Rolly World
By Pinkmoon
Disclaimer: I do not own Life with Derek or any thing else you might recognize.
AN: Thanks everyone for the reviews and all the nice things you said. I'm glad everyone is enjoying it so far.
Lizzie and I spent the next three hours hanging out in the arcade. She had beaten me four times at air hockey. I had beaten her at the racing game three times. Then Derek dropped Marti off and we played Pac-Man with her for that whole hour. I despise Pac-Man now.
Then Derek and Casey came in. Casey's eyes jumped around a lot and she seemed jittery. Her smile was tight and her voice had a slight edge to it. Derek, on the other hand, smiled and kept trying to touch Casey, like grab her hand or put his arm around her. She managed to escape him every time. Just what did he do out there?
They stood around, watching us play with Marti and debated about which game to play for about twenty minutes. They finally decided on air hockey and began a round of taunts and insults.
"So, Case, you want to make this interesting?" Derek asked, giving the game his dollar and placing the disk on the table.
"What do you mean?" she asked as he slammed the disk in her direction. She knocked it back and watched it zigzag toward him. I glanced over at them before Marti's cry of defeat forced my attention back to our game.
"Let's make a wager," Derek grinned at her. Lizzie and I both looked over at the two, watching them hit the disk back and forth.
"Don't you remember? My betting days are over, Venturi," Casey smiled sweetly at him as the disk slid right into his slot.
Derek smiled back and put the disk back on the table. "Trust me, Casey, you'll like this."
He hit the disk so it created a zigzag and slid smoothly into Casey's slot. All-or-Nothing Competition, here we come.
"I'm listening," she answered, placing the disk on the table and beginning the game again.
"Alright," Derek smirked, "You win and we play whatever you want next. I win and I get to kiss you."
Way to be subtle, big bro, I thought sarcastically. Marti was completely forgotten. Casey and Derek had my undivided attention.
"What!" Casey screeched. Her face was priceless. Her mouth hung open and her eyes were wide. Derek chuckled a little at her expression and watched the disk enter her slot.
"You heard, MacDonald. What, you're not afraid you'll lose?" he taunted, smirking all the while. She glared and slammed the disk on the table.
"Hardly. I just hate to see you so disappointed, especially when you get beat by a girl." She hit the disk and the game was back on.
"So we have a deal?" he asked. The disk slid back and forth, back and forth.
"It's a deal." The disk slid into Derek's slot. He smiled. "Good."
Lizzie and I stayed and watched them battle it out. They remained tied until the last point. Casey took up a defensive strategy while Derek, always her opposite, took up an offensive one. They went on like this for about five minutes until disk finally slid into a slot. It was Casey's.
"You cheated," were the first words out of her mouth.
"How could I have cheated?" he asked as he walked over to her.
"I don't know. But you must have," Casey gasped, watching wide-eyed as he stood in front of her.
"You're being ridiculous," he smiled as he began to lean in. Alas, wrong thing to say. Casey's face slowly changed from one of confusion and trepidation to anger. Derek never noticed, eyes closed as he closed the distance between their lips.
"I'm being ridiculous?" she breathed dangerously, Derek centimeters from her face. He stopped, recognizing the sound he had become so familiar with and opened his eyes.
"Yes, you are," he stated calmly, and began his descent once again. Casey stepped back just before he reached her lips.
"Oh, so it ridiculous to be dreading a kiss I didn't want in the first place?" she placed her hands on her hips. Derek rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest.
"You agreed to the deal."
"But I wasn't expecting to lose," she fumed.
"That's the most unreasonable thing I've ever heard of. Honestly you're being…"
"Edwin," Lizzie whispered in my ear, causing me to shiver, "Do you want to get out of here before they realize we're still here?"
I nodded and we skated away. Well, now it's either skating or the food court. I really didn't want to skate and make myself look like an idiot. Especially in front of Lizzie. I still had a few dollars left so I guess that meant the food court.
"Are you thirsty?" I asked Lizzie.
"Um, yeah, I guess so," she exclaimed, a slightly surprised look on her face. I nodded and began to head that way. I don't know why, but it's always been easier for me to skate on carpet than on hard wood floors. I guess there's more friction or something. So except that mishap at the beginning, Lizzie had no idea of how bad a skater I really was.
We reached the food court and got in line behind a family of five. Two boys and one girl, all under the age of seven. It reminded me of my family before the divorce: absolute chaos. Ah, good times. I took the time to glance over the menu. Dr. Pepper or Coke? Coke or Dr. Pepper? Which to choose? Which had the most caffeine? Did I mention that I love caffeine?
The family finally got their order and left. Lizzie and I walked up to the cashier. It was another teenage girl. Brown, curly hair pulled into a ponytail, dark green eyes. She was short, could barely see over the case register. She wore the same red and white shirt all the other workers adorned. She smiled at us immediately.
"Hello and thank you for skating at Rolly World. What can I get you?" she chirped.
"You go first," I mumbled to Lizzie, still debating between Coke and Dr. Pepper. She shrugged and turned to the girl.
"Um, I'll have a Sprite, please," she said. Miss Preppy nodded enthusiastically as she punched in Lizzie's order.
"One Sprite. And what would you like sir?" she asked cheerfully.
"Uh, a Coke," I answered. Why did she work the cash register in the food court? One would think she would have Mara's job. She pressed a button and grinned at us.
"That'll be three fifty," she declared proudly. I fished the money out of my pocket and gave it to her.
"Thank you. Just one moment and you'll have the best drinks this side of the city," she chirped, turned around and began to fix our drinks.
I looked over at Lizzie. She looked like she was trying to keep from laughing. The music changed suddenly from the heavy metal song that hand been playing to some old, classic rock song. It was like something that played on the radio station Dad listened to.
"Guess Chris's taken over," I heard Cashier Girl mumble. She turned back around, drinks in hand, and grinned once more. "Here you are. Thank you and have a great time skating."
We took the drinks and sat down at one of the orange booths. I slid into one of the seats. Lizzie stood there for a moment, indecision on her face. Then, surprisingly she slid into the next to me, not across from me. I couldn't keep the smile off my face.
Ugh, this was crazy. My stomach was tightening the way it used to when Derek sat next to me. Was I really developing a crush on Edwin? I mean, wasn't it too soon? Or did that prove what I felt for Derek was fictitious? Or what I feel for Edwin? Why did I even agree to this? Why did I even sit here?
I sipped at my drink to hide the fact that I couldn't think of anything to say. I glanced at Edwin out of the corner of my eye. He was smiling. One of those big, cheesy grins. Was Derek right? Did Edwin really like me? This was so confusing. Especially with Derek's plan thrown in. No one knew how anyone really felt.
"So are you having fun?" I heard Edwin ask. I turned to him and quickly conjured a smile.
"Yeah, I am. And we haven't even gong skating yet." His face tightened some but otherwise, his expression didn't change. Weird.
"Yeah, looking forward to that," he mumbled.
"So, Casey and Derek seem to be having a good time." When did talking to Edwin become so awkward?
"If they haven't killed each other yet," Edwin grinned.
"They wouldn't. Not in front of Marti," I exclaim in a mock-scandalized tone.
"Marti would probably be cheering them along," Edwin sighed and shook his head oh so sadly.
I laughed. He grinned. Our gazes caught and something changed. I never noticed just how brown his eyes were. Dark, almost like chocolate. Smooth in color, like melted chocolate. But his eyes weren't focused on mine; they were gazing at my lips. Oh my…was he…was he really…
He was going to kiss me.
"Uh…I…ah…have to, have to go to the-the bathroom," I stuttered in a rush of breath and shot out of my seat. I never turned around to look at him as I skated out of the food court.
Casey. I had to talk to Casey. Where was Casey? With Derek and Marti. Hmm. Maybe I should talk with Derek. No. He was the one who got me into this mess. Derek was out, Casey back in. Arcade. Casey right were I left her. Still yelling out threats to Derek and playing air hockey. Never thought she would actually enjoy that.
"Casey," I exclaimed urgently as I roll up next to her.
"Yes?" she mumbled absently, hitting the disk back to Derek. I watched it zigzag toward him.
"Can I talk to you?" I asked. She still didn't look at me.
"Sure." Derek struck the disk but it stopped just barely within Casey's reach. She would have to practically stretch out on the table to hit it. She glared at Derek. He grinned innocently and raised an eyebrow at her. She leaned over as far as she could and hit the disk hard enough to get it back on Derek's side of the table. He smirked the whole time. The whole episode confused me but I decided I probably didn't want to know. My own problems were enough.
"Alone?" I asked, stealing a glance at Derek. He caught my gaze and his eyes narrowed some. I broke it as Casey finally looked at me. Her blue eyes tighten in concern. Did I really look that distraught?
"Score!" Derek shouted suddenly as the disk went inside Casey's slot. Apparently he won because the disk didn't pop back out.
"De-rek," Casey squealed, momentarily forgetting about me.
"Case-y," he mimicked. "You were about to leave anyway. Why delay the game?"
She only rolled her eyes and turned back to me.
"I'm sorry, Lizzie. Let's go talk," she said. Derek watched us leave with a concern look on his face and then went to grab Marti away from Pac-Man.
Casey led me to the once place all girls go to talk when in distress. The bathroom.
What did I do wrong? I mean she seemed like she wanted me to kiss her. Then again maybe…maybe I had misread her. Urr. I was so stupid. Where was Derek when I needed him?
"Edwin." Ah, right here. Steely, angry voice. Great. I glanced up at him. He glared down at me. Not good.
"Derek! Where's Casey?" I asked, attempting a smile to appease the beast before me.
"She's with Lizzie who appears to be upset. What did you do?" he breathed dangerously.
I debated dragging it out but looked him over once more. One, he was in over-protective brother mode. Lizzie was his sister, step-sister yes, but sister nonetheless. And he has the "hurt my siblings, I kill you" persona. Two, this interrupted his date with his new love interest, a death sentence in itself. And three, he's not a very patient person. So I just told him.
"I tried to kiss her," I groaned. He sighed and slid into the seat across from me.
"Explain." Well at least he wasn't in kill mode anymore.
"I don't know. She was laughing and then she stopped and we where just staring at each other and I…I…," I couldn't go on. Talking about such things to my brother, especially my suave, experienced brother, seemed too awkward and embarrassing.
"I get it," he mumbled. He leaned back in his seat and tilted his head toward the ceiling. He stayed that way for a moment before looking back at me.
"Here's what we'll do. Casey and I will stay with you two for a while until you can handle being near each other again. Then we'll go and you two get Marti back," he dictated.
"Where is Marti?" I just now realized she's no where around.
"Left her with Chris and Abigail." At my confused look he elaborated. "He's the guy who's running the music right now and she's the cleaning girl. They're in another room. The one behind that mirror."
He pointed across the room and I saw about a five foot wide mirror on the wall.
"Derek, how do you know all these people?" I asked him the question that's been bugging me all day.
"Grandma Winston likes to bring me here a lot. This is where her and Grandpa had their first date," he explained shrugging.
"Why didn't I know this?" Grandma had never told me anything about her and Grandpa's courtship.
"How often do you come to see them?"
I open my mouth to answer and then realize, it was Derek's birthday when I last saw them.
"My point exactly," he smirked. I gave him a light glare and turned to my drink. I took a sip and thought back to our problem. "So what do I do now?"
"Act like it didn't happen and try to move on. Oh, and I would avoid Casey for a little while," he smiled.
"But you two are staying with us," I exclaimed, anxiously. He grinned evilly at me.
"It's called revenge, little brother."
Oh, no.
Once Casey and I entered the bathroom, I suddenly lost my nerve to tell her what happened. I mean, it was just…difficult to tell her, especially after the Derek fiasco. I told her everything and her advice was normally sound. That's why I went to her about Derek. I had hoped she would calmly and methodically explain why my crush wouldn't work and how to get over it without telling Derek.
I never thought the color would drain from her face, turning ashen white and she would begin to pace, wringing her hands. I never thought she would be shocked into silence, glancing at me then to the walk that divided her room from his. I never thought that when she finally came to a decision she would resolutely say, "I'm going to tell Mom." I never thought I would be chasing after her, begging her not to. I never thought she would tell everyone the way she did. Yet she had and now I was standing in the bathroom, once again asking her advice.
"Lizzie, what happened?" Casey asked, pulling me away from my thoughts. She was looking at herself in the mirror, replacing loose strands of hair.
"Uh…" How did I explain it? I didn't even understand it. "What do you do…when a…when a boy's about to-to kiss you?"
"Kiss him back, I would think," she smiled at me. I gave her an odd look. I had thought she would've blown up at that.
"But what about if you're not sure…not sure that you like him as much as he…he likes you?" I continued. She turned to look at me through narrow eyes.
"Lizzie, if you're not sure if you like Edwin, the why did you talk me into a date with Derek, of all people, so you two could go out?" she asked dangerously.
"I…I thought that I did…but…uh…when he was going to kiss me I…wasn't sure anymore," I finished weakly. I couldn't believe I almost gave the plan away. Maybe I should have just gone to Derek. No, Derek's a guy (obviously) and talking to a guy about this just seemed too awkward.
Casey's eyes softened and she smiled at me and clasped her hands. Oh, no. I hate it when she does this. She was going to do that "girl talk" thing.
"Lizzie," she began sweetly, putting her arm around my shoulders. "Kissing a boy is a very serious thing…"
Gasp. No, really?
"…and if you're not ready for it, then just tell Edwin that you're rushing things."
Okay, so that's semi-decent. I guessed. Not really what I was wanting. Then something dawned on me.
"Is that why you wouldn't let Derek kiss you when he won the game?" I asked her, watching her face attentively. She looked shocked for a moment and then looked at the ground.
"Yeah, that's why." She gazed at the floor intently.
"Casey, do you like Derek?" I questioned her gently. Her arm moved from my shoulder and she crossed both of them over her chest.
"I don't know, Lizzie. There's times when I…couldn't hate anyone more and then…sometimes…it's like…like I could almost just picture us together…it's strange…it's….it's…I just…I just don't know," she shrugged. I was surprised she had given me that much. There was silence for a moment and then she looked back up at me and uncrossed her arms.
"Well, you ready to go face them?" she asked. I nodded, "Yeah, I guess."
And so, we left our safe haven to return to our complicated love lives.
"And then Sam hit the puck to Rob and he swung it to me. So I had to..." I tried to pay attention as Derek droned on about his glorious win at some hockey game. He's a horrible story teller. He either lives out important details or he gives too much detail. This story was a too much detail one. But I pretended to listen simply because he pretends to listen when I explain some new computer program I've discovered.
I gazed over toward the bathrooms and low and behold, there they are.
"Derek, the girls," I interrupted. He turned around and waved an arm. Casey spotted him and she and Lizzie headed toward us.
And so it began again.
Well, I'm not too happy with Casey. I can't seem to get inside her head and keep her in character. But anyways, I hope everything else was up to speed. And there's one chapter left unless I get some crazy idea and I continue it.But yeah, this one was short. Anyway please review.
Pinkmoon