Love Me Senseless, Chapter 4

Love Me Senseless1

Chapter 4: Friends 2

The next morning was so bright and cheerful inside of a certain girl that it seemed even the sun was no competition. Dani woke up before her alarm went off, clambered out of bed and hummed a love song on the short skip to the bathroom. As she washed the sleep from her face, brushed her teeth and untangled her straight brown hair, fragments of the previous evening’s conversation spun and rolled inside her head like a kaleidoscope. She couldn’t wait to get to school. She wanted to be with Crystal more than anything. She wanted to know everything about her. Upon thinking this, Dani raised her head from the sink to meet her own eyes in the mirror. They were shining, sparkling like twin stars dancing joyfully in silver moonlight. She gave the mirror her best smile (the one with which she would greet Crystal) and her shining eyes glowed. 3

Nothing could ruin this day.4

Back in her room, Dani shoved all the clothes in her closet aside before pulling out what she had hidden in the back of it. She unzipped the tiny, clear zipper before dropping it on the floor and shedding her pajamas quickly. With careful footing, she stepped into the crisp, light material before pulling it up around her body and zipping it up again. She composed herself with a sigh, thinking of how weird it felt to be wearing this. Turning to face the mirror hanging on the back of her door, she personally thought it looked weird on her too.5

For Dani’s sixteenth birthday at the beginning of the year, Arai had given her a dress. A summer dress to be precise, the kind she liked to wear. This one was a sky blue color decorated with richly colored palm trees of the deepest green and gold. Dani didn’t like dresses very much and had told this to Arai many times, but her friend had insisted that the dress would look great on Dani. “All I ask is that you try it,” she had told her. “You could stand to show off your body a little.” At the time, Dani had merely rolled her eyes and thanked Arai before shoving the dress in the back of her closet and trying to forget it was there. She didn’t know exactly why she wanted to wear it today; she just had this funny feeling. 6

She looked herself over. The dress hugged her chest and waist tightly, but not too tightly, and displayed a little more of her shoulders than she was comfortable with (it was sleeveless.) The deep and enthusiastic colors seemed to have a party on her pale skin, bringing it alive, and with the way the soft material framed her legs, she felt like her body didn’t belong to her. Dani saw (as well as felt) bright red bloom on her cheeks, neck and ears. She tore her eyes from the mirror and pouted slightly, staring at her floor. Arai had been right. The dress did look good on her. So I owe her one, she admitted silently, then shrugged. Oh well. After one last swipe of the brush through her hair, Dani slipped on her white sandals, hoisted her school bag onto her shoulder and hurried downstairs.7

She met her Dad at the breakfast table. He wasn’t the kind to start the day with coffee and a newspaper; he did it just like every other person. As if to prove this, he was eating cheerios. Dani fought back the urge to laugh when she took him in, like she did every morning, and dropped her bag before slipping into her seat with an amused smile.8

“Nice dress,” her Dad told her when he looked up. 9

She looked at him. “Thanks. Good morning to you too.” She only ate a little in the mornings so as not to put her stomach in a bad way, so the cheerios Dani ate were only about half that of her Dad. They made random conversation until seven thirty. Dani had to be at school and in her first class, Art, by eight.10

“I gotta go Dad, love you,” she said, giving her father a quick peck on the cheek. 11

“Love you too Dan. Have a good day,” he replied, pecking her back. His daughter paused to glare back at him for calling her ‘Dan’ before flying out the door. 12

Within minutes, she was in subdivision two and the school building was looming closer. Looking at it now, Dani seemed to be seeing it for the first time. Her high school seemed small and pitiful, yet tall and elaborate at the same time. Its main color was a sandy brown, but it had a sprawling black roof and the curly iron fence and entrance gate that surrounded it, though originally put there to make the school seem more impressive than it actually was, now seemed to make it appear as smart as its students. 13

“Morning sunshine,” said Arai, who was waiting for Dani at said gate. She was currently sending a text message, her hand clutching her hot pink cell phone while her experienced thumb hammered the buttons, but nevertheless could always tell when her friend approached. She clamped the phone shut with a sigh before finally looking up, and upon taking Dani in, her eyes grew to saucers before she engulfed the other girl in a suffocating hug. “OH MY GOD YOU’RE WEARING IT! I THOUGHT I’D NEVER SEE THE DAY!” she screamed excitedly. 14

“Arai, calm down!” Dani pulled away and kept her hands firmly gripped on her friend’s upper arms to prevent any more hug attacks. “Yeah, I had a sudden impulse to wear it today. And you were right, of course. I totally owe you an ice cream.”15

Arai laughed, her black eyes twinkling. “See, didn’t I tell you so? You should know better than to doubt me.” 16

“Yeah, I really should.” Dani winked before lowering her arms. Arai stepped back, taking in the dress with careful calculation. She was wearing a summer dress of her own today, Dani noticed, and it was just as busy as her own. It was a soft, creamy pink with cherries on it.17

“Yup, just as I pictured. But seriously, I really thought I would never see you wearing it.” The warning bell rang and Arai started for the front doors with the rest of the crowd. Her morning schedule was radically different than Dani’s so they wouldn’t see each other until lunch break after departure for first class. As they walked down the noisy entrance hall, Arai’s face split into a devilish smile. “An impulse huh? Wonder where that came from. Do I have a certain new student to thank for your sudden 'impulse' to wear the birthday present I gave you?”18

“Shut up,” Dani said while hitting Arai’s arm with her bag. Every time she thought of Crystal, a light dusting of pink would appear on her face, but whenever Arai teased her about it, that blush would turn into dark red fire. With how much that had happened since yesterday, Dani was already used to it. She still didn’t want anyone to see it though, least of all Crystal.19

And now that she thought of her…20

“Hey Arai, do you think Crystal will be in any of our morning classes?” 21

The Asian girl turned another smile Dani’s way, only this one was knowing and gentle. “I don’t know. Maybe. I’ll let you know if she’s in any of mine.” Dani smiled back before looking forward and tilting her head in thought. 22

“I wonder what she’s wearing today. Does she like dresses? She would look good in one, don’t you think? I mean, with the way her hair shines in the sun…yeah…” Dani’s eyes grew brighter as she imagined it. “I have a feeling she won’t be in another tank top for obvious reasons, but I’m sure she looks just as pretty as she did yesterday. All girls like clothes, but I wonder what else she likes…” Dani suddenly fell out of her daydream, and her gaze drifted slowly over when she felt Arai staring at her with amusement dancing in her dark eyes. Her stomach dropped to the floor as she clamped her mouth shut, swearing never to open it again. 23

Arai chuckled lightly, then shifted her books under her other arm and resting her free arm around Dani’s shoulders. “Dani dear,” she said, still giggling, “you really do have it bad.” 24

The two girls arrived at the winding bench at the entrance to Sophomore Hall. A bunch of students were gathered there as well as swarming the pale silver lockers, all buzzing like a beehive with morning excitement and tiredness. This is where they split and Dani went to Art class while Arai went to the Study Hall room with her other friend, Madeline Wimbler. Madeline and Dani were nice to each other, but not friends, and Arai was fine with that. They didn’t hold any grudges or anything. Madeline was decent for a high school prep, and Dani was secretly happy that Arai had a friend that shared qualities with her that she could not: straight, flirty, parties with boyfriends, boy catching secrets…the gist. Arai and Madeline had a lot in common. 25

“So I gotta go,” said Arai, hugging Dani again. “That text I got was from Madeline. Alex dumped her last night and she’s really heartbroken about it.”26

“Oh, really?” Dani rolled her eyes behind the cloak of Arai’s sleek hair. That was the other thing about petite, ecstatic Madeline. She went through boyfriends like little kids went through candy. She had been Alex Folicker’s girlfriend for three whole days before he dumped her, a new record. Dani was grateful that Arai’s boy obsessions weren’t quite that out of hand. They hugged extra hard, then withdrew. “Tell her I’m sorry.”27

“I will. See you Dani.” She turned and sprinted down the opposite hall where Madeline waited for her in tears. 28

“Later,” Dani whispered before Arai could hear.