Wicked

Chapter Thirteen

We arrived at my house about ten minutes later. Daniel drove like a madman. I held onto my breath the whole ride, racking my brain for a reason for Daniels behavior. The only thing I could think of was that Daniel was freaked about having dinner at my house. I didn't blame him.

My stomach was pickled with knots. Dara was home, and I was praying she wouldn't embarrass me too much. Flashes of her smirking at the dinner table popped into my mind. I knew it was snippets of visions, but I told myself it wasn't. Denial was my best friend right now.

In the driveway, my moms shiny black Mercedes was parked. She was back from work. Hopefully, she and Dara had ceased fire. I would die if they started fighting in front of Daniel. It was bad enough that he already knew Dara was a handful but seeing it was different.

Once we were at the front door I hesitated. I felt like I needed to warn him. What could I say that wouldn't freak him out further? Instead, I pushed open the door and didn't say anything. The second we walked through the threshold I saw Dara. Groaning, I prepared myself for her to try and embarrass me.

She was wearing blue jeans and a Madonna t-shirt. Her hair was up in a high ponytail and her face was bare. She almost looked like the old Dara. It had mom written all over it, I knew Dara wouldn't willingly dress that way. I smelled a bribe.

"Hello, sister." She made sister sound like a cuss word. I took a deep breath in. She was lounging on a couch in the living room, reading a magazine. Again, something Dara never has done before. Her eyes moved from me to Daniel. "Hi, Daniel. I think I've seen you around at school. I'm Dara, Cornelia's little sister." Again, the way she was talking was not like her at all.

Daniel moved forward. "Nice to meet you." He did a curt wave, not buying into this false charm that was oozing from Dara. I was proud of him.

"Where's Gran?" I asked her, mainly to see if she would lie. She went back to reading her magazine. I sighed.

"She's in the kitchen. She made tea." I was already walking towards the kitchen, Daniel on my heels. I pushed open the swinging kitchen door, already smelling the tea. I looked back at Daniel who smiled at me. He was doing his best to act normal.

Gran was wearing a long layered black cotton dress with an orange and yellow sheer bell holly over the top. Her long hair was in soft curls, falling down her back. She was pouring tea into three cups. She looked up when we walked into the room, but she didn't look surprised.

"Gran," I blew out in relief.

"You're a little early for dinner, it won't be ready for another hour or so." She put the teapot aside, wiped her hands on a nearby hand towel. Then, she faced us, looking up at Daniel. "Aren't you going to introduce me to your friend." I opened my mouth to introduce Daniel, but he beat me to it. He stepped forward, right hand extended.

"Hello ma'am, I'm Daniel Belasco." There was a split second that Gran froze. She recovered and took his hand. I stood there beaming, happy the two of them finally met. My Gran was right, this was a good idea.

"Belasco? I knew an Isabella Belasco many years ago, are you by chance related to her?" I was a little surprised at Gran's question. When I had first met Daniel he had known where she lived, I always assumed they knew each other. I looked back in forth between the two of them, my eyes playing tennis.

Daniel let his hand drop to his sides.

"Um yeah, that's my Grandma." Gran just nodded when Daniel told her this.

"Well, we should probably get studying." I tried to interject.

"Do you want some tea?" Gran asked in an urgent tone. I took a cup. It looked like it was hibiscus. She offered Daniel some, but he shook his head.