“Okay.”
“You know this means you have to come in the bathroom with me, right?”
“What?” Danni gasped. “Why would I need to do that?”
“There’s no way I’m walking out of the bathroom and standing in the middle of the school with my pants open while everyone watches you zip them up,” Darren said.
“Okay,” Danni relented, feeling less confident about her decision than she had a few minutes earlier.
“I promise it won’t happen again,” Darren said.
Danni smiled. “It’s okay, but I’m not going in if any other guys are there.”
As they walked to the nearest bathroom in silence, Danni could not believe she agreed to do this. She’d never been in a boys’ bathroom in her entire life.
“Go make sure it’s clear before I go in,” she urged Darren.
“Wait here,” he said before darting inside.
Like I was going to do anything else, Danni thought.
“Okay, all clear.” Darren grabbed her hand. “Let’s make this quick. Just come in and wait for me outside the stall ’til I’m ready for you.”
“Are you kidding? What if someone comes in? Besides, they have those urinals. Why not use one of those?”
“I can’t do that in front of you.”
“But you can do it in front of a bunch of guys you don’t know?”
“That’s different.”
“How?”
“You do realize that while we’re standing here arguing we’re wasting time.”
“You’re right. Okay, I’ll wait out here.”
The minute Darren disappeared inside the stall, Danni’s heart beat even harder and her palms began to sweat. If some guy came in, he would just question her presence. No one would even care about Darren being in the bathroom.
“Are you almost done?” she asked.
“I haven’t started yet,” Darren replied.
“Why not?”
“I can’t go with you listening outside the door, and if you keep talking to me, I won’t be able to go at all, and we’ll never get out of here.”
“Girls talk to each other all the time when they’re using the bathroom.”
“Well, guys don’t.”
“At least if I’m talking you don’t have to worry about me listening to you,” she argued.
“Do you think that instead of talking, you could just use the stall next to me?”
“I’m not going to use the boys’ bathroom.”
“You don’t have to use it,” he replied. “Just stand in there.”
“All right.” Danni stepped into the stall and closed the door. “I hope this proves how much I love you, Darren Jacobs.”
“It does. I love you too. Now please stop talking, baby.”
A small sigh escaped her when she heard the sound of success coming from the stall next to her. It also made Danni realize she needed to go too. For a brief moment she thought about it but changed her mind fast. Who knew what all those boys left on the toilet seat? Just the thought of it made her stomach churn.
“Okay, you can come in here now,” Darren announced.
“You want me to come in there?” Danni asked.
“I’m not coming out there,” Darren said. “What if someone comes in? We’ll be much safer inside the stall than out in the open.”
“Okay.” Danni sighed.
The door of the stall opened and Darren grinned at her as she slipped inside. “Hey.”
“Now all you need me to do is zip and button your jeans, right?” Danni asked.
“You want to do something else?” he asked, giving her another crazy grin.
“No.” Danni’s face warmed with his suggestion. “I was trying to make sure you got your boxers buttoned.”
“These don’t have a button, just an opening at the front.”
“I didn’t know there were different kinds.”
“Why not? There’s more than one kind of underwear for girls.”
“Maybe we should talk about this later. I still have to finish an econ test.”
Careful not to hurt him, Danni pulled up Darren’s zipper and then reached for the button of his jeans. The whole time she worked, she kept her eyes on his.
“You know, I liked this better last night,” Darren said.
She smiled. “Me too. Okay, are you ready to go?”
“Yeah,” he said, reaching out to stop her as she went to unlock the door. “Thanks, Danni. I owe you for this.”
“You sure do. I can’t think of another girl in the entire school that would come in the boys’ bathroom to help you,” she said. “Now can we please get out of here before we get caught?”
Darren moved closer, backing Danni up against the door and leaving her nowhere to go. “What if we just stay here and make out?”
Danni grimaced. “No way.”
“Okay.” Reaching behind her back, Darren unlocked the door, which made her stumble backward. “Shit.”
“What’s the matter?” Danni asked.
“I don’t suppose one of you would care to explain this to me?”
Danni froze. The voice behind her belonged to Mr. Morgan, the vice-principal. For a second she just stood there, staring at Darren and hoping the man would go away.
“I don’t,” Darren said. He stepped forward, leaving Danni no choice but to step out of the stall. “What about you, Danni? Do you care to explain it?”
“Uh, no,” she replied.
“I see.” Mr. Morgan fixed a stern eye on both of them. “All right then, you can explain it to Mrs. Jensen.”
“I have to finish my economics test,” Danni said.
“You should’ve thought about that before you two came in here together.”
“My things are still in my class.”
“Then we’ll pick them up on the way to the office,” Mr. Morgan said. “What about you, Mr. Jacobs? Do we need to pick up your things too?”
“Sure,” Darren replied.
Danni couldn’t believe how calm Darren was being as the vice-principal marched them down the hall. They stopped outside Darren’s class first. Danni waited in the hallway while he retrieved his backpack and Mr. Morgan said a few words to his teacher.
When they reached Danni’s classroom, the students looked shocked to see her enter the room with Mr. Morgan on her heels. While he stayed at the front of the class to speak to Ms. Kirkland, Danni avoided looking at anyone as she scurried to her desk. When the teacher let out a gasp, everyone drilled their eyes even harder into Danni as she hurried from the room with her face on fire.
The vice-principal said nothing as he led the way to the office, and Danni knew better than to speak. She could only imagine what Mrs. Jensen would say. Whatever it was wouldn’t be nearly as bad as what her mom would say when she heard.
“Wait here.” Mr. Morgan nodded to the line of empty chairs outside the principal’s office.
“Don’t look so worried,” Darren whispered. “I’ll handle this. Trust me, Danni.”
“Okay, D.J.,” she said, although she didn’t sound as confident as he looked.
The vice-principal stuck his head out the door long enough to call them inside.
“Thank you, Mr. Morgan,” Mrs. Jensen said as Danni and Darren moved toward the chairs in her office. “If you wouldn’t mind, could you please shut the door on your way out?”
The sound of the door closing behind them reminded Danni of all the prison movies she had seen. Now she understood the moment of panic felt by the convicted criminal when the bars slammed shut on his first night in the joint.
“Well, Darren, I have to say I’m a little surprised to see you’ve landed yourself in my office on your first day back,” Mrs. Jensen said.
Darren shrugged. “What can I say?”
Mrs. Jensen turned her attention to Danni. “And I’m surprised to see you mixed up in this kind of thing, Danielle.”
“We didn’t do anything wrong,” Darren said before Danni could respo
nd.
“I suppose you think there’s nothing wrong with engaging in lewd acts in the boys’ bathroom during class time?” Mrs. Jensen asked, and Danni gasped.
“It wasn’t like that,” Darren replied.
“No?” Mrs. Jensen said. “Then maybe you could explain it to me so that I’ll understand.”
Darren’s face turned crimson. “I needed her help.”
“What kind of help did you need?”
“I’ve only got one arm now, in case you haven’t noticed. I still can’t do most of the things I did before.”
Mrs. Jensen frowned so deeply that the lines between her eyes became a canyon. “What does that have to do with you two being in the restroom together?”
“I needed someone to help me zip my pants when I finished in the bathroom,” Darren explained. “I wasn’t about to go walking into class to ask for help so I asked my girlfriend.”
“Why not ask a male student or teacher to help you?” Mrs. Jensen asked.
Darren snorted. “Yeah, right, that would be way less humiliating than asking my girlfriend.”
“Maybe the next time you need assistance you should come to the office and get one of the staff here to assist you.”
“No way. I’m disabled now, and that gives me the right to have accommodations for that disability.”
“Then maybe we should reach some kind of compromise.”
Darren narrowed his eyes. “What kind of compromise?”
“Perhaps, if you need assistance in the future, you and Danielle should come to the office and use the faculty bathroom instead of sneaking around the campus,” Mrs. Jensen suggested.
“That would be okay,” Darren agreed.
“Fine, that will be the arrangement from now on,” Mrs. Jensen said as the bell rang to signal the end of third period. “However, before I’ll allow that to happen, I’ll be contacting both of your parents to ask their permission. You’re dismissed to your fourth period classes.”
They waited until they got out of the office and out of earshot of Mrs. Jensen before either of them spoke.
“That wasn’t too bad,” Darren said.
“What are you talking about?” Danni asked. “She’s going to call our parents.”
“Yeah, but my mom will understand. You think your mom will be mad?”
“She might.”
Darren stopped walking and turned to face her. “You’re not mad at me about this, are you?”
“No, but I can’t believe you told Mrs. Jensen you have the right to that kind of help.”
“I do have that right,” Darren replied. “That’s a law under the American’s With Disabilities Act.”
“How do you know all this?”
“They talked to me about it in the hospital.”
“I guess I just don’t think of you as disabled,” Danni said.
“You don’t, but the law does. Besides, I was just bluffing.”
“And she’s calling your bluff by calling our parents.”
“It’ll be fine. Stop worrying, and come here and kiss me like you mean it.”
As she brought her lips to his, Danni forgot about being in the boys’ bathroom and getting caught by the vice-principal and having to see the principal who planned on calling her mom. She forgot everything but Darren Jacobs and how much she liked kissing him.
* * *
“Where’s Darren?” Chelsea asked.
As if in answer to the question, Danni’s cell phone rang to announce his call.
“Where are you?” Darren asked when she answered.
“We just said the same thing about you,” she said, laughing.
“Who’s we?”
“Me and Chelsea and Marcy.”
“Listen, Danni, J.J.’s coming to pick me up,” he said.
“I’m supposed to take you home.”
“I know, but we decided on that before I dropped my last two classes.”
“You’re not even going to have lunch with me?”
“Of course I am,” Darren replied as Danni spotted him walking toward her.
“That’s better,” she said, still not hanging up the phone. “You owe me, D.J.”
“You mean for this morning?” he guessed, and Danni could see he was grinning.
“Yes, for this morning,” she agreed, ending the call as he came to stand in front of her.
“What were you two doing in the boys’ bathroom anyway?” Chelsea asked.
“Seemed like the best place to make out,” Danni replied.
“I guess we’ll have to find a better place next time,” Darren played along.
Danni glanced at Chelsea. “How’d you find out about that anyway?”
“It’s all over school,” Marcy answered.
“That figures,” Darren said.
Just as the group reached the sidewalk in front of the school, Darren came to a sudden stop. Spencer Collins was standing a few feet in front of them, laughing it up with his friends. As soon as he saw Darren, he stopped laughing. Tension hung thick in the air as the two stared at one another.
Spencer switched his gaze to Danni. “Darren, just because you lost an arm doesn’t mean you have to go out with her.”
Danni’s eyes widened as Darren broke free of her hand and flew toward Spencer.
“You’re talking about my girlfriend,” Darren said through clenched teeth.
“It’s cool.” Spencer laughed. “We all know you’re only with her because you think you can’t do any better now that you only have one arm.”
“Who do you think you are?” Darren shouted. “You’re the reason I lost my arm. You haven’t said a word to me since that night, and now you’re standing here talking shit about my girlfriend?”
“I’m just trying to look out for a friend.”
“Like you looked out for me the night you got drunk and ran that stop sign?”
“Don’t act like you’re innocent,” Spencer retorted. “You were the only sober one in the car and you let me drive.”
“What?” Chelsea gasped.
“So, you’re keeping that little piece of information to yourself and letting me take the fall on my own, huh, Darren?” Spencer laughed again, but it was a hollow sound.
Darren turned and walked back to take Danni’s hand once again.
“You know I’m right,” Spencer called after them. “You know you wouldn’t be wasting your time on that ugly ass bitch if you hadn’t lost your arm.”
Darren stopped walking and Danni felt all of the muscles in his arm tense.
“Let it go, Darren,” she urged. “We’re in enough trouble today.”
“He shouldn’t be talking about you like that.”
“Who cares what he thinks? Let’s just go. J.J.’s here.”
Justin hopped out of his car and joined them on the sidewalk. “What’s wrong? Why does everybody look so mad?”
“Run in with Spencer Collins,” Chelsea explained.
“What did he say?” Justin asked.
“Nothing,” Darren said. “Let’s just get out of here.”
“I could lay him out if you want,” Justin offered, glancing over to where Spencer still stood with his friends.
“He’s not worth it,” Darren said.
“That’s an open ended offer.”
“Thanks.” Darren cracked a smile. “I might take you up on it one of these days if I don’t do it first.”
“You ready to go?” Justin asked.
“Give me a minute, okay,” Darren said.
“No problem. I’ll just hang out with these cute girls,” Justin said, making Chelsea and Marcy blush.
Darren led Danni a small distance away before asking, “You know Spencer’s full of shit, right?”
“About me being an ugly ass bitch or about you dating me because you don’t think you could do any better?” Danni asked.
“All of it.”
“But we didn’t get together until after the accident.”
“Who cares? All I ca
re about is that we’re together now. I love you, Danni. You’ve been there for me since the beginning.”
“Does that mean you feel obligated to stay with me?”
“No, it means I love you, and something bad had to happen for me to see what I was missing,” Darren explained. “That just makes me stupid.”
“I’ll understand if you’re too ashamed to date me now,” Danni said, tears blurring her eyes as she stared down at the ground.
Darren placed a finger under her chin and tilted her face up, forcing her to look into his eyes. “I’ll understand if you’re too ashamed to date me now.”
Danni smiled. “I love dating you. I love holding your hand and wearing your letter jacket and kissing you and talking to you on the phone. I’ve never been this happy. You’re nothing like I expected but everything I always wanted.”
“I don’t think I could find a more perfect girl if I tried,” Darren said, bringing his lips down on hers. “I love you, Danni.”
“I love you too.”
“Good, now walk me to the car or J.J. will start giving me shit soon.”
“It’s about time,” Justin remarked when they rejoined their friends.
Darren smirked at Danni. “Almost made it.”
“Almost,” Danni said, giving him a kiss. “I’ll call you tonight.”
“Just come over,” he said before he climbed into Justin’s car.
“Okay,” Danni answered. “See you later, J.J.”
“Later, Danni,” Justin said. “Goodbye, ladies. Thanks for the company.”
“How is a hot guy like that still single?” Chelsea sighed and then looked at Danni. “By the way, I was wrong about Darren. That was cool the way he defended you to Spencer, instead of caving to the pressure of the popular kids.”
“I thought Darren was going to punch him,” Marcy said.
“I can’t believe I ever had a crush on Spencer Collins,” Chelsea said. “He’s the world’s biggest asshole.”
“Too bad he didn’t turn out to be a nice guy like Darren,” Marcy said.
“Yeah, you’re lucky, Danni,” Chelsea told her.
Danni already knew it. She just hoped her luck held out and Darren would want to continue dating her. If Spencer was right, it was just a matter of time before Darren figured out he could do better.
Chapter Thirteen
Danni couldn’t remember the last time she came home to find her mother there first. Not even in elementary school. Today, her mom stood on the other side of the front door as if she’d been waiting all day to spring into action.
“What are you doing here?” Danni asked.
“Oh, I don’t know,” Charmain replied. “Maybe it has something to do with a rather interesting phone call I received from your principal. A call that came in the middle of an important meeting, I might add.”