Danielle found Ravi at lunch.
"Hey, Danny." Ravi smiled widely when he saw her.
"Ravi!" Danielle couldn't help but return the smile. "I just need to grab my lunch then we'll find somewhere?"
Ravi nodded. "How has your day been so far?"
Danielle rolled her eyes. "It's school, what do you expect?" She laughed.
"Fair enough. But have you seen that boy?" Ravi added in a whisper.
Danielle bit her lip. "He doesn't seem to remember me."
"Well, that's good, right?"
Danielle nodded. "So far, yeah." She opened her locker and put her books away before grabbing the boxed lunch that Jessie had made for her. "Let's go."
"I normally buy my lunch. You don't mind terribly about going into the cafeteria, do you?"
Danielle shrugged. "No skin off my nose. I'll find a table to wait for you."
He nodded. "Sounds like a plan." He went to join the dinner queue.
Danielle found a lonely table in the far corner of the hall. She sat down and began to unpack her lunch. She took out her phone and checked her social media. She scrolled through comments and messages as she ate her chicken salad wrap.
Ella, your new album is insane! I can't wait till your upcoming concerts, I will be at every one of them! – Kitty Couture
Danielle thought for a second. Didn't Jessie say that Emma uses that as her online alias? She smiled. It's fun, getting to know my fans from a different view point. She clicked the reply button.
I'm so glad that you're enjoying my album, it means a lot coming from you, Kitty. Stay cool, I can't wait to see you at my concerts! – Ella
She hit send. I'm gonna hear about it when I see her.
Ravi arrived and sat in front of her. "Are you okay?" He asked.
Danielle nodded. "Yeah, I'm good." She took a bite.
Melissa walked into the cafeteria and looked around. She spotted the new kid sitting with Ravi. She smiled and headed over. "Can I join you guys?"
Danielle looked up and gave a soft smile. "Of course."
Ravi looked from Danielle to Melissa. "Do you want me to move?"
Danielle frowned. "Why should you?"
"Because… you're one of the cool kids now." Ravi stood up.
Melissa giggled, sitting next to Danielle. "Sit down, silly. Danny is your friend, right? Don't let me get in the way."
Ravi sat back down. "Thanks."
"What you got there? Chicken?" Melissa asked Danielle curiously.
Danielle nodded. "It's not bad, considering my new nanny made it."
"Jessie makes good box lunches." Ravi piped up.
"Yeah, she included all of my favourites. Even my mint and chocolate milkshake." She shook the bottle.
"Sounds yummy." Melissa stated.
"Wanna try some?" Danielle offered the bottle to her.
Melissa swallowed her food and nodded. "Thanks." She took a small sip. "Ooh, refreshing!" She grinned.
"I'll bring you some, tomorrow." Danielle smiled at her.
Melissa blushed slightly. "Thanks. Do you have English lit after this?" She asked.
Danielle nodded. "Could I stick with you?"
Melissa laughed. "Sure."
Ravi looked between the two. Danny seems to be fitting in just fine.
"Hey, Danny!" Max sat beside Ravi.
Danielle looked to him. "Hey?"
"Thank you for this morning, for once, math was easy." He added.
Luke sat at Melissa's other side.
"Anything is easy once you know the basics. I mean, you can't pull of a handspring if you can't do a simple handstand, right?" She stated.
Max nodded. "You're right. You're into gymnastics?"
Danielle shrugged. "Sorta."
"Cool. It's key to be flexible when doing break dancing."
"Yeah, you don't wanna 'break' anything, right?" Danielle smirked.
Max laughed. "Right!" This nerd is actually pretty cool.
Luke ate his burger, not saying a word.
Ravi looked over to his brother. Quit letting your pride get in the way of a marvellous friendship!
"Oh, lookie here."
The group looked up to see Bradley loomed over them with a group of friends.
Danielle met Ravi's gaze. She gave a small nod. I'm fine.
Bradley scanned the group and his eyes landed on Danielle. "Ah, it's the girly from the park, did you enjoy your mud bath?"
Danielle ignored his taunts, her hand curling into fists. At least I don't have my music with me this time.
"Isn't it a bit immature to bully the new guy, Brad?" Max said.
Luke frowned. Mud bath? Did he push Danny yesterday?
"Awwh but it is oh so fun! Especially when they look like they're gonna cry." Bradley laughed. "Now, you losers move from our table and we'll leave it at that."
Ravi moved to stand.
"Ravi, don't move." Danielle muttered.
Ravi looked to her. Is this guy insane? He settled back down.
Bradley snickered. "You've got nerve, new boy."
"Tell me, why should we move when you're being an arrogant ass?" Danielle raised her brow. "This table doesn't belong to you, I don't see your name anywhere."
Luke shared a look with Ravi. This dork is going to get himself beaten up.
Bradley smirked. "True." He looked to Ravi. "Move."
"Stay!" Danielle snapped at Ravi, who began to stand up again. "Finish your lunch, if this ape wants to sit here, he's gotta wait in line."
Bradley's eyes narrowed onto Danielle. "Alright, then I'll make him move." He grabbed Ravi by the shirt and picked him up off his chair.
Danielle and Luke jumped to their feet.
"Leave my brother alone!" Luke yelled.
Bradley let out a laugh. "You don't scare me, Ross."
Danielle removed her glasses and gave them to Melissa. "Let him go!" She gracefully swung over the table between them.
"Or what? Gonna cry?" Bradley held Ravi higher as he squirmed.
So much for keeping a low profile… I had to open my big mouth! "No, but I'm sure you will if you don't release him within three seconds." She looked around to see his goons surrounding her. "One… two… three!" She planted her fist into his stomach, causing him to drop Ravi. "That's for my notebook…" She elbowed his back, causing him to face plant the floor. "And that's for Ravi."
Her friends stared at her.
Max dropped his fork. "Nice…" He breathed.
Danielle looked around at Bradley's goons. "Who's next? I can take you all…" She breathed. Her mind went blank, completely oblivious to her surroundings. The only thing she focused on were the guys around her… particularly the guy throwing a right hook to her face. She ducked and swept her foot under his feet, causing him to fall.
Luke watched the fight, a little awed by how graceful Danielle was. It's like he's dancing… He looked to Ravi. "Are you alright, bro?" He asked.
Ravi nodded. "I can't believe that's Danny."
"I know, he seems so nerdy and chill, and a bit weak to be honest. I thought he was just like you, only he's from LA and you're from India." Luke added.
Melissa smiled. "Never judge a book by its cover boys. He is pretty amazing."
By the end, all of Bradley's gang were on the floor and Danielle was panting heavily, sporting a bruise across her cheekbone and a bloody lip, she couldn't feel the pain yet, her body was still numb with adrenaline and anger.
"Danny?" Melissa approached her.
Danielle met her eyes. "That was fun." She smiled, she flinched. "Ow!" All the pain hit her at once. "Damn!" She hissed. She accepted the glasses from Melissa and sat down again.
"Danny Adams!" One of the teachers marched towards her. "Violence isn't tolerated in this school!"
Danielle raised her brow. "And bullying is? This was all self-defence, ma'am." She stated.
"That's right, he was only defending me." Ravi piped up.
The teacher looked around at the boys who were getting to their feet. She sighed. "Well, it looks like none of you got seriously hurt, but if I see you causing trouble again, I'll call your parents." She strode off.
Danielle shrugged it off. "She was being too easy on me." She breathed.
"It'll be because you're new." Max stated.
Danielle wiped her nose before looking down at her t-shirt. "That's never coming out…" She pulled at it, inspecting the blood that dripped from her nose onto it. "I'm going to the bathroom." She stood and packed away her things before heading out.
Ravi looked to Luke. "Jessie is going to go crazy." He said.
Luke shrugged. "His problem."
"Luke. Whilst he's with us, we should treat him like one of us. Like our brother."
"He's not my brother." Luke snorted.
Ravi rolled his eyes. "Fine, I'll help him."
Luke stared at his lunch as his brother stormed out of the hall. Why should I care? It was his fault for getting into an unnecessary fight.
