The Perfect Mistake

Chapter 1

It’s said that everybody in this world has that one person who makes them happy, and that they fall in love with. A soulmate is what they call it. I’d like to believe there is also one person in the world for everyone who you absolutely cannot stand. Someone that you hate. My one person is none other than Derrick Ames: The most arrogant, narcissistic, cocky asshole to ever walk on this earth.

Derrick's little sister, Alicen, is my best friend and next door neighbor. When Alicen was ten and Derrick was eleven, their parents divorced and decided it was best for Derrick to stay in the care of his father. He'd begun to rebel and definitely needed a father figure. They packed up and moved to California just barely a week before my mother and I moved in to the house next door. So no, I've never actually met Derrick Ames. 

I do have a valid reason for despising Derrick, besides the fact that he is a stubborn punk. Ali visits Derrick for a week every summer and has, of course, told Derrick all about me. The summer after I turned 13, I recieved a phone call from him. Long story short, I'm not going to have phone sex with a stranger, be it my best friend's brother or not. Not that I blame Ali. I'm sure she thought nothing of it when her brother asked for my number.

I replied negatively to his hardly tempting offer, naming him an arrogant prick, to which he answered by calling me a stuck up bitch. You could say that began the feud. I hated Derrick after five seconds of speaking to him. You could also say that we didn't really get off to the best start.

Four years and many heated conversations later, I still detested Derrick. Now even more than before. From what I had figured out, Derrick slept with every girl he could get his slimy fingers on, which did wonders for his ego, which is inflated to the size of a hot air balloon. My best guess for why he hates me? I don't practically faint at the sound of his voice. Sorry, I'm not interested in a guy who gets off on seeing how many virginities he can take. Honestly, he can't be that attractive. 

In our four years of knowing each other, we’ve had not one civil conversation. I guess we were just born to hate each other, and if I could spend the rest of my life never setting my eyes on him, I’d be more than happy.

 I have this conversation with myself pretty much every time I go to Alicen's house. I sighed as I pulled open her front door, not knocking. Her mother considers me almost like her second child (well, technically, her third), so she always welcomes me.

Ali and I are complete opposites, looks wise. I'm short and entirely too petite with boring brown hair and blue eyes. She's tall and curvy and every teenage boy's dream.

I walked up the stairs just in time to hear Ali on the phone. "Don't talk about her like that!" She shouted, offended. I groaned out loud as I turned the corner to face the door to her room, knowing who was on the other line. "I'm so sick of you being mean to her! Emily's great, and you're great too! You just have a misunderstanding. Don't talk bad about my best friend, just like I tell her not to talk bad about my brother!"

"Alicen, I'll talk bad about him if I want." I said, speaking loudly while stepping into the room.

She shot me a dirty look before returning to her conversation. "No, that's not her."

"No, you can't talk to her." She said, rolling her eyes at the phone.

"Because she doesn't want to talk to you!"

"Derrick, I swear. Fine. Here." She handed the phone to me.

I shook my head. "Absolutely not. I refuse to talk to him." I said, walking away and plopping on the bed.

"The two of you are so exhausting. It’s like handling toddlers, honestly." She sighed, and then paused as I heard Derrick's muffled voice. "No, thanks, Derrick I'd really rather not be punched in the face."