Like You Mean It

  While they waited for Mrs. Jensen, Danni’s cell phone rang. Though she had it set to vibrate, the buzzing sound echoed in the cluttered depths of her purse. She itched to answer it but knew better.

  “Don’t even think about taking that call,” Mr. Morgan said, and Danni bit her tongue to keep her sarcastic comeback in check.

  The doors of the office opened. A grim look was set on the principal’s face as she strode forward. Mrs. Jensen paused when her eyes fixed on Danni. She was pretty sure she knew what Mrs. Jensen was thinking. Danni ending up in the office after being caught in the bathroom with Darren was probably the last time Mrs. Jensen expected to see her in any trouble.

  Danni thought the same thing, but she wasn’t sorry to be there. Even though she knew she was going to be in big trouble, both with the school and her mom, it was worth it to pound Whitney into the pavement.

  Mrs. Jensen heaved a sigh. “All right, girls, into my office now.”

  Danni and Whitney followed the principal, as did Mr. Morgan. Just as he’d done moments ago, the vice-principal pointed out two chairs for the girls to sit on. Once again, he made sure to leave some space between them.

  Mrs. Jensen looked up at Mr. Morgan. “I can take it from here, Greg. Thanks.”

  In all the years Danni had been at Taft, she’d never known Mr. Morgan’s first name was Greg. It was a nice name. Greg Morgan; it flowed. Danni frowned with the thought. Here she was, about to get in trouble for kicking the crap out of Whitney, and she was thinking about the flow of the vice-principal’s name. She wondered if she’d taken one too many hits to the head to think straight.

  “Who’d like to tell me what happened?” Mrs. Jensen asked.

  Neither Danni nor Whitney spoke. Instead, they sneered at each other.

  “Okay, let’s try this,” Mrs. Jensen suggested. “Whitney, why don’t you tell me what you think happened?”

  “She started it,” Whitney answered. “All I did was tell her to tell Darren I said congratulations for winning homecoming king, and she hit me, probably because she’s jealous because Darren and I dated last year. What was I supposed to do when she hit me? Just stand there and take it?”

  Mrs. Jensen turned to look at Danni. “And what do you think happened, Danielle?”

  “That’s what happened,” Danni said as a smug smile spread over Whitney’s face. “I did hit her first, but that was after she said the only reason Darren won is because everyone feels sorry for him because he’s a crippled freak now.”

  “I see,” Mrs. Jensen replied. “I’m not sure if either of you considered this, but being that you’re both seniors, getting into a fight at school is something that could prevent you from participating in graduation ceremonies this spring.”

  “That’s not fair,” Whitney wailed. “She hit me first. I was just defending myself.”

  Danni’s heart hammered in her chest. In the heat of the moment, she hadn’t thought about the consequences. Her sole focus had been making Whitney miserable.

  “That being said, it is a judgment call,” Mrs. Jensen continued. “Given that both of you are excellent students who’ve never been in trouble before, I’m not sure that’s an appropriate punishment.”

  Danni almost snorted. Whitney was an excellent student? Since when?

  “I shouldn’t be punished at all. She started it,” Whitney said again.

  Mrs. Jensen furrowed her brow. “Miss Wheeler, I suggest you stop talking right now before I reconsider my generosity and bar you from participating in graduation ceremonies in June.”

  Whitney fell silent, and Danni resisted the urge to laugh. Watching her not get her way was almost worth being in the principal’s office.

  “Now then,” Mrs. Jensen said. “As to your punishment, I’m suspending both of you for the remainder of the day. Beginning tomorrow, you’ll have after school detention for the rest of the week.”

  Danni swallowed a groan. Being suspended for the rest of the week would have been better than having to spend an hour a day looking at Whitney’s stupid face.

  “Both of you return to your seats outside my office while I call your parents to come get you,” Mrs. Jensen told them. “And do not speak to one another. Whatever’s going on between you two ends today. Any more problems between you and I’ll be forced to consider expulsion.”

  The girls glared at each other again as they stood. Danni rolled her eyes when Whitney pushed her way out the door first. Even when she was in trouble, Whitney wasn’t going to let Danni forget who the most popular girl in school was.

  As she dropped into her chair, Danni glanced down at her watch. It wasn’t quite one yet. That meant her mom would still be at lunch, which was good. There was less chance of her mom being bitchy if she wasn’t pulled out of a meeting to take another call from the principal.

  Thank God she’s not in court today, Danni thought.

  The huge case her mom had been working on wasn’t set to go to court for another week. If she had waited until the following week to pick a fight with Whitney, her mom probably would have grounded her for the rest of the school year. As it was, there was no way she could avoid that type of punishment. A few months ago, it wouldn’t have mattered. Now that she had a life, her mom was going to love keeping her from it.

  It was Whitney’s mom that arrived at the school first. Even before the buxom blonde was escorted into Mrs. Jensen’s office, Danni knew it was Mrs. Wheeler. The woman looked like she belonged on one of those Real Housewives reality shows. No wonder Whitney was so into appearances.

  When Mrs. Wheeler emerged from the principal’s office after a few minutes, she fixed a harsh gaze on her daughter. “Let’s go.”

  Whitney’s eyes widened as she rose from her chair to trail after her mother. As they were leaving, Danni’s mom entered the office, and she didn’t look any happier than Mrs. Wheeler. Charmain spent a few minutes talking to Mrs. Jensen and hearing all about what a delinquent her daughter was becoming.

  As soon as her mom came out of the office, Danni tried to read her face and figure out just how much trouble she was in. No luck. Sometimes she hated that her mom was a lawyer. Because her mom had mastered the perfect poker face, Danni never knew what was coming. She could be totally pissed or over the top with happiness, and her expression would look the same.

  Charmain didn’t speak until they were out of the office. “Where are you parked?”

  “In front of the school,” Danni replied.

  “I’m in the visitor’s lot. I’ll meet you at home.”

  “You’re not going back to work?”

  “Not until you and I discuss this incident,” Charmain said.

  Danni’s shoulders sagged. That was not a good sign. Her mom hated to miss work, especially when she was so close to going to court.

  On the short drive home, Danni tried to imagine what her mom was going to say, but she couldn’t come up with anything. The last time she’d been in the principal’s office for helping Darren in the bathroom, her mom surprised her by being all right with it. Something told her that she wasn’t going to get off so easy this time.

  Danni pulled into the driveway first, but her mom was just seconds behind her. While Danni left her car in the driveway, Charmain whipped her Mercedes into the garage. Instead of going in the front door, Danni entered the house through the garage.

  “Take your things to your room and then you can meet me in the kitchen,” Charmain said.

  Danni knew what she was doing. Rather than get it over with and put her out of her misery, her mom was going to make her suffer a little longer. She trotted up the stairs and tossed her stuff into her room without looking before darting back down the stairs. When Danni entered the kitchen, her mom gestured to the seat opposite her. Danni sighed. This was her mom’s favorite interrogation tactic; make the witness sit across from her in an uncomfortable wooden chair so she would say anything just to get away. Seconds stretched to minutes as the two stared at one another.

  “I’m wai
ting, Danielle,” Charmain prompted.

  Danni frowned at her. “For what?”

  “You know damn well for what. I’m waiting for you to tell me what happened.”

  “I got in a fight with Whitney Wheeler because she said the only reason Darren won homecoming king is that everyone feels sorry for him because he’s a crippled freak,” Danni said.

  It was her mom’s turn to frown. “Homecoming already passed?”

  “Yeah, it was last Friday and Darren won homecoming king.”

  “I’m happy for him, but you can’t let yourself be so influenced by the feelings of one person,” Charmain said.

  “That’s not the first time she’s said something mean,” Danni said. “When she found out I was dating Darren, she asked me if he looked all freaky and if it was weird to hug him with one arm. She also said I’m a dork and Darren’s disabled.”

  “Darren is disabled,” her mom pointed out.

  “I know, but she said it like she was putting him down.”

  “I know you want to protect Darren, but you can’t spend the rest of your life getting into fights with everyone who says or does something hurtful,” Charmain said. “If you do that, you’ll always be fighting because, like it or not, there’s always going to be someone who is ignorant or afraid or uncomfortable and will have something to say.”

  “That’s not fair though.”

  “Life isn’t fair. If it was your father wouldn’t have left us.”

  Danni drew in a sharp breath. She couldn’t remember the last time her mom talked about her father. There wasn’t much reason to talk about him. He was gone and never coming back, end of story.

  “If life was fair, Darren wouldn’t have lost his arm and people wouldn’t be making him feel like a lesser person for it,” Charmain continued. “Life isn’t fair, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be good. You have to make the choice to make it good.”

  “By letting people like Whitney say mean things about Darren?”

  “You can’t stop people saying cruel things, but you can be the better person and rise above it. At the end of the day, that will matter more to Darren.”

  Danni opened her mouth to argue but soon realized her mom was right. How many times and in how many different ways had Darren told her the same thing over the last few months?

  “I guess you’re right,” Danni conceded.

  Charmain burst into laughter. “Well, this is one for the record books. My child said I was right.”

  Danni couldn’t fight the smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

  “As much as I hate to say this, I really do need to get back to the office,” Charmain said, rising to her feet. “I need to get started on the new case I got today.”

  “Aren’t you going to court on Monday?”

  “Yes, but that’s for a different case.”

  “Oh, okay.”

  “I’ll see you later.” Charmain planted a kiss on top of Danni’s head. “I’m not sure what time I’ll be home.”

  Danni frowned. “I’m not in trouble?”

  “I don’t see the point of any punishment beyond what the school’s given you.”

  As her mom breezed out of the kitchen, Danni stared after her with wide eyes. Since when did her mom get so cool? The sound of the garage door closing snapped her out of her daze and it occurred to her that she needed to call Darren. It was still too early to call Chelsea and Marcy, but he should be home by now.

  In her room, Danni fished her phone from her purse and smiled. It was full of text messages from Darren and her friends. There was also a couple of voice mails she was pretty sure were from Darren. Instead of listening to them, she called him.

  He picked up before the first ring ended. “Are you okay? You’re not hurt too bad, are you?”

  “You heard?” Danni guessed.

  “The whole school heard,” Darren replied. “Are you hurt?”

  Danni glanced at herself in the mirror. “Actually, there’s not a mark on me, but she did get a couple of good slaps in.”

  “Yeah, I saw.”

  “What do you mean? Were you there?”

  “Nope, it’s all over YouTube.”

  “You’re kidding?”

  Darren laughed. “Do you think I’m kidding? Everyone at school has a cell phone and everyone there was recording it. It’s already got over a thousand hits.”

  “That’s kind of sick.”

  “Yeah, but it’s kind of funny too. You should see some of the comments. Seems like a lot of people think Whitney finally got the beat down she deserved.”

  “She did for saying…”

  “I know what she said, Danni,” Darren said softly. “Spencer told me.”

  Danni frowned. “You talked to Spencer?”

  “Yeah, he called me and said I should get my ass to the quad because you were about to beat the shit out of Whitney,” Darren said. “It was over by the time I got there, but he was still there and said he wanted to talk.”

  “What’d he say?” Danni asked.

  “The same thing he told you. That he was sorry and he acted like a prick because he felt like it was his fault,” he said.

  “And you told him it wasn’t all his fault, right?”

  “Yeah, I told him we all acted stupid and I didn’t ask for his keys because I thought I’d look like a punk if I tried to be the designated driver.”

  “He apologized for those things he said about me.”

  “Yeah, and I let him know if I ever heard that kind of thing again I’d kill him, one arm or not.”

  “My hero.” Danni giggled. “I’m glad you two are best friends again though.”

  “Spencer isn’t my best friend. You are.”

  “What about J.J.? People can have more than one best friend.”

  “Okay, so you and J.J. make two,” Darren said. “I can forgive Spencer, but it’s gonna take me some time to trust him. Maybe if he’d been there for me from the beginning it’d be different, but not now.”

  “Darren, are you gonna get in any trouble with the law for drinking and driving?”

  “No, the blood tests they did on me at the hospital on the night of the accident proved I hadn’t been drinking so they didn’t charge me.”

  “What about Spencer?” she asked.

  “Suspended license and probation for five years, along with five hundred hours of community service and alcohol counseling,” Darren replied. “Plus his parents have to pay damages to the guy driving the truck.”

  “Wow, that’s harsh.”

  “Drunk driving is serious. We’re just lucky we didn’t kill anyone.”

  Danni was glad it wasn’t Darren who was killed. Losing his arm beat the hell out of losing his life.

  Chapter Twenty-one

  “I still can’t believe you beat the shit out of Whitney,” Chelsea said.

  Danni wasn’t surprised her fight with Whitney was still a major topic of conversation. No doubt it would take a few days for people to get over it. Still, it was weird to hear her name in whispered conversations around school that morning.

  “I can’t believe your mom was so cool about it,” Marcy added.

  “Me too,” Danni agreed. “I thought she was gonna ground me for life.”

  “My mom probably would’ve,” Marcy said.

  “Where’s Darren anyway?” Chelsea asked. “I’m starving and this boy’s holding up my lunch.”

  “You know that’s not why you care where Darren is. You just want to check out his ass,” Marcy joked.

  “There’s that too,” Chelsea said, and they all broke into a fit of giggles.

  “What’s so funny?”

  Recognizing Darren’s voice, the girls turned, but their laughter came to an immediate stop. No one spoke as they stared at Spencer who stood beside Darren.

  Darren smiled at Danni as he reached for her hand. “Hey, baby.”

  “Um, hey,” she replied, frowning at Spencer.

  “Hey,” Darren echoed. “So?”
br />   Danni’s frown deepened. “So what?”

  “What’s so funny?” Spencer asked.

  “Chelsea was just admiring Darren’s assets,” Danni replied, being the first to welcome him.

  “Yeah, he gets that a lot,” Spencer said.

  “I can’t help it if I’m better looking than you, even with my arm missing,” Darren retorted, and the boys exchanged grins.

  Chelsea glanced at Spencer. “Did I miss something? What exactly are you doing here?”

  “He’s gonna hang out with us,” Darren said, and Marcy’s eyes widened.

  “Unless you don’t want me to,” Spencer added.

  “I guess it’s okay, as long as you don’t make any fat jokes,” Chelsea said.

  “No fat jokes,” Spencer promised.

  Danni knew they made a strange looking group; two of the most popular guys in school hanging out with three of the biggest nobodies, but she didn’t care what anyone else thought. It made her happy to see Spencer and Darren on their way to being friends again and even happier to have friends like Chelsea and Marcy. Just like that, they accepted Spencer and forgot about the past.

  * * *

  Detention sucked. The only good thing about it was that Danni finished all of her homework, but that wasn’t saying much. For some reason, time stood still in detention, making it feel as if it was one year long instead of one hour. It didn’t help that her mind was on the doctor’s appointment Darren had earlier in the day. Danni was anxious to hear what the doctor had to say about how well he was healing since his surgery.

  Even without being anxious to talk to Darren, the thought of wasting three more afternoons stuffed in the library with the rest of the school delinquents made her wish Mrs. Jensen had suspended her for the week instead. She did get some satisfaction from seeing Whitney and her fat lip sitting there, looking as miserable as Danni felt.

  As soon as the teacher released them, Danni bolted for the door. Outside, she took a deep breath of the fresh October air. When she reached the front parking lot, she found another advantage to wasting a perfectly good afternoon. Being that it was close to four, the traffic in front of the school was almost non-existent, which meant no endless waiting to get out of her parking spot.

  Danni opened the door of her sedan and tossed her backpack and purse on the passenger seat before climbing behind the wheel. She had just turned the key in the ignition when her cell phone rang, followed by her car’s typical announcement of the incoming call.