White Lie | Danny Amendola

Chapter 1

*** Danny's POV ***

"Hey man! You're going to the Christmas party tonight, right?" Julian asked as he sat down on the bench next to me.

We were about a half hour through practice, and we were given a five minute breather. I looked up and met Julian's eyes. He was squinting, like normal.

I nodded. "Yeah. Why wouldn't I go? I mean... Free alcohol!"

Julian chuckled and rolled his eyes. "Well last year you kept complaining that you didn't have a girlfriend, like everyone else did," he pointed out.

'I do have a girlfriend' I thought.

I rolled my eyes. "So what? You're single this year. Maybe I'll actually have someone to talk to that isn't all over a girl," I commented with a shrug.

Julian rolled his eyes in return. "Whatever man. She was all over me! But anyway, I was wondering if you'd want to carpool there... Or hell... We might have to take an Uber..."

I sighed. "I don't know what I'm doing yet, Jules... I will let you know by like one, okay?"

He squinted at me for a second before slowly nodding. "I guess, man. It starts at seven, so we would probably be leaving around six thirty. Man! I really hope they have steak again! It was so fucking good last year!"

I rolled my eyes as I stood from the bench. "You and your damn steak," I told him. "Alright man, let's finish this. I wanna get home and take a nap!"

Jules just rolled his eyes and followed me back to the field to run some drills.

***

I sighed as I stood up from my locker and pulled my duffle bag up on my shoulder. I had an early headache setting in, and I needed to call or text Kristene to find out how she'd be getting to the party.

Jules had to be getting suspicious, especially since her and I decided to be together. In the three months we'd been dating, I'd hang out with him and the guys less, and I was overall, just more busy.

It wasn't something I could help. I wanted to spend every waking moment with her, but I knew I couldn't. The thought of me being the reason she could lose her job, was terrifying. I felt a need to play it extremely safe by only being around her when her job permitted it, and I even went as far as having her name in my phone be that of my best friend from high school— Tony.

I went to her contact and began typing out my message to her. "Hey, do you need a ride to the party tonight? Or are you catching a ride with someone?"

I let out a sigh as I slid my phone into my pocket and began to make my way out of the locker room. Kristene and I hung out the night before, and I had to give her a ride home.

I usually didn't mind it, but lately, she's been trying to keep her distance from me at work. She's began to get nervous about being caught by someone, so of course I had to respect her wishes. However, when she wanted to hang out, I wasn't going to deny it, so I let her stay until she decided she wanted to go home. And that was at midnight... I had to be up at five, and I didn't get home until nearly one.

As I made my way out of the building, my phone began to vibrate. I popped my trunk, threw my bag in, slammed it shut, then pulled my phone out. "Tony" was on the screen.

"Hey, how are you today," I answered with a small smile on my face. "Did you sleep well?"

I heard her soft giggle on the other end and smiled. "Yeah, I did. How about you? I'm sorry I made you stay up so late."

"Don't worry about it," I said as I jumped in my car and slammed the door shut. "Anyway, do you need a ride tonight? Jules asked me if I wanted to carpool with him."