Chapter Two-First Day

"Paul!" Casey barked once she entered the office of the guidance counselor. He quickly brought his feet down from his desk and folded his hands on top of it.

"Hello Casey, I haven't seen you in a while," Paul said as he watched her sit down. "What did Derek do to you this time? Unplug your alarm clock and tell you that you have school on a Saturday again? Take all of your clothes and make you wear his?"

"No, this doesn't have to do with Derek at all," Casey responded with a wave of her hand. Paul gave her a look and she added, "Ok, so it does kind of have to do with Derek."

"Do tell," Paul said as he leaned back in his chair.

"Well, while my mom was out she ran into this kid name Mackenzie Montgomery. Turns out she ran away from home and she has no where to live so now she is staying at our house," Casey explained. "It's really cool because there's another girl in our house that's my age so I now have someone to talk to."

"And how does this have to do with Derek?" Paul asked in confusion.

"Well, turns out Mackenzie knew the Venturis from before, but she won't say how. Come to think of it, she never talks about past."

"How is it bad that Mackenzie knew the Venturis before?"

"She and Derek used to be friends which means that he has a partner in crime!" A mischievous look came over Casey's face as she said, "But not if I can befriend her first. I have to go! It was nice talking to you, Paul!" Casey gathered her things and quickly left the room. She scanned the hallway as she quickly walked to her locker. She didn't notice the WET FLOOR sign and went falling to the ground as she stepped into the puddle.

"By any chance is this the way you always start the day?" I asked as I rushed to Casey's side and helped her to her feet.

"Of course, haven't you heard her name?" Derek asked with a laugh as he walked up. "It's Klutzilla."

I covered my mouth so Casey wouldn't hear me stifle my laughter. She just turned to Derek and glared at him as he laughed hysterically. She regained her composure and asked me, "Do you need help finding out where your classes are?"

"I do, actually," I responded with a nod.

"Smack, let me show you around," Derek offered. "I can show you how to sneak doughnuts out of the teacher's lounge."

"Thanks but no thanks, Smerek. I'd rather go through a day without getting into trouble," I responded as I rolled my eyes. "Unlike you, who loves to go looking for trouble. Tell you what, if someone bothers me and they deserve to get something coming to them, you'll be the one I look for."

"Sweet!" He said as he held out his fist and I bumped it with my own. "Catch ya later, Smack. See ya next fall, Klutzilla." He walked away laughing and I grinned as I shook my head.

"Don't encourage him!" Casey cried out as she lightly smacked me on the arm.

"Sorry," I muttered as I rolled my eyes. "You know, Derek isn't that bad once you get to know him."

"Derek? Are we talking about the same Derek Venturi?" Casey questioned as we walked down the hallway. "The same Derek Venturi that turns off my alarm clock? Te same Derek that steals my clothes? The same Derek that–"

"I get it!" I interrupted her as I held up my hands. "So, before my ear falls off by you talking about how much you hate Derek, can you shoe me where my classes are?"

Words of advice: never get Casey started on a subject she can go on and on and on about. For most of the day I had to listen to her complain about what Derek did to her ever since she moved into the Venturi home. Sure, I tuned her out for a good part of the time but it's kind of hard when she won't let you get your own opinion in.

"So, what class do you have now?" Casey asked me once we reached our lockers. I opened my mouth to answer but she took my schedule from my hands and looked at it. "Ooh! You're in drama too! Let's go so we're not late!"

"We wouldn't want that," I muttered under my breath as I followed her. We entered the drama room and I burst out laughing at what I saw, but Casey was just furious.

"DER-EK!" Casey shouted as she stormed over to him.

"Ahh, just who I wasn't in the mood to see," he commented as he turned around and started to talk to, excuse me, argue with Casey about something. I just stood by listening to them argue as I scanned the room. Casey came back to my side a couple of minutes later muttering, "Selfish, ignorant, pompous, waste of skin!"

"Class! Class settle down and take your seats!" The teacher said as she walked into the room. "And Derek, that means get your own seat, no sharing!" She added once she walked to the front of the room. He got a guilty look on his face as he sunk down in his chair. 'Same old Derek.' "Ahh, it looks like we have a new thespian in the class," she said as she looked at me, which caused everyone in the class to turn and look at me. I had to deal with this all day: the stares, the whispers, the cat calls from guys, and the jabs from girls. I forgot how harsh school was and, right now, I wish I was back on the streets. "Why don't you stand up and say something about yourself?"

I growled under my breath as I stood. I thought for a second before saying, "I really don't want to be here," before sitting back down and crossing my arms over my chest.

"You don't like acting?" Casey asked with a raised eyebrow.

"What was your first clue?" I asked sarcastically as I propped my feet up on the seat in front of me. I sighed heavily when she announced that we would have partners for drama exercises. But I felt a little better when the teacher paired Derek and Casey as partners. Although I've only known them and their family for a day I found out, if you're feeling bad, just watch the Venturi and McDonald kids go at it, guaranteed to make you smile, if not bust a gut laughing.

"Hmmm…Mackenzie, you will be paired with Noel," the teacher said.

"Hmmm, that's an interesting pair," Casey said as a smile came to her face.

"What's with that smile? You're starting to scare me," I said as I gave her a suspicious look, which only made her smile get bigger.

"No reason," she responded as a boy approached. "Noel, this is Mackenzie. Mackenzie, this is Noel. He was the lead in our last school play."

"Whoopee," I responded dryly as he shoved his hands into his pockets.

"It's an honor to meet you too," he said in the same tone as I crossed my arms. "I think I have you figured out: you like to write, but you prefer stories, um…you're not that social, you like to listen to music, you play the guitar, and you don't care what people think of you."

"So you think you got me figured out huh?" I asked as I clicked my tongue.

"Yup," he responded with a nod. "Girls like you aren't that hard to figure out?"

"Girls like me?" I repeated as I clenched my hands into fists as annoyance bubbled up inside. "What's wrong with girls like me?"

"Oh, nothing, it's just that, since girls like you don't care about what people think of them they're not afraid to speak their opinions, which ends up making them loud, and arrogant, and–"

"Extremely pissed off!" I growled as I brought back my first.

"Whoa girl!" Derek cried as he grasped my fist. "I'll trade partners with you. Wouldn't want you to get in trouble on your first day." He pulled me away before saying in a hushed voice, "He's not worth it. This class isn't even worth it."

"Then why are you here Derek?" I questioned as I lifted an eyebrow.

"Hello? Have you seen how many girls are in this class?" He asked as he raised a hand to motion. "One of these girls are going to want me to come over to their place and help 'rehearse'," he responded with a big smile.

"You really haven't changed Derek Venturi," I said as I smacked him upside the head and shook mine.

"Thank you and I hope you haven't either because I'm going to need your help with something," he said as an evil smile came to his face.

"Lemme guess, you want to do something to Casey right?" I asked as I faked a face of thought.

"It was always creepy how you were able to read my mind," he responded as he backed up a little. "But yes, it has something to do with her. She's been a little bit uptight lately, I want to do something that will…make her relax."

"Oh no! No way! The last time I helped you with one of your schemes I was grounded for three weeks!"

"Yeah, but who's going to ground you?" Derek questioned as he crossed his arms and smirked.

"I hate it when you make sense," I said through clenched teeth.

"It's one of my good qualities. So are you in or not? We're just going to help her relax, how can we get into trouble by doing that?"

"All right all right, I'm in. But if I get into trouble, I'm bringing you down with me!" I responded as I jabbed my finger into his chest.

"Remind me never to get you mad at me, Smack. You're terrifying now, and I don't want to see you when you're mad."

I just smirked in response.