The Bucket List

e l e v e n

Daniel decided that because we had a free period after chemistry, we should leave school early before our dancing lesson. I almost had a panic attack when he suggested this.

Mackellar didn't care if you had a free period and had nothing to do. If it was within school hours, we were expected to be at school. However, Daniel said it was time for me to rebel. It wasn't like they took a roll during this period. No one would know where we went. But that didn't stop the butterflies in my stomach. When Chemistry class arrived, those butterflies turned into chainsaws.

"Is everything alright?"

I jumped in startle. I glanced to my side and found Kyle's concerned eyes looking at me. What took me more off surprise was Daniel standing behind him, looking at me with a frown. When did they get here?

I laughed uncomfortably and forced a smile. "Yeah, of course," I lied. I felt like nervous wreck. Leaving school fifty minutes before finish time was bound to get me a detention.

'If caught,' Daniel words whispered in my thoughts.

Daniel suddenly nudged Kyle on the arm. There was a strange exchange of expressions between the two, Daniel pointed to Kyle's seat with his chin and then to me before looking at Kyle with a determined look. Kyle shook his head, which caused Daniel to frown. Kyle shook his head again with a smug smile and Daniel huffed before walking back to his seat beside Dina.

"What just happened?"

Kyle chuckled. "Daniel wanted to swap seats. Said he has something to talk to you about."

"Oh," was all I said. Of course, he did. I should've known.

"But he can talk to you after class. I have something I wanted to ask you," he added.

Uh oh.

I looked back to the piece of paper Mr Hucks left on our desk and reread the questions. At that moment, Mr Hucks entered the class and Kyle turned in his seat and faced the front.

After going through the roll, we started going through the risk assessment for one of the experiments. I could feel Kyle's eyes on me while I went through mine. I glanced at him briefly, noticing he was smiling at me.

"What?" I asked. What was he finding so amusing? Did I do something wrong?

"Nothing. It's just... Daniel seems to like hanging out with you," he said.

"So, you're smiling like a proud mama hen because of that?" That wasn't meant to be said out loud.

Kyle laughed as he shook his head. "More like a proud papa bear," he pouted. I smiled apologetically before turning my attention back to the risk assessment form. "So, when did you and Daniel start spending so much time together?"

I knew this was coming. I was surprised it took this long for Kyle to ask. Daniel made it so obvious that we were friends (if that was what we were) that Kyle would have to be an idiot to not notice.

"Didn't he tell you?" I asked, feigning ignorance. "I'm Daniel's peer support buddy."

Kyle looked a little taken back. "You're joking. Does he know?" he asked. I nodded. "I'm impressed, Scotts," he said approvingly.

"How so?"

"Daniel is kind of like a brick wall, if you haven't noticed." I definitely have. "He doesn't like a lot of people, not even for a pretty face."

I pursed my lips and forced a smile. Was he really flirting with me right now? During class?

I looked over to Daniel and he was scowling at Dina, like how he used to scowl at me. Dina was talking and Daniel didn't seem to like it. Perhaps there was another reason why he wanted to sit next to me other than trying to separate Kyle and me. Dina suddenly stopped talking and looked over to Daniel, as if expecting a response. Daniel grunted, and she continued.