Girl Crush

Chapter 16

 "Oh my god! Eddie caught you straddling Steve in his car!?" Robin yelled during Chemistry the next day.

"Jesus Christ," Dani hissed, slapping her hand over Robin's mouth. "Could you be any louder? I don't think they heard you in California!"

Dani slowly lowered her hand, glaring at Robin in warning as she shook her head, sighing. Her and Robin had met freshman year. Dani had been sitting in the back of Algebra on the first day, her head down, doodling in her notebook when a cyclone of chattiness and friendliness plopped down next to her. That was it. Robin had adopted her and there was no getting out of it.

Most of the time, she wouldn't dream of it. She adored Robin. Robin told her the truth at all times, whether she wanted to hear it or not. She was fiercely loyal. You never had to doubt whether Robin had your back. It went without saying. You could always expect to laugh when Robin was around. But sometimes, her complete lack of a filter or ability to think before she spoke or control the volume of what was coming out of her mouth was really frustrating. Like now, when half the class all turned to look at them.

"Sorry," Robin said, lowering her voice. "That must have been mortifying for all of you. Steve is still in one piece, right? What did Eddie do when he saw you guys?"

"Steve is fine. Eddie didn't do anything. He got really weird, mumbled about how he would see us inside and headed in the bar."

"Was Steve red as a tomato and stammering incoherently?" she asked with a snort.

"No actually," Dani replied. "He was pretty cool about the whole thing until we all went out to eat after."

Robin cringed. "Wait. You and Steve went out to eat with Eddie?" She started laughing. "Oh my god. I can just imagine that meal. Did they shoot daggers at each other across the table the whole time? Pretty boy jock and crazy metalhead breaking bread together. Damn, I wish I would have been there."

"No, you really don't," Dani assured her. "Eddie got all stupid. He went on and on about teaching me to play guitar, making it sound way more intimate than it was to get Steve all riled up. Then he started venting about not wanting to be popular because they don't think for themselves but just follow the crowd, insinuating Steve was one of those people. He said he never would have looked twice at me when he was in high school."

Robin's mouth screwed up in a grimace. "Damn. He really went for the throat, didn't he? That's harsh, but probably not inaccurate."

"Seriously? You're going to take Eddie's side when he was insulting Steve? I thought Steve was your best friend."

"Look, you know I love Steve. He is my best friend. Well, one of them." She tilted her head and grinned at Dani. "But you remember when he was here, right? He was basically Jason Carver. He was Mr. Popular. All the girls here wanted to be with him and all the guys wished they were him. He was untouchable. He swaggered around here like the King they all thought he was."

"Maybe, but he's not like that anymore," Dani argued, annoyed that she had to defend Steve to yet another person in her life.

"No, he's not," Robin agreed. "We wouldn't be friends if he still was. Steve Harrington has gone from primo jerk to sweet teddy bear. I'm just saying, from Eddie's perspective, a guy who doesn't know him all that well, he might not seem like the best guy for you."

"Yeah, well, he has no idea what the best guy is for me and

Eddie doesn't get to make that decision," Dani fumed.

"I'm not saying he does," Robin said quickly, "but you know he's protective of you. He's known you since you were a kid. You've always been one of his group, on the fringes, not caring about being part of the in-crowd. To him, it's probably like you hooking up with Jason, who goes out of his way to try and make Eddie's life hell."