"What do you mean I can't annul it?"
I asked my lawyer incredulously.

In the other room I heard Derek shouting the same thing to his lawyer.
Neither of us had lawyers. When Evelyn dropped the bomb on us that I was married to him we both hightailed it to the nearest law office to get it annulled.

"I'm sorry Mrs. Carter but there's nothing that I can do." The short, grey bearded man in front of me said.

I cringed as he said it. Mrs. Carter. Mrs. Carter. It sounded ludicrous. Almost abominable upon his lips. His mouth turned upwards slightly, his thin pink lips formed a sneer rather than an understanding smile. He didn't look very sorry.

I rubbed my temples in frustration, " I think that there's something you're not understanding here sir. I. Was. Drunk."

The old man sighed and picked up his glasses from the desk, placed them carefully on the bridge of his nose and read the paper Evelyn had handed to me. Derek had the photocopied version.

"I, Kate Williams, understand that I am now married to Derek Carter and any and all excuses to my state of health at this time of signature can be ignored as it is my responsibility to control my actions."

I cringed again. God I was gonna murder that bitch. How could she do this to me? I know our long standing war was stretched for years but this? No. This was taking it too far.

He continued, "Any and all attempts to divorce and/or separate with my new husband will result in the payment of $1 000 000, in cash, to Evelyn Reed, the sermon for this event.

And there," he stated, " Is your signature Mrs. Carter."

I clenched my jaw staring at the blue pen marks, "It's still Ms. Williams."

I angrily picked up the crinkled sheet, wrinkled unconsciously from my panicked fingers on the car ride here.

There it was. Clear as day, even as a drunkard I had still managed to elegantly scrawl my name across the marriage contract without a wobble in sight.

Damn my writing capabilies.

The grey bearded man cleared his throat, "This is the first page of many contracts you'd signed off on."

He stood slowly and walked over to the printer in 5 strides that would have taken me one. A 4-inch printed document with at least 50 different contracts appeared in his hand when he turned and shuffled back to his wide desk.

I sat on the other side, dressed in the same black hoodie that I'd had on this morning and my black heels. I got a disapproving look when I'd barged into the office demanding a lawyer. But I didn't care.

My fingers drummed against the wood in angst and frustration. The plastic chair felt cold and unpleasant on my bare legs. How could this be happening to me? How?

The man slammed the sheets onto the table and looked over at me.

"These," he gestured to the contracts, " were faxed in this morning. I'll review them and relay all the terms and conditions of your contract. Meanwhile, go home, get...changed," He eyed my appearance that barely covered my ass, "And try to get to know your new husband."

I stood unhappy with my results. "Look sir,"

"Mr. Lamar." He corrected.

"Right. Mr. Lamar, this is just some kind of mistake. I was drunk when I signed those, I had a party and I didn't know what I was doing!"

Mr. Lamar held up a hand to stop me, "I understand your frustration Mrs. Cart- uh, Williams. But these are legal documents and you should always read everything that you sign. "

I narrowed my eyes at him. Didn't he get it? I wasn't sober. There's no way those could actually be used.

I stood abruptly and he held out a hand for me to shake. I didn't take it, and walked out instead.

He called after me before I left, " Mrs. Williams! You forgot your-"

My fingers curled around the doorknob to his office and slammed it shut. Hard. The sound resonated through the associate cubicles, and they shot me dirty looks for disrupting their work.

My legs carried away my storming mind and body to the waiting room. This was horrible.

Derek sat in a chair and raised his head when he heard the clicking of my heels on the brown tiled floor. His interview with his own lawyer must've ended on a bad note as well.

Derek caught my expression and gave me a look of sympathy. I was surprised that he could still read me as well as he had years ago, without me even saying a word.

"I'm guessing it didn't go well then." He stated with empathy.

I shot him a look, "Of course it didn't."

I looked at him. Derek had on a blue shirt he'd found leftover at my house and his same blue jeans from last night. His eight pack poked through the shirt even when he was sitting down. The green in his eyes were swirling and I felt myself being carried away in them. My eyes drifted over the soft stubble on his modelesque jawline. The big doe'd eyes. The way he sat confidently with his big hands clasped neatly across his legs.

I caught myself thinking back to previous memories of the past. No.
I suppressed a tiny spark in my heart.

How was I supposed to stay married to him?

-------------------------------------------------------------

Cass and I entered my cool temperatured house. California weather brought sunny skies all year round but it's summers were brutal. Thank God for air conditioning.

Most days I didn't mind it but honestly,even after the short walk home, I was already sweating like a pig. My armpits literally had rivers flowing out underneath them. Honestly.

Cass and I made sure to enter through the back entrance. You know, just in case Derek happened to be lingering around outside his own house.

What I didn't want was some kind of surprise run in with him.

I'd carefully managed to steer clear of him for the past two days, avoiding his amused grin everytime he looked at me in English.

I hated English.

I never wanted to go back. Never. Everyday it was the same old life, whenever Derek's eyes glanced over towards me I immediately flushed in embarrassment. At the exact same time Evelyn would turn in her seat, witness the interaction, and shoot me with her worst glare whilst Cass, horrified by the trouble she'd caused, gave me apologetic looks. And Mr. Brown, of course, oblivious to all, would continue teaching his lessons that no one listened to.

Cass put her bag down in the kitchen and made a dash to the fridge for some ice cold water. She passed me a bottle and I thirstily accepted it, opened the plastic top and put it to my lips. As the cold water slowly drifted down my throat in hasty gulps I could feel the heat melt away and bring me at ease. It was that hot.

We both finished three more bottles each before we walked upstairs. Halfway up, Cass grabbed my arm to stop me. When I turned to ask what had happened she put a finger to her lips and pointed upwards. We both listened.

Thump. Thump.

"You fucking bastard! Get 'er ass back here!" I heard my brother Callumn shout.

I exchanged a look with Cass. What the hell? We bolted upstairs and threw open his bedroom door.

My mouth gaped open slightly with utter shock.

Callumn sat on his hard wood floor, game controller in hand and had headphones on. Beside him sat Derek Carter. Yes, THE Derek Carter. The very one I'd avoided at school. The same one I'd entered through the back door just to not see. And now here he was.

In my house.

I remembered the exact position of his neck when he turned away from the TV monitor to us standing at the door. His rounded cheeks were ever so slightly flushed and his eyes, clouded in concentration before, widened with recognition when he saw me. A big, slow grin errupted on his face.

"Derek?" Cass asked in amazement.

Derek and I had locked gazes, unable to focus on anything else. I could feel a slow steady blush rise from my neck to my cheeks.

Callumn looked between us and scratched his brown hair in confusion.

"Cass you know him?" He asked.

Derek raised an eyebrow at me mockingly when Callumn wasn't looking. My blush grew in embarrassment. I hated him for having that kind of power over me. Cass and I both shouted at the same time.

"No!"

"Yes!"

I tore my gaze from Derek's into Cass' light brown eyes. She looked back at me in panic. Neither of us wanted Callumn to know about the note from class and how it was read out loud for everyone to hear. If there was one thing we both knew about my brother, he'd never let me live it down.

"U-uhmm," Cass stammered, "He's just in English with us."

I glanced at Derek and an amused smile played on his light pink lips.

I fixated a smirk back at him, " He's also a major dick, he likes to shoot spit balls at teachers."

Callumn raised his brows and laughed. I did too. Derek's cheeky grin had disappeared.

"Good one mate, I need to learn some things from you." He slapped Derek a high five. He stopped scowling and forced on a irritated grin.

Callumn got up and took off his headphones. He ruffled my hair to my annoyance.

"Welcome home twin. I'm getting a drink."

Callumn was my twin brother and went to Eastoak High as well. Callumn was born five minutes before I was, so he was the older one. We had the same DNA in our cells that gave us the same brown hair and hazel eyes. Somehow though, he'd ended up being the taller one, and the jock of the school you could say. I wasn't that much different, I played soccer and did dance but, despite our looks, we tended to steer clear of the other at school. It was a typical brother-sister relationship.

Derek narrowed his eyes at me after Callumn left.

"What was that?" He asked.

It was the first time I'd ever heard his voice: masculine but not too low.

I smiled triumphantly for the first time in days.
"Just telling him the truth." I huffed.

He chuckled and stood, taking off his headphones too. I caught the vibrations, low and deep.

"Truth? You mean when you basically announced to the world that you like me?"

I stopped smiling and could feel my face burning again, "Like I would ever like you."

He walked over to the frame of the doorway and casually leaned over on it. He lowered his head so that he could look at me. There it was again, those amazing glittering green orbs. I lost focus for a split second.

"Words don't lie though do they Katie?"

I clenched my teeth at the nickname he gave to me and he laughed again.

He brushed his firm arm against me and followed Callumn down the stairs. Cass suppressed a laugh and I couldn't help but glare at her.

Derek Carter was such a jerk. How could he ever think I'd like a guy like him?