"He said what?!" Faith screams into my ear.
"Yeah..." 3 girls, screaming into my ear.
Never again will I use headphones on a group call.
"Our little Dani Boy has a crush!" Coral shouts.
A loud shrill is echoes through the speaker.
"That was the end of lunch bell Dani, so we have got to go, but we will all talk later. And we are coming to visit you on the weekend no matter what. Okay?"
"Okay. Bye guys. Have fun."
After getting home late last night, both Connor and I crashed. Although we got home late, it was still before midnight, so a acceptable amount of sleep was had for Connor. Me of course hardly slept at all. My arm was aching, and my head was running 1000 miles a second replaying the events of the night out in my head.
Connor likes me.
"Danielle? What time was your doctor's appointment?" Melissa came into the room, followed by an energetic Lucy.
I had spent the morning playing with her, but at around 11 I retired to my room to get some of my homework done.
"It's at 2:30." I had an appointment with Dr Peterson today, as a post operation check up. The surgeon said that I didn't have to go back to him, as long as I did the required physiotherapy when my hand was healed enough, and nothing felt off. But he did say I had to go to Dr Peterson and get the stitches looked at and a proper cast put on.
"Is it alright if Connor picks you up? Lucy has a play date this afternoon which I forgot about and I need to drop her off there at 3. I should make it back to the doctor's office by 3:30 for you but I don't want to risk it."
"Of course." I smile widely at her. The Marklin's have gone above and beyond in caring for me. We definitely will need to repay them in some way.
"Okay. Well then we should probably be leaving in 15 minutes." Melissa walks out leaving a still energetic Lucy.
"I'm going to Patricia's! We play all the time at preschool. It's going to be so much fun. I'm sorry I can't play with you more this afternoon. We can play tomorrow." Lucy shuffles up and gives me a gentle hug.
"That's okay. We can play more tomorrow." Smiling, Lucy exits the room. I stand up, stretching my legs and back. Today I actually got properly dressed, and Melissa plaited my hair into a soft braid, so I felt somewhat put together.
I exit the room, grabbing once again my phone and wallet and tucking them into my sling.
"So, I haven't got to ask you, but I'm guessing last night went well?" Melissa places one hand on her hip, keys and handbag dangling from the other. My cheeks instantly redden.
"Yeah..."
"Thank goodness! I have been telling that boy for years to just get it over with and tell you! He finally had the balls!" Melissa throws her arms up into the air in delight. We both chuckle, soothing my nerves.
"I'm ready mummy!" Lucy runs down the stairs with her pink backpack jumping behind her.
"Let's go then. We can go and stay with Dani for awhile at the doctors, and then go to Patricia's."
We all walk out to the Marklin's silver ford. I hop in the backseat next to Lucy's purple booster to keep the little girl company, whilst Melissa settles into the driver's seat.
***
"Hey Lucy? Why don't you look in the box over there for what colour cast I should get? I can't decide." Dr Peterson starts to unwrap the white bandage, to reveal the bruised layer below, which was something Lucy did not need to see.
Melissa however, thought it was the most fascinating thing ever.
"So that Dani, is where the arthroscope was inserted," he points to a small hole on the back of my hand, the gently flips it over so I can see the line of stitches starting halfway along my wrist, and continuing until the bass of my thumb, "and that's where the operation was performed. It all looks like it's healing well, so I will put some simple dressings over it quickly now, and then put the cast on."
I nod, so Dr Peterson stands up, signalling he will be back in a few minutes.
"Okay Dani, I think you should do one of these three." Lucy's little hand hold up three strips of sample tape, one of which was bright pink, another which was pink cammo, and the last was purple, with little princess crowns scattered along it.
"Why not Lucy dear, we get going otherwise we won't make it to Patricia's on time. We can let Dani surprise us when she gets back with what one she gets."
"Okay! I love surprises!" Melissa stand up, saying her goodbyes, and walks out the door cradling Lucy's hand.
Just afterwards, Dr Peterson comes back in, carrying dressings, casting material, and the box of casting tape rolls.
"Okay, so this cast I will put on, you will only have for about two weeks, or whenever you next see me, and then we will change it to a less restrictive cast which will allow for more stable movement for recovery." He dumps down all the materials and sets to work, firstly stripping up the stitches so they won't split, and then putting gentle dressings over each to make sure the cast will not hurt.
"Which colour did she choose?" Dr Peterson asks when he gets the that stage of the casting process.
"I think the plain pink one." I show him the swatch of the neon pink. He grabs the tape from the basket, and begins layering it on.
Once it is complete.
"Keep on icing, even though you have a proper cast on now. And sling on all the time. You can shower with this guy, but I suggest not for a day or so. The best option is to still plastic bag it up." Dr Peterson stands, allowing me to stand also.
"I will call Joel when I get a chance. But I will see you in 2 weeks anyway."
Dr Peterson shows me to the door, opening it for me, leaving me face first with the almost empty waiting room.
"Thankyou."
"Bye Dani." At those words, one of the heads in the chairs lifts up, meeting my gaze with a dazzling smile.
I walk towards Connor, my cheeks slightly pinkening. He takes a quick glance at my now hot pink wrist, raising an eyebrow slightly.
"I see my sister made you get the pink cast?"
We both laugh slightly, walking out of the doctors office.
"I think she wanted me to get the purple princess crown one, but I need some dignity."
"Understandable." We hope into his car, but just sit there for a second silently.
"Your friends almost ran me over when I was leaving this afternoon." Although Connor's face is filled with humour, I could sense some sensitivity in the sentence.
"Sorry about that. When we talked at lunch they made me fill them in... I didn't know that was going to happen. Normally they are all pretty chill." I laugh slightly. It was a funny situation. I can imagine Coral leading the triangle of my friends up to Connor.
"It's okay. But next time give me some heads up." We both start laughing feverishly as Connor starts the engine and drives home.
Connor fills me in with all the gossip I have missed at school. Nathan, a guy in the football team, asked Rachel out. Connor didn't know what she had said in response, but that was news enough. And Kale, the school's resident bad boy got into a punch up over some girl, so the speculation is that they are dating. But no one is game enough to ask.
Kale is one scary dude.
"Okay. Question time." Connor announces once I am filled in.
"Would you rather an intimate, private moment, or a public, grand gesture?"
"Private moment for sure. All the attention would freak me out." Connor nods, turning the wheel smoothly around a bend in the road.
"Okay, would you prefer going to a large social gathering, or a small gathering of close friends?" I question.
"Well... I would have to say a small gathering, but I would normally throw a large one, just because I don't have enough close people to invite."
His answer opened my eyes. I guess Connor wasn't actually too close with most of the people in his group.
"We will have to change that. You will have to come to the annual 'get out of the house for Taylor's massive birthday bash' movie night." Our birthday was the end of next week. Birthdays were never something I necessarily looked forward to. I had nothing against them, they just weren't something I enjoyed. The attention, yet having to share it with someone.
I suddenly realise what I just said, and my face slackens.
"I mean... if you want to... you would probably want to go to... ahh..."
Connor laughs at my embarrassment.
"That sounds cool, Taylor's parties aren't actually that fun. But wouldn't I be intruding on your fun with your friends?"
"No. You wouldn't intrude. Sam normally joins in, and I'm sure that Joel and Christina are coming. And don't worry... all of us, except Coral and Christina, much prefer a good action movie to a sappy romance movie. Those two are totally overruled."
On Taylor and my birthday every year, Taylor will throw a massive party, inviting as many people as she can, and spending as much money as she can. It's thrown in the house, so I normally escape from the crowds of teenagers at Faith's. It's become a tradition for all of us girls, Sam, and normally Joel and Christina to spend the night watching movies in Faiths basement with a couple of pizzas and bags of popcorn.
"Then if I am invited I will definitely be there Dani." Connor smiles at me, pulling into the driveway behind Melissa's car.
We hop out, walking to the front door, only to have to pulled open by Lucy.
"I thought you would get the pink one. It is very pretty. I remember when Francis came to preschool with a red cast on his arm we all gotta draw on it. Can I draw on yours?" Lucy rambles before even letting us through the door.
"Of course you can put something on it. Not to big though. If you go and ask mummy for a sharpie then you can do it right now." Lucy giggles in excitement and runs off to her mother.
"Can I sign it?" Connor asks as he keeps the door held open for me.
"If you want to. I only have this cast on for two weeks though before I get a new one."
Connor nods, but I don't know if that means he is going to write on my cast or not.
Lucy comes back, followed closely by Melissa carrying a black sharpie.
"Turns out Patricia couldn't play for too long, so we came home a bit earlier." Melissa smiles at both Connor and me.
"Let's sit at the table so it's easier for me to see." Lucy runs to the large wooden table in the living room with the sharpie she stole off her mum. Me and Connor follow closely behind.
"Now, just something really small Lucy. Okay?"
"I'm just going to write my name small here." Lucy point to the part of the cast the covers my thumb.
"Perfect." Connor takes a seat next to me, helping Lucy perfect her shaky letters. After a solid 5 minutes of her writing, she is finally done.
"Well done! That looks really cool!"
Lucy's face lights up in pride.
Melissa strolls back in, announcing it was time for Lucy to have a bath. Once they both leave, Connor picks up the sharpie and looks at me expectantly.
"Can I draw something? It may take up most of the space on the cast though..." I nod. Connor sets to work, quickly drawing a large Mandela over the majority of the cast.
"That's beautiful Connor." I state, admiring his handy work.
"Thankyou. It is one of my many talents." Connor winks, a large smile playing on his lips.
"I'm just going to go upstairs and get out of my uniform, I'll be back down in a jiffy." Connor stands up, walking quickly out of the room, leaving me alone in the living room.
The doorbell chimes loudly throughout the house.
"Could someone please get that?" I hear Melissa's muffled voice say from the bathroom. I stand up, popping my arm back into my sling.
Walking to the door, the doorbell chimes again, louder than before, followed by a few knocks.
Swinging open the door, two nicely dressed figure are revealed, looking less than pleased.
"Mum? Dad?"