Kasey's Fear

Kasey paused in front of his locker, took a deep breath, and then slowly pulled the locker open. Its hinges squeaked. Kasey reached in, grabbed his jacket, and slammed the door shut again. He leaned back against the locker for a second, letting his heartbeat slow and his breathing return to normal. He wiped the perspiration from his face and then pulled his jacket on before heading outside into the bright sunshine. The beautiful fall day calmed him even more, making him feel as foolish as always.

Nothing in that locker is dangerous, he told himself. The reminder never seemed to help, though Kasey went through the same paralyzing fear every day.

“Hey, Kasey! Wait up!”

Kasey raised his head, the sound of his name capturing his attention and dragging him out of his thoughts. The sight of Meghan Cassidy approaching stunned him for a moment, long enough to cause him to stutter a greeting.

She smiled at him. “Have you thought about what you’re going to do your book report on?” she asked, pulling a strand of wind-blown blonde hair out of her face.

Kasey colored and found himself staring at his feet. “I’m excused from doing book reports,” he mumbled.

She gave him a strange look before breaking into a laugh.

Kasey wanted to sink into the ground. She thought he was kidding.

“Anyway,” Meghan continued, “I thought we could maybe hook up at the library sometime this week and work on them together.” Her blue eyes were sparkling at him in a way that made him almost forget that he couldn’t go to the library, either.

“Ummm…I don’t think that’ s a good idea.” Kasey turned to start for home again, mentally slapping himself. She probably thought he was a complete loser now.

“Here, look.” Meghan fell into step beside him. “This is the book I was thinking of writing about.” She held the book up to show him.

Kasey’s heart jumped in his chest. He had to stop walking and close his eyes as he broke into a cold sweat.

“Kasey? Are you okay?” Meghan asked with concern.

“Put it away,” he whispered, unwilling to open his eyes until he was sure the horrible thing would be out of his sight.

“What are you talking about?” Meghan asked, confusion filling her voice.

In another second, Kasey was sure he was going to start fleeing. With an effort, he formed the words, “The book! Put it away!”

“What’s the matter? You don’t like this book?” There was a moment of silence. “Okay, I put it in my backpack. See?”

Kasey cracked one eye open. Meghan stood in front of him, holding out her empty hands.

“I’ve never seen anyone react that way to Treasure Island before,” she commented.

“It’s not just that--book,” Kasey had to force himself to say the word. “It’s all of them. That’s why I can’t do book reports. I have bibliophobia.”

Meghan was looking at him with skepticism in her shining blue eyes. “What’s that? A fear of books or something?”

Kasey nodded miserably.

“That’s ridiculous,” Meghan declared. “Look, if you didn’t want to work with me, you just had to say so. Loser.” Meghan sniffed and ran off, leaving Kasey to trudge home alone.