Learning to Breathe (8 page)

“You never give up, do you?”

He shook his head and smirked at me. “Come on, one little trip to the cinema isn’t going to kill you.”

I sighed.
“Danny, we’ve talked about this before.”

“I know but how about we go just as friends?”

I glanced at him and could tell by his face that he was being serious but I still wasn’t sure about it.

“Are you sure you can stick to that? You’re not going to try anything funny?” I eyed him unsurely.

Now Danny rolled his eyes. “Jeez Darcie, I can control myself. The only thing funny tonight will be the film – do you like comedies?”

I smirked.
“Good to know and I haven’t agreed to go yet.”

“Oh come on, it’ll just be two friends seeing a film. Besides, what else would you be doing on a Saturday night?” He looked at me with a raised eyebrow and smirked – he knew that I was close to caving.

“Fine.” I sighed. “I’d just be sitting in otherwise.”

He threw me that cute little half grin
, taking great pleasure in the fact that I had succumbed to his pleading. “Excellent, I’ll pick you up at seven … and it’s not a date!”

I now realised that we had stopped outside my house so I got out and waved him off with a “Whatever.”

I watched him drive off as I hunted for my house key, wondering all the while if I had just made a huge mistake.

I spent the rest of the afternoon debating about whether I should cancel or not. I then started to panic about what to wear. I knew it wasn’t a date but I wanted to look half-decent – after all, I had spent the majority of the day covered in paint and glitter. I ransacked my wardrobe and ending up settling on some jeans, a dressy top and pumps. I then set about making myself some dinner since my mother still wasn’t home.

I wasn’t hungry enough to order a pizza for myself so I ended up making a sandwich. I had just washed up my plate when the doorbell rang. I glanced at my watch – 6.30pm – Danny was early. I grabbed my bag and cardigan and opened the door to find that it wasn’
t Danny … it was Harriet.

“Darcie! There you – oh, are you going somewhere?” She looked me up and down with a curious look on her face.

I nodded. “Yeah, what’s up?”

She shrugged.
“It’s nothing … I just wanted to see if you wanted to do something – I really need a girly night.”

“What’s wrong?” It seemed like Harriet was holding back some vital piece of information.

“It’s not important … just Samuel being a total ass as usual. Anyway, it’s okay, we’ll catch up later. I take it you’re finally going on a hot date with Danny?” She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively and I shook my head and chuckled.

“Hardly, we’re just friends and we’re only going to the cinema
. I can cancel if you wanna talk.”

She shook her head ferocio
usly. “Hell no! I’m not gonna stand in the way of you two love-birds. Besides, Samuel will probably phone me later – he always does. It’ll be like every other time we fight – I’ll make him grovel, he’ll apologise … it’ll be all good.”

I laughed.
“You guys make a great couple – it’ll all be okay. And less of the love-birds talk … how many times do I’ve to tell you that I don’t date?”

She rolled her eyes.
“Yeah, yeah. See you later … have fun!”

And with a parting cheeky wink, she made her way back to her house.

Ten minutes later and Danny arrived. I left a note for my mother and headed out the door. I found Danny looking particularly good – he was wearing dark denim jeans, a black ‘Rolling Stones’ t-shirt and black Converse.
When I got into the passenger side, he threw me that lopsided grin and, in spite of myself, I returned it with a genuine smile of my own.

“Looking good Gilmore.” He winked at me and I shook my head in disapproval.

“Do you ever turn off the charm?”

He chuckled at that.
“Why, are you starting to give in to my charismatic ways?”

I smirked at him.
“Wow, am I that transparent? I mean
how
could I ever resist your womanising ways?”

“I’m sensing some s
arcasm.” Danny noted with a smirk as he started the car.

“Ooh,
I guess you’re not just a pretty face after all …” I quipped back at him.

“Yeah, I figured I’d better have some brains to woo the ladies with when my looks start to fade
and my ‘cute smile’ doesn’t work anymore.” He retorted back with a cocky smirk.

I shook my
head exasperatedly and laughed. “You’re never gonna let that go, are you?”

He shook his head. “Nope! I wait in vain for the day that you can no longer resist my lopsided smile.”

“Ever the optimist, aren’t you?” I noted with a smirk.

He flashed me a cheeky grin.
“Well I do try.”

“Yeah, I’ve noticed that” was all I said in return – I was worried that this playful banter was starting to border on
some serious flirting.

I shifted my gaze onto the road ahead and desperately thought of a subject change.

“So,” I began eventually, “what film do you wanna see?”

“What about the new horror one?” I watched Danny’s eyes flit to my face for a second, gauging my reaction.

I shrugged. “I don’t mind, I quite like scary films. I’m weird like that.”

Danny seemed surprised by this.
“Really? Most girls freak out. You’re definitely one of a kind Gilmore.”

I laughed.
“Yeah, you see why I don’t like to socialise much?”

Danny threw me a though
tful look before he spoke again. “Well, the people back in Langley Falls didn’t know what they were missing out on.”

I didn’t know what to say to that so I remained silent
– if only Danny knew the truth.

A short while later and we pulled up to the cinema. Danny parked the car as close to the entrance as possible since it had just started raining.

“So,” Danny began, turning in his seat to face me, “
are you ready to make a run for it?”

I nodded and we both leapt out of the car and dashed through the glass doors.

We both looked up at the listings board. Danny glanced at me. “So what will it be?”

“Ugh,” I groaned.
“Anything but the romantic one. I don’t care, you choose.”

Danny threw me a funny look.
“You seriously don’t want to see a chick flick?”

I raised my eyebrow at him.
“Yeah. Why – do
you
?”

He shook his head.
“No, I just find it kinda strange, that’s all.”

“Well I did warn you.
” I chuckled at him.

He nodded.
“Okay, well what about ‘Danger in the Dark’?”

I glanced at the poster
– a psychological thriller – I couldn’t argue with that.

“Yeah,” I told Danny, “let’s go.”

The film was over by
ten o’clock and we both decided to go for a coffee in a little café that was still open. We ordered our drinks and sat down at a table with squishy-looking chairs.

“
So,” Danny began with an oddly serious look on his face, “did that feel like a date to you?”

I threw him a questioning look.
“No. Why? What’re you getting at?”

He shrugge
d. “Just think … if it had’ve been, it would’ve been a good one.”

“No
t this again.” I sighed heavily. “You specifically said that it wasn’t a date. I just want us to be friends and that’s it.”

I watched
as Danny threw me a sly smirk and I shook my head in disbelief as everything clicked into place.

“
You’re just screwing with me, aren’t you?”

He nodded.
“Hell yeah! You’ve met your match Gilmore … be warned.”

“
Ooh, I’m so scared! Do you really think that you’re gonna win me over?” I asked him, vaguely wondering if he was this smug all the time.

I watched him chuckle.
“Oh come on Darcie … eventually, you will succumb to my impressive seducing techniques … and you’ll wish you’d dated me sooner.”

I decided to ignore his over-confident assumptions and address an issue that h
ad bothered me since we had met.

“Danny, I want to ask you something and I want you to be honest with me.”

He looked at me, surprised, by my serious tone. “Okay, shoot.”

“
The first day we met …why’d you write your number on the back of my receipt? What was your reason?” I didn’t know if he would answer my question truthfully or not but I still wanted some sort of response.

He was silent for a few minutes and
then he eventually met my gaze. “As I told you before – you intrigued me Darcie. I can’t say much more than that but it’s the truth.”

I didn’t know what to say to that so I just took a big gulp of my cappuccino and
tried to think of a subject change.

However, a second later, Danny broke the awkward silence by laughing. I threw him a quizzical look.

“You’ve got froth on your nose!” he explained while reaching to wipe it off.

“Oh, right … thanks.” I managed to mumble as he
brushed my nose with a napkin.

Danny smiled at me but I found myself pulling away – this was b
ordering on dangerous territory so I decided to take the easy way out.

“Are you ready to go?” I enquired, praying that he would take the hint that I wanted to go home. I felt bad but
it was a necessary evil.

Danny looked a little disappointed but he flashed me a small
half smile nonetheless. “Yeah, sure – let’s go.”

We left the café and made our way back to the car in silence.
It was an incredibly uncomfortable journey home and I was extremely relieved when Danny pulled up outside my house.

I
reluctantly turned to face him. “Well, I guess I’ll see you Monday …” I trailed off, not knowing what else to say to him.

Danny smil
ed but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Yeah, thanks for the company.”

I nodded and got out; waving him off before I made my way up to the front door.
The house was in darkness so it was safe to assume that my mother was in bed and for that I was grateful – I didn’t want to be interrogated about where I had been. I sighed heavily as I climbed the stairs to my room – I had a feeling that I wouldn’t get much sleep tonight …

My lungs felt like they were on fire. I could taste the salty water but there was nothing I could do to stop it from rushing into my lungs. I was choking while I screamed out for help and I could feel myself slipping in and out of consciousness. Suddenly, I could feel strong arms around me and hear someone comforting me.

“Darcie, you’re going to be okay. I won’t let anything happen to you. I promise …”

The dream then changed, Danny appeared to help me out of the water but I refused to reach out to him. He called out to me desperately but I stubbornly resisted his attempt to rescue me. I was drowning but I didn’t care.

“Why won’t you let me help you?” He suddenly yelled with a furious look on his face.

I stared into his kind, hazel eyes and sighed. “Because I don’t deserve to be saved.”

I then sank below the surface.

I woke up
gasping for air and feeling slightly disorientated. I took a quick glance at my alarm clock – 5.56am. Great, so much for my Sunday lie-in …

I sat up, swung my legs over the side of my bed and rubbed my face wearily. I couldn’t forget the look on Danny’s face in my dream – the determination in his eyes was quite haunting.
I sighed heavily and decided to push those thoughts away – I didn’t want to dwell on it any further.

After seeking out some much-
needed caffeine, I sprawled across the couch and flicked on the TV. I channel-surfed until I found a cheesy made-for-TV film which I then forced myself to watch – I figured if I got lost in the ridiculous plot-line, I would be able to forget all about my dream.

An hour and a half later and the film had ended (with a sickly sweet happily ever after) and I was now looking at other ways to occupy m
y mind from dwelling on things it shouldn’t be. It was then that my mother decided to appear and I found myself surprised – instead of dreading making conversation with her, I welcomed it as a distraction.

“
So, where’d you disappear to yesterday?” My mother enquired, stifling back a yawn.

“Well I got called into work and then I w
ent to the cinema with a friend.” I told her truthfully but deciding not to elaborate on who exactly the friend had been.