DISCLAIMER: I don't own Hawksong or the Kiesha'ra series. Amelia Atwater-Rhodes does.
Mischief in the Making
1/2
Danica stood in the cafeteria, waiting in line for her turn.
Just as usual, a large scoop of goop, supposedly labelled as mashed potato, landed in her tray as she made it to the counter.
She groaned at the revolting sight of her 'food', worried that she might obtain food poisoning just from the consumption of it. Judging from its sludgy state, food poisoning was listed as the highest of possibilities.
She tried not to remind herself of what it closely resembled, as she moved on to the next section only to find out that the last plate for the dessert special had been taken. What's more was that the dessert special for the day was custard pudding, especially delivered from the one and only Kiesha's.
'Perfect.' she muttered to herself sarcastically, carrying her tray over to her regular table where Eleanor and Irene were already seated.
Before she could make it over to them, however, someone blocked her path and that 'someone' was now grinning up at her as though it were just a casual encounter.
Inside, Danica was thinking, 'What now?'.
"Good afternoon, Danica." he greeted.
Danica, on the other hand, was not in the mood for light conversation. "What do you want, Zane?" she asked, scathingly.
Zane pretended to shiver at her response. "Ooh, touchy touchy. Did someone steal a cookie from your cookie jar or something?"
Danica rolled her eyes, saying, "Something like that...", before walking past him to get to her table.
Eleanor was quick to pounce on her best friend as soon as Danica sat down.
"What's this I see? Zane Cobriana the Great making another pass at you?? You've just been touched by an angel, girl..." she said dramatically while inspecting Danica's palm.
Danica pulled her palm away, and said, "Cute, Eleanor, but no. Zane was probably just being his usual obnoxious and annoying self just to get on my nerves."
Irene laughed. "Is that so? Sure, my brother was quite the player before you moved into this town two years ago, but ever since then, he's been on the market. It's like he hasn't taken an interest in any other girl since he met you." she noted.
Danica sighed at her two friends' implications and said, "Look, can we not talk about Zane? I'm already in the middle of a bad day without Zane spoiling it any further."
She took a wary bite out of her food, and did her best to swallow it down.
"That looks gross.." Irene said, looking at Danica's food as if it were the most disgusting stuff she had ever seen. And in a way, it was.
Danica rolled her eyes at her comment, and gave her a look that seemed to say 'You think?'.
Eleanor chuckled. "So, what did happen to you today anyway?"
"Well," Danica said, pretending to look like she was thinking hard about her answer. "First, Mr. Swiney landed me in detention for apparently no reason whatsoever. After that I find out I left my lunch at home so I have to buy this unidentified fried object, and then I miss out on one of the most divine dessert specials provided by Kiesha's--"
"What are you talking about, Danica?" Eleanor cut her off. "There's one right there on your tray."
Danica looked down to where her friend was pointing, and noticed that there was indeed a plastic cup of Kiesha's finest custard pudding.
"I don't believe it.." Danica mumbled. "I don't remember taking it at all."
Irene laughed.
"But I'm sure Zane does.." she said.
Irene was the first one to notice a folded piece of paper tucked underneath the cup of custard pudding with the name 'Zane' visibly scribbled across it.
Danica tried to make herself look indifferent as she unfolded the note. "How childish can he get?" she remarked to her friends, before reading the note herself.
I hope you like custard puddings.
- Zane
Danica felt herself turning red, although she didn't really know why.
She ought to be used to Zane being so straightforward by now....but then again he's never written her a note before...
'Wait, why should I care if he's writing a note for a change? Just because this note proves that he knows how to write doesn't mean he's any better than the actual narcissist that he is.' one of her thoughts gave her a mental slap.
"Well, this is interesting.." Irene said, looking very much amused. "Zane was never the type to write notes."
Eleanor caught her eye, and seemed to immediately catch onto what Irene was hinting. "Oh, that IS interesting!"
Only Danica didn't know what they were on about. "What are you guys talking about? What is so interesting?" she asked, annoyed at feeling so left out.
"Oh Danica, don't you remember yourself making that vow at New Years' Eve??" Irene said, trying to look innocent by batting her eyelashes.
"Wait, what are you--Oh no.. No... Irene! That's not fair! That was just a joke, remember? And besides, we were kind of drinking at the time..." Danica panicked.
All she remembered about that night was that she got a little hyper over a drink or two at the Cobrianas' mansion and ended up saying some things she apparently should never have said...
::Flashback::
"Haaapppyyy neeewww yeeaaaarrr!!!" Danica, Eleanor, and Irene shouted in unison, clinking their glasses together before drinking it all in one go.
The three of them held the same momentary disgusted look at the aftertaste of their drinks as they looked at one another. They then laughed, oblivious to the other partygoers that were invited to the Cobrianas' Annual New Year's Party, and refilled their glasses.
"Darn...I never knew alcohol tasted this...weird!" Danica said, taking a small sip from her drink. "Are you guys sure this stuff ain't corrosive?? It might burn our throats or something..."
Her friends simply laughed at her theory. "My throat does feel like it's burning though.." Irene said, touching her neck.
"Well, well, well, little sister. You shouldn't be drinking too much, you might get drunk and end up doing something you might regret in the future.." a familiar voice said.
Irene turned around and sighed. "Seriously, Zane, you know we're way smarter than that...We're not like those bimbos who crash this party in hopes that they may get drunk with you.." she said, turning her head in the direction of a group of girls who were eyeing Zane flirtatiously.
Zane's eyebrows furrowed as he spotted them, causing the group of girls to giggle in response to being seen. They, however, didn't hear him when he said, "I don't remember inviting them to the party..."
"Sure you didn't.." Danica scoffed. "Why, what would the great Zane Cobriana--who thinks he's some sort of a prince from another lifetime--do with this bunch of girls when he's got so many already waiting in line?"
Zane raised an eyebrow, and asked, "Are you drunk?"
"I sure as hell am not!" Danica protested. "Just because I'm not one of those girls falling all over your feet doesn't mean I'm in a drowsy state of being!"
Zane chuckled in response. "No..I didn't think you were..."
"Well that's good of you to realize that, because there's only one kind of guy I would want to date, and that most certainly does not apply to you." she continued.
"Oh really?" he asked in a contradicting sort of manner. "And pray tell, what sort of guy would that be?"
Danica snorted, and took another sip at her drink. She pondered the question, and though she was not entirely drunk, the cold beverage did help her open up about her imaginative fantasies.
"Well, for one thing, he'd be the type to give me free dessert in the cafeteria, where people are quick to snatch them all away... and it has to be Kiesha's, because then it would feel even more special." she said, licking her lips at the thought.
"Touché." Zane commented, his eyes looking as though he was laughing on the inside.
Danica ignored him and went on. "He'd also write me notes...unlike those stupid IM text messages that are getting too common these days. Handwritten notes determine how much effort he is willing to put into a relationship and how personal he wants to be with me."
Irene and Eleanor sighed dreamily, looking rather dewy-eyed.
"That does sound wonderful..." Eleanor commented.
"I wish Galen would write me notes too...but then he does do sketchings of me, so I guess that justifies the account." Irene said, practically blushing at the thought of her boyfriend.
Danica nodded. "Of course, it would be even better if my dream guy made me a soundtrack with music that best describes what we've gone through together, or at least songs that describe the way he feels about me..." she said, looking towards the beautifully lit-up fountain.
She watched the water gurgling out of the cherub statue's pouted lips, before saying the last thing she thought would make her perfect man the perfect man.
"And then there's the first kiss..." she said, trailing off.
Zane snorted. "Let me guess...A kiss in the rain? A kiss at the beach before a beautiful sunset? Or just a kiss where imaginary fireworks starts going off around them?"
Danica made a tsking sound directed at him, and said, "Nope. All of that would be too clichéd. It has to be when I happen to look up from reading a book, and then...we would gaze into each other's eyes, and at the exact right timing, we would lean in to kiss right over the top of an open book."
Danica sat down, replaying her dream-sequence with her mystery man over and over again in her mind.
"You're kidding, right?"
Danica snapped out of her reverie at the sound of Zane's mocking voice, and saw him looking at her with a bemused expression.
"I am most definitely NOT kidding. Any guy who manages to fulfill all those requirements would be on my to-date list in a jiffy." she said, feeling rather insulted by the incredulousness expressed in Zane's wording.
What she said must have stirred something within Zane because he suddenly had a faraway look in his eyes as he asked, "So, you're saying that you would date ANY guy who manages to do all that?"
Danica scrutinized Zane suspiciously, wondering why he would ask such a question.
Zane, however, gave nothing away.
"Yes, I would." Danica finally answered, waving away the suspicions from her mind.
"Promise?" Zane asked, smirking slightly.
Danica felt as though he were mocking her again, and said, with finality visibly embedded into her tone, "Yes! I'll even give you a toast on that.."
Zane laughed, raising his own glass. "Then a toast it shall be!"
Danica heard her own glass make a clinking sound against his before setting it down once more.
Danica didn't think about it much afterwards. She didn't think she'd have to.
::Flashback ends::
"There's no way Zane would do any of those things...he--he doesn't even like me!" Danica said, trying to think up various excuses that ensured what was happening was not really happening. "He probably just did that to get on my nerves..."
"Care to explain the handwritten note then?" Irene pointed at the piece of paper still in Danica's hand.
"And the charity of giving you dessert? The special Kiesha's kind?" Eleanor piped in.
"Well.." Danica tried to laugh at the situation as though it was really just a joke. "He might be feeling simply generous for the day, or he might have poisoned the custard pudding, which would make more sense."
"Danica, your lunch looks way more poisonous than that innocent cup of custard pudding could ever be." Irene scoffed. "If he wanted to poison you, he wouldn't have provided you with a safe alternative."
"Hello? The poison could have easily been disguised." Danica contradicted Irene's statement, but despite what she said, she still put a spoonful of pudding into her mouth.
"And simple generosity for the day? I know my brother, and giving free dessert, especially from Kiesha's, to a certain girl that almost everyone knows he's been bugging for the last few weeks most certainly does not pertain to 'simple generosity'." Irene went on, and looked to Eleanor to see if there was anything else she'd like to add.
"Don't mess with the sudoku genius, Dani. It'll only get you hanged." Eleanor added.
The bell rang and Danica got up from her seat. "Well, a note and a cup of pudding doesn't end the game. I don't think Zane can make a soundtrack with music that describes the way he feels about me if he doesn't even feel anything about me."
With that, she picked up her bag and said, "I'm heading to class. See you guys later!"
Irene and Eleanor simply shooks their heads at the fact that their best friend was still in denial, as Danica walked away.
A/N: Hmm, I saw this in my documents and apparently I forgot to publish it. It's been quite a while since I wrote it. Dunno if it's worth continuing though..