Little Girl

Chapter Two

Things were weird. Casey turned red whenever any one of them looked at her. Marti found this hilarious, so she was constantly looking at the older girl. Lizzie was behaving as if nothing had happened, almost as if she was unaffected by the events that took place. This had Derek stumped. He was a total wreck. How could she be acting so normal?

"Everything okay, Derek?" Edwin asked his brother.

"Other than you coming in my room without invitation? Yeah," Derek shot back. Edwin ignored him, closing the door. "Please, come in."

"Look, Der, I know something's up. All of us can see that something's going on with you. You're acting strange. So, come on, just talk to me, bro. Maybe it'll help you work things out if you say it out loud." Derek sighed, thinking about this. As long as he didn't mention any names, it couldn't hurt, right?

"Okay, so there's this girl... And I may have... kissed her out of nowhere... And I've seen her since then, and it's driving me crazy! I'm all whacked out over the whole thing, but she seems like she doesn't even care that it happened in the first place! And how is that even possible? How can this be screwing me up, but she's just carrying on like normal?"

"Maybe she's had a crush on you for a while," the younger boy suggested. Derek stopped pacing to look at his brother.

"What?"

"Well, if you see her a lot, like even before that surprise kiss, then maybe she's used to pretending she couldn't care less about you. She could just be hiding her feelings already, so she's just still doing it, even though you kissed her."

"But if she has a crush on me, shouldn't she be, oh I don't know, thrilled that I kissed her? If she has a crush on me, then she should be happy that I could like her, right?"

"Unless she's unsure of whether or not you actually do like her."

"So you think that not only does she have a crush on me, but that she thinks I'm just messing with her?" Derek asked, somewhat angrily.

"No, I don't," Edwin replied calmly. "I'm just saying that these are possibilities. This girl could just not care. Or she could be really good at hiding her feelings. There's no way I could know for sure. I mean, I don't even know her." You know her better than you think, Derek thought darkly.

"You're right. Maybe I should just forget the whole thing... Thanks, Ed." The younger boy nodded slowly, leaving his brother's room. He went straight to Casey's room, not bothering to knock.

"Knock much?" she snarked.

"Something's wrong with Derek," he said in hushed tones.

"I already knew that. So if that's all-"

"He's messed up about some girl, but he's just giving up," Edwin continued, cutting her off. Casey looked taken aback. "Yeah, exactly."

"Derek never gives up, especially not on a girl he's interested in..."

"So what d'we do?"

"Oh no," Casey laughed, shaking her head. "No, no, no. I'm not helping you do anything. Derek will kill us both."

"Hey Lizzie," Marti said, knocking lightly on her bedroom door. "Can I hang out in here with you for a while?"

"Sure," Lizzie said, shrugging. "Where's everyone else?"

"Well, Edwin and Casey are in Casey's room arguing too quietly for me to hear what they're talking about. And Smerek's in his room being sad and confused."

"What d'you mean?"

"Smerek surprised a princess with a kiss, but she doesn't remember it."

"She doesn't remember?"

"Well, she must not, 'cause she's acting like it didn't happen." Lizzie swallowed hard. She was so used to acting like everything was okay that it had become second nature. But it was really messing with Derek... "Maybe you could be his new princess."

"What?" Lizzie asked, looking at the younger girl in alarm. Marti looked at her innocently.

"You're really pretty, and smart, and you like hockey like Smerek does. So you should be his new princess. It makes total sense."

"I'm not so sure it does Marti."

"But Smerek likes you. At least, more than he likes most people."

"Because I'm his stepsister."

"He doesn't treat you like he treats Casey."

"Maybe she should be his new princess." The thought literally made Lizzie sick to her stomach. She didn't know if she could deal with that if it ever happened.

"No, Casey isn't the right type of princess. She's not like you and me."

"How so?"

"She likes all the talking about feelings. You hide your feelings. And I know better than to try and make Smerek talk about his feelings."

"I still don't think that means I should be his princess, Marti," Lizzie said softly.

"Who's princess are you being?" Both girls turned to see Derek leaning against the doorframe. Lizzie took in a sharp breath.

"I think Lizzie should be your new princess," Marti informed him. "Because she's pretty and smart and sporty."

"I was just telling Marti that that doesn't mean I should be your princess," Lizzie said quietly.

"Well, I think it does! It makes total sense to me!"

"Okay, Smarti, what brought this on?" Derek asked.

"You surprised a princess with a kiss but she doesn't remember, so you should get a different princess. Like Lizzie."

"You were listening to me and Edwin earlier?"

"Are you really surprised?" Lizzie asked, eyebrow raised. "She learned eavesdropping from you two." Marti nodded in agreement.

"Anyway, I don't think the princess I kissed forgot, Smarts. I think she's just pretending it didn't happen."

"But why?"

"Most likely because she doesn't like me," he said, eyes flickering to Lizzie's. Marti frowned and turned to look at Lizzie.

"Maybe she just isn't sure how to act," Lizzie voiced quietly. "If you surprised her, she might not be sure how to react to the kiss. She might not know what brought it on, if it means anything, or if things are different."

"Maybe she should talk to Smerek then," Marti said, sounding annoyed.

"Probably, but she could be afraid of the answer."

"Why should she be afraid of the answer? Answers are a good thing."

"Sometimes, answers still scare people, Marti. Especially if those answers mean a change that they aren't sure they're ready for, or if the answer isn't what they wanted. You know?"

"Like when we were scared to ask about keeping Pumpkin?" the younger girl asked.

"Yeah, like that." Marti nodded, happy she understood. She jumped off Lizzie's bed, running off somewhere else. Derek stepped into Lizzie's room, closing the door.

"Don't wanna be my princess, huh?" he asked, smirking as the girl before him blushed and refused to meet his eyes.

"Marti was talking about me when she said you kissed a princess," she muttered.

"But she didn't know that."

"And she never should."

"But if she never finds out, it'll always be like keeping a secret from her." Lizzie didn't say anything. Derek was taking far too much joy in this, meaning something was up. Marti had said he was confused and sad. But he had been talking about it with Edwin, so she knew he had come to some sort of conclusion.

"You kissed me."

"Yes I did. And you enjoyed it." Lizzie blushed even more, knowing he wasn't wrong.

"Why?" she asked, looking at him. He just stared at her. "Why did you kiss me?"

"Honestly?"

"No, I want you to lie to me," Lizzie spat sarcastically, standing up in her anger. She had gotten used to how things were. And he had screwed them up.

"I don't know why I did it."

"How can you not know?!" Derek stepped closer to her, clapping a hand over her mouth.

"Sh! Edwin is already trying to get Casey to help him fix my girl situation. Do you want them to find out the girl is you?" Lizzie shook her head, so he dropped his hand.

"Why would you kiss me?" she asked in whispers. "You don't even like me half the time. You treat me like some stupid little girl!"

"You act like a stupid little girl sometimes," Derek retorted quietly. "But even at that, Marti is kinda right." Lizzie ignored this, furious with his first statement.

"You think I'm a stupid little girl, but you kissed me."

"Yes I did, and you enjoyed it," he said again, still keeping his voice quiet. "And I enjoyed it a hell of a lot more than I should have." Then he closed the distance between them, kissing Lizzie full on the mouth. Lizzie took in a sharp breath, and froze, unsure of what to do. Derek pulled back, looking down at her. "Liz..." She blinked a few times, seeming to be attempting to clear her head. Then she stood on her toes to kiss him on the lips. Derek smiled, drawing her in closer. One of his hands went to the back of her head, the other moved to her hip. Lizzie hesitantly placed her hands flat on his chest. After a moment, she pushed him away.

"We shouldn't have done that," she whispered, turning away. She wrapped her arms around herself, trying to keep from crying until he left. "And it can never happen again. Ever."

"Liz," Derek started, reaching out to touch her arm. She jerked away from his touch, turning to glare at him with tears in her eyes.

"I have a boyfriend! And I just... I'm a horrible person..."

"No, you're not. This... This never happened." And with that, Derek left her room. Lizzie crumbled to the floor, sobs wracking her body.