Chapter 10

"Xander!" Elden ran up to his friend. "What happened with your father on Friday?" He had worried that his friend's family was in crisis. When Xander didn't call him during the weekend, Elden grew even more worried.

"Oh, hey, Elden." Xander smiled at the other boy as he removed his history text book from the locker. "Don't worry about Friday. The thing with my father was resolved. Everything's okay now."

"Then why didn't you call me? I was worried." Elden frowned as he poked his friend in the side.

Xander laughed and slapped the hand away. "Sorry. My parents decided to have a family day Saturday so we could get to know our grandparents better," he explained. Elden leaned against the locker next to Xander. His expression turned from a frown to a look of hurt. "And Sunday, Danielle's parents had a barbeque because they had big news to announce."

"What news?" Elden's face brightened with curiosity.

"Xander!" a girl called from down the hallway.

Xander groaned as he laid his head on Elden's shoulder. "That's the big news. Danielle was bumped up another grade."

Elden patted his friend on the head. The younger girl that he had seen with Lex, Sandra, and Denise at the club on Friday jogged down the hall toward them. Xander turned away from Elden to face her when she got closer to the pair. Danielle leaped at the teen and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Can you believe we're in the same grade?" Danielle asked while she bounced with excitement. Xander glanced toward Elden with an expression pleading for help. "Show me around." Danielle took Xander's hand and pulled him down the hall. Elden closed the locker for his friend as he watched the two disappear among the crowd of other students.

"Someone looks a little down," Denise said when she walked up to Elden.

"Danielle's attending Casper High now," Elden said as he ran a hand through his short hair.

"She's nice. Why are you unhappy about her being here?" Denise wrapped an arm around Elden's shoulders and gave them a small squeeze like it could alleviate whatever sorrow the boy felt.

"Who said I'm unhappy?" Elden forced a grin onto his face like it proved her wrong. He turned and headed for his first class with Denise's arm still slung over his shoulder.

When lunch rolled around, Xander managed to avoid Courtney and Bernice dragging him to the table reserved for the "popular" girls. He snuck over to the jock table where Lex ate lunch with his fellow teammates. The other jocks glared at him when he sat at their table. Since he was Lex's brother, they didn't make any comments or tell him to leave.

"Lex, Danielle won't leave me alone," Xander complained as he leaned against his brother with a frown on his face.

"Does he always whine like that?" Clint questioned from his seat next to Xander. He was the captain of the football team. His black hair looked like peach fuzz, and Xander had a strange urge to run his hand over it only to see how it felt.

"Shut up, Clint." Lex sneered at the older boy before turning his attention to his twin. "She's new to the school. She just wants you to show her around until she gets used to the school."

"No, Lex, she's being all clingy." Xander's face contorted in a small expression of disgust at the word. "She's outside the door after every one of my classes. She won't let go of my arm when we walk down the hallway. If she just wanted to be shown around, she could ask you and Sandra to help her. Why does she have to cling to me?" Xander frowned, giving Lex the impression of a kicked puppy.

"You know, it sounds to me like she may have a crush on you," Clint said, offering his opinion even though the twins hadn't asked for it.

"But she's like a sister to me." Xander's nose wrinkled up when he said that, and Clint chuckled at the younger boy's expression.

"That may be the way you see her, but it doesn't mean she sees you as a brother figure." Clint picked up his soda and took a sip. "What you should do is tell her you aren't interested in her in that way. Better to hurt her now instead of leading her on and letting her think you do like her in that way."

Xander stared with one brow raised at the older jock. He shook his head and decided to ignore Clint. "I'm going to see where Elden's hanging out." He stood from his seat on the bench. Then he headed to the exit of the cafeteria.

"Your brother doesn't like me very much," Clint said as he dipped a fry into the pool of ketchup on his tray of food.

"Of course not. You're a jerk." Lex and Clint shared a glare before returning to their separate meals.

"Xander isn't talking me," Danielle said as she sat outside with Sandra and Denise during lunch.

"Maybe you should try to be less clingy," Denise suggested, brushing back a strand of her hair. "Right now, you're pushing him away."

"I didn't even know you liked Xander," Sandra said with an expression of shock on her face.

"I don't like like him." Danielle looked away, taking a sip from her juice box. "I just haven't gotten to see a lot of Xander and Lex since you three started high school." The bus had changed its schedule about a month before, making it so that Danielle no longer went over to their apartment after school. She saw Sandra every now and then because they lived in the same neighborhood.

"If you didn't like like him, why is he the only one you're clinging too?" Sandra pointed out before taking a bite of her salad. Danielle shrugged with her gaze directed away from the other two girls. Her eyes lit up when she spotted Xander walking around with Elden.

"Xander!" Danielle called out and waved to her friend. Xander looked over to the trio of girls. He waved back with a smile before turning back to his conversation with Elden.

"Yeah, she's not really interested in him," Sandra whispered to Denise as she rolled her eyes.

"Since we're on the topic of crushes, who do you like?" Denise asked after she swallowed her bite of a sandwich.

"Oh, I don't really have a crush on anyone," Sandra answered as her face turned red.

"Yes, you do." Danielle leaned over to whisper to Denise. "She has a crush on Lex."

"I do not!" Sandra glared at Danielle, daring her to say another word. Danielle smiled with smug satisfaction. When the bell rang, the three girls groaned. They threw away their trash and gathered their things before splitting up and heading to their next classes. Denise and Sandra walked into their English class and took their seats on either side of Lex.

"Danielle seems to have a crush on your brother," Denise said. She pulled her hair back and tied it in a ponytail.

"That's what Clint said too," Lex said but didn't look up from the book he was reading. "I can't wait for that guy to graduate."

"You're just saying that because Jessica likes him." Denise pulled out her own book for class along with her notebook and pen.

"No, it's because I think he's a jerk." Lex set his book on his desk. He turned in his seat to face Denise. "But back to what you said. Xander doesn't like Danielle in the romantic way. He thinks of her like a sister."

"Aw, she's going to be heartbroken." Denise frowned.

"Mr. Rutherford, Ms. Adams, I am starting class now so will you stop conversing with each other?" their English teacher questioned. He folded his arms over his chest and glared at the pair. Lex faced forward, and they both pretended to listen to his lecture.