The Tumultuous Dana Clarke

chapter 8 • evolution.

"Lani. I've been looking for you." 

Dana's heart skipped a beat at the sound of a familiar, deep voice. He folded the sleeves of his white shirt up, baring his forearms, as he walked up to them. The calmness that had enveloped her as she'd been sat next to Leila on the pool chair, reading in silence, dissipated.

She put her pen in her mouth, nibbling on the end. Her palms moistened with sweat, her mind going frantic. Should she say hi? No, that would be pretentious seeing as she'd ignored his calls for days. 

His black loafers hit the ground intermittently, his pace, slow and deliberate. Dana's heart beat sped up as she waited to see what he'd do. 

He didn't spare her a glance, even when he sat on the lower end of her chair. Leila put her book aside, looking up at him from her reclined position. 

"'Sup?"

"Dad's coming home next week."

Avi snorted when his sister sighed. "I'm supposed to follow him on his next trip, two days after he arrives." 

Leila flipped to the next page of her notebook. "f**k school, right?" She asked coolly. 

He chuckled, his hand resting on Dana's inner thigh. "Yeah, it's a bit ironic." 

Her entire body began to feel hot, a sheen of sweat coating her forehead. If she could manage to sit up in a discrete manner, his hand would fall off. That was what- 

In a bold move, he placed his hand directly on Dana's core, it's warmth permeating through her jeans. A drop of sweat rolled down the side of her face despite the coolness of the evening breeze.

"What are you doing anyway?" He asked calmly as if he weren't doing anything wrong. 

"Pop quiz tomorrow, I failed the last two. We were at Carter's and then Willow's, remember? I have to study for this one."

"Willow's was crazy," he grinned, beginning to massage Dana's core from beneath her jeans. "I didn't expect her party to be so much better than Carter's." 

Dana writhed under his touch, slowly moving upwards in her chair. He removed his hand and a breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding fell from her lips. His scent still encompassed her and she wondered when he'd finally leave her and Leila alone. 

Leila laughed. "Yeah, now let us read." 

Avi turned to Dana, his wicked grin still on his Adonis-like face. "I'll see you, later?" 

Dana felt a drop of sweat rolling down her back. She didn't want to but she could feel Leila watching her too and she didn't want to disappoint her. 

"Yeah." 

His smile widened. "Okay." He got up from her chair up and walked back in the direction he’d come from. 

A few moments later, when she finally felt like Avi was really gone—after the memory of his invasive touch had faded to the back of her mind—Dana asked tentatively, "Leila, can I ask you something?" 

Leila dropped her book again and sat up, pulling her knees to her chest. "Sure." 

"How did you know there was a quiz tomorrow?"

"Oh. Well, the tests follow a pattern—every four days. The first one was on a Monday, if you remember," she raised her eyebrows briefly at Dana before her face was expressionless again. "Then the next Friday. It goes on like that."

Dana frowned. "So why didn't you study for them?"

"As you just heard, I was at a party." Leila replied, amusement in her voice. 

She knew when the pop quiz would hold and where to read. Why had she agreed to let Dana in her house? 

"So you don't really need me here." 

Her lips quirked up into a smirk. "No. And if you don't know why I let you come by now, I have to wonder if you're not as bright as I'd thought."

••••• 

Dana chewed on her pen's tip, racking her brain for the answer to the last question on the test. She ought to know it, she'd only stared at the two lined definition for almost thirty minutes since Leila had left her a puzzle to solve. Her request for an explanation was met with silence, and that smirk that held meanings she could never decipher. 

"Time’s up! Drop your pens!" Ms. Farrah's heels clicked against the tiles as she began collecting the papers, row by row. 

"Okay," she said once she had all answer sheets in her hand. "You can leave." 

Dana sighed as she bent to pick up her bag. Thank God the question was only worth three marks. 

She had already began walking to the cafeteria when a hand grabbed her arm. 

Her jaw went slack as she was met with a smirking Leila. Why was she still talking to her? 

"Hey," she smiled. 

"I was right." Leila returned her smile. 

"Yeah," Dana grinned, her heart soaring with gladness. 

"Let's go to lunch." 

"What?" She blurted before she could stop herself, her eyes wide. 

At that moment, they were joined by the platinum blonde Leila was always chatting with. Her arctic blue eyes were bright and wide as she smiled at Dana. "Hey!" 

"Hey." Her eyes were rimmed with eyeliner flawlessly, eyebrows plucked perfectly; both she and Leila had their makeup done immaculately. 

Dana's face, however, was bare, her eyebrows bushy. No trendy jeans like Leila or edgy dress like her friend, all she had on was a simple romper. She twiddled her fingers together, the moment bringing to mind her former friends. 

"I'm Lian, as in Li-an," Lian said, her lips enunciating the syllables. 

"Uh, just Dana," Dana said, fighting the urge to bite her nails. 

She was off beat when Lian laughed. "Okay, just Dana, let's go to lunch." 

Had Leila and her friend always been this welcoming? She should have spoken to them ages ago! Dana was antsy with excitement, barely able to keep the huge smile off her face as they walked to lunch. 

"How was the quiz?" Lian turned to Leila. 

"The usual." 

Lian pulled her shoulder length hair into a ponytail. "You cocky bitch." 

Leila only grinned. 

Once they neared the cafeteria, Dana could feel the heat and hear the noise emanating from within. 

"Oh my God. This place is hell." 

Dana couldn't agree more. She'd been free from it for the past few weeks but it seemed it wouldn't be a condemnation for her today. She was only having lunch with Leila Kane after all! 

She tittered as they got to the lunch line and continued even while they got their food. 

Once they'd bought their lunches, they settled into their seats, Lian and Leila, then Dana, next to a brunette. 

The girl stopped mid bite of a pizza slice, her brown eyes stuck on Dana. "Hi there." 

"Hey." Feeling more self assured from Lian's warm greeting, she added, "I'm Dana." 

"Talia." She c****d her head to the side, her straight hair, parted at the centre, falling to the side. "Leila, where'd you find her? Or was it you Lian?" 

Leila snorted. "Don't get too excited." 

"What does that even mean?" Talia's full eyebrows pulled into a frown. Her face was bare of makeup like Dana's, her skin colour a few shades darker than Dana's golden tan. 

She was by far more relatable to Dana, even wearing a romper just like hers and that was why Dana found herself wishing she'd sat by Lian or Leila instead. She had enough of herself everyday and evolution into one of the two girls opposite her was what excited her.