Save Me

Eight

“Why so slow, Rose?” she asked, leaning on her old beat up red truck. I swear she looked so hot and beautiful at the same time. She was wearing black skinny jeans and a plain white V-necked shirt with matching black boots. Her black hair was tied in a messy ponytail and she didn’t even have make up on.

“It’s kind of hard walking with crutches, Rivers,” I said rolling my eyes.

She giggled, “Sorry.”

I got in her truck and looked at her once she was backing away from my driveway, “You sure you’re cool with touring me around?”

She snorted, “Like I have a choice, Rose. Plus, maybe you could prove me wrong with my impression on you.”

“And what would that impression be?”

She licked her bottom lip and then chewed on it, as if contemplating on whether to actually tell me, “That you’re a player with a capital P.”

I raised a brow, “I never thought you were the judgmental type.”

She glanced at me and then turned back to the road. She didn’t answer me until we arrived in a destination which was some tourist spot in Wilmington that had some old battered battleship boats. Before I could get off the car, Danielle turned to look at me, “I’m not judgmental, I’m just very observant.”

I wanted to ask her what was the difference but she already got off the car and was heading to the boats. The rest of our trip was almost uneventful because after the whole judgmental comment, Danielle didn’t speak to me. We stopped by a well-known diner whose specialty was seafood. I wasn’t exactly a fan though.

“Can we eat somewhere else?” I asked.

She looked at me and raised a brow in question, her blue eyes were glinting and she looked amused, “City boy not a fan of seafood?”

“No,” I grumbled.

“Well, I’m up for it and since I’m the tour guide, you have no other choice,” she said getting out of the car.

She walked over to my side of the car, I stared at her, “Danielle, I’m supposed to be like a guest and Gerry and the guys got you up for this so would you please just drive me to another diner?”

She just stared at me and laughed, “I’m not exactly the giving in type of girl, Rose. I stand my ground. Now you can either get out or have lunch with me or you stay here and starve yourself to death.”

“Your Dad wouldn’t be happy if you do that to me,” I said, feeling like I’ve made an achievement with my threat. I mean, Danielle did seem to me like the perfect daddy’s girl.

She just smirked, “The daddy card doesn’t work on me, Rose.”

She then turned around her heel, leaving me in the truck. I grunted and my stomach grumbled. Why didn’t I eat breakfast earlier? I huffed in annoyance and thought of a perfect payback to Danielle for making me eat seafood. I went in the diner and saw Danielle talking to a waiter who looked like he had an eye on her.

I headed over to her, feeling the need of wanting to protect Danielle, “D.”

Danielle and the waiter turned their attention on me and Danielle smirked, “Hunger won you over?”

I grunted as I slid across from her, “You shouldn’t have left me in the car.”

She just rolled her eyes and pushed the menu towards me, “I’ve already ordered.”

I stared at the menu and my eyes almost bugged out of its socket. I turned to the waiter who was now busy chatting with Danielle. My eyes narrowed and I resisted the urge of dragging him out of the diner by his ponytail and then getting him fired.

“You guys don’t have any meat in this menu,” I complained.

Danielle and him stared at me incredulously as if I’ve just grown two heads. The waiter spoke, “We wouldn’t be called the Seafood Shack if we sold meat.”

I was about to retort but Danielle sensed the argument before I could even ignite it, “Just give him the Blue Marlin, Vince.”

When Vince was out of our earshot I turned to look at Danielle, “What’s that?”

“What’s what?”

“The Blue Marlin.”

“It’s a fish,” she answered in a matter-of-fact voice, rolling her eyes at me, “Don’t worry. It’s a steak like fish, you’ll like it.”

“I don’t like eating fish,” I mumbled.

“Ohh is poor wittle Fally afraid to choke on a fishbone?” she cooed in a baby voice.

I glared at her, “No! I just don’t want to take my time worrying on any bones when I can just devour the contents like the man I am.”

I had snapped at her and the playful mood she was in was immediately gone. She glowered at me and sneered, “Well good thing I ordered you a fish that you can just devour in seconds!”

“What?” I asked confused.

“Gee, you know you better get your facts straight about fishes, Rose, if you want to survive here,” she snapped and then was silent until our order came.

It was a petty argument which is just about fishes. When Vince came back, they were both flirting again and I swear that it took every ounce of will power I had not to rip his head apart from his body. What made matters worse, for me anyway, was that Vince stayed in our table until we finished our food. It annoyed me and I couldn’t really bite back my tongue to shoo him away.

“Don’t you, like, have a job to do or something?” I said motioning to the new customers arriving.

Vince smirked, “I guess Cam here didn’t tell you that we own the place? So I’m not exactly a waiter here.”

Okay, I did not see that response coming. Danielle giggled at my faltered expression and she turned to look at me, an amused and cocky smirk on her face, “So who’s judgmental now?”

I would’ve wiped that smirk off her face is she didn’t actually look so darn cute with it, “Shut up, D.”

Vince and she laughed and I stood up, she did too. The three of us walked to the car and I wanted to claw my hair out, seeing as Vince had followed us out and it seemed to me that he was coming with us. I got in the the passenger side and Vince opened the driver’s side for Danielle. I tried my best to ignore both of them.

“He’s kind of a keeper, Cam,” he gushed to Danielle.

My eyes almost bugged out of its socket as I stared at both of them incredulously. They both seemed to not notice my expression and Danielle laughed, hitting Vince playfully on the chest, “You can have him if you want, V.”

Vince chuckled and rolled his eyes, “Nah. You called dibs on him already.”

“I did not!” Danielle replied exasperated.

“Meh,” was all Vince replied and he laughed, “He may be a fine sight, Camille, but I’m not replacing Brody. Well, see you soon, girly!”

Danielle waved at him as we backed away from the parking lot. I just stared at her, the shock expression from my face never leaving. He was seriously gay? No kidding? Danielle took a glance at me and laughed at my expression, “What got you looking like a fish out of sea?”

I glared at her, “He was gay?”

“Why? You into him?” she asked laughing and the playful Danielle resurfaced again.

I glared at her again, playfully this time, “I just thought he was into you.”

This caused her to laugh loudly, a laugh that actually lasted for a good of five minutes. She wiped away the tears that had gathered in her eyes and turned to look at me, “Now who’s the judgmental one?”

I rolled my eyes at her and turned my attention to the window. We continued the touring thing until she brought me at the aquarium. I looked at her, “I’m not a little kid, you know.”

“This place is great, Rose,” she said rolling her eyes, “Suck it up.”

We got inside and I was surprised to see all the kinds of fishes in the aquarium. Sure I’ve spent a good amount of my childhood, and my father’s money, going around aquariums during any of our vacation outside Boston when I was young and my family was still intact and Dad wasn’t that much of a workaholic. But the one they had here in Wilmington was actually a sight to behold.

What surprised me more was when Danielle grabbed my hand, pulling me into a tunnel until we finally reached whatever destination she had. She turned to look at me, a sly smile forming on her lips, “You scared of sharks?”

Images of shark attacks that I’ve seen on National Geographic filled my head. Truth be told, I was stained with a bad memory with sharks, having to actually see one close up and I swear to God I thought it was gonna eat me alive. And it all happened because my cousin Kevin pushed me into an aquarium filled with the demons. It was a good thing his father rescued me or else I’d be dead meat.

I gulped but I really didn’t want this girl to know that I was scared of sharks, “Nope.”

“Then let’s go swimming with them,” she squealed with delight.

My eyes widened, “No, no, no. Isn’t that dangerous?”

The guy handed me a suit and pointed to a changing room nearby that Danielle was already heading at. She turned to me and grinned wickedly, “And isn’t it thrilling too?”

I had no choice when she disappeared in a room. I striped off my clothes and changed to the diving outfit. I was trying my best to calm my nerves down. It was a good thing I had mastered looking calm though freaking out inside. I saw Danielle with her feet dangling on the edge of the aquarium. She was talking to the instructor and I already got the picture that they were good friends. The others strapped my up with the equipment and the instructor pointed at me and Danielle turned and grinned.

“Ready Rose?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” I mumbled.

She took my hand and gave it a squeeze. I looked at her and she smirked, “Don’t worry, I won’t let them eat you.”

And with that, we were both eased down the aquarium. My eyes widened when I saw the first shark that passed by us. I swam over to Danielle quickly who was actually swimming down, to where there were more of the demons. I swam by her side and grabbed her hand. She furrowed her eyebrows at me but didn’t let go of my hand. She just pulled me down. I panicked and tugged her to go up.

I used all my strength to make her come up with me but unfortunately, I didn’t bother to look where I was swimming. I came face to face with a shark, almost near to knocking it. My heart beat rapidly as I saw the demon brace its teeth. Danielle squeezed my hand, looking at me as if telling me not to panic. She closed her eyes and I did the same. A few moments later, when I opened my eyes, the monster was out of my sight. I looked at Danielle and pointed up. She just rolled her eyes and complied.

Once I saw the surface I quickly got out of the water, “Shit.”

Danielle got out and lay down beside me. For a moment we were silent until she started cracking up. I looked at her, she was laughing hysterically beside me. I waited until she calmed down and she tried her best to. But when she spoke, she still giggled in between, “You were scared!”

“No s**t Sherlock,” I mumbled.

She laughed again, “Aww, I thought the player was never afraid.”

I glared at her, “Shut up.”

She rolled her eyes and chuckled, “You know, it’s okay to be afraid.”

For some strange reason, her words seemed to have a double meaning. I turned to look at her and she just shrugged. I know she was right, but the egotistical Seth in me wouldn’t want to prove her right, “I just panicked.”

She giggled and patted my shoulder, “Whatever you say, Rose. Whatever you say.”

With those words, she dove back in the water filled with the monsters and I just stared at where she was before. That girl was seriously testing her luck. I was about to get her back up here and tell her that we should go home when the instructor stopped me.

“Nah, let her be, man,” he said shaking her head, “She’s actually been there on numerous occasions, even when we haven’t fed the sharks. Cam doesn’t really learn her lesson until she seriously gets hurt.”