Danielle had her guitar out, trying to complete the song. "Can you reminisce? / Can you recall, the last time you felt some joy at all? / Or maybe you are so blessed to the point / Where you can't remember anything / The fact that we're right here and now / We take it for granted but that's how /We'll find hope when we need it most / When we realise a miracle!" She sighed, jotting down her new material. Her stomach gave a grumble. Guess I should see what there is for dinner. She put her book into her drawer.
Luke walked out of his room to see Danielle walking out of hers too. "Danny." He acknowledged.
Danielle nodded her head in response and proceeded to head downstairs.
"Hey, Danny!" Zuri smiled.
"Hey, Zuri. What's gotten you into such a good mood?" Danielle sat next to her at the table.
"Dad's bought us tickets to Ella's concert in Times Square!" She squealed.
"Really?! That's awesome!" Luke exclaimed, sitting down.
"I can't wait to see her live!" Emma added.
Danielle forced a smile.
"You going to be there too?" Ravi asked.
She bit her lip. "I… I'm not her biggest fan, so I probably won't bother."
"What?!" They all stared at her.
"You don't want to go and see Ella? That's insane!" Zuri stated.
"Sorry guys." Danielle shrugged.
Jessie walked into the kitchen. "It's fine if Danny doesn't want to go."
Everyone turned to look at her and their mouths dropped.
"Wow! Jessie, you look stunning!" Emma grinned. "You managed to do your make-up from watching Ella tutorials?"
Jessie blushed. "Kinda." She met Danielle's eyes and smiled.
Danielle smirked triumphantly.
"Well, I have to go and meet Tony in the lobby, so everyone, I want you to behave for Bertram whilst I'm gone." She gave her infamous 'nanny glare' towards Luke.
Luke gave an insulted gasp.
Jessie walked out. "I mean it!" She called.
Bertram placed dinner in front of the kids. "I hope she has a good night." He mumbled. "Whilst I'm stuck with you lot."
Danielle felt her phone vibrate with a notification. Probably my blog, I should upload a new video before soon. She sighed, continuing to eat the food before her.
"You were pretty popular in school today, Danny." Emma commented.
"Hmmm?" Danielle looked to her.
"A lot of the girls in my class were going on and on about you after lunch."
Danielle rolled her eyes. "Because I socked the school bully in the nose?"
Emma laughed. "That and… under those ugly glasses, you're kinda handsome."
Danielle coughed a little on her food. "What? Isn't Freckles the good looking, popular one?"
Luke frowned at her a little.
"Well, he was…" Emma giggled. "I think the messy blonde hair, green eyes and cute personally work in your favour."
Danielle stared down at the plate of food in front of her. "I'm not interested in being the girls' object of affection." She stated.
Luke watched Danielle as she pushed away her food.
"I'm going to my room. Thanks for the food, Bertram." She flashed a smile towards the butler.
Luke sighed.
"He's different." Ravi voiced. "He does seem to try everything to avoid attention."
"Except playing hero." Emma put in.
"That was my fault, I should stick up for myself. But that guy bullied Danny in the park too, he had the right to get even."
Luke looked to his brother. "What? I didn't know this."
"Why do you think Danny was covered in mud yesterday? Guys with fighting skills like that aren't likely to trip over their own feet." Zuri face-palmed. "He didn't want to tell you because he was worried that you'd think he's a loser."
"Why would he care what I thought?"
"Because… it seems that he wants to be your friend. You were nice to him when he got here, then cold at school. He thinks it's his fault!" Ravi exclaimed. "Because of your ego, Danny thought that you really hated him, and I think it really hurt him to think that."
Luke was taken aback. "I don't hate him, at all." He stated. "Yeah, I think of him as a rival, and was jealous of all the attention he's getting at school, but I do like him. He's a good guy."
"Then act it! Otherwise, you could be risking a perfectly good friendship with him." Emma folded her arms.
"The way you helped him before proves that you do care about his well-being. But he thought it was me that gave him that t-shirt." Ravi stated.
"And he probably only thinks that you let him follow you to class because Melissa wasn't there, like an obligation." Emma reminded.
"Fine, I'll go and talk to him." Luke stood up and walked out.
Danielle lay on her bed in her black sweats and the sports shirt Luke had given her, thinking what she should post onto her blog. She took off her glasses since she didn't really need them. Maybe I should shower? She checked her watch. But it mean's I'll panic if someone comes to the door… I'll wait for everyone to go to bed. She turned over on her bed. She typed in Kitty-Couture into the search bar and Emma's blog popped up. "Wow, she's really dedicated." She hit the follow button. It took her a few seconds to register what she had just done… she, as Ella, just followed Emma's blog. Well… that's Emma on a high for two weeks now.
There was a knock at her bedroom door that caused her to jump. "Yeah?" She called.
Luke opened the door. "Can I come in?"
"If I said no, would you go away?" Danielle shot back.
Luke closed the door behind him and walked towards her.
"I'll take that as a no." She sat up.
"Danny… I'd like to apologise for today." Luke fidgeted with the hem of his t-shirt. "I was mean and jealous. I really didn't mean any of the hurtful things that I have said."
Danielle tilted her head to try and view him at a different angle. "What?"
Luke sat down on her bed. "I guess, what I'm trying to say is, can we start again?"
"Like… be friends?" Danielle raised her brow.
"Yeah." He looked at his hands.
"I'd like that very much."
His eyes snapped to hers, for some odd reason, he wished he hadn't, because looking away was a little difficult.
"Luke?"
The freckled boy blinked and cleared his throat. "Great!" He smiled. He got comfortable, crossing his legs on her bed. "Why didn't you tell me that Brad had bullied you before?" He cut to the chase.
Danielle shrugged her shoulders. "I was embarrassed."
He sighed. "Well, next time someone bullies you, you can tell me."
She rolled her eyes. "I can deal with them myself."
He nodded. "You've proven that."
She looked down at her bruised knuckles.
"But really, just tell me. I don't like being in the dark about things like that. Like Ravi said, we should treat you like our brother, and nobody hurts my siblings."
She smiled a little. "I'll take note of that."
Luke let out a large sigh. "So… should I do a spider inspection before I leave?" He smirked.
Danielle laughed. "Be my guest."
Luke got up and looked up at the corners of the bedroom before venturing into the bathroom. "All clear!" He called.
"Thank you."
He came back in and spotted the guitar. "You play well, I can here from my room sometimes." He pointed out.
"Oh, really? Thanks." She gripped the cover of her bed. I hope he doesn't hear me sing as well.
"Well, I'm going to go and play Overwatch now."
"Overwatch? I love that game!" She exclaimed, over excited.
"Hmm… you want to play with me? I could see if you can borrow Ravi's Xbox and we can play as a team?"
Danielle thought for a moment. I could finish that song after… "Yeah if that's alright."
"Of course." Luke tried to suppress a grin. "Come on, we'll set it up in my room since it's bigger." He opened the door.
She nodded, standing up and following him.
Luke knocked on Ravi's door.
Ravi opened it to be surprised by Luke and Danielle standing there… together. "Yes?"
"Ravi, can Danny borrow your Xbox? We wanna play Overwatch in my room."
Ravi stared a little. "Sure! Give me a moment." He smiled, letting them enter his room. Danny and Luke are going to play video games together? Must mean that Luke apologised! He looked to see Danielle entertaining Mrs. Kipling. He continued to unplug his Xbox. "Here you are, do you mind if I come and watch?" He asked, handing the console to Luke.
"If you want to." He replied, leaving Ravi's room.
Ravi looked to Danielle. "Well, it looks like you two are friends again." He patted her back.
Danielle smiled softly. "Yeah, I'm glad."
