Behind Every Smile

Lunch Chaos

It had been a week after the dance. Shaina, Chloe, Hannah, and Tiffany all confirmed Danielle was ignoring them for reasons unknown, except apparently I was suppose to know why. Supposedly.

That morning after the dance, Shaina informed me Danielle sent her a threat over the phone, which worried me. I didn't understand why Danielle hated my friends, at all. Trying to ask her why was useless, she'd always lie and say things were fine between them. Obviously not.

I never understood, at that time, why most girls didn't just explain what's on their mind, instead of keep it to themselves. Danielle was a pro at keeping her thoughts to herself, which made it even harder for me to help her.

Shaina, and I were waiting in a lunch line as the rest of the group was having their lunch under the same tree all of us sat under everyday at lunch. None of us ever mentioned Danielle, hoping to move on from what happened that night at the dance. The truth was I was more worried about her then anything else. The longer she pushed herself away from us, the more I'd worry about her. As a close friend of hers, I can say I have a very good reason for doing so.

"You still think she's okay? Danielle." Shaina turned to me, it was the first time she mentioned her in a long time.

"We'll see. She'll come back when she's ready to talk." I assumed, watching Shaina nod slowly.

"She doesn't seem like the talking type." She added, spinning herself around as the students ahead of her moved up the line. "That's because she only talks to the one's she trusts." I explained, following close behind her.

"Makes sense, she must trust you." Shaina concluded, almost sounding surprised by it. "That's good, I want her to, and I want her to learn to trust you guys as well." I watched her scoff before picking out her lunch from the front of the line. "Pshh, yeah, spoiler alert but she's not going too."

"I know, but I still have faith." I mumbled, picking up my lunch from the cafeteria then following Shaina towards the tree.

"Your high faith in people concerns me," Shaina scoffed. I couldn't help but smile at her statement, "I know."

Shaina and I froze in our tracks at the sound of shouting and groans. We both glared at each other, having the same idea running through our minds; Danielle was back.

"Danielle stop!! We didn't mean it like that!" I could hear Chloe shouting as we walked closer towards the group.

"Oh boy.." I groaned under my breath, noticing a wad of Hannah's hair in Danielle's hand. Hannah winced against her grip, begging for her to let go.

"Danny let go!!" I shouted, throwing my belongings beside my bag, Shaina doing the same.

"Of course she did!! What else would she mean!?" Danielle snapped at Chloe, groping Hannah's long black hair even tighter.

I sped towards Danielle from behind, immediately grabbing her arm with a tight hold. "Danielle. Let. Her. Go."

Slowly, Danielle's fingers unwrapped themselves from Hannah's locks, her dark eyes looking down at me in pure anger.

Quicker than I expected, her fist slashed itself across my face, knocking me off my feet and against the concrete.

Already, I felt my cheek ache in pain against the wet concrete. I was use to this feeling, so pain wasn't going to stop me.

I stood up, my feet shuffling into a lopsided stance.

Both Shaina and Chloe stepped towards me. I rose my hand, "No, don't, let me handle this." Danielle's fists were clenched, eyes darker then before in fury.

"W-Why do you hate my friends? Why did you leave, that night at the dance? What's going on Danny?" I stepped towards her, nearly tripping over my own foot.

Danielle clenched her teeth before walking towards me, saying nothing. I didn't move, knowing there was only one way to get Danielle to talk. Suddenly, she stopped just in front of me, close enough so I could feel her heavy breaths trickle down my neck.

"Bella, I'm only gonna say this once. Be my friend, or be theirs. I can't take them anymore." Her voice was quiet enough to be only understood by me.

"Danny, I-I don't understand why you hate them. We can resolve whatever it is that's bothering you." I mumbled, feeling myself start to shake by the looks on her face.

"You told me that months ago, and look where we are. So choose, either stand by me, or be against me." She warned.

"I will never ever be against you, but they're my friends. Don't do this to them. If you're mad then take it out on the person who brought you to them. I won't fight back because you ARE my friend, there's no changing that, no matter what you do." My words only seemed to cause her anger to grow within her.

"So you choose them?" Danielle growled, her fists shaking.

I struggled to find the right words, shaking my head. "Danny, I'm not on anyone's side. You're hurting my friends! I need to know why!"

We were both now shouting at each other.

"You're hurting me!! So are they!! You're not helping me Bella!! This is all your fault!!" Danielle's fingers snatched my throat before I could react.

Immediately, I could feel myself gagging and struggling for air.

"Danielle!! Stop!!" Shaina screamed, running towards us.

"Stay away from me!!!" Danielle screamed at her before angrily tossing me towards the tree.

Before I knew it, the back of my head smacked against the tree, my teeth clacked together and everything went black.