MY BREATH CAUGHT in my throat the second he stepped into the room. This couldn't be happening. I knew my luck was questionable but was it seriously that shitty?
"I think I've found my husband," Amber whispered to me as she ogled him. She wasn't alone. The rest of the girls and some of the guys were fawning over him too.
Despite the newfound attention, he looked like he wanted to be anywhere but here. He was wearing a denim jacket over a white shirt and a pair of black jeans. His blonde hair was tousled, and he had steely grey eyes that burned holes into anything in their view. His large figure towered over the desks and I suddenly felt very small.
I was hoping I was small enough for him to overlook me and not recall yesterday's occurrences. I ducked my head down before he could look in my direction. There were only a few minutes left of this period and then I was off to my next class, far away from him.
"Take a seat wherever you'd like," Mrs. Frazer said to him.
He sat at a desk near the windows and away from the rest of the class. I couldn't help but roll my eyes at the typical teenage angst radiating off of him. His antisocial demeanour wasn't going to get him far, especially not in a town this small. Luckily the bell rang, signalling the end of this class. I packed up my backpack and bolted out of the classroom. I didn't even wait to say bye to Amber. I just had to get out.
~*~
I was at my locker swapping my morning textbooks for my afternoon ones when my door was slammed shut.
"Thanks for waiting for me," Amber spat.
"Right. Sorry about that."
"Why were you in such a hurry anyway? You hate psychology."
"I was cramming for a quiz," I lied. I looked around the hallway as students passed by to see if I could spot him. It was the lunch period so there was a likely chance he'd be somewhere here.
"How'd it go?"
"What?"
"Your quiz."
I continued searching for him through the multitude of students. "What quiz?"
"Your psychology quiz!" Amber said.
"Oh. I think it went well."
"What are you looking for anyway?"
"I'm not looking for anything."
"Yes, you are."
"Want to get some lunch? I'm starving."
She eyed me strangely. "Dani, are you okay?"
I smiled back. "Just hungry."
We went to the cafeteria and waited in line to buy our food. I grabbed a tray and put two cartons of chocolate milk and a slice of pizza on it. "Oh, I don't want any chocolate milk," Amber said.
I raised my eyebrows. "They're for me."
"Why do you need two?"
"Uh, because it's delicious?"
"I read online that chocolate milk contains cow blood," she said, wrinkling her nose.
"Keep your preposterous fake facts to yourself." Just for that remark, I placed another carton on my tray. I paid the worker behind the counter and I carried my tray to an empty table, Amber following in suit.
"Can we fawn over how hot that new guy is?" Amber gushed as we sat down.
"Can we not? I don't want to lose my appetite."
She pointed her fork at me accusingly. "How do you not think he's hot, Dani? He is gorgeous."
"Talking about me, ladies?" Brenton asked, sitting down beside Amber, much to her joy and my dismay.
I pushed my tray away from me. "I've officially lost my appetite."
"Don't mind if I do." Brenton reached over to take my slice of pizza, but I smacked his hand before he could get near. He glumly retreated and took a bite of his pasta salad. "Have you heard of the new guy?"
"We not only heard of him, but we saw him," Amber said enthusiastically. "He's beautiful!"
"Didn't you meet him yesterday?" Brenton asked with his face full of pasta.
Amber's jaw dropped. "You met him and you didn't tell me? What other secrets are you keeping from me?"
"Our mom made Dan give the new neighbours brownies," Brenton said.
Amber gasped. "I'm sorry, your neighbour? Why didn't you tell me?"
I bit into my pizza as an excuse to not talk. Brenton shot me a wary look and slowly rose to his feet. "Seeing the tense atmosphere I have created, I think it's time for me to leave. I'll see you ladies tonight."
For once, Amber wasn't fawning over Brenton after he left. Instead she was too busy staring daggers at me. "Why didn't you tell me? I thought we were best friends."
I shrugged, not really seeing why this was so important. "Amber, we are best friends. I'm sorry, I just didn't think it was a big deal."
"Promise to keep no more secrets?"
I nodded my head in agreement. "No more secrets."
"Good." She paused. "So how hot was he up close?"
I opened my mouth to speak, but stopped when I felt a presence behind me. Judging by the look on Amber's face, I figured it was Holden. "How can I be of assistance at this fine hour?"
"Giving me one of your many chocolate milks would be a lovely start."
I froze.
That voice did not belong to Holden. Slowly, I turned around to see the figure looming over me, my breath catching in my throat. "What are you doing here?" I managed to wheeze out.
"This is a school. I came here to learn."
"Cut the crap. What do you want from me?"
"I saw a familiar face, so I thought I'd say hi." He paused, his lips curving upwards. "Hi, neighbour."
"Bye, neighbour."
"Not very neighbourly, now is it?"
"What do you know about being neighbourly?" I sneered.
"Speaking of which," he leaned in a bit too close for comfort, "those brownies were delicious." He stepped back, flashed me a devilish smile and walked away.
"Oh my God," Amber said.
I groaned. "Don't start."
"Dani! He came up and talked to you! What happened yesterday?"
"Nothing happened."
"What happened to not keeping secrets?"
I exhaled through my nose. "Fine." I recounted the entire story to her. Amber was grinning ecstatically the entire time. When I was done she let out a squeal that nearly burst my eardrums.
"Oh my God, Dani! That's so exciting! What if you two fall in love andâ"
"Amber."
She gazed lovingly into the distance. "Yeah?"
"Shut up."
"You know, he'd be the perfect rebound fromâ"
"Don't say its name."
"Harsh."
"He deserves it."
She frowned. "You never told me why you two broke up."
"Can we just drop it?" Silence fell upon us as we finished up our lunches. I emptied out my first and second cartons of chocolate milk, but my third carton was nowhere to be found. "Have you seen my milk?"
Amber shook her head. "Did you leave it at the cash register?"
"No, I had them all with me. Did Brenton take it?"
"He left with his own tray."
My eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Then who..." My eyes locked in on James, sitting on the other side of the cafeteria. He caught my eye and held up the chocolate milk carton. "That jackass!"
~*~
I was in my last class of the day, English. As soon as this class was over I was free to go home. My plan was to buy as many cartons of chocolate milk as I could to drink my anger away.
"As you can see, I am handing you all a copy of Shakespeare's Macbeth," my English teacher, Mr. Ridgeway said as he passed around old, dusty books that looked like they hadn't seen sunlight since Shakespeare, himself, was alive. "This is personally one of my favourite plays, and I am excited to share it with you all. For tonight I want everyone to read the first scene..." My phone vibrated in my pocket and I carefully took it out to ensure Mr. Ridgeway wouldn't see.
You look bored
I glanced at the other side of the room where Holden was seated. He looked up and smiled at me. I typed a reply back to him as sneakily as I could without getting caught.
Trust me, I am
Excited for tonight?
I peered at him to see a look of anticipation on his face.
Maybe a little
I promise I'll make it worth your while
Congrats on your lacrosse win by the way
It was all Brent, not me
You sell yourself too short
Dani Parker being positive for once? Never thought I'd live to see the day
Hilarious.
I thought so :)
I looked up and smiled at Holden. When the bell rang, he walked over to join me. "So what are your plans for this afternoon?"
I searched for my car keys in my bag. "I have to go pick up Alex from school."
"Want some company?"
"You don't have to."
"What if I throw in a milkshake on the house?"
"Ugh, fine."
He chuckled. "I see the milkshake addiction is still there."
"Anything sweet and I'm sold." We walked to the parking lot and reached my jeep. I sat in the driver's seat and Holden sat beside me. "Don't you have a car?" I asked.
"I'll just get one of the guys to drop it off at my place," he said with a wave of his hand.
I pulled out of the parking lot and took the path to Alex's school. "Must be nice having an army of mindless minions."
Holden placed a hand over his heart. "How dare you insult my bitches?"
I rolled my eyes at him. "So where are the parents off to this weekend?"
"Some conference in Baltimore."
"What about the café?"
"My dad put the assistant manager in charge."
Holden's parents were always on the go. His dad ran the local café and his mom was a renowned nutritionist. They made an ironic duo to say the least. Due to his mom's success, she was always attending various events to speak about her work, and his dad usually tagged along. As a result Holden was alone quite often. With him being an only child things got lonely, so he frequently threw parties. His parents had to be just about the coolest and chillest parents ever. They were well aware of his parties, but instead of yelling at him or grounding him, they just pretended like nothing happened.
"Have you decided which career path you want to take?" I asked. We started having college application seminars at school because in a few months we'd have to start applying.
"You know, the dessert path really spoke to me, but I think I want to go into law."
"I'd go down the dessert path."
"With all that chocolate you consume, I'm not surprised."
"My mom could help you out with deciding where to apply," I offered.
"Really? Thanks!"
"Only after all this election stuff is over," I added.
"How's that going?" he asked.
Refraining from using the many choice words I had to describe it, I opted for a more positive response. "Let's just say I can't wait until it's over."
Holden laughed. "So what does the great Dani Parker wish to do with her life?" he asked.
"I've been thinking of veterinary school."
"Never knew you were an animal person."
I snorted. "I'm not."
He rolled his eyes. "I'm serious. What do you want to do?"
"I'm still thinking." I made a left turn. "Maybe social work."
"That's an interesting pathway," he said.
I shrugged. "I want to do something where I can give back, you know. I've been fortunate to have so many opportunities, and I'd like to help those who don't have the same."
"You're a unique character, Parker."
"You're not too shabby yourself, Rollins."
When we arrived at Stone Creek Elementary, Alex ran over to my car. He was about to sit in the front, but made his way to the back when he saw Holden.
"Hey, bud," Holden greeted.
"Where's Brent?" Alex asked, clearly not pleased Holden took his seat.
"He's not here. Holden's been keeping me company." Alex was eyeing me strangely, so I continued talking. "Want to go to the café?"
"Two days in a row?" He was already bouncing in his seat.
I looked at him through the rearview mirror. "You have Holden to thank for that."
"Thanks, Holden!"
Holden chuckled. "Now he loves me."
"I guess all Parkers can be won over by food," I joked.
I parked my jeep in an empty spot and we all got out. Alex ran past us to go wait in line. Holden and I joined him as we talked more about careers. "You know, there are rumours going around that college scouts are coming to our semi-finals," he said.
"That's awesome! Think you'll get a scholarship?"
He stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Eh, I don't know about me. But Brent is getting one for sure. You should see that guy on the field!"
"Now he just needs to keep his grades up," I murmured. I loved Brenton - somewhat - but my twin had shit for brains.
Alex snickered. "Fat chance!"
"I'm sure he'll get there." Holden smirked. "Especially with Rebecca's help."
"Who's Rebecca?" Alex pondered.
"His girlfriend of the week," Holden answered with an eye roll.
I shook my head. "Girlfriend is too exclusive of a term for Brent. If anything she's his 'study buddy' until his next test," I said with air quotations.
Holden laughed. "Brenton's awful."
I ruffled Alex's hair. "You won't be anything like Brent, right?"
"I promise!"
"That's why you're my favourite brother."
~*~
After dropping Holden home, I drove us back to the house. Alex chatted animatedly about his day, and I nodded and commented whenever appropriate though I wasn't listening to a word.
"Is Holden your boyfriend?" he said out of nowhere which was enough to have me pay attention to him.
"What?" I screeched, swerving the car in response. Alex let out a yelp, his face planting into the window, while my forehead smacked against the steering wheel. We were lucky no one was on the road so after making sure he was alright, I took a shaky breath, adjusted our position and continued driving.
"Are you and Holden together?" he repeated, completely unfazed by what just happened.
"No! Why would you say that?"
He shrugged his shoulders. "I thought you were."
"Well we aren't, so don't go around saying that." The last thing I needed was for Brenton to go beat up his best friend for supposedly hooking up with his sister.
"I like him," Alex said.
"I do too, but just as a friend."
"Are you ever going to have a new boyfriend?"
"Okay, kid, end of discussion." I parked my car on the driveway and we got out.
"What's that smell?" Alex said as we walked to the porch, scrunching his nose.
I looked around until I found the source of the smell. "Go inside, Alex. I'll be there in a second." Once he was inside I turned to face our annoying neighbour. "Would it kill you to not smoke out here?"
James blew out another puff of smoke. "It's a free country."
"You're poisoning not only your lungs, but ours too."
He remained seated on his porch steps, a bored look on his face. "Thanks for the free health lesson, but I don't give a shit."
"You're annoying," I yelled as I stormed inside.
"Get used to it, neighbour," he called out before I could shut the door.
"Can I have mac and cheese?" Alex asked when I came inside. He was sprawled across the couch watching a TV show.
"There's leftover pizza from yesterday."
He nodded his head in understanding. "So mac and cheese or what?"
"I hate men," I grumbled. I went to the kitchen and got the ingredients needed for my spoiled brother's snack. "Alex, do you know where the cheese is?"
"I think it's done," he called back.
"How the hell do you expect me to make mac and cheese if there's no cheese?"
"Now, now, Dani dearest, watch that potty mouth of yours."
I didn't have to turn around to know who it was. "Shut up before I smack you."
"Is that any way to talk to your favourite brother?" Brenton chided as he entered the kitchen.
"Actually, that's me," Alex shouted from the living room.
"It's Niko now," I muttered.
"Have you received any texts from him?" Brenton asked.
I shook my head. "He needs a day or two to calm down, then he'll come around." Reckless decision making was a skill we four Parker children possessed. We tended to make impulsive choices in the moment and then eventually returned back to our senses.
Brenton glanced at his phone. "You should start to get ready."
"What about my mac and cheese?" Alex whined.
"Get off your lazy ass and learn to do something on your own," Brenton shouted back. He grinned at the disapproving look I gave him. "Parenting at its finest, don't you think?"