Chapter Twenty-three
Chelsea was the only one waiting out front when Danni got to school on Monday morning.
“Hey,” Danni greeted her. “Where’s Marcy?”
“She’s sick,” Chelsea replied. “She called me last night and said she felt like crap, but she thought it was just from eating too much junk food at the movies. Guess it wasn’t, but she looked fine on Saturday.”
“You guys went to the movies together?” Danni asked.
“Yeah, we would’ve asked you to come, but we figured you’d be busy with Darren. What’d you do this weekend anyway?”
Danni shrugged. “Nothing much. Just worked on some stuff for college.”
“You mean like filling out applications?”
“Not really.”
Chelsea nodded her head in front of her. “Darren’s here.”
Danni turned to see him emerge from his mom’s car. As usual, Darren looked good enough to eat in his dark jeans and hooded sweatshirt. He sauntered toward them with his letter jacket draped over his arm.
“Hey, baby.” Darren handed the jacket to Danni. “You left this at my house the other day.”
Chelsea narrowed her eyes. “I thought you said you spent the weekend working on stuff for college.”
“I did,” Danni said.
“What kind of stuff?” Chelsea bounced a frown between Danni and Darren. “Oh, God, you guys are going to apply to the same colleges, aren’t you?”
Danni stiffened. “What’s wrong with that?”
“Nothing,” Chelsea replied. “You know I love you like a sister, Danni, which is why I know you’ll understand when I say this, but you two make me kind of sick.”
“Sick or jealous?” Darren asked with a smile.
Chelsea shrugged. “Sick, jealous, sick with jealousy, it’s all the same thing, but seriously, you guys have been together like three months and you’re already planning on ending up like your parents?”
Darren’s smile vanished. “What’s wrong with ending up like my parents?”
Chelsea rolled her eyes. “Come on, I didn’t mean it like that. I’m just saying you two should stop making the rest of us feel bad about your perfect relationship.”
Danni snorted. The relationship wasn’t anywhere near perfect. Their fight about her money the other night was proof of that.
Chelsea raised her eyebrows. “Just so you know, not being able to decide which one of you loves the other more doesn’t mean your relationship isn’t perfect.”
“What about one of us calling the other one stupid for trying to help him?” Danni asked.
Darren’s face reddened. “I said I was sorry about that.”
“You called Danni stupid?” Chelsea asked.
“Yeah, but I said I was sorry,” Darren said again.
“That’s still messed up,” Chelsea told him. “Why’d you call her stupid?”
“I didn’t want her to give up her college fund to pay for my prosthetic arm,” Darren explained. “I just went too far, and I said I was sorry.”
“Yeah, yeah, I heard you, and I’m sorry, Danni, but I’m changing sides on this one,” Chelsea said. “Darren’s right. Giving him your college money is totally stupid.”
“Why?” Danni asked. “It’s not like I’ll need all of it since I’m going to community college for a couple of years.”
“What the hell are you going to community college for when you have the brains and money to get into any university you want?” Chelsea demanded.
Danni glanced over at Darren.
Chelsea heaved an exasperated sigh. “You’re going to community college to be with Darren? Now that’s stupid.”
“Stop calling me stupid,” Danni said.
“Then stop making stupid choices.”
“What are you, my mom?”
“No, I’m your best friend, and I’m telling you the truth, which is what friends do, even if you don’t like it,” Chelsea said.
“Fine, but you don’t have to be so bitchy when you do it,” Danni replied.
The first bell of the morning rang to warn students to get to class in sixty seconds or they’d be tardy. Danni and Chelsea stood glaring at each other for a moment before they turned and started in opposite directions without bothering to say goodbye to one another.
Darren caught up with Danni. “You okay?”
“Can you believe her?” Danni asked.
“I think she was just trying to help you.”
Danni narrowed her eyes. “Why are you taking her side? You’re my boyfriend.”
“I’m not taking her side. It’s just that I know what it’s like to lose all of your friends, and I don’t want that to happen to you.”
Danni’s anger receded. Chelsea was just trying to help in her own unique way. Even though her friend sometimes took her tell it like it is act a bit too far, Danni would have been lost without it.
* * *
“Danni, wait up a second!”
She paused, but the familiar grin of Spencer Collins made her frown. Other than passing glimpses, she hadn’t seen him since the day he’d eaten lunch with them.
“You okay?” he asked, and Danni’s frown deepened. “I called you like three times before you turned around.”
“Sorry, guess I was lost in thought,” she replied.
“So, what’s up?” Spencer asked.
Danni raised her eyebrows. “Not much, I guess. Um, what about you?”
“Just thought I’d see if you and Darren wanted to go to lunch with us.”
“Go? You mean like leave?”
“Well, yeah, we’re seniors. It’s not like we have to hang out here for lunch.”
Danni pressed her lips together. Of course she knew that being seniors meant they could leave campus for lunch. Even though she wouldn’t have minded leaving every day, Chelsea couldn’t afford to eat fast food every day, nor was she going to accept having someone else pay her way. Once in a while she let Danni or Marcy treat her, but the rest of the time she clung to her pride.
“So, you want to go?” Spencer asked.
Danni hesitated. It wasn’t that long ago she would have died for the chance to be invited anywhere by one of the most popular guys in school. Now she wasn’t so sure it was a good idea. Besides the fact that Chelsea probably didn’t have the money to go out, which Danni could have taken care of, there was Darren’s fear of being in cars to consider. If he had a panic attack in front of everyone, it’d probably be all over the school before they even made it back.
“What about Chelsea?” Danni asked.
Spencer furrowed his brow. “Who?”
“My friend, Chelsea. You met her the other day.”
“The one with the glasses?”
“No, the other one.”
“What about her?”
“I usually have lunch with her and Marcy, but Marcy’s sick today so I can’t just ditch Chelsea.”
“Okay, maybe some other time then.”
“Why some other time?” Danni asked.
“Look, I know what I said about you, but I was just being a dick. You’re not an ugly ass bitch. You’re actually pretty cute in that hot Wendy’s girl kind of way,” Spencer said, and Danni’s cheeks reddened against her will. “The thing is Chelsea’s not really someone I want to hang out with. People might think I’m into her or something.”
Danni narrowed her eyes when he made a shivering action. “That’s the meanest thing I’ve ever heard.”
“Come on, this isn’t some Disney show where the freaks and geeks are allowed to be part of the in crowd,” Spencer said. “That shit doesn’t happen in real life, and you know it, just like you know the only reason Darren even looked your way is because he crossed sides when he lost his arm.”
Danni sucked in her breath.
“Okay, that came out worse than I meant,” Spencer said.
“I think it came out exactly like you meant it,” she retorted and spun away from him.
Danni was s
omewhat surprised when Spencer didn’t follow her and try to offer another apology, but she should have known better. All that stuff he said about missing Darren and wanting to be his friend had been nothing but lies. Guys like Spencer didn’t change.
When her cell phone rang, Danni fished it from her purse. It was Darren calling, no doubt wanting to know where she was, and she wondered what to say. She didn’t want to lie, but she also didn’t want to hurt his feelings by telling him what an asshole Spencer really was. Then there was Chelsea; her best friend had enough insecurities without having them confirmed.
Danni put off facing the issue by sliding her phone back inside her purse and continuing toward the front of the school. By the time she made it there, Chelsea and Darren were gathered in their usual spot. Chelsea’s head was bent over one of her notebooks, which was spread across her folded legs.
“Hey!” Danni hunkered down beside Darren.
Darren planted a kiss on her cool cheek. “There you are. I called, but you didn’t answer.”
“Yeah, sorry about that,” she replied. As Darren furrowed his brow, Danni shifted her attention to Chelsea. “Did you forget to do some of your homework?”
Her friend raised her head. “I’m sure you know the answer to that.”
“Then what are you working on?” Danni asked.
“I was just writing down some fundraising ideas,” Chelsea said.
“Fundraising ideas?” Danni repeated.
Darren grinned and shook his head. “Chelsea thinks having a bake sale and a car wash will raise enough money for my prosthetic arm.”
“You do know the arm he wants costs eighty-thousand dollars, don’t you?” Danni said.
“I know,” Chelsea answered. “And, just so you both know, I don’t think car washes and bake sales will raise all the money. I just don’t think we should count anything out.”
Danni’s heart swelled with affection. This caring side of her best friend’s personality was another of the things Danni loved about her. While people like Spencer were obsessed over their appearance and avoiding people who didn’t fit their image of perfection, people like Chelsea were trying to help others. Danni wouldn’t trade her for all the popularity in the world.
* * *
As soon as she got home from school, Danni tossed her backpack and purse on the couch and headed into the kitchen. After retrieving a handful of cookies and a bottle of brewed tea, she returned to the living room, knowing her mom would kill her if she caught her eating there. What she didn’t know couldn’t hurt her. Danni rummaged in her purse for her cell phone. When she found it, she opened her list of favorite people and tapped Marcy’s name.
“Hello?” her friend croaked.
“I hope you feel better than you sound,” Danni said.
“Not much.”
“You want me to let you go so you can get some rest or something?”
“No, please,” Marcy said with a groan. “I’ve been resting all day and I’m going out of my mind, especially since there’s nothing good on TV.”
“Does that mean you’re coming back to school tomorrow?”
“I don’t know yet. It depends on whether I can get through the rest of the day without barfing.”
Danni grimaced. “That’s too much information, Marce.”
“Sorry, so what’d I miss today?”
“Not much really.”
“That’s funny,” Marcy replied, and the giggle that followed sounded more like a cackle.
“Why is that funny?”
“It isn’t. It’s funny that Chelsea’s calling on my other line. You two should’ve just called me on the three-way since you’re probably gonna tell me the same things anyway.”
“You want me to dial her in?” Danni asked.
“Yeah, give me a minute to let her know.”
Danni waited while Marcy clicked over. When she clicked back and gave the go-ahead, Danni called Chelsea.
“Hey,” Chelsea said.
“Hey,” Danni echoed.
“You still there, Marcy?” Chelsea asked.
“Yeah,” Marcy replied.
“Are you feeling any better?”
“A little bit.”
“Good, then you can help me and Danni with fundraising ideas.”
“Why do you need those?” Marcy asked.
“Danni didn’t tell you?” Chelsea said.
“I was about to when you called,” Danni interjected.
“Someone can tell me now,” Marcy suggested.
“Darren needs eighty-thousand dollars for a prosthetic arm,” Chelsea said.
Marcy drew in a sharp breath. “That’s a lot of money for a fake arm.”
“That’s because it’s robotic or something,” Chelsea explained.
“Pretty much,” Danni agreed. “And the medical insurance Darren’s parents have won’t cover it because the company said it’s not medically necessary.”
“How do they figure that?” Marcy asked.
“I don’t really know, but it has something to do with the fact that he could function with a less expensive model,” Danni answered.
“Then why not go with that one?” Marcy asked.
“You know, I was wondering the same thing,” Chelsea admitted.
“I guess because the expensive one is his best shot at being able to play baseball again, and he really wants to play college ball,” Danni said.
“Tell me what you have so far,” Marcy said. “Maybe I can come up with some more ideas. Between the three of us, I’ll bet we can do it.”
“Hell, yeah, we can,” Chelsea said. “We kept that bitch Whitney from winning homecoming queen, didn’t we?”
Danni giggled. “Yeah, we did.”
“Then we can do this for sure,” Marcy said, sounding optimistic despite the rough quality of her voice.
Danni smiled at her best friends’ enthusiasm. With the three of them working together, the task of raising eighty-thousand dollars didn’t seem so daunting.
* * *
At lunchtime the next day, Darren listened with wide eyes as Chelsea went over all of the fundraising ideas the girls thought up the night before. Only Marcy was missing from their customary circle. Danni couldn’t help feeling a little bad since they probably made her feel worse with all the talking she did yesterday afternoon, but the truth was that Marcy was the best of them at coming up with ideas. Not only that, but she was the most practical, reminding them that fundraising costs money so they needed to make sure they didn’t spend more than they got.
“You guys thought of all this yesterday?” Darren asked.
Chelsea smiled. “Yeah, and to be fair, Marcy came up with most of the really good ideas, like asking local businesses to make donations.”
“How would that work?” he asked.
“Marcy said a lot companies donate to charities and get some kind of tax break for doing it,” Danni explained. “All we have to do is set up a bank account in your name. Then we give them the bank name and account number, and they can call and make the tax-free donation.”
Darren shook his head. “I don’t know. Who’s going to donate eighty-thousand dollars to some high-school kid just so he can have a fake arm?”
Danni furrowed her brow. It wasn’t just Darren’s choice of words that had her frowning, but the way he spoke them. There was more than doubt on his face, but she couldn’t put her finger on what it was.
“You’re thinking too big,” Chelsea said. “It’s not one business that’s going to donate the whole amount. It will be a bunch of them. If eighty of them gave just a thousand dollars, you’d be set.”
“Plus we can target more than just businesses,” Danni added. “We could contact all the TV stations and the newspaper and see if any of them wants to do a story about how you’re trying to get your arm but can’t because of how much it costs. Then we could ask people to donate.”
“It doesn’t seem right to ask people for money,” Darren said.
Danni
shrugged. “It was just an idea.”
“I wouldn’t even know how to do all of this,” he admitted.
“My mom might be able to help us since she’s a lawyer,” Danni said.
“That’s cool, but it seems like a lot of work for everyone.”
“It probably will be, but I’ll bet we can do it with our parents’ help.”
“I know you guys worked hard on this, but I just don’t think it’s a good idea,” Darren said.
“Why not?” Danni asked.
Darren’s jaw line hardened. “I just don’t, all right.”
“Well, I do, and I don’t care what you think.”
“This is my arm and my life. And I’m saying no.”
Danni heaved an exasperated sigh. Refusing to take her college money was one thing, but this was different. This was money Darren wouldn’t have to worry about paying back; money that could help him realize his dreams and regain his confidence. His sudden stubbornness didn’t make sense.
“What are you saying no to?”
The voice of Justin made Danni and Chelsea jump, but Darren didn’t register any reaction other than to get to his feet. He turned his back on the girls and stalked toward his brother’s car. For a moment, Danni just stared after him with her mouth agape before something snapped inside of her.
“Who do you think you are, Darren Jacobs?” Danni demanded as she shot to her feet and stomped after him. “How dare you talk to my best friend like that after she spent so much time trying to help you?”
Darren stopped and turned to face her. “I thought I was your best friend.”
“If you were really my best friend, you’d tell me the truth.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You’d tell me why you don’t want the prosthetic arm.”
“Of course I want it, but the insurance company said no.”
“That doesn’t mean you can’t have an arm,” Danni insisted. “You could get one that’s not as fancy that still works, but you don’t want to do that. You want this space age thing that nobody can afford, and you think I don’t know why, but I do.”
“I told you why. It’s so I can play ball again,” he reminded her.
“Maybe you do want to play, maybe you don’t.” Danni shrugged her shoulders. “If you really wanted to, you’d be jumping at the chances being thrown your way, but you’re running away from every single one of them just so you’ll have an excuse for not getting it.”
Like You Mean It Page 28
