*Sorry it took me so long to post again. I lost my inspiration for a while there. Luckily I finally got it back. I don't own Life with Derek or any of the characters.
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Chapter Six: I Don't Like Her!
Casey woke up completely confused. She tried not to think too much about Noel, forcing her not to think at all; a hard feat for her. She had even decided not to talk to anyone so as to avoid talking about him. Then yesterday, a few kind words from Derek and she cracks. She couldn't understand why Derek was being so nice to her, but, for some odd reason, it was comforting. Casey looked up at the clock, she was late getting up but she didn't care. She didn't want to go back again. Yesterday had been so hard. She didn't really understand that either. Emily had gone back to school and, even though it was hard, she had done just fine. So had all of Noel's friends. And the thing was, instead of being jealous that they can miss him and still live life, Casey hated them for not being as miserable as her.
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Derek rolled over and looked at his clock; Casey should've been up an hour ago. He shook his head and pushed himself off of his bed. He wished Noel would just change his mind. At this point, Derek would take the blame and tell Casey it was all a big joke. That he had made it up; that Noel had only been sick. But Derek wouldn't do that, if word got out of what actually happened… Derek couldn't finish that thought. Because the truth was, he no longer cared about that. Sure, he was popular and this whole "my step-sister's awful" front he put on, but honestly it was getting a bit old. Maybe it was time for him to be a good brother. Derek shook his head and headed for Casey's room.
He knocked as quietly as he could possibly could, "Case?" He opened the door slowly peeking around it. Casey was still laying on her bed but her eyes were open at least. She looked over at him and, for a moment, he almost expected her to yell at him for coming in her room, but then the tears spilled from her eyes. She seemed to do that a lot now. Derek couldn't take much more of this. It was driving him crazy to see her like this. Sure he had told Noel he would help, but he was Derek Venturi…Derek shook his head; it would only hurt her more at this point. With one last look at Casey, he headed towards his room to finish getting ready. He couldn't watch anymore. If he had walked in there, he would have comforted her and then she would know… Derek shook his head, he couldn't think like that. If he believed that he…liked Casey, then it would be true and it wasn't true. He couldn't believe it. He was simply helping Noel win Casey's heart. Derek groaned.
"Casey, are you going to school today?" Casey looked up to see Derek fiddling with his keys at her door. She shook her head. Derek nodded. "Well…" He turned to walk away, and then he had a thought. "Casey, go get in the car."
Casey looked up, confused. "I said I wasn't going to school today," she whispered.
Derek grinned, "We're not. Everyone keeps trying to get your mind off of it, but how can you when you're at school?" Casey raised her eyebrows. Derek smirked, "Let's skip. I promise we'll be able to take you mind off of Noel." Casey shrugged and then nodded. Derek smiled; he would try his best to keep that promise.
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Casey laughed at Derek, who had fallen on the ground while they were skating. Derek pretended to glare up at her as he stood up. He put on his most devious grin and Casey started skating as fast as she could. Derek, being the hockey player he is, caught up with her quickly and pulled her down to the ice. Casey slapped him, but Derek could see the laughter in her eyes. She was having fun. The sadness didn't linger in her face; he had managed to get her to forget Noel for a little while. He would never tell her that he had fallen on purpose. Because if he admitted to that, then she'd know he wanted to see her smile. And it had worked. She was happy, even if it was only for a little while.
Casey looked over at Derek as she slipped off her skates. He was being so good to her recently. First, he checked up on her all day at school yesterday. Then, he checked on her after her bad dream. And now, he was giving her a day to forget everything. Distracting her as best he could. She had no clue what she would do without him, right now.
"So, Case, you hungry?" Casey looked up at Derek and nodded. This day was turning out to be amazing.
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*Thank you all who have been reading my story. Sorry again for Dasey implications.