Life With Dasey (A Life With Derek Fanfic)

Chapter Fourteen

"They call this finger food? Carrots, really? Do I look like a rabbit?" Derek tossed his toothpick into the garbage, trying to get the awful taste out of his mouth from a single carrot.

"Shh!"

Casey and Derek made their way around Ralph and Kendra's new home together, scoping out the place.

"The food's almost as bad as the gift you bought them," Derek tossed a piece of cheese at Casey's hair, and she swatted it away.

"Coasters were all I could find last minute. At least I bought them something, unlike you."

"I brought myself; isn't that enough?"

Could Derek be any more shallow? He could have at least gotten them a card.

"Hardly."

"We should've thrown a housewarming party at our apartment. Ralph and Kendra aren't the only ones who could use free stuff."

Derek wanted a reason to throw another party; it was obvious. To be fair, Kendra was using this party mainly for gifts, but at least she had a legitimate reason.

"Kendra and Ralph are getting married, Derek. It would've been a little odd if you and I had a housewarming party together, don't you think?" Casey shook her head in dismay at her selfish, cheeky stepbrother.

Derek opened his mouth to reply but ultimately shut down because he didn't have a good response to give. It wasn't until he saw a familiar face in the crowd that he nudged Casey with his elbow.

"Is that Tinker?" Derek asked, unpleasantly surprised to see the biggest teacher's pet from high school.

"Uh, yeah, it looks like it."

Tinker hasn't changed a bit - still wearing his nerdy sweater vests and managing to blend into a corner.

Derek left Casey alone by the snacks and strutted over in the redhead's direction.

"Yo, Tink! How'd you get an invite to this party?" Derek called out.

Tinker looked around as if Derek were talking to someone else. Come on, who else would have the name Tinker?

"I live across the street; Ralph asked if I could make food for the event." Tinker was surprised Derek was talking to him, as they never willingly spoke to one another in high school.

"So that's why the food sucks. Figures." Derek could still taste that nasty carrot in his mouth. Thanks, Tink.

"Not everyone has the tastebuds of a caveman, Derek," Tinker mentioned.

Coincidentally, Casey once called Derek a caveman, and quite frankly, Derek's never seen a cave drawing of a salad, so it makes sense.

"Right. I choose to be a carnivore, while losers like you choose to be...oh, I don't know... a complete bore."

Yes, Derek was overly snippy. In high school, Tinker pulled an elaborate prank alongside Casey that almost got Derek Venturi expelled. Casey was, and still is, the only one allowed to get under his skin. Period. Unlike Casey, Tink was too much of a coward to tell Derek the truth, and his one-sided crush didn't help smooth things over. The line had been crossed, and Derek secretly never got over it.