Kiss Me

PART I, chapter 11

- XI -

I woke up because someone was gently biting my ear.

"What..." I muttered and opened my eyes.

"Wake up," Danny said softly and nibbled on my ear again.

"Danny..." I sat up on the bed and stared at him. "What are you doing here?!"

He laughed and lay on the pillow, his arms behind his head.

"You don't remember anything from last night, do you?" He looked like he was having a world of fun.

"What am I supposed to remember?" I frowned.

"How's your head?"

"My head is fine," I blinked at him. "Why?"

"No hangover?" he asked with his half-smile.

"Hangover? Why would I have a hangover if I never got dr..." my eyes fell on the half-empty bottle of the Irish Crème, and suddenly, some images flashed in my mind.

"Oh my God..." I whispered and closed my eyes. "No, no, no..." I opened my eyes and looked at Danny who was shaking with laughter. "Danny... What did I do? Danny? Will you stop laughing, please?!"

"I can't," he said. "I just can't..."

I threw a pillow at him and got off the bed.

"Why are you even here?" I demanded.

"You called me," he said, finally stopping his laughter.

"I... What?" I stared at him.

"You called me a little after midnight and said that you totally didn't care if I came to school today," he got up and came closer to me. "And then you fell off the bed and hung up on me. So I decided to come over and see if you didn't manage to kill yourself."

"Oh my God," I moaned. "I am so sorry..."

"Yeah," he nodded. "Oh, you also told me to go to hell..."

I stared in his gray twinkling eyes.

"Danny..." I muttered and he was laughing again.

"Come on," he said. "Let's go."

"Where?"

"To school, freak," he snorted.

"Right..." I winced. "Ugh, school... God, I need to start studying... My grades got so low that it's not even funny."

"Wanna skip school today then?" he asked casually, and I frowned at him.

"Did you even hear what I said?"

"I heard you," he nodded and ran his fingers down my chest.

Suddenly, the idea of spending the entire day with him was so insanely tempting that school didn't seem even remotely important. He slowly pulled me towards him and just held me in his arms, his eyes linked to mine.

"So?" he muttered. "Make up your mind... If you wanna go to school, we need to leave now..."

Instead of answering, I buried my fingers in his hair and pulled his face close to mine. I started kissing him, and stopped caring about everything else but his warm body and hungry mouth.

...We were lying in my bed when I heard the front door opening.

"Must be one of my parents," I said quietly.

"They will probably just go to sleep," Danny muttered. "They had a busy night."

I started laughing softly.

"You know, last night when they both needed me to cover for them, I felt so weird... I mean, they both cheat on each other, and they are both oblivious to everything else around them..."

"I don't understand cheating," Danny murmured. "If you don't want to be with another person anymore, just tell them. Sneaking behind their back and screwing someone else..." he shrugged. "I just don't get it."

"Danny..."

"Mmm?"

"Tell me about yourself..."

He looked at me, his eyes unreadable.

"Why?"

"Curious," I shrugged.

"What do you wanna know?"

I propped myself up on my elbow.

"Well, for starters, what's your middle name?"

He smiled.

"Christopher," he said.

"Daniel Christopher Jordan," I muttered. "That's nice..."

"What else do you wanna know?"

"When did you start selling drugs?"

"Oh, I was..." He thought for a second. "I think I was fourteen... I had this neighbor who was a great stoner; and he would always say that he needed someone to sell s**t for him so he didn't get so stoned all the time... He asked me to sell it a couple of times and it went really well," he shrugged. "Then he moved, but he told a couple of his buddies about me, and then it just worked out..."

"Are you planning on doing it for long?"

"Palmer, you sound like a guidance counselor," he grinned. "And no, this is my last year. I am not doing it after I graduate from high school. Don't wanna be famous at college for pushing drugs."

"College..." I muttered. I never even think about that. Somehow, it didn't click until now that Danny would be graduating from high school in May, and then he would probably move to a different place to go to college. "Where do you wanna go? Which college?" I tried to sound casual.

He shrugged.

"I don't know. As far away from my parents as I possibly can, that's for sure."

"I mean, are you gonna stay in this city or..."

"Why?" He looked at me mockingly. "You don't wanna lose a good lay?"

"I am just curious," I blushed and he laughed.

"Palmer," he sighed. "You are incredibly easy to read sometimes... But sometimes, you are worse than a Chinese finger trap. What else do you wanna know?"

"How many girls have you been with?" I couldn't figure out why it mattered to me.

"I told you already..."

"I am not asking you about the names," I interrupted him. "I am just asking how many?"

He sighed.

"A few," he said finally.

"How many?"

"I don't remember. I don't keep count..."

"Five?"

He smiled and didn't say anything.

"Ten...?" I stared into his laughing eyes. "Fifteen...? Jesus, Danny... More than fifteen? Twenty?!"

He pulled me closer.

"A hundred and twenty seven," he whispered in my ear, and I almost believed him, but then I saw his eyes, and pushed him away.

"Danny...! I am serious..."

"Me too," he agreed solemnly, and suddenly, he was on top of me. "You are a hundred and twenty eighth," he murmured. "I had lots and lots of practice..."

"You are not even eighteen..." I muttered, and he laughed at that and started kissing my neck, his mouth sliding down to my chest. "How old were you when you first... you know..."

"Thirteen," he murmured, and I knew he wasn't lying this time.

"How old was the girl?"

He stopped kissing me for a second and raised his head.

"Twenty four," he said softly. "She was supposed to babysit me when my parents left for the entire weekend... They asked her to watch me, so I wouldn't burn the house down or something like that... She was a good teacher," he added and started kissing me again.

I decided that I would never ask him about anything ever again.

"Anything else you wanna know?" he asked, his mouth on my stomach by now.

"No," I breathed and he laughed.

"Good," he said and slid his face down my stomach.

I closed my eyes and arched my back when his lips tickled my thigh.

...I felt so relaxed with my head on his chest that I almost dozed off, and when he suddenly sat up on the bed, I was startled.

"Come on," he said and got up.

"Where...?" I muttered weakly.

"Let's go get you something for tomorrow night," he said solemnly, and pulled on his sweater. "Something black, leathery, and slutty. Plus, I am hungry."

"Right," I blinked. "Tomorrow night... Party."

He zipped up his jeans and looked at me.

"Don't tell me that all of a sudden, you don't care about Tyler Blake," he said with a crooked smile.

I sighed and got off the bed. I started getting dressed and he turned away.

"Didn't think so," he murmured.

We were sitting at the diner, and Danny pushed his empty plate away with a satisfied sigh. He looked at me and frowned.

"Eat, Palmer," he said softly.

"I am not hungry," I said and drank my tomato juice.

Danny sighed and shook his head.

"You know," he said slowly. "Bulimia kills..."

I stared at him, unable to speak.

"What?" I said finally.

"Bulimia kills," he repeated calmly. "Palmer, I told you before. I know an addict when I see one. And I know that you've been purging for at least a month. Maybe longer."

"That's ridiculous..." I snorted.

"Oh, yeah? The how did you go from normal weight to a stick-figure in less than two months?" he narrowed his eyes. "Have you looked at yourself in the mirror lately? You look like a starvation victim. Yet, I know for a fact that you eat; I saw you. The only reason you are not eating right now is that you won't be able to go puke after you are done."

"Danny..." I said in a firm voice, but he interrupted me.

"Don't," he said. "I have no idea why you think that you need to look like Kate Moss at her worst, but seriously, bulimia will f**k you up worse than you can imagine. If you like to be skin and bones, if that makes you happy, fine! Stop eating junk food; eat something light and normal... But you gotta stop purging, Palmer."

"Why do you even care?" I hissed, and he shrugged.

"I am selfish," he smirked. "Don't wanna lose my best f**k-buddy. Plus, you will be very unattractive when you hair falls out and you turn all yellow..."

"Oh, shut up..." I winced, and he laughed.

"Just eat something, okay? Don't worry about the calories, I'll make you lose them later. I have a work-out plan for you."

"A work-out plan," I repeated with doubt, and he laughed again.

"Yeah," he said and signaled for a waitress. "Trust me, you'll lose all those calories... Yeah, she'll have an omelet," he smiled at the waitress who nodded and walked away.

"An omelet?!" I protested, but he just shook his head.

"Eggs are good for you," he said patiently.

"What kind of a work-out plan?" I asked suspiciously, and Danny grinned.

"The same as always," he said. "I'll take your clothes off and make you sweat. Might even make you go on top, so you can do some work for a change..."

I blushed so hard that I could feel my ears burning. Danny laughed.

"You know," he muttered. "I can't believe that after all the acrobatics we've been through, you still turn red every time I mention sex."

The waitress quickly walked over and set a plate with omelet in front of me.

"Thanks," I muttered, and she gave me a quick smile and walked away.

I stared at the omelet as if it was something poisonous. Danny let out an exasperated sigh.

"It's not going to bite you," he said. "Just eat it, will you?"

"Fine..." I muttered, and carefully put a forkful of yellow fluffy eggs into my mouth. It tasted so good that my eyes watered. Danny grinned.

"Food is good, huh?" he asked softly, watching me all but diving into the plate.

"Mmm..." was all I could say.

He leaned on the back of his seat.

"Okay," he said indifferently. "Tell me about your plans for Tyler."

I almost chocked on my omelet and looked at him.

"What?" I managed finally.

"Your plans for Tyler," he repeated patiently. "How are you going to get him?"

"I..." I stuttered. "I don't know..." I finished my omelet and carefully moved away the plate. "I'll talk to him first, I guess..."

"Good God, Palmer," Danny grimaced. "Talk? About what?"

"Updike!" I said defensively, and he started laughing so hard that his dark hair fell on his face. "What's funny?" I asked angrily.

"Oh my God..." Danny breathed. "Don't tell me that he used the Updike line on you..."

"It wasn't a line!" I protested, and Danny stopped laughing and looked at me suddenly-seriously.

He leaned towards me across the table and said in a low, seductive voice:

"The jokes over the phone... The memories packed in a rapid access file. The whole act..."

I stared at him in disbelief.

"Tell me," Danny said in his normal voice. "Did you know what the hell he was talking about?"

"It's... It's a poem..." I stuttered. "Perfection Wasted... By Updike..."

"Good for you," Danny nodded. "Usually, girls just go all gaga-eyed the second he recites the damn thing. Did you know that it's the only thing he knows that was written by Updike? And not the entire poem, by the way... Just those lines," Danny started laughing again. "Oh, man! He's been using that line for ages! I can't believe it still works! He tried using it on Laurie, but she asked him to name at least one book that was written by Updike, and when he couldn't, she just told him to shut up."

I shook my head.

"No," I said weakly. "No way... He said that all Laurie reads is Ya-Ya Sisterhood..."

"Oh, mother of God," Danny rolled his eyes. "Laurie is like a walking library. She had read so many books that it's not even funny. Believe me, all Blake ever reads is Car and Driver, Hot Rod, and Penthouse. I am not sure about Penthouse," he added. "He probably doesn't read it; he just jerks off to it..."

I winced. That can't be true; Danny was just saying it because he didn't like Tyler. But how did he know the exact line that Tyler was reciting to me? Suddenly, I felt so stupid and ashamed that I almost cried.

"Don't feel bad," Danny shrugged. "If he used that line on you, that means he liked you. It should be really easy for you tomorrow. I'll take care of Laurie," he said softly and put a fifty on the table. "Let's go get your outfit."