Author's Notes: sorry this took so long! i know the only thing you're looking for is new chapters as my way of apologizing for going on an sudden unexpected hiatus, but i had excuses. college is killer. note to future science majors: do not take 4 labs a semester. you will die. i did. on top of that, i had major writer's block on this stupid thing because i had to write all these derrick/claire scenes and since the majority of you want derrick/massie, i was stressing about everyone jumping ship, or finding it a drag, or whatever, just psyching myself out. you know?
i rewrote this chapter like, 3 times. anyways, it's not the greatest. just a look into derrick's pov and some leeway with claire. i didn't want to do a cliché, where they're stuck for a project together. i wanted claire to choose, to decide whether or not she wanted to interact with him. anyways, that scene is inspired by some girls are.
thank you so much for all the reviews and encouragement. seriously, it really kicked my butt in gear.
bring the cups, baby; i could bring the drink
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derrick;
It was barely the end of summer and already the cold was creeping in; the students preferring the posh indoor café to the grassy quads outside. The bustle and rising noise levels of the cafeteria was familiar, with girls crowding the salad bar and guys lining up for pizza and burgers. And as per unspoken rule, despite lunch already halfway through and seats filling up quickly, the table nearest to the huge wall-to-wall window overlooking the campus stayed empty. It was well know that table eighteen was reserved for Derrick, Massie, and CO.
Derrick seated himself in his usual spot and wolfed down his food, watching the bustle of students around the café and soaking up as much sun as he could, while he could. Apparently, it was going to rain tonight during practice.
Massie, making her way over from across the cafeteria, brought his mind back to the bet and he huffed out a breath, shoving his lunch tray away. Okay, so this whole Claire thing might take a lot more effort than he initially thought, but that didn't mean that he was going to back down. Not at all.
Derrick watched with unconcerned eyes as his stepsister set her lunch tray down next to him at her usual spot. Westchester Prep being so elite was just about the only reason that Massie got away with hanging around with their crowd whilst still maintaining the prissy, well dressed, model student performance she kept up.
For Derrick, dating her in the past, living with her, allowed him to see her act for what it was, an act. The Academy knew nothing about the real Massie. Watching her act now, at school, he could barely see it himself. There was no absolutely chance for the rest of their peers at all. Well, sure, the school must have had some clue to her inner ire when her command was threatened, but they couldn't possibly imagine the extent.
Or the lengths she was willing to go.
Like their newest game, for example.
Giving up her biggest ace, her trump card, over him by placing the one thing that he wanted from her on the table just to get him to take down this Claire chick was a risk on her part. Because once Derrick got Massie out of his system, their games would be done and Massie wouldn't have any hold over him anymore.
It meant that Derrick won.
More than just the bet, but all their games as well. He was looking forward to it.
"What are you so smug about?" Massie sniped, opening her water bottle. Her narrowed eyes told him she thought he had no reason to be. It had been almost a week and he still hadn't made his move, but Massie had never specified a time limit. And he just knew that if he waited just a bit longer… Massie would do the work for him. She'd basically serve Claire up to him on a silver platter if he laid back and waited.
Alicia slid into an empty seat at their table and Massie's eyes snapped towards her. "Did you even—"
"Relax," the Spanish beauty chided, rolling her eyes. She ignored Massie's narrowed eyes and ripped open her yogurt lid. "I told Dyl and Kris. Claire's going to come."
"Phrasing, boom," Kemp said instantly from behind him. Derrick automatically raised his fist to meet his with a grin as Chris, Josh, and Cam snickered, sliding into their seats. Massie wrinkled her nose before smoothing her face into an impassive mask at their audience, but Alicia grinned. Bingo. Throwing Claire into his face by inviting her to lunch was a reminder for him to step on it. Derrick knew his stepsister would rather cut off all her hair before accepting her into her circle of friends. But just to make sure, he leaned in towards her so the others wouldn't hear.
"You know by inviting her, you're just cementing the fact that she's Westchester's new It Girl, right?"
Massie arched an eyebrow at him and gave him a look that told him she thought he was an idiot. "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer, Harrington," she replied loftily.
Yep, Derrick thought, moving away and leaning back in his seat with a hint of a smirk. He was right. Massie was all about snakes and weeds and waiting in them. Still, she would have to be putting on the act of the century, at least, in accepting Claire because this was going to rile her. Kemp panting after Claire in front of her, up close and daily? He doubted that this ploy would last longer than a week. Derrick shook his head. But he should have known, growing up in Westchester, he knew better than anyone the notion of the higher the rise, the harder the fall.
Still, he grinned. "So you're telling me you're not worried at all? Claire's looking to be more golden than you, even with your little act."
Her amber eyes flashed at him. "I wouldn't be worried, if you're in it to win it," she hissed, her voice low. It wasn't really needed. Alicia and the guys were loud, wrapped up in their own conversations, and the rest of the cafeteria drowned them out completely.
"Don't worry your pretty little head," Derrick replied, crumpling his empty burger wrapper in his fist. He aimed at a nearby trashcan, perching to throw. "When I'm done with her, Claire Lyons will be the premiere slut of Westchester." He made the shot, and turned back to her with a cocky grin.
Massie rolled her eyes, but there was a pleased smile tugging at her lips. It was smothered in a heartbeat though. "I'll believe it when I see it. At this rate, I could probably be making more progress getting into her skirt than you."
Derrick's brow rose at the notion, his grin spreading. Massie and Claire? "Now that's something I'd pay to see. You know if we didn't already have a wager going, I'd bet anything that—"
She cut him off with a, "Dream on, pervert," but there was that secret smile on her lips. Before he could make another smarmy reply, she ended their conversation by cutting across Alicia's, as if their interlude never happened. "I told you to bring her, Leesh," she chided.
Her dark hair friend turned to her with a sigh, dipping her spoon into her yogurt, and shrugged. "Kris had AP Econ with her just before. I thought it'd be more of a guarantee of her coming if we caught her right after class than if I waited for her at her locker or something just to ask." Massie let it go, shifting her attention back to her smearing her bagel. Alicia smiled, lifted her spoon to her mouth, and licked her yogurt slowly. She was putting a show. The other guys were riveted, and from her smile, she knew it.
"You're such a tease, Alicia, fuck off," Chris scoffed, tossing a napkin in her direction.
Alicia dropped her spoon and flung her dark hair over her shoulder. She pouted, "Aw, Chris, you know I give it up plenty. You're just jealous you never got a taste…" She smirked slowly, her brown eyes twinkling. "If you beg nicely when I'm drunk enough, maybe you'll get lucky."
Everyone stared at her in surprise, except for Massie, who was smothering a smile.
"Seriously?" Chris bit out.
"No," she scoffed, a teasing smile on her lips. "The amount of alcohol that would require would literally kill me."
The whole table erupted into laughter. Massie and Alicia cackled, reaching across the table to high five each other, while the other boys jeered and socked Chris in the arm as he glared daggers at Alicia.
Movement caught the corner of his eye. Kristen and Dylan were heading over with their own lunch trays, Claire Lyons trailing after them, still clad in her proper uniform, complete with blazer and matching sweater vest. It was a shame. Derrick's favorite thing about the girl's school uniforms were the white collar shirts. Stretched tight and in the right lighting, all the girl's nipples were visible perfectly. But with Claire, maybe it was better this way. She was so proper that when he finally got to see her, it would be all of her. And well, that would be worth it.
He stayed relaxed, eyeing the cafeteria as dozens of incredulous eyes followed the new girl over to their table. It was one thing for the guys to invite a girl over to their table; they were usually the flavor of the week or month or whatever, but for the Pretty Committee to invite a girl over… that was a rare occurrence. Rare as in never, as far as Derrick knew.
"Everyone," Dylan announced as she slid into her seat. "This is Claire. Claire, this is everyone."
Massie's face smoothly transformed back being impassive in company. Derrick rolled his eyes. Right, good girl Massie Block couldn't afford to be overhead laughing at a joke like that. As everyone introduced each other and greet Claire, Kristen stayed standing, practically bouncing on her feet in excitement.
"Mass, have you heard?"
"Heard what?" Massie asked carelessly as she kicked out the chair next to her and gesture for Claire to sit. Claire did, setting her tray down gently. His stepsister threw her a winning smile before turning to Kristen.
"The school board made the decision today—" she started to say, but was interrupted by Alicia, resident gossip queen. Derrick rolled his eyes at their pettiness at one upping each other.
"Is this about Becca Wilder? I heard the same thing this morning," Alicia cut in nonchalantly, picking up her yogurt and resuming eating.
Kristen flushed in anger and opened her mouth to protest, but Massie cut across them all. "Heard, what?" she asked again impatiently.
"Becca Wilder was asked to step down from Student Council," Alicia threw out with relish before Kristen could get another word in. The blonde plopped down next to Dylan with a scowl. "The Board thinks it's better this way… after what happened. They want someone more… refined as Student Council President. Especially since it made the news, what with her dad's campaign for Mayor and all."
Derrick turned his head and caught his stepsister's eye. She had planned this; he could see it in the brightness of her amber eyes and the twitch of her glossed lips. But Claire spoke suddenly, her head tilted innocently. Derrick wondered how everything she did was so innocent. Maybe it was because she was so soft-spoken; she practically radiated sweetness to the point of sugar. She turned to Massie. "But aren't you Student Council president, Massie?" she asked.
Massie turned away from him with a small shake of her head. "No, close though. I'm Student body president."
"Oh, right," The blonde nodded, taking a sip of her soda. "What's the difference?"
"Student Council President oversees everything, but the council is mostly all about voting, electing, and monitoring rules and regulations. Study body president, on the other hand, is in charge of organizing benefits, dances, and events, and mostly working as a voice for the students," Massie explained patiently.
"Basically, one's based on merit and the other's a popularity contest," Derrick threw in.
Massie rebutted by elbowing him in the side.
"Just putting out there," he grinned as his friends snickered.
"Well, put it back in," Massie snapped with a sneer, breaking her angelic disposition.
See? That right there, that tone, was the exact reason he dated her and also the exact reason he dumped her. It was one thing to watch her talk smack someone down, because hot. But it was a whole other thing to be on the receiving end of it. He raised his eyes and released a fond long suffering sigh. She was such a bitch.
His stepsister turned back to Claire, the sweet smile back on her face. "What he means is that Student Council president is appointed and the student body president is elected."
Claire nodded in understanding, before looking down at her salad and prodding her chicken with more concentration than necessary.
"But really, Mass, what's going to happen now?" Kristen whined, apparently recovering from her brush off with Alicia.
Massie seemed to be considering her words, but Derrick rolled his eyes again. She was just drawing this out, savoring her victory. Massie was so predictable sometimes.
"Well, it's a shame that this would happen so close to Homecoming week," Massie said dispassionately, ripping up her napkin and discarding the papers on her tray. "We haven't even started planning and Student Council is supposed to be leading."
"Do you think they're going to appoint someone new? Or move someone up?" Kristen asked, cutting right to the heart of the matter.
"I'm sure that Dean Wiseman is going to ask me and the council to draw up a list of names for recommendation," Massie considered, twirling a lock of chestnut brown hair around her fingers. Kristen sat up straighter, but Massie's amber eyes met hers full on. "But Kristen, you're already swamped as treasurer and didn't you say last week that you wanted to help me with the Junior League benefit? Plus, you're soccer captain this year. School rules say scholarship students only get one extracurricular anyways. You can't lead both. Council president would be way too much work for you."
Kristen sighed, slumping in her seat and shoving her tray away from her. "You're right," she murmured, defeated and sullen. "But if not me, then who?"
"Seriously," Kemp muttered, "who'd be interested?"
The others snickered in agreement, but Claire suddenly spoke, "I would."
She blushed lightly as all the attention turned to her. "I mean—I know I'm new, but I was the student body president at my old school in Florida and it was basically the same job as a student council president here and well, I kind of do need at least one extracurricular to fulfill my scholarship. Plus, I've only been here a week and already I can think of a few things that need to be better regulated."
Alicia, Kristen, and Dylan turned to Massie, speechless. Even Derrick was curious, watching the interactions with a raised brow. But Massie surprised them all by throwing Claire a winning smile, "I think you'd be a great candidate."
The bell rung before any of them could voice their shock or disbelief, signaling the end of lunch.
Derrick waved his friends off ahead of him saying he'd see them all in class or at practice, knowing that if he didn't hang around, he'd never hear the end of it from Massie.
"Thanks for sitting with us, Claire," Alicia perked once she felt the pressure of Massie's eyes on her. She tossed her lunch into the bin and stacked her tray carelessly with a clatter. "It was fun; we should do it again sometime."
Massie and Claire nodded, Claire pleasantly and Massie approvingly. Alicia grinned and flounced off, Dylan and Kristen murmuring goodbyes and agreements with saccharine smiles before following after her. Massie turned to Claire when it was just the three of them left amongst the bustling crowd heading out of the cafeteria and to class.
"You should join us again tomorrow, so that we can talk more about the student council position," Massie told her.
Claire nodded slowly, accepting the invitation. "Thanks, Massie. This is really cool of you."
"No problem," she replied breezily. "Listen, I have Government all the way in the South Buildings and Healy is a cow about attendance. I have to go, but you know where your next class is, right?"
Claire glanced at her schedule, still on the front of her binder for reference. Westchester Prep's block schedules meant more optimized learning and more options for electives, but it was also a pain in the ass to get back into the flow of every year. Derrick could imagine the Claire was pretty overwhelmed with the shifting schedules. Not to mention the setting and geography, what with separate buildings and wings for each subject. "Um, I have Calculus. Would that be in a separate building?"
That was his cue. See? Served right up to him on a silver platter.
"That'd be in Blackwell," Derrick spoke. "It's alright. I have Calculus too." He had a lot of classes with Claire, actually. It wasn't too weird; there were only about 80 students in their year. "I'll walk you."
Massie grinned, pleased that he was following along. "Thanks, Derrick," she drawled. She turned to Claire. "Westchester Prep is like a labyrinth, as you've probably discovered. I remember I had trouble for weeks before I got the hang of it. I'd feel better knowing you'd have someone with you."
"Sure," Claire said slowly, but she was eyeing Massie with indecipherable eyes. They cleared with brightness a moment later though. She paused at the cafeteria exit to wait for Derrick and smiled at his stepsister. "I guess I'll see you later then, Massie."
Massie waved faux sweetly. "Bye, Claire. See you later, Derrick."
Derrick saluted her with two fingers, pulling open the door for the blonde in front of him and leading the way down the linoleum hallways. But unlike last time he walked Claire to class, he didn't push her. He already knew that none of his regular tactics would work with someone like Claire. Even now, she looked a little weary of him after their last confrontation. He supposed she had a right to be, knowing that he wanted to get into her pants, but it grated on him how she was so accepting of Massie and so weary of him. They were practically cut from the same cloth, two sides of the same coin.
Even so, he plowed through.
"Claire, listen. I'm sorry about the other day. It was fucked of me to question your beliefs like that."
She turned her head and studied him with her bright blue eyes for a moment. He wondered what she was thinking. "It's okay," she finally said. "I'm just… glad? That you understand my position, I guess."
Derrick blinked in surprise. She actually bought it. He had meant it, of course, but still. Massie or any of the other girls would have made him work for it or grovel for days, at least. "I do," he said, smiling slightly at her. The halls weren't as crowded as the last time Derrick walked Claire to class, allowing them to walk side by side. Claire's shoulders relaxed slightly in relief. "And, Claire, I want you to know that I'm not like that. What you've heard."
"Aren't you though?" Claire asked, but not unkindly. She said it softly, as if she believed that he was in denial or something.
"No," Derrick said resolutely. He wasn't technically lying. The girls he fucked knew exactly what they were getting into. There wasn't any sweet-talking or convincing required. They knew who he was and they were willing. He wasn't someone who forced himself on them and they knew it was just sex. The heartbreaker rumors were the girls deluding themselves into thinking they could change him.
"No," he repeated as they rounded a corner. "I'm not. It's not just about sex, Claire. I want to get to know you." Claire faltered slightly at that and Derrick smothered his grin. He stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Let me take you out on a date."
"I—" Claire winched slightly. "I… don't think that we'd be good together."
Derrick gave her a rueful smile. He pulled the door leading to the quad open for her. The wind hit them instantly and Claire shivered, tucking her hair behind her ears to keep it from flying. "Claire," he said her name fondly. "It's a date; it's not a marriage proposal. You can just say no."
Claire seemed a bit more reassured to hear that he wasn't pushing her. They walked across the quad in silence, Derrick slightly leading the way towards Blackwell. Claire couldn't seem the stand the silence. She turned to him, blushing a bright pink. "It's just—I don't know anything about you."
Derrick spared her the whole friendship talk. He understood what she meant. She was reluctant, but she was interested. Enough to not brush him off completely. Claire was someone who needed to be friends first.
He did grin down at her this time. He changed the topic to save her.
"So, Claire Lyons, Student Council President, huh?"
Claire looked very relieved at the change of topic, her shoulders relaxed and she gave a small laugh; part embarrassment, part bashful. It was endearing. She shook her head lightly. "Ack! I don't know what I was thinking, really." She covered her face with her binder and shut her eyes tight, her cheeks a light pink. "It was stupid. I mean… I don't know anything about—"
Derrick watched stray leaves scuttle across the ground from the wind in front of them. "I wouldn't say that. You were something similar at your old school, right?"
Claire lowered her binder with a small smile. "Yeah, but this is…" She paused there, looking around, taking note the bronze statue of their school founder in the center of the quad, the various well dressed students making their way to classes, the many brick buildings crawling with ivy named after alumni. She bit her lips, searching for the the right words before shaking her head. "…kind of a whole other world."
Derrick clicked his tongue, glancing at her out of the side of his eyes. "Well, between you and me, Westchester's not really hard to figure out. I'm sure you've already got the lay of the land. Already spotting things needing to be better regulated, I think you mentioned."
Claire winced and almost squeaked, twirling around in a circle at the edge of the grassy quad in her embarrassment. Derrick couldn't help grinning at her antics. "That actually came out all wrong earlier. That was kind of rude of me…"
"Nah," he shrugged, pulling open the door to Blackwell. "Not rude. Honest. What were you referring to?"
Claire seemed to falter at his question. She hesitated, but answered. "Quite a few things, really. The morals of students here. I mean, what happened with Becca Wilder? That's cyber bullying, isn't it? What people are saying about her and stuff. The blatant sexism. …Becca's life is damaged by what happened and it's…unfair… But not just that, it's also things like the dress code, student drug usage, the school's emphasis on sports and not really academics, and special treatment and favors granted to children of alumni."
Derrick raised his eyebrows at the passionate fervor in her eyes. He was honestly, guilty of everything she mentioned. Half the school was. He had to admire her ambition though. He cleared his throat. "It sounds like you've put a lot of thought into this."
Claire wrinkled her brow slightly, glancing down at the linoleum floors. "Sorry… I'm getting ahead of myself. I don't really think I could be Student Council President."
Derrick thought about Massie's easy acceptance. He had a feeling that Claire just might be with Massie pushing her name forward. He wondered what his stepsister had planned. "I think you'd be surprised… The school values these types of thing. More, after things like what happened with Becca. Maybe regulation's what we need."
Claire glanced up in surprise. She licked her lips. "Really?"
"Yeah," he shrugged carelessly, wondering if she could see through him. The last thing he wanted was drug tests at school, but knowing the kind of people on the student council, who did more drugs than him, he doubted it would really be applied. "Like, special treatment? I can see how unfair that is."
Claire nodded eagerly, rolling her eyes in anger. "It is. Like, the other day, in English with Dingle, you remember, right? He just let that one guy off the hook. He said it was okay that he didn't have his essay in time!"
Derrick coughed to cover his laugh. He hadn't had it either. Yeah, he definitely saw what he meant. With alumni parents and goalie of a championship winning soccer team, most teachers let it slide when he didn't have homework to turn in.
"Yeah, I see what you mean," Derrick said. He pointed out their classroom.
Claire couldn't really reply, the bell rung again the moment they entered. Their teacher, Mr. Levin, glared at the both of them. "Cutting it close, you two," he muttered, fingering his attendance sheet. "Take a seat."
Their slow walk through the quad and their almost tardy meant that most seats were taken. Claire slid into the first available seat, blushing bright red at the attention. Derrick slid into a seat next to Jake Shapiro in the back. Alicia, in front of them, turned around and fake-tsked at him. He rolled his eyes.
After attendance, Levin passed out the pretests to measure achievement at the end of the year. It was nothing new. Most of them had had pre-calc with him last year and knew the drill. When he started to call on students to answer questions on the board though, they all eyed each other. Derrick shared a look with Jake, rolling in eyes in disgust. Though he had nothing to worry about because he was never called, most of the guys were always pissed at the wasted time.
Everyone knew what a pervert Mr. Levin was. He only ever called girls up to ogle them. Penelope Rothman, whose skirt was obscenely short today, was first, followed predictably by Alicia. And Derrick felt a sudden stroke of genius. He suddenly knew exactly how to impress Claire.
Derrick watched Levin leer at her chest, and waited.
"Perfect," Levin grinned, when Alicia set down her dry erase marker. "Well done."
He raised his hand. Most of the class turned to look at him inquiringly. He waited until all eyes were on him and then said, "Mr. Levin? I must have gotten the same test as Alicia, because I had that problem too. And she definitely got that one wrong."
The instant silence was delicious. No one had ever called out Mr. Levin before. He usually let everyone slide in return for letting him slide. Alicia reddened in embarrassment and glared daggers at him. 'What the fuck?' her flashing eyes demanded. Claire turned around slowly and stared at him in astonishment.
Mr. Levin blinked slowly, caught. He reddened too. He cleared his throat. "Maybe, you're the one who has the answer wrong, Mr. Harrington." He paused and looked around the classroom, as if waiting for the class to laugh in agreement. No one did.
Derrick suppressed his grin. Keeping his face impassive, he replied slowly, "I don't think so, sir."
Jake choked on his laughter and the rest of the class joined in. Derrick turned and stared at Claire, who had covered her mouth in shock. She shook her head slowly at him as if she couldn't believe him. She was undeniably impressed. Special treatment and sexism shot down in one move. She turned slightly pink at his attention on her, as if slowly realized that he had done it for her.
Mr. Levin blotched purple in anger. "Settle down!"
Alicia continued to glare at him as she sat back down. They walked through the problem together as a class, and of course, he was correct. Mr. Levin stuttered senseless excuses, still bright red. Something about the process of math and how sometimes having wrong answers allowed for variables to improve...
After class, Claire approached Derrick outside the classroom.
"I—I can't believe you did that," she said, scandalized.
"Mr. Levin is a pervert." Derrick shrugged. He shifted the Calculus book under his arm. "And you were right. Some things should be better regulated… Someone had to say something."
"Yeah…" Claire stared at him, taking him in. She bit her lip nervously. "Look, Derrick. I don't want you to think that I—" She cut off awkwardly. Derrick waited patiently. "I don't want you to get the wrong idea. I'm not interested—not like that, I mean, and I—"
"Claire," Derrick smiled at her slowly. She blinked at him, dazed. Her eyes were so blue; they reminded him of his summer on the Riviera. "I get it. You're not interested."
"I—yes," Claire shook herself and picked at her binder.
Derrick raised his brows, feeling amused at her confusion. "But I still want to get to know you…" He paused there and watched her take in his words. "How about friends?"
Claire blinked again in surprise and flushed lightly again. She looked parts relieved and parts elated at the option. She smiled at him, a quirk of her soft lips, backing up a bit. "Yeah… Friends. That sounds okay."
"Good," Derrick grinned at her. He nodded his head down the hallway, in the opposite direction of where she was walking. The bell would be ringing soon. "I'll see you later, Claire."
"Yeah…" she answered. "I'll see you."
Derrick turned and headed off, a smug grin tugging at his lips. Progress.
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Author's Note: extra super long chapter [couldn't find a good cut off point so i just posted it all] with both claire and derrick interactions for you! still shipping massington or rooting for clairington now?
it's summer now, so more updates to come! though i am also working on 'exclusive' too and kind of considering a multi-chap of derrick/massie mafia adventures, an kind of bonnie/clyde expansion from my oneshot, but we'll see!
please review so i know if you guys are still interested in this! kisses!