A Dasey Fic - Circles

CHAPTER 1

'OH MAN, I'M GOING TO BE SO LATE!'

It was already 9:25 A.M. and Casey McDonald was severely behind on her morning routine. If she did not find her cell phone in the next five minutes her entire day would be thrown completely out of whack. As a matter of fact, her day was already ruined since her professionally designed apartment was in complete chaos. The cushions of her sleek pale blue sofa were strewn across the living room floor and the books from her desk were violently pulled out their organized slots in the search of her most prized possession. Her phone was her life and the key to managing her double major in English and economics while interning at the local paper. Casey had a strict schedule that needed to be followed to a tee or everything in her world would fall apart, which was her worst nightmare. And now she was going to be late for her first class of the day, all because of her stupid cell phone.

Casey reassembled one of the cushions, let out a massive sigh and threw herself onto the couch in defeat. Casey closed her eyes for a moment to really concentrate on where she could have possibly left her phone, but all she could remember was putting it on the charger the night before like she did every day. Just as Casey picked herself up to head to class, she heard the sound of her front door opening and then slamming shut.

"Casey! Are you home?"

'I should have known. Whenever things in my life start heading downhill, there's only one person to blame,' Casey thought to herself.

Then she shouted, "Der-ek!"

"Wow, I haven't heard you say my-" Derek stopped mid-stroll as he neared Casey's living room. His eyes rolled over the entire room from her gutted sofa to her desk of disarray and then they finally settled on his fuming stepsister in her typical Casey-stance, arms crossed in front of her chest and eyes glaring.

Derek smirked devilishly at Casey.

"I guess you were looking for this," Derek said as he pulled a pink-bejeweled cell phone from his pocket. Casey grunted, stormed over to him and grabbed the phone from his hands.

Casey shrieked and said, "I should have known it was you! Who else can turn my life upside down so easily? Why are you such a jerk?" She stared at him as if expecting an answer.

Derek put his hands up and said, "In my defense, I actually did not mean to ruin your day, even if it is hilarious, but I did need to borrow your phone last night. I think I left mine at Ashley's or was it Candice? Anyways, I can't remember. Sorry."

The look on Casey's face was one of utter disgust, she couldn't understand Derek's level of indifference to the fact that his phone was left at some tramp's house or that he caused the upheaval of her entire day. As Casey reflected on truly horrified she was by Derek's behavior, Derek rummaged through her fridge for something edible. Unfortunately all he could find were soy burgers, granola and a large supply of fruit, none of which interested him in the least.

"Casey, do you have any real food?" Derek asked with a grunt.

"Derek, why don't you go back to your own apartment? My apartment is not a supermarket. And by the way, remind me to thank my mother for giving you a key to my apartment," Casey said as she rolled her eyes.

Derek chuckled and said, "Hey, it's not my fault. Nora just wanted me to check up on you from time to time. I mean you're just a girl, living here all alone."

"Ha ha, Derek. I can take of myself." Casey glared at Derek.

Derek looked over at the crystal clock hanging in Casey's living room.

"Casey, aren't you supposed to be in class, like fifteen minutes ago?"

Casey whirled around to look at the clock, gathered her books, turned to Derek and said, "I'm leaving and I suggest you do the same. We're not kids anymore Derek and I'm tired of playing these games. Could you just stay out of my life?"

Casey stormed out of her apartment and left Derek to think about her words.

Derek sighed and let a dangerous thought enter his mind, 'Maybe Casey is right.'

Derek couldn't quite understand why Casey's words made him so angry, but he did know one thing: he was finally going to take Casey's advice.