Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me...for entertainment purposes only

Sorry for the delay. Something came up so it took me awhile for me to finish it but here it is and hope you enjoy.

Thanks again for all the reviews...They really encourage me to keep writing. And another special thanks to luvvin cody linley for editing this chapter for me.

Chapter fourteen

"We need to talk!" Derek and Casey said almost simultaneously.

Kendra and Max turned around to face them. "About what?" they said as innocent as possible.

Both Casey and Derek rolled there eyes. "You know damn well what I'm talking about!" Casey yelled at both of them angrily.

"No we really don't," Kendra told them.

"Come on. Don't play coy with me," Casey said angrily. "We know what you did!"

"Please enlighten us.," Kendra said smirking. "What exactly did we do?"

Casey rolled her eyes again. Why do they have to be so stubborn? Casey looked over at Derek for a moment then turned back to Kendra. Derek wasn't enjoying this any more then she was.

A few seconds later, Derek had finally spoke up. "We don't have explain your own master plan to you guys, " he said angrily. "So please stop and tell us what the hell were you guys thinking doing this to us?"

"What exactly are you guys implying?" Kendra asked them.

"You guys are the ones who threw those papers around school!" Derek yelled at her.

"Oh right. Those were the papers that told everyone that you and Casey are dating right?" Kendra asked as innocently as possible. She was really enjoying this. They both nodded as if it was obvious. What other papers were floating around school? "Sorry not us." Kendra turned to Max. "Wish we could take credit for it though. It was a pretty good idea. Right max?" Max nodded.

Casey and Derek scowled at them. This was not going at all as they planned. Casey couldn't take this nonsense anymore so she pushed and pinned Kendra to the wall. "You listen and listen good; what you did was…"

"What's going on here?" A teacher asked interrupting Casey. She immediately let go of Kendra and turned to the teacher putting on the most innocent face that she could muster.

"Oh nothing. Just talking that's all," Casey explained. Since none of them wanted to get in trouble, all three of them followed suit and nodded there head in agreement.

"Okay. Just making sure," The teacher said skeptically. She was still not buying it but what else could she do. "But I do suggest all of you head off to class. Don't want to get caught again doing something you know you're not suppose to."

They all nodded and took off towards their next class. But before any of them left, Derek whispered something in Kendra's ear, "We'll talk about this later." After that they all left. Kendra and Max weren't fazed at all. After all, there was no possible way for them to get back at them.

They weren't dating each other's step-siblings. Not they had any of course.

XXXX

Derek and Casey walked up to there next class. They were standing at least 30 feet away from each other so no one would be suspicious. If anyone asked, they would say that they were going to the same class. It was true anyway. They were going to the same class. They couldn't avoid the staring and whispering behind their backs though. Even though Derek was used to this kind of attention, (after all, he is the most popular guy at school – for now anyways.) it still bothered him. He wasn't used to the reasoning behind it all and negative impact that it would have on his reputation. Even though his reputation wasn't the most important thing to him anymore, he still wanted to live up to the image that people had of him. He wasn't going to just forget about that.

Although it had bugged Derek, It mostly bugged Casey. She thought she was passed all the staring and whispering now. When she first started going here, everyone made fun of, called her names, and couldn't stop whispering about her behind her back. The most memorable insistences were when people started calling her 'clutzilla' (which they still do, by the way) and 'grade grubber' (she was actually fortunate to lose that nick name but she had to give Derek credit for that one as much as it pained for her to admit that). Now she had to go through that all over again and she was certain that people would be talking about this one for a very long time. A person couldn't just get over knowing that the most popular guy in school was dating his step-sister and vice-versa. She knew that Derek's reputation was still important to him and that this was hurting him as much as it was hurting her. As much as Derek tried to deny it, she still knew that he cared about his reputation. After all everyone, including her, sometimes care about there image a few times through out there lifetime. She couldn't fault him for that.

Once they got in the classroom they sat on opposite sides of the class room. Again to make people less suspicious. Casey sat by Emily who was on the right side of the room and Derek sat with Sam who was on the left side of the room.

When Sam saw Derek walking towards him, he was surprised. "I thought we weren't talking," Sam said jokingly.

"Well I realized that it was stupid to blame you and that you were as much to blame as I was knowing that I'm never the one to blame," he said as he was sitting down.

"Well you were the one that wrote it in the first place." Sam pointed out. "And don't you know that letters like that can really ruin a person if they are put in the wrong hands."

"Now you're just copying what I said this morning," Derek said. "And I do know that and writing that was a momentary lapse of judgment on my part. I wasn't thinking."

"I'll say," Sam said jokingly.

Derek didn't say anything; he just rolled his eyes and shot him a look.

"So did you talk to Kendra and Max yet?" Sam asked after a while.

Derek looked at him confused. "How did you know that Kendra and Max were the ones who did this?"

"It was kind of obvious. After all they were in study hall with us and they're the only people that actually have a motive to do something like this."

"Yeah that's what I thought," Derek replied. "And I did try to talk to them this morning before the bell rang. They were being really difficult so we couldn't get anything out of them."

"Yeah definitely sounds like them," Sam told him.

"I'll say," Derek said rolling his eyes. Right after that, they changed the subject to hockey. They kept with that subject until the teacher told him to quiet down and start working on their latest project.

XXXX

Meanwhile Casey and Emily were talking about the same exact thing. Casey told her everything that happened when they met up with Kendra and Max. She told her that they couldn't get anything, including a confession of any sort, out of them. They kept on denying it when ever they were asked. They kept on talking about it until the teacher came in and told them to quiet down and to start working on there latest project.

Before they could start anything though, both Casey and Derek were called down to the principles office. Both of them looked at each other confused as if to see if the other had any answer. They got up and walked out the door with a quick acknowledgement to the professor. While they got up and walked towards the door everyone was watching their every move and whispering about them. They all were wondering why they were called down to the principles office.

Once they were out the door, Casey turned and looked at Derek. "So what did you do?" she asked

"You don't seriously think that I had something to do with this?" he said incredulous.

"Well, you're the one who usually gets in trouble," Casey pointed out. "So it's only natural to question you."

"You're wrong. I didn't do anything wrong," Derek told her. "And don't you think that if I did, you wouldn't be called down with me?"

Casey thought about it for a moment soon realizing that Derek made a pretty good point. She wouldn't be called down with him if he actually did something. The only explanation for this is for something that they did together. "Okay point taken," she said defeated.

Derek just smirked at her. "Thank you. So why do you think that we're being called down here?" he asked. "You didn't do anything did you?"

"I think that we already established that I didn't," she said annoyed.

"Right. So what do you think?"

"Not sure, but I have some ideas though."

"What are they?"

"Well, it could be because of the notes incident or maybe because of our actual relationship," she suggested.

"Sounds plausible, but wouldn't the actual people who did this be called down rather than us?" he asked.

"Under normal circumstances yes but not here. I doubt that they even know who did this in the first place. They might ask us if we had any idea who did it though," she explained.

"Probably," he said. "So are we going to rat them out?"

"I've been thinking about just that," Casey told him. "I definitely think we should. We have to get them back some how and this just seems like the perfect opportunity."

Derek nodded in agreement. They were quiet the rest of the way there. There minds were going over drive though. They were thinking about what this meeting would be about and what the principle would ask them. Both of them knew that this meeting was more than just about the letter ordeal.

Once they got to the principles office, they walked over to two chairs next to the wall and sat down. They waited five minutes before the principle came out and got them.

"Ms. McDonald; Mr. Venturi," the principle called once he got into the waiting room. "Come with me please." He signaled and they got up and followed him into his office. They sat down in the two chairs situated across from him. A desk was located right between them.

"You wanted to speak to us?" Derek asked.

"Yes I do," he replied. "You probably know about the whole letter incident right." They both nodded. "Well that's why I wanted to speak with you too. I heard that you too were involved in the whole thing."

"Yes we are but that doesn't mean we were the ones who threw them all around school," Derek told him.

"Okay but that isn't important. What's important is what those letters entail."

"So what are you saying?"

"Is it true that you two are dating?" he asked them accusingly.

Derek and Casey both looked at each other. They both wanted to know why that was even relevant or why he even wanted to know that. They turned back to principle after a few seconds. "Not to be rude or anything but how is that any of your business." Derek told him.

"As the principle, it's my job to know what's going on with my students. I see nothing wrong with asking if the two of you are dating."

Derek sighed. "Okay we are dating. Happy now?"

"Yes I am," he said. "Now lets talk about how wrong this situation is!"

"What do you mean?" Derek asked.

"You guys are step-siblings for one and for two, you know how much parents would disapprove?"

"Again, I don't see how anyone would care that we are dating," he pointed out forgetting about his fellow students reactions to the letters. "And besides we aren't blood related and haven't grown up together so that whole incest thing is out of the question."

"That may be, but first and foremost concern is to my students and I don't think that they would approve of going to school with people who are incestuous."

"Didn't I already explain to you that our relationship isn't incestuous since we aren't blood related," he said slightly raising his voice, with definite annoyance easily heard.

"Yes but that doesn't mean that it's right. It just isn't natural for someone to date family.," he explained.

"So what do you want us to do? Break up?" Derek asked.

"That's a definite possibility," he said sadly.

"And what would happen if we didn't?"

"Then we'll have to call your parents. The school itself doesn't have any power regarding these kind of situations but I'm pretty sure your parents would give you the appropriate punishment."

"You aren't actually going to call our parents are you?"

"It's the only way. I'm sorry but our school won't allow this kind of relationship," the principle explained again. Casey and Derek were looking at him shocked and angry. Who does the principle think he is giving ultimatums like that? It was none of his business who they date in the first place.

"That isn't fair!" Derek complained.

"Has anyone told you life isn't fair?" he said. "That's just the way it has to be, okay?"

"But…"

"No buts." He interrupted. "Now excuse me while I call your parents." He motioned them out the door and they went. They left with angry expressions on their faces. They both couldn't believe that the principle had the nerve to treat them like that. What they do in his life, all his presonal experiences?

XXXX

Meanwhile, In the principles office, the principle was talking with someone. "Hi, Mrs. Venturi?...yes, something came up with Casey McDonald and Derek Venturi….you may be surprised to hear this, but they are, as far as I can tell...