18
Hypothesis; Shit, that was close.
Before my mom resorted to drugs, she used to be a shit baker. But she did tell me that once a cake was ready, you'd stick a knife in and it'd come out clean. So the moment I threw the oven open, I grabbed a knife from the island and stuck it in. All the while, in my head, I kept weighing the gravity of what I'd done.
Daniel had seen me now. He didn't know what my mom resorted to for comfort but he did know I was broken and not the kind of girl someone like him was supposed to be seen with. That realization had my heart sinking once again.
The knife came out of the cake clean. Tossing it unceremoniously into the sink, I reached for the pans. With my bare hands.
Next thing I knew, my hand was being ripped away from the oven and shoved under the running tap. Daniel swore under his breath as he held my hand in place, studying it like I'd been burnt. He turned off the tap and shifted his glare to me.
"Did you burn yourself?"
Despite the fact that he'd just successfully prevented my skin from being fried, my hand still burned where he touched.
"I—I didn't. I wasn't—"
He interrupted my stuttering. "Yes, you weren't thinking and you could have hurt yourself terribly."
My heart had not slowed down it's assault and my brain was going into overdrive. Suddenly, the place felt way too hot to handle. Daniel was standing too close for my head to function properly and I just couldn't think.
"I'm fine." It was like a programmed reply. A reflex. Something that felt so natural, it was almost wrong. I was not fine and by the scowl on Daniel's face he knew it. He knew too much.
When his conflicted gaze drifted down to my lips and back up, my heart skipped six beats at once. I yanked my hand out of his and stumbled back. Too fast.
I needed this fast. If the romcoms were any good, equating their theories to his actions, Daniel wanted to kiss me. And one sick twisted part of me wanted it too. But it was too soon. Too much at once.
Shaking my head at his confused expression, I took another step back, before hightailing out of that apartment like my butt was ablaze.
"You almost did what?!"
I won't lie, telling Ali about the almost kiss with Daniel was a move I knew would backfire before it did. And telling her while Manu was around was certainly a bad idea.
But they were the only sensible people in my life right then. I could have told Carol or Cherry, but they were both too scared of Chanelle to keep such huge news from her.
Now that I thought of it, Ali and Manu were the closest people I had to friends.
"Wait, wait. I need to reprocess this with a cup of black coffee," Manu squeaked. Beside her and directly opposite me, Ali rubbed her forehead like she wanted to reach her brain.
I, being the one telling the story, just sat there with my hands clasped together in my lap and hyperventilated in my mind. The small nagging voice at the back of my head prodded me to tell them about Chanelle and the contract but I grabbed mini me and shoved her into a closet before throwing her into the sea of my raging thoughts.
Manu smacked the table twice and signalled for a waiter, raising her voice. "We need our orders taken here!"
"So, Daniel Brighton tried to kiss you and you ran away?" Ali's eyebrows were almost at her hairline by now, eyes wider than saucers. Her jaw hit the table as realization dawned on her expression. "Have you lost your mind?"
I probably had, but it wasn't for the same reason she had in her head. Daniel was supposed to fall for me but not after he'd found out about my life history. With that information, he could make my college life exactly like highschool. Bad.
"I told him things," I said under my breath, releasing one hand to tug the coaster in front of me back into place.
Apparently, this college had tons of cafes. I simply didn't know them because I was too absorbed in getting Daniel to fall for me. And while something in me dreaded it, I couldn't wait to be rid of the constant weight.
A waiter dressed in a black dressing shirt and black pants materialized next to Manu with a notepad in his hands. His expression was straight as he scribbled across paper. "Welcome to Coffeecial. What can I get you?"
Manu began ratting off a long list of drinks and pastries to him. Once she saw the looks Ali and I threw her way, she shrugged. "What? I have a sweet tooth. Don't judge me."
Shaking her head at her roommate, Ali placed her order. "I'll have a frappuccino and a chocolate coconut cupcake."
The waiter turned to me. "Just a mocha please, thanks."
When the waiter was gone, Ali held her hands together on the table and gave me a stern look. "Do you know how many girls would kill to be in your shoes?"
If only she knew how much I wanted it to happen. Since I got to this school all I'd worked to achieve was chemistry between us for the greater good. And now the chemistry was happening, my stupid self was pushing it away. Chanelle would kill me if she knew.
"It's not that I didn't want it to happen, it just felt...wrong," I confessed.
Manu had to practically slap the suggestive smile off her own face replacing it with a serious one. "I guess I understand. I ran away from my ex because he kissed my cheek in public. Fast romance is always scary."
I shook my head at her. "This isn't romance." It's a mission with casualties. I wasn't supposed to like him. "I don't like Daniel."
Ali's snort had Manu and me facing her. "Then why did you run away from him instead of smack the fuck out of his head?"
I bit my lip. This was a terrible idea. But I'd avoided Daniel for two days straight now. No calls, no texts. Surely telling Ali and Manu about the contract with Chanelle wouldn't be so bad an idea.
"Noah," Manu's voice cut into my thoughts. I shut my eyes and shook my head out of its reverie, opening my eyes back up and giving her a smile.
"Yes?"
Her brows furrowed. "Please don't tell me you've daydreaming about Daniel Brighton."
My eyebrows flew up and I sputtered. "What the fuck? No. I'm in a predicament, Muna. Have some respect!"
Who was I kidding? I couldn't tell them about the contract. That would only make them see me as a gold digger. Plus, they were the only people that I related with. After Daniel was inevitably gone, without them I'd go back to my sad, lonely life.
It was bad enough that I'd lose the friendship I'd grown with Daniel, losing them would just add salt to my wounds.
Muna rolled her eyes. "It's not a predicament if you want it but you're too silly to admit it to yourself."
Admitting it to myself wasn't the issue. Admitting it to them was.
Ali's thinking face morphed into a straight one, but the corner of her lips twitched. "You know what? I think this is stupid and you should go to the game today."
I scoffed. "That's the stupid idea."
"No. It's actually a brilliant plan," Manu chirped with her eyes bright. "The both of you just need to talk things out. Maybe pick up from where you left off. Who knows, by tomorrow, you could be telling us a different story. Probably one about his expertise at certain activities."
My lips twisted downwards into a disgusted scowl. "You're disgusting. We're not doing that!"
Her bangs swished as she shrugged. "Eh. Worth a shot."
The waiter came back with our orders and after a flurry of "thank you"s, he was gone again.
I picked up my mocha and took a swig, relishing the taste of chocolate and drawing a pro/con list about going to Daniel's game today. This had a fifty fifty chance of swinging both ways. Either we talked and resorted the issue or we would talk and Daniel would deem me too crazy for him. Therefore, bye bye everything.
"Too much of a risk." I shook my head at Ali. "Thanks for the suggestion though, but I think I'll wait this one out."
Both Ali and Manu shrugged simultaneously and proceeded to devour their food like hungry chinchillas from the jungle. I wasn't really hungry. The dread churning in my gut was enough lunch for me.
After finishing up at the cafe and paying for our food, the three of us headed out. Manu took in a deep breath the moment we stepped outside the bustle of the cafe. Her face twisted into a look of disgust.
"The air smells terrible," she declared. Her crocheted pink and grey tote bag complimented her pink and grey outfit nicely. The pink crop top she had on going well with her grey loose pants. Her lips spread into a grin when we reached her car. "I'll meet you at the game," she told Ali and to me, "I'd drop you off at the library but class starts in like two minutes. I'll fan girl over Daniel on your behalf at the game though. What are friends for?"
Going in for a hug, because I could use one right then, I replied, "Don't make a sketch of Daniel in architecture by accident."
"I won't count on it if I were you," she said, pulling away with a wink.
Manu got into her car, started the engine and brought the window of her door down so she could stick a hand out as she drove away. "Smell ya later, Bitches!" she threw over her shoulder, zooming off like the crazy woman she was.
Ali and I shared a small chuckle before beginning the long walk to the library. All the way, I struggled to push Daniel out of my head.