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Chapter Five: The Joys of Sisterhood

Derek was sitting at his desk, doodling on a writing pad. I should be working on that blueprint, he thought, but made no move to stop what he was doing. He was interning at an architectural firm for a semester in order to gain extra credit toward his degree. Right now, he was attending the local community college in hopes of transferring to a university next year. Derek was still deciding which one he wanted to attend. So between his internship, school and the part-time job he held at the hardware store, he was pretty busy.

He stopped doodling for a moment and chewed on his pen, his eyes gazing out the window. Casey should have received my flowers by now. I wonder if she likes them? What if she doesn't? What if she thinks I'm pushing too hard? What if . . .?

"Derek?" A voice startled him out of his thoughts.

He turned and focused on Mae, the junior designer on the project he was supposed to be working on. "Hey," Derek said, subtlely moving his arm over his pad.

"Do you have that blueprint yet for the McConnell project?" She asked, somewhat timidly.

"Uh, not yet, Mae. Can I get it to you in a half hour?"

She shifted her eyes down to his desk, but quickly moved them back up to his face. "Yeah, sure. I'll be in my office," she said unnecessarily before turning around and heading down the hall.

Derek let out the breath he had been holding. Dammit! He cursed to himself. Casey is ruining my life! He wanted to be angry at her, but he knew it wasn't her fault. After all, she wasn't the one who was preoccupied with him, it was the other way around. He shook his head to clear it and pulled out the file Mae wanted, vowing to not get distracted for the rest of the day.

Casey was struggling. Walking down the street with her purse, a bag full of clothes (for her two jobs during the day), and the giant vase of flowers was not an easy thing. At least I'm not wearing heels, she thought sardonically as she came to the intersection. Oh well, when I get home I can relax for the night. She took the few minutes she had before the bus arrived and once again examined the flower arrangement. Derek really does have great taste. Smiling to herself, she wondered if he had help or if he picked it out totally by himself. He didn't seem like the type who knew a whole lot about flowers. How would I know what he's like? She didn't know anything about him, except what his name was and that his father was a lawyer. That's right, Casey. You know nothing about him. So why are you so giddy to be receiving flowers from him? She mentally rolled her eyes at the internal voice that always seemed to be there to talk her out of, well, everything. It's just flowers! It's not like we're pledged to be married or anything! Not yet. The voice said back to her. "Oh, shut up!" She said to herself, drawing the attention of the old lady standing next to her. Casey flushed and smiled at her. The woman scowled and moved away, leaving Casey there to feel like an idiot. She sighed in relief when she spotted the bus about a quarter mile up the road. Aaaah, at least I can sit down for a few before the short walk home.

Half an hour later Casey walked through the door and promptly dropped her stuff on the floor before walking over and setting the arrangement on the kitchen counter. Her arms were killing her from holding everything the whole way home. She ran into Steph in the kitchen, looking like she just woke up. "Morning," Steph mumbled (even though it was 5:30 in the evening), pushing past Casey to make up the sofa bed where she slept. Having an apartment with only bedroom was a pain in the ass, but Casey tried not to be too resentful because when she and Lizzie moved in, Steph had willingly given up her bedroom for them and volunteered to take the couch. "Hey, don't worry about it," she had said, dismissing Casey's concerns. "I'm more of a night owl anyway, you know, in and out. Sleeping out in the living room makes it easier for me to move around without disturbing you." Casey had taken Steph at her word, not because she fully believed that statement, but because she was so desperate for a place to stay that a.) wasn't the women's shelter, b.) wasn't crawling with roaches and rats, and c.) wasn't her father's place.

After chatting with Steph for a few, who raised her brows at the flowers but said nothing, Casey made her way down the hall and opened the door to the bedroom to find Lizzie on her bed reading a book. "Hey Case," she said, lifting her eyes from the page she was reading. "How was your day?"

Casey sighed and plopped on her own bed. "Oh, it was fine. Yours?"

Lizzie directed her gaze to the book again, not able to look her sister in the eye for fear that she would discover her lie. "Oh, it was fine. Same old, same old," she said, trying to sound nonchalant. The last thing Lizzie needed was for Casey to find out that she had been sent to detention again for fighting. One more incident and she would be suspended, and Lizzie knew that her sister had enough to worry about without having to deal with that.

Casey examined her sister's face, knowing that she wasn't being totally truthful with her. "So," she said as casually as she could, "Bob hasn't been around, has he?"

Lizzie couldn't help but snort with laughter. "No, Case. I've seen him lurking in the hall a few times, but I've followed your rule and he hasn't been here."

Casey mentally breathed a sigh of relief. There was something about Bob that gave Casey the creeps. More than just his unwillingness to take no for answer, or the fact that he was in his late 20s and still lived with his mom, even more than his not having a job. Whatever it was, it put her on edge and was another reason that she couldn't wait to get out of here and get a place of her own for her and Lizzie. Hopefully in a better neighborhood, Casey thought looking at the ceiling. She took a deep breath and felt her eyelids close . . .

"Casey! Wake up!" Lizzie's voice rang above her, causing Casey to snap her head up from the bed where she apparently fell asleep.

"Wha . . .? What is it, Liz? Are you OK?" Casey's overprotective side immediately jumped to the surface and she pushed herself to her elbows and focused on her sister, who was standing in front of her, looking not distressed, but excited.

Lizzie smirked and put her hands on her hips. "I can't wait anymore. Spill it. Who got you the flowers?"

Casey groaned and lay back on the bed. She so did not want to deal with this right now. "What are you talking about, Liz?"

Her sister chuffed with impatience. "Uh, I'm talking about the huge arrangement of flowers on the kitchen counter, smart ass."

Casey opened her eyes and quirked an eyebrow at her little sister's language. Lizzie, however, didn't change her expression and was now tapping her foot waiting for an answer. "Do you have a boyfriend that you've been keeping from me?"

This made Casey laugh. "Keeping from you? You're hilarious, Liz," she said, sitting up now and rubbing her eyes. She felt like death warmed over. Taking naps during the day always put her out of sorts, and now she was worried that she would be up all night.

"You know what I mean. Tell me!" Lizzie said, stomping her foot now like a child.

Casey rose from the bed and moved around Lizzie, stripping off her work clothes and pulling on a pair of gray sweat pants and white t-shirt. Flipping her long hair out of the shirt, she turned to face her sister. "It's no big deal. Just some guy I met at work who asked me out. I said no, but he's apparently not getting it," Casey said, heading out of the bedroom to the kitchen. Her stomach growled and she couldn't remember the last time she ate. Oh yeah, the order of mozzarella sticks that she had shared with Chad on break earlier.

Lizzie followed close behind her, firing off one question after another. "Really? What does he look like? Is he hot? What's his name? Why did you say no? You know you haven't had a date in like . . ."

Casey turned and put her hand up to stop Lizzie's interrogation. "Liz, stop. I said it's no big deal. End of discussion," she said, opening the refrigerator and searching for something to make for dinner. She glanced at the clock and realized it was 8 p.m. "Dammit Liz! It's 8 o'clock! How come you didn't wake me up? We still haven't had dinner!" Casey continued to grumble to herself as she pulled out some ground beef and set about making spaghetti with meat sauce.

"I'm sorry, Case. But you fell asleep so fast, and you looked really comfortable – I didn't want to wake you up. I figured you had the night off, so why not? Besides, I already ate. I made myself a sandwich," Lizzie said, leaning on the counter.

Casey stopped what she was doing and looked at her sister. She hated that Lizzie had to make her own dinner. Casey always strove to be as normal a family as she could make it. And that included making a dinner that the both of them could sit down to. She felt wrong that on one of her rare nights off she fell asleep and Lizzie had to make do on her own. Casey set the skillet down and suddenly felt tears in her eyes. Why am I so emotional all of a sudden? She wondered, hanging her head and turning around before Lizzie could notice.

"Case?" Her sister's voice said behind her. "It's OK. You deserve a real night off – no working, cooking, or cleaning. You may think that I can't take care of myself, but I can make myself something to eat. And I did. No biggie, OK?" Casey could hear the pleading in her sister's voice and it made her want to cry even more. Most of the time she felt like a royal failure in the caretaker department. And this just proved it.

She bristled when she felt Lizzie's arms go around her from behind, circling her waist. Lizzie wasn't quite as tall as Casey yet, so her voice rumbled against the middle of Casey's back when she spoke. "Casey, you're too hard on yourself. You need to relax and enjoy life, before you wake up one day and realize you're 90 years old and have never had any fun. Or you give yourself a heart attack by the age of 20. You don't want that, do you?"

In spite of her melancholy mood, Casey had to snicker. Lizzie may be only 14 years old, and she may get in trouble a lot, but there were times when she was wise beyond her years. It only made Casey love her more. Casey turned in her sister's arms and hugged Lizzie tightly to her chest. "I love you so much, Liz. I hope you know that," she said in her hair.

"I know, I know. It's why you're such a drag," Lizzie drawled, making Casey laugh loudly. She pulled back from Liz and looked around the kitchen. Knowing that her sister had already eaten made Casey not want to bother cooking for herself. But she was starving. Already thinking, she headed for her purse and opened her wallet, checking to see how much cash she had. Thirty dollars . . . she mused to herself.

"Hey Liz," Casey said, turning to her sister, who was grabbing a can of soda from the fridge. "Are you too full to split a pizza with me?" She knew that Lizzie would not turn down at least one piece of pizza, especially if it had pepperoni and green olives, which were her favorite.

Lizzie's eyes lit up, but her voice remained casual as she said, "Depends. Are you getting it from Mario's?" she asked, referring to the pizzeria up the street.

"You bet," Casey said smiling.

Lizzie did the little happy dance that she always broke out when something went her way or she got something she wanted. "Oh yeah, I am so in," she said happily, making Casey smile even wider.

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