I was already staring at my ceiling, thinking about Dani when my alarm went off playing Kill The Director. I felt giddy, and nervous at the same time thinking about seeing her at school today. I have fucking butterflies in my stomach, and I can't help but enjoy this feeling for a few seconds before getting up.

Cranking the music up, I looked at my closet and thought about what to wear. I bit my lip while deciding and realized that I wanted to look cute today. Thinking back, I wouldn't have dared wanting to look a certain way for someone to get their undefining attention. But now here I am, acting like one of those girls in a romantic movie. I finally get what the fuss was all about.

I settled with one of my favourite oversized sweaters which was the maroon-coloured one with faint red orange geometrical patterns. Then, I layed out a pair of black high-waisted jeans, and a black belt with a rose gold buckle on my bed. Running my hands through my dark hair, I wondered if I should wear jewelry too. Will wearing earrings look like I was trying too hard?

I huffed, and decided that I was going to wear my cute little gold elephant earrings because why the hell not? Maybe I should tie my hair up too and wear contacts. Then I remembered back to when Dani not recognizing me during our first tryouts together and thought about her flirting with me back then.

I grinned because I know that if I flirted back now, she would be all flustered and red. Oh man, I cannot wait to mess with her. With a satisfied nod about my outfit choice, I quickly grabbed my towel and went to take a shower.

After my shower, I got dressed and looked at myself in the mirror. The goofy smile on my face made me chuckle a little as I tuck my sweater in my jeans before putting on my belt. With socks in, and earrings in place, I let my hair down to air dry and quickly went downstairs to get my breakfast ready.

Mom and Dad were already up having coffee themselves and shared a knowing look at each other when they saw me enter.

"What?" I asked, and I could feel the stupid smile was still on my face.

"Oh, nothing dear. You look lovely." Dad said, sipping on his mug and again sharing a look with mom.

"Oh stop it dad, I already know mom told you."

"Told me what?"

"That I, kissed someone last night." I said, not feeling nervous one bit anymore. I have no idea where I got this newfound confidence. Back then I would've been so anxious talking about this. But then I witnessed mom's supportive reaction last night, which then made me feel safe and accepted. There was no use in hiding anymore. "I kissed Dani, last night."

"Oh wow." My dad said, now laughing. "I can't believe it was that easy for you to tell me."

"I know right?" I replied, feeling bewildered myself. "I sort of feel like... A new woman."

"Do you want to talk about it more?" Dad asked.

"Talk about my kissing experience with you guys? Um, nope." I said now pouring myself a bowl of cereal.

"Just know that your dad and I love you." Mom said, staring at me lovingly.

I bit the inside of my cheek and nodded. I'm not used to this kind of attention from them, but I really liked how they're making an effort on reaching out. They didn't say anything more about the subject and I felt relief come over me. Maybe this is what I needed all along. I should have approached them about this sooner.

"I like your outfit's colour scheme. The earrings gives a nice touch." My mom, winking at me as if she knows what my intentions are for today.

Blushing at this point, I munched on my cereal and tried to ignore her. It seems as though both of my parents are loving every single moment of this because they both laughed.

*

I was putting away my light brown overcoat, and my oversized gym bag in my locker when someone whistled behind me. It was Natasha and she was eating a granola bar while she stared at me in amusement.

"G'morning." I greeted her, and yet again smiling like a fool.

"Wow, you cleaned up real good." She said and dumped her granola trash in my locker. "What's the occasion?"

"Nothing." I said nonchalantly, but still smiling nonetheless.

"Huh." Natasha said, looking at me suspiciously. "Why do I sense that you're lying?"

"I'm not!" I lied. Why the hell can't I keep this smile off my face.

"Got a hot date?"

"No." I answered. "Not yet anyways..." I trailed off shrugging my shoulders.

"Maverick Bridge, dressing up on a random school day. How odd." Nat stated. "Did you and Dani do the dirty?" She asked in a whisper and I slapped her arm.

"No!" I hissed back, now blushing from embarassment. "No, not that. I just- A lot has happened." I said, while taking out my English textbooks from my locker.

"Ooh." She said, and wiggling her eyebrows. "Please, do tell."

I noticed that she was still wearing her scarf, and without thinking I pulled it off her and it revealed a coin sized hickey on her neck. Natasha quickly put her scarf back and pushed me away playfully.

"Obviously a lot has happened to you too." I said, and looked at her curiously. "Please, do tell." I added, smirking at her.

"Touché." Nat said, and grabbed her books from my locker as well. "But I am running late, and need to go to class. See you at lunch?"

"You bet."

Nat blew me a kiss, and walked away. There was a sort of bounce in her steps today, and knowing her for many years I knew that she was having a great start of her day.

When I turned to shut my locker, I got a text notification on my phone from Dani and it says,

Ms Shatilla is giving candy canes to everyone in class. You're missing out.

I smiled and walked towards English while texting,

Grab extra for me.

I was going to, but James already hogged the extras. Come to class, I'm bored already.

When I arrived, most of my classmates were there already and Dani was sitting in my seat. She was writing something in her journal, and a candy cane hanging from her mouth. When I walked in, she looked up to stare at me and her jaw dropped ever so slowly. I smirked at her, and sat down.

My heart was beating so fast when I greeted her with a,

"Bonjour." My accent obviously horrible.

"Bonjour." Dani greeted back, her accent better than mine. "Am I in the wrong class? This is English right?"

I chuckled and nodded.

"Maverick you look..." Dani trailed off, her gaze seemed distracted when she looked at me up and down. I reached forward and stole the candy cane that was in her mouth and I started to slowly lick it in front of her. Who am I becoming?

Dani closed her mouth and gulped. I then winked which I earned a blushing reaction from her. I turned around, enjoying every second of what I was doing to her and turned my book open for today's lesson. She then tapped me on the shoulder to get my attention.

"Yes, Danielle?" I said, my voice low and quiet while I looked at her sideways. She paused for a second, and squinted at me.

"Stop it!" She hissed lowly, looking beet red. She knew what I was doing, and I can't help but mess with her more.

"Whatever do you mean?" I tilted my head to the side, and took out the candy cane from my mouth. Dani's stare followed my every move. So when I licked my bottom lip to taste the candy, she buried her face in her arms on her desk.

I burst out laughing, while she groaned in complaint. Her ears turned so pink, and I thought she looked so adorable. So, I patted the top of her head as if to tease her, and she just glared back.

Ms Shatilla started her introduction of Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller.

"I encourage you all to read this stage play during winter break. We will have a pop quiz about it when we get back."

Some murmurred complaints, and a few huffed in frustration.

"But if we were all Maverick Bridge, we've already read it cover to cover." Someone said, and it was James.

He was staring at me with a grin on his face. I frowned, because of how unnecessarily obnoxious he was being for putting the spotlight on me.

"You look pretty today, by the way." He said, leaning towards me from his desk. I looked at him in disgust, and sighed.

"Thanks." I said, deciding to be a decent human being by not barking an insult back like I would used to. I raised my hand, and Ms Shatilla nodded her head at me.

"I'm pretty excited about this one. It was a really interesting read. Trust me on this, you guys. You won't be bored reading it. Some bits of it are pretty hilarious too." I encouraged my classmates, which made Ms Shatilla smile. I ignored Jame's gaze, because he was still staring at me. Turning, I saw Dani looking distracted with her chin resting on her palms. Her light brown eyes lightening up when I met her gaze, and she said,

"You are so wonderful." Out loud for everyone to hear.

There were murmurs of agreement, and I looked around feeling flustered. I turned back around and started to listen quietly to Ms Shatilla's lecture with my arms crossed, my face warm. She let us read quietly to ourselves for a while, and I tried to make notes in my binder from the play.

I could imagine Dani's lopsided grin from behind me, and I sighed while I try to calm myself down. This is almost too cheesy for me to handle. I need to stop.

There was a folded piece of paper thrown at my desk from behind and I knew it was from Dani.

Two can play that game.

I refused to turn back around to give her a reaction that she would want. It was bad enough that I'm always nervous around her. But somehow most of me was looking forward to this game that we're playing.

I bit my lower lip thinking of the all the possibilities, and outcomes of my decisions. I started this game. I am not losing. So I wrote,

Or we can just skip the game. We can get out of here and go back to my place.

I folded the paper, took a deep breath and tucked the paper in one of the clips of my pens.

"Here, you can borrow this one." I said smoothly while handing Dani my pen so we don't get any suspicions from Ms Shatilla.

I waited a little bit to turn around so I could see Dani's reaction to the note. Again, her jaw dropped ever so slightly and she took an intake of breath.

I can't help it. I giggled quietly, and grinned at her. Dani couldn't even look at me. She crumpled the note and placed a hand over her mouth, while she pretended to write things down in her binder.

"How are we doing over here, girls?" Ms Shatilla asked when she does her usual check in with the students.

"Dani doesn't seem to be feeling well." I said, and surprised on how well I acted.

Dani gave me a pointed look.

"Oh, what's wrong?" Ms Shatilla asked.

"N-no. It's nothing. I'll be fine. My stomach is just a little upset. I'm sure it'll pass." Dani said quickly.

Ms Shatilla bought it, and nodded her head while she tried to help other students.

"This is so much fun." I told Dani, and smirkimg at her.

"You don't know what you're starting Mave." She replied.

"I think I do." I said, laughing a little.

Dani furrowed her eyebrows, a small smile on her face.

"Fine. Bring it on." She sounded so confident that I was starting to feel like this was a bad idea.