08
Hypothesis; smiling is a plague
Wednesdays were officially the worst day of the week for me.
"You didn't tell me the both of you already went on a date."
I could literally kill Chanelle right now. My mind was already thinking up cool ways to do it. I could snatch her nude Louboutins and whack her in the head with them. Over and over.
"I was going to," I hissed, hands balled into fists at my sides. "But then you stood me up!"
She simply huffed and put out her nails for me to see. "You think I'd choose you over my nails?"
"No, but I expected you to choose Daniel, since you want him back so bad."
That shut her up immediately. She snapped her lips shut and put away her freshly done nails.
When Chanelle had told me meet her at the university's mall, I'd honestly considered not coming. She'd tricked me yesterday after all. Plus, I was at the car shop trying to beg the hefty dude there to give my baby one last chance. I was sure my car was more important than this.
A girl passed us, smiling and waving at Chanelle who waved back with a charming smile. I snorted at them both, causing the girl to give me a look before walking away.
Chanelle rolled her eyes and folded her arms across each other. "It's not like I didn't do it without a plan. I knew that Daniel would be in class, and since one.of.my.spurces caught you both fighting in a cafe, I thought, why not being the two of you together to solve whatever the problem is. Infact, I should be asking you why you're sitting back and letting me do all the work?"
My eyes widened and an incredulous sound formed at the back of my throat. "You're doing all the work? I'm the one constantly texting him, talking to him and having to endure his pesky attitude."
"Adam's not-wait, you two exchanged numbers?"
"How do you think we set up the coffee date?" I rolled my eyes. "Besides, it wasn't even a date. He just bought me coffee."
She narrowed her gaze at me. "What flavor?"
My brows furrowed automatically. How obsessed could this girl be? "Doesn't matter. The point is, I'm making progress and you know it so let me continue what I'm doing in peace."
Chanelle glared at me in silence some more, lips in a straight line. I glared right back. After a few moments, she caved in with a huff.
"Fine. But this time, you're reporting everything to me as they happen, nothing should be left out. If your report comes in late, I'll deduct it from your pay. Got it?"
I opened my mouth to reply, but got interrupted by the chirpy voice of Cherry.
"They didn't have the unsalted nuts you wanted, Chanelle. Sorry."
Beside her, Carol was carrying two plastic bags filled with lots of junk food... And soda. I lifted a brow at her. "What's all that for?"
"We're having a sleepover at Chanelle's place tonight so we're trying to prepare everything," she replied.
Cherry grinned. "You should come. It's going to be lit."
Before I could reply, Chanelle cut in, "She's not coming." I frowned when she faced me with a straight face. "Noah's going to spend the night thinking of ways to fix her issues with Daniel."
I glared at her. "I have to work on my art project."
"You could do that tomorrow," she replied, waving it off with a flick of her hand in the air. "This is more important."
The intensity of the glaring contest between us was off the roof. There were some pretty colorful words I had for her but I had to hold back my tongue. I needed to focus on what I'd gain from all this.
One month. Just one month and I'd never have to see Chanelle or her bitchy attitude ever again.
I leaned away first. "Fine."
She smiled, leaning away too. "Good. I'll be waiting for your positive report tomorrow," she said to me. Then to Carol and Cherry, she said, "let's go. The house isn't going to decorate itself."
As they walked away, Cherry looked over her shoulder to me, shooting an apologetic look my way. Honestly I couldn't tell what was worse, working for Chanelle like I was or working with her like they were.
The rest of the day dragged on at a painfully slow pace and it was because I couldn't concentrate for any of the classes. First off, it felt like there was someone watching me. So during literature, I kept looking back so much that the guy with square glasses and a pointed nose behind me winked. Probably thought I was into him or something.
After the class, he walked to me and gave me his number telling me to, "text him whenever I was free".
Just remembering it gave me the jibbies.
I wouldn't put it past Chanelle to actively have her hawk's eye on me. Heaven knows who her sources were but I'd prefer it if there weren't any sources to begin with.
Then there was Daniel. He said he was going to text me after practice yesterday and I'd planned to cook up some story to put the case to rest but he didn't. And as much as I hated to think about it, I was kinda worried. For all I knew he could've been hitting on another girl, deciding that I wasn't worth his time or sanity.
I wouldn't blame him for it, but I'd be damned if I let twenty five grand slop from my fingers like that.
So, the second I got to the hostel and plopped down onto the bed, I picked up my phone and dialed his number.
While it rang, my stomach was in all sorts of knots. I hadn't fully formulated the story I was going to tell him, neither did I have a plan of any sort. This action was completely out of irrationality and impulse. Something kept telling me it wouldn't end well.
Deciding I wasn't ready for this yet, I pulled the phone away from my ear and was about to hang up when the static voice of Daniel Brighton rang out of the device.
"I didn't know you'd miss me so much, Freshman. It's not even up to twenty four hours yet."
For some reason, I was smiling. And I couldn't stop. Something about his voice and stupidity made my tummy tingle.
When I realized what I was doing, I sat up and bit my cheeks to stop smiling. Daniel Brighton would not grow on me. No way.
"Not even in your dreams, asshole," I replied.
On the other end, Daniel laughed. "That's the spitfire I know."
The stupid smile crept back onto my face like a disease but I was quick to shake it off immediately. After a small pause between us, I spoke.
"I'm sorry for the other day. For the way I acted. It was inappropriate."
The other end of the line was quiet, the only thing signifying that someone was still there was his steady breathing. When he finally spoke, his voice was low at first, so he had to clear his throat.
"I don't think it was. I obviously said something that triggered the reaction and I'm sorry for that. I should have called or texted you before now and I'm making no excuses for it. That was a dick move on my part. Maybe I should stop being such an asshole."
I snorted a small laugh. "Too bad you can't help it."
Daniel hissed, like someone had stabbed him. For.one moment I was genuinely concerned. "Your words wound me, Freshman."
I laughed and he joined me. The silence that followed was oddly comfortable. Like words didn't need to be said and he understood not to press further. I was grateful that he didn't.
"There's this game on Friday," Daniel began suddenly. "You don't have to... But I'd love it if you came."
I'd never been to a basketball game before. The most sport I ever played was baseball with my dad when I was in middle school. Sports just weren't my thing.
Yet, I found myself considering the option. And not just because I wanted to satisfy Chanelle. Besides, asides art on Friday, I was pretty much free.
"I'll be there if you promise to have a cup of chocolate latte."
Daniel hummed and then pretended to hurl. I chuckled at his childishness. "Please, ask for anything else."
"Nope. I want to see the your reaction. Maybe even record it."
"You wouldn't dare."
Oh I would.
"Deal or I'll spend my Friday reading romcoms," I pressed with a determined smile.
I heard him groan. "Alright. Deal. But don't blame me if I ruin your clothes."
My brows furrowed. "What?"
"Vomit."
I frowned and made a face. "You are the most disgusting person ever. Stay the fuck away from me."
Daniel's laughter filled the space between us. I just smiled and listened this time wonder when we'd gone from 'none of your fucking business' to buddies-ish.
"I gotta go now. Coach is making us put in extra practice today but we could meet somewhere tomorrow?"
"Sure. I'll text you."
"Okay. Bye."
"Bye."
I hung up and tossed the phone aside, feeling awkward as ever but smiling nonetheless. When I realized that the corners of my lips wouldn't drop, I hurried to the mirror and slapped both hands on either sides of my face. "Traitor."
It took a moment to stop smiling. What did it for me was Chanelle's voice in my head reminding me of the report I had to give her.
Hurrying back to my bed, I picked up my phone and sent her a text stating that he'd invited me to the basketball game on Friday. And as I hit send, I wondered if smiling too much was a mental condition.