Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter Eight: Secrets and Lies

Winter had come with a vengeance. Casey looked out the window of the restaurant from her spot behind the podium. The snow was coming down hard now, quickly covering the pavement and no doubt making the streets slick. If I had a car I would be worried, Casey thought. She sighed and turned at the sound of someone behind her. Chad was there looking outside with a scowl on his face. "Well, that's just great," he said pouting. "I'm gonna freeze my ass off walking home."

"You and me both, buddy," Casey replied.

Chad nodded in commiseration. "Why do we live in Canada again?"

Casey shrugged. "Because we're dumbasses?"

Chad barked out a laugh. "That must be it." After a moment he got an excited look on his face. "I know! Why don't you, me and Lizzie pack up and move to Florida? Just picture it: we could get a job at a country club by day and party every night!" He threw his arm over Casey's shoulders. "You could get yourself a lonely retiree for a sugar daddy and I could find myself a nice Latin houseboy . . ."

Casey laughed and shrugged out of his grip. "Gross, Chad, too much information . . ."

"Hey! I get lonely too, you know," Chad said with a mock-hurt look on his face.

Casey snorted. "Save it and let me get back to work," she said, pushing him back toward his office.

"Work, what work?" he whined. "Everything's already done. This place is deader than a doornail – as usual – and I'm terrified that the owner's gonna come in and fire my ass because business is so bad."

Casey's smile left her face and she studied her best friend. He really did look worried. Hell, she was worried. Business had dropped off sharply the last few months and Casey knew that business was bad everywhere. Places all over town were shutting down and everybody knew someone who had been laid off or downsized. She shuddered at the thought. The hours at her third job had already been cut and she was expecting to be let go any day now. She didn't know what she was going to do then. I'm never going to save up enough money to get me and Liz a place of our own, she thought dismally.

"Hey, it'll be OK," Chad said in her ear. "I'm sorry for freaking you out with my whining."

Casey shook her head. "I'm fine. I just really want to get out of Steph's place. I've about had it with her."

Chad scrunched his face in disgust. "Why you even moved in with her is beyond me. I told you you would be better off staying with me at my mom's."

Casey frowned. "Chad, how many times have we had this conversation? I wouldn't feel right mooching off you and your mom."

Chad crossed his arms in righteous indignation. "Well, at least you wouldn't have to put up with being exposed to nasty sex all the time."

Casey couldn't argue with that. She sighed before saying "I know."

The past few weeks had been hard on Casey – and Lizzie. Casey had been trying to work as many hours as she could at her jobs, meaning that Lizzie was left to fend for herself even more than usual. In the past two weeks alone, there had been messages left on Steph's answering machine from Lizzie's school concerning her behavior. Casey even had to go to speak with the principal to keep Lizzie from being suspended. After that, and a screaming match between the two sisters, Casey had grounded Lizzie, telling her that she was basically a hostage for the next week. Lizzie had screamed and cussed, calling Casey every name in the book, and when that didn't work, she had cried, and when that didn't work, she resorted to the silent treatment, which lasted for days. Lizzie was just now starting to speak with her again.

Casey was also dealing with Steph and her "job," walking in on her more than once in the act of pleasuring some desperate guy, or in some cases, girl. Casey almost packed up and moved out the day she walked in on Steph and two guys in the living room, one guy doing her from behind while she sucked the dick of the other. Casey stood in the doorway, her eyes wide, her mouth sputtering. "Oh, uh, I'm so sorry, I . . ."

The dick popped out of Steph's mouth and she turned toward Casey. "Do you mind?" Steph said snottily. The guy behind her slowed but continued to pump. His eyes, however, were raking over Casey's body in a creepy way.

Casey felt like throwing up. She wondered where Lizzie was and panicked. This wasn't right, exposing her little sister to shit like this. She clenched her jaw and moved past them toward her room. "Carry on. I didn't see anything," she said as she walked briskly down the hall. She opened the door to find Lizzie on the bed listening to music. Casey slammed the door behind her and leaned against it, trying to compose herself.

Lizzie noticed her and sat up in her bed, taking the ear buds out of her ears. "Hi," she said with a smirk on her face.

"Hi," Casey said looking everywhere but at Lizzie.

Casey's nervousness made Lizzie laugh. "I guess I don't have to wonder about what Steph does for a living now, huh?"

Casey rubbed a hand over her face and suddenly felt very exhausted. "God, Liz, I'm so sorry. I never should have brought us here."

Lizzie giggled, finding the whole situation funny. "Don't worry about it, sis. I've learned to block it out," she said, motioning to her ear buds.

Casey sighed and sat down on her bed. "I know, but you shouldn't have to. You shouldn't have to worry about walking in on some orgy in your own house. It's not right!" Casey said, her voice rising slightly.

"Shhhh!" Lizzie said, waving her hand toward the door. "You don't want them to know we're talking about them, do you?"

Casey waved her hand in dismissal. "Oh, who cares! They're too busy going at it to notice anyway."

Lizzie nodded but said nothing, instead changing the subject. "So, how long do you think we're stuck in here? Cuz I'm starving."

Casey groaned and lay back on her bed. "I don't know, hopefully not long."

Lizzie sighed and put her ear buds back in.

Casey lay in silence for awhile and thought about her life. This was so not what she wanted for herself – or her sister. She had hopes and dreams, and none of it included this. Her mind went over everything in her life and an image of Bob entered her mind. She shuddered in distaste. He had been coming on strong lately. One day earlier in the week, he had scared the crap out of her by sneaking up on her by the mailboxes. She swore that he hung around under the stairs just waiting for her to come home. "Casey, Casey, Casey," he had said in an oily voice. "Have you come to your senses yet?" he said while moving steadily toward her.

She moved back until she ran out of room, her back against the mailboxes. Casey looked at his eyes. He was high on something again, the burnout. "Bob, I'm telling you, stay away from me," she said in warning. She was tired, cranky and hungry and was not in the mood to deal with his shit.

He laughed, causing a fissure of fear along her spine. "You didn't answer my question," he said lowly, his eyes raking over her frame.

"What?" Casey asked impatiently, clutching her mail and purse tightly.

"I asked if you have come to your senses yet."

"About what?"

Bob chuffed out a laugh and crossed his arms over his chest in a cocky gesture. "Me."

Casey snorted. "What about you?"

"I think you should give me a chance," he said with a smirk on his greasy face.

Casey felt a little bit of vomit jump into her throat. She steeled her frame and stood a little taller. "Let me be clear, Bob," she said in a scathing tone. "You and me? Never gonna happen. Not if you were the last man on Earth and I needed to reproduce to save the world. Not even if I was the horniest I've ever been and you were the only one there. Not if . . ."

"OK!" he said cutting her off. He moved closer, making her wince. "You're a real bitch, you know that?"

She snickered. "Yeah, I've heard it before, now get out of my way," she said moving to go around him, effectively dismissing him.

His grip on her arm stopped her progress. "Not so fast," he said, turning her back around.

She looked down at his hand on her arm. "Let me go, dickhead," Casey spat angrily.

"What'll you do if I don't?" Bob asked, his eyebrow raised in a challenge.

Casey moved quickly, stomping her foot down on top of his, making him loosen his grip on her. Casey took the opportunity to twist out of his grasp and kneed him in the groin. She watched with a smile as he dropped like a stone. "Son of a bitch!" he said as he writhed on the floor holding his balls.

Casey moved to stand over him and leaned over to catch his eyes. He glared hatefully at her. "Mess with me or my sister again and I'll make it so you sing soprano from now on," she said before turning away and striding off. She grinned as she heard him cussing her out.

Lizzie's movement across the bedroom brought Casey out of her memories. She took a deep breath and turned on her side, suddenly wanting nothing more than to go to sleep. She couldn't though, because she still had to prepare dinner and make sure that Lizzie did her homework. She was supposed to work this night but was told not to come in. They were doing everything in their power to not let their employees go, but it was getting harder and harder.

Casey sighed. The only bright spot in her life lately (besides Liz) was Derek. They had seen each other a few times since that day in the coffee shop. She kept her promise and had called him two days later, not wanting to appear too eager. Casey kept it casual – they mainly met for lunch or coffee or a walk in the park – and she was slowly warming up to him. Derek proved to be great company – always interested in what she had to say and never failing to make her laugh with his stories about his family. The tales concerning his dad's attempts at cooking and his sister's antics were her favorite.

Casey deliberately kept herself at a distance, not letting on that she lived with a hooker or her sister's penchant for getting into fights at school. She didn't want to come off as some charity case or whiny ass. Derek asked about her parents, but Casey gently steered the conversation in a different direction, getting him to talk about his schooling and internship and his friends. She knew a lot about him, and he barely knew anything about her. That's the way she liked it – didn't she?

The ring of the phone interrupted Casey's thoughts, following by a sharp knock on the door. "Case, it's for you!" Steph's voice sounded through the door. Her "guests" must be gone.

Casey got up and opened the door, grabbing the phone from her roommate. "Are they gone?" she asked not looking at Steph.

"Yeah," Steph answered shortly before turning and heading back to the living room.

"Good," Casey said under her breath before speaking into the phone. "Hello?"

"Hello Cassandra," Derek's warm voice sounded through the receiver making Casey's heart speed up a bit. He really had no idea what the sound of her full name coming from his lips did to her.

"Hello Derek," Casey said back warmly.

He laughed in her ear. "How are you today?"

She smiled into the phone. "I'm OK, and you?"

"Just peachy, thanks for askin'," he said cheerfully.

"That's good," she replied, pacing back and forth. She noticed that Lizzie had left the room and she was thankful for that. Lizzie still didn't know about Derek and Casey wanted to keep it that way – for now.

"So . . ." Derek said uncertainly, "I was wondering if you were free tonight."

Casey frowned. "Uh, I don't have to work if that's what you mean."

Derek chucked softly. "Well, that doesn't exactly answer my question."

Casey knew that, and while she liked spending time with Derek, she was loath to leave her sister alone. "Well, I need to make dinner for Liz and check over her homework . . ."

She was interrupted by Derek. "I thought I would bring dinner to you, and Lizzie, of course," he added quickly.

Casey panicked. She wasn't ready for him to see where she lived. Of course he knew what building she lived in and the apartment number, but he had yet to be invited in. She was afraid of what he would think when he saw the cheap furniture and her skanky roommate. The thought terrified her. "Uh, you know what, as good as that sounds, I'm really tired tonight. I don't think I would be good company," she said awkwardly.

Derek was silent for a moment before speaking. "Oh, well, another time then," he said softly. He wasn't dumb. He knew there was some reason why she didn't want him in her apartment. He just didn't know what it was.

"How about Saturday?" Her voice surprised him.

"Saturday?" he repeated dumbly.

"Yeah . . . we could have a picnic or something," she said in a fake cheery voice which made him frown.

"Uh, Case, it's freezing outside," he said, casting his gaze out into the darkness. It got dark around 5:30 in the evening now.

She laughed a little too loudly. "Oh, well, how about a movie or something?"

He thought about that. "Sure, if that's what you want." He frankly didn't care what they did, as long as they were together. He couldn't get enough of her company. He only suggested bringing dinner to her because he was hoping to meet her sister, the person who Casey talked about most. It was obvious that she adored her little sister and Derek wanted to meet her, hoping to gain more insight into what made Casey tick. He sighed inwardly – another time.

"OK, then it's a date," Casey blurted out before thinking. Was it a date? She figured if it wasn't, she didn't know what was.

"Do you want me to pick you up?" Derek asked.

No! "Uh, how about I meet you there?"

He hesitated. "Uh, OK, but I don't know the show times of any of the movies."

Casey thought for a moment. "Well, do you have a computer? Because you can look up the show times and get back to me."

"Sounds like a plan," Derek said in her ear. "Why don't I do that and talk to you tomorrow?"

"OK, I'll look forward to it," Casey said feeling a little excited now.

"Me too," he said softly. "Well, I'll let you go, goodnight Casey," he said, his voice flowing over her like honey.

"Goodnight, Derek," she replied before hanging up and plopping on her bed happily.

"Who was that?" Lizzie's voice startled Casey and she sat up quickly.

"What?" Casey asked, trying to play dumb. She wasn't sure why she wanted to keep Derek a secret so badly, she just did.

"Who was on the phone?" Lizzie asked again, leaning up against the door jamb with her arms crossed.

"Oh, uh, it was Chad," Casey said trying to appear casual.

"Really . . ." Lizzie said skeptically. "Because I know the way you talk to Chad and that's not it."

"What do you mean by that?" Casey asked annoyed.

Lizzie huffed a laugh and moved forward off the door jamb. "I mean that you sounded all giddy on the phone. And considering Chad's not your type, it just seems weird is all."

Casey sighed and got off the bed. God, she hated when Lizzie went all private detective on her. "I was not all giddy!" she said, her voice bordering on whining. "God, Liz, just drop it, OK?"

Lizzie squared off against her. "What's with all the secrets lately? You don't let me go anywhere, yet you are taking off to god-knows-where all the time! What's up with that?"

Casey ignored her. "What do you want for dinner?" she asked moving around Lizzie and heading toward the kitchen.

"Nothing, I'm not hungry," Lizzie said petulantly behind her.

Casey didn't turn around. "Fine, I'll just make whatever we have."

"Hey, if I get a vote, I could go for your spaghetti," Steph said from the couch.

Casey flicked a glance at her. "Spaghetti it is."

Lizzie growled and slammed the bedroom door.

An arctic front had swept down from the north, and by the time Saturday came around, it was only in the teens. Casey surveyed the outdoors from her window as she debated what to wear. A particularly loud snore from behind her made her turn around. Steph was crashed out of the couch despite it being early afternoon. At least she hadn't brought any of her "dates" home the night before, leaving Casey and Lizzie alone to watch movies in silence. Lizzie was still not speaking to her and Casey felt horrible about it. She had tried numerous times to initiate a conversation, but Lizzie held fast, the stubbornness of the McDonald side kicking in with a vengeance.

Today, Lizzie was away for the afternoon at a friend's and Casey's stomach was twittering with nervousness. She was supposed to meet Derek in two hours at the movie theatre to see the latest romantic comedy. Derek had called her the day before to arrange the time and run the latest movies by her. Casey really wasn't a fan of horror movies, of which there were a ton of, and she really didn't like action movies. That left kid's movies and romantic comedies. So Casey was a little hesitant when she suggested that they see a "chick flick". "Is that OK with you?" Casey had asked Derek.

Derek laughed softly into the phone which never failed to make Casey's heart flip. "Sure it's OK. I won't die from seeing a chick flick, Case."

Casey smiled into the phone. "Great, well I'll meet you there then."

"I can't wait," Derek said warmly before hanging up.

Casey snapped back to the present. She had to walk to the bus stop, which was a few blocks away. I better dress in layers today, she thought before grabbing her clothes and heading toward the bathroom for a hot shower.

Review please!