The Price of a Gift (The Price of Secrets Series) (10 page)

"Hannah, can I talk to you at lunch?" H
e remembered my name. Oh Lord, I think I could just melt right here.

"Sure, I can introduce you to my friends." Then handcuff myself to you so you can't get away.

"I was really wanting to talk to you alone, if that's ok. Then if you want, I can meet your friends." If I want? Why wouldn't I want?

"Ok, just wait for me at the lunchroom entrance after class. See
ya." I had to walk away now before this smile freezes permanently on my face because he wants to be alone with me! Walking into algebra, I was already counting down until lunch.

As soon as the bell rang, I took off to find Jaycee. She was walking to her locker with Phoebe.

"Hey. Listen, save our table and I will catch up with you in a few. Daniel wants to talk to me ALONE." I said while dancing in place. I really need to stop doing that.

Jaycee smiled. "Hannah's
gonna get some hot lovin."

"I am not. You're such a slut." I said picking on her.

"Hey, get it right. I'm the tease and Phoebe's the slut."

"Hey!" Phoebe whined. We just looked at her. "Yeah, ok," she said, "but there should be a nicer word for it. Like, friendly." I ran off to the lunchroom leaving Jaycee and
Phebs still laughing.

I slowed down before reaching the end of the hall. I don't want to look anxious. I smoothed down my hair, checked my clothes, and turned the corner. And there he was, standing in the doorway waiting on me. He was so cute with his purple aura just a glowing. He was talking to Mike, Nick and Jacob, but he was watching groups of kids walking in and out of the cafeteria. He was looking for me! Did I just sigh? I think I did. I'm in big trouble. I walked toward him trying to look calm, casual and hot all at the same time. As soon as he saw me, his face lit up with a smile. I heard him tell the guys he would see them later.

"Sorry, I had to stop by my locker first."

"That's ok. Can we go out here?" He was pointing to the exit doors.

"Sure come on. There some picnic tables we can sit at." We walked out the door and set down in silence.

He took a deep breath, like he was building up the courage to speak. "I have to tell you something."

I waited a few seconds. "Ok. What is it?"

"I was unpacking my clothes and I found your diary in the back of the closet behind a loose baseboard."

Oh crap. I had forgotten about that. I said the first thing that popped in my head. "Did you read it?" His silence told me everything. "So you already knew how long Jaycee and I have been friends." Jaycee didn't have to worry about me pinching my cheeks, because I could feel all the blood rushing to my face. He still said nothing. "Where is it?" This is it. My life is ruined. He is gonna tell the guys and they will tell everyone and have a great big laugh at my expense. I always wondered when this would happen, but never thought it would be at the hands of this guy who was already starting to own my heart. Well that will teach me to think I could have my own happy ever after.

"It's still in my closet. I was going to bring it to you today, but thought it would be safer at my house." Now it was my turn to be silent. "I can take you to my house after school to get it then I will drive you home
If you want, or I can bring it to school tomorrow." So he can show everyone? No! I have to get it as soon as possible.

"I need it today. I was supposed to go to the library with Jaycee but I will reschedule." I could feel the knot in my throat and the tears wouldn't be far behind. I had to get away from him. "I will meet you after gym." With that I got up to walk away.

"Hannah I..." I opened the door and went back into the school, ignoring him. I can't face him again right now. How could I have been so stupid? Thinking he wanted to be alone with me. Why would he? Cause I impressed him so much at our first meeting? I'm a freakin joke to him. Just a crazy girl whose diary proved it. I ran into the bathroom, luckily I was alone. I went into a stall and grabbed some toilet paper to dry my eyes and tried to salvage my makeup. I text Jaycee, then leaned against the door and gave into a good cry. I really liked him, and I have made a complete fool of myself. Within seconds the bathroom door opened.

"Hannah?" I opened the stall door. She took one look at me and pulled me into a hug. "Han, what's wrong?
whose ass do I need to kick?" This is why Jaycee is my best friend, always having my back. She helped me pull myself together and touch up my mascara while I told her everything.

Jaycee stayed in the bathroom with me until the bell rang. I was dreading biology because I knew Daniel was
gonna be in there. Heck, I had him the rest of the day. We walked back to our lockers and I got my tote bag out while Jaycee made excuses to Phebs and Kayla about where we have been.

"You know Hannah can't walk and chew gum at the same time, let alone drink and walk. She spilled it all over her shirt. So we had to clean the stain out then we were stuck in the bathroom waiting for the spot to dry." It's scary how good she was at lying. I almost believed her.

Trying to put on a happy face, I smiled. "It was so embarrassing. Thanks for helping me Jaycee. I'm going to class. See you guys in gym."

Jaycee patted my back. "Remember, you are the hot girl with the take no prisoner attitude." Right now I felt like the awkward and stupid girl, but I still smiled and thanked her. I walked into class determined not to look for him, but of course I did. He was already sitting close to the window. So I found a desk across the room. I made it through the entire period without looking at him. In fact I never took my eyes off the teacher. Who I'm sure now thinks I would make a good candidate for a stalker. Any other day I would have enjoyed Mr. Powell's class. Everyone said he was a good teacher and
kinda cute, but I was just focused on getting this day over with.

When the bell rang I was first out the door again. I didn't even stop at my locker because I already had my gym clothes in my tote. I didn't want to risk the chance of being confronted by Daniel. Not just yet. I figured I would save up all the embarrassment for the car ride to and from his house.
Thats right, he’s driving already. How old is he? It doesn't matter. Stop thinking about him. I made it into the locker room without seeing him. The girls were already there changing, and oh goodie, so was Megan. She was already trying to get on Jaycee's nerves.

"So I saw you walking to lunch with Mike. Didn't you just break up with someone? My you work fast?"

Jaycee acted as if it didn't bother her at all. "Are you jealous Megan? You know Mike's not your type. He walks on two legs. But maybe we can find you someone at the pound." She said smiling ear to ear.

"Is that your way of calling me a bitch?"

"Aww, and people saying you're dumber than dirt, yet you caught on so fast."

I stepped in before it went from bad to worse. "Stop it. Megan
go away and find someone who can tolerate you. That should keep you busy for a while."

I don't understand why most girls take her crap. She's a bully disguised as a short perky blonde cheerleader. The four of us decided we were not
gonna let her get away with it this year. She walked out of the locker room and Kayla snorted a giggle and that got all of us laughing, it felt good, I needed that.

We were all given the option of different activities that we could do. We chose running the track around the football field, A.K.A. walking and gossiping. Halfway around the track, the four of us ended up being the 7 of us. Ashley, Olivia and Brittany, our extended group, joined us. High school is a very complex make up of several groups. You start with your best friend, which of course mine is Jaycee. Then you have your core group; Jaycee,
Phebs, Kayla and me. These are the people you do everything with. Then there is the core group mix; the four of us with Josh, Nick, Mike, Jacob, and sometimes Chase and Luke. Next is your extended group; that adds in Ash, Olivia and Brit. These are the ones you really like, but mostly only hang out with them when your core is busy. Then it's the class group; these are the people you are friends with inside of your classroom but never really socialize outside of school with. Unless there is a party or football game or something like that. And last you have the nameless group; the ones you say hey to or smile at in the hallways, but don't really know their names. There actually is one more group. It's the group for the people you don't like. But I don't use it because no one fits into that category for me. Except for Megan, and I try not to think about her as much as possible.

The whole time we are walking I'm trying to listen and join in on the conversation. I heard Ashley saying they spent two weeks at the beach and Olivia's sister got engaged. I was getting bits and pieces here and there, but my mind was on Daniel. I already saw that he had buddied up
with Jacob, Mike and Luke. (MY core group mix.) And they were playing a game of touch football. Daniel had changed into a pair of black, grey and white basketball short and a black t-shirt that set off his black hair that was currently wet from sweat. I was so zoned into him that I could feel every time he looked at me. Which I must admit was quite a lot. It was the why was he looking at me that I couldn't figure out. Was he attracted to me or feeling guilty for reading my diary or getting ready to spill everything he knows about me to the guys and wanted to make sure I was out of earshot first? To make matters worse, I can't get into his head to get a hint. I mean it's always been harder for me to do that when the subject was me. It took me awhile to even realize Josh liked me. I always thought it was supposed to be like that so I wouldn't rely on my abilities and just take the easy way through life. But I get nothing, nada, zilch from Daniel. In biology class I was thinking maybe it was because he already knew what I could do ahead of time and was blocking me. On the other hand how would he know, and HOW, to block me? He hadn't even read my diary when we first met, and I was getting nothing then either. But of course, then I was just focused on trying to walk away with a ounce of dignity. By the end of gym I had more questions than answers. I did know one thing though, I was about to get into his car and be with him...alone.

"Hannah, you coming?"
Jaycee asked. The other girls were already walking toward the gym. I ran to catch up with her. "It's gonna be ok Han. I think if he was going to tell, he would have done so by now. Or maybe he didn't read it and he's just trying to get you into his bedroom." If she cared enough to want to cheer me up, the least I could do is try.

So, I threw my arm around her shoulder and smiled.
" You know you're kinda intuitive.......for a butler."

"Hey, I thought I was a
French maid!"

Chapter 8

I walked out of the locker room just in time to see Daniel bending over at the water fountain to get a drink.

Jacob, who was leaning against the wall beside Daniel, saw me. "What's up Han?" He’s always in such a good mood. It was almost contagious.
Emphasis on almost.

So of course I have to be nice, it’s not his fault my world is crashing down around me. "Not much Jacob."

Daniel stood up and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "Hey, umm, we're going to drop Jacob off at his house on our way to mine. I told Jacob I was taking you to get that wind chime you made that was left on the back porch of your old house. Well my new house." It sounded like it was Daniel's turn to ramble. Focus Hannah, the important thing was that he hadn't told Jacob about my diary. I'm not getting my hopes up though. He could just be waiting for all the copies of it to be printed so he can pass them out. I'm pretty sure that's far-fetched but I'm not ruling out anything.

"Ok so let's go. I want to get it before anyone can make fun of it." If Daniel caught onto what I was saying he didn't show it. The funny thing is
, I think I really did leave my wind chime on the back porch. I made it in fourth grade art class and gave it to my mom for Mother's Day. I was so proud of myself at the time but over the years I realized Mom must really love me to make such a fuss over it because it was hideous.

The walk to the car was filled with Jacob trying to talk Daniel into trying out for basketball and wrestling.

"This is me." Daniel said pointing to a little black 4 door car. It was cute and couldn't be more than a couple years old. I made sure Jacob got the front seat and I sat behind Daniel. I didn't want to have to carry on a conversation. I figured I could take this time and try to see what Jacob thinks of Kayla. As I was trying to think of a way to bring her up, I studied Jacob from the back seat. I can see why Kayla likes him. Besides his great personality, he is cute. He keeps his black hair buzzed, and he has beautiful cappuccino colored skin, and pretty green eyes. Which is unusual for someone of mix race so it makes him look kinda exotic.

"Jacob, do you have any
class's with Phebs or Kayla?"

"I have Kayla in my biology class and all of
yawl in lunch and gym. Why?"

"I only get to see Kayla in lunch and gym. So, I was just wondering if any guys were checking out her new
makeover we gave her." Lame I know, but I couldn't think of anything else. While rolling my eyes at myself I noticed Daniel watching me through the rear view mirror. I quickly looked away and focused back on Jacob. Hmmmmm, he didn't like what I said. I pushed a little harder. He is picturing Kayla in her maxi dress today. And aww, how sweet, he sees her with a little angel like glow around her, which, with her sweet nature, was fitting.