SWEETER THINGS
TWO
~xx~
"What do you think Krissy would say if I asked her out right now?"
I looked behind me at Krissy. She looked tired and bored. One of her little red curls fell from her ponytail and blocked one of her pretty green eyes.
"She'd hit you." I said.
Danny had been telling me for weeks how cute he thought Krissy was, but I was not really buying it. He never wanted to really talk to her. He claimed it would be a suicide mission because she would reject him instantly. Even though I didn't believe that at all, I agreed. I don't really know why, it just felt like a natural reaction to his troubles.
"Of course she would. To be fair, she'd hit you also. If you asked her out."
I shook my head. "I doubt it. You should see how many flannels she owns. She's at least mostly gay."
Danny slammed his fist down on the counter, feining frustration. "Dammit!" he exclaimed, "Why is that so hot?!"
I started laughing, which earned me a glare from Krissy, who finally came over to disrupt our allegations about her sexuality.
"Don't you have to work, Danny? Or do you truly enjoy hitting on girls who look like they're 13?" she demanded.
"I just got done with my shift, sugar," Danny said, winking at her, "and c'mon, Kris. You look at least 15."
It was so difficult to contain my laughter, and Krissy could tell. She rolled her pretty green eyes. "He had better be gone in ten minutes! I could write you up for wasting all this time, Sammy!"
Of course she would do that. Because we have so many customers.
Krissy retreated to the back, and I turned back to face Danny. "See? She's never gonna fuck you as long as she thinks you have the hots for me."
Danny laughed and ran his fingers through his hair. "Sammy, I have never, and will never be interested in you. It would be complete betrayal to my main dude, Casey, and to add insult to injury, we're archenemies. Remember?"
"I'd never forget that. I have your murder planned, Urbanski, I'm just waiting for the right moment." I leaned over the counter and whispered in his ear in a way that was almost...seductive, "I wouldn't buy so much soda from here if I were you."
"Please. You don't have it in you to rid yourself of me. You love having me here, Sammy. Face it."
I stared him down, and said completely seriously, "Danny, please. It's like you said: I have never, and will never be interested in you."
Even then, I didn't mean it.
~xx~
"Stop freaking out, Sammy. He's probably just in class or something. He's in college now, he's busy."
I kept staring at my phone, completely ignoring whatever was going on in English class. "You don't get it, Marissa. Casey never ignores my texts. There's something going on."
I sounded like such a dumb girly-girl, so crazily-obsessed with her boyfriend, but I couldn't help it! It had been two days with no response from him. I didn't know what I was supposed to think.
Marissa was shaking her head at me, basically agreeing with that voice in my head that told me I was crazy. Unlike me, she was doing a pretty good job of working on our assignment for the day. Although I think it was partially just because my worrying was driving her nuts.
"I think we should go check it out." I said.
Marissa dropped her pencil and looked up at me. She looked irritated and partially concerned for my well-being. "What do you mean 'check it out'?!" she demanded.
"You know," I urged, "Check on Casey. Go down to Santa Louisa. Just to make sure everything is fine."
She rolled her eyes. "Can't you just call him?! You're going to make us look psycho if we go down there and confront him!"
"He hasn't answered my calls!" I exhaled heavily. This whole thing just felt weird. I didn't feel like myself. I was Sammy Keyes, dammit. I wasn't supposed to get crazy like this about a guy. Maybe she was right. Maybe I should just wait it out and see if he responds.
But what if he never did? What if he just left me hanging. He was an Acosta, after all. Us dating for the past four years certainly didn't change that. I had to figure this out, and I was going to do it my way.
"We won't look psycho," I assured Marissa. "I'm his girlfriend. He'll just be happy I'm paying him a surprise visit."
~xx~
Danny walked out of the mall with me when it closed. He did this any day we closed together because he claimed that any crazy old man could come up and assault me at this time of night. I used to tell him he was being stupid and that it was only 9:30, but he still insisted. It was nice, I guess.
"Soon! Soon that sexy little ginger will go out with me! I can feel it. I just gotta step up my game," he said, gesturing grandly around the parking lot to prove just how worthy he was of my co-worker.
"She's going to reject you. She's not interested and you know it," I told him, rolling my eyes.
Danny shook his head assertively. "No. No, Sam, what you don't understand is that this is a process that has been underway for many months. But I have her interest now, I just have to pull the trigger."
I laughed. "She just hates you because you're always bugging me when we are so busy. That doesn't count as having her attention."
"I got this!" he assured me as we approached me car. He leaned up against the passenger side, smiling at me. Whenever Danny smiles at me it reminds me of the time Marissa called his teeth "tiny glaciers in the sea of minty-freshness." I can kind of see it now.
"Besides," he continued, "I'd hardly call you the relationship expert."
I glared at him and reached behind his body to open the car door, forcing him out of the way. "Too far." I said flatly, and I meant it. We weren't supposed to mention my relationships.
He fell silent for a second, his smile fading and his face turning to an expression of genuine concern. "Sorry," he told me. "And look, you know how sorry I am about that whole Casey thing. He's an ass. And believe me, I would do anything to help you get back at him."
I scoffed. "Anything? Come on, Danny. What could you possibly do?"
"Lots of stuff! I live with the guy! I'll replace his shampoos with mayonnaise. I'll put red food dye capsules in the shower head and make him look like he just starred in 'Carrie.' I could start stealing his stuff and selling it on the internet, or just masturbate incessantly so he always feels like he has to leave. Or better yet, I could just start dating you."
I had been so close to getting in the car and driving off, but that statement caught me completely off guard. "Dating me?! Danny, there is no way I would ever want to date you. You might not be my arch-nemesis anymore, but you're still sleazy as hell….not to mention the fact that it would ruin your chances with Krissy." I was blushing. Why was I blushing? This was Danny. I should have been laughing and puking at the prospect of us dating, not blushing.
"Not real dating. Chill out. We'd just pretend to date to psych out Casey. Not even date, we could just pretend to be having sex if you want."
I scoffed. Then laughed. Then sat down in the driver's seat of the car. Then rolled my eyes. Too many nervous habits at once. I looked crazy. Danny looked totally serious. Was this not a joke? Was he not being sarcastic? How would I ever explain us fake-dating? Marissa would freak.
Still...it would be interesting. Casey would lose his mind. Plus, it's not like imaginary sex with Danny Urbanski was gross or anything. He was definitely still incredibly good-looking. It would definitely throw everyone for a loop…
No. He was clearly joking. I laughed again, which was awkward after the solid five seconds of silence I had just spent thinking.
"I'll, um...think about it," I said, "Night, Danny. I've gotta get home." I went to slam the car door shut but he stopped me.
"Goodnight," he winked, "Oh, and Sammy?"
"What?" Stop blushing. Stop it.
"Actually think about it."
A/N: So, it's almost 5am and I just opened my google docs and found this story. I read it over just not and was lowkey obsessed, so here's a second chapter. Hope ya'll don't hate it too much.
~Robin