Hm. Well, I'm sorry this took so long to update. I finally had the idea last night, but after I was halfway through it, I had to watch a movie. When I got back, my laptop crashed. Flucking bummer. So, I'll just try again :)

Because They Said So - Chapter 7

"So..."

Casey scoffed.

"Yep..."

Derek grunted.

"Well..."

Casey, tired with the one-syllable one-word conversation, sighed and shifted in her seat on the couch to face Derek.

"Derek," she started.

"Casey."

"Stop!" She cried.

"What?" He shrugged.

"That!" She shrieked.

"Huh?"

"Ugh!"

"Tsh."

"Okay, that's enough," she finally ended.

"Alright."

She shot him a sharp look and he furrowed his brow.

"Okay, sorry."

"Derek, we need to talk," she continued.

"About what?"

She sighed.

"You know what, Derek."

"Casey," he groaned, tipping his head back. "Can we please not talk about this now?"

"No!" She cried. "We have to! We can't keep avoiding things forever." She stood up. "I want to know why you did it."

"Fine," he huffed, also standing up. "I did it for... the act, okay?"

She couldn't tell if it was hurt or pure anger that flashed across her face right then.

"What?" She rasped out.

"Yeah," he shrugged. "You didn't actually think I'd pull that with you?"

Oh, it was definitely anger.

"I'm sorry," she put her hands on her hips. "You used me?"

He chuckled, "Come on, Casey, they totally bought it! Is it really that hard to believe?"

She could feel tears burning at the bottom of her eyes, but she blinked them back furiously.

"No," she choked out. "I guess not."

The air cackled, then, as she used all the bottled up anger inside her to slap Derek across the face, and sprint up the stairs in a fit of tears.

000

"Stupid, pathetic, challenged..."

Casey dug her nails into the pencil she was gripping, and glared down at her English homework.

"Derek?"

She whipped her head around to see Lizzie standing in her doorway.

"The one and only," Casey sighed.

Lizzie frowned and sat at the edge of her bed. "What happened?"

"He used me, Liz."

"Nothing out of the ordinary..." she muttered under her breath.

Casey furrowed her brow.

"What?"

"Well, it's just... I mean, it's Derek. In case you haven't noticed, he's not exactly what you call... 'honest'."

Casey snorted, "You have a point."

"I know," Lizzie smiled.

"I should've thought about that before I agreed to work with him," she mumbled.

"Well, there's no turning back now," her little sister said as-a-matter-of-factly. "Unless you..."

Casey jerked her head up suddenly, "Forfeit?!"

"Well..."

"I couldn't!"

"Okay."

"MacDonald's aren't quitters!"

"Right!"

"But not quitting is driving me crazy!"

"Oh..."

"Are you implying that I should just... give up?"

"I--"

"No way! The saying isn't, 'when the going gets tough, just quit'!"

"Uh..."

"I'm going on with this, even if it means I have to get down and dirty!"

"Alright."

"Thanks Liz, you always know what to say."

Casey gave a half smile before patting her sister on the shoulder and swiveling back around in her chair.

Lizzie rolled her eyes as she exited the room.

000

"Ahem."

Derek looked up momentarily before jumping from his bed and backing away.

"Casey, if you're going to slap me again..."

She crossed her arms and sneered.

"Not unless you desereve it. Sit," she ordered, pointing to his desk chair.

He obeyed and sat nervously.

"So, here it is." She said once he was situated. "I'm going to go on with this, again. Not for you, not for the money. And... not for you. But to prove that I'm not a quitter. And even if I have the urge to strangle you-" He raised his eyebrows. "- I w-wont," she finished hesistantly. "Instead, I'll handle it like the mature, grown up adult I am, and let it go."

He heaved a sigh of relief.

"Case..."

She held up a finger.

"And no talking to me, no insulting me, no glancing at me, unless we're acting in front of Emily and Sam. Got it?"

He nodded quickly.

"Good."

She then sashayed out, hands on her hips, and marched.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is what you call a:

Very.dramatic.exit.

Short, short, I know, don't kill me. The next one will be longer, I promise. But my inspiration was lost after the first part of the story. PLEASE, gimme ideas? I'm so not taking this writer's block well. Well, thanksabunch.

Plenty of reviews??