Disclaimer: You know I don't own any of the Life With Derek or Buffy characters. Nor do I own any of the pop culture references made. All I own is the character of Candace.

People whispered and directed their looks towards her as she walked down the hall to her locker. She was trying to ignore it. But, this was high school and people made a big deal out of the smallest thing. Alright, so her secret wasn't such a small thing. Only a handful of people knew about that, though. So, what was with all the attention?

Candace Farrell reached her locker and turned the combination. As she started to take out her books, a friend came up beside her. It was Emily Davis. "Hey, Candace. How's it going?" Emily asked.

"It could be going better if people would stop staring at me and whispering." Candace closed her locker. "I don't get it. I only have one bruise and it's on my arm and my sleeve is covering it up. They keep looking at me like I have three heads. I don't have three heads, do I?"

Emily giggled. "No. I can assure you that you don't have three heads."

"Then, what is it?" The shorter girl asked.

"You're popular." The other girl replied. "You're one of the coolest girls in school."

"What?" Her jaw dropped. "I can't be popular. I despise popular people. And, I have to hide my secret. Popularity is only going to make that harder. Why am I popular? I didn't do anything special. I'm just me."

"You really don't get why you're popular?" Emily shook her head. "That's why you're popular." She pointed towards a guy with brown hair and brown eyes. He was wearing a leather jacket and was grinning as he walked down the hall and gave people high fives. "Derek Venturi. Your best friend. He's always been the most popular guy around here. Anyone seen spending as much time with him as you do automatically becomes popular."

"So that must explain all the hate e-mails I've been getting from Kendra."

"Rumor has it that you may take her place as most popular girl in the school."

"Lucky me." Candace inhaled deeply as Derek approached them.

"Hello ladies." Derek grinned from ear to ear. Both girls practically melted. Candace more so on the inside. She still liked him a lot. But, fear kept her from a relationship with him. Emily on the other hand, let her melting be more visible. She was only attracted to his looks though. She had a boyfriend.

"Hey Derek." Emily snapped out of her little world. "Have you seen Casey? We were supposed to meet ten minutes ago. It's not like Casey to be late."

"It is if she's in the library making out with Andrew." Candace pointed out. Then, she closed her eyes. "Why did I have to put that visual in my own head?" Her eyes opened again.

"Casey is running a little late today." Derek shrugged like it was nothing.

"What did you do to her?" Candace looked at him. Suddenly, Casey came fumbling down the hall. Her hair was a mess, she was wearing no make up and apparently she was wearing one of Andrew's old t-shirts.

"Come on, Em." Casey spat as she walked past the three. "Keep up. We've got to get this thing done."

"Right." Emily shrugged and followed her best friend.

"Want me to join you guys?" Candace asked.

"Uh, no." Emily shook her head. "It's just a boring French project and since you don't know much French, you'd probably get lost." She caught up to Casey, feeling kind of bad for leaving the slayer out. But, they weren't really going to work on a French project. Casey and Emily were planning a surprise birthday party for Candace. They had decided to leave Derek out of it because he could not be trusted when it came to parties. He would invite the whole school if he had the chance.

"Set her clocks back again?" Candace raised an eyebrow at Derek.

"You would appreciate it more if you were actually there when it happened." He smirked. "So, it's your birthday this Saturday."

"I am well aware of when my birthday is. It's on the same day every year."

"So, what do you want?" He leaned against a locker.

"I'm really not big on the whole birthday thing." She replied. "Just a card will do."

"Come on." Derek pleaded. "You must want more than that. You're going to be seventeen."

"I'm not going to break out into that stupid song from the Sound of Music." Candace spat. "Just let things be. I don't want to celebrate my birthday with anything big. I just want a quiet night to myself." She stormed off.

That's odd. Who doesn't enjoy celebrating birthdays? I mean, there are presents and cake and food galore. Maybe, Andrew knows what's up. I guess I'll have to go pay him a visit later. I'm going to lose more rep points by going into that library. But, for Candace, I'll do anything. Derek shrugged as he walked to his English class.