Royal Pain

Chapter 8: Crown Patterned Boxers

"Ew," Celia mutters as we pass by Carl.
"You know I never knew there were so many jerks at this school," I watch him as he starts hitting on Kyle.
"Should I pull a Gabriel and shove him over?" Celia grins at me and I only snort. Despite Celia's athletic build and Carl being pretty short, he's still stocky as heck.
"Yeah, you go have fun with that," I laugh as we make our way towards the doors.

Since Celia is such a dedicated best friend she took the chore of wasting her only time before volleyball practice to drive me home every day. Despite it being a short drive I still feel like a burden but Celia insists she has nothing better to do.
"Is that Daniel?" Celia suddenly stops and so do I. Looking across the parking lot, sure enough, I see Daniel leaning on his small car, arms crossed and shades on waiting for someone.
"Still need a ride?" Celia quirks an eyebrow up at me.
"No, I don't think so," I respond with my eyes never leaving my older cousin.

"Well see you tomorrow," I bump her shoulder lightly as a way of saying goodbye. Celia and I have never really been the touchy kind of friends.
"Alright now go watch Back to the Future or some other cheesy 80s movie," she grins at me and my jaw drops in sudden offense.
"Excuse me Back to the Future is a very sophisticated movie I will have you know," I point an accusing finger at her and she only laughs before swatting my hand away and saying goodbye.

Trotting into the parking lot I quickly catch Daniel's attention and he flashes me a dazzling smile.
"Please tell me you're here to drive me home cause my ride is probably changing into spandex right now," I state and he ruffles up my hair before opening the door for me.
"Coach Jason!" Daniel suddenly shouts across the parking lot and waves enthusiastically at the coach.
"Oh gosh not you!" Coach Jason shrieks before turning around and bolting back into the building.

"You know I really miss this place," Daniel grins sarcastically while sliding into the driver's seat.
"And I'm sure all of them miss you," I retort before he recklessly zooms out of the parking lot.
"So," Daniel suddenly starts, "I was thinking we stop at Little Red's for some coffee, then the library to pick out the movies?" Usually on Thursday's Daniel gets back home at 8:30 from studying at the library with a movie or two and we start there. I guess since he picked me up from school we have a lot of time to kill so I quickly agree and soon my mother's diner is in view.

Looking at the large neon sign I notice that the R in Red's is missing making it appear to be Little ed's and my eyebrows furrow for a moment.
"Alright c'mon Wild Child," Daniel slides out of the car and I quickly follow as he holds the diner door open for me.
"Such a gentleman," I tease and he simply rolls his eyes with a playful grin on his face.

We both make our way in the opposite direction of my usual spot and settle on the miniature bar where any drink imaginable is sold.
"Hey Aunt Delilah, two coffees please," Daniel says to my mother.
"Daniel! Harper!" my mother smiles as she sees the two of us and gives Daniel a small kiss on the cheek and me a pointed look, "I got a call Tuesday saying you got sent to the principal's office." Daniel's head quickly snaps to mine in shock. I don't know what he's shocked about, it happens all the time.
"Ok, they accused me of doing something that I didn't do!" I exclaim and my mother quirks an eyebrow up at me, no doubt thinking the exact thing Principal Roberts was.

"I don't want to talk about this right now, it wasn't me and that's all that matters," I state and my mother sighs before going back to work.
"So what were you accused of?" Daniel turns to me with a parental look on his face.
"Oh stop," I grumble.
"Stop what?" he questions with a high pitched voice.
"Being all, adulty," I wave my hand in the air emphasizing my immaturity.
"Fine, what the hell did you do?" he questions in his normal tone and I grin at him. Then I start the very long story that begins at the very first football game and leads to yesterday morning's chapel incident.