Casey had gotten himself a doctor's appointment and they did give him a note excusing him from future in-class presentations but that didn't help him get out of his internship credit. All it did was give him a list of places to apply to that were willing to hire those with disabilities.
Unfortunately, he wasn't the only person utilizing the disability office who needed an internship. At this rate, he wouldn't get something for this summer and that really, really stressed him out. He didn't want to do his internship during a regular semester and take extra classes over the summer. That seemed miserable to him but the way things were going…
He may need to put more focus on Plan B. He showed up at Old and Bold on Saturday morning with a strong feeling of trepidation but Vera and her aunt welcomed him in warmly.
"Hi there! You must be Casey. It's so nice to meet you. I'm Tilly Gilmore."
"N-nice to yeet moo—meet you!—too," Casey stammered out as he shook her hand, feeling like he already botched his first impression on her.
Tilly didn't say anything negative though. Simply smiled and told Vera to take him back to the workshop to get him started on some sanding practice. That involved her hacking up a smooth wooden board and showing him how to sand down the rough parts before letting him do it himself.
There was something oddly calming about it. This wasn't a terrible way to spend his weekend at all, though he would normally be reading.
Kane thought Casey was nuts for doing this at first but backed down after finding out it was a backup plan, scoffing and saying he needed one. Which was unfortunately true. That was the whole reason he was here.
Vera was extremely patient with him, just like she had been when he couldn't do the presentation. She was a patient person in general, wasn't she? He had never met anyone like her but still couldn't expect it to last. She would get sick of him sooner or later, no matter how desperately he didn't want that to happen.
It truly didn't make sense that she was taking so much of her time to do this for him, even if she did need the help. There was no guarantee that he would actually end up working for her later. She could very well be wasting her time teaching him.
Their schedules were a bit different this semester so he always came here after his classes were over for his lessons. She was already at the shop by then unless she had a group project meeting or something.
Vera remained just as kind as she had been from the start. She introduced Casey to the restaurant next door too, since she and her aunt ate at it a lot when they were working.
Had he ever been this happy? Though he was just as confused and stressed at the same time.
He didn't end up getting the internship he needed so he decided to go ahead and take summer classes. They had fewer options available but it was better to keep going than to sit around doing nothing all summer long. The last thing he needed was too much free time to think. He would prefer not to graduate a semester late either, though he would still need to take some extra classes in one of his two remaining semesters as well.
Summer classes were stressful in their own way because they were condensed. The classes themselves were twice as long because the curriculum needed to be rushed.
Sitting there for so long made it difficult to concentrate but he did his best. He couldn't let his grades slip or he would never get an internship.
Casey took as many credits as he normally would, which was a rather desperate move so he could try to get an internship during his last semester. He needed more time to get something set up.
That took some of the pressure about finding one off him but added pressure in different ways. People weren't meant to take as many credits as they did in a normal semester during the summer.
Some days he thought he might crack. All his days started blurring together. He often forget where he was or what he was doing until he snapped to attention.
This had been a terrible idea! He would never do anything like this ever again!
===
Kane was confused the next time he ended up in control of the body. Nothing dangerous was happening so why was he here?
He checked around for threats but didn't see any. He checked himself over and didn't see any injuries either. Nothing hurt so there weren't any he couldn't see.
The next thing he did was snoop around Casey's apartment. All he could find was evidence of an obscene amount of homework and other school-related things that needed to be done.
Was he here because Casey was extra stressed? What was he supposed to do about that? He wasn't book smart like Casey. Kane wouldn't be able to help him with his homework. Kane supposed he could clean up the apartment a bit and see if any errands needed to be run but there was nothing else he could think of doing.
During the cleaning, he discovered they were running low on both cleaning supplies and food so he headed out and bought those things with Candy's debit card. It was still where he remembered hiding it.
On the rare occasions he did come out these days, he always checked things over to make sure it seemed like she was still alive and that no one had launched a search for her. Things were still good so he had nothing to worry about.
At least in that regard. He was undeniably worried about stupid, weak Casey who couldn't even handle his own course load.
He had done this to himself! Why hadn't he thought of his own limits beforehand? He needed to be in control of the body so he could get his assignments done because Kane had no idea how to do them.