re⋅tal⋅i⋅a⋅tion - [ri-tal-ee-ey-shuhn] ; noun - the act of retaliating; return of like for like; reprisal.
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--in which Casey attempts a retaliation--
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Casey makes a list. Not just any list but one that justifies, why exactly she needs to prank Derek before forgiving him. And it's locked away in a drawer that Derek doesn't know about. After school, she runs to her room and takes out the list and peruses it.
Number one, Derek by sabotaging Max was technically pranking her. A prank also is a challenge in a way. It challenges the powers that be by defying them. So therefore, she is allowed to retaliate. In the pranking world, it's all about equality, an eye for an eye, a cheek for a cheek, ergo a prank for a prank. It makes absolute sense. And the reasoning is also logically tight, so she can't get into trouble.
Number two, Derek has had it coming. For the past four years. This is to relive the frustration of being a continuous victim of all of his pranks. And she has the angsty poetry to show for it. Twenty freaking volumes worth of frustration. This is something like the suffragettes fighting for the right to vote. Derek was being the Alpha Male by pranking her and now it is time for her to become the Alpha Woman and show him, that she can do it too. (The pranking, the pranking, she needs to get rid of the innuendo which is infiltrating her brain!)
Number three, she wants to do it. She wants to smirk like Derek, after a prank gone right. Yes, she wants to feel the power. (And really, it's only this one time. Promise.)
She puts the list back in and locks the drawer. One can never be too safe. She sits down before her computer and then sends up a prayer, asking the lord to forgive her for what she's going to do. She then cracks her knuckles and gets started.
One hour later she's done. She smiles in satisfaction. She is twenty kinds of awesome.
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The next order of business is to clear the house as if it were on fire. Therefore she sends off George and Nora to a couples barbeque hosted by Emily's parents at the Country Club. Nora and George are only too happy to take a break. Next, she sends Marti over to Emily's house who has promised to keep her occupied with cookies, cartoons and her make-up set. A potent combination.
Then finally she sends Liz and Ed to the movies to watch a documentary. And yes, she gives Ed money to spend at the arcade. She tells them categorically, under no circumstances are they supposed to be back before seven o'clock. Liz wheedles some more money out of her and she grudgingly gives up the money she had been saving to invest in some blue eye shadow (Derek destroyed the old one, god alone knows why though.)
The coast is clear and now all she needs to do is wait for Derek to come home.
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Derek comes home to find an empty house, except is really isn't. Casey's hiding in one of the cupboards in the living room to watch the following proceedings. Derek picks up the note on the table and grins. It reads, "Derek, some friends of mine are coming home, I'm at Em's house finishing a project, please can you keep them entertained. You owe me." He reads the last sentence and the grin drops, at least she's talking to him though, even if it is via notes. That's definitely got to be an improvement over the silent treatment bullshit she's giving him.
Fine, he'll do it because he feels guilty. Not for her, but because he needs to feel better about himself. (Talking to her again would be an added bonus. He misses their snark.)
Casey stuffs a fist into her mouth to stop from giggling. Playing into Derek's guilt (the poor fellow just doesn't know what to do with it. He's just not used to it) was a brilliant idea. She mentally takes a deep breath and calms herself.
At four o'clock the doorbell rings and Derek supposes, that must be Casey's friend.
"Excuse me, are you Derek?" the person asks, very politely and Derek nods, equally politely. He smiles and completely floors the guy at the door. Do come in, he murmurs graciously shutting the door behind the guy, who must be around their age. Funny, Derek's never seen him a round. Maybe he's Casey friend from her old school. The guy sits down and Derek offers him a soda.
"Hi, I'm David. Casey's told me so much about you."
Derek does the customary, Oh; I hope all good things, shtick. He owes Casey and she won't forget to remind him about it ad nauseum. (Yes, he knows some big words okay. Casey says them and then he goes and looks them up. Cause he's a nerd sometimes. Don't tell anyone though.)
This David fellow scoots a little further to Derek with a gleam in his eyes. And Derek is suddenly all on alert. He slowly inches away.
"So Derek, why don't you tell me all about you?" David says with earnest enthusiasm and gazes into Derek's eyes sincerely. Derek is thrown off by this behavior. Is this guy for real? Which self-respecting guy talks to another guy as if they were both chicks?
"From Casey told me, I'm sure we could be such good friends." There's an emphasis on the word good and that makes Derek sit up straighter. Why in the world is this guy talking like this? It's making him nervous. This feels a little too friendly and David seems to be taking over his personal space. (So like Casey)
His eyes grow wide with realization. Someone talks like that only when…Fuck.
He's being hit on Casey's friend? Only that would explain those eyes, that tone, the inching close. He feels a little dizzy. What is with Casey and weird friends? Meanwhile David is still looking earnestly at him, expecting him to answer.
He shouldn't jump to conclusions. He'd just be like Casey then. And maybe he's just imagining things. So he composes himself and answer's David's earnest, earnest question. He talks and talks and it's an outpouring because he doesn't know why. Its Casey this, it's Casey that, it's Casey everything and somewhere along the way, he's not sure he's speaking to David anymore. He's talking to himself, like he does when he's up in his bedroom and hearing Casey's breathing through the walls that that never seem too thick.
He doesn't see David's face fall and he definitely can't hear Casey's almost close to hyperventilating-breathing in the closet. It's only him in his own little world.
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Casey can't believe what she's hearing and she somehow feels guilty because she isn't supposed to be hearing this. This feels like infringing on Derek's innermost thoughts, the ones that he never reveals and ones she always wonders about. And because he's unburdening to a complete stranger and she really needs to abort this mission because it's snowballing out of control.
She lo-likes him enough not to want to hear this completely. And she knows that deep inside her that he would do the same for her. It's what they are best at, repressing any emotion that would prove detrimental to their dynamic by never even letting it see the light of the day.
It's the way they work and it's comfortable and makes them feel like they are normal and functioning.
She never meant for a torrent of words to come pouring (intensely personal ones), she just wanted retaliation and this isn't retaliation not by any stretch of imagination. She sends a message to everyone else that was supposed to come and asks Emily frantically for a distraction because she needs to get out of this cupboard before she suffocates on everything she hears from Derek's mouth.
Emily luckily enough answers and doesn't ask questions (she knows by now and thinks they are crazy but will eventually, hopefully figure it out).
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When Derek finally stops and looks at David, his face is flushed and he looks the most vulnerable he has ever felt. How could he not, he just went all out and said everything that he's been hoarding in for the past four years. David himself doesn't look that enthused and politely excuses himself and leaves after bidding Derek goodbye. Derek watches him go a tad regretfully, he would have eventually warmed up to him and maybe they could have been buds. Casey would have been happy then.
Emily calls with a Marti related emergency and he bolts out of the door after which Casey bolts out of the cupboard still hyperventilating. He doesn't stop to think that Casey is there and Casey only just realizes she's supposed to be there, at. But it's too late to do anything and she just hopes Emily will make up some excuse.
She's going to lay off the pranks for a while.
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Emily is clever in the way that teenagers are and when Derek comes bolting into her room, wild-eyed and breathless, she calmly informs him Marti has lost her Mr. Bear and if he doesn't want doomsday to come upon them, maybe he better buck up and help them find Mr. Bear and calm Marti down. She also doesn't forget to tell him that Casey has gone to get some notes from Alicia. She's all about a job well done.
In only took her two minutes to convince Marti and Dimi to act like Mr. Bear is lost. It's all a fun game with a different purpose and intent and Emily even feels a little guilty about what she has to do. But it's for the greater good, for everyone's sanity and she will really go out and do plenty to good deeds after this. Deception too is all a part of the game.
Besides like she said, it for the effing greater good, on the same level as trying to achieve world peace.
It has to be done.
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Derek comes back, exhausted and tired with a cheerful Marti in tow. She's through if not anything and she led him all over the Davis's house for a pretty goose chase, unknown to him of course. Besides she did catch a faint hint of what all this is about and she also likes to take an active part in the proceedings and facilitate things.
The moment Derek enters the house, he stops and Marti walks right into him, Mr. Bear and toys and all.
"Smerek, you're in the way," she says accusingly and sidesteps him. Meanwhile Derek continues, he knows Casey is in, just like he always knows when Nora is making gumbo. The air is tinted with pine-freshener and Casey's aqua perfume. (The kind he likes, it's not overt or flowery, it's just perfect and fresh and it makes his nose tingle)
But right now he's tired because confessions and searching missing teddy bears can be quite draining, emotionally and physically. So he sends Marti to her room and goes to his room. He needs to flush his brain and remove the Casey that's branded all over it. It's making it mushy and he sometimes cannot think straight.
Because when there's Casey in his head, he feels like he's under severe duress.
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He's lying on his bed like always and contemplating a move to a Casey free zone because she's not good for his constitution or his digestion and he's afraid he'll get an ulcer. And for god sakes, he's only eighteen and not sixty and he shouldn't be worrying about anything, except college. (Cause he really does care and he does want to be something. And yeah, like every other thing in his life, it has something to do with Casey)
Alternately he's also wishing she'd just say something because actions do speak louder than words and all this hate is getting to him.
It is then that a there's knock on the door and there's a scrap of paper that's been pushed under it. He groans out loud because this whole note thing is getting annoying. Is this how she's going to communicate for the rest of the time that they live together in the same house? Cause if that's the case then he's so going to have to make one of those grand scale apologies that George has to do when he forgets his and Nora's first date song. (A frequent occurrence and George has the florist on speed dial) And he's not looking forward to that cause eating humble pie in front of everyone is never nice.
He picks up the note and reads three words that make his head spin, it's like the last time all over again and this time he hopes his tear ducts won't accidentally leak because he has no excuse this time. Dust bunnies were the last one and Nora made him thoroughly clean the room after that, so even allergies are out of the question.
I forgive you.
He can taste something sweet, sugary and delicate on his tongue and it feels like happiness intermingled with relief and hope.
He's so hijacking the bathroom tomorrow.
Um, there must be a term for chapter snowballing out of control. It would apply to this chapter. I had a plan and this chapter kind of threw it to the winds. Sorry for the confusion. I can only wring my hands pathetically over it so much. It's kind of eating at my brain and refusing to be written any other way.
reviews would be helpful and do point out mistakes which you find. :)
By the way did anyone else see the new HP movie and think Rupert Grint is beginning to look droolworthy? He did make me sigh with happiness. (It was the muscles)