Set a couple of days after book 3, The Encounter.
Jake
It was a nice day. There were no missions planned today. I was helping Cassie muck out the stables in the barn. Well, I had been. We had simultaneously given up, and went outside to sit in the sunshine. There was a silence between us, but not an awkward one. More a comfortable silence.
"I met Tobias before that night, you know," Cassie said suddenly, conversationally.
I turned to look at her. This was news to me. "Yeah?"
She nodded, but then she lowered her head and bit her lip. "He made me promise not to tell," she murmured, mostly to herself. Then she looked up. "I suppose it doesn't matter now, so much," she said slowly.
I reached for her hand. "You don't have to tell me."
But she had her eyes fixed on me now. "Yes. I will. It may be important, one day," she conceded, then launched into her story:
"This was a week or two before that night. It was a couple of minutes into lunch, and almost everyone was already in the cafeteria. I was heading that way too, but I saw something, or rather someone, out of the corner of my eye. It was this kid, hugging his knees in a corner. Wouldn't even notice him if you didn't come from the right angle.
So I went up to him and I crouch down beside and I said, "Are you alright?"
He looked at me and I flinched back. He looked a mess. Black eye, bloody nose. He smiled crookedly at me, and there was blood on his teeth. "I'm perfect," he said with a bitter laugh.
I put on my best 'I'm here to help' face, and said, "Who did this to you?"
He looked at his knees and mumbled, "I don't know. There were a lot of people. I didn't see their faces."
I tried to take his hand, but he jerked back, like he was afraid to touch me. So I said, "You're a terrible liar."
He looks at me and he's got this really fierce expression on his face. "What difference will it make? Look, Cassie -"
I must have gasped or something because he said, "Yeah, I know you. And if the things I heard are true, you're nice to people and even nicer to animals. So what I figure you're going to do is find the kindest teacher you can get, and tell them about me, and tell some of your closest friends too."
I was stunned. This guy had some serious insight. Or I was just really predictable.
"But you can't tell the teachers," he continued. "If you do, they'll just come after me again tomorrow. But looking like this? I'll be free of it for at least another week."
I was horrified that he could talk about it this casually. But there was more.
"And you can't tell your friends," he said. "Because - " he hesitated. He glanced around, and said, quieter, "Look, Cassie, you've been nice to me, and I appreciate that. So I'm going to tell you something. And you have to promise me you won't tell anyone, not even your best friend in the world." His eyes bore into mine. "Especially not your best friend in the world."
I nodded. "I promise," I rasped. I could tell this was something he'd never told anyone, that it was important.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Okay. Your best friend is Rachel, right?"
I nodded again, fearing I knew where this was headed.
He didn't disappoint. "I, um, have a crush on Rachel," he blurted out. Then he smiled crookedly again. "How pathetic is that?" he continued. "She doesn't even know I exist. She's the most beautiful girl in the school, pulling boys left right and center, and I'm the school dweeb. The dork." he finished harshly.
Even though I had suspected this, it shocked me a little. Someone this miserable was something I'd never dealt with before. So I did the only thing I could. I held his hand and said, "You're wrong, you know. I've seen Rachel staring at you before. And when I mention it, she blushes and changes the subject. She blushes. Rachel never blushes. So, no you're wrong. She does know you exist."
I could see the hope in his eyes. But it got pushed aside by a mean, fierce expression. "No!" he whispered fiercely. "It never does any good to hope!" He rounded on me. "I appreciate it, Cassie, but I'd rather you didn't. I'd rather you didn't get my hopes up again."
I sat there, confounded by this. Rejecting hope? What did you have if you didn't have hope?
"Mark my words, Cassie," he continued in a whisper. "You should never hope. If you do, it just gets taken away from you, and it takes a bit of you with it." He stood up and turned away. I let him go. And I realised that I never did find out his name."
I was stunned, to say the least. That didn't sound like the Tobias I knew now. But then again, who could claim to really know Tobias, now or ever? The only person who could say that would be Rachel, and even she only knew a part of him.
"On... that night... I didn't even recognise him," Cassie continued. "Not without the bruises and the blood. I only realised who he was when Marco said something to him about not standing up to bullies at school."
Cassie grabbed my hand and held it. "I have a bad feeling, Jake. About what he said. About hope taking parts of you away. I think..." she hesitated. "I think Tobias may have been right. Partly, anyway. I mean, it's fine when your hopes come true, but what happens when they all crumble? Tobias is going to need real friends in the future," she finished quietly.
I looked at the sky over the woods near Cassie's farm. I saw a bird of prey circle once over a clump of trees, then plummet. Could have been Tobias. Could have been another red tail. Could have been any bird of prey. Tobias is right about that; human eyes do suck.
"Well," I said slowly. "Tobias has real friends. We Animorphs need to stay close, you know."
Cassie smiled at me, and I smiled back. Faintly, I heard a raptor screeching in the woods, but I was staring into Cassie's eyes, and I didn't notice.
I stood up, bringing her with me. "Come on," I said, picking up a shovel. "We've got work to do."
