Bonjour, mes amies!
Here I am again, to your utter dismay. I pity you, hapless reader.
Though I don't know why: you can stop reading any time you want.
Wow, rambling again.
The title will change later, I just couldn't think of a good at this time.
Lire le roman de Scarlett et Derek!
Disclaimer: I own neither Life with Derek nor any of the movies/shows/objects I mentioned in this story, except Scarlett and the plot bunny. Even if he keeps trying to run away.
Sleepover
Tuesday
It was so odd, going back. It was almost as if nothing had ever happened. Casey was still a grade grubber, Derek was still an aloof Mr. Cool, and Scarlett was still slowly worming her way up the rungs of the social ladder.
They were not together.
That was what was so depressing to Scarlett. Had it been a one time thing? Had Derek thought better of his actions? Or did he think she was just a wimp for having to be rescued out in that snowstorm?
And, on top of it all, she had gained a pound in caramel brownies. Scarlett was by no means anorexic, but the heavier you were the harder it was to gain lift in gymnastics, and that bothered her.
Speaking of gymnastics, Mitchell was becoming a major problem. He kept trying to get her alone. Luckily, she had so far been able to scamper away.
Every single time Scarlett saw Derek in the hallway, laughing or giving his teammates high fives, the next hour she was thinking about him. It was really starting to make her frustrated.
After failing a History test in Mr. Kinese's class, she groaned and determined that she just needed to forget about him unless he made a move. Absolutely no guy was worth this amount of thought and worry.
But, staring at her desk, she wondered where to start. There was a test in this class so there was no homework to work on, and in all her others she'd been too busy thinking about Derek to have wrote it down. She needed something substantial to clear her head of the D word.
Casey rescued her. "Hey Scarlett," she said suddenly, and rather bouncily (she'd just seen her test score- a 99).
"What?" asked Scarlett, wearily.
"Tomorrow is a teacher's conference day, so there's no school. We can go shopping today-" Casey loved gong shopping with Scarlett, because Scarlett always paid- "and then stay up late watching movies, and then we'll have the house pretty much to ourselves tomorrow! C'mon, whaddya say?"
Scarlett considered it. Well, if they had the house to themselves then Derek was obviously going to be gone. And shopping always was wonderful medicine. She could forget almost anything when she was shopping with her friends.
"Sounds good," she agreed.
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Casey and Scarlett entered the door to the Venturi/MacDonald residence at precisely five to nine, laden with approaching a dozen shopping bags.
Derek was lounging in The chair, flipping through the channels mindlessly. When they came in, he looked up briefly in passing curiosity.
An indefinable look flickered over his features when he saw Scarlett. It was gone in an instant. "Spend enough, Space Case?" he drawled.
Scarlett snorted and waited for Casey's response. "None of your business, Derek," she said, "but if you must know, Scarlett is nice- unlike some people- and buys most of the stuff." At Scarlett's disbelieving look, Casey admitted, "Well, all of it. But I offer every time to pay for it myself."
Derek looked at Scarlett curiously. "Aren't you broke yet?"
Scarlett shifted uncomfortably. "Well, I have a sort of job. And what else am I going to do with it? I like spending money on other people!"
Instantly Derek thrust his hand out. "I am so there for you, sister," he said solemnly.
"Don't give him anything, Scarlett," warned Casey. "He'll either spend it on drugs or beer or on taking another girl out."
I'd rather hoped she'd forgotten about that, thought Scarlett ruefully. Then she turned her eyes back to Derek. "Don't worry," she assured Casey, still looking at him though. "I only spend money on my friends."
With that the both of them waltzed up the stairs.
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Casey and Scarlett were in the living room, sitting in front of the entertainment center, a myriad of DVDs spread out around them.
Nora and George walked out the door just then. Nora paused to talk. "Ok, kids. Lizzie is at her grandma's house, and Edwin and Marti are with their mom. Since it's just you teens, we figured we could take a little holiday. Casey, restrain Derek. Don't let any parties happen, like last time. I give you permission to use my baseball bat. Have fun, girls!" And with that, they left.
Scarlett chuckled at Casey, who was looking happy at having the parents out of the way but angry that she was responsible for Derek. "Come on. Let's just pick some movies."
"We should totally watch A Walk to Remember," said Casey, after a slight pause. "That is such a good movie!"
"Yeah, I liked it too," replied Scarlett doubtfully. "But can you expect someone like Derek to do what Landon did- with a girl dressed like Jamie? I mean, come on! We had to dress me up in a miniskirt before he would notice me. And Jamie having cancer? It's really very cliché." (I love A Walk to Remember. But, Scarlett doesn't. So read.)
The strength of this argument struck Casey forcibly. "Well, then what do you want to watch?" she asked, somewhat angrily.
"Finally," sighed Scarlett, with relief. "I vote we watch the X men trilogy."
"What are you, a guy?" expostulated Casey disbelievingly.
"I like a sappy story just as well as explosions," she said defensively. I just don't feel like a sappy story tonight.
"Well, let's watch Memoirs of a Geisha."
"Saw it last week," she waved it off. "Disturbia?"
"Too scary," shuddered Casey. "Casablanca?"
"Please," growled Scarlett. "Don't you watch anything good?"
This, of course, blossomed into a major fight. Before ten minutes was up after this little statement of Scarlett's, they were kicking and scratching each other in honest attempts to inflict bodily harm.
Derek finally burst down the stairs. "What are your problems?" he snapped. "I'm trying to listen to my music-" And then he saw the cat fight, and started to laugh. And laugh.
Both of them paused to see Derek doubled over at the base of the stairs with mirth.
Simultaneously they crossed their arms. And in unison, they hissed "What, Derek?"
He put his hands up. "Hey, I just think two chicks trying to kill each other is funny. Shoot me."
"That's not such a bad idea," said Scarlett aloud, and turned to Casey. "You know, your parents won't find out."
And that is how Derek Venturi died. Nah, just kidding.
"The police might figure it out," said Casey seriously. "We'll just torture him."
"That sounds like a really good idea," agreed Scarlett.
Derek, who was now looking rather less than amused, was backing up against the wall, his arms put out as though to shield him. "You girls don't know what you're dealing with," he said, his voice lacking the necessary conviction.
"Let's get him."
I have an idea for what they do to him. The next few chapters will get more exciting.
Reviews?
