Girl Crush

Chapter 8

 When the last bell of the day rang, Dani had never felt more relieved in her life. All afternoon, all anyone wanted to talk about was the one thing she was trying so hard to forget. Everywhere she turned, everyone was whispering about Eddie and Chrissy, the shocking new couple. The popular crowd was horrified at the way this threatened the status quo. The freaks were elated because maybe it meant they had a shot at a hot cheerleader too. The nerds were just confused at this strange turn of events, struggling to make it make sense in their world where everything fit into a neat little box.

Walking out the front door, she found Steve leaning against his car, waiting for her. He smiled as she approached, pushing himself off the car to greet her. She tried to be excited that this cute boy was so happy to see her. She dug deep within her to find a smile for him. She really liked Steve. That wasn't the problem. Seeing him made her so happy. Dani just felt so exhausted emotionally and mentally and she was struggling to find anything to give him.

"Hey," Steve said, taking her face in his hands gently. Those soft brown eyes searched hers with concern as he asked, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Dani nodded, "it's just been a really long day. I'm glad it's over."

Steve pulled her into his chest and she instantly felt comforted. She stayed there, pressing her cheek against his shoulder and the longer she stayed, the more she felt each muscle slowly ease. Maybe she was used to a different pair of arms comforting her, but these arms were awfully nice too. She could definitely get used to them. He pulled back just enough to press a kiss to her lips and she wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing herself against him. God, she wanted to feel anything, something that wasn't this awful ache deep within her soul.

"Well, that was nice," Steve whispered against her lips with a smile.

"Yeah, it was," she said, and she meant it. It was nice. Everything about him was nice. But as she pulled back, her eyes found a different pair of brown eyes watching her from the parking lot. Eddie stood by his van, a cigarette in his hand, his eyes burning holes into the two of them.

Steve's eyes followed hers and when he saw Eddie, he looked back at her, his lips forming an oh shit kind of expression.

"Uh, he definitely does not look happy. I'm pretty sure he is trying to murder me with his eyes. Is he mad about us seeing each other?" he asked.

"I don't know," she said, turning her back on Eddie to face Steve again, shrugging. "And I really don't care. Hey, you want to hang at my place tonight? We could just watch a movie or something and chill."

"Uh, sure," Steve said, glancing from her and then back to Eddie. "Hey, is that Chrissy the cheerleader with Eddie?"

Dani didn't even turn around. She couldn't bear the thought of watching the two of them again. She didn't want to see them kiss or Eddie's face light up when he saw her. Her heart had nothing left to give.

"Yeah, apparently they're dating now," she stated, trying to keep her voice as casual as possible.

"What? You're kidding."

"Nope, trust me, the whole school is just as shocked as you are." Dani forced a laugh, but it came out rough and shaky. "Who knew, huh? The freak and the cheerleader? But hey, the heart wants what it wants, right?"

"I guess," Steve commented, shaking his head. "I never saw that coming. Doesn't Eddie hate the popular kids, the ones who conform to society's expectations, who get everything handed to them on a silver platter? I feel like he made that pretty clear the other night at the movies when he was giving me a'l kinds of shit for it."

"He did, but apparently he's changed his standards. Look, can we just get going, please?"

"Yeah, okay."