The day went by fairly quickly. In fact, the last time Derek checked his watch, it was only eight in the morning and now it was noon. He didn't bring his phone with him that day because he knew that she would be filling up his inbox with messages.
Derek was in the weight room during lunch when Sally came in.
"Hey."
"What do you want Sally?"
"Wanna spend some alone time together?"
He stopped what he's doing, sat up and looked at Sally.
"No, actually, I don't. I want to get my time in before the game and I don't plan for any of that time to include you." He said getting up and walking over to his gym bag.
"Why are you here? Haven't you done enough damage to my life?" He asked.
"What are you talking about? I'm doing all this for us."
"There is no 'us', god. Why can't you get that?" He asked grabbing his bag and walking out of the weight room.
He walked out and bumped into Sam.
"Dude, you okay?" Sam asked.
"Yeah, I'm just a little, stressed."
"You gonna be okay for the game?"
"Yeah, I'll be okay." He said to Sam.
Sam just nodded and Derek continued down the hall.
Sam hadn't completely forgiven Derek, but he was still talking to him. They had been friends for too long to let something like that to get between them.
Sam walked past the weight room and saw Sally.
"Sally, what are you doing in there?"
"I just wanted to talk to Derek. You know, sort this whole thing out?" She lied to him.
"Well, Derek can be stubborn sometimes. And this is his entire fault but don't say anything to him. He would hate me." Sam says. "Are you coming to the game tonight?"
"Do you want me to be there?" She asked with a smirk.
"Yeah,"
"Then I'll be there." She said leaning up to give him a kiss.
He returned it, deepening it until they heard a throat being cleared. They turned to see a teacher walking past them, shaking their head. Sally gave him one more kiss and then headed off to the café.
HockeyFan
Derek opened his locker and saw a picture of him and Casey. He took the things out that he would need for that night after the game and then closed it. He walked to the bathroom and decided to change in there since the boys locker room was being invaded by a crazy obsessed girl. After changing, the bell rang and he managed to make to his car and back to the school in time for class to begin.
When he got to his class, another one being with Casey, he saw his usual seat wasn't occupied like it was for the past couple of days. He slowly walked up to the empty desk and looked at Casey.
"This seat taken?"
"By your butt," she said smiling a little.
Derek smiled back a little and sat down.
HockeyFan
Thirty minutes before the big game, and Derek was skating slowly around the ice. People were arriving early to see the guys warm up and to get good seats. He looked around to see if he could spot Casey but he didn't. He should have expected it because they weren't together anymore, but he still kind of thought she would be there to watch him. She was always there. He looked down at his skates and then back up and saw two men wearing suits and he could only assume that they were the scouts. He got his speed back and continued to warm up harder than ever.
Before he knew it, it was time for his team to go into the locker room and get ready. Before he left, he saw Casey walk in with Emily and her. He shook his head in disgust. He knew that Sam would think that she was there for him but he knew. He knew that she was there to watch him.
As the coach was talking, his mind was just on the scouts. He didn't need to listen to know that the coach was telling them. It was the same every time. 'Play every game like it's a play off game', 'don't get stupid penalties', 'keep your control over the puck'. He knew it like the back of his hand. The next thing he knew he was being followed by his team, marching out onto the ice.
He skated to center ice and shook the opposing captain's hand, the whistle was blown and the puck was dropped. Derek won the face off and took it down to the other teams end and made a shot. It went in. The crowd cheered and Casey looked over to where the scouts were and they were taking notes. She clapped along with the crowd and continued to watch the game. The next face off is won by the opposing team and then someone lost control of the puck and gained by Ralph. He passed it to Sam who took it back to the opposing end, tried for a shot and its blocked. The puck is then gained by the opposing team and takes it to the other side. They make a shot and it goes in making the game a tie. For the rest if the period, it went on like that, and by the end of the period it was still a tie.
In the locker room, the coach was kind of yelling at them for their lack of effort. He was especially mad at Derek. He was playing this game to impress people so that he could get a scholarship and by the looks of his game in the first period, the coach didn't think he would impress the scouts at all. After a five minute lecture, the coach went into his office and let the team ponder on their thoughts.
Derek stood up and looked at his team.
"Look I agree with him. We're not playing our best out there. We look like we don't even know how to play the game let alone skate."
His team looked back at him.
"Let's just go out there and play for fun. Think of it as those pick up games we play during the summer. I'll forget the scouts are here and let's just go out there and have fun." He said.
His team nodded at him and they all smirked.
Meanwhile, Emily and Casey were sitting a few rows behind Casey's parents so they could talk. Sally had gone to the bathroom so Casey could say what she had been dying to say since the game started.
"I don't like Sally." Casey couldn't help but blurt.
"Way to be blunt. Why Case?" Emily asked.
"I don't know. I just have an itchy feeling about her. And I think that maybe everything that Sally has been telling us about what happened with Derek is a lie."
"Well, I think you're paranoid. If you really wanna know if Derek did this on purpose, check his phone or something. Remember when my cousin was suspicious of her boyfriend cheating?"
"Yeah,"
"Well, she checked his phone and he had been texting this girl and she read that she wanted hook up and she busted him. I should have told you this before but, just check if he's been talking to Sally. Calling or texting."
"I think I will."
"Let's just say, hypothetically, Derek didn't do this on purpose. Say he wasn't the one who initiated it or whatever, are you willing to be with him again?"
"Yes," Casey answered truthfully. "Emily I love him. And I think I always will. I don't think I can just turn it off. He's in here Em." Casey said putting a hand over her heart.
Emily smiled and then her smile faded as quickly as it started when Sally returned.
"Hey ladies," Sally said.
They both said 'hey' back to her and then the boys came out of the locker room with Derek leading the way. Casey noticed a hop to their stride as the game progressed. Something Derek probably said to hem motivated them a bit. She was watching Derek the whole time he was on the ice and sometimes following the puck with her eyes. Suddenly the buzzer went off and the other team scored a goal causing the crowd to 'boo'.
By the end of the second period it was 3-1. Derek was even more upset with their effort than before. This time the coach didn't say anything to them. He went straight to his office and left them to silence in the locker room.
--
Sally was gone again, leaving Casey to vent about her to Emily.
"How can someone have to pee so many times during a hockey game?" Casey snapped.
"Case, she had two large cokes." Emily said.
"Don't defend her."
"Geeze."
"Sorry, Em. It's just, I don't like her."
"I know."
--
Derek was sitting in his spot on the bench in the locker room when a team mate sits down next to him.
"Hey captain."
"What's going on?" Derek asked.
"I heard about you and Casey and I just wanna say, uh...I don't believe that you initiated it like everyone says."
"Thanks Mark."
"You should try to fix this. Thompson High isn't really the same without Derek and Casey being together."
Derek nodded sadly.
"Just don't think about it tonight. Fix it tomorrow." Mark said.
Suddenly it was time for the game to continue and for the first time in his season, Derek came out onto the ice last. He looked at the crowd cheering and then at Casey. He then looked away and down at the ground, failing to see defeat in her eyes.
He skated to center ice and the puck was dropped again. Derek won the face off and kept his control. He took it down the ice and it's a two on one, shot at and it made it over the right shoulder of the goalie. The crowd cheered and he showed no pride in getting that goal. He simply skated to the bench for the line change. After five line changes, the score was still 3-3. Derek's line was on the ice with three minutes left in the game. Ralph won the face off and passed it to Sam who took it down and shot the puck, block and it bounced to Ralph on the other side. He shot it, blocked. It bounced to a stick of another player and he shot and it's blocked once again. Derek finally got control of the puck and looked at the clock. A few seconds left, he took the shot and made it.
--
As he walked out of the locker room, he had no sign of pride. No sign of happiness of winning that game and impressing the scouts. No emotion of anything. He ignored his class mates congratulate him and walked out to his car where Sally was sitting on the hood; he put his bag inside and glared at her.
"Get off my car." He demanded.
"I need to talk to you." She said sliding off. "I don't think Casey likes me too much."
"Why would she like you? Hell, I don't even like you."
"Yes, you do." She said walking over to him. "You love me. I know you do." She told him, running a hand over his chest.
"No, I don't."
He pushed her away from him and he got in his car not even sparing her a last look and drove home.
--
Casey was waiting for Emily outside the bathroom and Sam walked up to her handing her a phone.
"Derek left this in the locker room. I know you probably won't care but can you give it to him? We all know he freaks out with out it." Sam said chuckling.
"Sure. Good game tonight." Casey said to him smiling.
"Thanks."
Sam gave her a hug and left.
Casey put the phone in her back pocket and Emily came out of the bathroom, ready to leave. They both walk out to the parking lot to head home.
HockeyFan
Before his parents could even tell him how proud they were of him, he told them he was tired and just wanted to go to bed. He went to his room and lay back on his bed. He looked at the ceiling for quite some time before looked over at his night stand. A picture of him and Casey with a photo strip next to it. He was sitting on the steps in the front of his house with Casey sitting a step below. She was sitting between his knees with his arms around her shoulders. Both with huge smiles.
The photo strip was from one of their dates of just going out. No special occasion or anything. The first one was them making funny faces, the second one, Casey was kissing his jaw line and he was glaring at her from the corner of his eye, the third one, the just smiled together, and the last one, they were kissing.
He looked away from the pictures and closed his eyes, having a dreamless sleep.
HockeyFan
She entered her room, changed her clothes and went straight to bed.
She woke up and saw that it is nine a.m. She climbed out of bed and headed down stairs for breakfast. She was talking to Lizzie and Edwin while Marti was in her own imaginary world. After breakfast, she settled on the couch and watched TV for a while. She had no idea how much time passed by until her mom made lunch for Marti. Casey went to her room to read a book when she opened her door and heard a beeping. She goes to her night stand where her phone was and looked at it. No missed calls or text messages. The beep goes off again and she looked around for a minute and remembered Derek's phone.
She moved to her pants that were on the floor. She picks them up and grabbed the black phone out and opened it.
'I don't care if Casey hates me. I love you Derek.'
Casey's brows fur together and she went to his inbox. She saw every text message from Sally, saying how she was glad that Casey was out of the picture, she did it for them, that she loved him more than Casey. And the one that said that she could satisfy him better than Casey made her sick.
She closed the phone and tossed it on her bed. Tears began to fall as her suspicions were true. She bit her lip and remembered something else. She grabbed the phone and hurried to open it. She goes to his out box and saw that he never replied to any of Sally's text messages. Well, she did see that he replied to one that said to leave him alone. She sighed in relief and closed his phone. Suddenly there was a knock on her door and it caused her to jump. Her door opened and she saw Derek in her favorite thing ever, nothing but a pair of jeans and the chain with her ring.
"You okay?" He asked after seeing her wet eyes.
"Yeah, you need something?"
"Sam sent me an e-mail saying he gave you my phone to give to me." He said pointing to his phone in her hand.
"Oh yeah, here,"
She handed him his phone and he nodded as a thank you and he turns to walk away until she grabbed his hand. He turned to look at her. She pulled him into her room all the way and shut the door.
"Have a seat." She said to him.
He nodded and sat at the edge of her bed and she began to pace in front of him.
"Okay, I've been doing a lot of thinking lately and...I miss you. I really do and I think that if I'm mature as I say I am and act, I feel that it's only mature of me to work this out with you. I love you and I think I always will," she stopped in front of him, "tell me you didn't mean for any of this to happen. Tell me I can trust you again."
He looked at her for a moment and then looked away, he heard her sigh in the 'I knew it' kind of way and he looked back at her.
"Casey, I never wanted this to happen. I never want to be with anyone else but you, you're it." He told her. "I have no interest in Sally. None whatsoever. In fact, I get pretty sick around her, and after I slept with her, the next morning I was disgusted with myself."
"That's why you were sick?"
"Yeah, I know it sounds lame but it's true. I gave her a ride home one day, but only because I almost hit her. And then I noticed she left something in the car so I got her number and I called her to let her know I was coming by-"
"When was this?"
"The day I told you I was going out with the guys."
"So you lied to me." She stated flatly.
"Yeah, I'm sorry. I only went there to give her back her note book that she left in the car, but we ended up getting lunch and then I took her home. And that was all that happened that day."
"What happened next?" She asked sitting against her head board.
"That day you took the car for dance, I was gonna call my dad and have him pick me up and she was out there and offered me a ride home. I thought what could it hurt right? She pulled over and told me to relax and then she kissed me and at first I didn't kiss back I pushed her away, told her I had you and I didn't want to jeopardize it. And then for some stupid fucked reason, I gave in."
"And you hurt me in the end." She said quietly.
"I know. Look, Casey, there's my side of the story. You have Sally's and now you have mine. You can choose to believe which ever one you want. But I do want to fix this. If you don't wanna be together anymore, I completely understand. If being your friend is my only option, then I'm okay with that. I'd rather have you in my life as that, then not at all."
Derek got up and headed to the door but she grabbed his hand and he stopped. He turned to ask what else she needed but was met with her lips. He automatically responded to it, deepening it and moaning into it at the same time. His hand went up to the side of her neck his other rested to her waist pulling her closer. She started to walk backwards to her bed pulling him with her. They land on it, never breaking the kiss; he felt her legs bent on either side on his waist moving slightly, pushing his pants down a little at a time. She grabbed a hold of the chain pulling him closer.
He broke the kiss when his phone beeped. He groaned and got up and looked at his phone.
"Sally. Again," se said shaking his head, "Hasn't she had enough fun destroying my life."
Wow, chapter took a while for me to figure out. Enjoy!