A/n Wow you guys. 5 chapters and 91 reviews? That's the best I've ever gotten. Thank you so much!

Anyway, I know present you with…

Mistake 6

Did you know that Casey has this weird habit when she's eating her ice cream? She dips her spoon into the bowl twice. The first time is to get ice cream on the spoon. I don't know why she does it a second time. It's weird. It's Casey. When I asked her why she does it, and doesn't just eat it like a freaking normal person, she turned red and left the room. It was kind of funny. But now, every time she eats ice cream, I notice that little quirk.

Another thing I've noticed is that she sings to herself. While she's doing the laundry or the dishes or some other chore that she doesn't have to do, but does because she wants to be nice, she sings under her breath. It's always some girly song. Something by Aly and AJ or Hilary Duff. Once, she was singing Best of Both Worlds. You know what I'm talking about: that annoying theme song to Hannah Montana.

Something else she does is bite her nails. She only ever does it when she's nervous, and it's not like it's an unusual habit, but it's something I've noticed.

Ever since I read that dream book I've been paying a lot more attention to Casey. I find myself watching her at odd times. Usually, it's when she's distracted by something else.

I'm actually kind of embarrassed to admit this, but she's really… pretty. Her hair is all clean and looks so soft. And when she laughs, her whole face lights up and the corners of her eyes rise up and make her eyes seem really small.

And now I sound like a stupid love song. The kind that Casey would sing.

What is she doing to me?

(((((O)))))

It was Wednesday night and we were all piling into the van so we could go to Pizza Place. That's actually what it's called: Pizza Place. The owner apparently couldn't come up with something creative, but let's not get off topic.

I took my usual seat in the very back and placed my headphones over my ears. Marti got in her seat next to me with Casey on the other side and Lizzie sitting in front of us with Edwin. The first time we had ever gone out as a family we sat in the car like that and we never changed it. It was one of the times Casey and I could sit in the same general area without wanting to strangle each other.

Suddenly my headphones were snatched off my head. I looked around and saw Casey holding them in her hands.

"Don't you go anywhere without these?"

Alright, so usually we don't want to strangle each other.

"No," I answered, "I don't, now give them back." I reached for them but she held them just out of my reach.

"You're going to blow out your eardrums, not to mention everyone else's around you," she scolded.

"I don't listen to it that loud," I insisted. I reached over Marti to grab them but there wasn't that much room in the car. Marti let out a cry of protest and Casey put her hand on my chest to push me back.

"You're going to squish your sister," she said.

I looked down. Her hand was still pressed against my chest and my stomach did a flip-flop. Gently gripping her wrist, I moved her hand back towards herself.

"Don't touch me."

Casey wrenched her arm out of my grip and glared before throwing my headphones at my face. Instead of retaliating with words, I just turned up my music louder.

(((((O)))))

"Wow, I'm surprised no one's here," Nora remarked as we pulled up at Pizza Place. There were about four other cars in the parking lot.

I rolled my eyes, deciding not to mention that we eat abnormally early than every other family in the world.

We all walked into the familiar restaurant and took our usual table. Casey of course had to take the seat across from me. I instantly stretched my legs out under the table, kicking her. She kicked me back, hard. I held back a wince as my foot throbbed and sat up straight, then kicked her in the shins.

"Derek, cut it out," she said.

"Why, Casey? Does it bother you?" I placed my feet on the legs on her chair and pushed. She slid away from the table and let me know she disapproved. I couldn't stop the smirk on my face which usually happens whenever I get a rise out of her.

I can't help it.

"Can you act like an adult for one night Derek?" She asked.

"I don't know," I answered, "Can you act like a kid for one night?"

"Can both of you behave long enough for the waiter to take our order?"

We both shut up and looked over at Dad. A man with pimples, an apron and a nametag that said Fred was standing near me holding a notepad.

"Would you like something to drink?" he asked with a slight tone of annoyance in his voice.

"Dr. Pepper," I said immediately and Casey asked for water with lemon.

Nerd.

The waiter must have been new. He tried to bring all the drinks at once and failed. He reached for Casey's water before putting the tray down and knocked the cup over so it spilled all over Casey's lap. Edwin, Marti and I laughed. Lizzie was holding it back, I could tell. The waiter apologized and Dad was about to yell at the poor guy. Casey must have seen it coming because she quickly stood up.

"I'm fine," she said and smiled at the waiter as I continued to laugh, "Don't worry about it, it was an accident. Shut up, Derek. I'm just gonna go to the bathroom."

I was finally able to calm down, only letting out a small chuckle every once in a while whenever I replayed the moment in my head.

Once the waiter got the drinks distributed he took our order. I listened as Dad said, "Two large pizzas: one with pepperoni, one with everything."

"Wait," I interjected, "Casey likes pineapple on hers, remember? And she doesn't like meat on her pizza."

Everyone turned to stare at me. I'm pretty sure I was disgusted with myself at that moment. Why did I know what kind of pizza she liked and why had I made sure she would get it? I sat back in my seat and took a sip of my soda as Dad fixed the order.

I tried to busy myself with folding a napkin into a football, but it was too flimsy and I could feel Edwin's stare. It was really starting to annoy me so I looked up. Our eyes met and I glared at him, making sure to send the message that if he continued to stare in my general direction I was going to pound on him later.

Needless to say, he looked away as fast as possible.

"I'm gonna go to the bathroom," I announced to no one in particular. I don't think anyone cared anyway.

I made my way to the small hallway that had the two doors leading to the bathroom. As I turned the corner I saw Casey standing there with the pimply waiter. He was trying to pull off a smirk and Casey looked rather uncomfortable. She took a step to leave when he asked, "So what school do you go to?"

Casey put on her I'd-rather-be-making-out-with-a-mummy-than-be-here face, but apparently Fred couldn't tell.

"Hey Case," I said, walking over and slinging an arm around her, "Whose your friend."

Fred's face instantly fell as he looked back and forth between us. "Oh, are you two dating?" he asked, "When I saw you at the table I assumed you didn't—"

"Oh, no, we do that all the time," I said, the lie pouring from my lips, "My favorite part is making up later. Or maybe I should say making out."

I looked over at Casey. Her face was turning red and her mouth was hanging open as if she wanted to say something but couldn't quite get the words out.

Fred had turned a rather amusing shade of red as well. He mumbled something and rushed off.

"I can't believe you did that!" Casey practically yelled, pushing me away from her.

I started talking in a high pitched voice, "Thanks for saving from a potential stocker, Derek." I talked in my normal voice again, "Oh, no problem Case. I was just being a good older step-brother."

"You're not that much older than me Derek," she said, "And he was not a potential stocker. He was just asking me—"

"He was creepy, and you know it."

Casey didn't answer. She just pursed her lips and crossed her arms over her chest. She really looked pissed.

At that thought I felt my stomach almost drop out. Was she pissed because of me? Those really weren't my intentions at all. I was just trying to help her, as crazy as that sounds. Even when I think it, it sounds unnatural, but I didn't really care. The only thing I was really worried about was the fact that Casey might actually be mad at me. She's been mad before but now she just seemed… hurt. And it was because of something that I did, which unsettled me more than I'd want to admit.

"Hey," I said gently, "I was just trying to help. I didn't mean for you to get upset by it." I reached out and touched her elbow gently.

I saw her eyes soften slightly as she looked at me. "Is that your way of saying sorry?"

I nodded. "It's pretty much as close as you're gonna get."

We both stood there in silence for a second or five until I realized that I was still touching her arm. I quickly withdrew my hand and went back to the table, leaving her alone in the hallway.

(((((O)))))

My stomach was full, I was sitting in the car, which seemed much more comfortable than usual, and the moving car was insanely soothing.

But I was afraid to fall asleep.

Marti was leaning next to me, her eyes closed Edwin and Marti with their heads together, talking quietly, and Casey was just sitting there, staring out the window. My head kept drooping and I wanted to close my eyes. I was just afraid that there would be a repeat incident of what happened that night with Kendra.

But I couldn't help it. I leaned my head against the warm window and stared outside at the millions of trees passing by as a giant blur in the darkness.

"You're a pain in the ass!"

"Oh, ouch Case. I've never been called that before."

"Well maybe you should take the hint."

She tried once again to push me out of the way, but I refused to budge from in front of her door.

"Derek, I'm going to be late. I'm supposed to meet Max at 7:00," she tried desperately to push me out of the way again.

I looked at the clock on her bedside table. "Too late."

She turned around in horror and looked at the clock which read ten past seven.

To my horror, she collapsed onto her bed, looking close to tears. I sat down next to her. I almost reached out and touched her, but I wasn't sure if she would smack me or not.

"Casey, it's not that big of a deal. You can leave now and be there in ten minutes. You can explain it to him." I took a breath and forced out my next words. "I'm sure he'll understand."

"Who do you do that?" she asked.

I scooted closer to her, but still didn't touch her. "What, get on your nerves?"

Casey nodded. "Yeah, you've been doing it a lot these past few weeks."

I studied her face. Her cheeks were slightly red, probably from frustration, and her skin looked so soft. I couldn't help it: I reached out and touched her face, very lightly. She turned to look at me and our eyes met.

I found myself leaning closer to her until I could feel the heat off her lips and I whispered, "I like to get a rise out of you."

And then she kissed me.

She started it out really gentle. It was just how you would expect Casey to kiss someone: Very hesitant and scared. But I kissed her back much harder, pushing her back a little. She put her arms around my neck but refused to lie back on the bed, which annoyed me a bit.

"Casey," I murmured. It came out sounding husky and deep. It surprised me a bit. I was even more shocked when she giggled like a school girl.

She started kissing down my jaw line, making my skin tingle wherever her lips met my skin. My breathing became shallower and I closed my eyes. Casey stopped just below my ear and bit down gently. I jumped, not expecting it and she laughed.

I woke up when the car halted to stop outside our house.