A/N: As of now, I have 18 reviews and I wish I could individually thank all of you because it means so much to me, more than you can ever know, but because that'd take too long and I'm sure you're eager for chapter three, I'll just go ahead and say a general thank you to each and every one of you that has written a review. Oh, and as far as this not really being a crossover as one of you put it, how do you know I won't add a character or two or three from the actual Twilight series? Hmm…patience is a virtue. Give me some time to build my plot first before I throw in characters willy nilly. Anyways, enjoy chapter three!
3.
The car ride was silent. Edwin and Lizzie had worn themselves out playing arcade games and making bets on who could get the highest score. Obviously, Lizzie had won and now Edwin, who was currently pouting about his situation, would have to pay up – meaning do all of Lizzie's chores for the next week. Marti had also grown tired, seeing as how it was past her bedtime, and was currently sleeping, her head resting on Derek's arm.
Casey thought the scene was rather cute and had to try hard and remind herself that this was Derek Venturi, her new stepbrother, and currently the person who most likely hated her at the moment. And she hadn't even done anything to him! Casey chewed her bottom lip – a habit of hers – and waited for the SUV to pull up into the driveway of "home" as George had put it. Home. The tacky red brick house with only two bathrooms and four bedrooms – five counting Edwin's abode in the attic – would never be her home.
"Here we are!" George announced as the garage door grumbled open, "Alright kids, here's how this is going to work. Derek usually gets the bathroom first, then Edwin, and lastly Marti. We do things by an age system in this house…"
"But that's not fair!" Lizzie protested.
"I have to agree with Lizard," Nora nodded, "It does seem a little unjust."
"Well what do you propose we do? We have five kids and one bathroom!"
"Two."
"One."
"Two," Nora insisted pointedly, "There's one in our basement suit."
"But that's for us."
"George, don't be selfish. The night is still young. Everyone will have time to take a shower and brush their teeth before bed. Now then, Derek and Marti will shower at the same time – Derek upstairs, Marti downstairs. Then after them, it'll be Casey and Lizzie, and lastly Edwin…for tonight. We'll think of better arrangements tomorrow."
After the bathroom situation was duly sorted out, George unlocked the car doors and the kids slowly hopped out – each one exhausted and ready for bed. Casey was first into the house and decided to put Derek's jacket back in the closet. The last thing she needed was him mad at her for something else.
"Keep it."
Casey turned just as she was preparing to put the jacket on the wire coat hanger.
"Keep it. It's cold here and by the looks of it, you don't have much in the way of warm clothes."
"But…"
"It's fine. I insist. Besides, I have others."
"Thank you," Casey looked at him puzzled.
"Hey, I didn't mean to be on your case today; I just get like this when I'm hungry."
"Then go eat something. I can fix you…"
"Nah, that's fine. I'll just go out later tonight and pick something up. And Casey?"
"Yeah, Derek?"
"I'm sorry you hate it so much here."
Casey was about to say something else but noticed he had vanished. She bit her lower lip and folded the jacket in her arms. She couldn't help but notice the distinct odor it held. The smell wasn't an expensive perfume but rather an aroma of something indescribable and something almost, to an extent, delectable. Sighing, Casey made her way upstairs to her bedroom to await the shower, musing over Derek Venturi and his mood swings.
"Hi!"
"Hi, Edwin," Casey smiled at him as he jumped out in front of her.
"So, your sisters with Lizzie right?"
"Yeah," Casey nodded, not sure where he was going with this.
"So you know everything about her, right?"
"I suppose."
"So, can you tell me how to get out of doing her chores for a week?"
"Hmm, I wish I could, Edwin, I really do but you lost the bet fair and square."
"But I was off on my game tonight. Maybe if I had a rematch…"
"Edwin, I think a rematch would be great but I'm tried. Sort this out with Lizzie, alright? I'm not the person to be…"
"Right. Sort this out with Lizzie. Got it!"
Casey couldn't help but smile as Edwin skipped out of the bedroom. She shut the door behind him and walked over to her suitcase. After unzipping it, she pulled out about ten books that she had packed along with her (luckily, she had brought along a large suitcase in order to fit everything). After unloading her books, she walked over to the bookshelf and began to organize them by title, alphabetically. Casey stood back to examine her work. The shelf was pretty much bare, with an exception to her ten books, but Casey knew that would change soon. She'd get more and soon it would be filled with books and photo frames and knick-knacks.
"Casey," Nora knocked on the door, "May I come in?"
"Sure, Mom," Casey grumbled, still a tad angry with her.
"I see you got your books up," Nora smiled as she nodded over to the bookshelf, "Don't worry sweetie, you'll get more."
"I know. I brought my favorites along."
"Good, good. Look, tomorrow I was thinking I could take you and Lizzie to town and we could shop for some things for your rooms. I'm thinking some nice curtains for the windows and pretty beddings and we have to get you a rug and maybe even a larger dresser. Lizzie wants some posters on her walls and…"
"That's fine," Casey cut her short, "I'm looking forward to it."
"Splendid! Well, it's almost your turn for the shower."
"Okay, thanks, Mom."
"You're welcome, sweetie."
Casey unpacked her pink and white polka-dot pajama bottoms and terrycloth hot pink t-shirt that matched. After a few more moments of digging, she also found her terrycloth robe. She grabbed a clean pair of underwear and wrapped the undies, pajama bottoms, and t-shirt into the robe remembering that there were boys in the house now and she'd have to be careful of what they did and did not see.
Once she had everything she needed, Casey made her way down the hall and to the bathroom that she was now sharing with Lizzie, Derek, Edwin, and Marti. She quickly locked the door behind her and was thankful for the time alone. Showering was always her favorite part of the evening, the part where she could crawl into a nice, steaming shower and let the troubles and stresses be washed away. She turned on the water and surprisingly, it was still hot. Casey quickly stripped out of her clothes, tossed them onto the floor, and stepped into the steaming shower. The hot water felt amazing as it beat down on her pale, flawless skin. The shower was perfect, except for one thing.
Casey realized that this was once an all-boys shower (except for Marti) and the soaps consisted of Axe Body Wash, ("Ewww!" Casey thought to herself), and Gillette Hair and Body Soap. That was almost enough to make Case gag. As if the titles weren't bad enough, the scents of the soaps were disgusting. Scents such as Heat and Rain caused the shower to explode into an overpoweringly odorous skink bomb. Every since Casey had started high school and the boys had begun drenching themselves in after shave, she hated the strong scents. Showering in them was almost too much to bear. How was she expected to get by without her Honey Lemon Suave shampoo and her Strawberries and Cream Olay body wash? It just wasn't going to be possible.
Casey made a mental note to let her mother know and while in town, pick up some soaps that at least would be better than Axe and Gillette. After the horrendous shower was over, she grabbed a towel and dried off. Now matter how hard she scrubbed at her skin, the stench remained. Her last choice would be lotion but, of course, there was none to be found in the cabinets or under the sink. She'd just have to hope Nora had brought along some perfumes.
After drying, she pulled on her pajamas and robe and plugged in the hair dryer she had found underneath the sink. The heat was a comfort to her as she dried her tangled mess of hair into straight, silky locks. Casey yanked the elastic from her wrist and wrapped her now straight hair into a messy bun and deemed herself safe to make her way back into her room. She grabbed her dirty clothes and unlocked the door. To her shock, there he was in all his standoffish glory, waiting, leaning against the wall. His arms were folded and his expression was plain.
"What?" Casey asked, not meaning to be rude but how else was she supposed to act upon opening the bathroom door and finding none other than Derek Venturi waiting for her on the other side. But then again, she speculated, he might not have really been waiting for her but for something in the bathroom. That would logically make more since. But of course, he wasn't.
"I wanted to talk to you."
Great.
"Okay, shoot!" Casey waved a hurried hand.
"Well, tomorrow you're going to get stuff for your room, right? Well my friends live not far from there, a few miles outside the city limits and all, and I was wondering if you'd like to meet them."
"Meet them?"
"Yeah. You don't know anyone here except for me and I was just wondering if you'd like to be introduced to some more people. They live outside the city but they all go to Forks High School, like us. It'll be good for you to socialize…"
"Alright," Casey answered before she was able to stop herself, "I'll meet your friends."
"Great! Their a huge family and they are all really close. Adopted by Doctor Cullen, the best doctor around these parts! You and Alice will get along great. The others are Rosalie, Emmett, and Jasper. Rosalie is alright. She's just…moody. And Emmett, well, don't take him too seriously. Jasper, he's the one that always looks like he's in pain. You ever see Edward Scissor Hands?"
"Mmhmm."
"Well that's exactly how he is. Just, without the crazy hair and makeup. They're all nice, once you get used to them."
"Do you think they'll…like me?" Casey asked self-consciously. She didn't get an answer. Instead, Derek tilted back his head, laughed, and walked away.