Youth Group Popularity

Chapter 18 - Only Couples Do This

"That's impossible. You can't just put a tree in outer space and expect air to just appear!" I retorted to Danny as we walked alongside the lake. Parker and Lucas were a few feet behind us and I had no idea where Preston, Suzanne, or Amanda are.

"But if a tree produces oxygen, then you can just put it on the moon or something and an atmosphere will develop," Danny argued.

"But, air isn't toally made of oxygen. Plus, trees need carbon dioxide to survive, plus soil, plus sunlight."

I knew Danny wasn't being serious about this argument. If he was serious, then I'd be a little worried. He just wants to see me argue because he's weird like that. He gets a kick out of frustrating me over stupid stuff like this.

"They've got plenty of moon dust and sunlight to keep em' happy!"

"Oh, and they need water! There's no water in outer space," I pointed out.

"Then the astronauts will give it water. You're such a downer sometimes!" He raised his voice, but I knew he wasn't serious about it.

"I'm just pointing out that it's impossible."

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!" He defended.

"Don't be getting all spiritual on me, using scripture and all that," I joked while wagging a finger at him.

"I can do what I want, when I want, and where I want and I don't need no man!" He kidded back.

"If you keep annoying me, I'll shove you in the water," I threatened, giving him a little nudge towards the direction of the lake.

"Keep making threats like that and I'll have to throw you in," He said in an intimidating voice and grabbed my waist like he was about to lift me in the air.

"No no no no no!" I begged.

He removed his hand and flashed me a satisfied smirk. He started walking ahead of me with a confident strut and I reacted like I promised I would. I took a few steps to catch up with him and put two hands on his arm, adding force to make him tumble over. He didn't realize what was happening until his feet slid down the small incline and he fell into the water. Note that it's about fifty degrees out here so the water must be miserable.

Danny immediately got out of the water as fast as he could and sat on the ground. Parker and Lucas had run up to us at his point an were wondering what had happened. I took a seat on the ground next to Danny as he cupped his goose bump-covered arms.

"Okay, maybe I deserved that. I should have saw that coming," He laughed and breathed out, his breath turning to white mist in the air. He wasn't totally wet since the water was shallow. Just his whole backside and part of his stomach and chest were wet because of the splash.

"Let's go back to the fire to get you warm," I suggested and got up from the ground, sweeping some dirt off my rear. He stood up from the ground and walked alongside me.

"Sorry, but that was pretty funny," I laughed but he gave me a flat look.

"It was pretty funny, but you know what would be even funnier?"

"What?"

"If I did this..." I was confused but I figured what he was planning on doing.

He lifted me over his shoulder so my entire torso was draped over his dripping wet t-shirt. I begged for him to have mercy on me and not throw me in the icy water.

"No no no! Please don't!" I pleaded but he kept walking. He stopped right at the bank of the lake and began to tip his body over, like he was going to drop me, but he rose back up. I breathed a sigh of relief whenever he began walking away from the water.

"Okay, I'm not that mean. But that would have been pretty funny to see."

"Thank you. Can you put me down now?"

"Erm... Nope!" He pretended to contemplate on my request.

"Danny! You're getting my shirt wet!"

"Yeah, well, you go my whole backside wet so who's got the better hand here?"

The leaves and twigs under his feet made a crunch as he walked back towards the glowing fire, Lucas and Parker trailing behind us. My position was very uncomfortable and I hoped that he would set me down soon because I'd rather walk than be carried like a sack of potatoes. I felt like I could possibly fall any second and there'd be nothing I could do about it.

"Having fun, Elaine?" Parker sneered with a sarcastic tone.

"Oh, it's just peachy," I said, making the 'O.K.' sign with my fingers.

"You two are acting like a married couple. Fighting like this and all."

"Well, he is my boyfriend."

It felt weird saying that. Boyfriend. Hmm... I guess he played the part pretty well. Well, I guess WE played the part pretty well. I couldn't help but think we do what most couples do even though we're not even together like that. I mean, we go out together, lie under the stars, hold hands, talk like we have a future together, but still, it means hardly anything. Well, it does for now.

I folded my arms the best I could while hanging upside down. Parker and Lucas couldn't stop laughing at me as I dangled from Danny's shoulder, swaying with every step he took.

"This is very unenjoyable," I complained flatly, my face almost slamming into Danny's back. I just sighed and waited until we were back at the fire.

Eventually, after a few almost-falls and my nose hitting into Danny a couple times, we got back. Danny let me down gently and the first thing I did was take a breather. That was definitely not pleasant. I straightened out my dampened shirt and my hands became wet so I wiped them on my jeans. Every time the soggy, cool shirt hit my stomach, it would give me chills.

I noticed Amanda sitting close the fire and staring right into the flame so I took a seat beside her. I talked quietly only for her to hear because Parker and Danny were about 10 feet away from me.

"Did you talk to him?" I asked but she gave me no response. I nudged her a little bit but she just glanced at me for a millisecond.

I thought about just letting her have her space, but I really wanted to know what happened. I looked past the fire and to Preston, who was sitting about 20 feet away directly across from me. He was alone, his arms resting on his knees, looking towards the fire, possibly at us. Suzanne wasn't with him but I spotted her talking to Parker near where we parked.

"I told him..." She spoke, making me turn my eyes back to her.

"What did he say?" I asked, knitting my eyebrows together in concern.

"He didn't really say anything. He just said 'Okay. Thanks for being honest with me.' and then he walked away," She explained while looking blankly into the fire.

"So what are you going to do now?"

"Wait. Whatever God's timing is, I guess."

A gust of chilly wind whipped around us, making the fire wave violently. I gave her a sort of slanted face and tilted my head. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Honestly. It's not bothering me as much as I thought it would."

"You sure?" I rose an eyebrow at her.

"Seriously. I'm fine."

"Okay... If you say so..."

I got up from the ground, gave her one last sympathetic look though she didn't notice it, and walked over to Preston. I parked my rear beside his on the ground and gave him a small nudge. He fumbled with his fingers a little bit but gave me no response.

"Are you going to tell me what's wrong?"

"Can't you tell?" He spoke like he thought I was stupid. Why is he so snappy?

"Sorry that I can't know you every thought and emotion 24/7. If you don't want to talk, I'll just leave," I informed him sternly but with a gentle tone.

"Look, I'm just confused right now. I'm sorry. I can't really explain what I'm thinking so I don't really want to talk."

"Fine. Just talk to me if you need to, okay?" He nodded and with that, I got up and walked away from him.

* * * *

"When are you going to visit next?" I asked Danny, breaking the silence that we've held for a few minutes. It was around Midnight and he was taking me back home. He leaves in the morning.

"Probably not until thanksgiving. Which is a month and a half away..."

"Tomorrow's the first. Too bad you can't be here for my birthday..."

"We'll have a Skype birthday party. It won't be the same, but it'll be better than nothing."

"But I'll see you on Saturday, right?" I asked, raising my eyebrows with excitement.

"Possibly. I'll do my best to make it. If not, come to the school and I can see you then. Are you okay with that?"

"Yeah, that sounds great. I'd love to meet your roommate and everything."

There was a short term silence as we waited at a red light. I wondered what he was thinking. By his expression, he seemed to look a little down in the dumps. Was he sad to leave? Why would he be? I mean, he has all of his new friends there and a great school and they are so pumped for God. Why would he be sad to leave that? Because of me? That's ridiculous. I mean, I can understand missing me, because I miss him too, but not... Sad. He's my best friend and everything, but I know he'll be back so there is no reason to be sad.

"I miss being here," Danny spoke up just above a whisper. I was a little freaked out because he basically answered my thoughts.

"Why would you miss a place like this? Bad school, bad neighborhood, bad people."

"Well, you're not bad," He kidded but I could tell that sentence had a lot more to it than being a joke.

"But seriously, you're going to an awesome school. What's better than that that's around here?"

Just as I finished speaking, we stopped at the red light before the turn into my neighborhood. Here comes the goodbye...

Danny didn't respond to that question but instead just stared at me. His expression was unreadable and his thoughts were something I couldn't tap into. What was he thinking?!

The inside of the truck turned a glowing green and his face changed into a happy one in the blink of an eye before saying, "I dunno. I just miss everyone at church and stuff."

He began driving off, taking a left turn into my subdivision. Only about five more minutes until we arrive at my house. Something, a voice maybe, told me in the back of my mind I knew he was lying. Why did he pause whenever I asked him what was better here than it is there? I sighed at the realization of what he meant. This is not happening. He can't mean me.

"Danny, I'm nothing worth missing. You have an amazing school waiting for you when you get back. What do you have when you're here? Me? There's no reason to miss me."

"I can't say I don't miss you because that would be a lie."

"Why would you miss me?" I nearly groaned. I don't want anyone missing me.

His face grew very hard before he spoke quietly, "Because you're everything to miss."

I realized I had traveled to the middle of my seat during our conversation so I sat back, feeling very strange because if his answer. My insides felt warmer than they did before and I pondered on the fact that a simple sentence could have that effect on me.

'That's only what couples say to each other,' Said the little voice in my head. I thought of what I had realized earlier about doing things only real couples do. But we're not like that...

"You're just saying that..." Was the only thing I could think of to say.

"Did I sound like I was 'just saying that'?" He answered very seriously.

"I dunno... You don't usually say things like that. I'm sorry, I didn't mean it in a bad way..." I apologized as we pulled into my driveway.

"I know you didn't. It's okay," He reassured me as he turned off his truck.

We both got out of the vehicle and met at my doorstep. I was about to reach for the doorknob whenever Danny spoke.

"You mean a lot to me. You know that much, right?" He said with a straight face. Only couples say that to each other...

"Yeah," My voice cracked at the word. Though it was a simple answer, he knew I couldn't think of anything else to say so I said it with as much meaning as I could.

"I'll see you on Saturday..."

He gave me one last smile before pulling me in for a hug. I tightly wrapped my arms around his neck. I had to stand on my tip-toes to be able to hug him all the way. He squeezed me just as tight as I did- like we never wanted to let go. Only couples hug like this.

He pulled back from the embrace but instead hugged my hands with his. He just kind of stared at me for a while, which made me feel a little uncomfortable. A little sense of self-consciousness sent me over the edge, so I look away from his gaze. The Alcatraz of all gazes was definitely his. Only couples stared at each other like this. I couldn't help but let out a nervous laugh (which came out more as a girly giggle) which he furrowed his brows at. He immediately changed his expression into a smile before speaking again.

"See you later."

* * * *

Danny's POV


"I dunno, Adam. I want to be with her but it feels like we're already together. Asking her would just be awkward."

The truck was becoming extremely cold inside since it was off and I was sitting in my driveway. Plus, it's 1am so it's like freezing out here.

My cousin spoke through the other side of the phone, "Don't just ask her, 'Hey, Elaine, will you be my girlfriend?' Just tell her how you feel and then if she feels the same, then just kind of laugh and then ask her if you're together. Make it awkward on purpose so it's meant to be a joke when it's really not."

"But, there's all these other guys in her life that are obviously crushing on her big time and they're so much better than me. I just want her happy and if that's what she wants, she can go ahead and have it."

"Danny, I know from experience that a girl wants a guy who cares about her, loves God, and has a plan for the future. And you're all of that."

"I just want her. Not in a physical kind of way, but in a just everything kind of way. I want her time, her attention, her thoughts, I want everything. But I don't feel like she wants the same from me."

"I know how you feel. I was in the same situation as you. It may be confusing and painful right now, but it will all turn out for the better."

"Okay, I understand. Thanks."

* * * *

A/N

D'awww Danny. So cute. What will become of the two in the following chapters?!

Btw, if you haven't heard, I'm having a writing contest! Check out Writing Tips on my Wattpad page for the details. It's the most recent chapter so yeah... Thanks for reading and I hope you enter the contest!