A/N: Yup...the third chapter. I'm hoping to update again sometime tonight. Thank you SO much for the wonderful reviews!! I won't lie...they made me beam. :)
K...well here it is. I hope you like it.
Casey rolled her eyes, suddenly not sure if she wanted to know what his "proposition" might be. Joey just stood there, watching the two like an episode of some TV show, waiting to see what would happen next.
"Having two jobs, myself, I obviously have more than enough money to spare in my piggy bank—"
"Dude," Joey interrupted, forehead knitted. "You have a piggy bank? And you're, what, 18?" He shook his head. "Is it an actual pig? Or is it one of those—"
Derek ran a hand over his face. "Joey! It's an expression!" He turned back to Casey and continued on with his proposal. "As I was saying, I have enough money to cover your stupid camera."
Casey shook her head. "No. I told George I'd buy the camera for my mom with my own money."
"Casey, Casey, Casey," Derek began. His stepsister was really starting to hate the sound of her name. "Did you honestly think I'd be the Random Good Deed type of guy and actually buy the camera for you, without anything in return?"
He did have a point. "Fine…what exactly do you have in mind?" she asked, eyeing him suspiciously.
"I'll buy the camera. Today, in fact…if you'll just follow my orders from now until Christmas."
Casey scoffed. "And what makes you think I'd actually go for that?"
"Oh, I don't know," he replied, shrugging. "But I do recall you saying—just five minutes ago, actually—something about this being our last Christmas together…really special present…blah, blah, blah."
Casey sighed. "And?" She didn't even have to ask, but she did so anyways. She knew exactly where he was going with this…
"And that's great, Case…really nice. But there's just one teensy problem: you don't have a job, which equals no money, which equals no present. That is, unless, you want to try the "five-finger-discount", but I highly doubt even Bad Casey would go for that," he finished, voice ringing with sarcasm.
"Hey!" Casey snapped defensively. "I can be bad!"
Derek raised both eyebrows, and a slow, shady smile appeared on Joey's lips.
Casey shuddered and Derek stifled a laugh. "You better watch what you say around this horn-dog, Case…" He turned to Joey, putting a hand on his shoulder. "But seriously, man, why don't you go mess with Kyle's head for a couple minutes? Casey and I have to finish…negotiating."
Joey suddenly looked determined. "You're right, dude. Kyle actually looks happy today…"
Derek shook his head, grimacing. "We can't have that. Tell him someone blew chunks in the movie aisle. As soon as he leaves, do your worst."
"Sweet," Joey replied, smiling from ear to ear.
Once he left, Casey stared after him in confusion. "Kyle?"
"The manager," Derek answered simply.
"Right. Shouldn't Joey be somewhere…else? Like, possibly, college?"
He shrugged. "He went for a year, hated it, and got a job here. You should be happy, Case; he's an important figure in our society! Without guys like Joey and me, people like you would be reeking havoc in stores all across Canada."
Casey rolled her eyes. "Of course…so lucky we are to have guys like you…"
"So, are you taking the deal or not?" Derek asked, ignoring her last comment.
She thought for a moment. He was right; she didn't have a job or money. She knew George would be more than happy to buy her mom that camera. Knowing him, he'd even be sweet enough to let her take all of the credit for the gift.
But Casey didn't want that. That was taking the easy way out. She supposed she could just keep searching for jobs, but actually getting one was next to impossible. Nobody seemed to be hiring during Christmas—which made sense, but didn't exactly help her out in the least way.
"Okay," she replied finally. A look of triumph appeared on Derek's face, that is until Casey added quickly, "I have some guidelines, though!"
He rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest. "Guidelines? Wow…I never would've taken you for a guidelines-type of girl, Case…"
"Shut up, I'm serious. Just because I'm agreeing to follow your stupid proposal, it doesn't mean I'm your slave. So don't even think about some stuff…"
"What…stuff?" he asked, narrowing his eyes at her.
She looked down at her shoes, feet shuffling. "You know…none of that…stuff-stuff."
He immediately caught her drift, and tried his hardest not to smile. This only resulted in yet another profound smirk. "Aha, and what exactly is stuff-stuff? I'm going to need a couple examples here."
Her cheeks turned a bright shade of pink once she realized he was messing with her. "Don't make me say it, Derek," she warned.
"Fine, Case. Relax; I won't make you do anything rated R…"
"Or PG-13!" she added.
"Aw, come on! Don't be a spoil sport," he replied, feigning disappointment.
She rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Oh, and I refuse to clean your room. I'm willing to risk fatal illness and touch your dirty clothes, but I'm not setting one foot in your lair."
He shrugged, not letting this faze him. "Some things are better left a mess."
Casey laughed incredulously. "Yeah…maybe in your world."
"So…is that it? Is that all?" Derek asked with a hopeful look, praying she wouldn't pull any more stupid 'guidelines' out of her butt.
She thought for a moment. Casey couldn't help being suspicious of Derek's acceptance of her guidelines, but she didn't think it wise to question the situation. So she let out a sigh, and stuck out her hand. "It's a deal."
"Fantastic." Derek was grinning from ear to ear as he took her hand in his, shaking it.
"Derek! Dude!" Joey yelled, running out the automatic doors of Best Buy. "Kyle's pissed!" He stopped short, though, when he saw the two. "Uh-huh…because this is exactly what I picture when I think of "nothing going on" between you two…"
Derek and Casey gave him an equally confused look. Joey nodded toward their hands, which were still connected from their previous hand shake. Casey looked down, let out a surprised, "Oh!" and both yanked their hands away. Derek shoved his in his pockets and Casey crossed her arms tightly over her chest.
"Okay, well...I'm going now. See you later," Casey said, feeling suddenly awkward and confused at the tingles in her right hand. "Nice meeting you, Joey."
Joey smiled. "Please, it was my pleasure."
Derek rolled his eyes. "Give it a rest, man." He directed his attention back to Casey. "See you at home, Case. Hope you're looking forward to this deal just as much as I am..." he finished, smirking.
"Yeah...you bet..." she replied, walking away.
What an interesting week this is going to be...
