Learning to Breathe (18 page)

My mother then handed me the last present – it was the one from Danny. I drew in a deep breath and picked at the sellotape
until I got the gift bag open. Inside was a small gift box which I looked at hesitantly – should I really open this in front of my mother? I hadn’t exactly told her about Danny because I knew she’d get the wrong idea about us.

“Well, what is it honey?” my mother asked me suddenly.

I carefully prised the lid off the box to find a beautiful charm bracelet. I examined it and noticed two charms already hanging off it – one was the letter ‘D’ and the other was a swimsuit.

“Oh Darcie, it’s beautiful!” my moth
er exclaimed. “Who’s it from?”

I looked at her sheepishly.
“Yeah about that … it’s not how it looks.”

She threw me a puzzled look.
“What’s going on?”

“Um, it’s from this guy – Danny – he’s the one who’s been teaching me how to swim.” I rushed out rather quickly.

My mother raised her eyebrows in surprise. “I thought Ms Mahon was doing that. Who’s this Danny?”

“Just a guy from school – he’s on the swim team – that’s why Ms Mahon let him teach me.” I mumbled while avoiding
my mother’s gaze. “But it’s not a big deal, I promise.” I added quickly.

“Well then why didn’t you tell me if it’s not a big deal? Are you two dating?” My mother asked me
with an excited gleam in her eyes.

I shook my head.
“You see – this is why I didn’t tell you – I knew you’d just make a big deal out of it when there’s nothing going on. We’re friends and nothing more.” I told her firmly.

“Uh huh
” my mother said, looking at me sceptically. “That’s an awfully expensive gift from someone who’s just a friend.”

I rolled my eyes,
. “It’s not like that – I swear. Can you just drop it please?”

My mother nodded.
“Fine but am I allowed to ask how your lessons are going? I know I haven’t asked you in a while but I’ve noticed a change in you lately … you seem happier.”

“They’re going well and I’m starti
ng to feel like myself again.” I admitted. “But there’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you.”

I watched as my mother threw me a wary glance before asking “Is it good or bad?”

I grinned at her. “It’s a good thing but I just don’t want you to make a big deal out of it.”

She nodded.
“Okay, I promise not to freak out or anything.”

“Well, I was waiting for the right time to tell you … Danny’s persuaded me to enter a competition with him – a swimming competition.” I glanced at my mother and I could see
that she was struggling to hold back her excitement.

“Oh honey, that’s wonderful! When is it?” she asked, trying her best not to sound too eager.

“It’s not until June and I’m still nowhere near ready for it but Danny thinks I can do it.”

She nodded.
“I know you can do it. Now, will I ever get to meet this Danny?”

I rolled my eyes.
“I’m sure I’ll introduce you to him sometime … as long as you don’t do anything embarrassing.”

“Embarrass you? Who me?” M
y mother feigned a look of outrage. “I’d never do that!”

“Yeah r
ight!” I exclaimed. “Well as long as you don’t wear the hat Gran got you, I’ll consider it.”

“Damn!” my mother smirked. “A
nd there was me thinking that it’d go well with the jumper she got me last year!”

I threw my hea
d back in laughter. “Oh yeah, the reindeer jumper would look well with it! But hey, in all seriousness, I’ll let you meet him soon … I promise.”

She beamed at me excitedly but merely said, “Good … I’d like that.”

After a massive turkey and ham dinner, I was just lazing in front of the TV, watching a cheesy Christmas film when my phone buzzed. It was a message from Harriet:

‘Thanx 4 pressie <3 it!’

I smiled and hit ‘reply’:

‘No prob. Thanx 4 urs 2.’

A few seconds passed and my phone buzzed again:

‘Danny get u sumthin? ;)’

I shook my head and replied:

‘Nosey much?’

Another buzz:

‘Yeah!’

I sighed and decided to give in:

‘Charm bracelet :)’

A few seconds passed and then my phone rang, Harriet’s name flashing on the screen.

“Oh my God, Darcie!” she gasped as I answered the phone. “He so likes you! Have you talked to him yet?”

“No, I was actually gonna phone him later –”

“Darcie!” Harriet cut in, “phone him now and then phone me back when you’re done! Bye!” And with that, she hung up.

I stared at the screen for several minutes before I plucked up the courage to phone Danny.

He answered after the third ring. “Hello?”

“H-hey Danny.” I managed to stutter out.
“I just wanted to thank you for the present – it was beautiful.”

I heard him chuckle softly.
“Ah, it was nothing. Thanks for yours – I can’t wait to do it. I’m so gonna kick your butt!”

“Yeah, sure yo
u are!” I replied sarcastically. “You haven’t seen my killer driving skills yet so you’d better watch out.”

Danny chuckled.
“Yeah,
killer
being the word – I’ll have to watch you don’t run me off the circuit!”

“Damn straight Danny-boy – you have been warned!” I joked while he laughed down the phone.

“Okay,” he began when he managed to stop laughing. “Well I gotta go – my dad’s yelling at me to help him set up his new laptop. I swear, the man can barely work a toaster but now he decides he wants to set up a Facebook account! Anyway, before I go, I was just wondering what you’re doing for New Year’s Eve?”

“Oh.” I was a little taken aback. “U
m nothing at the minute.”

“Well, Samuel’s having a party and I wondered
if you wanted to go with me?” He asked hesitantly before adding “Just as friends like.”

I sighed heavily.
“Um, I’ll have to check that my mother hasn’t made plans already. I’ll let you know, okay?”

There was a moment’s silence before Danny finally said
. “Yeah, that’s fine. Talk to you later.”

“Okay, bye.” I said before hanging up.

Now, what was I going to do about New Year’s?

New Year’s Eve arrived and I had somehow found myself roped into attending Samuel’s party. I had insisted to my mother that I didn’t want to leave her alone but when she told me she had already made plans to go out with her workmates, I had no choice but to go.

So now, Harriet had invaded my room to help me get ready. She was already looking gorgeous in a tight purple body-con dress and sky-scraper heels with her blonde hair pulled up into a messy ponytail and quiff.

She was now currently rifling through
various hangers of dresses that she had brought – apparently jeans wouldn’t be acceptable on this occasion – and looking at me critically.

“Here, try this one,” she threw a bright blue lace dress at me and ushered me to the bathroom.

I quickly changed into it and opened the door to find that Harriet had disappeared into my bedroom again. I peeped my head around the door and found her rummaging through my shoes.

“Hey! What’re you doing?” I asked loudly, startling her.

She quickly turned to face me. “Just seeing what shoes you have since we aren’t the same size unfortunately. Have you ever worn these?”

S
he held out a pair of black heels and it was as if she had punched me in the chest – I hadn’t looked at them in nearly a year – not since the funeral.

I managed
to compose myself and told her. “O-only once.”

Harriet threw me a questioning look but didn’t say anything about how terrified I had looked two s
econds ago, instead she smiled.

“Well then, they’ll go perfect with that dress!”

I nodded and obediently slipped them onto my feet. Harriet grinned. “Perfect … now onto hair and make-up.”

An hour later and I was ready to go. Harriet had left my hair down and styled it into soft waves but had gone for the dramatic effect when it came to my make-up. She had made my eyes look all smoky and then glossed my lips with a soft pink colour. All in all, I didn’t look too bad.

I thanked Harriet and she quickly left since Samuel had phoned her to bring over more ice. I was now just waiting on Danny to pick me up. My mother had left half an hour
ago, so I was sitting in the living room on my own – trying to deal with my mixed-up thoughts.

I kept thinking about how happy Danny had sounded when I told him I was going tonight, then there was Harriet
with her ongoing comments about how Danny and I would make a perfect couple and to top it all off, my own mother had been teasing me about a midnight kiss.

I shook my head in an effort to clear it just as the doorbell rang. After grabbing a jacket, I headed to the do
or and found Danny looking extremely handsome in a deep blue shirt and dark jeans.

His whole face lit up as he looked me up and down before throwing me his killer
lopsided smile. “Hey, you look amazing!”

I blushed.
“Thanks, you look good yourself.”

He waved off my compliment.
“So, you ready to go?”

I nodded, locked the door and we made our way over to his car.

We arrived at Samuel’s house just after 10.30pm to find the place packed with people.

“Drink?” Danny asked as we weaved our way around the living room.

“Just a Diet Coke thanks.” I told him with a small smile.

He grinned. “Don’t want a repeat of last time then?”

I shook
my head. “Definitely not.”

He laughed and told me to wait for him while he quickly squeezed through crowds of people into the kitchen. I took a look around the room and recognised a few faces from school but the rest of the people were complete strangers.

Danny arrived back two minutes later and handed me my drink.

“So, did you have a nice Christmas?” he asked before taking a sip of his own Diet Coke.

I nodded. “Yeah, it was quiet but relaxing. What about you?”

He shr
ugged. “Can’t complain. So, are you looking forward to go-karting next week?”

I nodded.
“Yeah, it should be fun.” I took a sip of my drink and Danny suddenly smiled as he noticed that I was wearing the charm bracelet he had bought me.

“You liked it then?” he asked with a grin.

“Yeah, it’s beautiful. I had to laugh at the little swimsuit charm.” I told him with a smile.

“Yeah, I thought it was appropriate.” Danny smiled before asking tentatively, “What did you think of the ‘D’?”

I looked at his face thoughtfully, scrutinising his expression before I answered – it looked like he was nervous of what I would say.

“Well what did
you
think?” I asked curiously.

He glanced away.
“Oh um, I just thought it was cool because it symbolises both of our names.”

I nodded
and smiled. “Yeah, that’s what I thought too. Plus, it’ll always remind me of our horrendous lessons together.” I added with a smirk.

Danny looked at me intently, a
half smile playing on his lips. “They’re not over yet so you’re gonna have to suffer just a little bit longer.”

“Oh
, how will I ever survive?” I replied sarcastically.

Danny grinned.
“Hey, your teacher’s a lifeguard … I think you’ll be okay.” He winked at me and I had to laugh.

“Always the smart ass!” I quipped. “A
nd sometimes just an ass.” I added with a wink of my own.

Danny chuc
kled. “Touché Gilmore, touché. Now let’s get something to eat.”

Pretty soon, it was one minute to midnight and Samuel had doled out a glass of champagne to everyone (Danny excluded of course) so that we could toast to the New Year in style.

I swirled the champagne around in my glass as the countdown began. Everywhere I looked, people were starting to seek out someone to welcome in the New Year with and it made me feel a little uncomfortable.

I stole a quick glance at Danny and found that he was standing on the opposite side of the room, talking to some random guy. I breathed in a sigh of relief and waited for the countdown to finally stop.

“10 … 9 … 8 … 7 …” I heard everyone start to shout.

I took another glance at Danny – he was still talking to the guy thankfully.

“6 … 5 … 4 …” everyone continued to yell
as I looked at the floor, praying for it to end already.