Casey woke up the next morning as the sun was rising. She'd always been an early riser.
She hurried to dress and brush her hair, and went down to the kitchen, making breakfast for herself and Derek.
As she ate her eggs, she mulled over what Derek had said to her last night. It's just a harmless crush. She reasoned.
She took a deep breath and laughed at herself. "Nothing worth getting worried over, Casey." She said to herself sternly.
Derek appeared in the doorway, startling her. He laughed in her face.
"Talking to yourself again, Case? C'mon, get your stuff, I'll drive you down to the Loony Farm." He grinned and immediately devoured the eggs and bacon Casey had set out for him.
She rolled her eyes. "Good morning to you too, Derek."
Casey strode into the living room, and switched from the depressing News Channel Six (like every morning) and was delighted to see that her favorite teen drama show, Degrassi, was on.
She was intently watching Manny Santos sob hysterically when Derek barged in and snatched the remote from the arm of the couch.
"De-rek! Go away!" She whined, glaring at him, but he ignored her, and switched the channel to some horror film.
"I don't even know why you waste your time with that mushy-gushy drama crap." He said flatly, grinning at the start of some creepy soundtrack on the movie.
"Ugh!" Casey didn't feel like arguing with him so early, so she went back upstairs to shower.
While she was in the shower, Derek decided it would be fun to mess around on Casey's computer. He signed on to her screen name.
An IM immediately popped up.
Hello again, Casey. What took you so long to sign on this morning? I know you got up early today...
Derek's eyes widened a bit. How the hell did this freak know that?
Um, yeah, sorry. Uh, how did you know I got up early? Derek wrote back, mildly annoyed at her swirly-girly font.
) I know a lot about you.
And just like that, he'd signed off.
Derek breathed out slowly, and ran a hand through his shaggy hair. This was seriously screwed up. What was with this freak? He heard the shower turn off, and he rushed out of Casey's room.
Casey came in a few seconds later when she saw that there was an IM on her screen. From Unknown.
She read it slowly, felt her breath hitch in her throat. It said:
Casey-
I will wait for you. But not forever. For now, I'll tend to your every desire.
P.S. Tell Derek to stay off your screen name. I don't like it when he talks to me. And I don't want to have to do something to make him regret.
She breathed out shakily.
"Casey, I was just wondering, could you--?" Derek barged in again, but stopped mid-sentence after seeing a trembling Casey.
"What's the matter?" He said slowly. She pointed at the screen.
He clenched his fists, eyes racing across the screen.
He reread it twice, then turned to Casey, who was shaking. "Casey," He started, "This is a joke. A big practical joke. I honestly wouldn't worry about it." He tried his best to sound reassuring.
He saw her blue eyes sparkling with tears, and immediately was both panicked and angered.
"Casey..." He had no idea of what to say, so he said the first thing that came to mind. "I won't let anyone hurt you."
She suddenly flung herself at him, shocking him thoroughly. "Uh...Casey? Are you...you know...okay?" He tried awkwardly, patting her on the back.
She pulled back, wiping her eyes. "I'm okay. And I know you're just saying that cause you want me to stop crying."
He rubbed the back of his neck, and straightened up, nervous-coughing.
"Yeah. That's it. Well...I'll be in my room." Derek left Casey, shutting the door to his room quickly, and lying on his bed shakily, heart racing.
What the hell? This is Casey. Why do I suddenly care? Oh God...No. It can't be. I don't like Casey McDonald.
But somewhere in the back of his mind, a little voice nagged him, saying, Who are you kidding, Venturi?