An Uneasy Truce for the Greater Good
SUMMARY: Idiocy was his greatest flaw...right next to his excessive whininess and utter lack of modesty. Implied Massington. Derrick/OC semi-friendship.
Author's Note: First clique story. I'm actually not the hugest fan of Massington but I've always wanted someone to give Derrick a proper talking-to about his treatment of Massie. Unfortunately, I couldn't really think of anybody who already existed in the Clique universe (I was looking for someone who was an observer, yet close to Massie). So, I created a new character whom I tried to make as realistic as possible. First published OC! I'm hoping I didn't make her a Mary-Sue. Do tell me if I did; I'm seriously trying to avoid that.
"Massie! Massie, are you going to stay in your house all night, holding a grudge against me for something so insignificant?"
Silence.
"Massie? It's not my fault that I'm the best player on the team and Coach needed me to play during a game on the same day as your birthday! I can't help it if I'm really good at soccer!"
No reply.
"Geez Massie. If I knew you were going to ignore me like this, I wouldn't have bothered even walking all the way to your house and-!"
"Talked about all of your relationship issues in an extremely loud voice, possibly allowing the entire neighbourhood to hear you? Great job Derrick; but I'm pretty sure you missed a few people living 50 or so miles away."
Derrick started and whirled around. Standing behind him was a girl, a very familiar girl with wavy brown hair and golden eyes. He cried out in exasperation, "Massie! Why didn't you reply to me when I was yelling at your window?"
The girl sighed and spoke to Derrick very slowly, as if she was dealing with an infant. "Two reasons. Firstly, I'm not Massie. It's Haven. Remember? Massie's near-identical twin sister? The one with the greenish eyes? Secondly, Massie isn't even at home. She drove down to the city this afternoon with Alicia."
"Oh," Derrick rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Well, why didn't she tell me? I'm her boyfriend!"
Haven rolled her eyes before she continued. "Good Lord, it's like dealing with a goddamned child."
"What's like dealing with a goddamned child?"
"Nothing."
"Oh."
The silence between the two was uneasy. Derrick intertwined his hands together as he rocked back and forth like a child. Haven, on the other hand, jammed her hands into the pockets of her beat-up jeans. She glared at her heather grey Converse lace-ups.
"Have you had anything to eat yet?" The silence was broken by Haven's dulcet tones, identical to Massie's.
"Err...no. Have you?" Derrick chuckled slightly nervously.
"No I haven't. Do you want to grab a bite with me at Slice of Heaven?" Haven inquired, all momentary anger seemingly halted.
With this, Derrick seemed to inflate quite a bit. "Well, well, well Haven. I didn't know you made a habit of going out with your sister's boyfriends behind her back. Do you have a crush on me or something? I wouldn't blame you if you did; I mean, I am pretty incredible and-"
"Shut up before I decide to castrate you with a shovel," Haven growled. "I was offering because I needed to have a little…chat with you concerning my sister."
"Uh-oh," Derrick mocked. "Am I in trouble? Should I be scared?"
Haven narrowed her golden-green eyes, with a glare that marred her deceivingly angelic features. Nonchalantly, she responded, "No…but after I'm done with you, you will be."
Derrick visibly gulped, all too familiar with Haven icy behaviour and bouts of rudeness, a trait shared with her twin.
"Now, get in the car," Haven snarled to Derrick, as she motioned to a vintage Volkswagen Beetle in a horrendously bright hue of yellow. "I'm driving."
"So, tell me. Why are we here?"
"Your utter lack of comprehension both astounds and horrifies me."
"Y'mind speaking in English?"
"Y'mind not acting like an idiot?"
Derrick angrily slumped back into his seat. He knew he was absolute shit when it came to dealing with chicks…especially crazy, perpetually raging ones like Haven. At least Massie had her moments of kindness. Haven was probably one of those girls who was only kind to people right before both socially and mentally destroying them.
"What is it about Massie that you can't prioritize?"
Derrick gave a subtle jump of surprise. Haven's voice was gentle, quiet, almost…pleading in a way.
"P-pardon?" Derrick inquired tentatively, not wanting to anger Haven.
To his immense surprise, Haven didn't spit metaphorical flames at him. Instead, she regarded him with a bit of a sad gaze. "Why don't you care about my sister?"
Derrick sputtered, "Of-of course I do! I cleaned my room for her!"
In an instant, Haven seemed to sprout claws and fangs. "You-you-that's it? That's what you call caring for your girlfriend?"
At a loss for words, Derrick continued to dig himself into a deeper hole. "Well, what am I supposed to do in order to please her? Massie is such a little princess and she gets so ticked off if I do something I'm not supposed to and everything has to be just perfect for her! So what if I can't always please her? I'm trying my best here!"
"No, you're not," Haven remarked crudely. "If you were honestly trying your best, Massie wouldn't be having long talks with me about her 'crumbling relationship' and the 'lack of communication' she's constantly worrying about. If you were truthfully trying your best, I wouldn't need to wake up at 3AM in order to comfort a hormonally imbalanced girl with a shoddy boyfriend!"
With this, Derrick instantly became defensive. "It's not my fault that her hormones are imbalanced!"
Haven gazed into space rather thoughtfully before she replied vaguely, "True, true. Still, you could be a little less immature."
At the mention of the dreaded I-word, Derrick balked and his anger augmented. Unmindful of the other patrons inside the restaurant, he began yelling at Haven. "Immature? I'm the one who's immature? Your precious twin sister is the one who's immature with all her mind games and her secretiveness! If anyone in our relationship is immature, it's her!"
Haven clenched her jaw and hissed, "Shut. Your. Imbecilic. Mouth."
Derrick's adrenaline started pumping and his voice grew in volume as his fear of Haven lessened. "Why don't you, huh? Why don't you stop acting like you're the boss of me or something?"
"Harrington."
"And while you're at it, can you stop scaring everybody who tries to be nice to you? I mean, come on! It's not our fault that you're an insane basket case!"
"Harrington!"
"You're such a asshole and now I know why you don't have a boyfriend and-"
"HARRINGTON!"
"WHAT?"
"People are staring."
"Oh."
"Yep. Good going. You're the only person I know who can unintentionally embarrass yourself while trying to insult others."
Once more, a nervous atmosphere engulfed the two. Derrick, not wanting to apologize for what he believed to be a truthful rant, piled his plate full of the pepperoni pizza that had just arrived at their table. Haven just continued glaring at Derrick with the intensity of a thousand angry Massies, her hands folded primly in her lap.
"I do care about her." Derrick mumbled offhandedly.
Haven furrowed her brows. "Pardon?"
Derrick plowed on, spilling out his heart and soul to his sworn enemy. "I really care about Massie; honestly. I mean, at this age, I don't really know or think about love, but I'm guessing Massie is the closest thing for me."
Haven, for the first time that night, gave a tiny, yet genuine smile. "I'm glad. Massie like-likes you a lot. I think for her, you're the closest thing to love as well."
"And I am really sorry for ditching her for my soccer game."
Haven sighed, all traces of her earlier grin wiped from her face. "I'm not blaming you for that. I'm just saying that you could have handled that a lot better."
"In what way, Love Guru?" Derrick asked sarcastically.
"For starters, you could have told her earlier instead of waiting until the last minute to cancel. She was pretty devastated."
"She's Massie. She's like, indestructible." Derrick commented.
"No, she's not," Haven refuted, "Massie is just like any other sixteen-year-old girl. She just doesn't want to be perceived like one."
"I hate it."
"You hate what?"
"I hate how Massie can't stand being 'just an average girl'. I hate how she always has to be the best and she has this constant need to win. I mean, I understand that being the best is nice and all, but it's tiring. Trust me, I would know," Derrick whined in what he believed to be a manly way.
"Bite your tongue."
"What did you just tell me to do?"
"You should be more accepting of who Massie is," Haven instructed condescendingly.
"And you should be less self-righteous," Derrick retorted.
"And I'm not going to be immature and fall for that bait. I'm going to ignore it because I'm the bigger person here," Haven scoffed. She slammed her glass of water down on the table and fiercely stared Derrick down.
He refused to be the first to break eye contact. "Well…whatever!"
"Derrick, can you focus for maybe 5 minutes? I'm trying to give you advice that has the potential to save your relationship!"
"Fine!"
"Good."
…
…
"So…what was-"
"Massie is-"
"Sorry, ladies first."
"Massie is a great girl, Derrick. Underneath all of her crazy ambition and manipulation is a heart of gold. You can laugh at me all you want, but she really does care about her friends and family."
"Seriously?" Derrick asked, dumbfounded.
"Seriously," Haven confirmed. "The only reason why I'm talking to you right now is not because I enjoy making your life hell (which I'm not going to deny), but because I just want Massie to be happy."
"I make Massie happy," Derrick assured Haven. He grabbed a piece of pizza from the plate in front of him and proceeded to stuff his face with it.
Haven's face wrinkled in slight disgust at the sight. "You need to do a better job," she scolded.
Derrick smirked, his mouth full of food. "I'm already doing a great job. Don't you hear people in the halls at school? They're always talking about how Massie and I are the greatest couple ever."
"That's why you need to do a better job of making Massie happy," Haven said sadly.
"Huh? I'm confused," Derrick groaned.
"Derrick…you're all Massie has. Excluding myself, of course."
"What?" Derrick interrogated, completely flabbergasted.
"You heard me," Haven confirmed resignedly. "Those girls that Massie surrounds herself with aren't her real friends. The only reason they hang around her is because of her popularity and her wealth. They don't give two shits about what kind of person she is on the inside or how she can be fiercely loyal and caring. The other members of the so-called 'Pretty Committee' are in it for the status and only the status." She looked as if she wanted to obliterate the Pretty Committee.
"B-but," Derrick stammered, "Claire cares about her! She's like, the nicest one out of all of them!"
Haven's eyes practically solidified at the name. "Claire," she vocalized, "is decent. For now."
"What do you mean 'for now'?" Derrick inquired curiously. He watched Haven as her expression went from anger to a forlorn weariness. Her eyes glazed over slightly.
"Going to a private, all-girls school changes you," she divulged, "and I wouldn't be surprised if Claire started to become a bitch. In fact, I'd rather she act like a bitch instead of putting on this whole sugar-sweet façade. I can't stand her clinginess and constant tears." She bristled angrily.
"You're such a hypocrite," Derrick accused, crossing his arms and cherishing his inner victory at using such a fancy word.
"What did you just call me?"
"A hypocrite."
"And why would you say that?"
"Because you can comfort Massie when she's crying but you can't stand it when Claire cries," Derrick debated triumphantly.
Haven scoffed. "Massie cries only when she's truly upset. She doesn't believe in wasting her tears over insignificant issues of little importance. Claire just cries when she wants someone to pity her or when something doesn't go her way."
Derrick pondered Haven's words as he chewed on what she believed to be his fourth slice of pizza. "Now that you mention it…that's actually true."
"Of course it's true. I pride myself on my people observation skills."
"Well, you should start working on your people interaction skills." Derrick muttered. Unfortunately, Haven heard and in a slight fit of rage, aimed a saltshaker at his head.
"Hey!" Derrick threw his arms, trying to shield himself from the onslaught. "Watch the face! This is the face your sister is attracted to." He added as an afterthought.
"For reasons unknown," Haven shot back. She leered at Derrick's apparent fear of airborne peppershakers and other assorted items.
Derrick chortled loudly, ignoring Haven's jab. "Oh, come on! She adores me!"
"I know," disclosed Haven in a serious tone. "That's why you need to take care of her."
"You know," Derrick expressed, "you're actually not that bad."
"What?"
"Like, you always seem like you're some deranged psycho, hell-bent on world domination and castration of certain males, but you're actually a pretty nice person."
"Pardon?"
"You really care about your sister. You like, have this huge soft spot for her and you really want her to be happy and shit."
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
Derrick sneered, truly believing he had torn down all of Haven's behavioural defenses. "You don't need to pretend you're some tough chick around me. I have you all figured out."
"No you don't." Haven protested.
"Yes I do," Derrick insisted adamantly. "On the outside, you're awfully mean and rude, but on the inside, you're a big caring ball of fluff."
"Well then, I have you figured out too." Haven revealed calmly. "On the outside, you're a big, bumbling idiot with a huge ego that's clearly overcompensation for something else. However, on the inside, you're a cheese-ball that enjoys romantic movies, cats and long walks on the beach."
"You have me all figured out!" Derrick joked. "How did you know?"
Haven tittered, "Guess I'm just a genius."
"O'course you are."
The two of them laughed in unison paying no mind to the plate of nearly unfinished pizza or the fact that they were supposed to be enemies.
"If you weren't my sworn arch-nemesis, we could actually be friends." Derrick cajoled.
"Probably," agreed Haven, "or probably not."
"True," Derrick added. "You know what?"
"What?"
"We should make a truce."
"A what?" A disbelieving Haven demanded.
"A truce!" proclaimed Derrick.
"Why?"
"So we can get along!"
"And why would I want to force myself to get along with you?" Haven questioned as she gesticulated wildly with her hands.
"So that Massie will be happy!" Derrick exclaimed, nearly jumping out of his seat in a show of restrained enthusiasm. "If her boyfriend and her best friend-slash-sister aren't fighting all the time, she can hang out with us both without having to worry about getting one of us angry!"
"That makes some sense," Haven pondered. She didn't really want to admit the budding genius in Derrick's idea.
"Plus, if we have a truce," Derrick supplemented, "I can't annoy you all the time. But, you can't be mean to me."
"Fine."
"Fine what?"
Haven sighed. "Fine, I agree to this truce. But only because it's for the greater good."
"Awesome! This truce will commence in exactly 24 hours!"
"Why 24 hours?" asked Haven warily.
"So I can annoy you for one more day!" Derrick informed, pleased with his loophole.
"That means I can be mean to you for one more day, right?"
"Uh…well…"
"I bet you didn't think of that, did you?" Haven interjected knowingly.
"Well…no, not really," Derrick admitted, shamefaced.
"You're such an idiot," Haven admonished, but without any real cruelty.
"Hey!"
"24 hours before our truce actually starts, Derrick."
"Dammit. This isn't going to be easy."
"So…thanks for the ride home," Derrick addressed Haven, "and for the relationship advice."
"No problem," Haven answered in a calm voice, devoid of any emotion.
"I guess I'll see you at school on Monday?" he implored awkwardly.
"Maybe," she responded, "if we see each other at soccer practice."
"Cool. So…I'll see you around?" The statement came out sounding more like a question. "Oh, and thanks for paying. You didn't have to; it's not like our truce has actually started or anything."
"I know. But you didn't bring your wallet and I wasn't exactly keen on pissing the Hastings off," Haven recalled, monotone.
"Okay, well then I guess I owe you a favour," Derrick jested as he climbed out of the car. However, just as he prepared to shut the door, Haven's voice stopped him in his tracks.
"No," she murmured, "don't bother."
"What? Why?"
"We're friends now, aren't we?" She enunciated the word carefully, almost as if she was testing the sound. "Friends don't need to pay friends back."
"Oh. Well…thanks…buddy." The word felt heavy in his mouth, carrying emotions he knew were piteous. He was well aware of the fact that Haven didn't possess an inordinate amount of friends, so the people that she valued as companions were obviously the ones that she held in very high regard.
He shut the car door and waved goodbye, watching as Haven drove down the street. Feeling renewed and with a sense of purpose, he began to mentally plan out the many steps to win Massie back…hopefully for good this time.
-fin-