what else is there?

Enrique didn’t want to spend his afternoon with a stranger’s son, but Uberta had donated a lot of money to his campaign two years ago. Something about being an old friend of his dad’s and thinking his face was ‘adorable’. Her son was apparently fascinated with politics and it would go against his duty to the next generation.

He recognized the man from Uberta’s description. A better looking Chace Crawford. He smiled at him. 

“Hello, I am Enrique Reynaldo. Nice to see you,” he said. He shook his hand. “Derek right? Your mom told me you wanted to talk to me about joining the town hall one day.”

Derek stood slack-jawed for a moment. The mayor. His mom set him up with the freaking mayor. She always talked about him marrying well but, seriously? The mayor? Derek shook his head. Why did he expect anything less? Well, at least he was handsome. 

Rosie had not expected to spot Derek right outside her job. He was waiting outside the fancy restaurant across the street. She recognized the look on his face, a cross between constipation and despair. His mom had managed to set him on a blind date. Again. Honestly, it was a miracle he had avoided it this long again. She wondered if he was going to pay for it. He once dated nearly half of their hometown in one night, just because Uberta insisted he needed a date for prom. 

She strolled over to her best friend, chortling. Oh, this was going to be funny. Say what you wanted about Mrs. Chambers, but she had style.

“I’ll make sure to pray for you,” she said. “Since I don’t think you’ll survive the night. And to think, I was worried about you cliff diving.”

Derek pouted, very much the way he used to when Rose babysat him as a kid and wouldn’t let him have any more candy. Being tricked into a date by his mom instead of a nice family dinner had that same sort of feeling of deprivation. “How did you know?” Derek asked. He’d been halfway through the second text from his mom before he got it, how did Rosie figure it out from across the street? “Is it that obvious to everyone but me?”

It was a strange request, Derek thought as he walked down Apple Peak’s main street. His mother asked him to meet her outside a restaurant in the town center. She gave him no other details but was very adamant about the time. But he went with it, knowing better than to question her whims. He learned that lesson a long time ago. But when their meeting time came and went with no sign of his mom, Derek got worried. It wasn’t like her to flake, especially not on him. What if something happened? His pulse quickened and he felt queasy. Suddenly very anxious, Derek pulled out his phone to call his mother just as the device began to vibrate and a text message popped up on the screen, and then another and another. 

[[mom ❤️👑❤️;]] Sorry dear, something came up and I won’t be able to make it

[[mom ❤️👑❤️;]] But don’t worry, I’ve sent a friend in my place

[[mom ❤️👑❤️;]] Have fun 😉 xxxxxxx

Halloween 2k18 - Derek Chambers

      “oh come on!  i have the perfect hair for daphne.  why won’t anyone be the rest of the mystery gang with me?” luna whined, crossing her arms across her chest.  “what’s so wrong with matching halloween costumes anyway you party pooper?”

Odette crossed her arms, attempting (but also not attempting at all) to hide the slight roll of her eyes. She couldn’t get a simple suggestion of DIY fruit costumes without him taking it in another direction, “I wasn’t talking about you, genius. I meant my roommate. I don’t think you could pull off the strawberry look.”

Derek’s scoff came almost before Odette had even finished talking, “Excuse you,” he said. “I would make an amazing strawberry. Red is a great color on me. I think I’m more of a watermelon, but I could definitely do strawberry.”

Rose wobbled like a newborn baby deer. She was starting to think there was more alcohol in the punch than she’d thought. She stumbled into a familiar face, literally trampling over their feet. She smiled. “Fancy seeing you here.”

It was October and that meant one thing for Jack; his life was now full at all hours working hard to make sure that every little detail of the month was perfect until the final moment that Halloween day arrived. Even when he was on break at the local cafe sitting outside he was stressed and trying to work through a cigarette, while also balancing a cup of coffee, and plopping down in a seat across from someone he hadn’t even taken notice to. “Oh. I’m sorry… I wasn’t paying attention. You don’t mind that I sit here do you?”

“Nah, no worries man,” Derek said, but only after a beat of staring, his fork hanging midair. Not usually what happened when he popped into the dinner for his lunch break but, hey, it happens. Derek relaxed and finally took a bite of his food. “I think my mom’d smack me for bad manners if I turned you away. And to tell you the truth, it’s no fun eating all by myself. I already know everything I’m gonna say.”

*ﾟ+.*.｡ —       IT WAS ANOTHER slow day at turn the page, noticeable in how winona was currently propped against the checkout counter, a book in one hand and a cup of boba in the other. lilac liquid sloshed against the side of the plastic cup as she tipped the straw closer to her mouth, gaze never once straying from the page that held her rapt attention.

until, that was, the bell atop the door jingled — at which she promptly turned, startled & reasonably embarrassed, to greet the customer. ❝   w-welcome to turn the page !! are you looking for anything in particular today ?❞ this was all said, of course, as winona attempted to keep from choking on a tapioca pearl.

The sound of the chime caught Derek’s attention. The books he was shelving in the back of the store could wait. It’d been a long and boring morning and he was dying for some human interaction. Derek made his way to the front of the store; he left a large stack of books still needing to be shelved behind him. 

Derek arrived just in time to see a customer  — someone he didn’t recognize, almost a feet in itself in Apple Peak  — awkwardly mutter something about “being fine” to Winona before making a beeline for the romance section of the store. So much for breaking up the monotony of shelving. 

“Guess they’re not much of a talker, huh?” Derek said to Winona, leaning an elbow against the counter.

“How forward of you, Derek. Well, if you insist. We could have a quicky in the back.” He continued looking through the comic book. “I still don’t get why everyone is so in love with Superman.”

“What?! You don’t like Superman?!” Derek exclaimed, voice entirely too loud for a bookstore. A few customers browsing in the back sent him dirty looks. Derek shrunk back a bit and lowered his voice. “How can you not like Superman? He fights bad guys as his side gig.”

     “but who’s to say exactly the same is a bad thing?” noah spent a lot of time at turn the page, it was practically a second home at this point. while timid by nature, the familiarity of his surroundings put him at ease conversing with the workers. “i love adventuring as much as the next person, but there’s somethin’ to be said about havin’ a routine ‘n a safety net waiting back at home for you.”

“So I shouldn’t have told her you wanted five kids?” she joked. It was too easy to mess with Derek. “Because she really seemed to think her friend’s grandaughter’s cousin would be perfect for you.” She cut a piece of silver ribbon to tie around the bouquet.

“That would explain the weird texts I’ve been getting. She needs to stop giving out my number.” Even as he spoke, Derek could feel the phone in his pocket vibrate. Most likely from that number he didn’t know again. “Are your parents like this? I feel like your parents aren’t like this.”