Episode 3

Shopping

It's Friday now, and Derek, Sydney, and Casey have learned how to deal with each other a little bit better. Derek and Casey still constantly fight, and argue, but Derek and Sydney are making progress. They don't exactly hate each other anymore. Syd is used to Derek's antics with the girls, and she's learned how to deal with Derek better. They haven't been friends for a LONG time, but they're doing better. They've finally learned how to deal with each other. They aren't as hostile towards each other as they were when they first met, about a week ago. They're doing ok. Of course, Derek and Sydney have gotten a tiny, itsy bit closer faster than most people because they're partnered up to be each other's spouses for their Health project in Health class.

Derek, Sydney, and Casey are sitting in 6th period waiting for the bell to ring so that they could be dismissed. Derek is getting extremely impatient. Syd and Casey are waiting as patiently as they can. They're both very patient people. They talk.

Casey: So you've been spending every day and night with us after school this week! It's been really fun and exciting! I can't believe that we've been able to get sleep. I mean… the first few nights you spent the night, we stayed up practically all night long just talking to each other and catching up on stuff.

Sydney: It has been fun, but I kind of feel like I'm intruding.

Casey: You're not. I mean… look at my family. We're all a little bit happier, even Derek, surprisingly. You know what my mom and George told me Wednesday night?

Sydney: What?

Casey: My mom said that she wishes you'd move in. George told me that he's kind of happy to have a teenager that barely talks, and is very polite.

Sydney: Oh.

Casey: Yeah… so… you and Derek are both going shopping tomorrow?

Sydney: I think so, unless Derek changed the day and didn't tell me.

Derek comes over.

Derek: I didn't change anything. Wait… what are you two talking about?

Sydney: Casey asked me if you Derek, and I were going shopping this weekend. Tomorrow. I wasn't sure, and I'm not sure if you had changed the date or not.

Derek: Oh. Yes than. We're going today after school. We're going to get those rings as soon as possible so that we'll both have more time on our hands, and I can date lots, and lots more girls.

Syd: (She rolls her eyes.) All right than.

Right after Syd said what she did, the dismissal bell rang, and the class was dismissed.

When the class was dismissed, everybody filed out of the room as if it was on fire.

Derek, Sydney, and Casey are in the car going home now. Derek is 17 years old, and he has his license. He's the one that is driving. Casey is 17 years old too, and she also has her license. Syd is 16 years old, and she has a permit. Sydney and Casey are both sitting in the back seat just talking to each other.

Sydney: So… Casey, when do you and Max get your rings?

Casey: We're getting them tomorrow.

Syd: Sweet!

Casey: I know! It's going to be SO cool to say that I'm married to Max. Of course, I'll have to explain that it's only a school project.

Syd laughs, which Derek heard, and which he noticed. He liked it, surprisingly.

Derek: We're going over to Kendra's house first. I'm picking her up. After that, I'll get you two home, and whoever would be nice; tell my dad and Nora that I'll be gone for a few hours. Syd, we're going to go get those rings after dinner.

Casey: Fine. (She says displeased.)

Syd: All right.

After about 10 minutes, Derek, Sydney, and Casey are in front of Kendra's house. Kendra is Derek's girlfriend. They had gotten back together, and they've been together for about 2 weeks now. When the three pulled in front of Kendra's house, Derek stopped the car, he parked the car, he turned the car off, and he got out and headed up to Kendra's front door to her house. Once he got up to the front door, for the first time, he didn't bother to make himself look more presentable, and instead, he just knocked. When he knocked, the front door was opened a minute later. When it opened, Kendra was on the other side. When she saw Derek, she smiled, she hugged Derek, and then she kissed him.

Kendra: MOM, DAD, I'M GOING. DEREK'S HERE. I'LL BE BACK WHENEVER.

Kendra's mom: OK KENDRA. HAVE FUN.

Kendra's Dad: HAVE FUN.

After Kendra's parents said what they did, she got her coat on, she stepped out of the house, she closed the front door to her house, and she went up and put her arm around Derek's back, and Derek put one arm around Kendra's shoulders. They walked to Derek's car, when they got to Derek's car, for some weird reason, Derek wanted to get a reaction from Syd, so he kissed Kendra in such a way that if Syd were Derek's girlfriend, she would have been fuming with jealousy. Syd, however, did nothing. She didn't react, and that bothered Derek, but he pulled away from Kendra, walked Kendra over to the passenger's door, opened the door for Kendra, waited until she got in and sat down, and when she did, he closed the door, and went around to the driver's door. When he made it to the driver's door, he opened it, he got in, he sat down, he closed the door, he buckled up, and then he put his keys into the ignition and started the car up. When Derek started the car up, he waited until everybody was buckled up, and he sped off.

Derek, Sydney, Casey, and Kendra are all at the Venturi/McDonald residence. The four were inside. Derek and Kendra weren't leaving just yet. Derek and Sydney were both in the kitchen getting food. It was the first time that Derek hadn't been with Syd alone at all, and he kind of felt uncomfortable and nervous. He didn't know why though.

Sydney: What are you having?

Derek: A sandwich.

Sydney: What kind?

Derek: Ham and cheese.

Sydney: That's funny, that's one of my favorite sandwiches. They're really good. Anyway… I think we're finally improving. I mean… we aren't at each other's throat anymore. I mean… about a week ago, we'd be arguing and fighting constantly.

What Sydney didn't know was that when she said, "at each other's throat", Derek was thinking something totally different than what she was.

Derek: (He blushed.) Ahh… right.

Sydney didn't see or noticed Derek's blush, which Derek was thankful for.

Sydney: Kendra's nice.

Derek: Yeah. That's why I'm dating her. There's still something missing though.

Sydney: Something missing? Like what?

Derek: I'm not quite sure, but something.

Sydney: Hmm… it's not the fact that you two aren't physical with each other.

Derek: No… that's not it. It's not something tangible.

Sydney: Hmm… I don't know than.

Derek: Yeah… well… that makes two of us. I mean… when I'm with Kendra, I feel one thing, when I'm with other girls, I feel another thing, and with… y… Casey, I feel lots and lots of hatred, but love because she's my stepsister. You know?

Sydney: (She smiles.) No.

Derek: Why are you smiling?

Sydney: Oh… no reason.

Derek: There's a reason.

Sydney: It's nice to know that you've got a heart in there. (She smiles.)

After Sydney smiled and said what she did, before Derek could reply or respond, she had finished making her sandwich and was off. When she left, Derek stood somewhat frozen in his spot, and after 2 minutes, he gives a smile, he finishes making his sandwich, and he goes out of the kitchen and goes into the living room where the TV is. When he got into the living room where the TV was, Derek saw that Sydney was sitting in front of the TV, but she didn't have anything on the screen. The TV wasn't on. He was kind of surprised.

Derek goes and sits down by Sydney.

Derek: Why don't you have the TV on? And where are Kendra and Casey?

Sydney: I don't have the TV on because I don't want it on, and Kendra and Casey are both upstairs. Kendra's in the bathroom and Casey is in her room.

Derek: Hmm… well… if you're not going to watch TV, give me the remote.

Sydney: Sure. (She grabs the remote and gives it to Derek.)

After Derek got the remote control, he turned the TV on. When he turned it on, it was on the channel that Casey and Sydney had been watching some days ago. It was all music videos. When Derek turned it on, the song that was showing was "I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing" by Aerosmith. Derek heard 30 seconds of the song before he had turned the channel to a Hockey channel. When the TV was on the Hockey Channel, Derek watched it for about 30 minutes, but then his mind started to wander back to the 30 seconds of the song he had heard earlier. He wanted to hear the whole song, but he didn't know who sung it, or what the song was called. He decided that he'd check it out later. It was taping, and he knew that, that was Casey's doing. They had DVR, and he knew that Casey loved music and music videos, and he knew that she'd tape music videos.

As Derek and Syd watched the Hockey game playing, Kendra came in. When she came in, she sat down on Derek's lap, and spoke to her.

Kendra: Derry? When are we going?

Derek: Ahh… huh? (He hadn't noticed that she had sat down on his lap.)

Kendra: When are we going out?

Derek: Oh… ahh… after the Hockey game. So, that's about an hour or so.

Kendra: Derry. (She said in a whiny voice.)

Derek: Ok… ok… fine. Let's go.

After Derek said what he did, Kendra got up and out of his lap, he finished off his sandwich, he took the plate into the kitchen, he put the plate in the sink, and he went upstairs to brush his teeth. When he left to go upstairs, Kendra spoke to Syd.

Kendra: So… you don't have a boyfriend?

Syd: No.

Kendra: Well… we need to find you someone!

Syd: Ahh… no thank you. I'm fine. I'm happy with being single.

Kendra: That's exactly what Casey said some time ago. She was really lonely, but she met Max, and everything changed! I think that Casey and Max are the cutest couple! Well… other than Derek and I of course.

Syd: Oh… ahh… really. I'm perfectly fine.

Kendra: You know… I bet Samuel Davids, Derek's best friend has some friends that would be willing to date you! Sam's a good guy. Derek calls him a "Pansy".

Syd: No thanks. Now… how do I turn the TV off?

Kendra: You don't know how to turn the TV off?

Syd: Not this TV.

Kendra: Oh… let me show you. (She does so.)

After Kendra showed Sydney how to turn off the TV, Syd spoke.

Syd: Thanks.

Kendra: Anytime! Now… I better go to the bottom of the stairs and wait for Derek.

Syd: I'll see you later.

Kendra leaves.

The reason that Sydney didn't know how to turn the TV off was because she has never had a TV. Her mom is always busy with work, and her dad has been dead for years. She pretty much lives on her own at home. Her mom is never home. And if Syd's mom is home, Syd's mom is either drunk, or 'doing it' with some new guy each night.

After Kendra had left, Syd finished eating her sandwich. When she finished, she took her empty plate into the kitchen, and in the kitchen, she put her plate into the dishwasher. She saw Derek's plate in the sink, and so she put it in the dishwasher. The funny thing was that, when Sydney put Derek's plate away and cleaned up after him, she felt like she really was his wife, which was kind of funny and weird to Syd. She brushed it off though.

After Sydney finished cleaning up after herself and Derek, she went back into the living room. Once she got into the living room, Derek's biological younger brother Edwin was sitting on the couch. Along with Edwin, Elizabeth or Lizzie, Casey's biological younger sister was sitting on the couch with Edwin. They were watching TV. Syd went over to them; she sat down in the seat that only Derek sits in, and talks.

Syd: Hey Ed, hey Lizzie. How are you two today?

Edwin: Good. (He looks over at Syd and his eyes go wide.) You might want to move out of that seat. That seat is Derek's seat, and everybody is forbidden to sit in it. If he catches you sitting in it, he'll hurt you.

Lizzie: I'd listen to Ed if I were you. You see… I sat in there once, and gosh, Derek was SO protective of it, and I got into HUGE trouble. He threatened to kick me out of that seat himself if I didn't get out, and I didn't get out, and he literally kicked me out.

Syd: Wow… he's a violent guy.

Edwin: Most of the time he is. I mean… he LOVES to hurt all of us mentally, physically, and emotionally, but other times, he's a VERY good guy. When him and I were younger, he was always protecting me from everything.

Lizzie: He does have his moments, but he's a very physical guy still.

Syd: I see. Is there anything else that he's EXTREMELY protective of?

Edwin: Yeah. He has this black leather jacket that he's ALWAYS protecting.

Syd: Why?

Edwin: It was a gift from our mother Abigail. Before my dad George, and my mom Abigail divorced, she gave us each a special gift. Derek's was his leather jacket. You see… my mom purposely bought Derek's leather jacket WAY too big. She told us that it was for him when he became a teenager. My mom did a very good job at guessing his size as a teenager, because it fits him perfectly.

Syd: I see. Hmm…

Edwin: Yeah. He's a protective guy, but he never shows it. Right now his girlfriend is Kendra, and he'll protect her. Casey and Lizzie are our new stepsisters, and he's very protective of Lizzie.

Lizzie: Yeah he is.

Edwin: Yeah… and despite the fact that Derek does whatever he can to make Casey hate him; he'll protect her no matter what still. He's EXTREMELY protective of Marti. Marti's my biological younger sister.

Syd: Hmm… I'll remember that.

Lizzie: He really isn't a bad guy even though he does nothing but bad things.

Syd: Hmm.

After Syd said what she did, she heard running, and suddenly, on her lap was a little girl.

Syd: Hi there. Umm… let me guess… Marti?

Marti: Aha! Is Smerek dating you?

Syd: No. He's dating Kendra.

Marti: I don't want him to date her. I want him to date you Smydney.

Syd: Smydney?

Marti: Aha! Smerek and I have nicknames for each other! I'm Smarti, and he's Smerek. When I really like someone, I give him or her a nickname too! And I really like you! So you're Smydney!

Syd: I feel honored little one! (She sweetly smiles.)

Marti smiles back up at Sydney, and she settles in Sydney's lap, and when Marti is settled in Sydney's lap, she falls asleep immediately. Once Marti fell asleep, Edwin turned the TV off, and Edwin and Lizzie just sat in silence. After sitting in silence for a while, Derek comes downstairs, and when he comes downstairs, he's all cleaned up. He had gotten a shower, and he had changed his clothes. Once Derek made it downstairs, he looked at Kendra, and smiled. After looking over at Kendra, he saw something in his seat out of the corner of his eyes, and when he saw what he did, he went over and was about to throw whatever was in his seat off, but he saw it was Sydney, and he didn't want to throw her off. For some reason, he liked seeing Sydney in his rocking chair. She looked like she was right at home. Then he went over to her, and saw that Marti was asleep in her lap, and she had her eyes closed. She was resting them. When he saw Sydney and Marti together in his rocking chair, for some reason, he felt like he was looking down at his wife, and his child. It made him feel very content and warm inside. Right than, he knew what was missing in his and Kendra's relationship, and he knew that things would be changing real soon, and maybe this project for Health won't be bad at all.

After watching Syd and Marti, he didn't know it, but Edwin and Lizzie were watching. They saw his content demeanor, and they saw how he was slowly changing.

Kendra came in and ruined the moment.

Kendra: Derry, are we going or not? I'm getting extremely impatient.

Derek: (He shakes out of his previous state.) Oh… ahh… yeah. Let's go.

Kendra: Finally.

After Kendra said what she did, Derek took her by the hand, and they were off.

It's 5:00pm now, and Derek is walking in the front door. When he walked in, he immediately looked over to his rocking chair to see if what he saw earlier was still there, and to his disappointment, it wasn't. He sighed, and went over to the coat rack. Over at the coat rack, he took off his leather jacket, he hung it up, and he took his shoes off. He went into the kitchen. When he got into the kitchen, everybody was there. George, his dad, was cooking, Casey was setting the table, Nora was aiding in the cooking, Edwin was sitting down at his seat, Lizzie was sitting down at her seat, and surprisingly, Syd was sitting down at Marti's seat, and Marti was on Syd's lap. When Derek saw that, he remembered the scene that he had seen earlier, and once again, he felt like he was watching his wife with their daughter. He gave a smile, and went to sit down in his seat, which was right by Marti, so he was sitting right by Syd, he didn't mind too much.

Marti: Smerek! You're back! You came home just in time Smerek! We're going to have dinner soon and Smydney is eating with us! She's staying the night too!

Derek: Smydney? Smarti? Did you give her that name?

Marti: Yes I did Smerek! I love Smydney!

Derek: Oh… I see.

Marti: Aha!

Nora: Welcome home Derek. Did you have fun with Kendra?

George: Yeah… did you have fun?

Derek: Let's say… it was… interesting.

George: You better not have done anything bad.

Derek: No dad.

Sydney: Oh… Derek… we got a letter from Mrs. Jones.

Casey: Oh yeah… it tells us who's going to move in with who.

Sydney: Yeah.

Casey: I'm staying here. Max isn't moving in.

Sydney: I'm moving in with you.

Derek: I see.

Casey: Yeah… so you better have some room for her. She can't stay in my room with me because if she does, she's failing the project. If she doesn't move in with you, her grade goes down.

Sydney: Yeah.

Derek: Fine. Tomorrow you'll move in, and today, after dinner, we're going to go get the rings. You better be ready, because I'm not waiting.

Sydney: Aye, aye captain. (She gives a playful smile.)

Derek: Not funny.

Sydney: Whatever you say.

After Sydney said what she did, and before Derek could say anything, food was placed in front of them, and George and Nora sat down. When the adults sat down, everyone ate.

It's after dinner now, and everybody is done eating. Derek cleared the table, and Edwin and Lizzie cleaned the dishes. Lizzie cleaned, and Edwin dried. Casey went back to her room, and George and Nora were preparing to go out.

George: CASEY, DEREK, EDWIN, LIZZIE, MARTI; COME DOWN HERE NOW.

All of the children come running down. Lizzie and Edwin had finished the dishes an hour ago, and they had went upstairs to their rooms, so they came down from their rooms, and Casey came down from her room. Derek came down from the bathroom. He was cleaning up because he was going out in public with Syd. What surprised him the most was that, he was actually trying to look nicer. He knew he looked nice all the other times, but something inside him made him make himself look even nicer. All of the children, Nora, and George are all downstairs. They're all talking.

Nora: Ok… George and I are going to a play. Derek, Casey, you two are the oldest, so you're both in charge. Derek, you and Sydney are going out, so you two won't be here for a little while later. Derek, you better be home before 12 midnight with Sydney.

Casey: Ok mom. (She goes up to her mom, hugs her, and kisses her.) I love you. (She lets go.)

After Casey lets go, Nora kissed her hand and then placed her hand on each child's head, even Derek. Derek didn't like it, and he made sure everybody knew it. He doesn't like public displays of affection, or PDA.

George: Derek… listen to Nora. Don't forget to have fun though.

Derek: Fine. Fine.

Nora: Ok… bye.

George and Nora leave.

Derek and Sydney are in the mall now. They are looking around for a good set of rings for both the male and the female.

Derek: You can choose the ring set. I'll wear whatever you choose.

Sydney: Are you sure? I know that you're the macho type of guy; I don't want to ruin your rep or anything. If you want, I'll wear boyish stuff.

Derek: No… go ahead. Choose. I trust your judgment.

Sydney: Ok.

Derek: Good.