Disclaimer: Life With Derek is copyright of Disney and Canadian Television. I do not own these characters (unless there are ones you don't recognize, but I do own the plot of this story. So please, don't sue me. I'm just a poor college student with no job.

Casey's POV

I ran down the stairs, heading for the door. I had taken longer than expected to get ready that Saturday morning and I was worried that I wouldn't get to the car before Derek.

We were both 17, had our licenses, and had just finally convinced Mom and George to get us a car. Unfortunately, it was just one. That's right. I had to share car privileges with the bane of my existence: Derek Venturi.

If we wanted to get our own cars we would have to buy them ourselves. The car they had bought was going to stay a shared car for emergencies and for when Lizzie and Edwin learned to drive, if it was still running by then.

I reached the door and noticed the car keys still sitting on the living room table. I grinned and grabbed them. 'Casey wins this time!' I thought to myself. "Mom!" I shouted into the kitchen where I knew Mom would be making breakfast for Marti, Edwin, and Lizzie. "I'm taking the car to meet Emily at the Mall. We're going prom dress shopping."

"Alright honey. Drive carefully!" she warned me.

I sighed "Don't worry Mom. I will."

I pulled into a parking space at the mall and ran inside to meet Emily at the entrance. She was sitting on a bench when I got there. She stood up and crossed her arms across her chest. "Geeze Casey. What took you so long?"

"Sorry," I muttered, "it took me longer than usual to get ready this morning."

"Why? Are you hoping to meet a prospective prom date here?" Emily laughed. When I didn't join in on her laughter, she realized she had hit a sore spot. "Sorry. I didn't realize not having a prom date bothered you so much."

I avoided eye contact with her and started walking towards one of the specialty store that only carried bridal and prom style dresses. Emily and I searched, tried on dresses, and searched some more. It was the never ending cycle. Finally after about an hour and a half Emily found a dress that she loved. It looked gorgeous on her too. It was a light lavender, satin, with an A-line skirt that would barely sweep the floor if she wore heels.

"Hey Casey," she started, "Do you think Sam will like it?"

I winced at the mention of Sam. Emily had given up on Derek and had started dating Sam. It probably wouldn't have been so bad except that Sam and I had been dating for about a year, and then he and Emily started up a relationship not even two days after we had broken up. "Yeah, he'll love it Em."

While she changed back into her street clothes I continued to look at the dresses. That's when I spotted it. It was my dream dress. I ran over and glanced at the size. I felt disappointment rise up within me as I noticed it was a size smaller than what I normally wore. I brought it into the dressing room anyway, hoping I could squeeze into it.

I held my breath and zipped the back of the dress. Finally daring to breathe I noticed that the dress fit me perfectly. I stepped out of the dressing room to where Emily was putting away unwanted dresses. She turned upon hearing the dressing room door open and her jaw dropped open in what I hoped was awe. "Wow Casey. Now we have definitely got to get you a date to Prom."

I grinned and tilted my head to the side to look into the full length mirror. The dress was strapless and the top was made of satin while the bottom had layers and layers of tulle. It was like a fairytale princess gown in a deep shade of turquoise. I loved it, simply loved it.

I slipped back into the dressing room and out of the dress. I took a deep breath and glanced down at the price. I inhaled sharply when I saw how much the dress was going to cost me. It would probably wipe out my savings account, or at least the portion that wasn't dedicated to my college fund.

I sighed and put my regular clothes back on so I could go pay for the dress. Emily and I walked out of that store with out bank accounts severely depleted. I grumbled to myself, "I can't believe I just spent so much money on a dress. And I don't even have a date to prom!"

"Awwwww...Casey, you looked gorgeous in that dress. You'll find a date, don't worry about it."

I sure hoped she was right. "Well, I should probably get home Em. Derek is probably getting impatient waiting for the car. Knowing him, he has six dates today alone." I rolled my eyes.

Emily gave me a sympathetic look. "Well, I'll see you at school on Monday. We'll start looking for a date for you then." She turned to start walking away, but then she faced me again. "Hey Casey, do you want me to keep your dress at my house for you? I know your house can be chaotic and well, we don't want anything bad to happen to the dress, right."

I smiled. "Thanks Emily." I handed over the dress and then proceeded to walk to the car.

I started on my way home. I let my mind wander back to the dress a little bit. I never considered myself to be heavy at all, but I couldn't gain any weight in the next month or else my beautiful, extremely expensive dress probably wouldn't fit me. I sighed. Well, at least now I had that month to find a date and the perfect shoes.

As I approached the last intersection before the highway, I had a bad feeling. I tried to brush it off as just being guilt for buying such an expensive dress that I was just going to wear once.

It wasn't until I was in the intersection that I noticed the car that was coming at my driver's side door, speeding through what was a red light for them. I found myself holding my breath, hoping I would make it through the intersection unscathed. It wasn't until I heard metal crunch against metal that I realized that I was actually in trouble. I never heard the squeal of breaks, meaning that the other car had never tried to slow down, or maybe had never seen me.

Panic was the last thing I felt rush through my veins before blacking out. For all I knew, neither car ever stopped.

AN: Ooo...cliffie! Kind of. Hehe. I'll post the next chapter as soon as possible. Chapters will probably start coming alot more quickly once I get my laptop back and I'm not having to share a computer with my father. Yeah...

Comments are appreciated very much. Praise, constructive criticism, whatever.

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