Disclaimer: Still don't own Life with Derek.

Chapter #9--What do You Want?

Neither Casey McDonald nor Derek Venturi had dated anyone for quite some time. However, this clearly wasn't due to lack of opportunity, especially for Derek who was still frequently approached by gaggles of giggling girls. Around the same time, both of them had simply seemed to lose interest in the whole dating thing. By this point, most of the school had figured out why.

Roger White had never liked Derek Venturi. He had failed to make the hockey team for the last two years, and while Derek as captain had apologized to him, he wasn't sure how sincere that apology was.

He didn't really understand or accept the way that Derek ran the team. For example, it was widely known that Derek had unofficially appointed his best friend Sam as "substitute captain." In other words, during all the times that Derek couldn't get his act together and wasn't allowed to play in the game, Sam was to take on leadership responsibilities with other players. In his opinion, Sam was a pretty decent guy and an okay hockey player, but based on the stats, there were clearly other players on the team who seemed more worthy of this role.

Roger occasionally wondered if his not making the hockey team was due to the fact that he wasn't exactly popular. He wasn't unpopular either, but he wasn't a member of Derek's crowd. In general, he was suspicious of Derek's behavior.

In addition, Roger had actually liked Casey McDonald for quite some time. Perhaps it was because she had been practically the only girl who didn't faun over Derek, and indeed, one of the only people in their school to actually stand up to him. Not only that but she was pretty and smart.

When things had started to change between Derek and Casey and it became clear that Casey might actually have some sort of feelings for the guy after all, for some reason Roger actually found her even more desirable. Perhaps it was because even though Derek seemed to like her, Casey was not giving into his charms. Whatever her actual feelings, she had not admitted that she liked him.

In addition, a small petty part of Roger had begun to think of Casey as something he might be able to take away from Derek . . . the way that Derek had taken away hockey. His friends warned him that it was useless to ask her out, but Roger personally thought that he might have a chance.

Roger corned Casey in the hallway after their English class together. He had tickets to a play later that evening and asked her if she might like to go.

Casey was taken by surprise and didn't really know how to answer him. Roger was tall, blond, and attractive. Although he wasn't as popular as Derek, he seemed to be quite nice, and as far as Casey could tell, pretty smart. There was really no good reason why she shouldn't want to go out with him . . . But she didn't want to and she was pretty sure she knew why.

Although she wasn't prepared to admit things first herself, she realized that the time had come to ask Derek Venturi the question that was constantly on her mind these days . . .

She told a disappointed Roger that she'd get back to him later and went off in search of her stepbrother.

But hey, it hadn't been a definite no. Roger was happy about that.

Casey finally caught up to Derek after science. He was casually leaning against his locker while that blond bimbo Amy practically threw herself at him. Although Derek wasn't exactly responding to this, Casey felt the anger rise in her throat.

"Derek!" she yelled. "We need to talk."

"So talk," he said, throwing her one of his trademark smirks.

"Derek," she asked him seriously, "what do you want?"

"He wants you to leave McDorfus," Amy interjected snidely.

"Derek," Casey said not even sparing Amy a glance, "send her away."

"Beat it, Amy," Derek said smiling and watched the girl walk off in a huff.

"Derek," Casey asked again, "what do you want?"

"Vague much, Case?" he asked her playfully, although in the back of his mind he did have some ideas what she was asking.

"Roger White asked me out," she said.

"Roger Can't-Score-a-Single-Goal White?" he asked with a nervous laugh. The guy was notorious for his horrible hockey tryouts, in which he incurred way more penalties than either goals or completed passes.

"What do you want, Derek?" she asked for a third time, ignoring the question that he had asked her.

Was she actually asking him that? He had just sent a beautiful blond girl away at her request. How the hell could she possibly not know what he wanted?

Derek felt himself getting angry.

"What do I want?!" he asked.

There was no possible way that she didn't know. She just didn't want to say anything first herself. Derek refused to give her the satisfaction of letting her bully him into this.

"I want," he said angrily, "for you to do whatever you want. And if that means going out with Roger White than I hope that you two have a great time!"

"Fine!" she shouted back, looking like she was going to punch him in the face. "I will go out with him! And we'll have a fantastic time!"

"Great!" he yelled, and with that he stormed off down the hallway, pushing over a trashcan once he had turned the corner and Casey could no longer see him.

"D," said Sam catching up to him, "I don't think that was the smartest move. If you don't say something and fast, it's just possible that you might lose her."

Although Derek shot Sam an angry look, in the back of his mind, he knew that his friend was right.