A/N: Hey everyone! This is my sequel to The Way She Looks at Him. Please enjoy! R&R loves! Thanks so much!
-Jacki :)
The Way They Look at Us
Chapter One: They Have Suspicions
Derek Venturi sat on his bed, staring at the ceiling. It was a Saturday and he was up before noon. Normally, this would irritate him, but today, he was alright with it. He knew Casey would be up soon, and he needed to talk to her. It had been three months since they had started going out, and they were now three months into their senior year of high school. Casey was busy studying, and Derek, following his girlfriend's good example, was also studying. He decided that since it was his senior year, he should put all his efforts into it. This of course had shocked his parents and Nora. He grinned when he remembered their faces when he brought home his first "A" in years.
No one but Lizzie and Edwin knew about Casey and Derek. But they were starting to get the feeling that Marti knew. Somehow, Marti always knew these things. But, they had been keeping their parents clueless. At least they thought they were. That's why Derek needed to talk to Casey. He believed Nora was beginning to suspect them. And he knew this would freak Casey out, but he needed to warn her. They needed to stop acting so secretive, and if Nora or George brought it up, they were to act cool, and pretend like nothing was going on. This was tough for Derek, to see Casey at school or just around the house, and not be able to wrap his arms around her and kiss her. He was not used to this kind of secrecy, and he was beginning to want more and more time with Casey.
Casey was obviously feeling the same way, because every time they were alone, whether it was four seconds or four hours, she would rush over to him and hold him tight. He didn't mind, because he had really wanted to do the same thing. He was just glad that she did it first. He got up off the bed and left his room, checking the hall and making sure no one else was awake early. He slipped quietly into Casey's bedroom when he was sure the coast was clear. She was still asleep and Derek watched her with loving eyes. Yes, it may be cheesy, but he didn't care. She was different. She always had been.
She heard the door close silently behind him and her eyes fluttered. They were about to close all the way again, before she spotted him.
"Derek!" she whispered gladly and got out of bed, still in her purple pajamas. He smiled and she hurried over to him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and laid her head on his chest. He laid his head on hers and smiled. He wanted to cherish this touch as much as he could, because he had an odd feeling that he wouldn't be able to have it much longer. She snuggled into his green three quarter shirt and smiled, "Good morning."
"Morning." He pulled away and looked into her eyes, "Case, we have to talk."
She looked at him, worriedly, but led him to the bed and they sat down. "What's wrong?"
He bit his lip, then turned to her, and looked her full on, "Case, they're on to us. Well, at least Nora is."
"What?!" her eyes widened, "No. We've been so careful. We've kept everything quiet. How could they possibly be onto us?"
Derek shook his head, "I don't know."
"Well, how do you know they're onto us?"
Derek swallowed hard, "Well, last Saturday. Do you remember what happened?"
"Yeah, the whole family went away for the day. We had the entire day to ourselves. How could I forget? One of the best dates of my life." She smiled broadly.
"Well, when they all came back that night, Nora must have seen me smiling or something and when I went into the kitchen to get a drink she followed me. She was staring at me, and her eyes were narrowed. She asked me if you and I had a fun day. But she said like she knew something. But she looked mad. Really mad."
"Oh no. Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no. This can't be happening. She can't find out. If she ever finds out for sure…"
Derek put his hands on her shoulders, "That's not gonna happen, Case. Ok, I'm just going to have to be more careful. They think I hate you. So, I'm going to have to act like it again. The pranks and the taunts, and the insults are all going to have to come back. I haven't done any of that in the past three months, and I think they noticed."
Casey took a deep breath, "If that's what it takes, I guess we have to. And I'm going to have to act like I can't stand you anymore. It's going to be hard," she ran a hand gently through his thick brown hair, "But we have to. If we want to keep this up, we're going to have to act like we used to."
He nodded, but didn't look any happier, "This sucks."
She closed her eyes and laid her head on his shoulder, and pouted her lips, "Yeah it does."
He took her hand in his and smiled. Then their happy morning was interrupted by a loud wake up call.
"Derek! Casey! Where are you two?" Nora's voice called, she sounded close.
Casey thought fast, "Quick, put all of my make up into this bag." She tossed Derek his old messenger bag, "And then sneak out of the room like you're up to something."
Derek grinned and did as he was told. Before he left Casey smiled and blew him a kiss. He smiled in return and slipped out the door, looking very suspicious. Nora looked at him curiously and raised her eyebrows.
"What were you doing in Casey's room?" she asked, her voice stern.
Derek shrugged, but before he could reply, a loud screech erupted from the door behind him.
"DER-REK!"
Nora rushed into the room, closely followed by Derek. Casey stood in the middle of her room, looking flustered. Derek couldn't help it, he had to laugh, she looked so ridiculous, but she was such a good actress. The laughing helped, though, because Nora turned on him.
"What kind of a prank did you pull now?" she asked, sounding exasperated.
He shrugged. Casey answered for him, "That – that… JERK stole all my make up. AGAIN!" she cried; Derek saw her hide a grin as she tried to think of a name to call him.
Nora sighed, "Derek, please give your sister her make up."
Derek smirked; that hadn't been used in a while, and did as she told him. He took the messenger bag and emptied out the contents into Casey's wastebasket. Casey made an offended face, and looked exactly like she had all those times Derek had really pranked her. Derek laughed and left the room before Nora could say another word.
Nora shook her head, "Really, I don't know how you put up with all his immaturity." She left the room, still shaking her head.
Casey smiled and licked her lips, "Oh, I know how I can." She ran out the door and watched her mom walk down the stairs. Then she hurried over to Derek's door. He opened it before she could knock though; he was grinning and chuckling to himself.
She smiled at him, "That was great! Just like old times."
He wrapped his arms around her waist, "You were brilliant, I must say. That was amazing acting skills back there."
She grinned and leaned in to kiss him. In the middle of the kiss though, they heard a voice and broke apart instantly.
"Isn't it a little too early to be making out?" a half-awake Lizzie asked as she made her slow way to the bathroom with half-closed eyes.
Derek and Casey laughed as they watched her walk away and hit the doorframe and then go into the bathroom, closing the door behind her.
Casey then turned back to Derek, "That was just stage one, if she's really on to us then she is going to try everything and when we least expect it. We've got to really act like we hate each other for this to work."
Derek nodded, "I know, I almost couldn't keep a straight face as I snuck out of your room."
Casey laughed, "Well, duh, Derek, you're allowed to laugh! Actually, you should! You're the one doing the pranking! I have to act offended 24/7. Seriously, I was such a drama queen before you helped me to chill out."
He grinned and put his arm over her shoulders, "You have done well, sis."
She looked over at him, eyebrows raised, "Sis?" then she laughed, "Oh, I gotcha. See you later, slob."
She laughed as she walked away and turned her back on a half-amused, half-offended Derek.
'This is going to be fun.' Derek thought, and grinned and turned back into his room.