Bleed me Dry

chapter twenty-six

♡

After explaining to Danny (in a totally polite way) that it was very much in fact him who tried to kiss me, I ran away and didn't look back. I was filled with a mix of emotions that were the human equivalent of mixing mint and cola — and I definitely wasn't ready for whatever the outcome was. I felt like a child with a silly crush, but I knew that I sure as hell didn't feel this way towards Danny Phantom growing up.

Side note: do I have a thing for Dannys?

Maybe I was just a complete idiot that didn't understand basic emotions and this was how every girl felt when they fancied somebody. Or, maybe I had settled for sub-standard guys for far too long and so I didn't know what it felt like to be cared for. Either way, I had to stick to my plan of avoiding Danny. It was the only way I could prevent myself from having a heart attack.

So, that evening, I set out in attempt to brainstorm money making ideas for Drama class.

"What are you doing?" asked Lexi as she peered across my shoulder at the mess on the table. It had been hours since Danny made me incredibly flustered, yet I still shivered at the thought of it.

"I've got a plan to raise money for the performance this year, but I can't think of anything to write." I explained as I cleared off the chair next to me with a swipe of my arm. Books which I hadn't read and magazines that I'd only stared at the shirtless models inside went flying onto the floor and Lexi rolled her eyes as she kicked them to one side with her foot.

"And you want my help?" she asked with a bright smile. "Please tell me you do."

"Only if you're offering." I shrugged, trying my absolute hardest to not seem desperate. I was completely desperate. I needed Lexi's help because I was a total fool.

"Okay, fine. I'll help." squealed Lexi, pulling her chair in with crossed legs and leaning forward. She grabbed a pink pen and began to write 'IDEAS' in giant bubble writing fashion. Perhaps this was where I was going wrong, all I'd done was scribble a quick 'Ideas' with a blunt HB pencil. The real answer to achievement was the aesthetics, of course.

"I have class tomorrow and I'm tired of looking at their sad little faces. I want to get things moving, y'know?" I said, reaching across to my packet of cashews. Even the sight of them reminded me of Danny and how he also liked cashews, which made me chew them a lot less enthusiastically.

"Well maybe we should make some ideas and then you could tell them all about it. Who knows,  they might want to help out as well." Lexi suggested, swapping her pen for a different colour.

My nose turned up at the thought of talking to new people. "I don't know... I doubt they'll listen to me. I've just joined their class and they don't even know me properly."

"You never know unless you try. Just be you." Lexi said, like it was the most kept secret and all my problems were now resolved.

Be myself? What kind of garbage advice was that? Being myself was how I got into the majority of my messes and it had certainly not solved any of them from my perspective.

But, instead of saying all of that, I agreed with her, like a total liar. "You're probably right."

♡

The next day, I plodded into class with no intention of speaking to anyone, but when Ms. Gupta hadn't arrived after twenty minutes and everyone was in hysterics, I took it upon myself to walk to the front of the class to look for any work that was left for us to complete.

On Ms. Gupta's desk, there was a scruffy note written on the back of an empty envelope which nobody had seemed to notice in between their bouts of rage and upset. It looked as though it had been written quickly, the pen still missing its lid and the cursive writing was messy, almost as if it was unplanned. The contents of the note was a last minute thing, a change of heart, a final resort.