5

Danny started going out with Marion to my complete and utter disgust. I didn't hide it either.

"You're going out with that witch?" I said when he told me about their date.

He rolled his eyes "she's not a witch, she only plays one in the play and a very good one, I might add. What have you got against her anyway?"

"I don't know. She just annoys me", Danny looked hurt when I said that so I quickly added, "but your right, she does make a good witch"

After that I started hanging around Mira more. It was all coincidental at first. One time, Ponyboy lost his watch while playing football in the park and I went to find it for him. I found Mira sitting on the edge of the fountain by herself.

"What are you doing here so late by yourself?"

She smiled when she saw me. "I just needed to think, that's all"

I sat beside her and we started talking. It was strange how well we got along. We were complete opposites. I was loud and outgoing. She was quiet and shy. 

But she was so easy to talk to and I loved it when she laughed.

I started going to the fountain every night and sure enough she was there too. We'd talk till 3am but sometimes I'd go home and just lay awake thinking about her.

It became an addiction for me. I couldn't sleep without seeing her, hearing her laugh.

"I'm not the smartest person in the world but I would say that these little meetings of ours are not coincidences anymore" she said with a cheeky smile

"I could say the same to you" I said

She laughed and I felt my heart melt.

"Mira, I wanted to know if" I paused, how the hell was I going to ask her. It would only complicate things for all of us.

"Yes Darrel?" she said with concern. She always called me Darrel. She said she hated nicknames.

"I want to go out with you"

Her face went bright red and she looked down to the floor.

Shit! What did I do!

After a few minutes she finally said "are you sure?"

"Sure I'm sure" I said. I began to have hope again.

She smiled shyly and said "Ok. Just don't break my heart"

I took hold of her hand and kissed it.

"Never" I said gallantly.

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Mira and I always had the best time together. She wasn't like any of the other girls I'd dated (mostly Soc girls). She was mature and lady-like but she knew how to have fun and wasn't afraid of breaking a nail or ruining her hair.

At first Danny thought we were becoming close friends. But then one day after rehearsal, he came up to me and said "are you going out with my sister?"

I hated to lie to him, and I didn't know whether Mira has said anything or not.

"Yeah" I said a little ashamed of myself. What would I do if one of my close friends started dating my sister? I'd probably knock his head in.

"Ok" he said

"Is that it?" I thought I was going to get it for sure.

"Yeah. She's changed heaps. She's so happy now and I couldn't figure out why" he looked at me suspiciously, "and she's always talking about you"

"Well she's great, you know, she's so fun" I said trying to make it sound as innocent as possible and it really was. The most we'd done was hold hands. I wanted to take it as slow as possible with her.

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Danny and I stopped going to the drive-in on Fridays. He either had a date or I did.

I called him a few times to ask him if he wanted to hang out.

"Sorry man, I'm so busy" is all he'd say. I couldn't figure out if he was avoiding me or was genuinely busy. We were both in our final year so I guess he must've been busy.

Between studying, practice, work and Mira I didn't really have much time for anything else anyway so it worked out alright. I had been having so much fun with Mira that I sometimes I forgot all about Danny. Football season had started and I couldn't go to rehearsal anymore but Mrs. Krobable said that I could just practice on my own because I was doing such a good job anyway.

When I told Mira about that, she would come over at least twice a week and help me 'rehearse' my lines. She did a great job as Lady Macbeth I thought, but she always said she was too shy to do it in front of other people.

"I perform for you alone" she told me with a wink. I didn't really think much of acting; it was like second nature to me so I didn't see what the big deal was but I liked her just the way she was.