"Good morning," Sheryl said when Danni appeared in the kitchen.
"Hello."
"Breakfast will be up in about five minutes."
"All right." she was about to sit down when the doorbell rang. "I'll get it." she walked to the door and was surprised to see Chad. "Chad?"
"Hey," he said with his adorable smile.
"Hey. So you're here, in my house at seven in the morning. Why?"
"Well Sheryl said I could stop by for breakfast so I thought I would."
"Oh."
"Why do you seem so surprised?"
"Well I didn't think you were actually going to…never mind, come in." he walked into the house and the amazing aroma from the kitchen filled his nostrils.
"Wow, something smells awesome," he said as they walked into the kitchen.
"Chad, so nice to see you again. Here for my food?"
"Why else would I be here?"
"Gee, thanks," Danni said sarcastically.
"Getting to see you is pretty sweet too."
"Good save." They sat down and Sheryl placed the plates of food in front of them.
"Dude I'm moving in."
Sheryl smiled; she loved it when people praised her cooking.
"Ready to go?" Chad asked after they finished eating.
"Yeah, bye Sheryl."
"Thank you for breakfast." She gave them both a kiss on the cheek and they left.
"Want to go in my car?" Danni asked.
"It'd be all right if I leave my car here?"
"Yeah of course."
"Sure then."
"Ok." She tossed him the keys.
"You're letting me drive this?"
"Ok it's just a car." They got in and he excitedly turned on the car.
"Ok what is taking Chad so long?" Taylor asked as she, Troy, Gabriella, Sharpay and Zeke waited outside.
"Taylor calm down, he'll be here soon," Troy said.
Danni's G-Wagon pulled into the parking lot and parked towards the back.
"Why is Chad getting out of that car?" Sharpay asked.
Danni jumped out from the other side clad in her biker jacket and Chad pushed her playfully.
"Why is he flirting with the new girl?" she asked.
"He's not flirting," Taylor said.
Danni put her foot in front of Chad and he stumbled.
As everyone watched the flirting from a distance Taylor began to fume.
Chad stopped Danni halfway and put his hands on her shoulders.
"What's he doing?" Zeke asked.
Danni took off and Chad chased her. He stopped by the group.
"Hey, got to go." he gave Taylor a quick kiss on the cheek and continued after Danni.
"We have to get to class, see ya later," Gabriella said before walking away with Troy.
Before Zeke and Sharpay walked away Sharpay leaned in to Taylor.
"I'd keep an eye on her if I were you." she left.
"You bet I am." She stormed into the school and into chemistry which she had with Chad. He wasn't there yet though.
"Man you're a basketball player and you run that slow?" Danni asked when she got to her class. Both she and Chad were out of breath.
"You got a head start."
"Yeah, ok."
"I'll see you next period."
She nodded.
Chad absentmindedly started leaning in.
"K bye," she said, quickly walking into the class.
"What was I thinking?" he walked away.
Danni sat in her seat and thought about what had just happened.
"Was Chad going to kiss me?"
He couldn't, he had a girlfriend.
She decided to forget about it and started listening to the lesson.
"What took you so long to get here?" Taylor asked Chad when he snuck into class.
"I forgot something in my locker," he lied.
"Ok… why did you get here today with Danni?"
"I was at her house and she suggested we take her car."
"At her house? For what?"
"Breakfast. Her housemaid is the best cook ever."
"She has a housemaid?"
"And the nicest house in town."
"Well you kind of ignored me this morning."
"I stopped and kissed you."
"Yeah but…"
"Ms. McKessie, quiet."
"Sorry Mr. Sandoval."
They didn't speak for the rest of the class.
Danni was sitting in her usual seat in math, the desk behind Chad's.
"What's up?" he asked when he sat down.
She smiled at him and opened up her notebook.
They both acted normal and slipped notes to each other all period.
The rest of the week was pretty much the same way. They talked during class and were at each other's houses when they weren't busy with something else.
This all made Taylor's blood boil but the thing was that Danni wasn't trying to steal Chad away from her. She knew Taylor and Chad were together and she respected that.
She was now in third period study hall with Troy, Chad and Sharpay.
"Hey Danni I'm having a costume party tonight at my house and I'd like you to come," Troy said, giving her an invitation.
"Cool, I'll see if I can go."
"Danni Thomas you're needed in the office," an aid said.
"Ok, bye guys."
"Bye." She left.
Chad watched her walk away and Sharpay noticed.
"So are you guys excited to see your girls in bunny costumes tonight?" Sharpay asked. She, Taylor, and Gabriella were each dressing up as a different playboy bunny. Sharpay of course was going to be in pink, Taylor in red and Gabriella in blue.
"I'm super excited," Troy said.
"Yeah, me too," Chad said, but he seemed kind of distant.
"Sure you are," Sharpay said.
Danni got back to class halfway through sixth period.
"Where have you been?" Chad asked.
"Man they kept in the office for ever. They had like some sort of of emergency so I had to wait."
"Well what did they want?"
"Just to ask me how my week was going and if I had adjusted yet."
"So are you going to go to the party?"
"I don't think so."
"What? Why not?"
"I'm not really into dressing up; I don't even have a costume."
"Oh it shouldn't be hard to find something."
"I don't know."
"Come on, we're all going to be there and it's going to be fun."
"I'll see."
After school they headed to their own houses.
The party was the talk of the school and Danni was sure everybody was going to be there.
She was lying across her bed sketching when she looked at the clock: 8:30.
Everyone was probably already at the party, except her of course. She could tell that Chad really wanted her to go so she got up and put on gray skinny jeans that bagged up at the bottom, a black shirt with a skeleton torso and converse. She knew all the girls were going to be in skimpy lingerie with some sort of animal item attached to it. 'Mean Girls' wasn't lying. Danni would never be caught dead in something like that.
She walked out to her car and left.
"Hey have you seen Danni around?" Chad asked Troy.
"No, not yet man."
Chad was in jeans and a black t-shirt with a skeleton body on it, Troy was in a Prince Charming costume.
"You think she's going to come?"
"Dude why do you want her here so badly?"
Troy shook his head and walked away.
Chad looked around and saw Taylor chatting away in her skimpy outfit. He had to admit that she looked hot. He walked over to her.
"Hey babe, want to dance?"
"Sure." They walked onto the dance floor and started dancing.
"You have an invitation?" a doorman asked Danni.
"Wow, bouncer and everything. Feel like I'm back in New York." She showed the man her invitation and walked into the house. Troy had a cool set up. He had changed the guest house into a haunted house and the place looked great.
"Hey Danni!" she turned around and Gabriella was standing before her in a blue playboy bunny outfit.
"Hey, Gabbi you look, great."
"Thanks see you around," she said before dancing off.
Danni's prediction was confirmed. All the girls were dressed like skanks.
Happy Halloween
"I'm thirsty," Taylor said. She walked away from Chad.
"Um, ok I'll just wait here," he said, shaking his head.
Sometimes Taylor was the weirdest chick ever. He looked over to the door and saw Danni talking to Gabriella. Once Gabriella was gone he walked over.
"Hey," he said.
She turned around and they looked at their shirts.
"Guess we think alike," she said.
Chad laughed.
"I'm glad you came."
"Yeah. I didn't have anything better to do."
"Sure you didn't," he said with a smile.
"So this place looks cool."
"Yeah, Troy throws the best parties. So want to dance?"
"I thought that was one of your well kept secrets."
"Well maybe it's time for me to spill."
She smiled and they walked to the dance floor.
Taylor turned around, water bottle in hand only to see Chad dancing with Danni.
Why was he smiling like that?
Why was he getting so close to her?
Why did they look so…together?
She scoffed and stomped away.
"Wow, I never expected you to move like that," Danni said as she got some water.
"You're not drinking?" Chad asked.
"No, I'm not into that."
"Oh, ok." he put the beer down and poured himself some soda. "I shouldn't be either."
She smiled for the tenth time that night.
'She has such a beautiful smile,' Chad thought.
"Want to take a walk outside?"
"Sure." They walked out the back door and started down the small path to a gazebo Troy had. "Troy has a nice house."
"Yeah well I thought he had the nicest house in town until I saw yours."
"I guess mine is a little bigger."
"Yeah, just a little."
He smiled and slowly linked his fingers with hers.
She stopped and turned to him.
"Danni you're…" he started but she cut him off by kissing him.
When she pulled back he had a smile on his face. He was expecting her to be smiling but she wasn't.
"I… I shouldn't have done that."
"No, Danni it's ok."
"It's not. You have a girlfriend. God! I'm so sorry."
"Danni…"
"I have to go." She ran to the side of the house and out to the front yard. Chad started after her but by the time he got to the front the G-Wagon was speeding down the street.