Sometimes I tried to imagine what my life would be like without Derek.

Tried is the key word here, because forgetting Derek's unfortunate existence was about as easy as ignoring a 9.0 Richter magnitude earthquake. I wouldn't say Derek himself was a full-out 9 on the Richter scale though. No, he was more like a series of little earthquakes—small enough that you didn't see them coming, but with just enough force to turn my world upside down over and over again.

***

There is no sound more awful than the sound of your own alarm clock. Especially when it's going off at 7am on a Monday morning.

I was dreadfully tempted to hit snooze and sink back down into my pillows, but knowing full well the competition that awaited for the bathroom, I managed to motivate myself to get up. I yawned as I shuffled out of my room. Hopefully the hot water from the shower would wake me up a bit more.

A quick scan of my surroundings confirmed my hunch that I was the first one up. The coast was clear. Or so I thought.

I was literally halfway into the bathroom when Derek came bounding out of nowhere, shoving me backwards and slamming the bathroom door in my face.

"Derek!" I yelled, banging on the door. "I was just about to go in there!"

"Too slow Case!" he yelled back, the satisfaction annoyingly clear in his voice.

I continued banging on the door, even after I heard him turn on the shower. I probably would have stayed there all morning, banging away, had Lizzie not emerged from her room and asked me what I was doing.

"Trying to knock some sense into Derek's egocentric head!"

"Right…" Lizzie said, giving me a strange look before returning to her room.

***

30 minutes and a much shorter-than-I-had-originally-intended shower later, I made my way downstairs to find everybody already eating breakfast—everybody except Derek that is.

"Morning Casey," my mom greeted me as I entered the kitchen.

"Morning," I replied somewhat unenthusiastically, opening one of the cupboards. "Where's all the cereal?" I asked. There were only too boxes left—a dusty-looking box of some fibre-crazy flakes that had never been opened and Derek's cereal.

"Sorry, I'm going to the grocery store this afternoon," she said, leaving the kitchen. "There's some bread on the counter if you want to make toast."

Ordinarily, I would have followed up on her suggestion; however, this morning I found myself reaching for Derek's cereal and helping myself to a large bowl. Edwin and Lizzie gave me wary looks, but I ignored them. Unsatisfied when I didn't empty the box, I moved to dump the rest of the cereal down the garbage disposal. Now Edwin and Lizzie were looking at me like I'd just voluntarily locked myself in a cage with a wild tiger.

Setting my shoulders back, I took a seat at the breakfast table and proceeded to take a mouthful of the cereal. To be honest, it wasn't all that good—way too sugary and about as nutritious as a piece of cardboard. Just the way Derek liked it.

It was at that moment that Derek himself came strutting into the kitchen. He made his way over to the cupboard, took out his cereal box (I'd left it in there for his enjoyment), and attempted to pour some into a bowl. When nothing came out, he gave it a shake, but there was no denying it. It was empty.

He spun around to face us, his face angry. "Alright, who ate my—" He paused upon sight of my bowl. "Casey!"

"Too slow Derek," I chirped, mimicking him from before. "Looks like I got the last bowl."

"Well you didn't have to chuck the rest down the drain," Edwin noted.

"Edwin!" I said.

"Nobody eats my cereal," Derek insisted, glaring at me. He didn't even seem to care about the fact that I'd thrown half of it away, just that I was eating it.

"Well maybe you shouldn't have stolen the shower from me this morning," I countered, matching his glare.

"Well maybe I wouldn't have to if you didn't take hour-long showers!"

"I don't take hour-long showers! I hardly got to take any shower today thanks to you!"

"And that's really unfortunate, 'cause I think you could have used it," he mocked, waving a hand in front of his nose.

"Oh please Derek, the only person with worse hygiene in this house than you is Edwin!"

"Hey!" Edwin interjected.

"Shut up Ed," Derek said before turning back to me. "The point is Casey, nobody eats my cereal!"

"Honestly Derek it's just cereal! Get a life!"

Our argument had escalated to a volume that could likely be heard next door.

"Don't talk to me about having a life! I'm not the one who spends every spare second of my day studying!"

"Well at least I don't—!"

"Derek! Casey! Enough!" George shouted, breaking up our fight. We must have drawn him to the kitchen with all our yelling. "Can't you two go one day without fighting? No, make that one hour?"

I bit my lip, slightly embarrassed. But really, it was Derek's fault. He was the one who drove me to such childish bickering.

George grabbed his briefcase and left for work. I finished the rest of the overly-sweet cereal in silence, keeping my eyes locked on my food since I knew Derek was staring at me. I was afraid if I looked at him I would start yelling at him again.

Rising from my chair, I slung my backpack over one shoulder, making ready to go to school.

"You'll be sorry for eating my cereal," Derek said in a low voice.

I glanced over at him. He was leaning against the kitchen sink, his arms crossed casually across his chest, that infuriating smirk of his on his face.

I raised one eyebrow at him in annoyance. "What's that supposed to mean?"

He shrugged. "You'll just have to wait and see I guess."

I laughed, but it came out sounding a bit weaker than I'd hoped. It certainly hadn't been one of my better ideas to eat Derek's cereal. He just made me so angry sometimes though. Now he was going to pull some sort of prank on me.

It was only a matter of time when it came to Derek.

***

Max was waiting for me at my locker when I got to school. I smiled when I saw him. He was so sweet.

"Hey Max," I said as I approached him. "You'll never believe the morning I've been having—"

"Do you have those History notes?" He asked with a quick grin, cutting me off.

"Oh. Yeah. Just let me get them out of my locker."

I undid the lock and then hesitated. Could this be a trap? Opening the locker unbearably slowly, I attempted to peer inside for potential booby traps.

"Casey? What are you doing?" Max asked, confused.

I swung the rest of the locker open, ducking for cover. Nothing. I sighed in relief.

"Casey?" Max repeated.

"I'm anticipating an act of retaliation from Derek," I explained. "Not that he has any real justification for seeking revenge. I mean, it's cereal. C'mon!"

Max shook his head. "I'll never understand the two of you…And I won't understand History either is you don't give me those notes."

"Right. Sorry!" I said, handing him the notes. "Any particular reason you weren't in class yesterday?"

"Oh, you know, some football thing," he replied vaguely. "Not to worry when I have my own private tutor though." He slung an arm around my shoulders. "A cute tutor too I might add," he whispered in my ear.

As he walked me to class I couldn't help noticing some of the jealous looks from the other girls. And I also couldn't help smiling because of it. I couldn't blame them for being jealous. After all, Max was one of the most popular guys in school—being the school's quarterback—not to mention he was good-looking, sweet, and didn't sneeze deliberately in my food like some other guys I knew. He was pretty much perfect.

Max dropped me off at my Biology class with a quick peck on the cheek. Did I mention how sweet he is?

"Hey Casey," Emily said, sitting beside me. I was in my usual seat near the front of the class. "Have you heard?"

"I'm sure I haven't Em," I replied. Nobody was on top of the gossip like Emily. "What is it?"

"Daryl Chase is throwing a huge party tomorrow night!" she exclaimed with excitement.

"Who's Daryl Chase?" I asked.

"Some guy. I don't know. Who cares? Everybody's going to be there! We so have to go Casey!"

"I'll see."

"What do you mean 'you'll see'?" Emily demanded almost frantically. "Casey, did you not hear me correctly? Everybody's going to be there!"

"I've just had a long week is all."

"Oh you're going, alright."

I gave her a mocking smile. "You seem quite sure of that."

"When I'm done convincing you, you will be too," Emily replied smoothly with a smile of her own.

I bit back a sarcastic reply as the teacher walked in. He had our tests in his hand. I fidgeted nervously in my seat. Getting a test back was almost worse than writing the actual test. I clasped my hands together in front of me and waited as patiently as I could while the teacher wandered around the class passing the tests back to the other students.

"Don't look so nervous Casey," the teacher said as he handed me my test. "You did excellent."

I looked down at it.

99%.

I sighed in relief.

Emily noticed and rolled her eyes in irritation. I ignored her and began flipping through my test. There was only one mistake. I'd accidentally put "anaphase" instead of "metaphase." I felt a twinge of disappointment. Hate me all you want, but there was something unsatisfactory about a 99%. Knowing you were that close to being perfect. That that one little mistake cost you everything. That you almost had 100%.

I'm not saying I wasn't happy with the mark. But when you're a perfectionist, these kinds of things bother you. Trust me.

When the bell rang I was reluctant to leave class, and not because I was so enthralled by the marvels of seed dispersal. I crept up to the door with all the wariness of a police officer sweeping a crime scene and attempted to crane my neck around the corner to peer out into the hallway.

"Casey, what are you doing?" Emily asked, looking at me strangely.

"Do you see Derek?"

She glanced quickly up and down the hallway. "Nope."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes! Now will you stop acting like you're in some action movie?"

I smiled sheepishly and followed her out the door. Better safe than sorry.

***

Lunchtime rolled around and I found myself seated across from Max in the cafeteria. I was about to take a large bite of my cucumber sandwich when I paused. Lifting up the top slice of bread, I examined the contents of the sandwich suspiciously. Still nothing.

"Casey, would you relax already?" Max said through mouthfuls of pizza. "Derek's not even here."

He was right. Derek was nowhere to be seen.

I was in the middle of basking in the beauty of this realization, when who should happen to enter the cafeteria but Derek himself. I narrowed my eyes as he strutted his way through the tables with all the cockiness of somebody who genuinely believed the world revolved around him. Seriously, all the moment needed was some slow motion and a wind machine.

He sat down at a table with some of the other guys on his hockey team, flashing a grin at a trio of fake blonde-haired girls who looked to be clones of one another. The girls erupted into a fit of squeals and giggles. I rolled my eyes. Derek had that sort of effect on girls.

Except me of course.

***

"Derek, can I talk to you for a moment?" I asked through gritted teeth.

He was sitting in his usual chair, watching TV with Edwin and Lizzie, and gave no hint of having heard me.

"Derek?" I repeated, louder this time. There was still no acknowledgement of my presence. Getting frustrated, I marched up in front of him until I was most definitively blocking his view of the TV.

He sighed. "What do you want Casey?"

"I know you're planning something," I said in an icy voice.

"Why do you think that?"

"Because I know you Derek—you thrive on making my life miserable. You're not going to just let it go. You said I'd be sorry."

"Well, are you sorry?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

I thought about it for a moment, remembering Derek's furious expression when he'd discovered I was eating his cereal. "No," I admitted, smiling to myself.

Derek scoffed at my response. "You will be."

***

10:42PM and still nothing. I'd spent the rest of my day creeping around the house cautiously, treating everything as a potential trap. Food, toothbrushes, doorways—they all posed a threat.

I'd enlisted Edwin to try and trick Derek into revealing what he had planned for me, but Derek had simply warned him he would plan something for him as well if he didn't leave him alone.

I plopped down onto my bed with a large sigh. I felt exhausted. I'd been on edge the entire day.

And for what? I asked myself. Nothing—not one little prank. He'd said I'd be sorry, but at this point all I was sorry for was that I'd gotten so worked up over the whole thing.

That's it! Really, despite being a straight A student, I could be pretty stupid sometimes. And to be so fooled by a moron like Derek. Well, that was quite unforgivable actually.

It was so obvious! He hadn't planned anything at all. He'd let me go through the whole day like some crackpot afraid of her own shadow. He'd let me drive myself crazy. So simple, yet so effective.

I pulled my bedcovers over myself. Well that was that. Turns out I'd had nothing to worry about from Derek all along. I shook my head at my foolishness and fell asleep with a smile on my face.

***

The next morning I made sure to get up a little earlier so as to beat Derek into the bathroom. I heard him pounding on the door about halfway through my shower and I made sure to take a little extra time (than perhaps necessary) to rinse my hair.

I emerged from the bathroom with a self-satisfied smirk. I was slightly unnerved to find Derek wearing a similar expression. What it was he had to be satisfied about I hadn't a clue though, so I let it go and went into my bedroom. I had donned a brand new sweater along with my favourite pair of jeans, and was feeling pretty good when I grabbed the hairdryer off my dresser and turned it on.

Baby powder.

It blasted out of the hairdryer. An explosion of white that went everywhere.

I turned the hairdryer off, coughing. It was in my mouth, in my eyes, all over my hair, on my clothes. In short, I was the abominable snowman.

Baby powder in the hairdryer. I was so in shock that it took me a moment to notice the laughing. I turned, my face as white as a ghost (literally), to see Derek nearly having a heart attack in the hallway from the force of his laughter. Edwin was behind him, laughing equally hard.

"What's going on?" Lizzie asked, coming out of her bedroom. She took one look at me and started cracking up along with the rest of them.

I gave Derek the dirtiest look I could muster, but the effort caused me to sneeze, which only evoked more hyena-like laughter from the bunch. I swiped my hand once over my powdered face, then spun around and slammed the door to my bedroom.

He'd won this round. I'd give him that. But this was life with Derek. And life with Derek was a never-ending war.