Chapter 4 Fight Ban and Paper Writing
Casey's POV
He was so jealous when my friends were here. It was actually really funny. But, I didn't want them to push him too far. When they left I could tell he was relieved and angry that Chris had kissed me. Then, we almost kissed. I couldn't believe it. Then we had the revealing dinner. I had never meant for the Venturi's to know that I had been arrested. I knew he was going to ask me about it later, but I tried to avoid it.
After our fight in the kitchen and making our way upstairs in only our underwear (which, I enjoyed because I got to see Derek's muscles!), I had this feeling that things were really going to change between us.
I found I was right when I heard a knock at my door and Derek opened it later that night. "Hey."
I smiled at him. "Hey."
He closed my door and walked over to my desk chair and sat down. He faced me and folded his hands over his mouth. This was the tell-tale sign that he was wanting to ask me something, but not sure he should. Finally, after I had been staring at him from my position on my bed for about two minutes, he met my eyes and took a deep breath. "So, what did you have to pay for?"
I could tell that this was not the question Derek really wanted to ask, but I answered it anyway. "A lamp and a couple of decorative things. The host had put up most of the breakable stuff, so there wasn't much to destroy. I know that he had to pay for a couple of holes in the wall, though."
He hung his head for a moment before whispering his next question. "Did he hurt you?"
I nodded. "I ended up with a black eye and a busted lip. But no worries, he came out a lot worse. He ended up with a broken jaw."
He nodded for and we were silent again for a couple of minutes. "So, you were a party animal, huh?"
I laughed at him. "Are you seriously telling me that you sat there fretting about asking me THAT for two whole minutes?"
He shook his head. "No, but I don't have the guts to ask you what I wanted to, yet, so I'm starting with that."
I laughed again. "You mean to tell me that THE Derek Venturi, is unable to ask me a question?"
"Would you please just answer the one I did ask?"
I shook my head in disbelief. "I wouldn't say I was a party animal, I was just known for being a little," I paused looking for the right word. "A little loose, you might say."
"What do you mean 'loose'?"
"I had a tendency to end up drunk at the parties I went to." At this Derek started laughing. "I was also known to smoke a joint every now and then, and I frequently ended up making out with random guys I had never seen and would never see again. Is that what you thought I meant?"
He shook his head. "Normally when I hear 'loose' I think 'slut'."
I laughed at this. "I was never a slut."
"Have you ever slept with a guy?"
"Sex?"
He nodded.
"Almost, with my old boyfriend. Found out that was all he really wanted. He kept trying and I finally just told him that I wasn't ready for that. He broke up with me not long after." I looked at him to see that he was looking at me intently, though what emotion was there I couldn't tell. "Was that the question you wanted to ask me?"
He blushed (yes, BLUSHED) and nodded. "Mainly I was wondering if there was some reason the guy who tried to rape you would think you would be willing."
I laughed at that. "Well, to be honest, at my old school I was seen as a slut, but only because I made out with a lot of guys. Quite a few of them claimed that they had gotten all the way with me, I just never contradicted them."
He chuckled at that. "Kind of like me."
I laughed too. "Yeah, I guess so."
He frowned. "If you had that rep at your old school, then why have you always given me a hard time about mine?"
I shrugged. "Mainly because you're a guy. I just, at the time I moved in, I was really distrusting of guys with that kind of 'bad boy' image. You have that, big time, and I didn't want to be reminded of my old boyfriend. He was like that."
Derek nodded. "I didn't realize that. I wouldn't have teased you as much."
I laughed at that. "Yes, you would have. But you've made up for it."
He looked at me quizically. "How's that?"
I smiled at him. "There have been several times that you have kept people from teasing me about stuff when you didn't have to."
"Like when?"
I crossed my arms and leaned back against my pillows. "Like making people stop calling me 'klutzilla' and 'grade-grubber'..."
"That was a thank you for helping me pass English!"
I laughed at him. "You don't have to be embarassed that you really sort of like me."
"Shhhhh!" He acted like he was truly worried about being found out. "No one can know that."
"Why?"
"Because, I can't let people know that after all this fighting we've done. I've worked very hard to be sure that no one could possibly think that I care what you do."
I laughed at that as well. "Well, how can you possibly think that you would succeed. You didn't when you tried to tell people you didn't know me."
Derek waved that off. "That's because I couldn't hide the fact that you're living here from Sam, and he has a big mouth. But he knows better than to say anything about that."
"Yes, you do have everyone around you wrapped around your little finger...or your fist, which ever is applicable."
"Everyone except you, that is." He smirked at me. "But I'll change that eventually."
I shook my head. "So, have you?"
He frowned. "Have I what?"
"Had sex?"
His ears started getting pink again. I guess I was being a little too blunt for his comfort. He didn't answer me and I finally had to convince him. "Come on, you asked me and I answered. Return the favor."
He sighed. "I thought it was rather obvious by what I said about your rep versus mine."
I smirked at him. "Say it out loud, Derek. I seriously doubt that you have even said it out loud to Sam."
He gave a pointed look that clearly told me that he was thinking of killing me. "I have never had sex. Happy?"
I nodded and laughed at him. "Was that really so hard?"
He glared at me. "If you say anything at school, I will deny it."
I shook my head. "It would go against your carefully cultivated rep. You would have to simply ignore it. That way everyone can come to their own conclusions, which is how you got your rep in the first place."
He kept glaring. "Why do you always have to be right?"
"I will spread that around school."
"And I will deny that."
I laughed at him again.
And he laughed with me. "why have we always fought? I'm having a lot of fun right now."
I shrugged. "At first it was because we were both used to getting our own way. And because we were thrown into this living situation that we really didn't want. We were both angry."
"Then why didn't we get over it?"
"Because it became normal."
"I don't want it to be normal anymore."
"I don't either."
He shifted awkwardly. "So..."
"Derek, we were just having a wonderful conversation a moment ago and we decided not to fight anymore, or at least not all the time, because I don't think you'll quit being annoying. Why are you suddenly so nervous?"
He shrugged. "I don't know."
"Derek."
"Okay, so I do know why, I just don't want to tell you."
"That's what I thought. Spill anyway."
He shook his head and I couldn't hold back the laugh. He cocked his head to the side. "What?"
"You looked EXACTLY like Marti when you shook your head that way. It was just really funny."
He grinned at me. "She is my sister!"
I laughed as he spun my chair around.
Suddenly he stopped and stared at me. "We have an essay due tomorrow."
I shook my head. "She pushed it back to the day after tomorrow."
He nodded slowly. "I haven't even started it. What was it supposed to be on?"
I smiled at him. "She said that we had to write about something personal in a non-personal way."
"Huh?"
"What she means is that you can write pretty much anyway you want. You could do it like you were interviewing yourself and writing an article or you could make it a short story based on personal experience, whatever you want."
He nodded slowly.
"Do you need help with it?"
He shook his head slowly. "Would you be willing to proof read it, though?"
I nodded. "Sure, no problem."
He nodded slowly again. "I'll go get started on that, then." He got up and left my room. I was a little curious about the way he was acting. I couldn't tell if he was really worried about his grade again or if he was wondering what to write about or if he was just thinking about who he was going to ask out the next day.
Derek's POV
I plopped down into my chair infront of my computer. An essay (or short story) on anything I wanted as long as it was personal. How the hell was my teacher supposed to know if it was personal? What was I supposed to write about? I briefly considered going back to Casey's room to ask what she had written it on, confident that she would be done, but decided against it. For one thing she would assume that I was trying to cheat and for another it probably wouldn't have helped me much anyway.
I sat in front of my computer with the word processing program up for almost an hour and still all I had was: "Untitled by Derek Venturi". I really didn't think there was any way I would get anything but an F if I turned that in.
But the problem really wasn't me. It was Casey. Okay, so it was me thinking about Casey, but that's basically the same thing, right? i just couldn't get the image of her in her underwear out of my mind. Black, lacey underwear. Who would've thought that goody-two-shoes Casey would have that kind of underwear. Then again, she really wasn't a goody-two-shoes, now was she? No, she was a lot more exciting than I orignially thought. I think.
Then again, I've never really thought she could have been that preppy. With her personality, always detesting people for thinking they were better than everyone else, I just knew that she didn't always dress and act the way she had been. But now she was changing. And it took all I had to not kiss her senseless everytime she walked into the room.
I wondered what the rest of the people at school would think about Casey the next day, since she still hadn't been to school since her friends took her to the mall. It was then that I stopped thinking and went barging into Casey's room.
She spun around from something she was doing on her computer and looked at me. She looked a little scared and I hoped I hadn't scared her. I know I didn't look pissed or anything. "Um, I was just wondering what you were planning to wear to school tomorrow."
She smirked at me...again! MY SMIRK! MINE!!!"Why, do you want to coordinate?"
I shook my head and looked at the floor. I decided this was really the wrong thing to do, however, because instead of her being UNable to decifer that I was worried she would show up in something I thought was too revealing, she did guess exactly that. All because I looked at the stupid floor!
She smiled at me when I confessed to being worried about what the other guys in school would do. "I appriciate your concern, Derek, but there is really no need. I can take care of myself."
I nodded and left the room, thinking the whole way back to mine that I didn't care if she had the ABILITY to take care of herself, she shouldn't HAVE to take care of herself. And then I realized what the perfect thing to write on was. I sat infront of my computer and re-wrote the title. Now it read: "The Girl by Derek Venturi". Then I started typing. ANd I didn't stop until almost three in the morning.
A/N: So, how liking? I know this chapter has been a little later coming than the others and for that I apologize. Also, just wanted to say that since finals are coming up and all (I only have this week of full classes and I'm done!) I might be unable to update for the next few weeks, although I will try. I do need to know one thing though. Should Derek and Casey kiss in the next chapter or in chapter six? I can't decide if I want to postpone the inevitable any longer or not. Hmmmm.