When Casey got home she was soaking wet. Strangely, she didn't mind. She actually kind of liked it. She ran up to her room to dance to her music. The hallway was stranded. It was 10:34 a.m. in the morning, for God's sake? Was everyone really still sleeping, this late? Why had she woken up so early? 7:00 a.m…..? Oh, yeah that's right, she hadn't gone to bed, she thought bitterly. She raced to her room and on the way to her room she bumped into a tall figure in the hallway that was hustling towards the bathroom.

Derek.

She looked up nervously at him. Then she quickly put on a mask, to hide her awkwardness and all of the feelings boiling underneath her skin begging her to just blurt out, "I love you." Instead she said, "Watch where you're going, Der-rek," in an angry, pissed-off voice. Her drenched hair fell over her eyes and she was struggling not to show any weakness. "I believe you were the one to bump into me, Klutzilla," Derek said, glaring at Casey with cold-stone eyes and Casey smirked. She had been ready for a come back. All of their fights, there had always been something else behind them. Some fiery feeling that both of them lived for; it was almost like it was passion; ice biting at the skin and tugging off the flesh and leaving puddles and puddles of blood. Maybe…just maybe….if you tasted the blood, it would actually taste good. Casey hid a wry smile. "Whatever, Der-rek," she said. She knew he was on his way to the shower, and she wanted to peeve him, so she said (in a demanding, angry voice), "I was just on my way to the shower. So could you please get out of my way?" (Not that it was spoken as a question, and the "please" was more a degrading jibe then…well, a "please"). "No, I'm showering. You'll have to wait your turn, Klutzilla."

Casey wanted to ask him to stop calling her that. But she wanted to stay strong. She needed to stay strong. Before she could say anything, Derek said, "Besides, you're already wet, Case."

"Did you just call me 'Case'?" Casey asked.

Derek didn't say anything.

When they were little, before they had grown apart and stopped getting along, Derek had been the only one to call her "Case." Why had they grown so far apart? Why? Casey looked up at Derek's bright blue eyes. She looked into them. She stood there, mesmerized. For a second, she forgot to hide it. Then she took control of herself, and looked down.

Before she knew it, Derek's hand was on her chin, and she heard his voice, telling her to look up, telling her to look at him. She wasn't really listening; she didn't really hear; she only felt the warmth of his fingers caressing the flesh of her chin. She looked up at her brother. "Remember when we were little…." she said. "We were so close…but then we drifted apart…."

They had drifted apart because they thought they were supposed to. Unconsciously, maybe. It didn't matter; what happened happened. The past was the past and the present was the present but the future….the future wasn't decided yet.

"I don't know," Derek said. "Siblings fight. It's a part of life."

"It doesn't have to be," Casey pointed out.

"Anyways," Derek said, "You look like you really need to shower. Your hair is so gross and dirty from the rain…."

"Really? Awe, thanks," Casey said.

"No," Derek said. "Not really," as he ran into the bathroom and shut the door and locked it.

"Hey!! No fair!" Casey said and pounded on the door and walked away.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Nora and George were sitting in the kitchen, discussing the major problem in the family: Casey and Derek's fighting, of course.

"They are still fighting," Nora pointed out. "I was hoping the play would fix things….make them get along at least a little bit."

"Don't get your hopes up," George said. Nora nodded. Why did it seem like this family was more cursed with sibling rivalry than any other family? Every single day was a struggle. Every single day.

"Take-out tonight?" Nora asked. George nodded. "You call," Nora said.

"But it's still morning, practically!" George complained.

"Fine, as long as it's here by 7," Nora said.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

She was a little girl in a princess dress and innocent eyes in her own little world where everything was perfect and nothing matters. She ate under the table and pretended to be a kitty-cat; she called her brother "Smerek" and he was a real brother to her even though he was a step-brother and she had an innocent little smile and she ran into her new big sister's room and tugged on her sleeve.

"Come play with me!!!!"

"Later, Marti," her big sister said.

"But I wanna play now!"

"Do you want to dance to music?"

The little girl nodded eagerly.

Casey turned on her stereo and the little girl started dancing crazily, but she was only six-years-old, what was to be expected. She was innocent and cute. Suddenly she stopped. She noticed her new big sister wasn't completely into the music. Something was wrong. Then she noticed. Her new big sister wasn't smiling.

"Casey?"

"Yeah, Marti?"

"Why aren't you smiling?"

"I am smiling…"

"No you're not; now you're lying….!"

"Fine, fine, but I can't tell you; it's a secret but anyways even if it wasn't you're too young to know."

"I'm not too little. I am not!"

"It's a secret," Casey said. Her voice was firm. "Fine," the little girl said, pouting. "But I will find out…." and she ran out of the room giggling.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Casey exited her room to see if Derek was out of the shower yet. When she got to the bathroom, it was empty, so she went in and took a shower. She did feel dirty from her walk in the rain. She washed her hair, twice.

After her shower she put on a black skirt and a sheer blue shirt over a tight black camisole. She ran downstairs to get something to eat for lunch. When she got downstairs, she was surprised to find Derek in the kitchen, his music playing, but not blasting, and he was making pancakes.

Derek cooking? How unbelievable!!

Casey sat at the counter reading a magazine. "What are you doing down here?" Derek asked.

Casey thought about what she should say. Did he know? Did Marti find out the truth, and tell him? "Unlike you, I don't like staying caught up in my room all day," Casey said, smiling a little bit. She continued reading for a couple of minutes and then she walked outside. It wasn't raining out anymore. It was actually quite nice out; warm, with a nice breeze. Casey decided to come back inside, though. Derek had no right to question her being the kitchen. It wasn't his personal room, or something.

She opened the fridge and pulled out a couple of pieces of wheat bread. She toasted them and then put blueberries and blackberries in between the two pieces. Yep, she was weird.

She sat back down where she had been sitting before and ate the sandwich she made. Then she left the kitchen. In her room, no one could see her. No one could see what she was truly feeling. And it was safer that way. To stay up in her room, that is.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Derek went up his room and played video games. He stayed in his room the whole day, except when eating.

Maybe it was the fact that video games were a distraction. Or maybe it was the intensity that he craved, "destroying evil" with determined rage and fury. No. Too cliché. He liked it because of the story plots. He was drawn to the plots. Or maybe….he just did it because he had nothing else to do. Boredom.

He could always hang out with Sam, or play hockey.

Or do homework. But why do it an hour before he had to?

He waited until Sunday. And on Saturday he did nothing. A monotone. Because ever since the play started, he's felt like a monotone, and the only time he felt alive was when he was kissing Casey.

Wait a minute. That sounded wrong. Way wrong. But it wasn't. Well, technically, it was wrong. But the feeling, it was there. He had denied it before. He still would, to others. He definitely couldn't let Casey know. But he was finally admitting that….the way he felt around Casey, he had never felt around any girl before.

He wanted to go to her room and talk to her. He wanted things to be like they used to be, when they were little kids.

You see, when he was little, around six-years old, he had this day-dream about his seven-year old "big sister."

It embarrassed him to think about the wild thoughts he had when he was a little boy, but he couldn't avoid them anymore. Maybe it had been a sign of things to come.

He watched his sister run off on the playground to talk to two other little boys, and he stood there and his limbs were frozen. He couldn't move. He felt like he was in a cage. He could only watch as his sister turned around and waved. "Derek! Derek! Come!" but he stayed frozen, staring at the girl in the tiny black shorts and the pink baby-T. His sister, already one year older, already one year ahead of him, already smarter, already flawless. Making friends. He wanted to. He wanted to be in her place.

When he saw her hands reach for another small boy's hand, something inside of him had screamed. He hadn't understood it at that point. Later he knew….he had been jealous. His sister spent time with him….not those other people. Him. He looked at her hair and realized that one strand fell perfectly over one of her eyes and noticed that her eyes were the exact same eye-color as his. He smiled. No one could take that away from him.

He wanted to scream, "Mine!" like children did over candy and toys. Something inside told him to stay put; something inside kept him locked up. His eyes were glued as Casey danced around the playground and started to sing. So many people liked her.

Next year, when he went to school, he would be more popular than Casey, he vowed.

But that wasn't really what he was thinking about. He wanted to run and grab Casey and kiss her, like mommy kissed daddy. Yeah, that was what he wanted to do. He had smiled, in his innocence. A six-year-old knew nothing of the world…a six-year-old knew nothing of right-and-wrong, at least, not that much, and a six-year-old's dreams could only be innocent, chaste ones.

But somehow he knew not to say anything. Somehow he knew to keep it all locked up inside of him. And when he grew older, he learned to see it as disgusting. Because he was supposed to. He hated the world's ruthless standards. He pushed the feeling away, and as he entered junior high, he started to feel embarrassed to be seen around his sister. He hadn't paid attention to the fact that it was hurting her feelings, but if he had seen it, if he had noticed it….he might have put his reputation aside. Anyways, he rebelled against standards by creating a parody of what was supposed to be. Siblings weren't supposed to get along. Supposed to. Supposed to. The words echoed over and over again in his head. Brothers and sisters fight, not hug. He repeated the mantra over and over again. Eventually, he had succeeded in brainwashing himself.

Now he remembered. He remembered what he had seen, through the eyes of a child, at the young age of six. He remembered.And now he wanted again, and this time, somehow, it didn't feel quite as innocent as it had back then. Now, he knew it was wrong. He hadn't known it was wrong, back then. He knew now, but he couldn't……

……he didn't……he didn't know how to make the feeling stop.

And he couldn't ignore it anymore. He didn't even know if he wanted to ignore it.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Casey! Lizzie! Derek! Edwin! Marti! Time for dinner!" Nora called.

Lizzie and Edwin came down right away. Marti pranced in a little later. Derek was next; then Casey. No one seemed to be in a good mood today. Well, except for Marti. She seemed to be always happy; all smiles. Nora noticed it. That no one was in a good mood, that is. She sighed and chose not to say anything.

During the meal Casey stared at her food and tried not to look at Derek. The one time she did look up it looked like he was trying to do the same.

An eerie silence spread across the table.

"Soo…." Nora said, breaking the silence. "How's the play coming along….? It should be coming up soon, right?"

Both Casey and Derek nodded hesitantly.

"So… will we be getting a sneak peak?" George asked.

Casey shifted in her seat. She was uncomfortable. The thought of performing the whole play in front of the whole school was innerving. But doing it in front of only her family, with only two of the actors….Casey and Derek, to be specific….was even worse. The school, they might not be able to tell, that there was more than acting to the kisses.

Both Casey both still denied it, to each other, that is. Secretly they both acknowledged the feeling, and secretly they both craved it more and more every day.

"Well?" Nora asked.

"I…I don't know…" Casey replied hesitantly.

"Ahh, come on," Nora said.

Why was she pushing this? Why, oh why was she pushing this? Something just didn't feel right.

George had turned his head to Derek. "Come on you guys," he said. "Besides, don't you need the extra rehearsal?"

The only scenes that only had Jade and Rick were…well….not scenes that Casey wanted to act in front of her parents. Casey shook her heads. "There aren't that many scenes that are only Jade and Rick…."

"Yeah, you'll just have to wait until opening night," Derek said.

"Whoa, wait a minute, are you two actually agreeing on something?" Nora said half-sardonically, laughing a little.

"No," Casey said a little too quickly.

"Maybe she's right, Klutzilla, we should give them a little preview…." Derek said, smirking, deciding to start a fight with his sister.

"Shut up, Der-rek," Casey said loudly and angrily. "Don't talk with your mouth full."

'Oh and why not?" Derek asked.

"Because it's gross!" Casey screamed, peeved.

"Okay, enough fighting guys," Nora said reproachingly.

"Really….." Derek said in a creepy voice.

Casey shifted in her seat. She looked down and her food and realized that she hadn't eaten much, and that she had been playing with her fork, moving it around nervously.

"Shut up, Der-rek," Casey said. She desperately wanted to whisper, 'Not now you moron.'

It hadn't escaped her attention that Derek was acting every bit as nervous as she was. A wry smile crept up on her face. She quickly hid it.

But Derek continued. "Why should I, Casey?"

"Oh, so suddenly I'm not Klutzilla anymore?" Casey replied fervently, seeming livid with rage.

"Oh, you're still Klutzilla…" Derek said.

"That's enough, guys," George said firmly.

"If you say so," Derek said smugly.

Casey slammed her fork down. "I'm sick and tired of this. I'll be in my room…." She said, getting out of her chair and running up to her room.

"Is it just me, or is everybody acting weird today?" Nora asked.

But then again, this was the MacDonald-Venturi household, after all. It wasn't a simple family of three…..one mom, one daughter, one son. When two families collide, what can one expect, but chaos? Right? What none of them really knew, was that the real source of the chaos had nothing to do with the blending of the two families. In reality, even if it had stayed a "nuclear" family….it still would have been, well…nuclear. In a different sense, of course. Explosive. Chaos. Just down a degree, down a notch. Maybe.

In a different world, who knew what life would have been like. Who knew what would have happen.

But the story takes place here, in Canada, in the MacDonald-Venturi household. And it was what it was. And no one really knew what was happening, perhaps because it was something vague, like invisible threads tightly wound, getting interlaced with every notch and cranny. And a fight was a fight, and it was hard really for anyone to tell the difference between this fight and any other fight, and therefore Nora and George didn't really give it a second thought.

It was a bad day. They were in a bad mood. That was it.

"What just happened?" Lizzie asked.

"You should know better than ever, she's your sister too," Derek screamed.

Now he was fighting with Lizzie?

"Step-sister," Lizzie corrected. "She's my step-sister, Derek. She's your sister." But Lizzie and Casey were sisters. In the short amount of time that the two families had been together, Lizzie and Casey had bonded, and Lizzie was every bit a real sister to Casey than anyone ever could be. And she couldn't stand it when Derek was mean to her sister. She couldn't understand it. She couldn't understand his egotistical ways.

"Could everyone please stop fighting?" Nora asked again, but it was useless. It was as if no one heard her. Her words had no effect. The bickering continued, even though Casey had left the table. The bickering continued.

One day, maybe, they would wish the bickering had continued forever.

Lizzie didn't see it and Edwin didn't see it. Nora didn't see it. George didn't see it. Because they only thought inside the box.

But a kitty-cat was eating underneath the table, meowing.

And the MacDonald-Venturi family had no cats. Well, except for a six-year-old girl named Marti. And in the crudeness and innocence of youth, she was the only one to guess the truth.

Ridiculous words from the mouth of a babe. Innocent, sweet, but of course, crazy, false, preposterous.

"Casey's in love with Derek!" Marti screamed, giggling, even though no one had told Marti anything and no one had done anything.

And from upstairs, listening to the conversation, Casey screamed, "No I'm not!!!!"