The Bucket List

s i x

Mia suddenly burst into fits of laughter when I told her I had to babysit Daniel after school today. I knew Mia was being dramatic when she said afterwards, "your life is ruined" and "goodbye my dear friend, it was nice knowing you". But at the time, I legitimately felt like it was true.

"I can't believe Mr Halliday did that to you," Mia added. "It's like Mr Halliday is trying to play matchmaker."

I pursed my lips. "I'm glad to see my misery is entertaining you," I grumbled.

I observed the courtyard in front of me. It was going to take hours for Daniel to clean it all up.

When we left Mr Halliday's office, Daniel scowled at me for the rest of the day while I scowled at him right back. I didn't care if he terrified me. This was not how I wanted to get my first detention. This wasn't fair! And although I should be blaming Mr Halliday, I couldn't. I could only blame Daniel.

Mr Halliday, however, said Daniel could leave around four o'clock because he didn't want to make me suffer. He should've thought about that before making me attend Daniel's detention with him. One hour alone with Daniel! Did Mr Halliday hate me too?

It was beginning to feel like my bucket list was only creating problems rather than solutions. I was tempted to stop it, quit the Peer Support Club, and ignore Daniel for the remainder of the year. But I wasn't a quitter. Well, I didn't want to be. Daniel wasn't a good enough reason to stop doing something as important as this.

But, of course, if Daniel turned out to be a serial killer, then I'll definitely have a rock solid excuse to quit the club. I mean, my bucket list didn't say I had to join the peer support club. It could be any club. Or, I guess, I could just get a new buddy who didn't want to kill me.

"I have a feeling Daniel will make you do all the work," Mia noted.

I had the very same feeling. But I was also naïve, where a side of me didn't believe it. "No, he won't," I responded. If Daniel did ask me to clean the courtyard for him, the chances of me saying 'yes' was extremely high. "He doesn't seem to be the type of guy who'd make other people do his dirty work."

Mia snorted. "Sure, he is," she said, I think sarcastically.

The bell blared. Fantastic. Two more periods left and then my babysitting career would begin. But unfortunately, those two periods were chemistry and that meant, I'd be stuck in a room with Daniel... again.

I walked anxiously to Chemistry class, hoping—actually, begging to whoever was listening—that Daniel ditched today.

I knew it was pathetic to be afraid of him. But what made him scary was that I had absolutely no idea what he would do. He was unpredictable that it was difficult to figure him out. That wasn't saying given I sucked at reading people, but Daniel was ten times harder than the norm. At one point, he was laughing and joking around with his friends. Then the next minute, when he was with me, he either looked bored, or he wanted to incinerate me with his eyes. I couldn't tell whether he hated me or despised me. And now that he knew I was a Peer Support Leader, it only got worse.

I walked into class and Daniel was already at his seat. He was looking at the Bunsen Burner in front of him. But it was like he sensed my presence because the moment I walked in, he lifted his head towards me, and our eyes met. I immediately averted my gaze. I shuffled to my seat beside Kyle and inhaled and exhaled deeply.

"What did you do to Daniel?" Kyle asked suddenly.

"What? Why? Why do you think I did anything to Daniel?" I panicked.

"He's giving you the death stare, and he looks like he's ready to kill you."

I closed my eyes. "Please don't say that," I managed to say.