FLORIDA, danny duncan

⤷ NINE

CHAPTER NINE, papa jim.

BRIELLE,

We walked inside of papa Jim's house, following behind Danny and Alex. We all stood around, watching Danny approach papa Jim while he was sitting on the couch. I stood by the front door, leaning against the frame. Kewon stood beside me, leaning his back against the wall. The rest of the guys who weren't by us, were outside by the Van.

"Papa Jim!" Danny smiled, "I'm back!"

"Hi, Danny!" Papa Jim replied back, holding his hand up. "Where did you go?"

"I went to California for a bit," Danny sat down next to him. "You should come with me next time."

Papa Jim shook his head, "I'd rather stay here... you bring any girls back this time?"

Everyone laughed, knowing how papa Jim loved being around girls. Danny's face immediately lit up, as he looked over at me. I already knew he was thinking of joking with something.

"Yeah! Actually, I brought one back this time. I brought a girl back with me," Danny said, "my— my girlfriend."

Kewon immediately looked back at me, giving me a face. Alex turned the camera on me, then back at the two of them on the couch. I pursed my lips together holding back a big smile.

Papa Jim looked at Danny, "girlfriend? I thought you said you didn't want a girlfriend?"

Danny laughed, nodding his head. "I changed my mind," Danny laughed, shooting a glance at me, to ensure me that he was just joking. "You wanna meet her? She's right there." Danny pointed at me.

I waved, smiling at papa Jim. "Hi," I said, "nice to meet you!"

Papa Jim stared at me, causing everyone to softly laugh. He looked back at Danny, "that's your girlfriend?"

"Yeah," Danny nodded. "This one is off limits!"

Papa Jim smacked his lips and looked over to Danny. He gave Danny an approving nod, making Danny laugh even more. "Good job," He pointed his finger at Danny. "You— you have a good taste!"

Danny laughed, "thanks, papa Jim." Danny stuck his fist out giving him a fist bump.

"She's pretty!"

"Yeah, very pretty!" Danny agreed with him.

"Do you want something to drink? Coke?" Papa Jim asked me. Before I could answer, he nodded, "I'll go get something... hold on."

Papa Jim slowly stood up from the couch, walking into the kitchen. Alex followed him with the camera, turning it back onto Danny.

Danny wheezed, "no way, dude. He didn't even ask any of us!" Danny said, "he only offered her one!"

Papa Jim came back out of the kitchen, and began to walk towards me. He handed me the Cole. "Thank you!" I smiled and took it from him.

"Papa Jim!" Danny called out, "stop trying to steal my girl!"

—

As we were heading back to Danny's place, Danny made us stop on the side of the road by the bridge where they always jump off of. Danny made me get out of the van, standing next him. I already knew Danny was going to make me jump, and I couldn't get out of it.

Alex nodded his head, signaling the camera was recording. Danny smiled, "we made a stop at the bridge on the way home," Danny said, "everyone's jumped off of this bridge at one point... except, you know."

Alex turned the camera on me, who just stood there with my arms crossed and a blank face. He turned it back to Danny, who let out a laugh when he saw my face. Josh stood on the other side of me, who also let out a soft laugh.

I looked over the bridge, "Danny, I'm not jumping off the bridge—"

"Why not?!" He cut me off. "It's not even scary."

"It's not that!" I said, "I don't want to get wet, and then get back into the van. I'm not taking my clothes off."

"I'll give you my shirt! You can replace your wet one with mine, so you're not completely wet... don't worry about your shorts, we're only down the road from my house anyways." Danny quickly replied.

He was desperate for me to jump off the bridge. I looked down at the green water, letting out a sigh. Whatever, it's only water. I took off my shoes and socks, putting it on the side.

Danny held my hand as he helped me up on the bridges wall. Right as he let go of my hand, I felt a push of my back, causing me to fall forward. I felt Josh try to help me catch my balance, but failed.

"Danny!" I gasped, then fell straight into the water.

I brought my head back up from the water, wiping my face off. I heard Danny laughing loudly. I heard faint laughs from the rest of the guys. I looked up at him, flipping them off as they looked down at me. Danny was recording me with his phone as well.

All of a sudden, there was a big splash next to me, causing me to close my eyes again to protect them from water. I pushed myself backwards in the water, backing up a bit. Danny's head lifted up from the water, shaking his head to move his hair out of the way.

Danny laughed, swimming towards me. "I felt bad, so I jumped in too."

I playfully rolled my eyes, "yeah, cause you pushed me! Rude."

Danny and I both swam up to the shore, stepping onto the grassy rocks. Danny came up from behind me, I noticed he was only in his boxers. I squeezed the water out from my hair, getting as much water I can off of me.

Danny stood in front of me, "I'm sorry," he said with a smile, but I can tell he was genuine about it. "Just wanted to have some fun."

"It's okay," I replied back to him. "As long as we're still alive." I laughed, tapping on his arm.

Our faces were close enough for me to see a little grass stuck to his face. I placed my hand onto his cheek, using my thumb to wipe away the grass.

"What?" Danny asked me. He stood there, letting me touch his face.

"You had a piece of like, grass or something stuck on your face," I said. "Let's head back up."

Danny nodded, allowing me to go up the hill first. He followed behind me, softly holding onto my lower back to make sure I didn't fall or slip. I heard a camera click go off, making the both of us turn our heads. Andrew, who was another camera man for Danny, had his camera facing down at us. He took another one as we looked up. Alex still held his camera in his hands, recording us as well.

When we made it back up, Danny handed me his shirt. "Here, you can put this on before you come into the van. We'll wait in there for you," he smiled at me. "Hurry, go into the van!" He said to the guys.

"Why don't we ever get some aftercare after you make us do stupid things? You're so nice to her." Marsh playfully rolled his eyes, walking back around the van.

"Shut up," Danny joked back. "Go."