The Tumultuous Dana Clarke

chapter 3 • your number?

       Pulling off her grey hoodie, Dana stepped out onto the school courtyard.

       Various tree branches swung in the air, and the fall breeze blew on her tan olive skin. Her lips stretched into a smile and she closed her eyes. 

       A thousand times better than the noisy cafeteria.

       She tied her hoodie around her waist and crossed the low-cut grass to the car park. A tube of Pringles was in her hand and she picked the chips with the other, crunching them in her mouth.

       Maybe you could join the music club, she thought as she found herself nearing the school's back entrance. She had put it off long enough and she missed the feeling of singing in harmony with others. A smile spread across her face and her stomach flipped just thinking about it. 

       She began to hum a melody to herself, a skip in her step. The cool weather soothed her soul and she enjoyed her personal solace. 

       As she rounded the corner and came to the back doors, she halted. 

       Dana heard their raucous laughter in the school courtyard before she saw them. 

       Two boys sat on the handrail of the stairs leading to the doors. Their laughter dried up on their lips once they turned to see her standing there. Her palms became clammy under their gaze. Had they looked up five seconds later, she would have been gone. 

       Her hands were jittery when the third boy met her eyes. 

       Just like the last time, a breathtaking smile slowly stretched over his full lips which bared his white teeth, a hint of a smirk on his face. 

       His denim shirt had the first two buttons open allowing her a view of his smooth, bronze skin. He was seated on the stairs despite his white jeans. 

       Avi was slouched back and propped up by his elbows when he spoke, "hi, again." 

       "Hey," Dana squeaked out, her cheeks warm as he took in her appearance. The one time she had decided to dress poorly, they just had to run into each other. 

       The last time she remembered her hoodie being washed was months ago. 

       Dana waited for him to say something else but after a couple of seconds of him staring and her struggling to meet his eyes, she turned around, ready to leave. Maybe they'd be on a hi-hello dynamic until he got tired. It always played out the same way for her. 

       "Where're you going?" 

       She scratched her hair. "Inside... " 

       The boys on the railing chuckled. They were dressed in t-shirts and ripped jeans, their bodies, lean, with gold bracelets hanging off their wrists. 

       Following a roll of his eyes, Avi got up and placed his right hand on her shoulder, leading her to the hallway through the doors he’d been sitting in front of. A surge of excitement coursed through her body. So they would get a chance to talk more, after all.

       "They're a nosy bunch." 

       She smiled, saying nothing as they walked past the two boys. What was she supposed to say in reply anyway? 

       It was quiet and empty inside, his voice carrying through the halls when he spoke again, “It’s funny, we've never run into each other but once we meet, we just happen to."

       "Yeah, I know." 

       His green eyes twinkled as he walked closer to her. Without thinking, she followed his lead. her back meeting the lockers. He placed one hand by her head and leaned in. 

       Instantly, the smell of smoke wafted into her nose. Her brows dipped slightly. It wasn't like the musky scent she had smelt the last time he had been close to her. 

       "Has anyone told you you're beautiful?"

       Dana  giggled and looked down. He touched her chin lightly and raised her head. Her heart skipped a beat at the intensity in his vivid eyes when he looked at her. 

       "Adorable... What's your name?"

       "Dana." 

       "Are you doing anything after school?" He placed his other hand so lightly on her hip, she’d have thought she imagined it if he hadn’t drawn her closer to himself. 

       "No," she croaked out. Her mouth was dry and her heart thumped against her chest. 

       He dipped his head and whispered into her ear, "can I see you... please?"

       Dana's heart soared, unable to hold back her grin. Avi Kane, mature, reserved and the most handsome boy in her year, wanted to see her, pleaded even! 

       Dana swallowed and straightened her back, trying her best to sound bold. “Yeah," she whispered back as he’d done. 

       Their chance encounter was cut short by the bell’s blaring signaling lunch break was over. Avi brushed his lips against her cheek lightly before backing away. 

       "Meet me here once school is over. See you, Dana." He stroked her cheek with the back of his palm and then was out the door, the same way they’d both come in. . 

       Dana giggled and began backing away. It seemed she had made a friend—one in high places. Maybe now she'd become friends with Leila too. If she could manage to hold his and her interest, that is.

•••••

        At the end of the day, Dana was the first one out of the class. By the time, she had finished getting her things, the hallway was already crowded. She pushed through, not wanting to keep Avi waiting. 

       She only had to get downstairs, she kept saying to herself, when somehow she tripped. Her hands grabbed the railing at the last minute to keep from falling and she looked back at the two stick thin girls in her proximity. For whatever reason, a yellow handbag sat on the floor next to them. 

       "Watch it!" One of the auburn-haired girls sneered, a tube of pink lipstick uncapped in her hand. 

       Dana jaw went slack, mouth open. She was supposed to watch it? 

       Still, she whispered sorry and hitched her knapsack over her back. She had begun to descend the stairs when one of the two girls spoke with mirth in her voice, "she's like a little rat." 

       The other  snorted. "A mouse." 

       Dana felt a pang in her chest. 

       She had done nothing to them. If anything, they'd almost tripped her with their bag. 

       Her pace turned slow and she dragged her feet down the stairs. 

       She wasn't a rat, she was a human being. 

       People sucked. 

       Avi probably wasn't even waiting, she'd get there and meet no one except another individual who was disposed to kill her spirit. 

       Yet when she got to the back door, there he was; Avi, with a full grin on his face, was waiting for her. His smile faltered once in a matter of seconds. 

       He slipped his hand into hers when she reached him and it eased the weight on her heart but it wasn't enough. 

       After leading her to his silver Mercedes S-Class, he leaned down and raised her chin up so their eyes met. "What's wrong?"

       "Don't worry about it." No doubt, she would cry if she talked about it. There was no way she was letting him think she was a immature. She could paint herself however she wanted with him and she intended to 

       He didn't falter, instead he continued to stare at her. 

       "Avi, please can we not talk about it?" She closed her eyes, her voice thick with emotion. 

       "Dana... " He pulled her into his strong arms and cocooned her in his embrace, rubbing her back. She felt the tears filling her eyes and soon they were soaking his shirt. 

       Her face felt hot. Why did he hug her? Now he had unhedged the dam. 

       "What's going on? Who's this?" 

       Dana froze, her heart beginning to beat faster. She'd know that breezy, self assured voice anywhere. She'd stored it in her mind, heard it in her dreams. Dreams where she and Leila were best friends and the dark-haired girl treasured her opinion. 

       "Nothing." Dana relished in the way his chest vibrated as he spoke in his deep, smooth voice. 

       "Doesn't look like nothing."

       Dana was stuck between staying in Avi's arms and turning around and probably having a conversation with Leila for the first time. She had to go with the second option. Who knew the next time the raven-haired girl would address her, directly or indirectly?

       She gave a teary smile to Leila who didn't return it. Dana's confidence plummeted. “I-I'm sorry, I just... I just got a bit overwhelmed." 

       Leila studied Dana from head to toe then her signature small smirk was on her face. 

       "Avi sure isn't sorry."

       Dana’s eyebrows scrunched up into a frown and she looked at him to try and understand what Leila meant. He had been nothing but sweet to her. 

       Instead of dissuading her worry, Avi gave Leila a look that Dana couldn’t quite decipher.  

       The girl simply looked away and unbuttoned her jacket. Dana took the opportunity to observe her with stolen glances. 

       She sported black skinny jeans and combat boots, a camo jacket over a white camisole. She had pulled her curls into a ponytail and left her fawn complexioned face bare. Beautiful. 

       "We're going home together. Archie has to see Mr. Alex and I forgot to bring my car."

       "Okay, I'll only be a second." 

       "That's impossible, a second's gone by," Leila dead panned. Dana watched her, noting how her facial features were soft and delicate unlike Avi's sharp and angled ones. "Just don't take all day." 

       Then with all the class in the world, she slipped into the passenger seat. 

       "It's my car but what does that matter, huh?" He laughed. 

       Dana chuckled. "I guess we'll have to meet some other time." 

       "No," he shook his head immediately. "We're still meeting today. Your number?"

       He pulled his phone out of his pocket and unlocked it before handing it to her. Dana put in her digits. 

       "I'll call you," he said, throwing her a wink and he walked to the driver's side. A few bits later, he was joining the slow moving traffic of cars leaving their school. 

       Dana walked to her bicycle, unable to keep the wide grin off her face. Whatever in the world had turned things in her favour that had her talking to two of the most sought after people in the entire school? And was she to expect to get even closer to them? She hoped in her heart that it’d be so.