Emily waited approximately thirty seconds before she screamed. "Oh my God, Casey. Who was that?"
"Chad." Casey answered quietly.
"Details Casey. I want details. He is hot!"
Casey laughed and told them all about yoga.
~LwD~
That evening after supper, Casey asked Sam and Ralph to join her in the condo Blair and Emily were sharing.
"Case, are you sure this is a good idea?" asked Sam for the third time with a worried look on his face.
"Of course it is, Sam. You heard what he said to me. I have to show him that I know how to have fun." She replied matter of factly.
"You don't have to show him anything. Just be yourself. This is your Spring Break too." Sam tried to reason with her.
"You're not going to talk me out of this Sam." She said stubbornly.
"Okay Case," cut in Ralph. "I've got three shots here. If you take all three now, you should have a good buzz by the time you go downstairs."
She turned toward the dresser where the glasses sat and took a deep breath. "Right."
"Casey," Sam pleaded to deaf ears.
"Sam, stop. The only way I'm going to be able to do this is if I'm, um, tipsy, before going down. I want Derek to see that I can have fun with just the one drink he'll see me with."
The boys exchanged looks, but Casey ignored them.
"You better drink those shots while we're still here. Just in case." Sam said.
"Just in case - what?" Casey glared at him.
"Just in case you hit the floor." Chimed in Ralph.
"I am not going to pass out." She said with indignation.
The boys exchanged looks again.
Casey sighed and went over to the dresser taking another deep breath and squaring her shoulders before throwing back the first shot in a large gulp. She grabbed her neck and doubled over as the drink burned down her throat. Sam put his arm around her, but she soon recovered and pushed him away.
"I can do this." She croaked out, picking up the next two shot glasses and gulping them in quick succession.
Ralph looked at her proudly, "My kinda woman."
Sam looked disappointed.
"Okay guys, I'm fine. See?" She held out her arms, eyes watery. "Thanks for the help, now get out while I change." She said shooing them away. "I'll be down soon."
~LwD~
With a strawberry margarita in one hand, Casey dragged Blair and Emily out onto the dance floor, already her inhibitions easing. She started to sway to the music and then closed her eyes as she allowed the rhythm to wash over her. She felt loose, relaxed, and confident.
She opened her eyes when she felt a hand on her stomach. She turned her head to see Chad behind her. He smiled and she smiled in return. Her smile his invitation to dance a little closer. She felt his body against hers and had to stifle the automatic reaction to pull away because, she reminded herself, she was there to have fun. She relaxed into him and took another drink of her margarita.
A couple hours later, a worried Blair found Sam and Ralph. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but Casey's out of control over there." She gestured to a small crowd of guys over by the fountain. "She's had three margaritas. I've never seen her this drunk, and that stupid Chad has gone off with another girl."
Sam and Ralph exchanged a look. Chad? More importantly at the moment was the fact that Casey had three margaritas and three shots. Looking at Ralph, Sam said, "Let's split up."
Ralph nodded compliantly.
Sam turned and walked away, leaving Ralph with Blair. Ralph scratched his head, "Do you know why we're splitting up?"
She rolled her eyes, "To find Derek."
"Oh, yeah, I knew that."
Blair expected him to leave, but he remained stuck in place. "What it is Ralph?"
"Why am I looking for Derek again?"
She groaned in frustration, grabbed him by the arm, and dragged him over the fountain where Casey was dancing sandwiched between two guys.
"Whoa, Casey." He said in awe.
"That's right Ralph." She said pointing the the brunette. "Casey. You need to find Derek so he can stop Casey."
He gave her a dubious look. "Are you sure Casey wants to stop? It looks like she's having fun to me."
"Ralph!" She exclaimed, giving him a shove. "Just find Derek."
"Okay, okay." He said holding up this hands. "You don't have to yell at me." He turned away from Blair muttering to himself. "Find Derek. Find Derek."
Several minutes later he spotted his friend by the pool. "Dude, I think there is something you need to see over there." Ralph interrupted Derek, tapping him on the shoulder, and pointing to the other side of the room.
"Uh, I'm a little busy here Ralph." Derek replied, gesturing to the beautiful strawberry-blond he was dancing with.
Ralph looked across the room. "I really think you oughta take a look, D."
Derek rolled his eyes and kept dancing. A second later he felt a tap on his shoulder. "Ralphie, I already told you. I'm busy." He said without turning around.
"D."
"Oh hey Sammy-boy. Having fun?"
"It just became a little more interesting, actually." Sam replied.
"Oh yeah? You getting lucky tonight?"
Sam shook his head in distaste. "I think there's something you need to see." He said seriously.
Derek rolled his eyes. "Not you too Sam. Can't you see I'm busy."
Sam faced the pretty brown-eyed girl. "Excuse us." He said politely, before grabbing Derek's arm.
"I'll be right back, beautiful." Derek said with a wink as Sam dragged him to the other side of the room.
"This better be worth it, Sam. Did you see how hot that girl was?" Derek warned.
"She is HOT," said a short, brown haired boy to Derek, pointing to the center of the crowd they had joined.
"Who?" He said aloud to himself. He pushed through the guys to see Casey in the middle just as she whipped off her halter to reveal an orange bikini top.
"Casey?" He said in disbelief, but she didn't hear him. Still in shock he watched two tall, broad shouldered guys hoist her onto a table. He stood there, jaw dropped, watching her dance as the guys whistled and started yelling "Take it off."
Derek felt a hard elbow dig into his side as Sam gave him a 'do something' glare. He sighed, as if it was a chore, and climbed up on the table with Casey.
"Hey Der. Having fun? I know I am." She slurred.
Derek was disgusted by her drunkenness and exhibition. "Let's go Princess. I think you've had enough fun for tonight." He said as he tried to pull her off the table.
"Der-ek! I am having fun. You told me to 'let loose.'" She shimmied. "So here I am." She turned away.
The two broad-shouldered guys reappeared then. "Is this guy giving you a problem, honey?" Asked the bigger of the two.
Before Casey could reply, Sam stepped in. "Hey man. This is her brother. He's just protecting her."
The broad-shouldered boy looked at Casey. "This really your brother?"
"Step," she scowled as she nodded and tripped falling in Derek.
He caught her and lowered her to the table before jumping down himself and looking at Sam. "She's all yours buddy." He clapped Sam on the back. "I'm here to have fun, not babysit a keener who can't hold her liqueur." Derek started to turn away, then looked back. "Next time, don't start her with three shots before she even comes down."
"Derek," Sam growled, picking up a now green-looking Casey bridal-style, and headed to her room.
~LwD~
Derek walked into the condo his friends were sharing, just as Rob and Ralph were walking out to walk the girls to brunch. Sam walked out of the bedroom to see Derek lounging against the kitchen counter.
"So Sam. I never saw you come back down to the party last night. What happened?"
He glared at his best friend. "You know what happened, D. I had to take Casey back to your room and sit with her to make sure she was okay."
Derek shuddered. "Eww. Glad that wasn't me."
He couldn't believe Derek's brass, and pointed a finger at the boy's chest, "It should have been you Derek. You're the brother."
Derek's brow creased, as he looked away from him. "Step," he muttered. Then he looked up, defiant. "And I'm not her keeper."
He was exasperated. "But she wouldn't have behaved like that if she didn't feel like she had something to prove to you."
Derek held up his hands defensively. "Hey, I didn't force her to get drunk."
He glared at Derek with reproach.
"Okay, look." Derek said, trying to cajole his friend. "So maybe she took my dare a little too seriously. That's not my fault."
He continued to look disapproving.
Derek sighed and rubbed the back of his neck in a nervous gesture. "Okay, okay. So what if we plan another way for her to be 'dangerous'?"
"I'm listening," replied Sam with an apprehensive look on his face.
"I mean like," he picked up one of Casey's schedules from the counter, "let's go...zip-lining. That will should give her a big enough thrill and stop her from feeling the need to get drunk and do something stupid."
Sam raised his eyebrows in surprise. "That's actually not a bad plan, D."
Derek smirked and pushed off the counter. "Okay now let's get something to eat."
"Okay, man."
Derek stopped walking abruptly, placing a hand on Sam's shoulder. "Ah, don't say anything about this being my idea, alright?"
"Okay," replied Sam, a little confused.
"I don't really do caring." Derek explained.
Realization spread over Sam's face. "Oh, right man."
"Now let's go," said Derek as he pushed Sam out of the door.
~LwD~
Casey awoke to an empty room, and began to stretch luxuriously in the large bed, until a wave of nausea hit her, and she had to roll over to grasp for a trash can. After a minute or so, she rolled back on the bed and grabbed her phone from the beside table. 1:00pm the display read, causing her to groan. She had never slept this late before. What had she been thinking the night before? She looked at the phone display again and noticed she had a text from Blair. Meet us for zip-lining at 2. She closed her eyes and willed her stomach to stop rolling. Did she really want to go zip-lining? It was on the schedule. Okay, she resolved, I'm going to take a shower, find some crackers, and join my friends.
She met the rest of the group in the lobby waiting to be transported by shuttle to the adventure park. She must have still looked a little green around the gills because Emily and Blair fussed over her. She was pleased to notice everyone was present for the scheduled activity – including Derek, whom she was too sick to fight with.
At the adventure park, a guide was assigned to their group, and he explained the zip-lining course, demonstrated the equipment, then herded them out to the first platform. They strapped into the harnesses and then chose who would go first. Casey felt apprehensive and was secretly glad when Ralph volunteered to go first.
Finally it was her turn, and now she felt really sick to her stomach, the alcohol from the evening before not helping. The first hop was to a platform about 30 feet away, and a safety net hung below. Casey turned to Derek, the only one from the group left to go. "I don't think I can do this."
"Sure you can Case. You're already harnessed in. Just hold on tight and jump."
Casey turned back to look at the platform, and the rest of their friends who were shouting encouragement. Turning back to Derek, she shook her head. "I can't."
Derek rolled his eyes, "Don't tell me you're scared, Princess."
Looking vulnerable for just a minute, Casey then squared her shoulders. "I am not scared," she pronounced, and grabbed the handle bars and jumped, leaving a smirking Derek behind.
They jumped from platform to platform, each hop a little longer distance. The sun was bright in the sky, and the scenery spectacular. They zipped between lush green tree tops, spotting colorful birds and exotic animals. Casey soon forgot her anxiety as nature enthralled her. Her excitement wasn't lost on Derek, and he secretly breathed a sigh of relief, hoping she wouldn't feel the need to repeat her performance from last night at tonight's party on the patio.
The guide stopped them after the fifth jump. "Okay, kids. The next jump is the last. We're going to need to hike a little and cross a suspension bridge to the platform. This jump will be 200 feet, your longest distance so far, and will cross a waterfall. There will be no safety net, so those who are faint-hearted shouldn't attempt it. If you want to stop here, just follow this trail marked with blue arrows out to the entrance. The rest of you follow me."
Blair and Emily begged off immediately. Derek turned to Casey, "You chicken like the other girls?"
"Chicken? I'm not chicken. I can do anything you can do...and better." She finished defiantly.
"Well, then c'mon Princess. Show me."
"I will." Casey said stomping ahead to catch up with Sam.
"Derek," Emily said stopping him from catching up with Casey, "You'll watch out for her, right?"
Derek stared at Emily thoughtfully, then walked away.
"Don't forget she's your sister," called Blair loudly after him.
"Step," he muttered to himself as he started to jog to catch up with everyone else.
It took about ten minutes to hike to the platform. The view of the rushing water cascading over the rocks and plunging into the blue pool below was breath-taking, and absolutely worth the trip. Casey couldn't help but snap pictures of the scenery and the boys' jumps. Derek was jumping anchor and it was just the two of them on the platform after Sam's jump.
"You're up," Derek said to Casey.
"Um, how 'bout you go first."
Derek's brow creased. "Why?"
"Um, so, uh, I can take a picture of your jump, like I did for everyone else." She replied with a smile too wide.
Derek looked at her suspiciously. "You can jump first, and I'll take your picture."
"Oh no. I don't want any pictures of me. You go ahead." Casey said waving a dismissive hand, hoping he would fall for her lie.
Derek's eyes narrowed. "I think you're scared again."
"I'm not scared. I just..." Casey faltered under Derek's hard gaze. She dropped her head, "Yeah, I'm scared."
He couldn't believe she had made it this far, just to quit. "I thought you were having fun?"
"I was...I am, but...there's no safety net this time. What if..."
Derek put his hands on her shoulders. "Case," he said, his face serious, "I would never let anything happen to you. You can trust me. Jump."
Casey's mouth opened silently as a side of Derek emerged that she rarely saw. "I can't do this by myself." She whispered.
Derek looked at her for a second before nodding curtly and turned to the guide that was waiting several steps behind them. "Um, John? Could we go together?"
John, the guide, scratched his head. "Well there is a weight limit. Are the two of you under 300 pounds total?"
Derek and Casey looked at each other in amusement. "Yeah," she replied.
"Okay," he said shrugging. "Let's hook you up."
Casey stood in front of Derek and allowed the guide to hook them together before attaching them to the zip-line.
"Ready, Princess?" Derek's breath was warm on her ear.
She couldn't help but grin in excitement. "Ready." She affirmed.
The guide tested the gear one more time. "On the count of three, jump." They nodded. "One, Two, Three."
Simultaneously they jumped and zipped over the waterfall. They both released whoops of joy, and the ride ended much too soon. Back on the other platform, they untangled themselves with the help of their friends. As soon as they were free from the harnesses, Casey turned and threw her arms around Derek. "That was so awesome! Thank you."
Derek let her hang on for a second before prying her off. "Glad you had fun Case." He said with contained amusement. He was too cool to be as dramatic as her.
The tour guide had zipped over by this point and had motioned to them to follow him back to the entrance of the park to meet Emily and Blair and turn in their gear.