That Boy Next Door

Chapter 15

"I'll take that as a yes then," he said.

"But it's not true!" Dannie said wringing her hands together until they hurt.

"Yes it is.  You play with your fingers when you lie and you've always been a terrible liar.  You definitely like him," Lucas stated matter-of-factly.

"Okay, so I like him," Dannie threw her hands up in a surrendering gesture, "Big deal."

Lucas smiled in victory and moved onto the next question on his list.  "Are you going to do anything about it?"

Dannie glanced around uneasily and sagged her shoulders.  "No, if he doesn't return my feelings, then I'm just going to leave it at that.  It's whatever."  'And he has a girlfriend' she added in her head.

Lucas gave his best friend a hard look before answering.  "Alright then," he said, "that leaves us with no other option other than to..."

Only the coiling of his muscles warned Dannie before he tackled her to the ground, tickling her and messing up her hair.

"Stop Lucas!" she squealed.  "I didn't do anything, get off!"

Lucas continued weaving his fingers over her body until Dannie was red in the face and breathing in ragged breaths.  

"What was that for?" she asked holding her stomach to prevent his fingers from attacking again.

"Nothing," he said smiling slyly and getting up.  He offered a hand which she took, allowing him to hoist her up.

"Let's jam out to some good 'ole Taylor Swift music shall we?" he asked referring to the artist that was well known for her spiteful songs about all her exes.  Dannie laughed, her eyes alight at her best friend's preference for the country pop singer.

"We shall," she said plugging her iPod speakers in and turning the sound up to the max.  If it disturbed the rest of the family, they didn't say anything.

While her back was turned, Lucas smiled in victory.  He had successfully gotten her mind off of that good for nothing neighbor named Seth.  Tomorrow he would be sure to teach him a lesson he'd never forget.

"I knew you were trouble when you walked innn," Dannie sang dragging out the last word in an off tone pitch.  

Lucas laughed as she twirled and mimicked the dance moves she had saw on YouTube.  Together, they spun, twirled, and danced the night away.  Lucas gave Dannie a crinkly eyed smile and she mouthed a "thank you" at him.  A thank you for helping her get her mind off of a certain brown haired boy.

What the two didn't notice however, was the discreet movement of the curtains of a window from the room parallel to Dannie's.  As Seth looked a the pair pumping their fists in the air, the only emotion  on his face was anguish.

His eyes were downcast and his lips, instead of their usual triumphant smirk, were in a trembling frown.  He turned away from the window when he heard Kate enter his room.

***

Dannie crossed her arms and looked out the window of the car her parents drove.  It was too early in the morning and she wasn't able to fall asleep in a damn moving vehicle.  Katy, however, was a different matter.

"We're going on a cruise!  It'll wipe away the blues!  And I'm going to give Dexter a bruise!" she sang happily, bobbing her head from side to side.   It seemed that the two youngster's relationship hadn't gotten any better, if not worse.  

Surrounding Katy were books on marine life and the oceans of the world.  She was studying to surpass Dexter's unusually high knowledge of the world.