Sweet Harmony (11 page)

Chapter Eleven

The next morning, Annamarie seized her book bag and ran out of the dorm as fast as her legs could carry her.
I'm going to be late.
She ran past a group of girls and headed out the side door to the walkway.

She almost ran into Daniel who had dark bags under his eyes. She skidded to a stop in
shock. It was the first time ever she'd seen Daniel look less than perfect. Sure, he was still ten times more gorgeous than any other guy on campus, but he wasn't himself.
I'm not concerned about him,
she told herself, even as she tried to figure out why her stomach lurched at the sight of his pallid face. 

"What's the matter with you?" she asked as a way of greeting.

Daniel made eye contact with her. His face went from pale to an awful shade of green.

"Get away," he muttered.

"Hey, I was just trying to help—"

He bent over at the middle and chunky brown vomit drenched her shoes.

"—you," she finished.

Both she and Daniel stared down in horror at the puddle of puke she was standing in. She made eye contact with him.

"You just threw up on me," she whispered, fighting not to puke herself.

"Why didn't you move when I told you to, you idiot?" he yelled, his face
going from green to red.

"I didn't know you were going to blow chunks
." She glared at him.

Daniel was
going pale now. That was no good. She couldn't be pissed at a guy who was puking, even if she was now ankle-deep in what looked to be regurgitated bacon and eggs. With her own stomach churning, she reached for him.

"I'm going to help you
get to your dorm," she said. "Don't think it's because I like you or anything."

"You'll be late," he said.

"Ah, who cares?" She was never going to master the flute anyway. She was just at the academy for a few more weeks before she went back to being homeschooled again.

Daniel opened his mouth, probably to make some snide comment, but then clapped it shut again
likely because of fear of vomiting. Shaking her head, she wrapped her arm around his waist. Instead of the expensive cologne that usually hung around him like a heavy coat, today he smelled sour. She had to hold her breath even to be close to him.

"Have you seen the nurse?" s
he asked.

"Yeah.
I just visited him." Daniel nodded weakly. "He said it was just the stomach flu."

Well, it's a nasty one,
she thought. She found herself staring at his pale face yet again, stunned at how he could be ill but still so attractive. The two of them were silent until they reached the boys' dorm.

"You can just leave me here," Daniel said. "I really don't need your help
going inside."

That was the thanks she got for coming with him and not even whining about the vomit on her shoes?

"I'm going inside," she said, though she had no idea why it was so important to her that she did.

Daniel shook his head and groaned. "If you miss class without a note from the teacher, you'll get detention."

"What else is new?" she asked. "I'm toilet girl, remember? I live to clean bathrooms."

He nodded, his face going green again. "As much fun as mocking you is, let's not talk about toilets right now."

Maybe that was a good idea. She'd hate it if he threw up on her again.

"Just come on." She opened
the door for him. The two of them headed inside together.

A lone student was
drinking from the water fountain when he spotted her.

"Girls aren't allowed in here," the boy said.

"Shut up." Daniel glared at him. "She's with me, isn't she? Shouldn't you be in class?"

The boy paled when he
recognized Daniel and left the building in a hurry. As she pulled Daniel to the elevator and pushed the up button, she let out a sigh.

"Do you really have to talk to everyone like that?" she asked.

"Like what?" The doors to the elevator opened and he went inside.

She followed him in and glanced at him wearily.

"Like you're better than everyone," she said.

"Who said I think I'm better
than everyone?" Daniel shot her a dirty look. "Did you ever think that maybe I just don't want people to hang around me?"

The words
were a shocking insight into the workings of Daniel's twisted mind. The doors of the elevator closed, leaving the two of them in close corridors together.

"Why wouldn't you want people to hang around you?" She watched him
carefully, an eyebrow raised. "After all, you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar."

"If too many flies come, the honey will be all gone." Daniel stared at her, his
gaze intense. Because of the bags under his eyes, he looked even more intimidating than usual. "Do you know what it's like to have everybody suck up to you because you have money? Every person at this school except for Jaiden and Gavin aren't interested in me as a person. They're interested in the future CEO of one of the biggest corporations in America. They want me because of my billionaire status and what I can do for them. Nobody sees me as just a guy. Why would I want people like that hanging around me, Annamarie? Would you want them hanging around you?"

It was the first time she'd ever thought being a billionaire could be a bad thing.
She saw something in Daniel beyond shallow selfishness and vanity—she saw a guy who was lonely but tired of being manipulated.

"I suppose I wouldn't," she begrudgingly admitted.

"What is this?" Daniel grunted. "Is the mighty
Annamarie Chadwick admitting that I'm right for a change?"

Stupid Daniel. He was getting
all smug again.

"Not a chance." She poked him in the chest. "I just understand your reasoning. And just so you know, if you keep hiding behind your surly personality, the only new people who will ever come your way are those who
want to hang with you for the wrong reasons. You know why? Because the people who love others for who they are on the inside will think you're a selfish, arrogant overlord."

Daniel looked
like she'd just slapped him.

"Just when I think your presence
is tolerable…" he muttered. "Button."

"What?" Was his stomach flu
messing with his mind?

"Press the tenth floor button," Daniel said. "I'm feeling sick.
If I puke in here, it's going to get all over you again."

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" She glared at him.

He looked like he wanted to respond, but instead he bent over at the middle, clutching his stomach. Before he really did turn the elevator into a vomit swimming pool, she hit the button for the tenth floor. The elevator went up. When the doors opened, she saw a narrow hallway with white carpet and light blue walls. There was only one door at the end of it.

"Does nobody else live on the tenth floor?" she asked.

Daniel gulped and straightened, his hands shaking.

"Think of it as a penthouse," Daniel said
, smacking his lips together. "The son of the CEO of Marino Technology Group wouldn't slum it like the rest of the students here."

She wouldn't consider
the dorm rooms slums. During her adventures throughout Europe, she'd once spent three weeks in an English youth hostel in the middle of nowhere because she was running out of allowance money. Now that hostel had been in the slums.

"Daniel, when you aren't sick anymore, you seriously need to spend a little time
trying to make it on your own," she said. "Without your money, I'm not sure you'd know what to do."

"Look who's talking," Daniel said. "You talk big, but you're
rich too. You can scorn me all you want, but that fact isn't going to change."

She fell silent. Maybe there was some truth to that.

"What's this?" Daniel elbowed her. "Why is the jabber mouth finally quiet?"

"I'm thinking." She had the resist the urge to punch him in the side.

Rolling his eyes, Daniel teetered to his room and unlocked the door. When he went inside, she followed after him, still deep in though. When she looked around, all contemplation about her wealth was shoved aside. Fine white carpet as soft as a cumulus cloud was underfoot. Designer black chrome furniture sat in front of a large screen TV. A window overlooked the entire campus and the city beyond.

"Your dad must have paid big," she said, spinning around.
"This room is awesome."

"It's
okay."

Her
fists balled. "It's just okay? This is practically an apartment. Why would you go in that recreational room with Jaiden and Gavin if you have all this?"

"People come here and knock on my door all the time," he said. "I never get a moment's peace. The
recreational room is a secret. Well, until you—urgh."

"Urgh?"
What's urgh?

Daniel raced down the hall. A door opened and close
d, then she heard the sound of vomit hitting a porcelain basin.
Oh,
she thought.
That's "urgh."

Feeling grossed out but unable to leave Daniel alone, she headed down the hall and opened the bathroom door. Daniel was
kneeling before the toilet, his face pale.

"Don't come in here," he said. "I don't want you to see me like this."

Mighty Daniel on his knees because of the stomach flu.
She couldn't help but pity him.

"It's fine." She pulled one of the hand towels
from the towel rack and wet it in the sink. "My brother got sick all the time and it was always my job to take care of him."

She kneeled down beside
Daniel and laid the damp towel on the back of his neck. With gentle fingers, she rubbed his back as he dry heaved a few last times into the toilet but nothing came out. He sat down, a line of drool running from his lips to his chin.

"Where were your parents?" His voice was weak again, not at all like him.
"Why did you have to take care of your brother and not them?"

"My parents?" She thought hard about it. "My parents weren't around much. They were always traveling
. My brother—his name's Yuri—and I went with my dad a lot, but even then, there were always performances and parties and after parties. My dad just didn't have time for the two of us, so I took care of the twerp."

The same fire was back between them. A chill ran down her spine, even as
she began to sweat.

"Your brother is lucky," Daniel said. "I don't have any siblings, so when I got sick, I
was all alone. Nobody's ever stayed with me like this before."

He sounded almost grateful
and her heart betrayed her by growing warm.

"My brother
isn't so lucky." She tortured Yuri as much as she'd helped him.

"I think he is." Daniel swallowed. "I have another question."

"What?"

"Who took care of you?" Daniel asked.

The question took her off guard and she was startled by how much pain it caused. Still she was determined not to reveal her own emotions.

"Me," she said. "I t
ook care of me. I did just fine too."

Daniel looked like he knew better. She remembered what Jaiden had said,
"You and Daniel are amazingly alike."
Perhaps because of that likeness which she loathed, Daniel had a strange ability to see into her heart.

"Let's get you to bed," she said quickly, trying to stop her thoughts from
straying to bad places.

"Bed?
" Daniel looked at her.

"Yep. Bed." She stood up and offered him her hand. "Sitting on that cold tile can't be good for you. I'll tuck you in
and try to find a puke bucket."

He looked at her hand but didn't take it.

"Are you going to stay here and pester me all day?" Daniel asked.

"Yes," she said without hesitation.

It could have been her imagination, but she swore she spotted a smile on Daniel's face. He reached for her hand and took it. She helped pull him to his feet.

****

Six hours went by. Annamarie was in a squishy armchair while Daniel lay in bed after a four hour nap. His skin had a lot more color now and his eyes were brighter. He hadn't puked for a while either, which she considered a good sign. As she checked her phone to see if she had any messages—Jaiden had been texting her all day even though he was in the middle of a fieldtrip—she heard the doorbell ring.

"That's the ninth time today," she said. "You really do get a lot of visitors."

"All people I don't need to see," Daniel said. "The only ones who are allowed inside my room already have keys."