Derek

Here you meet Christian's best friend Derek. Hallie drives all the way to east LA on thanksgiving to give him some food especially hoping to see him after the bad day she's had. She finds much more than she bargained for.

�Damnit was it 5890 or 5890 and �?� Hallie cursed at herself. She drove back and forth around the little apartment complex and some shady looking people were staring at her like she was a lunatic, which she probably was. She asked herself what the f**k she was thinking coming down here on Thanksgiving, especially without calling first. She didn�t even know what Derek looked like, but she assumed they were probably getting wasted and having sex with hot girls in their little apartment. It had been almost a month since she�d seen or talked to Christian, and knowing the way girls swooned over him, he probably had one hundred new girlfriends forgotten all about her. Figuring she came all the way there, she�d go up and knock on the apartment door, 5890 and then try 5890 � if she was wrong.

She knocked on the first door which had a friendly looking autumn wreath hung up. East Los Angeles really wasn�t as bad as all her clueless friends made it. An African American woman opened the door and blinked at Hallie. From behind her Hallie could see the rest of her family eating Thanksgiving dinner and looking curiously at her.

�I�m sorry, I think I have the wrong place,� Hallie�s face turned beat red.

The woman laughed heartily, �Yeah I think you do too. Who are you lookin� for hun?�

�Um for Christian West or Derek Wilson?� Hallie inquired feeling like an idiot.

�Those boys are just right next door. I should have known you were looking for him. All the pretty girls are always looking for Christian.,� the lady joked to Hallie�s dismay.

�Thank you, sorry to bother you,� Hallie apologized.

�No problem hun Happy Thanksgiving,� the lady smiled warmly.

�Happy Thanksgiving.�

Hallie knocked on the next door down, and a short heavy set woman answered the door.

�Hi I�m looking for Christian or Derek,� Hallie asked hoping that Christian was there.

�Someone to see you!� the lady hollered over her shoulder.

Hallie waited balancing the plate of food in her hands. Her heart sped up anxiously for Christian to come out, but instead someone else did.

He was tall with jet back hair and look absolutely dumbfounded at the sight of Hallie. He stood in the door frame then his brown eyes gazed at her curiously.

�You�re Hallie aren�t you?�

�Yes, I�m so sorry to barge in on you like this,� She was a little freaked out that he knew who she was and she didn�t know who he was. �Is Christian there?�

He continued to stare at her speechless.

�Hey�I didn�t mean to bother all of you on Thanksgiving. I�m going to go,� Hallie said feeling embarrassed and wanting to just go home.

�No wait! I was just surprised how accurate he�.� his voice trailed off and instead of continuing what he was saying he introduced himself. �I�m Derek and Christian actually isn�t here. He just moved out.�

�Oh,� Hallie�s shoulders slumped in disappointment. � Do you know where he lives now?�

�Yeah come in I can tell you the address. I have to show you something first though,� he said not taking his eyes off her.

�Ok�, Hallie stepped inside wondering why Derek was acting so strange. She saw a little girls face peering from around the corner hiding. She was dressed in a fancy white dress and had her black hair tied into a braid.

�I know her,� Hallie heard the kid whisper loudly to the rest of the family.

Hallie stepped inside the room thinking it would be rude if she didn�t say hi or anything.

�Hello,� she waved awkwardly. � I�m Hallie.�

The short heavyset woman who answered the door before looked over at the rest of the family. The whole room appeared to have the same surprised look as Derek had.

�We know,� an elderly man chuckled.

Before Hallie could ask how the hell they knew who she was Derek returned with a stack of papers in his hand.

�Sit down for a second I have to show you this,� Derek said.

�Why what is going on?� Hallie looked at one of the papers to see it was an elaborate drawing of a girl. She looked closer and realized it wasn�t just any girl, it was clearly her. She flipped through the whole stack and saw that a lot of them were dated from years back, and all of them were just of her with different facial expressions at different ages. In some she was riding her horse Winnie as a little girl, many of them were of her fast asleep, and she noticed one was dated recently of her crying, with charcoal tears rolling down her face.

�I can�t believe this,� Hallie uttered overwhelmed. The drawings were so beautiful and accurate down to her bone structure. It was no wonder Derek recognized her.

�I thought I�d show you these because I know he�d never do anything with them. He barely even shows them to us, and we�re like his family,� Derek explained. Now Hallie was the one speechless.

�I didn�t want to freak you out Hallie, but that guy really loves you. He�s loved you ever since I knew him,� Derek told her straightforwardly.

Hallie nervously chewed on a piece of her hair, �Where is he right now?�

�Christian didn�t want to do Thanksgiving here, he gets kind of weird around the holidays. He moved back to some place called Folsom. You want the address?� Derek asked.

�I think I know where it is,� Hallie�s voice replied trembling. The whole family was watched her mystified. They were seeing something that Hallie had been trying her best to hide from for six years now.

�Is that for him?� Derek nodded at Hallie�s plate.

�Yes, I feel so bad bringing food here and then taking it with me. Do you all want it?� Hallie asked the family.

�No,� the elderly man shook his head. �Christian needs it more than we do.�

�Alright I�ll go there right now. It was nice meeting all of you,� Hallie got up and Derek showed her out the door.

Before he shut it he said, �You know he told me what happened, about how you have a boyfriend and everything. I don�t know your boyfriend, and I�m not saying this just because I�m Christian�s best friend, but it�s just that I�ve never seen someone love another person as much as he loves you. He tries his best not to admit it but it all comes out in his artwork.�

A tear that she�d been holding back escaped from Hallie�s eye. �Well the thing is Derek that when he had the chance he didn�t show that to me, and now it�s too late.�

�He was a young kid and so were you. He�s been through a lot of s**t and maybe he just wasn�t ready then,� Derek replied.

�I�m going to bring him his food and be on my way,� Hallie concluded before she could start crying anymore. �Happy Thanksgiving.�

�Happy Thanksgiving, good luck,� Derek said and shut the door.

While she walked back to her car she thought it was funny that Derek said good luck, but she knew she might need it.

Author's Note

I don't know if the whole Christian being an artist thing is way too cliche...i think it is but it just works lol so i'm probably going to leave it for now.

Reviews

[Rosary]

yeah i would leave it. its not too clique because the rest of your writing is not. besides as you said it goes with the rest of the story. i think your doing real good so keep it up. thanks for the read request. if you have some time when your not writing id like it if you would take a look at some of my poetry and tell me what you think. also i have been working on a book myself so ill send you a read request when i have finished the first chapter.
i am so glad i came upon your book i have enjoyed every minute of it the only mistake i saw in this chapter is:
The whole family was watched her mystified. i think its suppost to be watching rather then watched well again thanks for the read request and ill look forward to reading even more of your work.

[thecoolone52]

theres a few typos here and there but other then that it was a good read......... im waiting for a big twist maybe you can pull it off for me at the end....... make something crazy happean that would be really cool....... anyway sweet chapter good luck composing the next one....

[Mysteral - Night Prowle..]

Another excellent chapter. Certainly not too clich� for my way of thinking, but just a little unexpected. I guess Hallie was as surprised about his artistic talent too.

"Yes, I'm so sorry to barge in on you like this," She was a little freaked out that he knew who she was and she didn't know who he was. "Is Christian there?"
May sound better to say:-
She was a little freaked out that he knew who she was yet she didn't know him. "Is Christian there?"