A/N: Here's the next chapter! I hope you guys like it and thanks for the great reviews! :)


I'm Cool Like That

The next day I woke up, eyes glued shut. I grabbed my clothes and headed for the shower. Of course, I had hit the snooze button one too many times, so the bathroom was occupied. You see, this is one of the many, many reasons Dad shouldn't have married Nora. I won't list them all now. It would take too much effort, and at this particular moment, I am lacking in that department.

Grr, I need a shower and coffee.

"Hurry up!" I shouted loudly, banging on the door. I heard the shower stop and I hit the door once more. After a few more excruciating minutes, my patience was shot.

"Oh, come on! No one needs this much time!" I screamed. I am not a morning person. Unlike...

"Hi, Derek! Good morning!" Casey said cheerily. I rolled my eyes and shoved my way into the bathroom. I turned the hot on full blast and added a smidgen of cold water. Steam is so awesome.

As I was washing my hair, Casey's name passed through my mind. Now that was weird. I never think about Casey. Okay, well, I couldn't exactly say never.

Fine, I'll tell you. So, you wanna know why I hit the snooze button so many times this morning? Well, that would be because of that lovely little dream I had about Miss Casey. You see, she was wearing one of those hot, sexy, evil outfits you might see in Charlie's Angels. Mmmhmm, she was lookin' fine. And she had this whip... Oh, man. Then she straddled me. And, well, my alarm clock went off. I hit snooze, trying to get the dream back. But the moment faded away. And, well, now I'm here. In the shower and, yes, a hot one. Cold doesn't wake me up for some strange, alien reason unknown to man. But it must run in the male side of the family. Dad and Edwin say the same thing applies to them.

I shut off the water and dried off. Wrapping one towel around my waist, I grabbed another and cleared the mirror off. I then took the towel and scrubbed my hair dry. Grabbing the gel, I reached for a brush. Because, alas, we were out of conditioner. Only for the fiftieth time, of course. So my hair was in tangles. I brushed out all of those root-deep tangles and put some gel in it. I went for my usual look, but then decided on spikes on top. It looked good, if I do say so myself. I put my clothes on and went back into my room. Turning on my CD player, I went back to sleep.

Only when I felt pressure on my bed beside me did I awake.

"Mmmhmm?" I said dreamily. I felt hands take my headphones off. I felt hot breath on my neck. They were close, whomever it was.

"Der-rek!" I heard them say in a singsong voice.

"Mmmhmm?" I asked in that half-dazed state. My eyes were still shut.

"Wake up!" Casey shouted in my ear and my eyes shot open. She tried to run, but I grabbed her hand and began tickling her mercilessly.

"Stop! Derek, stop!" She pleaded.

I pressed, "Not until you say what I want you to say!"

"What? Any... anything!" she said, trying to breathe through her laughter.

"Say 'Derek is the master'!" I shouted, grinning with triumph.

"Never!" She shouted adamantly.

"Then the torture goes on!" I said maliciously.

"Fine! Fine, I'll say it!" she screamed. I was still tickling her.

"Say it!" I prodded her.

"Derek is the master!" she said at last, giving into fate. I am Derek Venturi. I stopped tickling her and rested my hands. Only then did I realize our position. I was straddling her, holding her hips; she had her hands on my thighs. She caught her breath a moment later, seeing our positions, too.

"Breakfast! Casey, Derek! Get down here! It's going to get cold!" Nora shouted, giving Casey and myself a scare.

I leaned forward. "C'mon, Case. Let's go," I breathed, about a millimeter away from her face. I leaped up off her and walked coolly towards the kitchen. I was well into my breakfast when Casey finally came in.

"What took you so long?" I asked. She just shook her head and began to eat her breakfast. She looked up at me once while she was putting her fork in her mouth. I stopped breathing. It was like time was frozen as our eyes met. Then Marti came in. Lucky for her, school starts at nine.

"Smerek!" Ah, the infamous nicknames.

"Smarti!" I shouted. She ran up to me and gave me a hug. I kissed her forehead and told her to eat her breakfast. When Casey and I finished eating, we went outside to wait for the bus. I sighed. I couldn't take Drivers' Ed. My grades weren't high enough. The bus pulled up and we trudged in. I was about to sit with Sam when he shook his head.

"Hey, Casey? Sit with me?" he asked her, and she nodded and sat beside him. I rolled my eyes and made one of the middle school kids move. I leaned my head against the window and listened to Crossfade on my CD player.

When we arrived at school, I was the last out of the bus. I noticed Sam and Casey were holding hands. For a brief moment I felt something pass through me. I couldn't quite place it. I shuddered.

No, I couldn't possibly like Casey. After all, she is my stepsister. Ding, ding, ding! Give the man a prize! What in the world? I would be called your subconscious. You know that little voice inside your head that's always right? Ha ha. You're so funny. Don't flatter yourself. Okay, you can stop now. What exactly did you want to tell me? That you're in love with Casey. And yourself. Take your pick. Oh, shut up. Why don't you? Grr. I'm not so sure that I like you too much. Do they have substitutes for subconsciouses? Yeah, they're called vegetables. Once again, so funny. Oops, I forgot to laugh. Not. Ah, the oldest, LAMEST comeback in the book. I'd expected better from you. Cool one. Grow up. You first. You have to grow up for me to grow up, genius. Thanks. I'll be here all week. Don't quit your day job. OH, wait. You don't have one. Neither do you. Speak for yourself. I do. Last time I checked, I was you. Oh, do grow up. Won't you? Will you quit asking me that? It's going to be the same answer as before. Oh, good grief. I have to get to class. Could you at least leave me alone for that one? I actually like this class. Fine, whatever. You're wasting my time anyway...

Okay, that class is officially on my 'boring subject' list. Oh, and that substitute! Argh - I need a stress ball... Just then I saw Sam and Casey making out by Casey's locker. I would've puked had I not looked away. Ew.

"Get a room!" I shouted to them and headed to my locker. I looked for my math homework and couldn't find it. I sighed.

"Then one time I do my homework..." I muttered to myself.

"Hey, Derek!" I shut my locker and leaned against it. Sam came up to talk to me.

"Hey, Sam." I said with a lack of enthusiasm. "S'up?"

"I've got something to tell ya," he said.

"Thanks, Sir Points Out the Obvious A Lot." I said sarcastically.

"Ha, ha. But, seriously, guess what?" Sam said almost too happily. He must've gotten a girlfriend. I wonder who that would be.

"What?" I said, rolling my eyes.

"I'm going out with Casey."

"No! I never would've guessed by the way you two were eating each other's faces earlier," I said, visibly gagging. Now it was Sam's turn to roll his eyes.

"Whatever, dude. I have to get to class before that teacher finally decides to kill me. Later, man," he said, walking off.

"Later," I muttered, being the one of the few left in the hallway. I dragged the rest of the way to my math class. Ugh, I still can't believe I lost it.

"Mr. Venturi, this is the last straw. You never do your homework. I'm sending you to the principle's office," Mr. Gilbert said sternly.

"Mr. Gilbert, I'm telling you I did it. I just left it at home... on my desk..." I said, finally realizing exactly where I left it. Suddenly a light clicked on in my head.

"Wait right here. You can send me to the office in a minute," I said and ran out of the classroom. I found Casey and grabbed her wrist.

"C'mon, Case. I need your help with something," I said and took her into the room. "Mr. Gilbert, this is Casey. She's my stepsister. She'll tell you I did my homework," I said, with a smirk on my face.

Casey looked at me, realizing what I was talking about. "Oh! Yeah, he did it. I even helped him with it," she said, looking right into that teacher's eyes.

Mr. Gilbert sighed. "Fine. But if you don't bring it tomorrow it's another zero to add to your collection."

"Thank you!" I said and walked out with Casey. "Thanks, Casey. I really needed that."

"You're welcome, Derek," she said for what seemed like the hundredth time this week. I was suddenly picking up manners. I shuddered inwardly.

She walked away and met up with Sam to have yet another make out session. I really hope they won't do that the whole time Sam's over at the house today. That's just wrong. It doesn't look right. Sam's too dumb for her. Yeah, that was a little mean, but, hey, the truth hurts. I walked home alone and went into the living room. I pressed 'guide' and saw nothing worth my time was on and turned the TV off. I decided that I had had enough of this day and decided to take a nap. That didn't go so well.