was his life. Walking on eggshells around his dad during all times of the day and night. Angel had grown up learning to be quiet and learn all the ways of what she can do to avoid pissing off dad and avoid a beating.
———
“She’s going to be twelve! What do twelve year old girls even like?” Casey groaned, staring up at the night sky with his hands behind his head, offering more comfort then the concrete roof.
They were meant to be on patrol, being heroes n’all that. The two had ignored Leonardo’s plan to split into pairs and cover more ground. They both ignored Leonardo again when he separated the two best friends and they ran off together before he could force them to obey.
And now here they were, their plan to go and beat up some criminals put on hold. It was an annoyingly quiet night and they had only saw two guys destroying a car that Casey quickly put a stop to, much to Raphael’s annoyance. Now, they were both laying on a roof and talking.
”Dude, why the fuck are you asking me?” Raphael asked, looking to his side to give Casey a glance with a raised brow.
“I don’t fucking know!” Casey shrugged, giving Raphael an annoyed glance back. “You have two younger brothers, what did you get them for their twelfth birthdays?”
“We live in a sewer. There’s not really much I can get them.” Raphael rolled his eyes before sighing. “I got Donnie some books I found while on a walk with Sensei. For Mikey, I dunno, it might’ve been an action figure. I can’t remember.”
“That does not help me at all.”
“You asked, asshole!”
”Yeah but it still doesn’t help! Asshole!”
“She’s your sister! Aren’t you supposed to know what she likes?” Raphael shot back.
“Of course I do. But that’s boring. She’s growing up fast and I can tell she would appreciate another doll but not, like, enjoy it.” Casey groaned once more, moving his hands from behind his head so he could groan into them.
”Just give her the doll then and tell her to suck it up.” Raphael shrugged, looking back up at the few stars in the sky.
”I could, but…” ‘it’s been a hard year for her. For us.’ He trailed off, finishing his sentence in his head. Dad normally drank a lot, he went to the bar most nights.
But lately, it was starting to be every single night he would come home stinking of booze and cigarettes. There were even times he would come home and stink of weed and other drugs. Casey’s already yelled at him for that but after he received a fist to the jaw, multiple times, he gave up.
Angel slept in his room those nights. It was the least he could do, drugs made people unpredictable and Casey didn’t want to risk anything. His dad was unpredictable enough even without the alcohol in his system. Casey wouldn’t sleep those nights.
“I just want her to enjoy her day, Y’know?” Casey finally finished his sentence. Raphael made a small grunt noise in response, showing he had heard but didn’t have anything to say.
”This is what you two consider patrolling?” The annoyed voice of Leonardo spoke up, coming from their left.
Casey shrieked and sat up, head shooting to look at Leonardo, who had an annoyed expression but it changed to an amused smirk after Casey’s shriek. Laughter roared from Raphael behind him and Casey could feel his face get warmer.
“Dude! Don’t do that!” Casey shouted, throwing his hockey stick at the blue-branded turtle. Said turtle effortlessly caught the weapon.
Behind Leonardo, Casey could see Donatello crouched near the edge of the building. He was also laughing but not as loud as Raphael. At the sight of Donatello, Casey’s stomach did.. something weird. He had no idea what it was and quickly summed it up to being something that he ate.
“This wouldn’t happen if you were mindful of your surroundings, which Master Splinter and I have been trying to teach you.” Leonardo spoke as he approached, holding out the stick for Casey to take.
“Or you could y’know, approach people normally?” Casey suggested as he took back the hockey stick and slid it onto his back.
”Wheres the fun in that?” Leonardo chuckled before glancing over the edge, down at the empty streets below. “I guess I can say that’s been an event-less night for the both of you as well?”
“Absolutely nothin’.” Raphael confirmed, still laying down.
”I’m surprised you could see anything from your position.” Leonardo said with an eye roll. Once the leader was looking back down at the street, Raphael stuck up his middle finger to him.
Casey’s snickering at the action made Leonardo turn back to look at the two, who quickly acted like nothing happened.
Leonardo let out a sigh. “It’s getting late, we can start heading back home.” He turned to Donatello. “Could you let the others know we’re turning in for the night? I’ll let Mikey and April know.”
”Mhm.” Donatello nodded in confirmation before pulling out his T-phone, tapping on the screen a few times before he started typing. It was either a message to Slash or Karai as the two were leaders of their own patrol parties.
“Finally.” Casey stood up and stretched. “I can’t wait to get back, I’m tired as balls.”
“I have advised you to get more sleep instead of patrolling with us.” Donatello glanced over before going back to typing. “It’s highly recommended for humans your age to get at least eight hours of sleep.”
”And leave all the fun with you guys? Fuck no.” Casey then smirked and eyed Donatello, who raised an eyebrow ridge at him. Casey spoke in a teasing tone. “Are you forgetting all those nights you stay awake in your lab, Don? Quite hypocritical of you to tell me about seeping, wouldn’t you say?”
”Ha! He’s got you there Don.” Raphael chuckled, sitting up while cracking his neck.
Donatello sputtered before clearing his throat. “That is different, I’m working on projects and other stuff. Not messing around on the internet and messaging a busy turtle dumb questions, unlike a certain puck head.”
”Those are important questions.” Casey defended himself, ignoring Donatello’s mumbling about how he could just google the answers. Casey knew that but he wanted to talk to the turtle, he enjoyed it. “Speaking of important questions, what do you two get Mikey for his birthday?”
”Why? His birthday isn’t for another five more months. Seems a bit early to be planning.”
“No, this isn’t for Mikey, but you should remind me a month or something before his birthday.”
”Oh trust me, you’ll know two months prior.” Donatello chuckled.
”I’m researching what people get their younger siblings. Angel’s birthday is soon and I have no idea what to get her.” Casey sighed, placing a dramatic hand on his head. He then spoke in a mock-dreamy voice. “And I need a strong fella to help me and save the day.”
Donatello quickly avoided eye contact and went back to typing on his T-phone, Casey swore he could see a hint of red on those green cheeks.
”Just get her something that she likes.” Leo spoke up, attaching his T-phone back to his belt. “At least that’s the basis for everyone when getting someone a present.”
“Ughh,” Casey groaned. “You’re as helpful as Raph was. It’s not that simple.”
”Are you sure?” Leonardo asked with a doubtful eyebrow ridge raise. Casey stubbornly nodded and Leonardo replied with an eye roll. “Anyway, Mikey and April are on their way back to the lair. Have you finished telling Slash and Karai?”
Donatello cleared his throat before he answered. “Yes. Karai is calling back her men but Slash and his team are staying out a little longer.”
”Sounds good. Let’s get going.” Leonardo took the lead and began jumping over the spaces between buildings. Donatello and Raphael following close behind.
Casey was going to follow but he stopped, and just stared at the gap between the buildings. He doesn’t know why, he and Raphael like to have races across the rooftops and this would surely give him a head start.
Not that Raphael needed it or anything, most of the time the red bandana turtle would win those races effortlessly. It would be times where Raphael would mess up that would lead to Casey’s victory.
He’s only known the turtles for around five months and in that times he’s learned so much. Four months ago he didn’t know how or trusted his strength to get across gaps between buildings. And now he can.
He couldn’t fight properly before but now he can. By himself he was a disaster waiting to happen.
Without them, Casey would be nothing. Just another wanna-be vigilante with a sad backstory. How cliché.
That’s all he was, wasn’t it?
Just a human vigilante on the team full of super-human mutants.
If the purple dragons were to see one of the turtles they would be afraid. Or if they saw one of Karai’s soldiers or Karai herself they would be afraid. Or if they were up against one of the mighty mutanimals they would surely shit themselves.
But if they were to see Casey, they would be afraid that one of the stronger mutants was nearby. Not Casey. He was just a regular guy that they would have no problem taking.
The foot clan is different, they are trained to fight so they don’t fear the mutants. But it’s obvious that they respect them in some messed up way. Casey doesn’t see any of the foot soldiers trying to trip up anyone else while fighting. It’s just him.
April is the closest person he could relate to on the team. Sure she was getting trained by Splinter but they were still pretty similar. At least, he thought that way until it was learned that she was part kraang. And then it was learned that she had psychic powers?!
Then Karai was the only other human but then she got mutated. Even before then, she was trained by the Shredder to fight.
They were all so much stronger then him, so much more agile. Just, better. They were better then him on so many levels.
And Casey was just… Casey. What did he bring to the team? They already had everything they needed.
“Casey!” Raphael’s voice startled him out of his thoughts, quickly remembering where he was and realising the three turtles were waiting for him. “What are you doing man? Move your ass!”
“I’m coming, calm your shell tits!” Casey yelled, pulling his skull mask over his face before launching himself over the edge and landing on the other roof.
”Never say that again.” Raphael spoke with a disgusted expression. Casey laughed.
———
Money was a difficult thing to manage, especially when most of it would be wasted on alcohol at the bar and you couldn’t do anything to stop it. So when his dad’s pay check came in, Casey made sure to always get to it first.
The first time he did it, his dad noticed immediately and started questioning him about his missing money.
Casey felt the all-too familiar rough hand against his throat as he was slammed against the wall, his head smacked against it. The pressure around his throat tightened, a small gasp escaping before his airway was blocked. His cheek stung with the original slap that had caught him by surprise.
“Are you that much of a low-life that you’re stealing money from me now?!” His dad, named Arnold, yelled, spitting in his face with every word from how close he was. The faint smell of alcohol came from the older man’s breath, making Casey feel nauseous at the familiarity of it.
”I-I didn’t-“ Casey wheezed, bringing his hands up to grip at the wrist that was holding him against the wall. His eyes frantically looked down at the large hand around his throat and to the angered face of his dad.
The familiar look of anger and disgust in those cold, brown eyes was there again. Arnold’s short, dark brown hair fell messily around his eyes - must’ve been a rough day at work. He knew he wouldn’t be able to push him off, not with the muscular build his dad had compared to his own scrawny ten year old body. Casey was powerless.
‘Please let go of me.’
From behind his dad, he could see Angel, who was just six years old at the time. She had dropped the doll she was playing with - the times where she used to love dolls, he could never get her the good dolls like barbie but she loved them anyway - and staring with wide, afraid eyes and tears pricking in the corners. Casey had seen her scared before of course, but it never made it any easier to see.
”Don’t lie to me. I fucking saw you! If you don’t tell me where the fuck you put it I’m gonna knock out more of your damn teeth!” Arnold screamed. If Casey wasn’t so focused on the fact that he was turning light-headed from lack of oxygen then he would’ve heard one of their neighbours yelling for them to shut up.
”Its for the rent!” Casey quickly yelled, turning his head to the side in order to get a little extra space away from the man. The tears that welled up in his eyes were threatening to spill any second. It would only anger his dad more for him to cry but he couldn’t help it.
The grip around his throat loosened and Casey gasped loudly, desperately inhaling and exhaling - he was never going to take oxygen for granted ever again after this.
“It’s- it’s for the rent.. a-and for food. I-I’m not stealing..” Casey stammered, hoping it would be enough for his dad to leave him alone. His throat stung with each word and his voice sounded raspy. “I pr-promise..”
“Make sure it stays that way.” Arnold scowled, finally removing his hand from around Casey’s throat. Casey slid down the wall, all feeling in his legs had disappeared and he pulled his legs towards his chest with shaking limbs. It was a miracle that he had managed to hold himself back from crying. He could hear his dad scoff above him. “Pathetic.”
Then he turned and walked away. Arnold had walked past Angel, close enough to make him cringe and Angel lean away from the close proximity.
Angel didn’t move until they heard the door to the bedroom close, neither of them did. Then, with gentle and silent footsteps - that she had gotten really good at practicing - she kneeled down next to Casey and began whispering to him.
She had asked if he was alright and if there was anything she could do to make his throat better. All Casey remembers doing is putting on a brave face and offering to play dolls with her, insisting that he was fine and could take it.
He would have to wear a scarf the next day for school.
After that, and a few more instances when Arnold wanted more money to get even more alcohol, there was no more incidents of Casey being accused of stealing money. Casey couldn’t be more thankful.
Holidays were especially hard. He would have to put a little money aside every time he took some of Arnold’s pay check. Arnold wasn’t aware of this of course, Casey could only imagine the rage fit his dad would have if he knew Casey was spending his money on little things that he considered weren’t necessary.
They weren’t allowed birthday gifts as their dad didn’t think they deserved to have money wasted on them; ‘What have you done to even deserve a happy birthday from me? All you two have done is fuck everything up for me.’
But Casey got gifts for Angel when her birthday came around. They were small and very cheap but it was still something. Christmas was even harder to manage, a few times where Casey had to buy food instead of gifts so instead the two would just enjoy the day together and go ice skating.
Casey never bought anything for himself, instead saving the money for the next holiday or treat for Angel. She deserved it and he didn’t so it was fair. Angel always got him something though. Each year she never failed to get a drawing from her, and each year they slowly got better.
The drawings were possibly one of the most valuable possessions he owns. They were stored in the safety of the bottom drawer of his bedside table.
Speaking of gifts, he still had to get Angel one. It was her birthday the next day and he had been trying to get her a gift for the past two days. It wasn’t until Donatello told him that he was overthinking it that he finally got an idea for a gift.
Turns out, it was as simple as the guys had made it. Just get her something she liked and she would be happy!
Casey remembers overhearing Angel talking to her friend about wanting to dye her hair and being very indecisive about what colour. Blue to light purple to regular purple to bright neon pink to just regular pink. They had finished that topic with just pink, so, he got a nice-looking shade of pink and hoped it was what Angel had in mind.
Then, he had to go to another store to find this, he bought a small box of chocolate cake mix. Judging on the ingredients on the back he had everything already at home that was needed to make the cake.
Casey hoped that the next day would go according to the plan he had made up in his head.
———
“Hey.” Casey whispered into a sleeping Angel’s ear. “Hey. Hey.”
”Fuck off Casey, just a few more minutes.” Angel frowned, pulling her light pink blanket over her head.
“Are you really sleeping in today? On your birthday of all days as well.” Casey shook his head, voice still a whisper, with a mock expression of disapproval. He pulled the blanket away from his sister’s head.
“That should be an even better excuse for sleeping in.” Angel whined, peeking an eye open. Her voice immediately turned into a whisper when she saw Casey put a finger to his lips. “Is dad awake? Why is he awake so early?”
”School started about an hour ago, so you’ve slept in long enough.” Casey explained, a grin spreading onto his face at the surprise on Angel’s face. “Dad’s getting ready to go to work and once he’s gone I have a surprise for you.”
“Why didn’t you wake me up earlier?” Angel asked, sitting up and silently stretching.
”Did you want to go to school today?” Casey asked with a raised brow. Angel shook her head no. “Then stop complaining. Also I overslept so it was either be late or not go in at all.”
Angel covered her mouth with her hand to muffle her giggles but they quickly disappeared when footsteps passed by her door. The two siblings froze, holding their breaths until the footsteps faded into the kitchen.
“I’ve got our whole day planned out. Just gotta wait until dad is gone.” Casey spoke in an even quieter voice and gave his sister a wink, who returned an excited smile.
The two sat in silence for nearly a whole ten minutes, listening to their dad walking around the apartment. Once he finally left they remained silent for another two minutes, making sure that he wouldn’t return before Casey spoke up.
“About time. I was about to fall asleep again.” He stood up and stretched. “Meet me in the kitchen when you’re dressed.”
Angel nodded in confirmation as Casey exited the room, getting out of bed and opening her dresser.
Casey cracked his legs as he walked, enjoying the feeling of being able to move around again. He had been in a crouching position while waiting for Arnold to leave. While he knew the placement of every floorboard that creaked, he didn’t want to risk Arnold knowing they were still home for Casey’s own comfort.
They lived in a pretty small apartment, fourth floor. Originally there were two bedrooms, a bathroom, their living room and kitchen were connected in one large area with the kitchen just taking up one wall with the counter and appliances taking up the back wall.
There was also a very small room that had been used for storage. But during his mom’s second pregnancy they turned it into a nursery. When the time came that Angel needed an actual bed, Casey offered to take the nursery as his room and Angel gets his bigger, actual bedroom.
The room was as wide as Casey’s bed when it was horizontal, so the furthest wall took up Casey’s whole bed. All Casey had in his room was a small dresser, similar to his sisters’, a desk, his hockey equipment in a duffel bag, another duffel bag under his bed that hid his vigilante equipment, and a few posters that he had either found or gotten from old friends before he had a falling out with them.
He could never keep a friend for a long period of time.
This didn’t bother Casey though. It was just a bedroom so it didn’t even matter, why should he care? There were more important things he had to deal with then his living conditions. Just like how was he going to make this cake.
He’s had no prior experience for baking, he had the basic cooking knowledge as he would have to make his and Angel’s meals. But baking? He could never afford all the stuff for that. Until now.
He opened the door on the uncomfortably empty fridge and took out the milk and eggs. Reaching behind the butter, he pulled out the box of chocolate cake mix. Hidden in plain sight. Casey also wasn’t sure if this stuff needed refrigerated or not so he thought it’d be better to be safe then sorry.
How well was this gonna go? Would Angel even want cake? And to bake it themselves? Casey was sure it would get burned one way or another. Were they even gonna be able to eat it? Was it just gonna be a waste of time?
The excitement in Angel’s eyes at the sight of all the ingredients on the counter instantly got rid of any doubts that Casey had about this idea.
Admittedly, the actual process of making the cake was a disaster. The two had no idea what they were doing and kept having to read the instructions on the box, which were incredibly vague.
Raphael would’ve been proud of how well they beat the eggs, it was the hothead’s favourite job to do in the kitchen whenever Michelangelo needed help cooking. It was a messy process that would’ve brought tears to both Donatello’s and Michelangelo’s eyes.
As the cake was in the oven, the two passed the time by cleaning up their mess. It was a cleaning job that would’ve made Leonardo proud. They had to make sure their dad wouldn’t be able to tell they baked a cake while he was at work. Who knows how angry he would get? They didn’t want to find out.
Surpringly enough, for something that Casey thought they had completely failed at, the cake tasted alright. Maybe it was the fact that it was heavily chocolate flavoured was what saved it.
Then it was time for the second surprise, which ended up being even messier then the cake. The pink hair dye. Angel was overjoyed to see the hair dye box in the bathroom and instead that they did it as soon as possible.
Several YouTube tutorials and multiple re-reads of the instructions later and Angel had a full head of pink hair and they both shared the consequence of pink stained hands. He should’ve gotten gloves.
The day ended with them both at the ice rink, the same one where Casey plays hockey with his team. Casey had gotten to know the guy that runs the place very well over the years, so he has the spare key to the building and was allowed to go and ice skate whenever he wanted.
That night was one of those nights, the owner was having a dinner with his wife so the building was closed. A completely empty ice rink just for the two of them. Angel was spending most of her time attempting to do a trick that she had seen on the internet. So far she wasn’t anywhere close to getting it right but she was getting better. Especially after her first attempt when she just kept spinning on the spot and couldn’t stop.
Casey had to forcefully stop his laughing fit to help her. She was alright in the end, a little nauseous if anything.
When they left and started heading home, they were tired and ready to get some sleep. Casey had texted the guys to tell them he was skipping out on patrol that night and the four of them had said they’d see him the next day and to wish Angel a happy birthday for them.
Angel… didn’t know of the turtles, but she did at the same time. She knew a Raphael, Donatello, Michelangelo and Leonardo existed and Casey was friends with them but not that they were turtles or mutants.
She had been wanting to meet them but Casey had been denying it. He wasn’t sure how she would react to his friends being mutants; he also hadn’t brought it up to the guys that Angel wanted to meet them.
Would they even be okay with another human knowing of their existence? Then there was Karai and the mighty mutanimals. How would Angel react to them?
Casey’s thoughts were interrupted when he saw that he had messages from April. A smile spread across his lips as he read April’s birthday wishes to Angel. But he stopped in his tracks when his eyes read over a certain message.
“Fuck.”
”What?”
”I have a test tomorrow.”