AN: Hey all! Thanks so much for the awesome reviews, here's Chapter 3…hope you like!

R&R and please, no flames!

Lotsa love, degrassichick

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Chapter 3

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You know, this could be a movie.

The Never-Ending Date from Hell starring Derek Venturi…wow, it'd rank in millions.

"I have to go to the bathroom." Casey finally declares after two torturous hours of bowling.

Brian smiles smugly at her, "Go right ahead, baby."

Baby? Did he just call her 'baby'?

Casey smiles and heads a set of steps, passes the concession area, and disappears around the corner that leads to the bathrooms.

That's my cue to find date number two.

I glance down at my watch and widen my eyes dramatically, looking towards Claire and Brian, "Wow, its eight-thirty…I promised by younger sister that I'd call her before she went to bed…so I better get to that."

Okay, well that's a total lie, Dad, Nora, and Marti went to visit my grandparents for the weekend, and Lizzie and Edwin are both sleeping over at friend's houses…but Claire doesn't need to know that.

Claire rolls her eyes, "Fine, whatevs."

I eye her curiously before hopping out of my seat and jogging up the steps as well, going in the opposite direction that Casey went.

Once again, everybody's paired up.

This really blows. Last time everyone was paired up, I got stuck with Claire: psycho-cheerleader extraordinaire

I finally spot a girl with long black hair, her left profile is facing me and she has a smile on her face as she's laughing with some friends, a green trucker hat on her head.

From what I can see, she is normal.

Thank God.

I put on my "game face" (or classic smirk, whichever you prefer) and make my way towards her, "Hey." I say coolly.

The girl turns towards me and smiles, "Hey yourself." She says with a smile, I notice a slight Southern twang in her voice.

"I'm Derek, Derek Venturi." I say, holding out my hand.

"Gina Gray." She replies with a smile, shaking my hand.

I smile, "You from around here?"

She shakes her head, "Nah; I'm from the states…Austin, Texas, to be exact."

A foreigner, sweet…now there's no way she can hate me, she has no idea who I am!

"What brings you here?"

She jerks her thumb towards the back arcade, "My cousin, Lisa."

Lisa? Where have I heard that name before?

Just then, a girl with long blonde hair comes up towards Gina and me.

Shit, it's Lisa Gray.

I should have known.

She's hated me ever since I bailed out on our date to the tenth grade semi formal.

Her eyes narrow as soon as she sees me, "Gi, why are you hanging out with Derek Venturi?" she spits out my name like I'm some unidentified bug.

"He just introduced himself." Gina says with a smile.

Lisa frowns in return and scolds towards me, "Derek's a pig, he's a total jackass, and you should not be talking to him."

I roll my eyes, "And you should not be talking about him when he's standing two feet away from you." I snap back.

Lisa scoffs and latches onto Gina's arm, "C'mon, we're leaving." She then turns to me, "Stay away, Derek, she's only thirteen." And with that she and Gina stalk out the doors of the bowling alley.

Oh my God, I almost dated a thirteen-year-old. Well, a very tall and developed thirteen-year-old, but a thirteen-year-old nonetheless.

"Hey…" a voice purrs from behind me.

I spin around and am faced with a girl with short blonde hair and sparkling green eyes.

I grin back at her and introduce myself.

Casey: 1; Me: 2

-♥-

"Bye, Dare Bear!" Claire coos as Derek practicallyhurlshimself outof the backseatas soon as Brian's car hits the pavement of our driveway.

I smile over at Brian from where the two of us are sitting in the front seat, "I had fun tonight, Brian." I say softly.

Brian smiles, "Me too, Case."

I grin and just as we lean into kiss, Claire's whiny voice cuts us off, "Bri-an, I want to go home. So can you like, cut the mushy crap out for later?"

Brian chuckles, "Can I call you sometime?" he asks as we break apart.

I nod, "Sure." And with that I kiss his cheek and get out of the car, shutting the door behind me.

Brian honks as he slowly pulls out of the driveway, I watch as his car disappears down the street.

I let out a sigh and step into the house, watching Derek throw himself down on the couch.

"Fun night?" I ask with a laugh, sitting down on the arm of the couch.

Derek grins cockily, sitting up, "Just getting started. Tiffanie should be getting here in like twenty minutes."

Tiffanie, his other date.

"Oh…" I say, "Where are you two going?"

"Movies." He replies simply before getting up from the couch, "Better go change, I probably smell like cigarette smoke knowing our bowling alley." He says as he begins to jog up the stairs.

I roll my eyes and sink back against the couch before getting up as well and hurrying upstairs to change into a more comfortable outfit, also known as: pajamas.

I swap my date clothes for a pair of yellow pajama pants with monkeys on them and a white wife beater before pulling my hair back into a ponytail and ridding my face of any makeup.

As I'm standing in the bathroom, dropping a cleansing cloth into the trash can, there's a knock at the door.

"Case, I need to use the bathroom!" Derek calls out.

I roll my eyes and swing open the door, "God, Derek, why are you always so impatie-"

I cut myself off mid-sentence.
Derek is standing in front of me with his shirt off…and surprisingly, he doesn't look half bad.

Correction: he looks hot.

Wait, what?

I did not just say that my stepbrother looked hot; I did not just say that.

Derek rolls his eyes, "Can I get in there?"

Crap, I'm gawking.

I nod and utter out a reply before hurrying out of the bathroom and downstairs into the living room, flopping down onto the couch and slamming my head against the pillows.

I grab the remote and turn on the television, going to a movie that I had recorded on TiVo and pressing play.

Just then, the doorbell rings.

I roll my eyes and press pause; just as I'm getting comfortable…the comfort is ended.

Rolling off of the couch, I make my way towards the front door and swing it open.

Standing on our porch is a girl with short blonde hair and she is wearing a black tube top and a pair of jeans with black platform flip flops.

"I'm going to take a wild guess that you're Tiffanie?" I ask.

The girl grins and nods, "How did you know?"

I smile sarcastically, "Just a lucky guess." I say and hold the door open for her so that she can step in.

"Hot pad." She says with approval, glancing around our house.

Hot pad? She sounds like she's requesting an ACE bandage.

I shrug confusingly, "Uh…thanks, I think."

"Tiff!" Derek's voice calls out.

I glance up and see him jogging down the stairs, now changed into a pair of jeans with a blue button down shirt and a smile on his face, his hair tousled.

I roll my eyes, "Don't stay out too late." I croon as the pair step outside.

Derek rolls his eyes right back at me, "Oh, you know we will." He says as he grabs his black leather jacket.

Tiffanie smiles at me, "Nice meeting you…um…"

"Casey." I reply, "I'm Casey."

"Right, Casey. Bye now!" she squeals and hurries off.

Derek gives me a cocky grin and a playful wink before following after Tiffanie.

I kick the door shut behind them and return to my movie.

Finally, some alone time.

-¤-

"And then the way he just blew her head off like that, ha! It was classic." Tiffanie laughs as the two of us step out of the theater.

I eye her confusingly; never have I seen a girl this pumped up about a horror movie.

"So you liked it…I guess?"

"Nah." Tiffanie disagrees, popping a popcorn kernel into her mouth and throwing the halfway full bucket into the trash, "Horror movies are lame…lamer than lame, actually."

Huh?

"But the way you were just talk-"

"Derk, I thought it was funny. That's how most horror flicks are now days, funny."

Who the hell is Derk?

"Uh…my name is Derek." I say awkwardly.

Tiffanie rolls her eyes, "That's what I said, you moron."

I chip in, "You said Der…" I cut myself off, shaking my head, "Never mind, not worth it."

"I think we should double date." Tiffanie says as we walk out of the theater and back into the mall.

I eye her confusingly, "Double date with who?"

"Your sister."

Casey? She wants to go on a double date with Casey?

"What do you mean?"

Tiffanie scoffs, "Duh Derek, my brother is totally available. We'll double date say…tomorrow afternoon. I'll just call up Chuck real quick." And with that she turns away and whips out her cell phone.

I sink myself down onto a bench; I highly doubt that I can do another double date with Casey in one weekend.

Tiffanie reappears a few minutes later, I stand back up, "Chuck says he's up for it. Tomorrow we're going to go the Broadway Billiards around noon, aight?"

"Uh…" I say sheepishly, time to sweet talk my way out of this, "I don't think I can make it, you see-"

Tiffanie's jaw drops, "No, you have to go!" she exclaims.

I roll my eyes, "Why do I have to go?"

"Chucky is looking forward to this, he usually winds up scaring girls more than dating them, so I figured I would just set him up with someone, and your sister seems really nice."

That's like cheating; I can't set her up on a date until the end of this whole thing, when I win the bet.

"Casey doesn't like being set up…" I say cautiously.

"Derek, this is Chuck we're talking about; he's already planning on getting the date, so he's getting the damned date!" her voice growls.

I back up against the bench.

This girl has problems.

"Well, you see-"

"No, Derek! No 'well, you see'! Chuck is going to go on a date with Caitlin and-"

"Her name's Casey." I cut her off. What is it with my dates and getting Casey's name wrong?

Tiffanie's face pales and she shakes her head, "No, her name is Caitlin."

I shake my head, "Nope, I'm pretty sure it's Casey."

"No, Derek, it's Caitlin."

"She's my stepsister, I should know."

"My brother can't date a Casey." Tiffanie states warily.

I let out a groan, "And why can't he date a Casey?" I ask boredly.

"Casey's are usually scary and mean."

I shrug, "So? Casey isn't."

Tiffanie scoffs as she crosses her arms over her chest, "Yeah, sure Derek. How would you know that?"

How short is her attention span?

"She's my stepsister, the only time she's scary is when she's wearing a facial mask sometimes."

It actually looks pretty cute.

Wait, what?

Did I just call Casey cute?

No, I couldn't have. I didn't, I know I didn't.

I run a hand through my hair and eye Tiffanie as she contemplates whether or not the date can go on.

"Its fine, I guess." Tiffanie finally decides.

My face lights up, "You mean, the date is off?"

Tiffanie rolls her eyes, "Of course not, Derek! Chuck is getting a date."

And whatever Chuck wants, Chuck gets.

Hey, wait a minute! That's me!

I sigh, "I thought he couldn't go on a date with a Casey?" I mock her, although she doesn't catch on.

Tiffanie smirks, "Which is why we tell him that her name is Caitlin, your sister will go through with it, right?"

"Go through a whole afternoon being called a different name, highly doubt it."

"But Derek!" Tiffanie whines, "She has to!"

This girl has issues; major, major issues.

I let out a frustrated sigh, "I'm just not sure that Casey will go-"

Tiffanie cuts me off, slowly sashaying towards me and linking her arms around my neck, placing a soft kiss on the nape of my neck.

Well…that feels good.

"Pretty please, Derek?" she purrs in my ear.

I let out a sigh as Tiffanie breaks away from me and gives me an innocent smile.

Yeah, she's real innocent. Just like Hitler.

I take one more look in her green eyes and agree.

Casey's going to hate me for this. If Tiffanie is this bad, I can't even imagine what her brother will be like.

Wait…why do I even care?

-♥-

Derek comes into the house almost three hours later, Tiffanie right behind him.

Oh, how sweet of him, bringing a girl home to his bedroom. How classy of him.

"Hi Caitlin!" Tiffanie exclaims, waving at me.

"It's Casey." I correct her.

Derek shakes his head, "Nope, its Caitlin."

"Huh?"

Tiffanie smiles over at Derek, "You can tell her, Derek. Chucky and I will be over here around noon tomorrow, see ya then!" and with that, she turns on her heel and disappears outside the house, closing the door behind her.

I laugh, "So this is your theory for beating me, going on a date with a girl and a guy at the same time?"

Derek mocks my laughing, "No. We're doubling."

"Oh, who'd be stupid enough to go on a double date with you? Trust me, I went tonight."

Derek rolls his eyes, "Well you're going on another one tomorrow."

My smile falters, "What?"

"Congratulations." Derek says, dropping his leather jacket to the floor, "I go on a date with a girl and wind up getting you a date."

Wait…what?

-♥-

So, what'd you think?

Hope you liked!

R&R and please, no flames!

Lotsa love, degrassichick