"Randy, I have a problem," said Matt as he came into Randy's
room
unannounced.
"Renee, I have to call you back, bye," Randy said into
the phone, then he hung
up.
"I didn't know you were on the phone with Renee.
I can come back later."
"No, it's cool. She knows something´s up.
Besides, if you are coming to me
with a problem it's either life threatening, girl trouble, or trouble
with Dani. Which is it?"
"Two and three," said Matt.
"Well then, ¿Que Pasa?" asked Randy.
"It's a long story but I--"
"Did you say 'long story?'" asked Randy.
"Yeah," answered Matt. Randy picked the phone. "What
are you doing?"
"I'm calling for a pizza, I have a feeling that this could
take a while and long
stories make me hungry."
"Good idea," said Matt," I am kind of hungry."
About an hour later, Matt and Randy were laughing and
hanging out when
Randy brought up Danielle. "So what´s up between you and Dani?"
"I'm not sure," answered Matt.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean we haven't been talking a lot lately."
"How come?" asked Randy.
"It's all my fault...I let my feelings get in the way
of my judgment," said Matt
slowly, "I..."
"What?" he asked.
"Well a couple of weeks ago I picked Dani up from her
date with Chris, you
know when they broke up..." said Matt.
"Yeah and?"
"I saw that she was upset, so I took her some place where we
could talk. We
went to the airport to watch planes and instead I started watching
her and I kissed her,"
Matt explained.
"That´s a problem?" Randy asked. "I think that´s
great."
"What do you mean?"
"Renee and I knew it would happen sooner or later," revealed
Randy.
"You did?"
"Yeah, you and Dani are good for each other. You guys
do things together,
you're great friends, and when the other isn't looking you two stare
at each other."
"Really, she stares at me?" asked Matt.
"Really. How do you feel about her?" asked Randy.
"I can't get her out of my mind. I want to hold her in
my arms and never let go,"
Matt answered as he stood up. He picked up a group picture of the four
of them and
touched Dani´s smiling face. "I want to be her boyfriend
not Chris or anybody else. I
want to be the one who's name is doodled in her notebooks. I
want to be the one who
comforts her and makes her smile," he continued.
He had finally got all his thoughts out in the open.
He did not realize he wanted
to be with her so much. All he knew was that he had to find away
to get through to her
and let her know how he felt before someone took her away from him.
"All righty then. Ask her out," Randy suggested.
"I don't know how to do it or if I want to," Matt sighed.
He wanted her to know
his feelings, but he was not sure how to do it . He was scared.
"Why?" asked Randy. After asking the question, there was
a silence between the
two friends. Randy wondered why Matt did not answer. "Is it because...she´s
black and
you´re white?" asked Randy.
"No!" he exclaimed.
"Good, I was worried for a second."
"Even if I felt that way, I wouldn´t be able to handle
it. I would see her everyday
and she would go on with life, date other people, and I would just
hate myself for the rest
of my life." Matt replied. " I just wouldn´t be able to do it."
"Well then, as far as asking her out come up with something
creative," suggested
Randy.
"I can't."
"What now?"
"I sort of screwed things up, that was the second part
of the problem," said Matt.
"Let me guess you two kiss and the next day you do some
thing stupid like lie,
saying the kiss was a mistake to cover your butt."
"Not exactly but close enough," said Matt sheepishly.
Then Randy gave him a
look.
"Sorry I panicked."
Randy shook his head.
"I told you I panicked," he justified. "I was afraid that
I would lose her. Dating
is a big step."
"Okay. Okay. We can fix this," assured Randy
while pacing the room in
thought.
"I feel so stupid. I am practically handing Dani
over to anybody who wants her."
"Don't worry about it, man. Everything will work
out."
"Thanks, man," said Matt," you're a great friend."
"You're welcome, besides, it takes one to know one."
"Now we need a plan," Matt sighed.
"Try the direct approach, it worked for me," suggested
Randy. " Just tell her
how you feel and the rest should be easy."
"I just hope I don't freeze," said Matt.
"You won't. This is Dani, your friend. If you can't
relax around her, who can
you? Besides, I heard that Chris and Dani are friends again and
it's rumored he still likes
her, so I would move fast if I were you."
* * *
A couple of days later, after school, Matt
was looking for Danielle. He had to
straighten things out between them. He looked in every room at
the school 'til he found
her in the art room. " Hey, Dani. What's up?" asked Matt.
"Nothing much, you?"
"Nothing here either," answered Matt.
"Great, I'm out of orange paint. Well I guess I'll have
to mix the red and yellow,"
remarked Dani as she walked over to the step ladder.
"What are you making?"
"I'm making posters for Renee's club," she answered.
"Oh. Hey be careful up there, the ladder looks a little unsteady,"
said Matt
concerned.
"I can handle it, Father," Dani joked as she went through the
cabinets. " I found
it, red and yellow." Then she turned around to show Matt when
the ladder slipped
forward. Matt rushed over in a flash to catch her. He caught
her, but lost his own
balance and fell on top of her.
"Are you all right?" he asked.
"Yeah I´m okay, thanks."
"You're welcome," Matt replied. He was starting to get
that feeling again. He
wanted to kiss her and this was a perfect moment. He could not
have planned it better.
This was his chance.
"Hey Dani, Mrs. Wilkens loves the post...Oh sorry! I didn't
mean to interrupt,"
said Renee nervously as she backed away and left.
"I guess this looks strange, we better get up," Danielle suggested.
"Yeah," Matt agreed as he got up and helped Dani up.
"I guess I better go find Renee," said Danielle.
"Yeah I guess so."
She started to leave when she remembered, he had been
looking for her. "Oh I
almost forgot, did you want something Matt?"
"No, I just wanted to talk."
"Oh well then, bye," said Dani.
"Bye," he sighed. Matt felt stupid he had chickened out again.
At least he had
refrained from kissing her this time. All she had to do was smile,
laugh, or just sit there
to make him want to kiss her. He wanted to tell her how he felt
but he dare not tell her
now.