Ah mornings, 4:59 am to be exact. She woke up before her alarm, and silently shut it off. Although Casey tried to act like she didn't like the mornings because the rest of her family was normally grumpy, she loved them. She could prepare for the day, breakfast was her favorite meal, and Casey loved sunrises. She especially loved the sunrise because certain planets could be seen at certain times around dusk and dawn. At dusk, Casey was normally eating dinner with the family, but the mornings were less stressful, more quiet and peaceful. Sometimes Casey would sneak out of the house to see the planets, stars and constellations. She would set her alarm extra early, and change into warm clothes. She would wear thick socks, long underwear underneath sweat pants and a sweatshirt with a hood. She made sure to grab a blanket and a thick jacket before she tiptoed down into the kitchen to make herself a thermos of jasmine tea. This morning was one of the mornings in which she was sneaking out.
Even though Casey wasn't doing anything bad, she still felt the need to be extra quiet and sneak around. The thought of sneaking out was always something bad that Derek would do, but Casey had a little 'bad' in her as well. This feeling of doing something, or being somewhere where she wasn't expected to be was exhilarating.
Saturn and Venus were supposed to be visible in this month of February, and Casey had found out on the weather channel website that the skies would be clear this morning, and the ground would be relatively dry. Casey walked into her back yard, accidentally stumbling over some toy of Marti's, and finally made it to the path in the woods. She breathed in deeply the crisp winter air and could only hear the sound of her own footsteps against the brittle ground. She heard her blanket dragging along behind her, and she sipped her tea from the thermos. The warmth of the tea made her nose run and her eyes water. There was a slight wind as she walked on the path that left her cheeks burning cold. Casey was angry that she forgot her hat and gloves, but was relieved that she had made it to the huge field. During the spring time, there was a farmer who grew tall stalks of wheat, but now the stalks were cut and now the ground was moist in some places and brittle in others. She figured this was due to heat that the ground itself gave off. She found a brittle area to lay her blanket down because she didn't want it to get wet.
She sat on her blanket ready to examine the stars and planets. Cassiopeia, Orion, Canis Major and possibly the big dipper could be glimpsed tonight, but she was looking forward to seeing the planets, Saturn and Venus. Before she lay down, she took out a tissue and blew her running nose because it was getting pretty out of hand. That is when she heard something.
She suddenly stopped and tensed up. Her eyes got wide and her breath became shorter and quicker. One time when she was out in the field, deer were near and they made horrible yelping noises. At that time, she just kept low to the ground, until the sun came up and they dispersed. She really hoped it wasn't a raccoon because she heard they could be vicious if they feel threatened. Deer can be vicious too though. She sat still with wide eyes and took a gulp of fear.
"Casey?"
Hearing her name caused her to turn back to the woods in the direction of her house. Clad in white long sleeved shirt and flannel green plaid sleeping pants was Derek, his hand clutching a tall tree.
"Casey, what the hell are you doing here?" He walked closer to her, and she saw that his hair poked out from underneath a brown beanie which covered his ears nicely. He wore a pair of rubber and leather snow boots, although he was without a jacket.
"What am I doing here? What the hell are you doing here?" Casey accused.
"No, you don't. I asked you first," Derek reaffirmed his question, coughing at the cold air while he got down and sat next to his step-sister. He tried to smirk, and she could see he was cold. His cheeks were bright red and his mouth was lightly chattering behind the chastising smile. He brought his knees up and nonchalantly slung his arms around them. He wasn't clenching his knees in a fetal position, but he wanted to because he was so cold.
"Here, creeper. Take my jacket. You look cold," Casey took off her jacket and put it around Derek's shoulders. The deep maroon of her coat complimented his fair skin and reddened cheeks.
"I don't need your jacket," Derek said as he put his arms in the sleeves and zipped up the front, "Now how about you stop dodging my question?"
"I wouldn't have to answer your stupid question if you hadn't have followed me. You are sort of ruining my fun right now. Can you just leave?" Casey fumed.
"Uhm, Fun? How can this be fun? Unless you are meeting someone… You still didn't answer my first question," Derek coldly accused her as he lay down on the blanket. He got comfortable and wiggled around on the blanket before he even looked at the sky. "So…"
"I am meeting someone, now leave please," She was sitting up, glaring at Derek with angry eyes.
"Yeah, right. I just got comfortable, and who would want to meet you here?" Derek laughed.
"Anyone would want to meet me here. I am nice…"
Derek just chuckled, "Fine, can you just leave! God, you are so impossible sometimes. I get so mad at you,"Casey huffed as she lay down on the blanket next to Derek.
He stopped laughing, and just laid there next to her, quietly he countered, " You Still didn't answer my question…"
She looked toward the sky not paying attention to him and answered, "I am looking for something out there," Casey answered.
"I knew it! Derek said loudly, disrupting the quietness of them morning, "I was right all along. You are an alien and are waiting for your ship to come and pick you up," Derek triumphantly laughed and elbowed her in the side.
"Der-ek! You know what. I thought maybe you would just sit here with me, but fine. You know what? I am from outer space. I used to live near Andromeda, but my mom fell in love with a stupid earthling and married into a nice family with one bad genetic combination called Derek Venturi," Casey ranted.
"Haha! Spacey!" Derek snickered.
Casey was quiet, and annoyed at Derek's comments, "Spacey do you know when they will come and take you?"
A moment later, "Do you wait out here every morning?"
Trying to provoke her still, "Maybe you just wait when the night's are clear so they can see you?"
Several moments later still trying to arouse her inner anger, he started poking her, "Spacey. Spacey, What a great disguise name of Casey for Spacey."
"Shut up, Derek!" She pushed his arm to stop him from poking her. "I didn't want anyone to know I was out here, and that is why I woke up so early. I like to look at the stars, Derek. OKAY? Is that all right with you? I'm sorry I don't sleep until noon. Not everyone is like you. There are great things about darkness. Like stars," Casey fumed and folded her hands across her chest while looking at the sky.
"Fine… Spacey," Derek smirked.
"Whatever" Casey dismissed his remark and continued to watch the sky. They laid in silence for several minutes looking up at the twinkling stars. Casey shivered as a stark wind blew across the field.
"You cold?" Derek asked.
"Sort of. I wouldn't be cold if you hadn't come to steal my jacket." Casey retorted defensively.
"Well I did so deal. What the hell are we looking for anyway?" Derek bantered.
"Hm, I am looking for Saturn and Venus, but there are also some constellations. I don't know what you are looking for…" Casey sneered.
"Show me then," Derek demanded as he turned his head toward Casey.
"You can't find them if you are looking at me, look toward the sky. I'll show you my favorite constellation. Her name is Cassiopeia, and she is a Queen. In the sky, she is dancing, and she is beautiful. Can you see a 'w' formed in the stars?"
"Oh yeah. Right there," Derek pointed.
"Yep, that's her. I am having a hard time finding Gemini though. Gemini is a constellation of twins. Gemini sort of makes a long rectangle missing one of the short sides. That's not the best description, but maybe you can find it better than me," Casey offered.
"Okay," Derek squinted at the sky searching for an open rectangle, "I see the big dipper, Casey." Derek pointed up in a slated motion toward Casey.
She followed his arm with her eyes, "Nice one."
"Is the brightest star the North Star because I think I see it if is the North Star," Derek asked.
"No, actually. Sirius is the brightest star in the sky, but oh wait, Look Saturn!" Casey grinned in excitement.
"Where?" Derek squinted again.
"Right there…" Casey said.
"Where!?" Derek asked perplexed.
Casey pointed and Derek tried to follow her arm, but couldn't see it, "Where IS it!"
Casey grabbed his hand and made a pointer with it. She scooted as close to Derek as she could and brought her face as close to his so she could try to get the angle of his view. Then, she pointed with his finger at Saturn's direction, "It the golden one. You can't see the rings with just plain eyes, but it is Saturn."
Derek's squinted again, "Oh… Cool. I can actually see it. You know though, I can see the rings. You just must have crappy eyes. Venturis' are known for having great eye-sight."
"Is that why you are squinting?" Casey giggled in his ear.
Derek un-squinted his eyes, and furrowed his eyebrows, "I wasn't squinting. I had something in my eye."
"Right." Casey smirked and finally realized how close they were. She moved away from Derek and let go of his hand, which had fallen to the side closest to both Casey and him.
"It's getting closer to sunrise now, Derek. That means that Venus should be seen in the east, where the sun is coming up," Casey sat up and looked to the east. The sky was becoming slate instead of midnight blue. She searched the horizon and finally locked on an object in the sky.
"Sit up and look at Venus with me," Casey offered or commanded.
Derek reluctantly sat up and looked at the same object in the sky as Casey, "That's so cool, Case."
"You know what's even cooler? Venus is hotter than mercury, and Mercury is actually closer to the sun than Venus. Not only that, but Venus is also hotter than the sun because Venus has such a thick and rich atmosphere; it smothers the planet. Gosh it's so amazing."
She smiled and continued to look at it. Derek slightly turned his head toward Casey, and chuckled. He watched her eyes, which seemed black in the darkness, and he noticed how her hair had fallen in the front of her sweatshirt. Derek lay back down on the blanket and looked to the sky. The stars were slowly disappearing as the sun creeping up to dawn.
"Why do the stars twinkle?" Derek asked as if in a dream state of mind.
Turning toward him Casey responded robotically, "Well, the Earth has an atmosphere too. Our atmosphere disrupts some of the visible light waves of the stars that travel towards our eyes."
"Oh, Derek said quietly, "I would like to think that the stars are winking, just at us," Derek pondered aloud, and the sun started to rise.
"We better get going back," Casey stated smiling at Derek's words. She stood up with her thermos in her hand. "How did you even wake up this early? I thought I was uber quiet."
Derek was still lying on the blanket, "I heard the creak of the stairs and thought someone was robbing us or something."
"Really? Hm." Casey resolved that the stairs were creaky, "But we have to get going. Can't be late for school on this wonderful Friday morning!"
"Casey, you're right that it is Friday. It IS Friday. Come on. Lighten up. Sit back down," Derek patted a spot on the blanket next to him and then stuck his hands behind his head closing his eyes.
Casey smirked and said, "You're right, D." She slowly moved to the side of the blanket where he patted his hand, but instead of sitting, she grabbed the edge of the blanket and yanked it causing him to roll over several times on the ground.
"UMPH" Derek gasped, and Casey started laughing. She walked over and stood next to Derek, "Let's go."
Derek grunted, and he grabbed the backs of her knees and unlocked them causing her to be unstable.
"AH! Der-ek!" yelped Casey as she fell on top of Derek. Her knees slammed into Derek's belly causing him to force out all his air.
Derek gasped. He couldn't breath; he tried to suck in air, but he couldn't. He tried to force out air but he couldn't. His eyes started to bug out because he could not breath.
"Derek, you're such an asshole," Casey said as she stood up, "God, Derek. Why did you…"
Casey saw Derek on the ground, not breathing. "Derek?"
Derek looked at her pleading with his eyes for her to help him.
"Derek, just stay calm okay. You'll be all right. Just relax okay," Casey looked as if she was going to cry. She picked up his hand and started to stroke it. She lightly touched each finger, as she looked him in the eyes, "Derek, you'll be all right. I must have pushed your diaphragm when I kneed you. When this happened to me in gym class, they told me to just try to stay calm because my diaphragm was in a spasm. Just try to take a breath when you are ready. I am sorry I hurt you. If you calm down, then you will be able to breath better." Casey was rambling and squeezing his hand tightly.
Derek gasped again. Casey looked pleading toward Derek as he coughed. She let out a sigh of relief when he took in another breath and coughed it out sputtering.
"Derek, I am so sorry. I was just playing around. I didn't mean to hurt you," Casey sobbed. Derek sat up and breathed slowly and then normally. Casey went in to hug Derek. It was an awkward hug that ended briefly due to Casey's discomfort. Casey stood up and in front of Derek. With an apologetic half smile, she offered a hand to help him up, and Derek clutched her hand. He smirked as he pulled her on top of him again. This time Casey fell with gasp for air and landed on top of Derek who was now again laying flat on the ground. She fell in between his legs and her face was in the crook of his shoulder.
"Der-ek!" Casey exclaimed, "Why the fuck would you do that?" Casey said as she tried to get up, but he held onto to her sides. He pulled her into himself causing her to stay on top of him. "Derek, let go of me. God! First you can't breath and now you are acting so childish. Let's just go back to the house now. The sun is up…" Casey looked at Derek's face. His eyes were thoughtful, and she almost thought that he was sincerely smiling. That face quickly disappeared as he started to tickle her. He decided that tickling through clothing wasn't causing enough laughter from Casey, just annoyance, so he lifted her sweatshirt and nightshirt and started to tickle her sides and stomach. Casey's eyes squinted from giggling and frustration. His hands were cold, but smooth, and he relentlessly tickled and laughed as she wriggled on top of him.
She closed her eyes trying to wrangle free from his hold, "Derek!" She laughed, "Derek please! I'm going to pee! I drank some of that tea! I swear I'll pee on you."
In a rush, Derek rolled Casey off him, "Okay, fine. You win, I do not want to be peed on thank you." He stood up quickly and grabbed the blanket. Casey laughed a final laugh and scrambled to her feet.
"I'll pee on you," Casey snarled slowly and creeped toward Derek with her arms in an attack position. She started to chase him back to the house, but stopped on the edge of the meadow. She looked back at the rising sun. Derek stopped to look too, but not at the sun. He looked at the morning beams of the sun shining on her beauty, "Come on Spacey! It's Friday" Derek mocked her and ran away.