Chapter Eight

Danielle was having a blast at Shirley's place. As promised, she made some pasta as well a bowl of salad and brought it over to Shirley's place. They talked over dinner, shared the latest gossip around town and told about their lives. Danielle had never known that Shirley was merely 5 years older than she was. 'Well, if one counted in the strictest sense, I'm way older than her," Danielle mused as she listened to Shirley recount her youth to her. She had also found out that she was actually a divorcee. After dinner, Shirley mentioned that she had rented a tape and asked if Danielle wanted to stay and watch as well. Danielle agreed, because she didn't have the heart to turn Shirley down and because its been some time since she'd watched a movie, old or new. Danielle politely offered to wash the dishes while Shirley made the popcorn with her microwave oven.

"Are you seeing anyone Danielle?" Shirley asked suddenly.

"No. Why?" Danielle answered without turning around. She had expected Shirley to ask her this much earlier during dinner and thus wasn't surprised.

"I was just wondering. Its just you didn't mention anything about it and I was just curious," Shirley replied. "I mean, you're so young and beautiful and all, its kind of hard to believe that you have no suitors at all."

"Oh Shirley, you're not that old yourself either," Danielle answered as she dried her hands on a cloth, flattered by Shirley's words. "And you're just as beautiful and you're kind. Besides, we women don't need men to live, do we?"

Shirley let out a laugh as she carried the bowl of popcorn out of the kitchen with Danielle walking alongside her. "Right on!"

After the movie, Danielle had stayed on a while longer to comfort Shirley. Shirley had rented a romance movie that had a similar ending as hers and it triggered rivers of tears from her. When Danielle returned home, it was nearly midnight. She had a great time at Shirley's, even though she thought the movie afterwards was more of a disaster because Shirley was doing more crying than watching and Danielle was doing more comforting than watching. Danielle didn't bother to turn on the lights in the house as she made her way up the stairs towards her bedroom. In her room, she stripped down until she was as bare as the day she was born and stepped into her shower. A few minutes later, she emerged from the bathroom, with hot steam trailing behind her. She toweled dry her hair and went to bed in nothing but her skin, snuggling under the covers. And for the first time this week, Danielle slept through the night, blessed with a dreamless sleep.

Danielle had awoken in a much better mood than yesterday and had gone to school earlier than usual. She had not completely her assignments from yesterday since she spent the night at Shirley's house and decided to finish them in school. The school was rather deserted when she arrived and Danielle was glad to know that she had at least an hour or two before the school would be bustling with people and noise. She was making her way towards the big tree at the back of the school when she decided against it. Since there was hardly anyone in the school at this hour, Danielle decided to head towards the cafeteria instead. It would be empty save for the chefs and perfect for her to complete her assignment whilst she ate her breakfast. As Danielle had predicted, it was empty. She bought herself a sandwich and settled herself in the far corner of the cafeteria and started on her assignment.

Aidan had filled Jake in on his finding yesterday as they walked towards the cafeteria. They had just finished their weekly basketball fix and were on the way to the cafeteria, their hair still wet from the shower that they've just had. Pushing the doors of the cafeteria, Aidan and Jake walked in, unaware of the presence of a girl, sitting right at the far corner of the cafeteria. They approached their regular spot, a table near the front corner of the cafeteria, with Aidan's back facing the other end of the room. Jake looked up, and noticed a girl at the far end of the corner, looking very much like the description of the girl that Aidan had described to him.

"Hey, Aidan," Jake said, motioning to Aidan to get his attention. "The girl over at the other end, is that her?"

At the mention of that mysterious girl that he had just told Jake about, he turned around swiftly, his heart pounding away at the sight before him. He was looking at his mysterious girl. She was sitting all alone at the corner end of the room, her head bent over some papers, apparently completing her assignments. His lips formed into a smile as he answered Jake, without turning towards him.

"Yeah. That's her."

He heard Jake move to stand beside him, his gaze focused on her as well. "She's a looker, man." When Aidan merely smiled, Jake nudged him.

"Go talk to her."

"About what? I don't even know her," Aidan replied. As much as he wanted to get to know her, he didn't know where to start or if she would reject his friendship. The last thing he wanted was to push her away from him even further.

"That's the point. Get to know her then," Jake explained, clearly exasperated with Aidan. "Look, this is a perfect chance. There's no one here besides us. It's quiet and you can take your time to introduce yourself and get to know her better without any interruption."

Aidan returned his attention to her as he contemplated Jake's suggestion. He did want to get to know her, and this was a perfect time and probably the only time where he'll get to introduce himself without any interruption. He shoved his hands into his pockets and shrugged.

"I don't know, man. What if she takes it the wrong way? What if she thinks I'm some kind of stalker?"

Jake rolled his eyes. For all his life he's never known Aidan to behave this way. Aidan had courted girls with a nonchalant attitude and was never afraid of being turned down. He pushed Aidan towards the counter and said, "Buy her a drink and say it's an apology from you for that day. Then start to introduce yourself and then just go with the flow and follow from there."

Aidan did just as Jake suggested. He didn't know what was wrong with him. He didn't usually behave like a wimp, afraid of being turned down. But around her, he was extra nervous and unsure. He took the drink and approached her. Mentally, he braced himself for the sweet sound of her voice as he stood just at her table, watching as she lifted her head up and looked at him. Smiling, he said 'Hi'.

Danielle looked up from her assignments when she noticed someone standing at her table. She saw familiar blue eyes looking down at her, those familiar lips curving up into a smile. An odd feeling settled at the pit of her stomach just as she remembered where she had seen him before. It was the guy whom she had bumped into at the corridor the other day.

"Hi," Danielle replied with a smile. She saw a wave of uneasiness wash past his face as he spoke.

"Do you remember me?" he asked unsurely. "We bumped into each other that day."

"I remember," Danielle replied.

"Good," he said with relief. He placed the drink he had in his hand onto the table and pushed it towards her. "I wanted to apologize for my carelessness that day but I couldn't seem to find you anywhere in school and I saw you sitting here alone when I came in so I thought I'd buy you a drink as an apology."

He looked at her, as if waiting for her absorb his apology or to give some sort of response. But Danielle remained silent, looking at him, waiting for him to continue.

"I'm Aidan by the way, Aidan Portman," he said, his hand outstretched towards her.

"Danielle," she replied. "And thank you for the drink. It wasn't necessary."

"Danielle," Aidan repeated, enjoying the feel of her name on his tongue. "No last name to go with such a pretty name?"

"Would you like to sit down?" Danielle asked, changing the subject, gesturing to a chair beside her.

Aidan, partly shocked and partly elated, pulled out the chair beside her and sat facing her. He was so happy that he could almost shout out in joy. He hadn't planned on staying, at least he didn't think she would want him to stay and chat with her. But she had invited him to stay on. That had to be good news.

"So, I presume that that guy over there, who pretends to be so engrossed in his plate of food every time I catch him looking over here, would be your friend?" Danielle asked, directing the conversation in another direction lest he remembered his question about her last name.