She was lounging on her twin bed in the dorm room she shared with Laura Mays at Queens. It had been a long and brutal semester, and now after her first finals test, she was reading Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. It was almost comical how the book made it impossible for her to get him out of her head. She thought the same things about him that the main character of the book, Elizabeth thought of Mr. Darcy. In her mind he was a pompous, stuck-up, jerk. And he had thought of her the way Darcy thought of Elizabeth, a boring person for whom he would never even give the time of day. Unlike Darcy and Elizabeth however they would never end up together, no matter how much she fantasized about it.

He was the person she hated the most and the person she loved the most all in one. Living with him was torture. He would pick on her, prank her, call her names, scream and fight with her and she missed every minute of it. They were at the same college for Pete's sake! They never saw each other on campus and he only called her when he needed something. He didn't want to be associated with keener Klutzilla ever again; he had made it perfectly clear.

But still, the pang in her stomach just wouldn't go way. Her heart felt like lead in her chest and she just couldn't get him off her mind. She really wanted to see him. Maybe it was stupid, but she just couldn't help herself from picking up her cell phone and scrolling through her contacts, searching for his name, and then, hitting the green call button. She knew it was a bad idea, lifting her phone to her ear and listening to ring, waiting for him to answer.

"Why do phones even ring when you call someone?" she thought to herself. But that's not what was important right now. Right now she heard the click of a phone being picked up after 14 rings. Yes, she did count how many times the phone rang before he picked up.

"Casey?" he asked, as if he was surprised she was calling, shocked even.

"Hey," she said in a sort of soft, awkward, apologetic (in a way) voice.

"Hey?" he replied, still in shock. "What do you want?"

"Nothing, I just wanted to call," she said hesitantly.

"You just wanted to call me?" he said slowly and drawn out.

"Yeah, ya know, to see how you're doing."

"Fiiiiine?"

"That's good," she said with a sort of smile.

"Listen Space Case," he said impatiently. "I can't chat right now, I got finals to study for."

"Like you study!"

"Ok, cram for."

"That's better."

"Case," he said with a sigh. "What do you want?"

"I just -," now it was her turn to sigh.

"What is it Casey?" he snapped.

"I just miss you, Derek."

There was silence on the other end of the line, and then came another sigh, and then a chuckle.

"I miss you too, Casey," Derek said with a laugh.