Chapter 11
"Thank you for baby-sitting, Dani, we were in a real bind," said
Mrs. Richardson
while going out the door to leave.
"It's no problem. Glad to help," Danielle replied.
"Thank you again for coming on such short notice," said Mr. Richardson.
" Bye."
"Bye," called Dani. Then she shut and locked the door.
"Did you bring it?" asked Crystal anxiously.
"Yes, I did. I stopped over at the store before coming
here."
"Great let's watch," said Crystal as she ran over to Dani's backpack.
"Whoa. Don't you have some cleaning in a certain room to
do?" asked Dani.
"She told you about that?" asked Crystal surprised.
"Yes, she did," said Dani.
"Be right back."
"Okay," said Dani. Then Crystal left the room to start
work.
About twenty minutes later, Crystal came out of the room
declaring it was
finished. Dani went to check her work and was satisfied. " Well
I guess that means we
can watch the movie now," said Dani.
"Yes! I have been waiting since Mom called you."
"Okay, you put in the movie I'll get the ice-cream," said Dani.
They were an hour into the movie when Crystal asked,"
Do you think Matt is
cute?"
"Matt your brother?"
"Yes"
"Well I-I've never thought about it," said Dani nervously.
She wondered what
made her ask such a thing out of the blue like that.
"Think about it now," Crystal requested.
"Well I guess he's all right,"Dani answered," why?"
"I just wanted to know."
"Why did you just want to know?" asked Dani. She was worried.
Did she let on
something. She wondered what Crystal knew but, she also saw this
as a way to get
information out of her.
"I just wanted to know," said Crystal.
"I bet you don't really know why."
"I bet you I do," said Crystal not realizing she was being tricked.
"Then why?"
"Because Matt likes you and he thinks you're pretty," Crystal
answered. Then she
realized what she did. " Please don't tell Matt."
Danielle was in shock. She could not believe
what she had just heard. Crystal
could not be right. She probably was just speculating. " I won't
tell him. It'll will be just
between you and me."
"Thanks, Dani."
"You're welcome," said Dani.
"Dani, can I ask you a question?"
"Sure."
"Do you like my brother?"
"Yes, Crystal I do." She did not hesitate, as a matter of fact,
she did not think
about it. She just told her basically how she felt
"Are you two going to be boyfriend and girlfriend?"
"I don't know," said Dani earnestly," that's up to Matt."
"Can I ask another question?"
"Go ahead."
"Matt and Randy were talking about what they liked about girls
and Matt said that
you had legs that go all the way up, but everybody's legs go all the
way up, what does that
mean?" asked Crystal curiously.
Dani blushed. She could not believe Crystal
had said that. " Crystal, how about
a board game?" asked Dani trying to avoid answering the question.
"Okay," said Crystal as she jumped up to get her favorite board
games out of her
room..
They played Monopoly and Trouble. Then Danielle put Crystal
to bed and went
into the living room to watch TV. After about thirty minutes,
she was asleep on the
couch. At 9:30 Matt came home. He heard the TV on so he
went into the living room
where he found a sleeping Danielle. He watched her sleep for
a few minutes when she
began to stir. Dani woke up and yawned. " Oh hi. I am so sorry. Look
at me sleeping on
the job."
"Hey don't worry about it most people go into a coma after sitting
for Crystal.
You're the first one to survive, you deserve a medal," said Matt jokingly.
Dani laughed," Thanks, I guess I needed a laugh."
"Don't we all."
"Yes and actually she was very good for me. She and I watched
a movie, ate
ice-cream, and played board games," said Dani.
"Well she's pretty good at those. I can never beat her."
"That's because she cheats," Dani replied.
"That would explain it."
"Yeah it would," said Dani laughing," I'm sorry. I guess I have
a case of the
giggles."
" I don't mind," Matt replied. He enjoyed watching her
laugh. It made him feel
warm. He leaned forward and kissed Dani. He could not help himself.
This was the
perfect opportunity to tell her how he felt about her.
Dani was surprised that he had kissed her. She felt warm
and safe she did not
want it to end. She wrapped her arms around his neck in response
to his kiss.
After a few minutes, Matt let Dani go so he could tell her how
he felt. " Dani I..."
"Hey we're home," said Mr. Richardson as he and his wife came
in the door.
"Hi," Matt and Dani said at the same time.
"Were we interrupting something? You two look like you're
in deep
conversation," said Mr. Richardson.
"Oh no we were just um...," said Matt and Dani in unison.
"Did you rehearse that?" asked Mrs. Richardson.
"No ma'am. It was just a coincidence," Dani answered.
"Well okay," said Mr. Richardson.
"Here you go," said Mrs. Richardson as she handed Dani some money,"
and
thanks for coming on short notice."
"You're welcome. I'd better be going, it's a school night,"
said Dani. Then she
grabbed her backpack and left," Bye."
"Bye," the Richardson family called.
"Now there goes a teenager with her head on straight. She
has brains and she is
pretty. Some lucky young man is going to grab her up one day," Matt's
dad began as if
were about to begin a lecture until he saw his wife's face. " Well
I've had a long day I'm
going to get some sleep."
"Me too," Mrs. Richardson agreed.
"I'm going to take a cold shower," mumbled Matt. He was
so close to telling her.
"What, son?"
"Oh nothing Dad," said Matt," I'll see ya' in the morning."
"Good night, son" Matt's parents called as they left to go to
their room.
After his parents left, Matt lingered in the living room
for a moment. He thought
about the kiss they shared and about how close he came to telling her.
He had to talk to
her as soon as possible, he could not afford to waste any time or let
her slip away from
him. He had almost lost her once and he was not going to let
it happen again.