The next day, at school, Matt was at his locker when
Allison came up. "Hi,
Matt."
"Hi," he greeted half-heartedly.
"How are you doing?" asked Allison politely.
"I'm fine," Matt answered with a yawn. He had been up all
night. He kept having
nightmares about Dani and Chris.
"Are you though?" she asked curiously.
"What do you mean?" asked Matt warily. " I feel perfectly fine."
"I doubt it. You look tired and I bet I know why."
"Why?" Matt asked sarcastically. He was becoming agitated,
but at the same time
he was curious at where this conversation was going.
"I suspect Chris and Danielle's reunion has a little, minute,
minuscule thing to do
with it," Allison answered.
"And what if it did?"
"Then I would suggest you move on to someone else, because you
will never get
her," said Allison bluntly.
"Why not?" asked Matt waiting for her answer.
He knew what she was thinking. She was thinking that Dani
and him would
never get together because they were of different races. He had
wrestled with that
thought last night, in fact, it was the subject of one of his nightmares.
If he and Dani did
date, he knew he would feel the backlash of racism and so would she.
Could he really
handle it? Matt was not sure, it was not exactly something he
was used to. But at the
same time he could not picture life without Dani. She had been
a part of his life ever
since he moved to this city. Dani was the first person to make
him feel welcome. If were
not for her, he would not have ever met Randy or Renee. Dani
had done a lot for him and
he held her in the highest shelf of his heart. Matt thought about all
of these things as he
waited for Allison to answer him.
"Because...because..." Allison faltered. She was going
to bring up the argument
that it would not work out, because of the difference in their races,
when she thought
about it; why not? Dani was a girl and Matt was a guy and they
were attracted to each
other; why shouldn't they have the right to pursue there feelings for
each other? The truth
was she did not want them together because she liked Matt for herself.
"Trying to drive
them apart is not going to work. I´m going to have try something
else."
"The truth is... I wanted you to be interested in me. But...
I guess I lost my chance
last year when I turned you down. I'm sorry."
"Sorry for what?" asked Matt.
"Sorry for acting stupid the last couple of days."
"It´s okay," Matt replied. "I haven´t exactly been
Mr. Cool myself these last
couple of weeks."
"Can I have a hug?" asked Allison.
"Sure," said Matt. Then he hugged her. As he let
Allison go, Dani came over
towards them.
"Hi, you two," Dani greeted brightly.
"Hi," replied Matt and Allison at the same time.
"What's up?" asked Dani.
"Nothing, Allison and I were just talking," said Matt.
"Oh...well I was wondering if you and Allison would like to
go on a triple date
with me Chris, Renee, and Randy." She was hoping he would say
no, but at the same
time she knew it would help her to get over Matt.
"I don't know," said Matt.
"I think it's a great idea," Allison chirped seeing an opportunity.
"Where?"
"We could have the picnic at Locks Park, by the canal.
We could blade, play
volleyball, and all sorts of games. Anything you want to do."
said Dani as though she
was saleswoman at department store trying to sell them something.
"Sounds great," Allison replied," what do you think, Matt."
"I don't know...when would this happen?" asked Matt.
"This Saturday," answered Danielle.
"I have an A.P. English paper due on Monday," said Matt.
"No you don't Mrs. Bauer changed the date to Friday of next week,"
replied
Danielle. " So that means you can come."
"Well I have lots of homework," said Matt. He was desperate
for an excuse not
to go.
"Please," Dani pleaded looking at him earnestly. Matt
could tell she really
wanted him to go. But at the same time he did not know if he could
stand her being
Chris's date. He could not disappoint her.
"Okay," Matt crumbled.
"Thank you," Dani replied excitedly as she hugged him
and kissed him lightly
on the lips. "See you later." Then she ran off before he could say
anything.
"Bye," said Matt looking after her. He gently touched
his lips when he realized
that Allison was watching him. "What?"
"Nothing," she answered innocently.
Matt shook his head and changed the subject. "You sure answered
quickly when
she asked about the picnic."
"I never pass up the window opportunity," Allison replied looking
at him slyly
"Allison, I think of you as friend."
"And friends we shall be... for now."
"Right," said Matt humoring her," well I have to get to class
now."
"Bye, Matt."
"Bye," called Matt.
He had a lot to think about. Dani, of course, was at the
top of his list. He was
very surprised that she kissed him. She had never done anything
like that before. He
wished that he kissed her back, a nice long kiss that told her how
he felt. But at this point
there was no way that was going to happen. Still, he had to tell her
how he felt, but first
he had to deal with this weekend and Chris.
Meanwhile Danielle was in class thinking over her
actions. She could not believe
she kissed Matt. Hugged him, yes, but she never kissed him.
She was so embarrassed,
but at the same time she wondered what he thought of it.
She wished she could tell him how she felt. The truth was
she was in love, even
Chris could not cloud her feelings for Matt. She knew at the
park that she would be
aware of Matt only. She would just have to tell Chris that they
were nothing more than
friends. Then she would tell Matt how she felt. She had
to in order to fully clear the air.
Matt left a lot of things unsaid the last time they talked about the
kiss and something told
her there was more.