The Other Girls

Chapter Four: Dean

"Did you find a fourth source for the project?" asked Karoline.

"Yep! I can send you the link right now," said Danny. They were in the library, working on their science project, just a day after Karoline and Diana had argued in the pizza parlor. Karoline felt nervous for some reason, as if Diana was somehow watching them. But she shook that thought out of her head. What Diana thought didn't matter anyway. Sure, she thought Danny was kinda weird, but she wasnt gonna be mean to him just to get him to stop liking her. Plus, he had never even really shown any signs of liking her anyway. But maybe it was just like her crush on Brad, not really a real thing. But no, her crush on Brad was real, just a different kind of crush than Diana's. At least, she kept telling herself that.

Karoline looked over at Danny, typing away on his computer, trying to figure out why Diana liked him. He wasn't that good-looking, but then again, Karoline didn't really see the appeal of his style. Everything was subjective, anyway. And he had been pretty nice to her this entire time with the project, but maybe it was just because he liked her. In her experience, that was the only reason guys were ever nice to her.

"I think we can finish this by tomorrow night if we work hard," said Danny with a sigh. Karoline smiled.

"Honestly, I didn't really think that you would be the type to actually work hard," Karoline said. Internally, she cursed herself for how rude she sounded. She really had to work on that.

"I could say the same for you," Danny said straightforwardly, not seeming to be impacted by her tone in any way. Karoline let out a little laugh. She got average grades and didn't care too much about school, but when she saw how hard Danny was working on the project, she wanted to do her part and try just as hard..

"Well, I think we can do the rest on our own. Text me if you need anything," Karoline said, abruptly shutting her laptop and standing up. She shoved it in her bag and left the library without even waiting for Danny to say bye. All of a sudden she felt guilty for being nice to him. Ugh, stupid Diana.

***

Karoline was lying in bed, watching a stupid dramatic romance movie with Jasmine and Alli sitting on either side of her.

"Please don't go, Caroline! Give me one more chance!" cried the man on the TV. Her friends laughed. They had purposefully chosen a movie where the heroine had the same name as her (albeit, with the more conventional spelling) because they thought it would be funny.

"Please don't go, Karoline!" mocked Jasmine, throwing her arms around Karoline dramatically.

"Stop it," Karoline laughed, playfully punching her friend in the arm until she let go. Then, all of a sudden, her phone buzzed. Karoline picked it up, and her eyes widened at the sight of Diana's instagram username. She opened the message, trying to act nonchalant about it. It read: "can we meet tomorrow after school. behind the school like the first time." Karoline internally groaned. She really didn't want to see Diana. She knew that Brad had heard the rumor by now, but she didn't know the status of his relationship with Sherry. Maybe that was what Diana wanted to talk about?

"Who are you talkin' to?" asked Alli in a singsong voice. Karoline immediately shoved her phone down in her lap.

"No one," she exclaimed quickly.

"Come on, Karoline, we know something is going on," Alli said.

"I know I told Alli to stop bothering you last time, but seriously, what's up with you?" Jasmine asked. Karoline's heart started racing. She never kept secrets from her friends, but she couldn't say that she was conspiring with a weird girl to make Brad like her. She had to make up something quick.