I don't own LWD (Disney is so lucky!), but anything else, I do. So, where'd we leave off? Oh yeah, Derek was feeling guilty. But what about Casey?

When Casey stepped out the house, she walked in the opposite direction of her school. Everyone who went to her school lived towards it. Only one problem, she was stepping into unknown territory. But she didn't want to be found by someone she knew. She just needed to get away. She found a secluded park area to catch a nap. She awoke at dawn, and watched the sun rise. After a while she became hungry. She searched around in her duffle bag looking for something to eat. Damn! She had forgotten to get food. She was in such a rush to get away, she didn't get any food. She had a map of her area, and the surrounding places, but she didn't have any food. However, she didn't stay mad for long; she had taken all her money, and had stolen all of Derek's money too. She had close to $300 dollars. If she stretched, she could get food for a long time. She was old enough to get a job; she could live for months without going back home. That would be enough time to properly clear her head. She settled back andthought about the future. Her thoughts were interrupted at 10:45 A.M by a frantic call from her mother.

"Hello?"

"Casey! Casey, are you ok? Where are you? Casey?" her mother gushed, frantic and in tears.

"Mom! Calm down, please, take a breath!"

She heard heavy breathing "OK. First of all, are you ok?"

"Yes I am. No one kidnapped me, I am perfectly fine. OK? Trust me on this one."

There was a pause, "Where are you?"

"I'm not telling. As I said in the note, I am sick of Derek, and I think it was better for me to leave. I need time to clear my head."

"Well, will you at least come home, Casey?" her mother pleaded.

"Not today." Casey said.

"When, Case? When? We want you back home, we'll talk about everything. Ok?"

"No, sorry." She hung up. She didn't want her mother to persuade her before she was ready.

Casey hung around the park until about lunch time. Then she stashed her bag, and found a store where she bought some snacks. She walked around the neighborhood, but she made sure she didn't get lost. She wanted to sleep in the same park again.

Back home, Derek convinced his parents to not call the police. Obviously Casey was ok, and that she wanted time to clear her head. Who knows when she'd come home, but she should find her senses soon enough. Casey was a sensible girl, well at least he convinced them that she hadn't gone mad. But why did her statement "except for Derek" hurt him so much? He was supposed to hate her with a passion, she obviously did, but he was softening for no reason. She had just told him that he should just go to hell, he wasn't supposed to care. Even though he thought against it, later that evening he called Casey.

"Hello?" she said in an exasperated sigh.

"Hey don't get all huffy with me. You're supposed to be clearing your head remember?" as soon as he said that, he wished he hadn't.

"God, Derek! Don't you get it? That's why I left! You are such an ass!" she yelled.

"OK, ok, I'm sorry; I didn't mean it like that."

"Whatever." she said.

"What did I do?" he blurted.

"What? What are you talking about?"

"You said it was because of me that you left. What did I do?"

"I don't feel like talking about it yet. Look, I'm about to go, so-"

"No, wait." Derek cut in.

"What?"

"Can you at least let me know where you are? I won't tell anyone. I promise, unless you want me to."

Casey hesitated "Why should I? I hate you remember?"

The words stung him again. I'm supposed to hate her too, get over it! "We need to know that you're safe."

"No, because I know what's going to happen. You'll tell George, or my mom, and then I'll be brought back home, and then they'll definitely send me to counseling. No thank you. I'll come home when I'm ready. Now if you don't mind-"

"Hold up, can we at least meet up somewhere?" he hesitated "We can talk some stuff out. It's not fun seeing your mom cry all day. Or see my dad's poor attempts to cheer her up."

"Fine. Tomorrow, three o'clock I'll meet you around the corner." and she hung up.

"I hate you, remember?" still rung in his head. "What's wrong with me?" He muttered.

Thank you for all your great reviews! Kep reading! (and reviewing (I need all the help i can get))