Toto and the Boys III: Dannie

Chapter 15

A piece of the past...

"Stop it, Brady!" Dannie shouted at him, surprising everyone in the bus. They were on an out-of-town trip for a school activity and he could not leave her alone.

Jackie and George were already on their feet, reaching for his shirt as the bus rolled down the road back to Bacolod. "Stop it!" George shouted at him, finally managing to grab enough of his shirt to pull him toward her that half of his body was over the backseat. Lee and Miguel pulled him back by the back of his shirt.

"Ow, ow, ow...George! Let go!" he said, choking and grabbing George's hand.

"We told you to stop pissing Dannie off!" Jackie said with frustration as she grabbed a handful of his hair and tugged. "Say you'll never talk to her again!"

"What? No way-" the two girls pulled with their hands and he yelled, "Okay! Okay! Let go! Let go!"

"Let go of him, boys!" Miguel ordered.

"Just let him go!" Lee added, looking over his shoulder. "The teacher will see us!"

"I don't care!" George shouted, pushing Troy back toward Lee and Miguel with full force. She then lifted one finger in front of him and said, "One more prank on Dannie and you're dead. You're going to be the first mummy to be displayed in the Negros Museum."

"Gosh, George, calm down. It was just a freaking joke!" Troy whined, secretly throwing Dannie a glance. She was no longer paying attention to whatever was happening around her. Her eyes were fixed on the side of the road, looking at the passing sugarcane plantation. She was once again lost in her own world. "Fine. Whatever. Just forget about it if you don't know how to have fun." He returned to his seat, pulling Lee and Miguel with him.

PRESENT DAY

But that almost-wonderful feeling did not linger for long because when Troy started moving his lips against hers, deepening the kiss, a wall came crashing inside her mind and the memories from her past came crashing down on her that even the comfort of being in Troy's arms dissipated into tiny particles. The coldness of the water came up her spine and she froze.

And the moment he felt it, he stopped and stepped back.

Dannie's eyes were wide with disbelief and tears. His were wary.

"Danica, I'm-"

Dannie did her best to keep calm and push him as gently as she could. She stepped away and struggled with the current back to the riverbank. She could feel his presence behind her, guarding her steps, but he did not touch her. He knew her enough to try to touch her at that point. She scrambled back on dry land, found her slippers and hastily climbed the stairs back to the streets above. Troy lagged behind for a few seconds as he gathered his camera and other things.

"Danica!" he called after her a while later.

Her steps had slowed down due to exhaustion. The steps back up were not easy, but she had to go back to where Toto was. She had to get go back to the resort as fast as she could.

She wiped away tears with her hands, conscious not to touch her lips. She felt like she should not touch it for reasons she could not understand. A whimper escaped from her when she finally reached the top. The back of her hand wiped more tears as her feet carried her across the street to where Toto was parked, Troy not far behind her.

*****

My 'HOLY GAS MOMENT' came when our tour was nearly over.

We went to the famous balete tree which had been living for centuries. Troy took a lot of pictures and Dannie enjoyed the free fish foot spa with the gentle heat of the sun kissing our skin. Well, my metallic skin. They had silently made up. I knew they silently fought. I had sensed it earlier. It was kind of fun, driving around and it was easy to forget the problems that we had left behind in Bacolod.