Who's the One?

Chapter 24

"God, I'm so glad this week is over", I slump onto Dani's bed with my girls.

"Tell me about it", Anne says. "Seriously though Lil, I hope you catch a break. I thought stressing about math and my essay was tough. You were next level busy."

"I know, you're too nice for your own good", Dani chimes in.

"What do you mean?", I ask.

"Helping Anne and Dylan, while working on the French assignment, last minute essay writing, math quiz. How are you still sane?", Dani jokes.

"Who says I am?", I laugh. "Without the presentation or essay, hopefully next week will be less hectic."

"I hope so, that way you can spend more time mathematically helping me", Anne beams at me.

"Oh please, I'm sure you'll be fine. The quiz wasn't that hard. How do you think you did?", I ask Anne.

"I'm not sure. A couple of problems were so easy that I'm sure I got them wrong. The rest was okay, I didn't leave anything blank", Anne shrugs. "How was the French presentation?"

"I don't want to hear those words ever again", Dani groans.

"Relax, we killed it", I laugh.

"You killed it, I stumbled through my lines too much. I don't know why", Dani says.

"Oh Dani, you're too hard on yourself. You probably did great. I think being in Debate Club has ruined you. If you mess up one syllable, you let it trip you up", Anne comments.

"It's because I always tell my team to be clear and confident. I am clearing confident, so when I stumble or mess up it throws me off. You're right though, it's a big deal to me", Dani sighs.

"I was there. Trust me, you did great", I pat Dani's hand. "Hey. Tell us about yesterday."

"Ooo, yes all the details", Anne gushes.

Dani blushes, "It went well. Your standard dinner and a movie."

"And?", Anne nudges Dani.

"I don't know. I kind of like him. I didn't think we would click as much as we did. Did you know he plays men's volleyball?", Dani directs the question to me.

"I didn't", I reply.

"He does, and he's pretty smart. He has goals, and he's so sweet. It's him and his little sister being raised by his dad. His mom left when his sister was really small. He just cares about people so much, and he really shows it. He's interested in me and the way I think and", she sighs. "I'm just surprised at how great he is."

Anne and I share a knowing look.

"I'm guessing Aaron is going to be around for a while", Anne smiles.

"I'm not going to move too fast, we're still just dating. I'm not his girlfriend or anything. I told him as much and he took it better than I thought", Dani smiles.

"Oh yeah?", I prod for some elaboration.

"Yeah, he just nodded and said, 'I'll respect that.' I just smiled. It just means that his intentions aren't crude. He didn't even try to kiss me, which is good because I don't think I'm ready for that", Dani explains.

"I'm so happy for you Dani", Anne squeals.

"Ditto", I say.

For the rest of the afternoon we play music while we do our nails and put on some face masks. We have a very much-needed relaxing girl's day, and sleep over.

The next morning I wake up to Dani kicking me under the blankets. "Lil, for the love of all that is good in this world, please shut your phone off."