I could tell she wanted to reach for one straight away, so I shoved the plate in her direction. She took the top piece and nibbled the corner.
Her murmur of approval made me smile.
I wanted to know about her appetite. For such a slender thing, I had assumed she was super conscious about what she ate, but she didn’t think twice about the chocolate slice. Was she skinny because she wanted to be or because she just naturally was? I nearly opened my mouth to ask, but swallowed back the question when she looked up at me.
“Should we get started?” She opened up her binder. It was neatly labelled under subject areas and she flipped to Sociology, running her finger over the assignment sheet. “Okay, so what are your thoughts so far?”
I eased into my chair, took a bite of chocolate slice and rubbed the crumbs from my fingers. Pulling out the crumpled assignment sheet from my bag, I smoothed it out and we got started.
An hour later we were set on which sub-culture we were going to study and who would be assigned to which tasks. It had been really easy working with Dani. We both seemed interested in the same things and she liked my suggestions straight away…happy to go along with whatever. She didn’t shy away from the workload either, which was a relief. Last time I did a group assignment, I’d had to do practically everything, which really pissed me off.
I had a feeling this assignment was going to be a lot more fun.
“Well, there’s probably nothing much more we can do today. I’ll look into this stuff.” I tapped my pen on the first task.
“And I’ll work on that.” Dani grinned, pointing at the next task on the list. Our hands nearly brushed as she glanced at me, her eyes locking with mine for an intense second of who knows what. All I know is that it was totally cut short.
“Hey Zach! We’re home!”
Dani flinched, dropping her gaze. Her hand retreated back to her own binder.
I loved my parents, but man did their timing suck. I pushed a smile over my lips and looked across the kitchen.
“Hey guys.”
“Oh hi.” Mom breezed in from the laundry room where the internal door from the garage was located. Her bright, warm eyes took everything in and I was pretty sure her sunshine smile caught Dani by surprise. I couldn’t figure out what Dani was thinking as she forced her lips north.
“Hi.” She stood from her chair and extended her hand. “Danielle Harrison.”
Mom grasped her hand, obviously impressed. “You can call me Loretta and the guy lumbering through the kitchen is Tom.”
Dani gave a tentative wave to my dad’s loud, “Howdy!”
I cringed.
“So, what are you guys working on?” Mom shrugged her jacket off, looking over my shoulder.
“Just a Sociology assignment.”
“Oh neat.” She was always so enthusiastic about school work. She taught Grade 1…enthusiasm came with the territory. “Well, Danielle, do you want to stay for dinner, sweetie?”
“No.” Dani’s skin was white, her shoulders tense, but then her demeanor changed as if she caught herself. “I mean, yes.” She smiled, holding her forehead as if mortified. “Of course I’d love to stay, but I can’t. Sorry.” She looked back to my mom. “Dad’s expecting me home for dinner.”
“That’s fine, honey.” Mom squeezed Dani’s arm. “You’re welcome here anytime. I love it when Zach’s friends come over.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Schultz.”
I noticed she refused Mom’s offer of calling her Loretta. Mom did too, but thankfully chose not to say anything.
“Take care, Danielle. We’ll see you some other time.”
“Sure.” Dani nodded, looking calm, but I could feel tension radiating off her. It didn’t help when Dad stepped up to the table and slung his arm over Mom’s shoulder, kissing her cheek noisily.
“Oh Tom.” Mom slapped his tummy and giggled as he nuzzled his nose into her hair.
I looked away, so used to their teenage like affection. I should be grossed out by it, but it was kind of funny how they still acted like kids sometimes. I grinned at Dani, ready to roll my eyes, but she was still looking at my parents, her blue eyes sad and twitchy.
Flicking her binder shut, she snatched her bag off the floor.
I gently reached for her arm, catching her frantic movements and bringing them to a halt. Her expression changed. The agitation disappeared as she put on the calm show again. Her smile was easy, her eyes light.
Hampering my confusion, I tried to match her grin. “Do you want a ride home?”
“No thanks.” Her sweet voice held so many secrets. Secrets I wanted to uncover.
The urge to ask her where she lived was strong, but I knew she wasn’t going to tell me. I don’t know how I knew, but I did.
“Well, at least let me walk you out.”
I placed my hand on her lower back, guiding her away from my parents.
“Take care, Danielle,” Dad called after us.
A muscle in her back jerked and she shifted away from me. “Will do,” she called back.
I didn’t say anything else as we sauntered to the driveway. Questions were burning, but I kept them back. There was time. Well - one to four months if her dad uprooted them again.