I apologise again, profusely for how long this has taken me!
Disclaimer: I own nothing :( but the storyline.
Laura spoke up before I had even the slightest chance.
Leaning her way around me to look her brother directly in the eye. In a way that was both challenging, and questioning.
One of the things I admired most about Laura, her ability to challenge Derek without so much as batting an eyelid.
I had a feeling they challenged each other often, in a playful way, I guessed it was a way to keep things interesting, and in my mind it was worth is to see the awestruck expressions coming from the rest of the table.
'Yes it is' Laura shot out, grinning slightly. 'Since when have you wanted to sit at the, and I quote 'Gossip Girl table'?'
The corners of Derek's mouth tilted upwards, not quite a smile, but a smirk. He was clearly amused that his attempt to annoy Laura had been entirely successful.
'I'm offended!' dramatically slapping his chest to feign mock-hurt, 'Don't you love your older brother oh so much?' Derek said whilst pulling out the chair in question and placing himself firmly on it. He had no lunch with him, a detail I surprisingly didn't find strange, with it being him.
He lifted his muscular forearms up, as I cursed myself inwardly for noticing, and propped his elbows up on the table.
A deliberate move to appear casual, indifferent to the table load of females gazing at him intently. His arm grazed mine only slightly when he shifted but it was enough to send a white-hot spark of electricity up my arm, warming my skin and making all the tiny hairs promptly stand to attention.
Derek, of course, didn't seem to notice anything out of the ordinary. Or if he did he was doing a very good job of hiding it.
Laura was still grinning at her brother, oblivious to my body's crazy internal reactions.
'I don't know where you got that silly idea from' she retorted and finished off with a wink. Laura seemed to decide then, to end the teasing, and pulled some history books out of her bag to study for a test I knew we had next period.
That meant that Derek's attention had now shifted, towards me. After last night's weirdly intimate and intense situation, I was worried that things would be plain awkward the next day.
Apparently no such fears gripped Derek, when he proceeded to question about my day so far, what classes I had sat through, the teachers I'd had, what television I had recorded last night, and concluded with a lecture as to how vital it is to have breakfast in the mornings.
Despite the lecture, It was anything but a relief when the bell rang, loud, shrill and crystal clear. I reluctantly picked up my bag, bidding Derek and everyone around the table a resigned goodbye. I sensed that most of the girls had only just barely recovered from Derek's arrival, giving me the strong impression that he didn't associate with Laura's friends often.
Laura linked her slender arm through mine on the way to British History, linking arms with her felt easy, natural. Almost like we'd been close friends the majority of our lives.
'My brother likes you' she remarked happily. Seeing my confusion she added 'He doesn't exactly take an interest in many people, he's how do I put it? picky about his friends'
Her eyes shone, filled with her obvious love and admiration for him.
I wasn't really sure how to respond without embarrassing myself, so I gave her what I hoped was a genuine smile and took my newly claimed seat next to hers. I glanced at her throughout the quiz, wondering why on earth she'd chosen to befriend me of all people.
No matter how long we stayed in Beacon Hills, I knew that i'd always remember Laura Hale. Her friendship had eased me through the hardest part of moving to a new town, the first day. Her brother on the other hand, I felt sure I wouldn't forget him in a hurry either, but for an entirely different reason.
I was almost certain that I had dreamt about him at some point last night, his beautiful blue eyes struck a chord in my hazy memory of my dreams. How had I gone from dreaming about Derek, and his perfect features, to waking up screaming? I put it down to stress, it had to be stress.
The rest of the day dragged painfully slowly. I frequently found myself counting down the minutes to go until I could get out of this cagey modern building, and just be outside. I planned to go for a lengthy run that night, an excellent way to clear my head, and I needed to before my father had the chance to get on my case about it.
His rule was 'Three miles a day: Minimum' for the hunting business you had to be sure that you maintained a good fitness level. Thinking about my father put me slightly on edge, a knot in my stomach threatened to fully form.
He'd been intensely scouting the area for a few days now, standard protocol when we moved anywhere new. I was hoping and praying that this time he wouldn't find anything. I was secretly terrified that he'd uncover somebody in one of my classes, someone I'd borrowed notes from, someone I'd spoken to briefly.
I'd never consider sharing my fears with him, in his eyes, hunting came first. Above friendships, relationships, basically any form of ties.
As if my gut instinct had been some kind of warning, at the end of the school day I opened my cell phone to a single menacing text.
'Family meeting: Six O'clock sharp. Dad x'
He'd found something.
I'm thinking of doing a Derek P.O.V for the next chapter, thoughts? Reading and reviewing would be massively appreciated! :)