Hi all, thanks for all the wonderful reviews. Sorry this one took so long. I had a hard time trying to figure out where I wanted to go with this chapter. (What you are reading is version three or four.) Anyhow, this one is mostly set-up. It's a little Dani heavy, but she's pimping Destiny, so it's okay. I hope you enjoy.
The Plan- Chapter 4
The morning after the pool party, Jack left his bedroom to scavenge the kitchen for something to eat. He felt pretty pleased with himself. His plan to steal Destiny from Matthew…and Shane could work, even if Matthew and Destiny were suddenly official. There was something between him and Destiny, though he wasn't quite sure what to call it.
"Freeze, Jack Manning!"
Jack jumped at the sound of his sister Dani's voice echoing from behind him. He turned slowly. "What is your problem?"
"You!"
"What did I do? I just woke up."
"It's not what you did today. It's what you did yesterday."
"What are you talking about?"
Dani placed her hands on her hips. "As if you don't know. You were hitting on my best friend!" Dani thought for a minute before she made a face. "Do you know how gross that is?"
Jack smirked. "That's not a nice thing to say about your best friend."
Dani rolled her eyes. "Not Destiny. She's great. You are the problem. Seriously, Jack do you expect me to believe that after three years, you suddenly wake up one morning and have a thing for my best friend?"
"No." He stared at her. The truth was he'd thought Destiny was cute since the first sleepover she had with Dani. He caught a peek of her in her sleep shirt that looked like a guy's t-shirt. He noticed that like her face, her legs were smooth and flawless. Still, he wasn't going to share any of that with his sister. If this plan of his failed, that was a detail he didn't want to get out. "I have no idea what you are talking about. Destiny and I just hung out a little bit yesterday until her jerk boyfriend got his head out of his butt."
"You're up to something. You better not be trying to hurt Destiny."
"I'm not going to hurt Destiny." He meant it. She seemed like she might make a decent girlfriend, certainly better than Matthew Buchanan deserved and there was no reason she would ever have to know about the bet he had with Chase. He couldn't really imagine she would want to hang out with Chase; most of the time he didn't like the guy. No, Jack planned to have it all, Destiny, revenge on Shane and Matthew and Chase's guitar. It could all work as long as Dani didn't ruin it.
Jack continued his walk into the kitchen. Dani remained on his heels. The elation he felt when he awoke, faded when he saw both his dad and his stepmother in the kitchen. Suddenly, he felt his "love life" was about to become a topic of discussion. He couldn't think of a worse development.
"Mom," Dani headed straight for Tea. "You need to tell Jack to stop causing trouble."
"Jack." Tea stared at him. She knew he was trying to read him. "We talked about this. You can't get in trouble with these Gigi's case hanging over your head."
Looking helplessly toward his dad, he threw his hands in the air. "I didn't do anything!"
"He was hitting on my best friend!" Dani yelled.
At Dani's revelation, Tea's eyes widened. Todd burst into a full laugh.
"Evans?" Todd asked when he finally stopped laughing. "You were hitting on Evans? I see you like them tough like Tea and your mom. Evans will chew you up and spit you out."
"You believe I was hitting on Destiny just because Dani says so?"
"No, I believe it because I used to bust you trying to look through your sister's keyhole whenever Evans slept over."
"He did what?" Dani's eyes widened.
"Don't worry. He quit by the time he was in high school."
"So you really do have a thing for Destiny?" Dani suddenly got a gushy, girly look on her face.
Tea now had a horrified look. "I certainly hope you don't."
"Mom, I thought you liked Destiny." Dani looked at her mother as if she had grown a third eye.
"I adore Destiny, Mejia. But she's with Matthew a.k.a. Nora's son. You know, Nora, the district attorney that we are going to have to ask for a lenient plea agreement."
"Delgado, I swear you're too soft. We can just buy off the judge. If Jack wants to date Destiny, he should be with her. We don't have to go crawling to Nora. You know she hates me, anyway. I bet she can't wait to through the book at Jack because of it." Todd began to gnaw on a nearby apple.
"Oh my gosh, would everyone stop talking about me like I'm not in the room. Tea, you can relax. I'm not going to do anything to mess up my case." Jack stormed off to his room.
Jack was angry. When he came up with his plan to make Shane lose one of his best friends, he hadn't considered Matthew, Nora or his own court case. He considered letting things go until he recalled that if it weren't for stupid Shane and Neela, he wouldn't have to worry about a case. Of course, if it hadn't been for Shane, Neela and his plan for revenge, he wouldn't have hung out with Destiny and learned that she was actually kind of cool to be around. Now because of Shane and Matthew, Tea pretty much demanded he stay away from Destiny. It made him want to get Shane, and now Matthew, back even more.
A few minutes later, he heard a soft knock on the door. It was Dani.
"I'm sorry for all that stuff downstairs. I didn't know you liked Des. I thought you were up to something. That's the only reason I told."
"Okay, not that I'm admitting to anything."
"You wouldn't."
"Why are you here now?"
"Because I want to help."
"Why?" Now, Jack was suspicious.
"Because you are my brother and Destiny is my best friend. I think it's kind of cute."
"You said it was gross."
"I changed my mind."
"Doesn't matter. Destiny's with Matthew." Jack leaned back on the wall. If Dani was truly willing to help, he might still be able to pull his plan off. "I thought you were friends with Matthew."
"I'm friends with Destiny. Matthew, I tolerate him because of Destiny. He told a gym full of people that I begged him to have sex. As if that wasn't hard enough to live with he also called my boyfriend's mother a slut and a whore. I think she can do better. You've got potential…despite your past behavior."
"So, what you're going to help me get with Destiny?"
"I didn't say that. Let's just say that maybe it wouldn't be the worse thing in the world if Destiny set her sights on someone else. And it certainly would help you to spend time away from some of your idiot friends."
She turned and left the room.
Destiny looked at herself in the mirror and suddenly felt very bored with her look. She'd worn her braids since freshman year and she hated everything in her wardrobe. She wondered for a second what kind of clothes Taylor had in her closet. Immediately, she shook the thought from her mind. She would not be that girl…the insecure one that always worried about her boyfriend looking at other girls. Matthew chose her and she would be comfortable with that.
She'd loved Matthew since the first time she met when they were freshmen. And until recently, he'd picked girl after girl over her, including her best friend. Though they were together now, part of it still bothered her.
She walked into the kitchen. Her mom, Felicia, was cooking something good. She scooted on to one of the barstools near the kitchen island.
After no more than thirty seconds, her mother asked her what was wrong. Although she insisted that nothing was wrong her mother knew better. She finally confessed that she was bored with her "look."
"I hope you don't think you need to change yourself because of Matthew Buchanan. If that boy doesn't like you the way you are then you can do better."
"Mom, it's not about Matthew. I just want to do something new."
"Okay, her mom smiled. Let's get makeovers and have a day just for us. How about Friday?"
"I'd like that." Destiny smiled. She'd only returned from living with her brother a month before. This girls' day would be good.
Her cell phone rang. It was Matthew. She slipped out of the kitchen and into her bedroom.
"Hey Des, my family is going up to our cabin on Friday. Do you want to come with us?"
"I wish." She did. She loved Matthew's parents almost as much as she loved him. "But my mom and I are having a girls' day on Friday. Next time?"
"Yeah, sure."
Later that day, Dani stopped by. She was thrilled that Destiny's mom made chocolate chip cookies.
"Mrs. Evans these are so awesome!"
"Thanks Daniela."
Dani sank her teeth into another bite of cookie. "Hey Des, I was thinking that it's been a really long time since you slept over. Want to sleep over on Friday?"
"I can't. Mom and I are hanging out that day."
"In the daytime." (It was the last week of Destiny's summer break). Her mother rubbed her back. "There's no reason, you can't go to Daniela's house afterward."
"Great." Destiny turned to Dani. "You'll be the first person to see my new look."
Dani hopped off her chair and hugged Destiny. "This is going to be so awesome."
