"Ben, you ready?"
"Yes, I'm coming"
He emerged out of his room and as usual she tied his shoe lace and grabbed his bag, handing it to him.
"Did you take your medicine?"
"Yes"
"Good boy. Uncle Josh is waiting for you downstairs"
"Okay bye" He gave her a quick hug then turned around to leave.
"Wait! Your lunch"
"Yeah"
She opened his bag, putting the sack of his lunch and he gave her another hug before leaving.
She went to the garage and sat alone. The only ones were today, were her and Noah. Josh hasn't arrived yet neither did the others. She leaned on the wall with her arms crossed, looking up and taking a deep breath.
"Want a cigarette?" asked Noah as he had one dangling from his lips.
"No, thanks. I don't smoke"
"Suit yourself" He lit the cigarette and took his place beside her. "It's quiet today, isn't it?"
"Yep"
"How are you doing?"
"As bored as you can see" She joked and he chuckled a little.
"You and me both, Danni. You sure you don't want one?"
"No, thanks"
"How about a drink?"
"I could use one but we are working"
"Working? Do you see any vehicles here?"
"No"
"Then you need the drink"
She raised an eyebrow at him and he laughed. "Don't worry, it's just root beer. I know you are committed to work"
"Fine, hand me the beer"
"You got it" He brought a bottle of beer, handing it to her and she took a long sip.
"Whoa! Easy there. You okay?"
"I'm always okay"
"That's what they always say at first. You could use a friend to talk to"
"Thanks but I'm a preserved person and I'm not in the mood to share my stories with anyone"
"But I'm Noah"
"And I'm Danni"
"Seriously, you are using this shit with me" He chuckled.
"Look, Noah... I need to clear my head, so if you please..."
"Alright, alright, I'll leave you with your wicked thoughts" He winked and she shook her head in disbelief.
She closed her eyes for a minute, taking a deep breath and she saw the sight of Avery smiling at her and showing her pearly teeth. Just imagining Avery's features and her voice that remains in her ear and makes her heart pick up a pace made her open her eyes and realize a truth about herself.
"Hey, Noah, there is somewhere I have to be so when my uncle arrives could you please tell him?"
"Sure, sure, anything"
She took off on her vespa, going to Avery's hoping she could open her mouth and say everything that was bottled inside her since the day they met.
****************************
Since her arrival the day before, she locked herself in her room and hid the truth from her mom, from her dad and from everyone. She was still shocked from what happened, she got deceived by him and it was worse than what Ryan did to her. He tried to rape her. She hid her bruises from the hard grip by wearing long sleeved shirt, her bruises hurt her physically and emotionally as they keep reminding her of the past night.
She decided to go downstairs this time for a change after her lock up and on her way down, Danni opened the door and looked up at the stairs and their eyes met. Avery immediately looked away, wanting to ignore her.
"Hey... Can I talk to you for a sec? There is something I need to tell you" She started to climb the stairs but Avery stepped back with her hand on the rail.
"Danni, not now I'm busy. Maybe some other time" She turned around to leave and Danni followed her and turned around to face her, holding her arm gently.
"It's kind of urgent"
"And I told you no!" she replied angrily, hoping she would get the message.
"What is wrong with you?" She started to get angry as well but got softer later as she spoke again. "Why are you so angry? Is everything okay?"
"... It's nothing but just leave I'm not in the mood to hear anything" she replied softly.
"Just tell me what's bothering you?"
"Danni, please! Just go away!"
She raised her voice in anger and stared daggers at her. Danni pressed her lips together and her nose flared with anger. She wanted to spill her guts and admit that she has feeling for the red head but the way she was addressing words to her resulted in the clutch of her heart that was filled with unspoken secrets. She glared at Avery one more time hurtfully then walked past her downstairs and Avery heard the door being slammed.
Avery ran a hand through her hair and blinked back her tears before going up to her room, crying silently in her bed.
Ben returned home with Danni and decided to go to their uncle for a while since he finished his work early. Josh opened the door for them, letting them enter.
"Hey, Benny. How was your day?" asked Josh, ruffling his hair.
"Good, I got a star in my book... See?"
"You're good, congrats bud" He ruffled his hair again and glanced up at Danni who was somewhere else. "Hey, Ben why don't you go and finish your homework?"
"Okay. Is Julie here?"
"Not yet but she is coming soon"
He nodded and went to sit in the living room, leaving Danni with Josh.
"Okay, what's wrong with you? You haven't said a word since you came. Is it about Avery?" She nodded. "What happened?"
"I... I-I went to her house today and..."
"And...?"
"She was angry at me and I don't know why"
"Why did you go to her house in the first place?"
"Because I wanted to tell her about my feelings but she was so pissed at me for no obvious reason and I tried to get her to tell me what was wrong but she didn't, so I took off afterwards and I think I'm mad at her a little"
"So you are mad at her because she was mad at you for no reason?"
"Yeah, it is so frustrating!" she said angrily. "One minute she is nice and gentle and the second she is hot headed for no reason and it's so hard to stay away from her!" She let out a frustrated sigh. "I don't know what to do" She sat on the chair, feeling helpless.
"I can give you a tiny advice"
"Please"
"Go to her tomorrow when she is calm and see what was the reason behind it but you have to be patient with her, okay? Maybe something happened and she was so angry that she let it out on you. Who knows?" He shrugged. "Just take my advice and talk to her tomorrow, okay?" She nodded at him and he handed her a glass of water.
Ben came out of the room and looked at Danni. "Can I go to Mark's house tonight? He invited me for a sleep over"
Danni smiled at him and took his hand. "Do you want to go?"
"Yes, please"
"Then you got it"
He grinned and hugged her. "Thank you" Her phone beeped in her pocket and it was a text message from Chloe.
~Can I see you tonight?~ texted Chloe.
~Sure. Where do you wanna meet?~
~At my house. My parents aren't here tonight and I kind of feel lonely and I'm bored~
~Okay, I'll see you then~
She turned to her uncle who was opening the door for Julie.
"Hi Julie" said Danni giving her a warm smile.
"Hey"
"Uncle Josh, I have to run some errand. Could you please take Ben to Mark's house?"
"No problem"
"Ben, I'm leaving. Uncle Josh will take you to Mark's, alright? Be good at Marks's"
He nodded and she kissed his cheek before she left.
****************************
Danni rang the bell and waited for Chloe to open the door and soon Chloe came and swung open the door, beaming at her and Danni gave her a smile.
"Hi" said Danni.
"Hey" She grabbed her hand, and dragged her in before closing the door behind her "I'm glad you came, I feel so bored here"
"Yeah"
She shifted from one foot to another and Chloe cupped her face, giving her a tender kiss that Danni shared it with her, wanting more. Chloe grabbed her hand and went to the bedroom, closed the door behind them and crashed her lips on Danni's. Danni held the small of her back while kissing her passionately and the other hand was tangled in her long hair. Chloe dragged her on top of her on the bed, not breaking their kiss and started to take off her shirt, showing Danni, her black push up bra and took off her pants as well as Danni watched her with a lustful heart.
Chloe slowly ran a hand under Danni's shirt, feeling her abs and when she tried to take Danni's shirt off, Danni broke the kiss and closed her eyes, pulling Chloe's hands away slowly.
"What? What's wrong? Am I going too fast?" asked Chloe with a frown.
"... I-I can't" she said reopening her eyes.
"You can't what?" She grabbed her face in her palms with a worried look over her face.
"I can't do it..." She looked her in the eye, holding her wrists. "I can't do this to you"
"What do you mean?" Her frown deepened.
"I mean I can't have sex with you" She swallowed hard and pulled back completely away from her, averting her eyes and Chloe sat back on the bed. "Look... I like you a lot, Chloe... but as a friend..." Chloe blinked twice as tears started brimming in her eyes. She grabbed her clothes and started wearing them.
"So all this time I was your friend! All the time?" she said angrily but added with hurt as she wore back her pants.
"No, not all the time but recently I felt so. Chloe you are really amazing but I just can't" She met her eyes that were glassy.
"Are you breaking up with me?"
"Just hear me out, Chloe..." Chloe bit her lower lip and crossed her arms defensively. "I can't have it with you. I can't use you when my feelings for you are friendly"
"Is there someone else?" she asked as she blinked back her tears. "Is that why?"
Danni looked away from her and nodded slowly.
"Please leave, Danni" She looked away from her wiping her tears with her sleeve.
"I'm sorry" she said softly and glanced at Chloe one last time before leaving.