Ever had that experience of rejecting something without tasting or seeing it and then when you actually see it, you regret not accepting it sooner?

That's how I felt when I kissed Derek.

Even though he was an okay kisser and my god he was, I still wanted to kiss him again and that exactly proved my point that shit had gone far, far away from logic land to pointless land.

I could have found any other guy. My last boyfriend, Tony was like me. He played the drums in his own band and had gone to jail several times before. I had gone to jail myself thrice in my life, but let's not dwell into that because I wasn't interested. Again, I only dated Tony to spite my parents.

Derek Callingham had no relation to anything different or a bad boy image that I had a thing for, yet I loved him. He was as bland as a boiled cabbage and as boring as hearing my mom giving me fashion and dating advice.

Yet, I wanted this boy like I had never wanted any guy. I could say he was my addiction, a drug to me, but let's be serious, you will all laugh at me if I start considering Derek like that. The only drug I preferred was the one that could make me go high.

Let's not confuse Derek and drugs please. Shit was getting shitty in a shithole already.

But frankly, I had enjoyed the kiss more than I should and I might just have exaggerated his flaws. He wasn't perfect but he was definitely not sloppy. With a lot more confidence, he could do wonders.

Anyway, today we were invited over to Jake and Olivia's again. Frankly, I think they only invited me because I was a guest here at Derek's. Otherwise, they wouldn't bother to call me, no matter how much I liked Olivia.

I was an outsider, afterall.

Derek's mom told me that he had asked me to go wait in the car as he would be coming in few minutes.

Bullshit. He was still embarassed about yesterday. He didn't even look at me properly since last night, ducking his face away whenever I tried speaking to him. He ate his dinner at the speed of a tornado and rushed back to his room and didn't come out even once.

Okay fine, I was laughing at him and teased him relentlessly but hey, you can't blame me. There was a certain fun in teasing people like Derek who blushed and got irritated at every taunt.

I didn't blush much, nah-uh. Never had to. Boys usually did what I do and made the girls go all squirming in shyness but they could never do it with me. I just stared at them, giving a bored look and trying to understand what part of their flirting was funny to them.

Naturally, they stopped trying and went away calling me weird.

Jerks.

The only time I had ever blushed was with that Axel dude. I regret letting go of my control but then again, I wasn't going to pretend he wasn't charming. He was damn sophisticated and could charm the hell out of me. If I were back to my teenage years, I would probably be writing all these thirst memes about him but now the thoughts resolved around boiled cabbage. How the tables had turned.

My thoughts broke as Derek got in the car, looking exactly like Derek Callingham would.

He never went for a messy hair look. His hair was neatly combed with a prominent parting on the left and he had put on a t-shirt and jeans, both of which were ironed without a single crease and a wristwatch fastened tightly on his left hand. His sneakers did not have an inch of dirt on them and he did not smell bad.

"How was the cold shower?" I asked.

"Pardon?" He asked, fastening the seatbelt.

"Shower. I meant shower. Had a nice, long one?" I gave a tight, fake smile.

He narrowed his eyes as he started the car, "You really enjoy torturing me, don't you?"

"I would never!" I fake gasped, "How could you even think like that, Dora? I am hurt, seriously hurt," I put a hand on my heart, pretending to be wounded.

He rolled his eyes, mumbling something along the lines of "dramaqueen" and "acting classes".

"What are the plans for today?" I asked, "After lunch, I mean."

"Show you some more places around the town, I guess," He shrugged.

"Cool. I am hungry," I declared.

"You just had breakfast," He arched an eyebrow.

"Stomach does not care. It wants food," I snorted, like it was an obvious thing he missed everytime.

"Wait for few hours and then we will be having lunch," He told in a manner like a typical mother would say to her child.

"But I am hungry!" I whined.

"Don't care. Learn to control your hunger. There are so many people out there who don't even get one square meal and-"

"Oh god," I put my fingers in my ears, "I can't hear you. La la la la la."

Derek gave a deadpan expression but then a hint of smile crept on his face, "Shame on you. People grow older, you know. You seem to grow younger."

"That's good. Wait for few more days and then you can change my nappies and carry me around in your arms," I retorted.

He wrinkled his nose, "Ah. But then you have to listen to what I say. No more alcohol or cigarettes for you, young lady."

"You are cleaning my poop. It can't get any worse than that, Dora," I smirked.

~¤~

"Hey, come on in," Jake said and then looked at me, "Nora," He gave a polite sneer.

"Jacob," I gave him an equally smug look.

"Jake. Its Jake for you. Only Liv calls me Jacob," He corrected quickly, closing the door behind us.

"Okay Jacob," Before he could reply, I walked past him.

"Hi Nora, hi Derek. Sit down," Olivia came out of a room, with three books in her hands, "I am just stacking some books. Give me two minutes and I will join you," She went back in.

"She is arranging the books in alphabetical order. Can you believe it?" Jake snorted, taking a seat next to Derek, stretching his legs out.

"I can. It's neat and organised," I chimed in.

Jake raised one eyebrow, "You two should live together, you know. You clean the house all day and she will re-clean it again and then you clean again and it will go on forever. Nobody can complain of any dust ever."

"At least I clean, you just dirty the house," Olivia came out with a duster and a bored expression etched on her face.

"You clean the toilets twice a day on weekends and everday for the rest. When you can't clean it for a day, you clean it thrice the next day," Jake almost said in bewilderment, "Now you tell me, who is the mad one here?"

"So what? She is a bit of a clean freak, thats not bad. I like her," I defended her.

Olivia smiled, "Thanks, Nora. You have no idea how difficult it is to live with him. I might be a clean freak but Jake literally exists to make my life a hell."

"And the gossip starts," Jake sighed, "How  is the community service going?"

"Torture. Four more days and I'll be done."

"I told you not to take the extra hours. Now, look at you. Fatigued," I chastised.

"I just want to be done with it without Maa knowing. The longer we work, the faster we get off and just be over with it," Derek rolled his eyes.

"Shoo off now. Go badger Liv," Jake grinned evilly as the boys started setting up their game.

"Nora, you come with me. Let these two kids have their game time," Olivia called.

I got up, not wishing to spend one more second with this Jake. Seriously, I didn't know why I didn't like him. He bailed us once and I was indebted to him but that's it. He was an arrogant prick if you ask me. He was that typical rich and spoilt guy who had everything handed over to him in a silver spoon. The guy who could brag for a living and yet get away with it.

Why on hell would a sensible smart girl like Olivia choose him was truly baffling to me.

"How are you liking here in Greywall so far?" Olivia asked as she led me to one of the rooms.

"Really nice," I said genuinely, "Its small but I like it. You can easily get lost in the city and its cold but this town has a special warmth to it. I wouldn't mind extending my stay here," I said genuinely.

"Why don't you? As far as I know, your university doesn't start within two weeks of your return."

"No, I have to go back. I am participating in an environment workshop and its really important to me. Derek is going to stay back for few more weeks, though," I casually flickered through the pages of a book.

"Oh yes, I remember he had told us about it. He seems to be really taken aback by you," She smiled and I knew Jake and her probably had long discussions about it by the tone she used.

Everyone knew except that stupid Derek. It always happened like this. The stupidity rate of people only seemed to increase day by day with techonology and science.

But more than that, boys were actually more clueless than girls. Girls were way smarter than boys in reality. I could tell we either pretended to be clueless to avoid awkward conversations and looks or the boys didn't give out enough good hints.

That's what happened with Derek and Reina.

"Can you believe he doesn't understand a thing? I have dropped him hints after hints and that stupid moron can't catch one," I snorted, "But of course, he would if he stopped thinking about Reina."

"Derek is a complex fellow, I agree," She rolled her lips in, "But I don't think he is that infatuated with Reina anymore. We have seen him at his worst. The old Derek only breathed and lived for Reina. This new Derek has matured a lot."

"Yet, he always thinks first about Reina. He is running away from me at every point, you know. If he gives me an opportunity-"

"Nora, this is Derek we are talking about. If he was so smart, we wouldn't be having this conversation here," Olivia chuckled, keeping a book.

"True," I handed her another.

"But he has changed," She said, "I didn't think he would change so much. If you had seen him two years ago, you wouldn't believe that is the Derek you know now."

"That bad, huh?" I asked, "I know the general story. He told me. How he was rude to Axel. How he told him stuff and-"

"Its not just about how he behaved towards Axel. He was a different person altogether. It was scary, to be honest. The amount of obsession and his inability to see the simple things was beyond my imagination," She replied, "He did love her but it was the intensity that was overwhelming. It wasn't good so I am glad he got over that."

I felt a bit uncomfortable now. As much as I loved speaking with Olivia even after one meeting, the idea of Derek obsessing over Reina didn't fit with me. I was glad he was more mature and level headed now.

I couldn't see him like that. What would happen if Axel didn't have that accident? Would he still pine over her?

Yes, he could.

That made me more sick. I shifted weirdly and looked around, hoping for some distraction. My stomach grumbled softly and I remembered being really hungry when I came.

"Olivia?"

"Hmm?"

"Can you serve lunch? I am kinda hungry."

~°~

"This stuff is really good. What did you use?" Jake said, making a whole lot of noise as he chewed his food.

Olivia grimaced at his action, "Nothing much. Just that herb and sauce."

"Your cooking is really good, Olivia. I never knew you cooked so well," Derek appreciated, eating mouthfuls.

"Just imagine my good luck," Jake grinned, "Great food and great sex. What else can a man want?"

Olivia gave him a look, "I'm going for some more bread."

"Wait, I will come too. I need more of this. You have magic in your hands," Jake got up behind her and they walked off into the kitchen.

"Twenty bucks they are going to have a miniscule makeout inside there now," I said, watching them go.

Derek smiled, shoving more noddles in his mouth, "I am not betting. I know they will do it."

"Olivia is hot too," I stated, "All your friends are hot except you."

Derek rolled his eyes, "Thanks for the compliment."

Because you are cute and adorable. The sweetest marshmallow here. You are handsome too. I wouldn't call you hot because in my eyes, that was no big deal.

"I don't understand why she would choose a guy like Jake. She is so level headed and smart, intelligent, beautiful. He is so crass, undignified and blunt, even if he is easy on the eyes," I shivered, poking the meatball.

"Thats what they say love is, I guess. I mean look at me and Reina. I was the last person to be called popular and Reina is the definition of popular-"

"You know, I think I have to interrupt them," I got up, "I need water. I might otherwise die out of dehydration."

"Oh okay," He nodded casually, "Bring a bottle for me, will you?"

Not wanting to hear anymore of him and Reina again, I walked over to the kitchen. The living room was situated at a right turn and so it was blocked from the view of the kitchen. I was about to announce and enter when I heard them speaking.

Well, they were definitely not making out.

"I am glad Derek has someone now. He doesn't realize it yet but he will," Olivia said.

"Sure. I don't like Nora much but she can keep him on his toes. I mean, can you imagine Derek Callingham breaking in and going to jail!? I could never even convince him to ride a motorcycle and this girl actually sent him to jail," Jake snorted.

I smiled. Hell, I was eavesdropping and the shameless creature I was, I didn't care.

"Can't imagine that we thought that this Derek once said he would never love any girl again," Olivia whispered.

"Yeah, he told me he would never want to settle with another girl unless it was Reina," He said, "Old days."

"Reina told me that during Axel's time in the hospital, he came and apologised but he also said he would always love a nine out of ten Reina rather than a ten out of ten other girl. Imagine that," Olivia's tone was laced with disbelief.

"He actually said that!?" Jake's surprised voice whispered.

"Yeah, he was really emotional. He even loved her when he left. I wonder when he stopped loving her," Olivia spoke softly.

"When Nora came in, duh. Nora in, Reina out. Simple math. You always need a rebound," Jake replied.

"Nora is not a rebound. Derek genuinely cares for her," Olivia said, seriously.

"I am not denying that. All I am saying is when people go for a second relationship, the second person is always a rebound initially, no matter how much they deny. Later, true feelings might develop but not at first. If Nora wasn't here today or Axel had broken up with Reina, Derek would still want to be with her. We all know that," Jake snorted, "Pass me the sauce."

"I don't agree, Jacob. There might be comparisons of course but not always a rebound. Anyway, I really want them to be together. Nora and Derek. It fits. More than Derek and Reina. He is happy now. He wasn't happy earlier," Olivia spoke and I heard the sound of cutlery clinking.

"I admit. Going to Yale was a good thing he did. He needed the distraction. Hope he realizes it soon. Knowing Derek, it might take years. Nora has to do something fast if she wants Derek," Jake said.

"We should go back, we have been here for quite a while now," Olivia said.

Immediately, I stepped back and hurried over to the living room. Derek was busy eating as he tried to roll the noodles around his fork. He looked up as I came.

"Oh hey, what took you so long? Did you bring the bottle?" He asked curiously.

I patted my clothes and took out twenty dollars, "Even though there wasn't any bet, here is twenty dollars. They weren't making out."

"How did-"

"I eavesdropped," I said, "I am done with lunch."

****

Author's note:-

What is your favorite book in Wattpad?

Some of my favorites are "Sweet as a Strawberry" and "Twelve ways to spend one's christmas eve."

But the best has to be "Worst story on Wattpad."

That book is PURE gold😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂