Sound of Madness

"I can't wait to see what you come up with." Carly smiled.

"Same," Derek laughed. "I actully havent really thought about that. I only said that to tease you and see your reaction."

"Sorry, I didn't give you much of one." Carly laughed. "I think I had enough.../reactions/ for today." Her laughter faded, thinking about how she blew up on Derek. She really was sorry, though.

"Eh, the lack of a reaction was a reaction." Derek shrugged and smiled to her.

"I guess so...well, see you later." Carly stood up to go to the door, her mood dipping again.

"Yeah, later." Derek nodded, looking at the pack of cigarets again. He really needed to quit.

It seemed to Carly like her apology hadn't even registered to Derek, or maybe he hadn't even been upset to begin with. Whatever. Nothing had changed between them, even if they had kissed, or that's how it felt. She went to her room and played her music loud through her headphones.

(i have no idea what to do with Derek...)

(lol, okay. should we skip to a little bit later in the day for them or something?)

(sure you start)

(alright.
wait, what's behind their house? do they have a backyard or woods or a pond or what?)

(I dont know...woods with a pound?)

(okay)

Later, Carly sat on the edge of the pond, dangling her legs over the edge of the water. She was holding a chapter book, and frowning as she tried to read. But the words were hard to decipher for her, and the practice was more frustrating than pleasurable -- as always.

Derek snuck up behind Carly when he saw her in the forest at the pound. He poked her sides but wrapped one arm around her to make sure she didnt fall in.

Carly sort of started, surprised, and her book fell into the lake. She couldn't say she'd miss it, though. She looked up at Derek, and narrowed her eyes playfully at him. "Stop scaring me like that."

Derke chuckled softly and watched as the book feel in. "Would you like me to grab that for you or not?" He asked.

Carly frowned at the book that was slowly sinking. "The pages will be pretty useless now that they're wet and stuck together, not that I care. It was useless to begin with since I can hardly read -" She bit her tongue. "Nevermind."

"What?" Derek asked her, turning her so she faced him. "What were you saying about reading?"

"Nothing, don't worry about it," Carly said, looking away. She didn't want him to see her flaws. Well, at least not /that/ one, her biggest one. Carly didn't want to be seen as so weak.

"Well now you have me worried." He brushed back her hair and look in her eye. "Please tell me. I told you about my drug problem."

Carly hesitated, studying his face for any sign of insincerity. But after a moment she decided to tell him -- it was true, he had told her his problems. "I'm dyslexic. I can't read...."

"Oh...thats uh...wow. I'm sorry." Derek mumbled softly to her. "I wouldnt have expected that." He remembered how he joked about looking at the pictures in magazines didnt count as reading. Crap. Now he felt like a jerk.

Max: I sighed. "Well...let's just say I don't really like my family."

"Yeah, well, now you know. And you probably think I'm some kind of loser now, don't you?" Everyone else saw her as a burnout, just because she had to take reading instead of a language. Well, she tried to keep it a secret, but...that never worked out. Running away had been a fresh start.

"So you're allowed to be vague and I'm not?" Dana pointed out.