Little Dove | Daniel Hayward

22.

"What am I gonna tell Brooke when she wakes up?" Daniel asks, looking through the pages.

"You can tell her that she's not really your girlfriend," I reply sarcastically. "I'm sure she'll be really disappointed."

Daniel narrows his eyes. "Ha," he says flatly. He glances away from the pages, a look of concern crossing over his features.

I place my hand on his and give it a reassuring squeeze. "You're doing the right thing."

He looks up at me and smiles, turning his hand so that our fingers interlock. My eyes widen and I can feel my face burn.

"Let's- let's just write down the instructions," I grumble, reluctantly pulling my hand from his grip. It suddenly feels cold.

I search my pockets for the marker but can't find it. "I can't find your marker," I curse, looking around the room. "I must have dropped it."

Realization hits me. I look at Daniel, "what if I dropped it in Marcus' room?"

Daniel stands beside me, grabbing my hand. His fingers interlock with mine as he gives it a comforting squeeze. "Hey. It's okay. Marcus wouldn't notice an alien sitting on his table."

I chuckle, "you're right. I'm sorry, it's just that everything is making me paranoid."

He smiles, "that makes two of us."

We stand in a comfortable silence before I pull my hand from his, once again, and take a seat at the table.

Daniel sits across from me as I take a page and read from it, "the subject has to be calm and needs familiar objects around them."

"Okay," Daniel nods, processing the information.

"What calms Brooke down?" I ask. "You must know."

He ponders for a moment before speaking, "Oreo. Her favourite teddy bear."

I smile, "awh, she has a teddy bear?"

"It's a panda, to be specific," Daniel corrects, matching my smile. I nod as he continues, "I can stop by Louis' house to go get it."

"Great. Anything else?" I ask.

"She likes massages," he replies blankly.

I cringe, "thanks for that piece of information, Danny."

He looks away awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck. "Not like that, dumbass."

We continue discussing how to dehypnotize someone, putting a stable plan together. Daniel's job is to find Louis and get Brooke's teddy bear. My job is to find Max and Jackie and get a hypnotic spiral.

"Good luck," Daniel says.

"Good luck," I say.

As we leave the room Daniel turns to me. "Do you think I should give her a massage? She likes neck massages."

He stands behind me and puts his hands on my neck to give me an idea. He massages my neck and shoulders gently and I can't help but blush. My eyes close as I let out a satisfied hum, feeling his hot breath on the back of my neck.

I frown when he removes his hands, finding myself wanting more. We part ways and I head for the Raven's dorms.

I knock on the door. Hayley opens it.

"Hey Lex," Hayley smiles brightly. "What are you doing here?"

I bite back the urge to tell her what's going on. "I need to talk to Max and Jackie," I say. "It's important."

She gives me a questioning look but says nothing and leads me over to a table where Max and Jackie are sitting at.

"Hi," I try to sound as friendly as possible, taking a seat beside them once Hayley leaves.

They give each other questioning looks before glancing at me. "Hi?"

"So this is gonna sound really weird," I begin, trying to look at them with as much seriousness as possible. "But we've got a hypnotization problem."

Their expresses change multiple times as I explain the story- from confusion, to disbelief, then they finally look like they understand.

"Just follow these instructions," I say quietly, handing them a sheet of paper.

"Are you sure this is gonna work?" Max asks.

"No," I ignore the looks of suspicion that Leo throws in my way. "But you guys can make it work. And remember, no one can know about this."

Jackie looks unsure at first, then she nods. "Got it. We'll head down to the computer lab to get started. You leave first so we don't look suspicious."

I nod and thank them multiple times as I leave the clubhouse.

...

"Ta-da!" I say proudly as I enter the old biology lab, holding up the hypnotic spiral.

"How did they make that in less than thirty minutes?" Daniel asks in disbelief.

"They're Ravens," I reply smugly. "What can't they make in thirty minutes?"

"Brooke should be here any minute," he says, his lips pulling into a thin line. "So, do you think this place is relaxing enough?"

I glance around the biology lab. Nope.

"Yeah," I tell him, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Just turn that awful song off."

He pouts, "I thought girls liked this song." He reaches across the table to turn it off.

I shake my head, "maybe I should go. It would look weird to her if she saw the two of us alone in a room together."

He grins, "is that your way of saying that we have chemistry?"

I shove his shoulder playfully, "you know what I mean."

We stare each other in silence for a moment. I take the time to admire his features.

The chime of our Louies snap me out of my daze. I've got a message from Aspen.

It's a picture of Daniel and I together. My back is pressed against Daniel's chest and his hands are on my shoulders, clearly massaging them.

"What was that you said about us having chemistry?" Daniel asks playfully, but I can hear the worry in his tone.

"How did she get this?" I ask. "Do you think she knows?"

"We should get Brooke before she sees this," Daniel suggests and it's the smartest thing I've ever heard him say.

I nod in agreement, then stand up to leave. Brooke walks in.

"What's the deal?" She asks angrily, glaring at Daniel and I.

———————————————–