“I’m on the way home to change.”
“Why do you need to change?”
“I don’t need this shit right now,” Darren said and hung up.
For a moment, Danni just stared at the phone.
“What’s going on?” Marcy asked.
Danni shrugged. “No clue, but I’m getting sick of his attitude. He’s like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde sometimes, and I can’t tell which one I’m going to get.”
“I can believe that,” Chelsea said.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Danni asked.
“He’s a stuck-up jock. You said it yourself,” Chelsea reminded her.
“Besides you’re mad at Darren, not us,” Marcy pointed out.
“Let’s just go to class,” Danni said.
None of the girls spoke as they passed through the front gates. School hadn’t even started and Danni already dreaded facing the day.
* * *
In sociology class, Danni listened with half an ear to Ms. Keene’s lecture on the proper way to balance a checkbook. It would have been nice if they could learn something useful that would help them now, like how to deal with jealous friends or a boyfriend who always picked fights with her. That would have been a lot more helpful than being reminded to record all her transactions in her non-existent check register so she didn’t end up overdrawing her non-existent account.
The door of the classroom swung open, bringing with it a welcome break to the dull lecture. One of the student office assistants walked in and handed a piece of paper to Ms. Keene.
“Danni Singer, you’re to report to the office,” Ms. Keene said.
“Why?” Danni asked.
“I don’t know,” Mrs. Keene replied.
Ending up in the office twice in the same week. Her mother would love this. Danni tried not to snatch the note from her teacher’s fingers as she took it and walked out of class. Why was she being called to the office anyway? She hadn’t done anything wrong. At least she didn’t think so.
“I got this note,” Danni told one of the secretaries when she entered the office.
The woman rose from her chair and peered over the note. “Right this way.”
Danni’s confusion deepened as she followed the secretary to the back of the office. “What’s going on?”
“You’re Danielle Singer, correct?”
“Yes.”
“According to a note in your file, you have permission to assist Darren Jacobs with his, uh, personal needs.”
Danni could not believe Darren. Less than half an hour ago he hung up her, and now he wanted her to help him in the bathroom again? For a second she thought about telling the secretary there had been some kind of mistake. Even though he deserved it, she couldn’t do that to Darren. She followed the secretary to the teachers’ bathroom and stood back while she rapped on the door.
“Yeah?” Darren called.
“Your help is here,” the secretary told him.
“Okay, I’m ready.”
Danni tried not to blush as she slipped inside.
“Hey,” Darren said.
“I thought you said this wasn’t going to happen again,” Danni reminded him.
“I don’t need your help,” Darren admitted, keeping his voice low. “I needed to talk to you about this morning and I wanted us to be alone.”
“What if I don’t want to talk to you?” Danni asked.
“You know you do.”
“And how do I know that?”
“Because you love me,” Darren answered. “You love me, and you know when I’m embarrassed about things I sometimes act like a dick and you understand.”
“We can’t talk in here,” Danni said. “I’ll bet that secretary is monitoring how much time we spend in here.”
“Then talk to me outside,” Darren said. “Please, Danni.”
She sighed. “Fine.”
When Danni opened the door and almost ran over the secretary, she turned to shoot Darren an ‘I-told-you-so’ look. In return, he gave her a ‘You-were-right’ grin. Neither of them spoke as they filed past the secretary and out the back door of the office.
“I’m sorry,” Darren said.
“You should be,” Danni agreed. “You can be kind of mean for a guy who says he loves me.”
Darren stopped walking and moved to stand in front of her. “I do love you. You know I do. I just felt stupid about what happened this morning and I took it out on you.”
“What happened?”
His face reddened as he dropped his eyes to the ground. “My dad let me try to drive this morning.”
“That sounds like a good thing.”
“I thought so too until I got on the road,” Darren said. “I saw it stretched out in front of me, and then all of a sudden I could see the car flipping across it, and I freaked out.”
“What happened?” Danni asked.
Darren cast a quick glance around. “I lost it. I couldn’t move. I just sat there shaking and sweating, and all these people in their cars behind us started honking their horns and yelling and flipping us off.”
“But why’d you have to change?”
“My dad reached across me and pulled my foot off the brake so he could steer the car to the side of the road. He forgot he had a cup of coffee in his hand and it spilled all over me.”
“That’s better than what I thought you were going to say,” Danni said. “The coffee didn’t burn you, did it?”
“No, I’m okay,” Darren replied. “Anyway, I just felt kind of stupid because it happened like two minutes before you called.”
“I understand, but if you keep taking everything out on me, I might not understand one of these days,” Danni warned.
“My dad kind of said the same thing when I hung up on you. He said I needed to be more careful and appreciate the way you’ve been there for me, or there might come a time when you stopped.”
“Your dad’s a pretty smart guy.”
Darren grinned. “Yeah, he thinks so too. Are we okay now?”
“We’re okay, but we better get back to what’s left of our first period classes before we get in trouble again,” Danni answered.
“Not until you kiss me first,” he said, leaning his head down to hers.
“You’re impossible,” Danni said, though she gave in to the kiss.
* * *
Danni felt so much better to have worked things out with Darren that she didn’t mind when Mrs. Greenleaf sprung a pop quiz on them in second period. Just as she neared the end of it, Darren stood up beside her. He stalked to the front of the class with his wadded up paper in hand before coming back to drop into his chair.
“Darren, may I see you please?” Mrs. Greenleaf said, and Darren returned to the front. “Your quiz is blank.”
Even though the teacher kept her voice low, the quiet in the room made it impossible for her not to be overheard.
“I don’t know the answers,” Darren replied.
“Are you sure that’s it? I know this is your third day back, but we just started on this book this week. You should know a few of the answers.”
“Well, I don’t.”
“Darren, are you sure there’s not another reason why you won’t complete the quiz?”
“You want me to say it?” Darren snapped, and the entire class looked up. “I was left handed. I can’t even write my own name. There’s no way I can get this quiz done in twenty minutes.”
“I could give you more time,” Mrs. Greenleaf offered.
“I don’t need more time. I need everyone to leave me alone and quit reminding me that I’m the one-armed man now,” Darren said before storming out of the room.
When Danni turned in her quiz, a blush still pinked the teacher’s face. “Danni, since you’re finished first, would you mind finding Darren Jacobs and asking him to return to class?”
“Um, okay.”
Danni took the hall pass and headed out the door. As soon as she got outside, she pulled her phone from he
r purse and called Darren. He answered on the first ring.
“Mrs. Greenleaf wants me to find you and bring you back to class,” Danni said.
Darren laughed. “So, you’re my designated babysitter?”
“No, I finished the quiz first,” she replied and then wished she hadn’t. “Where are you?”
“Baseball diamond.”
Of all the places he could have gone, she didn’t understand why he would go there. Danni crossed the black top of the basketball courts where some of the P.E. classes played scrimmage games.
“What are you doing here?” she asked when she caught up to Darren.
“Thinking about when my life was normal.” He squatted in the dirt, assuming the catcher’s position she had seen him do before. “I loved playing ball almost as much as I loved to draw.”
“You just loved all the girls knowing your name.”
“Yeah, that was kind of cool too.”
“You’re supposed to lie about that.”
“Right.” Darren laughed. “I hated having girls all over me. I couldn’t stand it when they’d tell me how good I was and beg me for my phone number or ask if they could wear my letter jacket while I played.”
Danni wrinkled her nose. “Do you want me to punch you?”
Darren reached for her hand and pulled her down. “Maybe later.”
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“You’d make a terrible catcher,” Darren joked when she almost fell flat on her butt. “Come here, and I’ll show you how to do it right.”
When he squatted behind her, Danni sagged into him and knocked them off balance. “I told you I’m no good at sports.”
Darren grinned down at her. “I guess you weren’t kidding.”
“We should get back to class.”
He sighed as he stood up and looked over the field one last time.
“You know, I heard about this drummer for a rock band who lost his arm and taught himself to drum with the other arm,” Danni said.
“Playing ball with one arm is impossible,” Darren pointed out. “I wore my glove on one hand and used the other to throw.”
“What if you put the glove in your teeth? Then you could catch the balls in your mouth and still be able to throw them with your right hand.”
“You’d like the idea of me having balls in my face, wouldn’t you?”
“Or maybe you’d like the idea of your balls in my face,” Danni said, and they cracked up.
All eyes were on them as they reentered the classroom, but this time Danni didn’t care. She was just glad to see Darren smiling again.
* * *
As soon as the bell rang to end English class, Mrs. Greenleaf asked Darren to stay. While he joined the teacher at the front of the class, Danni gathered her things. Just as she started to follow everyone out, he grabbed her hand.
“Stay,” Darren pleaded, and she looked at the teacher.
“You can stay, Danni,” Mrs. Greenleaf said. She waited until the room emptied before speaking again. “I owe you an apology, Darren. I didn’t think about the difficulty a quiz like this would pose for you.”
“It’s fine,” he mumbled.
“Darren, do you know some of the answers?” Mrs. Greenleaf asked and he nodded. “Then you need to complete the quiz. I’d like it if you’d meet me here at the start of the lunch period, and I can give you the exam orally.”
“Okay,” Darren said, and Danni nudged him. Taking the hint, he added, “Thanks.”
Mrs. Greenleaf smiled. “I’ll see you at lunch.”
“That was nice,” Danni said when they left the classroom.
“Yeah,” Darren agreed. “Listen, can you do me a favor and meet J.J. out front at lunch time and tell him I’ll be a few minutes late?”
Danni frowned. “You don’t think you’ll be done before he gets here?”
“He has to go to work early for inventory or something so he’s picking me up early.”
“You know, I could always drive you home on days he can’t.”
“Does that mean you can meet J.J. out front?” Darren repeated.
“On one condition.”
“What’s that?”
“You have to kiss me like you mean it.”
“You sure you want me to do that in front of all these people?” he asked.
“Oh, well, if you don’t want to, that’s okay,” Danni answered, turning in the direction of her next class.
“Danni.” Darren grabbed her and pulled her backward into him.
“Yes, Darren?” she asked.
“I love you so much,” he said as he snaked his arm around her waist and brought his lips down on hers.
“I love you too, D.J.,” Danni answered, feeling like the luckiest girl in the world.
* * *
At lunch time, Danni was the last of her friends to arrive at the front of the school.
“Where’s Darren?” Chelsea asked.
“Do you realize that’s always the first thing you say to me?” Danni pointed out. “It would be nice if you said hello first and pretended you cared about me.”
“Hi, how are you? Having a good day?” Chelsea said, making her friends burst into laughter. “Oh, by the way, not that I care that much, but where’s Darren?”
“He’s making up a quiz in English class,” Danni explained. “I’m supposed to tell J.J. he’ll be late.”
“I don’t see him yet,” Marcy said.
“Thank God.” Chelsea dropped her backpack and began rifling through her purse. “Now I have time to comb my hair and put on some lip gloss.”
Danni smiled. “You do realize Justin is twenty-five and you’re seventeen?”
“I won’t be seventeen forever,” Chelsea said. “I’m just trying to make sure Justin Jacobs knows that.”
Danni laughed as she spotted Justin’s Camaro coming down the street. He pulled his car into the stall in front of them. As he opened the door and stepped out, Whitney Wheeler, Nicole Ingram and a few of their cheerleader friends walked by.
Whitney stopped the moment she spotted him. “Hey, Justin,” she said in a sticky sweet voice as she tossed her shiny blond hair over her shoulder.
“Hey,” he echoed.
Nicole sighed. “You know him?”
“This is Darren’s much older, much hotter brother,” Whitney said, giggling as Justin’s eyes narrowed.
“She’s so dumb,” Chelsea said.
“J.J.,” Danni called, breaking free from where she stood with her friends.
Justin turned toward her, and his frown morphed to a wide smile. “Hey, Danni, where’s D.J.?”
“You know him?” Nicole asked again, this time to Danni.
Justin smirked as he slid his eyes toward Whitney. “This is Darren’s much nicer, much cuter girlfriend.”
“You’re an asshole, Justin,” Whitney retorted. With her friends crowded around her, she moved on.
“I can’t believe you just said that to her,” Chelsea told Justin.
“I know it’s not cool to say this, but I hate that girl,” he said. “So, where’s D.J.?”
“He’s taking a make up quiz in English class,” Danni replied. “He said to tell you he’ll be a few minutes late.”
“That’s cool.” Justin shook his head as he swept his eyes around the front of the school. “I swear this place hasn’t changed since I left.”
“You went to Taft?” Marcy asked.
“Sure,” he answered. “I think I still have my letter jacket somewhere.”
“What sports did you play?” Chelsea asked.
“Just baseball.”
“Did you and D.J. get in any bench clearing brawls?” Danni asked.
“Maybe a few,” Justin said, and they both laughed.
“What’s so funny?” Darren asked as he approached the group.
“Nothing really,” Danni said. “Did you pass the quiz?”
“Yeah, I got a hundred percent,” Darren replied.
Danni resisted the urge to lay an ‘I-told-you-so’ on Darren. Instead, she hoped this would give his confidence the boost it needed, and he’d see she was right about coming back to school.
Chapter Fourteen
On Friday morning, every girl in Danni’s first period class, and probably every other one in the whole school, was listening to the morning announcements. Any minute now, the student body elite would reveal the nominees for homecoming king and queen and their court. Not that Danni cared one way or the other since she had no intention of voting for any of the candidates. Considering the most popular people won every year, Danni and her friends were convinced the whole thing was rigged.
“Now for the moment you’ve all been waiting for.”
At the words of the student body president, Amber Hicks, every girl in class leaned forward. Amber went through the nominees for the underclassman court first, but that didn’t stop them from hanging on the edge of their seats.
“The nominees for homecoming queen are Mariah Connors, Kennedy Crane, Amber Hicks…”
Danni rolled her eyes when Amber paused to let out a little squeal after reading her own name. As if she really thought she wouldn’t be there.
“…Taylor Walsh and Whitney Wheeler,” Amber finished.
Danni cringed while the rest of the room buzzed with excitement. It was a good thing it wasn’t a personality contest, or Whitney would have come in last.
“And the nominees for homecoming king are Lee Carter, Spencer Collins, Matt Sweeney, Garrett Tyson and Darren Jacobs.”
Danni’s eyes widened. Did I just hear that right?
“Congratulations to all the nominees,” Amber said. “Voting will open at lunch time today and close next Thursday with the winners to be announced at the game on Friday night. Be sure you stop by the leadership office in room B-19 to vote for your favorite candidate.”
Danni couldn’t believe it. Every guy in the accident with Darren was nominated for homecoming king. As if that wasn’t bad enough, Garrett Tyson was as well. Not only was Darren competing against the boy he had already been runner-up to once, but he’d have to stand alongside Whitney Wheeler if they both won. Either Fate hated her and Darren, or this was someone’s idea of a sick joke.
* * *
Before first period even ended, Danni had her cell phone in her hand. With as big a bombshell as this homecoming thing was, it wouldn’t have surprised her if her friends called her before Darren did. As soon as the first bell rang, she shot out the classroom door. While everyone rushed past, Danni scrolled through the contacts list on her phone and chose Darren’s number. She hit call and pressed the phone to her ear. After four rings, his voice mail picked up. Danni was just about to call him again when she spotted him walking toward her.
Like You Mean It Page 16
