Keeping Secrets

Chapter 4

"Why did you do that?" I ask Danny as we are walking out of the choir room after dismissal.

"Do what?" He asks slinging his backpack over his shoulder.

"Volunteering me like that!" I say as we walk through the short cut I took earlier.

"Well, you're an amazing singer so I figured it would be good. Besides, you did the same to me. Now we both get to suffer through solos, so who cares." He says laughing a little.

"I care! Now I have to go in front of the whole school and sing!" I say starting to get nervous now that I'm really think about it. Anxiety, please, not right now.

"Don't worry Opal. You'll do amazing. I am going to be there right next to you to keep you calm." He smiles looking over at me. "Besides, solo or no solo, you'd still be in front of the whole school." He adds..

"Well, we'll need to practice." I say looking at my feet as we walk down the stairs into the parking lot. I got a soloing part in Send My Love. Whereas, Danny got a solo in Viva la Vida.

"Well are you free right now?" He asks and I look up at him.

"Uh, well I think so but.." I say stumbling over my words as I'm trying to think of the right words. "Why?" I ask a little confused.

"Well could I come over and we can practice together. You can help me and I'll help you. We'll probably have to practice more than that but it's a start." He says looking at me. It's then that I realize that we're standing in the parking lot. How the heck did I not notice that we were walking outside? He pulls out his car keys while waiting for my response and clicks the unlock button. The car we are standing next to unlocks, telling me it's his.

"Uh, I guess so. I mean, I don't see why not." I say shrugging.

"Hey Opal! Come on!" I turn to see Parker and Jesse as they're walking past us.

"Actually Parker, Danny is going to come over and practice with me for our solos, so he's just gonna drive me." I call out looking at him and he stops dead in his tracks.

"Oh...Okay.." He says slightly shaking his head and starting to walk again.

"We'll see you shortly." I yell over to him as I walk over to the passenger side of Danny's car and hop in.

"Fine! Drive safe! Anything happens to her, you'll die Danny!" Parker yells back.

"Understood!" Danny yells back as we get into the car.

"Buckle up!" Danny laughs as he puts his seat buckle on and looks over to me. It reminds me of this morning.

"Yeah, yeah, I am." I say as I put it on rolling my eyes as Danny continues laughing. He starts the engine and puts the gear in drive before pulling out of the parking lot.

"So, where too?" Danny asks. I give him directions and in no time we're there. Parker is sitting on the front porch along with Jesse. He stands up and races over to the car as we park in the drive way and get out.

"Lets see." Parker says taking hold of my shoulders and pulling me in front of him. I can tell he's joking around and 'inspecting me for any harm that could have come to me'.

"What's This?!" Parker starts to go on about something as he yanks my elbow up for Danny to see. Jesse then approaches us to get a better look at my elbow. I'm still confused as to what they are talking about. Danny looks at it with a questioning look on his face.

"What?! What's wrong?" I ask impatient as I'm still trying to figure it out.

"Tell me," Parker pauses. "Does this hurt?" he says as he puts a small amount of pressure on my elbow, making me jerk away. Hell yeah it does! It hurts like hell!