Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
Arden
The kiss on the cheek might’ve been a step too far, but I wanted to do it and I don’t know how many of these “fake” opportunities I’m going to get so I went for the kill on that one. Not that she seemed to mind.
The walk to the car is silent but comfortable. I dropped my hand from her back once we got out of sight of any of the people at the party but it wasn’t without effort.
As we got into the car, I thought back to the conversation I had had with her advisor when I got back from the bathroom and saw Nico talking to Dani at our table.
“I wouldn’t worry about him.” The voice to my right had startled me for a second before the recognition set in. Dr. Wilson tipped her drink toward me in greeting before looking back toward Nico and Danika in the corner of the room. “I’ve known those two for four years. He doesn’t stand a chance.”
Looking over at her, I felt a huge sense of gratitude that Danika has someone here who looks out for her as fiercely as this advisor seems to. While her parents don’t seem to give a shit about her, I’m glad someone of authority here does.
I had opened my mouth to confirm what she just said but that prick took a step closer to Dani and suddenly my feet were moving faster than I realized as I had made my way over toward them.
It seemed like Danika had the situation handled, but I still felt compelled to get there and protect her. You know, for her own good. Anyway…
“Buckle up, buttercup,” Danika says, snapping me from my thoughts. “I got some studying to do once we get home so chop chop.”
Rolling my eyes, I do as she commands, pulling out of the parking lot.
I want to talk about the way Nico cornered her, the way she reacted to his presence.
I want to get to the bottom of all of it, but Danika is pulling her ring on and off her finger—her tell-tale sign of anxiety—so I decided against it, for now.
As I pull into my parking spot in front of our apartment, Danika puts her hand on mine on the gear shift in the center console.
“Thank you, Arden.”
Her voice is so sincere I almost wince. How could she possibly think that I wouldn’t do absolutely anything to make her happy.
To keep her safe. How fucked up was her childhood that she feels the need to thank me for just being there for her.
We are going to get to the bottom of this, one day.
I don’t ever want her to think that she has to thank me for being her friend.
I meet her eyes and she smiles slightly. “You’re welcome,” I reply, turning my hand to touch her palm to mine. She gasps slightly at the touch. “Brat.” My grin is full as hers widens before she huffs out an amused breath.
“You are so annoying,” she says, taking her hand out of mine and using it to push me gently in the shoulder. We leave the car and wander up the stairs to the apartment.
“I’m going to lock myself in here with my Molecular Cell Biology textbook. Don’t even think about bothering me,” she says, grabbing her bag on her way toward her bedroom. I give her a silent salute as I collapse onto the couch.
“I’m serious. Not even in an emergency. Even if there’s a fire.”
I chuckle at her movie reference. “Got it, brat.”
Satisfied, Danika shuts the door behind her and I know she’s in for the night. I flip through the movies on netflix for a few minutes but nothing is pulling my attention so I turn the TV off. Grabbing my phone, I decide to call the mastermind of this whole thing.
Margot picks up on the first ring.
“You haven’t killed each other yet, have you?”
“Hello to you, too,” I laugh, sitting up on the couch.
“I just knew you two living together was a terrible idea, seriously I have no idea what I was thinking. Okay, tell me. What happened?”
“What do you mean?”
“Why are you calling me at eleven at night? Something must’ve happened.”
I look at the clock on the oven in the kitchen. “Oh shit, it is late, huh. Sorry, Mars I didn’t realize. I was just calling to check up on you and frat boy.”
Margot pauses briefly, no doubt trying to decide if I was lying or not. When she sighs, it seems like she’s decided not to push the issue either way. “We’re all good here, Ard. Nothing really new to report.”
“How’s the job?”
“It’s hard but amazing. I’m learning so much about being a real-life journalist.” Her voice softens when she talks about her career and I love to hear that joy. “What about you? How are classes?”
“Just started but not too bad. Got that statistics class again.” Margot grunts on the other side of the line. She knows how hard that class was for me last semester.
“You should ask Danika for help. I’m pretty sure she took that class at some point. She might even have her notes still.” I smile to myself. Great idea, sis.
I don’t tell her about our arrangement. I’m not sure if Danika has but I should talk to her about it. I don’t like to keep things from my sister.
“Yeah, I’ll ask her. Thanks.”
Margot’s voice quiets slightly. “You okay though?”
“Yeah, Mars. I’m okay.”
“Okay,” she replies with slight relief in her voice. “Me too.”
“Good.”
We say our goodbyes, with promises to say hi to the other people in our lives and I hang up the phones, feeling slightly lighter than before. Danika is happy with me. Margot sounds like she’s doing really well. I’m not going to fail my statistics class. All things considered, things are looking up.