Remembered
Casey and Derek were walking home from school one day, and were surprisingly getting along. They were both laughing about how Sheldon Shleper tore is pants in the school hallway. But when they would open their front door, they would find out something that would change Derek's life.
They said good-bye to Emily, and started walking up their front steps into the house. When they shut the door, they immediately noticed something was wrong. Edwin, Lizzie, and Marti were sitting on the couch with Nora and George behind them. It was obvious they had all been crying. "What's wrong?" Casey asked, breaking the silence. "I don't know how to tell you this" George started, "but Derek, your mom just died" Casey and Derek just stood there, frozen. "No, no you're lying." Derek said, backing towards the stairs. "I am sorry Derek" Nora said sympathetically. Derek ran up the stairs, and they all heard his door slam and lock.
That night's dinner was very quiet. It was only Casey, Lizzie, Edwin, and Marti at the table. Nora and George decided to eat in the kitchen, and Derek was still in his room. He hadn't come out since that afternoon. Everyone only picked at their food, not knowing what to say. Then the heard Marti whisper "I wish she didn't die." and pushed her plate towards the center with everybody else's.
The next morning Derek didn't want to go to school and face the questions and sympathy from everyone. Nora and George decided it was best for him to stay home that day. Casey was hardly ready for the questions though too. She had it all planned out; she would only tell Emily and Sam what was going on at home, because she knew they would come to the wake. She avoided all the darts, like she planned to, and made it through the day.
Derek wouldn't talk to anybody, he wouldn't take the phone when Sam called, he wouldn't come down for any meal, and he wouldn't talk to his family. All he did was sit there on his bed and think, when Sam was on AIM, he would just log out. He didn't want to talk to anybody, only his mom.
The next thing they knew they were all dressed up for the wake. Derek finally came down, and had tried to look his best. He didn't want to drive, like he usually did to try to impress people. He just sat in the back all alone. "Derek, do you want to play I Spy?" Marti asked on the way there. Derek just shook his head "No thanks Smartie" he said, his voice shaking. "Wanna look for cute girls Der?" Edwin asked, hoping he would say yes, just to get his mind off of things. Derek shook his head.
During the service, Casey noticed Derek was on the verge of tears. "He wouldn't cry in front of all these people though" Casey thought. When it ended and it was time to go, Derek just stood there, looking at his mom. Casey tapped him on the shoulder "C'mon Derek, it's time to go." But he wouldn't budge. Then Casey saw something on Derek's cheek that she never thought she would see before. It was a tear. "I am truly sorry Derek." Casey said, meaning it. All of a sudden, Derek grabbed her and gave her a big hug and started crying hysterically. "I miss her Casey." Derek whispered. Casey hugged back "I know you do Derek." They pulled away from each other. "Well hey; maybe you will finally turn nice!" Casey said jokingly. Derek laughed "But this never happened, got it?" Casey rolled her eyes "yeah I got it! Let's go" she started walking away, Derek following.
When they got home, Derek went straight to his room. During dinner though, without warning, Casey pushed away from the table and started running up the stairs. She had an idea. She barged into Derek's room, thankfully it wasn't locked. Derek was reading a chapter book. "Is that a book you're reading?" Casey asked, stunned. Derek just looked up. Casey was getting sick of this; she pulled Derek by the hand, making him fall of his bed. Casey started running down the stairs and without saying good-bye, left the house, pulling Derek. The family just watched them silently. "Wow." Lizzie managed to get out.
"Where are we going?!" Derek yelled. They were running down their road, to the middle of nowhere. "You'll see!" Casey yelled back, smiling. Derek rolled his eyes, but kept following. They entered a vast field, with only one hill. Casey stopped when she got to the hill, and started walking up it. When she got to the top, she collapsed on the ground. Derek just stood there, watching her. "C'mon you idiot, sit down" Casey said jokingly. Derek, confused, sat down. Casey was staring ahead, look at nothing. Then he finally realized what she was looking at, it was the sunset. Derek broke the silence, saying "Wow, it's beautiful." "Did I just here the word beautiful" come out of Derek Venturi's mouth? Casey asked. "I guess you did!" Derek said smiling. It fell silent. Derek, putting his arm around Casey, said "Thanks Case" "For what?" "For being there for me." Derek said, smiling. And for that moment, Casey said something she never thought she would say…
"You really are a great guy, Derek Venturi"