Two nights later, Lizzie awoke to the familiar sound of her window opening from the outside. She didn't open her eyes, yet she knew what was happening immediately. The window slammed closed with a loud crash. Lizzie bolted upright and switched on her reading lamp. Casey squinted into the faint light.
"Lizzie? What are you doing in my bedroom?" Casey asked groggily as she stumbled across the room. Lizzie threw her blankets off and went to help Casey stand up.
"Casey, this is my room. You need to quit doing this! You eventually might end up going to the wrong house altogether, not just the wrong window," Lizzie whispered, pulling Casey off the floor. Casey's breath smelled awful, like beer. Lizzie had only smelled it twice before: once a few days ago, when Casey had mistaken Lizzie's room for her own for the first time; and once when Derek finally arrived three hours past curfew from a party the hockey team threw. Derek had been grounded for two weeks, one for missing curfew, and one for drinking.
Casey regained her balance by holding herself up against the wall. "Sorry, Liz, but do you think I can crash here for tonight? I'm too tired to walk to my room. It won't happen again, I swear," Casey whispered, her words strung together, resulting in one big slur. Lizzie shook her head.
"No. You can't do this again. If you're going to sneak out, your going to have to fend for yourself. I will not risk myself getting grounded just so you can sleep on my floor because you're too drunk to stand long enough to walk to your own bedroom!" Lizzie turned off her light and slid back underneath her blanket.
Casey strained her eyes to see in the dark. She tripped over Lizzie's soccer ball, but she made it to the door with out hurting herself, so Lizzie closed her eyes and attempted to drift back to sleep. Just as she was about to, her door creaked open.
Casey popped her head inside the room. "Liz? What room is mine again?" Lizzie sighed.
"I think when you get to the point where you can't remember what room you sleep in, there may be a problem," Lizzie whispered, not opening her eyes. There was silence for a few moments, but the door finally closed once more.
"So, how was school today, kids?" Nora asked cheerfully as she passed the salad dish to Derek. He took it and passed it on to Edwin with even taking any. Nora shot him a look, which he returned with a shrug.
"It was fun!" Marti announced, shoving a forkful of spaghetti into her mouth. "I made a macaroni picture in art!" Marti exclaimed with her mouth full. Little bits of chewed up pasta landed on the table.
George cringed. "How very lady like of you," he said as threw a napkin towards his daughter.
"That's wonderful, Marti. Edwin, Lizzie? Casey? Derek? Why so quiet tonight? Is everything ok at school?" Nora asked, eying her children suspiciously.
"School's fine, Nora," Derek answered monotonously. He stabbed a broccoli spear with his fork.
Casey took a long sip of water from her glass. "Yeah, Mom, everything's go great," she forced a smile as she twirled spaghetti around her fork.
How would you know? Derek thought to himself. You've skipped school seven times in the past two weeks. Derek glanced over at Casey, but said nothing.
Lizzie cleared her throat. "Mom, Kimberly invited me to her slumber party for tomorrow night. I'm going to need a ride."
Nora looked over everyone at the table. Her eyes landed on George first. "I've got to stay late at the office tomorrow night, can you do it, George?"
George shook his head. "Sorry, sweetie, but I've got a meeting with my bowling league tomorrow."
Edwin and Derek snorted. "You're in a bowling league?" Edwin laughed into his plate. George tossed him a stern look.
"Ok," Nora said slowly, looking at Derek. "What's your excuse?"
"Hockey practice," he replied with out missing a beat. Nora turned to Casey.
"I guess that leaves you on carpool duty," she said cheerfully, as if that settled that.
Casey's eyes widened in protest. "Wait! I have plans for tomorrow night!" She dropped her fork onto the table loudly. Derek grinned, glad it was finally time for the 'rents to rain on Casey's plan parade.
Nora shrugged. "Sorry, Case, but you've gotten out of quite a few things these past few weeks and I think it's time for to pick up some of the slack around here. Edwin will watch Marti and you will bring Lizzie to Kimberly's, end of story."
Casey slumped into her seat, her eyes burning holes in Derek's grinning face, as if the whole thing were his fault.
Lizzie, on the other hand, was not to thrilled about riding with Casey. With all of this stuff going on with Casey, Lizzie wasn't sure if she could really trust her sister to do what her mother asked... or do it safely.
There it is. Sorry about the wait! Reviews?
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