Linger

F I F T Y - F I V E

~Daniel's POV~

"You called her what?" Brandon asked as he handed me a stack of cones and we walked across the grass field.

"Love."

"Well, that's very nice of you."

"Bran, it was in front of the class!" I widened my eyes with panic.

His eyebrows shot up. "In front of the class?!"

"Yes!" I sighed.

"Ah, Daniel. Always the romantic." He flashed a cheeky grin. "Confessing your love in front of everyone."

I sighed. "Bran . . ." 

"I gotta learn from you." He nodded at me as we reached the goal net. 

"Did I mention this was right in the middle of class!" 

"In the middle?!" 

"Yes!" 

He let out a loud laugh. "Haha--"

"This isn't funny, bro." 

"I'm sorry!" he exclaimed, catching his breath as his laughter settled. "I just--I'm just thinking of what would've happened if I was the teacher and Jade was in my class . . ." 

"Oh no," I grumbled as I carefully set the bright orange cones on the grass. 

"And I just said 'pumpkin' out of nowhere . . ." He burst into laughter again, squeezing his eyes shut, slapping the goal post. "Imagine?!" He raised his eyebrows at me with a wide grin. "I'd get fired on the first day!"

I shook my head at him yet couldn't help but chuckle along. Of course, he would find humor in this kind of situation. Sometimes it was hard to believe he was actually the oldest . . .

Bran let out a loud sigh, his laughter quieting down. "Good thing I'm not a teacher, huh?" He brought his hand up to his neck. 

I gave him a concerned look before pushing my hand through my hair and glancing over at the cones. 

"Hey, Dan, don't beat yourself!" He slapped my back. "We all make mistakes!"

"I could lose my job, Bran!" I widened my eyes at him.

"But you won't lose her," he countered, pointing at me.

"I could get in serious trouble." I shook my head.

"Ah, but us Hayden's don't stay in trouble for long!" He grinned, shoving his shoulder against mine. "You know that."  

I nodded with a sigh, knowing he was right. "Hey, you can't tell anyone about this though."

"You got it, chief." He mimicked zipping his lips shut and tossing the key over his shoulder. "I'll tell you one thing though." 

"Hm?"

"Sounds like you're in looove," he sang, raising his eyebrows.

 I stopped in my tracks, lifting my gaze up to him. "What?"

"Come on, Dan. You basically confessed your love to her in front of everyone!" He held his arms out. "If that's not love, then tell me what is." 

I groaned, running my hand over my face. "I've been trying so hard to not ruin what we have and then I just mess it all up!" 

"No, it's getting better!" Brandon argued. "You're moving onto the next step with her."

"Feel like we're going backwards," I mumbled. I couldn't believe I could be so stupid and just slip up in the middle of class like that. I was supposed to be the more careful one. I had a job on the line. I wasn't sure if anyone noticed and I didn't really want to know either. How were we supposed to continue on from this?