Free Teen Mom Confidential: Secrets & Scandals From MTV's Most Controversial Shows by Ashley Majeski, Sean Daly

decided to buy Derek his first car when he was 16. It was a 1996 maroon Chevy Lumina. He loved having his own car. He took your mom on lots of dates in it. They attended prom and high school sporting events together. But eventually, they began to have little arguments. I wasn't too concerned at first, but soon, I noticed some changes in Derek. He seemed quiet and distracted.
    Before long, Derek was basically breaking down in tears. So we talked. His relationship with your mom was slowly going downhill. There were a few break ups that I didn't know about. Derek had finally told me that Farrah had been dating other guys when they were supposed to be together, and everything just fell apart. I remember the night when Derek called Farrah's dad and told him that Farrah was at a party and that he was concerned with what was going on there. I believe her dad called her and told her to get home.

    A friend of Derek's had told me that whenever Farrah would call Derek and Derek was in his car with his friends, that he would have to stop the car, turn the radio off, shut the air conditioner off, roll all of the windows up, tell his friends to stop talking, so that Farrah could hear him without any distractions. His friend told me that happened a lot.
    Derek's friends were blown away with how he had changed because of Farrah. Their relationship had become on-again, off-again. I could see that it was tearing Derek apart. His grades, school attendance, job...everything he had worked hard for was going downhill. For a while, I was even concerned about him graduating. I had finally told him that this relationship was not worth him being so emotionally exhausted. He was too young to have all of this going on.
    Farrah eventually ended the relationship in the summer of 2008. Farrah's mom had her phone shut off and gave her a new cell phone so that Derek could not have any contact with her. During this time, our family had no idea that Farrah was filming 16 and Pregnant.
    There were questions at their school about why these cameras were following Farrah around. Rumors flooded the high school saying that Farrah was pregnant. Derek never mentioned anything about that to me, but my daughters told me what they had heard at school.
    I was told after his death that Derek had tried many times to call Farrah and ask her if the baby was his. And each time, she said no. One of their conversations was aired on 16 and Pregnant .
    During this time Derek started hanging out with the wrong crowd. He would stay out late, past his curfew. His attitude changed. His whole demeanor changed. I tried talking to him numerous times, but got nowhere. I knew that I had to step in and do something, because I could see the road he was headed down and I sensed that something bad was going to happen.
    I grounded him from everything -- his car, cell phone, computer. But that only backfired and made things worse. Derek became distant and disconnected. I worked long hours at my job. I would get home around 6:00 PM and always have a house full of kids. Eventually it seemed that our house had become a “teenage sorority house.” I hated how Derek's behavior had formed a wedge between us. He came and went and did his own thing. I offered family counseling to Derek but he said no.
    Other family members stepped in and tried talking to him as well. It seemed as if we were all hitting a roadblock. This was all very sad for me because we have always been a tight knit family.
    Christmas 2008 was like any other. We had Christmas music playing, opening our presents, watching movies and, of course, Christmas dinner. Derek and his sisters loved Christmas. They would always have lots of presents to open, even when they were teenagers. I still have not ended that tradition. I still spoil them. I could tell that Derek was putting on a smile that day, and that he was trying to hide his sadness. I could tell that he was thinking about Farrah. I felt bad for him.
    After dinner, as always, Derek