Once A Cheater, Always A Cheater (Part 3)
PART 3
Casey saw Derek come out of their math classroom, looking nervously over his shoulder. He walked off the screen, and nothing else happened for five minutes. Then, Casey saw herself being dragged by Derek back toward the classroom. They both stopped at the door and she saw Derek push her so that she was behind him. After a few seconds, he gave a thumbs up to someone before running off down the hallway. She followed, and soon they both ran off the screen. Lassiter hit pause, and sat down in front of them. He folded his hands together in front of him. "Explain."
Derek had a major headache. It was late. He just wanted to get home, maybe watch some TV. Finish studying for that math exam…He suddenly noticed that Lassiter was staring at him. "Uh, did you say something?"
Lassiter heaved a sigh, "Yes, Derek. I asked you to explain to me what is going on in that tape."
Derek didn't answer. For once, he really didn't know what to say.
Lassiter leaned forward, "To be more precise, Mr. Venturi, tell me why you are seen leaving the math classroom during the exam…and how is it that you came back with Miss McDonald?"
From the corner of his eye, Derek could see Casey staring at him-no, more like glaring at him. Say something. Anything.
"Cat got your tongue?" Lassiter grinned, looking like he was enjoying himself immensely. "No worries, we'll get back to you in a minute. Now, while we're waiting, let's have your stepsister answer some questions, hmm?"
Casey shifted uncomfortably, "What do you want to know, sir?"
"How did you leave the math exam and return five minutes later with Derek?"
Derek's head snapped up and he felt a rush as relief surged through him. Lassiter didn't know that Casey hadn't been in the exam room! He thought that she had merely left for a few minutes and had mysteriously turned up with Derek. He turned to look at Casey to see if she had realized this. She met his eyes briefly and her lips twitched. Lucky break.
"We're waiting, Miss McDonald."
"I-I went out through the back door of the classroom."
"I see. And why did you do that?"
"Um. To-to-to meet Derek!" Casey stammered.
"And Derek decided to go out the front door, and he met up with you…" Lassiter trailed off.
"Uh, yes that's right," Casey said in an unconvincing tone.
"Where did you guys meet up?"
"In…in a-ah-empty classroom."
"And what were you two doing in there?"
Casey bit at her lip and Derek felt a strong sense of unease. Clearly, she hadn't thought her little story all the way through. And he still had no idea what to say. He glanced at her and could see her cheeks were tinged pink. He frowned, he had to say something fast before Lassiter realized that she was blushing because of the lies spewing from her mouth. "Uh, what Casey means to say is-"
Suddenly Lassiter stood up, his chair toppling over. He was looking from Derek to Casey in a horrified manner. "My god," he said faintly, "Don't tell me that you two-that you two-went into that classroom to-" He made some weird gesture with his hands, staring at them, wide-eyed.
Derek had no clue what this guy was talking about. He turned to look at Casey, but she looked equally confused. "Uh, Mr. Lassiter," she said slowly. "Are you okay?" Lassiter, in Derek's opinion, looked quite the opposite of "okay." He appeared to be having some sort of panic attack.
Lassiter leaned toward Derek, looking quite deranged, "Did you…? You-you and…and her? Did you?"
Derek suddenly understood and he leapt up, horrified. Casey stood up next to him, looking equally horrified. "Mr. Lassiter," she yelled, "Calm down, please."
Lassiter put his palms on the table, and started taking deep breaths, "Just answer the question, Mr. Venturi!"
Derek opened his mouth, fully ready to deny it, but stopped short when he felt Casey slide an arm around his waist. He froze, staring at her. She smiled coyly, "Sorry, but Derek's a little shy about our, ah, relationship."
Lassiter looked wildly between them, "You admit it, then?"
Casey nodded cheerfully and pulled Derek closer to her. He felt his heart start beating violently as he tried to look as though this story wasn't new to him. Lassiter sank weakly back into his chair, "Wow…just wow. I never expected-" he trailed off. He appeared to be talking to himself.
Derek took this opportunity to look at Casey. She was still blushing slightly, but other than that, she looked quite normal. Not as if she were telling a lie. Which she is, Derek reminded himself. Suddenly, he realized that he was simply standing there. Act like her boyfriend, he told himself sternly. He casually slid his arm across her shoulders, trying not to shiver as his hand touched her skin.
The movement seemed to trigger Mr. Lassiter back to reality and he looked up sharply. "So let me get this straight. You and Derek snuck out of the math exam for five minutes to an empty classroom, to…well anyway, and you didn't see anything suspicious?"
Derek shook his head, "No sir," he said blandly, "We were a little too…occupied to notice anything."
Lassiter closed his eyes briefly before turning to Casey, "And you? You didn't see anyone pulling the alarm?"
Derek tensed, but Casey straightened and looked Lassiter in the eye and said confidently, "I can honestly say that I didn't see anyone pulling the alarm." Derek frowned. Huh? It was one thing for Casey to lie, but for her to purposefully say 'honestly'? That didn't sound like her. He closed his eyes, thinking back to the moment that he had pulled the alarm. All of sudden, he remembered, she hadn't looked at him when he pulled it. She had been purposefully looking the other way. Derek began to smile. Casey was smarter than he gave her credit for.
In any case, Lassiter looked reassured. "Okay. I believe you," he paused. "Oh, and Mr. Venturi, you will be joining Casey and Truman in detention."
Derek grinned, "Sweet, so we can head home?"
Lassiter fiddled with his clipboard. "Not just yet. I'm going to call everyone in here for a moment. You two can take seats in the back." He quickly walked out of the room as Derek and Casey sat down at their designated seats.
Casey started to say something, but then she paused. Derek looked at her but she tilted her head significantly to the side. Bob was still here. Derek shrugged, Tell me later.
At that moment, Lassiter walked back in, trailed by Sam, Ralph, Truman, and Emily. Sam raised his eyebrows at Derek, What happened? Derek smirked lightly and winked, I'm off the hook.
"Okay," Lassiter said loudly. "Everyone can take a seat in the back except Sam."
Sam shot Derek a panicked look before sitting down in the front. Derek frowned. What was Sam so nervous about?
Casey fidgeted in her seat. She couldn't wait to go home. This night was turning out to be extremely long. And uncomfortable. Not to mention that her reputation was shot to hell. Lassiter probably thought she was the biggest whore in school…having sex with Truman AND her stepbrother. She cringed, remembering Lassiter's look of disgust. That's how people would always see us, she realized, with a sinking heart. She and Derek could never really BE together. It doesn't matter, she told herself sternly. He said he doesn't want to be with me anyway. Why worry about it?
Someone nudged her, and Casey turned slightly to look at Emily. "Well?" her friend asked, "Are you guys in trouble?"
Casey shook her head, not wanting to fully explain. "Nah, we made up an excuse. He doesn't think it was us."
Emily sighed in relief, "Good. Now, let's just hope that Sam and Ralph have good excuses, too."
Remembering Sam's shifty attitude, Casey asked curiously, "Did Sam tell you what he was talking about with Truman?"
Emily shook her head, frowning. "No, he asked me if there was audio on the tapes, but he didn't say anything else."
Casey glanced at Sam thoughtfully. What was he trying to hide? Truman leaned across Emily, grinning. "You're in for a treat, baby."
Derek glanced at Truman, scowling. "Call her 'baby' one more time, and it'll be the last thing you ever do."
"Hey, I love that song!" Ralph said excitedly.
Casey giggled, "You sorta fell into that one, D."
Derek rolled his eyes, but allowed a small smile to cross his face. Casey's gaze lingered on Derek's smile. He looks so innocent when he smiles like that. I can't believe he said those horrible things to me earlier…
Derek looked at her quizzically, "Something wrong?"
She quickly shook her head, "No, no. I'm fine. Just worried about Sam."
Derek frowned, "Yeah. I wish I knew what was up with him. He's acting really strange."
At that moment, Lassiter called, "Everyone, silent! We're about to start." The lights went off and Bob hit the remote. Casey, Derek, and Emily leaned forward eagerly, but Truman merely sat back and crossed his arms lazily. Casey frowned. It was like he already knew what the tape was going to show them.
x
Derek leaned forward, staring intently at the screen in front of him. Even in the dark, he could see Sam was shifting in his chair uneasily. Derek could feel Casey tense next to him, and knew she was worried. From the corner of his eye, he saw her turn her head towards him and lean forward. Carefully, she breathed, "Help him out if he needs it." Derek nodded slightly. There was no way in hell that he was going to let his best friend be blamed for this whole fiasco.
On the screen, he saw Sam walk down the hallway and stop at a locker. Squinting, Derek recognized it as Ralph's locker. Sam was standing with a textbook in his hand-presumably waiting for Ralph- so they could study together before the exam. Another person came into view, and Derek clenched his teeth together. Truman.
-FLASHBACK-
Sam tapped his foot impatiently. Where the fuck was Ralph? Hadn't they made plans to have a quick study session before school started? Lately the guy had been flaking on him- no, not just him, but everyone. He always showed up late to everything, saying that he had fallen asleep. Asleep! He couldn't even put in a little effort into thinking of a better excuse than sleeping. Feeling annoyed, Sam opened his book, intending to start studying by himself, when he heard footsteps echo in the hallway. He looked up hopefully, wondering if Ralph had finally made it. Nope. Truman.
Truman nodded to him, "Hey, man, how's it going?"
Sam shrugged, "Alright. Just a little tired."
"You have that math exam today, too?"
"Yeah."
After a couple seconds of silence, Truman grinned, "You don't talk much, do you?"
Sam frowned. Not to people I don't like. "Nah, I'm just trying to keep my mind clear, you know, for the exam."
"You worried?"
"Not really. But I was supposed to meet Ralph this morning so we could study. As you can see, he's not here…" Sam trailed off, in an annoyed tone.
Truman walked over so he was standing next to Sam, "We could study together, if you want," he offered.
Sam tried to think of a polite way to say Fuck off, but he couldn't think of anything. Instead, he forced a surprised look on his face, "I didn't know you were good at math."
Truman nodded, "Yeah, it comes naturally to me. I even just finished helping Emily out."
Sam looked up and down the hallway hopefully, "Oh, is Emily here? I could just study with her-"
Truman laughed, "Dude! You gotta chill!" He put his hands on Sam's shoulders. "You just need to relax…"
Sam's eyes widened. What the fuck? He surreptitiously tried to move away, but Truman gripped his shoulders more tightly. He laughed again, "Dude, you'll never believe what me and Emily just did." He started massaging Sam's shoulders.
Sam swallowed nervously, "I thought you said you guys were studying?"
Truman grinned, "Oh yeah, we were studying all right. Her lips taste like…cotton candy-"
Sam froze, vaguely aware that Truman was still rubbing his shoulders, "Wait, you guys kissed!?" he interrupted.
Truman pulled Sam closer, "Yeah, we kissed. It was hot." Then he paused, "I just wish she wasn't so uptight," he said offhandedly. "Casey was like that at first, but after having mindless sex with a girl can really loosen her up, if you know what I mean…" he trailed off suggestively.
Sam felt a flash of anger. This scumbag had no right to treat Casey that way. Feeling adrenaline pump through his veins, he whirled around and slammed Truman against the lockers. He leaned in so their faces were inches apart, "Don't you dare cheat on Casey! You don't deserve her," he hissed.
Truman laughed, "Maybe not. But I'm the one that got her. Not you."
Sam's eyes narrowed. "Get the fuck out of here."
Truman smirked, "Too bad," he said, waggling his eyebrows. "I'm sure you would've enjoyed my…relaxing techniques." With a smile, he walked away. Sam stared after him in anger before walking in the other direction.
-END FLASHBACK-
Derek was staring at the screen in open-mouthed disbelief. From what he could see, it had looked like Truman had been giving Sam a massage-before Sam had turned around, slammed Truman into the lockers, and leaned in…for a kiss? What the fuck?
Beside him, Casey was breathing shallowly. Emily looked extremely pissed and he heard her say to Truman, "Was that before or after you hit on me?"
Truman laughed, "After."
Ralph stood up and held up his hands, "Let's not jump to any conclusions, guys. After all, we're Sam's friends and he deserves a chance to explain-"
Casey nodded, "And remember we'll still be your friends…no matter who you date."
Sam turned around, looking confused. "What? What do you mean, who I date?"
"I-I just mean, it doesn't matter to us who you like. We'll still be your friends,"
Casey repeated.
Emily leaned forward slightly, "I agree with Casey. But, trust me, you could do a lot better than Truman."
Sam frowned, looking perplexed. He looked at Derek, What are they talking about? It suddenly dawned on Derek that basing their judgments off the video wasn't the best idea. After all, without the audio, how could they know what had really happened?
Derek gave a forced laugh, "Man, are you guys all on drugs? I highly doubt Sam would stoop that low…" His words wiped the smirk off Truman's face, but Casey looked upset. Oops. He shrugged inwardly. Can't please everyone.
Mr. Lassiter had been watching all of this carefully. He turned to Sam, "So, are they right?"
Sam turned back, shaking his head. "I swear, it's not what it looks like!"
"So, what exactly happened?"
"I was just waiting for Ralph so we could study before the test…and then Truman wouldn't leave-"
"What were you two talking about?"
"Uh…"
"Did he perhaps offer to pull the alarm for you since you were so worried about the math exam?"
"What!?" Sam exclaimed, "No!"
Casey interrupted, "Mr. Lassiter, if I may say something…?
"What is it, Miss McDonald?"
She threw Truman a dirty look. "I think you should direct your questioning toward Truman for this matter, sir. It's obvious that Sam did nothing wrong."
Emily added, "Yeah. Besides, Sam wasn't worried at all. In fact, he's the one that helped me study yesterday."
Lassiter shook his head, effectively ignoring the two girls. He turned back to Sam. "Okay, so he didn't pull the alarm FOR you. Did he tell you about it?"
Sam said slowly, "No, why would he tell me?"
Lassiter laughed, "It looks like you two were certainly close enough to be sharing secrets…"
Sam flushed. "It isn't what it looks like," he repeated.
"So, you're telling me that you two aren't an item?"
"What!? No, we're not! I would never do that to Casey!"
"Then, why did you kiss him?"
"Why did I WHAT?"
"You heard me. We all saw you kiss him-"
Sam stood up angrily, "I did NOT kiss him!"
"Rewind the tape, Bob," Lassiter shouted.
As Bob fiddled with the remote, Derek turned angrily to Truman, "Hey buddy," he hissed, "Why don't you speak up, here?"
Truman shrugged, "It's not my fight."
Casey turned to him in disbelief, "Not your fight? Lassiter thinks it was you! How is it not your fight!?"
"Yeah," Emily whispered, "And what happened to sticking together so we don't get in trouble?"
"Ah, here we are!" Lassiter announced gleefully. "Bob, just zoom in on that last scene by the lockers…"
Derek watched as a close-up appeared of Sam slamming Truman against the lockers and leaning in, his face enraged. He said something and Truman laughed before walking away. And that was it.
Derek felt overwhelming relief and grinned at Sam; knew you wouldn't stoop that low. Sam met his eyes and winked, let's see what Lassiter has to say now.
Lassiter was staring at the screen in astonishment. He sat back down in defeat. "So…you didn't kiss?"
"Like I said before, sir. I would never do that to Casey," Sam answered.
"Fine. Then what were you so angry about?"
Sam said carefully, "I can honestly tell you that it had absolutely nothing to do with the fire alarm. It was just guy stuff."
Lassiter pursed his lips. "Alright, alright. You may go take a seat in the back. Ralph, you're up next."
Derek blinked. The guy wasn't even going to apologize!? He opened his mouth to demand Lassiter apologize to Sam, but Casey elbowed him in the stomach. He winced, turning to glare her. "What the fuck is your problem?"
"Will you just keep your mouth shut for once!? Who cares if he apologizes or not? I'll just be happy if we get out of here before midnight!"
Derek rolled his eyes and glanced at his watch. "Stop being so dramatic, Case. It's not even 10 yet," he paused. "Wait, how did you know I wanted Lassiter to apologize?"
Casey waved her hand dismissively, "I know you, Derek."
Huh. He was left to ponder her words. She knew him? What was that supposed to mean?
Casey sighed in annoyance. Couldn't they all just hurry the fuck up? This was taking forever, and even Lassiter had to see that it was all completely useless. He was making a bunch of ridiculous accusations, none of which were proving to be even remotely true. Especially accusing Sam of-she frowned slightly, feeling her mouth curve down in a pout. Truman had been hitting on everyone behind her back. Just because Sam and Emily had been caught on camera didn't mean that there wasn't tons of other people he'd been with. Hell, was she really that bad of a girlfriend? She felt tears prick her eyes, and immediately hated herself. Was she seriously going to cry over Truman?
Derek nudged her lightly, and she turned to face him, hurriedly blinking away the tears. He looked concerned, "Hey, you okay?"
She tried to smile, "Yeah, this has just been a long night, you know?"
His brow furrowed, "Are you sure? You look kinda upset..."
Casey tried not to feel annoyed. Trust Derek to pick up on her mood the one time she wanted to be left alone. "I'm fine," she snapped.
She expected him to back off, but he persisted, "Tell me what's wrong, Case." She didn't say anything. "Look," he said in a soothing voice, "We'll be out of here soon. Ralph is the only one left, and then we can go home. Everything's okay. We all got away with whatever we did. Sam's not…" he trailed off.
She turned to look at him. His face turned abruptly furious, "Wait," he hissed. "Are you actually upset over Truman!?"
She bit her lip and didn't answer. Derek shook his head, looking angry, disappointed, and something else she couldn't quite identify. Hurt? She clenched her jaw, who cares if he's hurt? He's the one that hurt me first.
Suddenly, the room went dark and the video began playing. She watched Ralph appear in the hallway, looking quickly up and down the hallway before going to his locker. She leaned forward, curious in spite of herself. Was Ralph going to cheat? Maybe look at some notes in his locker?
He opened his locker and looked around himself again before taking out a little bottle. Casey's mouth dropped open as he poured a couple pills in his hand and quickly swallowed them. Lassiter himself appeared on the screen, asking Ralph what he was doing. Ralph immediately held up a pencil and quickly shut his locker before bounding back into the math classroom. Casey heard Emily gasp next to her and saw Sam lean forward in shock.
Lassiter forwarded the tape before pausing again. Ralph once again appeared in the hallway- and this time, Casey noticed that he came from the classroom next to one where their math exam had been going on. She quickly remembered that Ralph had said something about using the back door of the classroom to get out. He went to his locker again and once more swallowed some pills. Lassiter came out again as did another teacher, and Ralph held up his calculator before heading back inside. Bob hit the remote and screen went blank.
Derek dropped his head into his hands. Ralph was on drugs? What was going on here? How could he have not noticed? No wonder Ralph had been acting so strange…Derek paused. Wait. No, Ralph always acted strange. There was no way it was drugs. Then, what could it be?
Lassiter shook his head in disappointment. "In all my years," he ranted, "I have never seen such a blatant disregard for the rules! Sex on school property, cheating on exams, and now drugs! What has this school come to?"
Ralph looked around wide-eyed, "Oh man, someone was caught doing drugs? Who was it?" No one answered, all staring at Ralph incredulously. He continued, "Dude, drugs are bad for you. We should have an intervention for them!"
Emily coughed lightly and leaned toward Derek, "Uh, is this his plan of getting out of it? Confuse everyone so much that Lassiter lets him go?"
Derek shrugged bemusedly, "Well, confusion tactics have worked before. But somehow I don't think Ralph is following any sort of plan-"
"Damn straight he's not following any sort of plan!" Sam interrupted angrily, "I would know if one of my best friends was on drugs! I refuse to believe that Ralph has done anything wrong."
"Then explain those pills," Truman snapped.
"Yes," Lassiter said loudly, clearly having overheard them. "Ralph, I quite agree with you that no one in this school should be doing drugs. Now, why don't you tell me what those pills in your locker are?"
Ralph looked bewildered, "In my locker? Those are just memory pills."
Silence greeted his words. Lassiter looked, for the moment, speechless. Derek exchanged glances with Sam. Memory pills? What the fuck?
Truman started laughing, "Ralph, man, you were taking memory pills during the math exam? What, so you could remember the material better?"
Ralph smiled amiably, "Yes, that's right."
Lassiter stood up abruptly, "Right, well then you won't mind if we search your locker?"
Ralph shrugged, "No, go ahead. Do you need the combination?"
"Nope, I have a list of all of your locker combinations right here," Lassiter said, picking up a piece of paper from the desk.
Truman's head shot up, "Wait, you're going to check all of our lockers right now?"
"No, just Ralph's. Now you all stay right here. Bob and I will be back in a minute," Lassiter said as he walked out the door.
The minute they walked out the door, everyone looked at Ralph, clearly waiting for an explanation. He noticed them all staring and shrugged good naturedly, "What's up, guys?'
Derek shot him a look, "What is up, Ralph, is that you were caught ON CAMERA downing some pills. What the hell, man?"
Sam shook his head, "And you expect everyone to believe that they were memory pills? Lassiter sure as hell didn't believe you, and now he's going to your locker to find them and you don't seem worried about it at all!"
Casey added, "And you should be worried! I can't believe you were doing drugs-"
Ralph interrupted, "I already told you, they're not drugs…they really are just memory pills. You'll see when Lassiter brings them back," he ended confidently.
Emily frowned, "Well, let's say that we do believe you. Why were you taking memory pills in the first place?"
Ralph, shrugged, his smile fading slightly. "Maybe I was just tired of being the stupid one all the time."
Casey shifted in her seat uncomfortably and said in a falsely cheerful voice, "Ralph, we don't think you're stupid."
"Yeah, you have some really good ideas sometimes," Emily added, glancing at Derek and Sam pointedly.
"Some good ideas," Derek echoed.
Sam nodded, "Yeah, don't put yourself down like that, buddy." He paused, "But, why would you risk being caught in the halls during the exam?"
Ralph grinned, "Isn't it obvious? I did it for Derek. You always gotta have your friend's back."
Derek frowned, "What are you talking about?
"Well, after I gave you that idea about pulling alarm, I figured it wasn't gonna go that smoothly and that you'd need a distraction…so I just went out in the hallway."
Casey's mouth dropped opened, "You…you did that for us?" she asked uncertainly.
Emily smiled, "See, I knew you had good ideas, Ralph."
Ralph brightened, "You think so?"
Derek grinned, "Definitely."
At that moment, Lassiter and Bob came back in, both smiling indulgently as though sharing some private joke. Lassiter pulled a bottle from his coat pocket and set it down on the table. "Are these the pills you've been taking, Ralph?"
Ralph glanced at it, "Yup, those are it."
"And where did you get them?"
"I bought them," Ralph answered, clearly wondering where this line of questioning was going.
Lassiter now sounded like he was holding back a laugh, "Do you know what these pills are for?"
Ralph said slowly, "Like I said, they're for my memory…"
At this, Lassiter keeled over, positively howling with laughter. Derek raised his eyebrows and Sam whispered, "Well, he's finally gone mad…"
Lassiter caught his breath finally, and choked out, "My dear boy, this pills aren't for your memory!"
Ralph looked baffled, "What?"
"They're-they're sleeping pills!" Lassiter burst into laughter again. Even Bob had cracked a smile.
Derek exchanged glances with Sam again, and both of them began laughing as well. Truman was shaking his head in a hopeless sort of way and both Emily and Casey were grinning. Leave it up to Ralph to mix up memory and sleeping pills.
"Huh," Ralph said, "I must've bought the wrong one at the store. No wonder I've been so sleepy all the time…" He began laughing, as well.
Eventually the laughter died away, and Lassiter grew serious again. "Well, Ralph, I guess I forgive you for falling asleep all the time. Now, you didn't happen to see anyone in the hallway yesterday on either of your trips to your locker?
Ralph shrugged and shook his head, "No, sir."
Lassiter nodded, "Okay, Ralph you may take a seat in the back with your friends…and Truman why don't you take a seat up here again?
Derek glanced at Truman, who actually looked slightly worried as he stood up. Lassiter paced back and forth several times before pausing in front of Truman. "So," he began, "I decided to go ahead and check ALL of your lockers-"
"WHAT!?" Truman bellowed. "There's no way that's legal!"
Lassiter glared at him, "If I was checking Ralph's locker, it was only fair that I check all of yours…and I found something interesting in your locker, Truman." Lassiter pulled out something from his coat pocket and laid it out on the table. Derek leaned forward to see what it was, and recognized it as a pack of cigarettes. Huh. Well, that wasn't a big deal, really. The kid could smoke if he wanted to…
Then Derek paused, squinting at Truman in the dim lighting. His normally pale face was flushed with…embarrassment? That was strange. Maybe he didn't want Casey to find out? Derek glanced at Casey, but couldn't gauge the expression on her face. She looked slightly surprised…but not shocked. Hmm.
Lassiter boomed, "Do you want to hear what I think?" He waited, but Truman didn't speak. Lassiter continued, "I think that you were smoking in that empty classroom yesterday-"
Casey gasped and Derek hit himself on the head. Of course! No one had found out exactly why Truman had been hanging out in that empty classroom before the fire alarm yesterday. Derek frowned, trying to remember if he had asked Casey. After a few seconds, their conversation from earlier that night came back to him:
"I was leaning against a door to one of the classrooms when someone pulled it back and I fell in-at Truman's feet."
"So the guy was hanging out in an empty classroom by himself…doing what?"
"I don't know. I didn't ask…"
"You have anything you want to say Truman?" Lassiter demanded.
Truman heaved a sigh of defeat, "Okay, okay. I was smoking in that classroom. I was sorta freaking out about that math exam and smoking helps calm my nerves…"
"And you didn't know that we have rules against smoking on school property?"
"I know. I apologize." Truman said, actually sounding sincere.
Lassiter nodded slowly, "I accept your apology, Truman. However, you now have detention for a month. Does that seem fair to you?"
Truman half smiled, "Yes, sir."
Ralph suddenly said, "What if someone smelled the smoke?"
Lassiter turned to him questioningly, "What are you talking about?"
Ralph spoke carefully, "I mean, what if someone smelled the smoke yesterday and then pulled the fire alarm…?"
Derek's mouth dropped open. Hey, that actually sounded believable!
Bob cleared his throat, "Excuse me for saying so, sir. But that seems like a possible explanation."
Lassiter sank into his seat tiredly and glanced at everyone before his gaze landed on Derek. "What do you think, Mr. Venturi? Does that sound like a possibility to you?"
Derek tried not to let his enthusiasm at the idea overwhelm him. Instead he said cautiously, "It does sound like a logical conclusion, sir."
Lassiter stood up in defeat, "Well that's all I needed to hear. You're all free to go."
Derek's eyebrows rose in disbelief and Emily said incredulously, "Wait, so none of us is in trouble?"
Their principal shook his head tiredly, "It's been a long night, and I've found out plenty of things I'd be much happier not knowing." Still shaking his head, he picked up his suitcase and followed Bob out the door.
Casey stared after them in open-mouthed astonishment, "Did that really just happen?"
Emily said dubiously, "And we all really got away with everything?"
Truman hopped up, grinning. "Well what are we all still doing in here!? Let's get back to our own messed up, freaky lives!"
Casey laughed as she followed him out the door, "I bet that's what he thinks of us now."
Derek glanced at her, "What do you mean?"
Emily jumped down the stairs in front of him, "She means that Lassiter definitely thinks we're all screwed up by now, I mean we told him so many lies about ourselves…"
Derek grinned as he pushed open the door and felt the cool outdoor breeze on his face, "Hey, a little lying never hurt anybody."
Everyone laughed and stopped in the parking lot, once again standing in a circle. Casey smiled, "Feels familiar, doesn't it?"
Sam grinned, "But this time, we're free men-and women."
Casey nodded, "True…You know, you made a pretty good leader back there."
"I did?" Sam asked, looking disbelieving.
Derek punched his shoulder lightly, "Yeah, man. You really united everyone-"
"And I think," Casey interrupted, "you did that by making us all share our secrets." She stared at him and Truman significantly.
Truman noticed, "What?"
Casey ignored him and turned back to Sam, "Why don't you tell us why you were ready to fight Truman on that tape?"
Sam looked uncomfortable, "I told you, it was just guy stuff."
Truman rolled his eyes, "Ugh, you modest people make me sick." He turned to Casey with a smirk, "Let's just say your buddy Sam was…defending your honor."
Casey frowned, "Do I even want to know what you said about me, Truman?"
He shook his head, grinning. "Nah, it's not important."
Casey raised her eyebrows, "Good night, Truman."
He smiled slightly and bowed, "Good night ladies and gentlemen."
He was walking to his car when Derek called, "Hey, one sec!" Truman turned around and raised an eyebrow questioningly. Derek smiled slightly, "I guess I should thank you for not telling Lassiter that I pulled the alarm." Truman grinned and gave a mock salute before getting into his car. They all watched as he waved, before speeding away.
Emily looked after him, "Something tells me that he's not out of her lives forever."
Casey smiled and hugged her best friend, "You're probably right, Em. But I'm not worried."
"You're not?"
"No, why should I be? I have thr-four awesome friends that I can always count on to have my back," Casey said cheerfully, her gaze landing on Derek, who nodded in acknowledgement. Casey stared at him for a few seconds before turning to hug Sam, "Thanks for always being there for me," she whispered.
Sam kissed the top of her head affectionately, "You'll always be one of my best friends, Case. You know I got your back."
"Thank you," Casey said sincerely, with a bright smile.
"And while we're on the topic of thank yous," Derek interrupted with a grin, "Ralph, you're a freaking genius!"
Ralph looked pleased with himself, "You really think so?"
"Definitely!" Emily exclaimed. "None of us would've even thought of using the smoke as an excuse for someone to pull the alarm…"
"Because we were all too worried about saving our own asses," Derek admitted.
"But you…you're a true friend Ralph. Thank you," Casey said, grinning at him.
Ralph grinned, "Thanks guys. That means a lot," the he paused. "But I really have to be getting home now."
"What's wrong?" Emily asked concernedly.
Ralph smiled bashfully, "I'm really sleepy."
Everyone laughed and Sam shook his head as Ralph drove away, "Man, he's really something, huh?"
Derek grinned, "You could say that."
Sam clapped a hand on his shoulder, "Well, congrats D. I guess we all got away with our crimes."
Derek laughed, "I guess we did."
"You heading home now?"
Derek nodded, "Yeah, you need a ride?"
Sam shook his head, "Nah I drove here." He paused, "Em, you want a ride home?"
She smiled, blushing slightly, "That'd be great, thanks."
"Catch ya later, D!"
"See ya Casey, I'll call you tomorrow!"
Casey and Derek watched as their friends drove away. Casey turned to Derek with an amused glint in her eye, "Emily and Sam, huh? Think we should be worried?"
Derek grinned, "Your best friend and my best friend? Nah, what trouble could they get into?"
Casey laughed, "Plenty, I'm sure." They both fell silent and Casey could feel the words unspoken lie heavily between them. Her smile faded as she remembered everything he had said to her that night. She turned to face Derek, intending to give him a piece of her mind. He returned her gaze warily, Time for your daily dose of Derek Venturi versus Casey McDonald.
xDerek clenched his jaw shut, waiting for Casey to start yelling at him for all the shit he had said to her earlier, but she merely stared at him for several moments before saying, "Ready to go home, D?"
He blinked, surprised at this favorable turn of events. He wasn't too keen on having a huge argument in their school parking lot in the middle night…nice to know that Casey was being sensible for once in her life. He nodded and wordlessly opened the door for her. She gave him a gracious smile as she got in. Which only made him feel worse.
The drive home was as silent as the one to the school, and Derek felt his mind wandering. He still couldn't believe that they had gotten away with everything. And that Truman had kept his mouth shut. Guess he wasn't that much of a scumbag. Not that he was going to be buddies with the guy any time soon, of course. Derek had turned the corner onto their street when Casey finally spoke. "None of the lights are on at home," she said, peering through the windshield.
Derek frowned up at their house as he pulled into the garage, "Huh, that's weird. It's not even that late."
Casey looked worried, "You don't think anything happened, do you? It's not like my mom or George to not wait up for us…"
Derek pursed his lips thoughtfully as they mounted the steps to the front door. Casey pulled out her keys and they stepped into their pitch-black house. "We're home!" Casey called out as Derek flipped on the lights. No one answered.
Derek shook his head, "You'd think they'd be a little more interested in knowing whether we came home or not. We could be partying or something right now and they'd never know-"
"Der-ek!"
"What!?"
"Could you maybe show a little more concern for our missing family!?"
"God, Case. Could you BE any more dramatic? They're not missing!"
"And how, may I ask, do you know that?" Casey hissed.
"Because," Derek said patiently, "You always jump to the most farfetched -and wrong- conclusions."
Casey shot, "Well since you're smart, what do you think happened!?"
Derek shrugged, "I don't know…let's check our cell phones to see if we have any texts or messages from them." Derek flipped his phone open to see 1 UNREAD TEXT. He clicked on it, but it was only from Sam. He glanced at Casey, "Anything?"
She shook her head and raised her eyebrows expectantly at him. He rolled his eyes, "Okay, okay. If they were going to leave a message for us, where would they put it?"
"Um, the kitchen, I guess?"
"Okay, let me go check," Derek said calmly, hoping that his serene attitude would counteract Casey's imminent freaking out. He flipped on the kitchen light and quickly scanned the room. His gaze landed on a pink post-it note on the table. He picked it up and recognized his dad's handwriting. "I found a note," he called to Casey.
She came rushing into the kitchen, "What does it say?"
Derek held it up so they could both read it:
Casey and Derek-
Nora and I are staying over at our friend's house tonight.
Lizzie has an early soccer practice so she is sleeping over her friend's house.
Edwin hasn't finished his project yet, so he will be at his partner's house.
Marti will be at her mom's place till Monday.
We hope everything went well at the school. We will see you tomorrow.
~George & Nora
"See, I told you, there was nothing to worry about."
"Yeah, yeah. You're always right Derek," Casey said sullenly.
He didn't reply, watching her expression change from worried to annoyed in a matter of seconds. "I'm going to my room," she said suddenly.
Derek blinked in surprise again. "Uh, okay? Good night…?"
"'Night!" she called over her shoulder as she clambered up the stairs, leaving Derek to stare after her in confusion. Was she really not going to yell at him? Then he shook his head in disgust. What was wrong with him? He actually felt disappointed that she hadn't acknowledged his behavior from that night-not good, Derek, he chided himself silently.
He wandered into the living room and flipped on the TV, prepared to watch some mindless television to take his mind off things. Of course, the only things on this late on a Saturday night were those cheesy teen romantic comedies. He stared at one where the girl was crying because her boyfriend had broken up with her. She continued crying for the five minutes that he watched, until he couldn't take it anymore. Slamming the remote down on the table, he got up. He had to talk to Casey.
Casey was sprawled on her bed, writing in her diary:
So, all in all, diary, it hasn't been a bad night.
Me and Derek got away with everything.
Our only punishment is a couple weeks detention-
which, considering everything we did, isn't really too bad.
You'll never believe what Ralph did-
Casey jumped as her door swung open violently, bouncing off the wall. "Der-ek!" she screeched, "What do you think you're doing?"
He didn't answer her and strolled over to her vanity mirror, his eyes roaming the table until he found her collection of perfumes. She stared at him in utter bewilderment as he proceeded to pick up each one and sniff its contents. "Have you gone MAD?"
"Probably," he muttered. He held up the perfume that she had been wearing that night. "Is this the one that Truman gave you?"
"Yeah…why?"
Derek nodded to himself and strode to over to her window. He yanked it up and proceeded to toss her perfume out of the window. Casey sprang out of her bed in disbelief as she heard the glass shatter two floors down. "What the fuck!?" she screamed. "Why are you acting like a madman!?"
"BECAUSE OF YOU!" he roared.
"WHAT!?"
"You-you make me crazy," Derek sputtered. "Why can't you see that!?"
"What are you talking about!? I haven't done anything to you!"
"It's not about what you do!" he bellowed, "It's about what you say!"
Casey frowned, "And what did I say?"
Derek paced back and forth in front of her, running his hands through his hair in frustration. He pointed a finger at her accusingly, "You said you would get back with Truman if he apologized to you!"
Casey felt a flash of rage, "So what!?" she yelled. "If I remember correctly, you asked that question at a very convenient time!"
Derek's face darkened with anger, "I asked BECAUSE I HAD TO KNOW!"
"Yeah?" Casey shouted, "Why did you have to KNOW right then?"
"I had to know before-before-." He stopped and took a deep breath. "I didn't want you to think of him while we-I didn't want you to wish I was him-"
Casey knew what he was trying to say, but it didn't make her any less angry. "And what did you do after you found out, huh? You didn't even TRY to stop me from walking out your door!"
"You hurt me," he blurted out, looking anguished. "You had said you were over him, I didn't think that you really weren't…"
Casey fell silent in surprise at seeing Derek looking so vulnerable. She felt her rage ebb away. She took a few steps away from him, trying to think. She suddenly remembered something and turned to face him. "Is that way you said you didn't trust me?"
"I didn't mean it," he said bleakly. "I just wanted to hurt you…the way you hurt me."
Casey swallowed hard, "Well, I would have to say that you succeeded."
"I know," he whispered. "When I saw your face…I knew. And I regretted ever saying those horrible things to you."
"I couldn't get those words out of my head," Casey said slowly. "You said earlier that I never listen to you. But you're wrong." She paused, "I remember everything. Always. Whenever I don't know what to do…I hear your voice."
Derek looked up at her blankly. She continued, 'Like yesterday when Lisa introduced herself to me…I felt so humiliated for trusting Truman, and I didn't know what to say. Somehow I heard your voice in my head, telling me what to do." She gave him a small smile, "You give pretty good advice sometimes."
Derek looked like he didn't know what to say. He cleared his throat, "No one has ever said that to me before."
"I know."
Suddenly he met her gaze squarely, "Earlier you said that you knew me. What did you mean?"
Casey shrugged and looked away. "I mean, I always get this feeling when you're in trouble…or when you're going to be in trouble. Which is quite often, I might add." She smiled slightly. "Somehow that makes me want to help you…"
Derek frowned and she hastened to explain, "It's like a compulsion…I-I don't like seeing you in trouble. Besides, I know that you would always help me if I needed it." She paused, "Like yesterday, I know you didn't have to help me get into that math exam, but you did."
Derek stepped in front of her so that he was looking directly at her. "Whatever happens," he said clearly, "Or whatever else I might ever say to you, you need to know that I would always have your back."
"I know," Casey replied. "And I'll always have yours."
"Look at us, being all mature," Derek teased.
Casey laughed, "It is pretty surprising," she agreed.
"Almost as surprising as you," Derek said, cocking an eyebrow at her.
"What do you mean?"
"It's like you've become a different person during these three years…you've become so much more confident, and impulsive…Like yesterday, I didn't expect you to go crawl up in those vents. The old Casey would've never done that."
Casey grinned, "Guess I've learned to live dangerously."
Derek winked, "Sounds like good advice."
"Oh it is," Casey agreed. "Too bad the guy that gave it to me is a total idiot."
Derek grinned and swiftly threw a pillow at her. Casey laughed, and holding the pillow as a shield, pushed him backwards. He staggered slightly, falling onto her bed. He looked up at her for a second before grabbing the pillow she was holding so that she fell on top of him. He slowly removed the pillow so that it wasn't separating them anymore. He watched her carefully, but she didn't lower herself onto him, instead using her arms to keep them apart.
His face looked uncharacteristically serious. "What's wrong?" he asked cautiously as she got up from the bed and went to stand by her door.
Casey licked her lips nervously, "The trust thing-it works both ways."
Derek looked indignant, "Wait, you don't trust me?"
"I do. But, I want to make sure that you wouldn't…"
Somehow, Derek understood what she was trying to say. He slowly got up from her bed and went to stand in front of her. He reached out as though to clasp her hand, but changed his mind, and let his arm drop. He took a deep breath. "You have to believe me, I would never intentionally hurt you. I can't stand to see your feelings hurt."
She looked up at him skeptically and he shook his head. "No, believe me. I-I feel your pain. I feel what you feel." He paused, "When you're happy, I'm happy."
Casey nodded slowly, "I believe you."
He didn't say anything else and looked expectantly at her. "You know," she mused, "I don't think I've seen you truly happy in a long time. Not since-"
He interrupted, "Not since you started going out with Truman."
"I didn't realize you hated him so much."
"I don't. I mean, he can be a decent guy, like he proved today. I just think that most of the time, he chooses to be a scumbag. Like yesterday in the parking lot when he tried to get me to throw the first punch by telling me how he had sex with you everyday-"
"WHAT!?"
Derek broke off, looking confused. "What?"
"THAT'S what you were fighting over in the parking lot?"
"Um, yeah…"
Casey took a deep breath, willing herself not to start shouting again. "You should know better than to let Truman rile you up like that. You know he was just looking for a fight…"
Derek's eyes flared with anger. "I don't care what he was looking for! He had no right to speak about you that way, especially when I would've given anything to be your first-" He broke off, looking awkward.
Casey blinked and took a step backwards. Lots of surprises today. "What?" she asked, not sure if she had heard correctly.
Derek swallowed nervously. "I wanted to be your first time, Case," he said softly. "And if you hadn't had sex with Truman…"
Casey shook her head, "I didn't."
It was Derek's turn to look shocked. "What? But he said you did."
Casey smiled slightly, "He tried…but something just didn't feel right."
"Max? Sam? Noel?"
"No, no, and definitely not."
"So you're still-"
Casey nodded silently, her heart beating wildly as Derek reached out and clasped both of her hands in his own. He pulled her firmly to her bed and she got into it nervously. He lay down next to her and lazily stroked her arm, a smile settling onto his face.
"You said you hadn't seen me happy in a long time," Derek began.
"Yes…" Casey said, knowing what was coming next.
"You were wrong."
"Huh?"
"Yesterday morning when I woke up, and you were sleeping next to me…" Derek faltered.
Casey sat up curiously, "Yeah?"
"It was the best feeling in the world," he finished quietly.
Casey's mouth dropped open in shock.
He looked at her hopefully, "Think we can do that again?"
"Just sleep? On my bed?" Casey asked incredulously.
"Just sleep," he clarified.
Casey smiled, pleasantly surprised. "Yeah," she agreed quietly. "I think I'd like that."
THE END! [MY FIRST FIC EVER]
Casey saw Derek come out of their math classroom, looking nervously over his shoulder. He walked off the screen, and nothing else happened for five minutes. Then, Casey saw herself being dragged by Derek back toward the classroom. They both stopped at the door and she saw Derek push her so that she was behind him. After a few seconds, he gave a thumbs up to someone before running off down the hallway. She followed, and soon they both ran off the screen. Lassiter hit pause, and sat down in front of them. He folded his hands together in front of him. "Explain."
Derek had a major headache. It was late. He just wanted to get home, maybe watch some TV. Finish studying for that math exam…He suddenly noticed that Lassiter was staring at him. "Uh, did you say something?"
Lassiter heaved a sigh, "Yes, Derek. I asked you to explain to me what is going on in that tape."
Derek didn't answer. For once, he really didn't know what to say.
Lassiter leaned forward, "To be more precise, Mr. Venturi, tell me why you are seen leaving the math classroom during the exam…and how is it that you came back with Miss McDonald?"
From the corner of his eye, Derek could see Casey staring at him-no, more like glaring at him. Say something. Anything.
"Cat got your tongue?" Lassiter grinned, looking like he was enjoying himself immensely. "No worries, we'll get back to you in a minute. Now, while we're waiting, let's have your stepsister answer some questions, hmm?"
Casey shifted uncomfortably, "What do you want to know, sir?"
"How did you leave the math exam and return five minutes later with Derek?"
Derek's head snapped up and he felt a rush as relief surged through him. Lassiter didn't know that Casey hadn't been in the exam room! He thought that she had merely left for a few minutes and had mysteriously turned up with Derek. He turned to look at Casey to see if she had realized this. She met his eyes briefly and her lips twitched. Lucky break.
"We're waiting, Miss McDonald."
"I-I went out through the back door of the classroom."
"I see. And why did you do that?"
"Um. To-to-to meet Derek!" Casey stammered.
"And Derek decided to go out the front door, and he met up with you…" Lassiter trailed off.
"Uh, yes that's right," Casey said in an unconvincing tone.
"Where did you guys meet up?"
"In…in a-ah-empty classroom."
"And what were you two doing in there?"
Casey bit at her lip and Derek felt a strong sense of unease. Clearly, she hadn't thought her little story all the way through. And he still had no idea what to say. He glanced at her and could see her cheeks were tinged pink. He frowned, he had to say something fast before Lassiter realized that she was blushing because of the lies spewing from her mouth. "Uh, what Casey means to say is-"
Suddenly Lassiter stood up, his chair toppling over. He was looking from Derek to Casey in a horrified manner. "My god," he said faintly, "Don't tell me that you two-that you two-went into that classroom to-" He made some weird gesture with his hands, staring at them, wide-eyed.
Derek had no clue what this guy was talking about. He turned to look at Casey, but she looked equally confused. "Uh, Mr. Lassiter," she said slowly. "Are you okay?" Lassiter, in Derek's opinion, looked quite the opposite of "okay." He appeared to be having some sort of panic attack.
Lassiter leaned toward Derek, looking quite deranged, "Did you…? You-you and…and her? Did you?"
Derek suddenly understood and he leapt up, horrified. Casey stood up next to him, looking equally horrified. "Mr. Lassiter," she yelled, "Calm down, please."
Lassiter put his palms on the table, and started taking deep breaths, "Just answer the question, Mr. Venturi!"
Derek opened his mouth, fully ready to deny it, but stopped short when he felt Casey slide an arm around his waist. He froze, staring at her. She smiled coyly, "Sorry, but Derek's a little shy about our, ah, relationship."
Lassiter looked wildly between them, "You admit it, then?"
Casey nodded cheerfully and pulled Derek closer to her. He felt his heart start beating violently as he tried to look as though this story wasn't new to him. Lassiter sank weakly back into his chair, "Wow…just wow. I never expected-" he trailed off. He appeared to be talking to himself.
Derek took this opportunity to look at Casey. She was still blushing slightly, but other than that, she looked quite normal. Not as if she were telling a lie. Which she is, Derek reminded himself. Suddenly, he realized that he was simply standing there. Act like her boyfriend, he told himself sternly. He casually slid his arm across her shoulders, trying not to shiver as his hand touched her skin.
The movement seemed to trigger Mr. Lassiter back to reality and he looked up sharply. "So let me get this straight. You and Derek snuck out of the math exam for five minutes to an empty classroom, to…well anyway, and you didn't see anything suspicious?"
Derek shook his head, "No sir," he said blandly, "We were a little too…occupied to notice anything."
Lassiter closed his eyes briefly before turning to Casey, "And you? You didn't see anyone pulling the alarm?"
Derek tensed, but Casey straightened and looked Lassiter in the eye and said confidently, "I can honestly say that I didn't see anyone pulling the alarm." Derek frowned. Huh? It was one thing for Casey to lie, but for her to purposefully say 'honestly'? That didn't sound like her. He closed his eyes, thinking back to the moment that he had pulled the alarm. All of sudden, he remembered, she hadn't looked at him when he pulled it. She had been purposefully looking the other way. Derek began to smile. Casey was smarter than he gave her credit for.
In any case, Lassiter looked reassured. "Okay. I believe you," he paused. "Oh, and Mr. Venturi, you will be joining Casey and Truman in detention."
Derek grinned, "Sweet, so we can head home?"
Lassiter fiddled with his clipboard. "Not just yet. I'm going to call everyone in here for a moment. You two can take seats in the back." He quickly walked out of the room as Derek and Casey sat down at their designated seats.
Casey started to say something, but then she paused. Derek looked at her but she tilted her head significantly to the side. Bob was still here. Derek shrugged, Tell me later.
At that moment, Lassiter walked back in, trailed by Sam, Ralph, Truman, and Emily. Sam raised his eyebrows at Derek, What happened? Derek smirked lightly and winked, I'm off the hook.
"Okay," Lassiter said loudly. "Everyone can take a seat in the back except Sam."
Sam shot Derek a panicked look before sitting down in the front. Derek frowned. What was Sam so nervous about?
Casey fidgeted in her seat. She couldn't wait to go home. This night was turning out to be extremely long. And uncomfortable. Not to mention that her reputation was shot to hell. Lassiter probably thought she was the biggest whore in school…having sex with Truman AND her stepbrother. She cringed, remembering Lassiter's look of disgust. That's how people would always see us, she realized, with a sinking heart. She and Derek could never really BE together. It doesn't matter, she told herself sternly. He said he doesn't want to be with me anyway. Why worry about it?
Someone nudged her, and Casey turned slightly to look at Emily. "Well?" her friend asked, "Are you guys in trouble?"
Casey shook her head, not wanting to fully explain. "Nah, we made up an excuse. He doesn't think it was us."
Emily sighed in relief, "Good. Now, let's just hope that Sam and Ralph have good excuses, too."
Remembering Sam's shifty attitude, Casey asked curiously, "Did Sam tell you what he was talking about with Truman?"
Emily shook her head, frowning. "No, he asked me if there was audio on the tapes, but he didn't say anything else."
Casey glanced at Sam thoughtfully. What was he trying to hide? Truman leaned across Emily, grinning. "You're in for a treat, baby."
Derek glanced at Truman, scowling. "Call her 'baby' one more time, and it'll be the last thing you ever do."
"Hey, I love that song!" Ralph said excitedly.
Casey giggled, "You sorta fell into that one, D."
Derek rolled his eyes, but allowed a small smile to cross his face. Casey's gaze lingered on Derek's smile. He looks so innocent when he smiles like that. I can't believe he said those horrible things to me earlier…
Derek looked at her quizzically, "Something wrong?"
She quickly shook her head, "No, no. I'm fine. Just worried about Sam."
Derek frowned, "Yeah. I wish I knew what was up with him. He's acting really strange."
At that moment, Lassiter called, "Everyone, silent! We're about to start." The lights went off and Bob hit the remote. Casey, Derek, and Emily leaned forward eagerly, but Truman merely sat back and crossed his arms lazily. Casey frowned. It was like he already knew what the tape was going to show them.
x
Derek leaned forward, staring intently at the screen in front of him. Even in the dark, he could see Sam was shifting in his chair uneasily. Derek could feel Casey tense next to him, and knew she was worried. From the corner of his eye, he saw her turn her head towards him and lean forward. Carefully, she breathed, "Help him out if he needs it." Derek nodded slightly. There was no way in hell that he was going to let his best friend be blamed for this whole fiasco.
On the screen, he saw Sam walk down the hallway and stop at a locker. Squinting, Derek recognized it as Ralph's locker. Sam was standing with a textbook in his hand-presumably waiting for Ralph- so they could study together before the exam. Another person came into view, and Derek clenched his teeth together. Truman.
-FLASHBACK-
Sam tapped his foot impatiently. Where the fuck was Ralph? Hadn't they made plans to have a quick study session before school started? Lately the guy had been flaking on him- no, not just him, but everyone. He always showed up late to everything, saying that he had fallen asleep. Asleep! He couldn't even put in a little effort into thinking of a better excuse than sleeping. Feeling annoyed, Sam opened his book, intending to start studying by himself, when he heard footsteps echo in the hallway. He looked up hopefully, wondering if Ralph had finally made it. Nope. Truman.
Truman nodded to him, "Hey, man, how's it going?"
Sam shrugged, "Alright. Just a little tired."
"You have that math exam today, too?"
"Yeah."
After a couple seconds of silence, Truman grinned, "You don't talk much, do you?"
Sam frowned. Not to people I don't like. "Nah, I'm just trying to keep my mind clear, you know, for the exam."
"You worried?"
"Not really. But I was supposed to meet Ralph this morning so we could study. As you can see, he's not here…" Sam trailed off, in an annoyed tone.
Truman walked over so he was standing next to Sam, "We could study together, if you want," he offered.
Sam tried to think of a polite way to say Fuck off, but he couldn't think of anything. Instead, he forced a surprised look on his face, "I didn't know you were good at math."
Truman nodded, "Yeah, it comes naturally to me. I even just finished helping Emily out."
Sam looked up and down the hallway hopefully, "Oh, is Emily here? I could just study with her-"
Truman laughed, "Dude! You gotta chill!" He put his hands on Sam's shoulders. "You just need to relax…"
Sam's eyes widened. What the fuck? He surreptitiously tried to move away, but Truman gripped his shoulders more tightly. He laughed again, "Dude, you'll never believe what me and Emily just did." He started massaging Sam's shoulders.
Sam swallowed nervously, "I thought you said you guys were studying?"
Truman grinned, "Oh yeah, we were studying all right. Her lips taste like…cotton candy-"
Sam froze, vaguely aware that Truman was still rubbing his shoulders, "Wait, you guys kissed!?" he interrupted.
Truman pulled Sam closer, "Yeah, we kissed. It was hot." Then he paused, "I just wish she wasn't so uptight," he said offhandedly. "Casey was like that at first, but after having mindless sex with a girl can really loosen her up, if you know what I mean…" he trailed off suggestively.
Sam felt a flash of anger. This scumbag had no right to treat Casey that way. Feeling adrenaline pump through his veins, he whirled around and slammed Truman against the lockers. He leaned in so their faces were inches apart, "Don't you dare cheat on Casey! You don't deserve her," he hissed.
Truman laughed, "Maybe not. But I'm the one that got her. Not you."
Sam's eyes narrowed. "Get the fuck out of here."
Truman smirked, "Too bad," he said, waggling his eyebrows. "I'm sure you would've enjoyed my…relaxing techniques." With a smile, he walked away. Sam stared after him in anger before walking in the other direction.
-END FLASHBACK-
Derek was staring at the screen in open-mouthed disbelief. From what he could see, it had looked like Truman had been giving Sam a massage-before Sam had turned around, slammed Truman into the lockers, and leaned in…for a kiss? What the fuck?
Beside him, Casey was breathing shallowly. Emily looked extremely pissed and he heard her say to Truman, "Was that before or after you hit on me?"
Truman laughed, "After."
Ralph stood up and held up his hands, "Let's not jump to any conclusions, guys. After all, we're Sam's friends and he deserves a chance to explain-"
Casey nodded, "And remember we'll still be your friends…no matter who you date."
Sam turned around, looking confused. "What? What do you mean, who I date?"
"I-I just mean, it doesn't matter to us who you like. We'll still be your friends,"
Casey repeated.
Emily leaned forward slightly, "I agree with Casey. But, trust me, you could do a lot better than Truman."
Sam frowned, looking perplexed. He looked at Derek, What are they talking about? It suddenly dawned on Derek that basing their judgments off the video wasn't the best idea. After all, without the audio, how could they know what had really happened?
Derek gave a forced laugh, "Man, are you guys all on drugs? I highly doubt Sam would stoop that low…" His words wiped the smirk off Truman's face, but Casey looked upset. Oops. He shrugged inwardly. Can't please everyone.
Mr. Lassiter had been watching all of this carefully. He turned to Sam, "So, are they right?"
Sam turned back, shaking his head. "I swear, it's not what it looks like!"
"So, what exactly happened?"
"I was just waiting for Ralph so we could study before the test…and then Truman wouldn't leave-"
"What were you two talking about?"
"Uh…"
"Did he perhaps offer to pull the alarm for you since you were so worried about the math exam?"
"What!?" Sam exclaimed, "No!"
Casey interrupted, "Mr. Lassiter, if I may say something…?
"What is it, Miss McDonald?"
She threw Truman a dirty look. "I think you should direct your questioning toward Truman for this matter, sir. It's obvious that Sam did nothing wrong."
Emily added, "Yeah. Besides, Sam wasn't worried at all. In fact, he's the one that helped me study yesterday."
Lassiter shook his head, effectively ignoring the two girls. He turned back to Sam. "Okay, so he didn't pull the alarm FOR you. Did he tell you about it?"
Sam said slowly, "No, why would he tell me?"
Lassiter laughed, "It looks like you two were certainly close enough to be sharing secrets…"
Sam flushed. "It isn't what it looks like," he repeated.
"So, you're telling me that you two aren't an item?"
"What!? No, we're not! I would never do that to Casey!"
"Then, why did you kiss him?"
"Why did I WHAT?"
"You heard me. We all saw you kiss him-"
Sam stood up angrily, "I did NOT kiss him!"
"Rewind the tape, Bob," Lassiter shouted.
As Bob fiddled with the remote, Derek turned angrily to Truman, "Hey buddy," he hissed, "Why don't you speak up, here?"
Truman shrugged, "It's not my fight."
Casey turned to him in disbelief, "Not your fight? Lassiter thinks it was you! How is it not your fight!?"
"Yeah," Emily whispered, "And what happened to sticking together so we don't get in trouble?"
"Ah, here we are!" Lassiter announced gleefully. "Bob, just zoom in on that last scene by the lockers…"
Derek watched as a close-up appeared of Sam slamming Truman against the lockers and leaning in, his face enraged. He said something and Truman laughed before walking away. And that was it.
Derek felt overwhelming relief and grinned at Sam; knew you wouldn't stoop that low. Sam met his eyes and winked, let's see what Lassiter has to say now.
Lassiter was staring at the screen in astonishment. He sat back down in defeat. "So…you didn't kiss?"
"Like I said before, sir. I would never do that to Casey," Sam answered.
"Fine. Then what were you so angry about?"
Sam said carefully, "I can honestly tell you that it had absolutely nothing to do with the fire alarm. It was just guy stuff."
Lassiter pursed his lips. "Alright, alright. You may go take a seat in the back. Ralph, you're up next."
Derek blinked. The guy wasn't even going to apologize!? He opened his mouth to demand Lassiter apologize to Sam, but Casey elbowed him in the stomach. He winced, turning to glare her. "What the fuck is your problem?"
"Will you just keep your mouth shut for once!? Who cares if he apologizes or not? I'll just be happy if we get out of here before midnight!"
Derek rolled his eyes and glanced at his watch. "Stop being so dramatic, Case. It's not even 10 yet," he paused. "Wait, how did you know I wanted Lassiter to apologize?"
Casey waved her hand dismissively, "I know you, Derek."
Huh. He was left to ponder her words. She knew him? What was that supposed to mean?
Casey sighed in annoyance. Couldn't they all just hurry the fuck up? This was taking forever, and even Lassiter had to see that it was all completely useless. He was making a bunch of ridiculous accusations, none of which were proving to be even remotely true. Especially accusing Sam of-she frowned slightly, feeling her mouth curve down in a pout. Truman had been hitting on everyone behind her back. Just because Sam and Emily had been caught on camera didn't mean that there wasn't tons of other people he'd been with. Hell, was she really that bad of a girlfriend? She felt tears prick her eyes, and immediately hated herself. Was she seriously going to cry over Truman?
Derek nudged her lightly, and she turned to face him, hurriedly blinking away the tears. He looked concerned, "Hey, you okay?"
She tried to smile, "Yeah, this has just been a long night, you know?"
His brow furrowed, "Are you sure? You look kinda upset..."
Casey tried not to feel annoyed. Trust Derek to pick up on her mood the one time she wanted to be left alone. "I'm fine," she snapped.
She expected him to back off, but he persisted, "Tell me what's wrong, Case." She didn't say anything. "Look," he said in a soothing voice, "We'll be out of here soon. Ralph is the only one left, and then we can go home. Everything's okay. We all got away with whatever we did. Sam's not…" he trailed off.
She turned to look at him. His face turned abruptly furious, "Wait," he hissed. "Are you actually upset over Truman!?"
She bit her lip and didn't answer. Derek shook his head, looking angry, disappointed, and something else she couldn't quite identify. Hurt? She clenched her jaw, who cares if he's hurt? He's the one that hurt me first.
Suddenly, the room went dark and the video began playing. She watched Ralph appear in the hallway, looking quickly up and down the hallway before going to his locker. She leaned forward, curious in spite of herself. Was Ralph going to cheat? Maybe look at some notes in his locker?
He opened his locker and looked around himself again before taking out a little bottle. Casey's mouth dropped open as he poured a couple pills in his hand and quickly swallowed them. Lassiter himself appeared on the screen, asking Ralph what he was doing. Ralph immediately held up a pencil and quickly shut his locker before bounding back into the math classroom. Casey heard Emily gasp next to her and saw Sam lean forward in shock.
Lassiter forwarded the tape before pausing again. Ralph once again appeared in the hallway- and this time, Casey noticed that he came from the classroom next to one where their math exam had been going on. She quickly remembered that Ralph had said something about using the back door of the classroom to get out. He went to his locker again and once more swallowed some pills. Lassiter came out again as did another teacher, and Ralph held up his calculator before heading back inside. Bob hit the remote and screen went blank.
Derek dropped his head into his hands. Ralph was on drugs? What was going on here? How could he have not noticed? No wonder Ralph had been acting so strange…Derek paused. Wait. No, Ralph always acted strange. There was no way it was drugs. Then, what could it be?
Lassiter shook his head in disappointment. "In all my years," he ranted, "I have never seen such a blatant disregard for the rules! Sex on school property, cheating on exams, and now drugs! What has this school come to?"
Ralph looked around wide-eyed, "Oh man, someone was caught doing drugs? Who was it?" No one answered, all staring at Ralph incredulously. He continued, "Dude, drugs are bad for you. We should have an intervention for them!"
Emily coughed lightly and leaned toward Derek, "Uh, is this his plan of getting out of it? Confuse everyone so much that Lassiter lets him go?"
Derek shrugged bemusedly, "Well, confusion tactics have worked before. But somehow I don't think Ralph is following any sort of plan-"
"Damn straight he's not following any sort of plan!" Sam interrupted angrily, "I would know if one of my best friends was on drugs! I refuse to believe that Ralph has done anything wrong."
"Then explain those pills," Truman snapped.
"Yes," Lassiter said loudly, clearly having overheard them. "Ralph, I quite agree with you that no one in this school should be doing drugs. Now, why don't you tell me what those pills in your locker are?"
Ralph looked bewildered, "In my locker? Those are just memory pills."
Silence greeted his words. Lassiter looked, for the moment, speechless. Derek exchanged glances with Sam. Memory pills? What the fuck?
Truman started laughing, "Ralph, man, you were taking memory pills during the math exam? What, so you could remember the material better?"
Ralph smiled amiably, "Yes, that's right."
Lassiter stood up abruptly, "Right, well then you won't mind if we search your locker?"
Ralph shrugged, "No, go ahead. Do you need the combination?"
"Nope, I have a list of all of your locker combinations right here," Lassiter said, picking up a piece of paper from the desk.
Truman's head shot up, "Wait, you're going to check all of our lockers right now?"
"No, just Ralph's. Now you all stay right here. Bob and I will be back in a minute," Lassiter said as he walked out the door.
The minute they walked out the door, everyone looked at Ralph, clearly waiting for an explanation. He noticed them all staring and shrugged good naturedly, "What's up, guys?'
Derek shot him a look, "What is up, Ralph, is that you were caught ON CAMERA downing some pills. What the hell, man?"
Sam shook his head, "And you expect everyone to believe that they were memory pills? Lassiter sure as hell didn't believe you, and now he's going to your locker to find them and you don't seem worried about it at all!"
Casey added, "And you should be worried! I can't believe you were doing drugs-"
Ralph interrupted, "I already told you, they're not drugs…they really are just memory pills. You'll see when Lassiter brings them back," he ended confidently.
Emily frowned, "Well, let's say that we do believe you. Why were you taking memory pills in the first place?"
Ralph, shrugged, his smile fading slightly. "Maybe I was just tired of being the stupid one all the time."
Casey shifted in her seat uncomfortably and said in a falsely cheerful voice, "Ralph, we don't think you're stupid."
"Yeah, you have some really good ideas sometimes," Emily added, glancing at Derek and Sam pointedly.
"Some good ideas," Derek echoed.
Sam nodded, "Yeah, don't put yourself down like that, buddy." He paused, "But, why would you risk being caught in the halls during the exam?"
Ralph grinned, "Isn't it obvious? I did it for Derek. You always gotta have your friend's back."
Derek frowned, "What are you talking about?
"Well, after I gave you that idea about pulling alarm, I figured it wasn't gonna go that smoothly and that you'd need a distraction…so I just went out in the hallway."
Casey's mouth dropped opened, "You…you did that for us?" she asked uncertainly.
Emily smiled, "See, I knew you had good ideas, Ralph."
Ralph brightened, "You think so?"
Derek grinned, "Definitely."
At that moment, Lassiter and Bob came back in, both smiling indulgently as though sharing some private joke. Lassiter pulled a bottle from his coat pocket and set it down on the table. "Are these the pills you've been taking, Ralph?"
Ralph glanced at it, "Yup, those are it."
"And where did you get them?"
"I bought them," Ralph answered, clearly wondering where this line of questioning was going.
Lassiter now sounded like he was holding back a laugh, "Do you know what these pills are for?"
Ralph said slowly, "Like I said, they're for my memory…"
At this, Lassiter keeled over, positively howling with laughter. Derek raised his eyebrows and Sam whispered, "Well, he's finally gone mad…"
Lassiter caught his breath finally, and choked out, "My dear boy, this pills aren't for your memory!"
Ralph looked baffled, "What?"
"They're-they're sleeping pills!" Lassiter burst into laughter again. Even Bob had cracked a smile.
Derek exchanged glances with Sam again, and both of them began laughing as well. Truman was shaking his head in a hopeless sort of way and both Emily and Casey were grinning. Leave it up to Ralph to mix up memory and sleeping pills.
"Huh," Ralph said, "I must've bought the wrong one at the store. No wonder I've been so sleepy all the time…" He began laughing, as well.
Eventually the laughter died away, and Lassiter grew serious again. "Well, Ralph, I guess I forgive you for falling asleep all the time. Now, you didn't happen to see anyone in the hallway yesterday on either of your trips to your locker?
Ralph shrugged and shook his head, "No, sir."
Lassiter nodded, "Okay, Ralph you may take a seat in the back with your friends…and Truman why don't you take a seat up here again?
Derek glanced at Truman, who actually looked slightly worried as he stood up. Lassiter paced back and forth several times before pausing in front of Truman. "So," he began, "I decided to go ahead and check ALL of your lockers-"
"WHAT!?" Truman bellowed. "There's no way that's legal!"
Lassiter glared at him, "If I was checking Ralph's locker, it was only fair that I check all of yours…and I found something interesting in your locker, Truman." Lassiter pulled out something from his coat pocket and laid it out on the table. Derek leaned forward to see what it was, and recognized it as a pack of cigarettes. Huh. Well, that wasn't a big deal, really. The kid could smoke if he wanted to…
Then Derek paused, squinting at Truman in the dim lighting. His normally pale face was flushed with…embarrassment? That was strange. Maybe he didn't want Casey to find out? Derek glanced at Casey, but couldn't gauge the expression on her face. She looked slightly surprised…but not shocked. Hmm.
Lassiter boomed, "Do you want to hear what I think?" He waited, but Truman didn't speak. Lassiter continued, "I think that you were smoking in that empty classroom yesterday-"
Casey gasped and Derek hit himself on the head. Of course! No one had found out exactly why Truman had been hanging out in that empty classroom before the fire alarm yesterday. Derek frowned, trying to remember if he had asked Casey. After a few seconds, their conversation from earlier that night came back to him:
"I was leaning against a door to one of the classrooms when someone pulled it back and I fell in-at Truman's feet."
"So the guy was hanging out in an empty classroom by himself…doing what?"
"I don't know. I didn't ask…"
"You have anything you want to say Truman?" Lassiter demanded.
Truman heaved a sigh of defeat, "Okay, okay. I was smoking in that classroom. I was sorta freaking out about that math exam and smoking helps calm my nerves…"
"And you didn't know that we have rules against smoking on school property?"
"I know. I apologize." Truman said, actually sounding sincere.
Lassiter nodded slowly, "I accept your apology, Truman. However, you now have detention for a month. Does that seem fair to you?"
Truman half smiled, "Yes, sir."
Ralph suddenly said, "What if someone smelled the smoke?"
Lassiter turned to him questioningly, "What are you talking about?"
Ralph spoke carefully, "I mean, what if someone smelled the smoke yesterday and then pulled the fire alarm…?"
Derek's mouth dropped open. Hey, that actually sounded believable!
Bob cleared his throat, "Excuse me for saying so, sir. But that seems like a possible explanation."
Lassiter sank into his seat tiredly and glanced at everyone before his gaze landed on Derek. "What do you think, Mr. Venturi? Does that sound like a possibility to you?"
Derek tried not to let his enthusiasm at the idea overwhelm him. Instead he said cautiously, "It does sound like a logical conclusion, sir."
Lassiter stood up in defeat, "Well that's all I needed to hear. You're all free to go."
Derek's eyebrows rose in disbelief and Emily said incredulously, "Wait, so none of us is in trouble?"
Their principal shook his head tiredly, "It's been a long night, and I've found out plenty of things I'd be much happier not knowing." Still shaking his head, he picked up his suitcase and followed Bob out the door.
Casey stared after them in open-mouthed astonishment, "Did that really just happen?"
Emily said dubiously, "And we all really got away with everything?"
Truman hopped up, grinning. "Well what are we all still doing in here!? Let's get back to our own messed up, freaky lives!"
Casey laughed as she followed him out the door, "I bet that's what he thinks of us now."
Derek glanced at her, "What do you mean?"
Emily jumped down the stairs in front of him, "She means that Lassiter definitely thinks we're all screwed up by now, I mean we told him so many lies about ourselves…"
Derek grinned as he pushed open the door and felt the cool outdoor breeze on his face, "Hey, a little lying never hurt anybody."
Everyone laughed and stopped in the parking lot, once again standing in a circle. Casey smiled, "Feels familiar, doesn't it?"
Sam grinned, "But this time, we're free men-and women."
Casey nodded, "True…You know, you made a pretty good leader back there."
"I did?" Sam asked, looking disbelieving.
Derek punched his shoulder lightly, "Yeah, man. You really united everyone-"
"And I think," Casey interrupted, "you did that by making us all share our secrets." She stared at him and Truman significantly.
Truman noticed, "What?"
Casey ignored him and turned back to Sam, "Why don't you tell us why you were ready to fight Truman on that tape?"
Sam looked uncomfortable, "I told you, it was just guy stuff."
Truman rolled his eyes, "Ugh, you modest people make me sick." He turned to Casey with a smirk, "Let's just say your buddy Sam was…defending your honor."
Casey frowned, "Do I even want to know what you said about me, Truman?"
He shook his head, grinning. "Nah, it's not important."
Casey raised her eyebrows, "Good night, Truman."
He smiled slightly and bowed, "Good night ladies and gentlemen."
He was walking to his car when Derek called, "Hey, one sec!" Truman turned around and raised an eyebrow questioningly. Derek smiled slightly, "I guess I should thank you for not telling Lassiter that I pulled the alarm." Truman grinned and gave a mock salute before getting into his car. They all watched as he waved, before speeding away.
Emily looked after him, "Something tells me that he's not out of her lives forever."
Casey smiled and hugged her best friend, "You're probably right, Em. But I'm not worried."
"You're not?"
"No, why should I be? I have thr-four awesome friends that I can always count on to have my back," Casey said cheerfully, her gaze landing on Derek, who nodded in acknowledgement. Casey stared at him for a few seconds before turning to hug Sam, "Thanks for always being there for me," she whispered.
Sam kissed the top of her head affectionately, "You'll always be one of my best friends, Case. You know I got your back."
"Thank you," Casey said sincerely, with a bright smile.
"And while we're on the topic of thank yous," Derek interrupted with a grin, "Ralph, you're a freaking genius!"
Ralph looked pleased with himself, "You really think so?"
"Definitely!" Emily exclaimed. "None of us would've even thought of using the smoke as an excuse for someone to pull the alarm…"
"Because we were all too worried about saving our own asses," Derek admitted.
"But you…you're a true friend Ralph. Thank you," Casey said, grinning at him.
Ralph grinned, "Thanks guys. That means a lot," the he paused. "But I really have to be getting home now."
"What's wrong?" Emily asked concernedly.
Ralph smiled bashfully, "I'm really sleepy."
Everyone laughed and Sam shook his head as Ralph drove away, "Man, he's really something, huh?"
Derek grinned, "You could say that."
Sam clapped a hand on his shoulder, "Well, congrats D. I guess we all got away with our crimes."
Derek laughed, "I guess we did."
"You heading home now?"
Derek nodded, "Yeah, you need a ride?"
Sam shook his head, "Nah I drove here." He paused, "Em, you want a ride home?"
She smiled, blushing slightly, "That'd be great, thanks."
"Catch ya later, D!"
"See ya Casey, I'll call you tomorrow!"
Casey and Derek watched as their friends drove away. Casey turned to Derek with an amused glint in her eye, "Emily and Sam, huh? Think we should be worried?"
Derek grinned, "Your best friend and my best friend? Nah, what trouble could they get into?"
Casey laughed, "Plenty, I'm sure." They both fell silent and Casey could feel the words unspoken lie heavily between them. Her smile faded as she remembered everything he had said to her that night. She turned to face Derek, intending to give him a piece of her mind. He returned her gaze warily, Time for your daily dose of Derek Venturi versus Casey McDonald.
xDerek clenched his jaw shut, waiting for Casey to start yelling at him for all the shit he had said to her earlier, but she merely stared at him for several moments before saying, "Ready to go home, D?"
He blinked, surprised at this favorable turn of events. He wasn't too keen on having a huge argument in their school parking lot in the middle night…nice to know that Casey was being sensible for once in her life. He nodded and wordlessly opened the door for her. She gave him a gracious smile as she got in. Which only made him feel worse.
The drive home was as silent as the one to the school, and Derek felt his mind wandering. He still couldn't believe that they had gotten away with everything. And that Truman had kept his mouth shut. Guess he wasn't that much of a scumbag. Not that he was going to be buddies with the guy any time soon, of course. Derek had turned the corner onto their street when Casey finally spoke. "None of the lights are on at home," she said, peering through the windshield.
Derek frowned up at their house as he pulled into the garage, "Huh, that's weird. It's not even that late."
Casey looked worried, "You don't think anything happened, do you? It's not like my mom or George to not wait up for us…"
Derek pursed his lips thoughtfully as they mounted the steps to the front door. Casey pulled out her keys and they stepped into their pitch-black house. "We're home!" Casey called out as Derek flipped on the lights. No one answered.
Derek shook his head, "You'd think they'd be a little more interested in knowing whether we came home or not. We could be partying or something right now and they'd never know-"
"Der-ek!"
"What!?"
"Could you maybe show a little more concern for our missing family!?"
"God, Case. Could you BE any more dramatic? They're not missing!"
"And how, may I ask, do you know that?" Casey hissed.
"Because," Derek said patiently, "You always jump to the most farfetched -and wrong- conclusions."
Casey shot, "Well since you're smart, what do you think happened!?"
Derek shrugged, "I don't know…let's check our cell phones to see if we have any texts or messages from them." Derek flipped his phone open to see 1 UNREAD TEXT. He clicked on it, but it was only from Sam. He glanced at Casey, "Anything?"
She shook her head and raised her eyebrows expectantly at him. He rolled his eyes, "Okay, okay. If they were going to leave a message for us, where would they put it?"
"Um, the kitchen, I guess?"
"Okay, let me go check," Derek said calmly, hoping that his serene attitude would counteract Casey's imminent freaking out. He flipped on the kitchen light and quickly scanned the room. His gaze landed on a pink post-it note on the table. He picked it up and recognized his dad's handwriting. "I found a note," he called to Casey.
She came rushing into the kitchen, "What does it say?"
Derek held it up so they could both read it:
Casey and Derek-
Nora and I are staying over at our friend's house tonight.
Lizzie has an early soccer practice so she is sleeping over her friend's house.
Edwin hasn't finished his project yet, so he will be at his partner's house.
Marti will be at her mom's place till Monday.
We hope everything went well at the school. We will see you tomorrow.
~George & Nora
"See, I told you, there was nothing to worry about."
"Yeah, yeah. You're always right Derek," Casey said sullenly.
He didn't reply, watching her expression change from worried to annoyed in a matter of seconds. "I'm going to my room," she said suddenly.
Derek blinked in surprise again. "Uh, okay? Good night…?"
"'Night!" she called over her shoulder as she clambered up the stairs, leaving Derek to stare after her in confusion. Was she really not going to yell at him? Then he shook his head in disgust. What was wrong with him? He actually felt disappointed that she hadn't acknowledged his behavior from that night-not good, Derek, he chided himself silently.
He wandered into the living room and flipped on the TV, prepared to watch some mindless television to take his mind off things. Of course, the only things on this late on a Saturday night were those cheesy teen romantic comedies. He stared at one where the girl was crying because her boyfriend had broken up with her. She continued crying for the five minutes that he watched, until he couldn't take it anymore. Slamming the remote down on the table, he got up. He had to talk to Casey.
Casey was sprawled on her bed, writing in her diary:
So, all in all, diary, it hasn't been a bad night.
Me and Derek got away with everything.
Our only punishment is a couple weeks detention-
which, considering everything we did, isn't really too bad.
You'll never believe what Ralph did-
Casey jumped as her door swung open violently, bouncing off the wall. "Der-ek!" she screeched, "What do you think you're doing?"
He didn't answer her and strolled over to her vanity mirror, his eyes roaming the table until he found her collection of perfumes. She stared at him in utter bewilderment as he proceeded to pick up each one and sniff its contents. "Have you gone MAD?"
"Probably," he muttered. He held up the perfume that she had been wearing that night. "Is this the one that Truman gave you?"
"Yeah…why?"
Derek nodded to himself and strode to over to her window. He yanked it up and proceeded to toss her perfume out of the window. Casey sprang out of her bed in disbelief as she heard the glass shatter two floors down. "What the fuck!?" she screamed. "Why are you acting like a madman!?"
"BECAUSE OF YOU!" he roared.
"WHAT!?"
"You-you make me crazy," Derek sputtered. "Why can't you see that!?"
"What are you talking about!? I haven't done anything to you!"
"It's not about what you do!" he bellowed, "It's about what you say!"
Casey frowned, "And what did I say?"
Derek paced back and forth in front of her, running his hands through his hair in frustration. He pointed a finger at her accusingly, "You said you would get back with Truman if he apologized to you!"
Casey felt a flash of rage, "So what!?" she yelled. "If I remember correctly, you asked that question at a very convenient time!"
Derek's face darkened with anger, "I asked BECAUSE I HAD TO KNOW!"
"Yeah?" Casey shouted, "Why did you have to KNOW right then?"
"I had to know before-before-." He stopped and took a deep breath. "I didn't want you to think of him while we-I didn't want you to wish I was him-"
Casey knew what he was trying to say, but it didn't make her any less angry. "And what did you do after you found out, huh? You didn't even TRY to stop me from walking out your door!"
"You hurt me," he blurted out, looking anguished. "You had said you were over him, I didn't think that you really weren't…"
Casey fell silent in surprise at seeing Derek looking so vulnerable. She felt her rage ebb away. She took a few steps away from him, trying to think. She suddenly remembered something and turned to face him. "Is that way you said you didn't trust me?"
"I didn't mean it," he said bleakly. "I just wanted to hurt you…the way you hurt me."
Casey swallowed hard, "Well, I would have to say that you succeeded."
"I know," he whispered. "When I saw your face…I knew. And I regretted ever saying those horrible things to you."
"I couldn't get those words out of my head," Casey said slowly. "You said earlier that I never listen to you. But you're wrong." She paused, "I remember everything. Always. Whenever I don't know what to do…I hear your voice."
Derek looked up at her blankly. She continued, 'Like yesterday when Lisa introduced herself to me…I felt so humiliated for trusting Truman, and I didn't know what to say. Somehow I heard your voice in my head, telling me what to do." She gave him a small smile, "You give pretty good advice sometimes."
Derek looked like he didn't know what to say. He cleared his throat, "No one has ever said that to me before."
"I know."
Suddenly he met her gaze squarely, "Earlier you said that you knew me. What did you mean?"
Casey shrugged and looked away. "I mean, I always get this feeling when you're in trouble…or when you're going to be in trouble. Which is quite often, I might add." She smiled slightly. "Somehow that makes me want to help you…"
Derek frowned and she hastened to explain, "It's like a compulsion…I-I don't like seeing you in trouble. Besides, I know that you would always help me if I needed it." She paused, "Like yesterday, I know you didn't have to help me get into that math exam, but you did."
Derek stepped in front of her so that he was looking directly at her. "Whatever happens," he said clearly, "Or whatever else I might ever say to you, you need to know that I would always have your back."
"I know," Casey replied. "And I'll always have yours."
"Look at us, being all mature," Derek teased.
Casey laughed, "It is pretty surprising," she agreed.
"Almost as surprising as you," Derek said, cocking an eyebrow at her.
"What do you mean?"
"It's like you've become a different person during these three years…you've become so much more confident, and impulsive…Like yesterday, I didn't expect you to go crawl up in those vents. The old Casey would've never done that."
Casey grinned, "Guess I've learned to live dangerously."
Derek winked, "Sounds like good advice."
"Oh it is," Casey agreed. "Too bad the guy that gave it to me is a total idiot."
Derek grinned and swiftly threw a pillow at her. Casey laughed, and holding the pillow as a shield, pushed him backwards. He staggered slightly, falling onto her bed. He looked up at her for a second before grabbing the pillow she was holding so that she fell on top of him. He slowly removed the pillow so that it wasn't separating them anymore. He watched her carefully, but she didn't lower herself onto him, instead using her arms to keep them apart.
His face looked uncharacteristically serious. "What's wrong?" he asked cautiously as she got up from the bed and went to stand by her door.
Casey licked her lips nervously, "The trust thing-it works both ways."
Derek looked indignant, "Wait, you don't trust me?"
"I do. But, I want to make sure that you wouldn't…"
Somehow, Derek understood what she was trying to say. He slowly got up from her bed and went to stand in front of her. He reached out as though to clasp her hand, but changed his mind, and let his arm drop. He took a deep breath. "You have to believe me, I would never intentionally hurt you. I can't stand to see your feelings hurt."
She looked up at him skeptically and he shook his head. "No, believe me. I-I feel your pain. I feel what you feel." He paused, "When you're happy, I'm happy."
Casey nodded slowly, "I believe you."
He didn't say anything else and looked expectantly at her. "You know," she mused, "I don't think I've seen you truly happy in a long time. Not since-"
He interrupted, "Not since you started going out with Truman."
"I didn't realize you hated him so much."
"I don't. I mean, he can be a decent guy, like he proved today. I just think that most of the time, he chooses to be a scumbag. Like yesterday in the parking lot when he tried to get me to throw the first punch by telling me how he had sex with you everyday-"
"WHAT!?"
Derek broke off, looking confused. "What?"
"THAT'S what you were fighting over in the parking lot?"
"Um, yeah…"
Casey took a deep breath, willing herself not to start shouting again. "You should know better than to let Truman rile you up like that. You know he was just looking for a fight…"
Derek's eyes flared with anger. "I don't care what he was looking for! He had no right to speak about you that way, especially when I would've given anything to be your first-" He broke off, looking awkward.
Casey blinked and took a step backwards. Lots of surprises today. "What?" she asked, not sure if she had heard correctly.
Derek swallowed nervously. "I wanted to be your first time, Case," he said softly. "And if you hadn't had sex with Truman…"
Casey shook her head, "I didn't."
It was Derek's turn to look shocked. "What? But he said you did."
Casey smiled slightly, "He tried…but something just didn't feel right."
"Max? Sam? Noel?"
"No, no, and definitely not."
"So you're still-"
Casey nodded silently, her heart beating wildly as Derek reached out and clasped both of her hands in his own. He pulled her firmly to her bed and she got into it nervously. He lay down next to her and lazily stroked her arm, a smile settling onto his face.
"You said you hadn't seen me happy in a long time," Derek began.
"Yes…" Casey said, knowing what was coming next.
"You were wrong."
"Huh?"
"Yesterday morning when I woke up, and you were sleeping next to me…" Derek faltered.
Casey sat up curiously, "Yeah?"
"It was the best feeling in the world," he finished quietly.
Casey's mouth dropped open in shock.
He looked at her hopefully, "Think we can do that again?"
"Just sleep? On my bed?" Casey asked incredulously.
"Just sleep," he clarified.
Casey smiled, pleasantly surprised. "Yeah," she agreed quietly. "I think I'd like that."
THE END! [MY FIRST FIC EVER]