Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews, I really appreciate them! Please let me know what you think of this chapter and enjoy!
As Derek toyed with his fork, twirling it through the mashed potatoes absently as he watched his stepsister across the table, he wished that he was able to read people better. His best friend Sam had a gift for that. He could look at a person and get a feel for what was bothering them somehow. Derek, well, he was just clueless.
He knew something was bothering Casey. She sat quietly—a little too quietly—as the joined MacDonald-Venturi Family ate their last meal of the day. Usually she shared what had happened in school and rubbed in how well she was doing and how well Derek was NOT doing. Or tell the family about something witty one of her teacher's had said. Or talk about her plans to shop with Emily at the mall on Saturday. But during this particular dinner, Casey was silent.
She seemed very distant. All she did was move her dinner around the plate with her fork to make it look like she was eating. Derek doubted very much that the fork had even touched her lips once that night.
Nora and George acted like they didn't notice the weird way Casey was acting. Unless they really didn't notice. Derek wouldn't put it past them. Nora was just as flaky and scatterbrained as his father was. It was a quality—or vice, perhaps—that they both shared.
Edwin spoke the most at dinner that night. Even more than Marti—who always felt the need to account for every second of her school day. Derek noticed that Lizzie was a bit quieter than her usual quiet self. She nodded once in awhile towards Edwin but basically remained pretty neutral.
"Hey, how about a family game of soccer tonight?" George suddenly interrupted Edwin's recount of some boring fact his loser friend Steve had told him about mice.
"George, it's already dark out," Nora reminded him, smoothing her napkin out on her lap for the hundredth time.
"So? There are street lights," George waved her off. "Come on, who's in?" He looked around the table excitedly, like he had thought of the best idea in the world. "Lizzie?" he asked immediately, knowing that she was big into soccer.
"Sure," Lizzie shrugged unenthusiastically.
George's grin wavered slightly at her lack of enthusiasm, but he regained the goofy grin when Marti yelped an excited, "Yay!"
"Can I throw the ball into the hoop?" Marti asked with a toothy grin.
Then George's smile faltered again. Nora let out a laugh and Derek gave his little sister an affectionate hair-ruffle.
"That's basketball, Smarti," he reminded her with a wink.
Marti simply beamed up a smile at her big brother in response. "Smerek are you gonna play too?"
"Sure," Derek shrugged. It wasn't like he had anything else to do. His date for the evening had actually cancelled on him. Something about her grandmother in the hospital. A likely story.
"I'm in," Edwin said with a grin. He looked over at his older stepsister. "Casey?"
Derek's eyes returned to the quiet brunette sitting in front of him. He had almost forgotten she was there, she was so silent. Blinking several times, Derek watched her try to register what Edwin had asked her. Finally she said, "Huh?"
"Soccer match tonight," Edwin explained. "Let's say… girls versus boys?" he grinned evilly, knowing that with his sporty older brother he would have the upper hand.
"I'm gonna pass," Casey said carefully. She wasn't sporty to begin with. Plus, she just wasn't feeling up to it. Derek knew this, even if he didn't know exactly what was up with her.
"Come on Casey," Lizzie coaxed gently. "It'll be fun."
"No," Casey snapped, and Derek's eyes widened. Casey never snapped at Lizzie. Ever.
But Lizzie didn't seem very hurt by it. In fact, she seemed understanding.
And nobody commented on it. Derek was wondering if he was the only one noticing that Casey wasn't really Casey anymore…
After dinner, Derek found himself standing in Lizzie's doorway as she pulled on her sneakers to play outside. He cleared his throat awkwardly to gain her attention, and Lizzie looked up at him curiously.
"Derek?" her eyebrows furrowed. She hadn't remembered her older stepbrother ever coming into her room. Ever.
"Uh, I was just wondering if you noticed that Casey's been acting a bit weird today," he said as casually as possible, stuffing his hands into his pockets as he looked around the room. Just months ago, this room had been a guestroom. Derek remembered that whenever his dad's sister or mother had come over, they would always stay in this empty room. It used to have only a twin-sized bed and a small nightstand next to it with a reading lamp and a small alarm clock that never showed the correct time. Now, it was filled with sports posters and old photographs of the MacDonald family through the years. The essence of Lizzie. It seemed brighter and more welcoming than Derek had ever remembered it to be.
"Why do you care?" Lizzie couldn't help but cock her head to the side at Derek, wondering just why he would give a damn if Casey was acting herself or not. She was surprised, in fact, that he had even noticed. Usually it was all about him.
Derek scratched his forehead in annoyance. Leave it to Lizzie to make Derek feel low. She somehow managed to do that every time she talked to him. Like that time she came to him to confront him about the way he was picking on Casey during that Klutzilla time not long ago. She had this way of making him feel guilty—because "Casey was his sister now" and he shouldn't just go "throwing her to the wolves."
He hated when Lizzie got to him like that about Casey. It reminded him of the way his mom had been about teasing Edwin.
"Leave her alone," Lizzie said simply when she didn't get a response from Derek.
"What was the letter about?" Derek prodded, and Lizzie stilled at that.
Looking up at Derek with eyes that didn't tell him anything, Lizzie said slowly, "That was from my dad. He was inviting me and Casey to his wedding next weekend, that's all." She went back to tying her shoes, making it clear that this conversation was over. Which, of course, Derek would not have.
"So your dad is getting remarried," Derek shrugged. "It happens." He still didn't see what the big deal was about. His dad had gotten remarried. Nora had gotten remarried. He would think that Casey wouldn't seem that phased by it—especially since she never talked about her dad.
Lizzie just continued, moving on to tie her other sneaker. She didn't even look up at him.
"Are you and Casey going to go?" Derek pushed. He didn't even know where Mr. MacDonald lived.
"It doesn't seem like we have a choice," Lizzie said, her voice strangely soft now. She kept her eyes trained on her shoelaces.
"What… do you and Casey have something against him?" Derek continued, crossing his arms over his chest accusingly.
Lizzie stood up, finally looking up at Derek. Her innocent face looked somehow damaged. Her lips turned down in a frown that made her seem much more mature—like she was a lot older than just ten years old. The aged look on her face made Derek stop completely.
"Something like that," Lizzie said softly and manoeuvred around Derek to exit her room.
Derek didn't chase after her to demand any more details. Because even someone like the Great Derek, who was always wrapped up in himself and his enormous ego, could tell when it was time to back off.
Some things were just off-limit with people. And Derek could tell that with the MacDonald Family, this was one of those things.
"Derek, you coming!" George yelled up to his son from the bottom of the stairwell as the kids all bundled up for their soccer match.
"Yeah, sure," Derek called back down, turning into his own bedroom down the hall in order to get his Chucks.
He couldn't help but notice that Casey's door was tightly shut and there was a slow song leaking through the thin wall between his and her bedroom. Pulling on his sneakers, he winced as he tried to focus on the lyrics of the sad melody.
What could I say to you, oh,
When makin' the waves was left unconscious...
I didn't mean to tell you why, oh whyyy
But you harboured all defences
And you're makin' it hard to bring that hope back, for you and I
All that I see is that we're livin' life
Did you fail when you found that you paid the price,
Hope it wasn't lost in an honest truce
The past doesn't break all that we been through
Every little thing that you did was right
Who knows what you did on the day you cried endlessly
Ooo you cried endlessly
Take a message from my love,
Take a message from my love,
Take a message
Take a message from my love,
Take a message from my love,
Take a message…
Derek frowned to himself. This wasn't the usual music he heard pounding through the wall—upbeat Britney Spears or Hilary Duff or some other hot blonde pop princess with pointless lyrics but a catchy refrain. Chewing the inside of his cheek, he walked over to the room beside his, knocking three times.
"Casey?" he asked, calling over the melancholic music.
The volume turned down a few notches, and Casey opened the door with an aggravated expression on her face.
"What?" she demanded, obviously not too pleased about having been interrupted with whatever it was that she was doing.
The words flew out of his mouth before he had a chance to stop them.
"Are you okay?"
Blue eyes turned icy as froze him with just a glare. "Like you care," she practically spat.
Derek was a little hurt by this, but he knew that she had a point. He had never faked caring about her feelings before—why the sudden 180? Quickly getting back into his Derek-esque uncaring pose, arms crossed and small smirk playing at his lips, he shrugged. "Just wondering why you don't want to watch me kick everyone's butt out there," he nodded over towards her window, where he could hear Marti shouting excitedly as the soccer game was about to begin.
Casey looked unmoved. "I don't do sports. You know that." She began to shut the door in his face again when his left hand sprang out and stopped the door from closing.
"What!" Casey stated, her teeth setting with annoyance. She quite clearly wanted him to let go of the door.
"I know about your dad," he said simply, his dark eyes quickly searching her face for her reaction.
Casey paused, immediately looking away from him.
"I know he's getting remarried," Derek continued.
That's when Casey looked back up at him. Her eyes were so dark, so grey, so completely hateful that Derek actually felt a chill move up his spine.
"You don't know anything," Casey said slowly, scathingly. Her face twisting with anger and some other emotion Derek couldn't quite place.
And she slammed the door in the stunned teen's face.