20

Hypothesis; The truth will make you rethink.

If you've ever slipped on a banana peel, you'd know exactly how I felt in that moment. Fear, anxiety, dread and anticipation were roughly thrown into the pot of my emotions and shaken vigorously.

Daniel's movements were mesmerizing, deliberate, and delicate. Like he was being careful not to mess something up. As for me, at that point, even if he did mess it up, I doubted I'd notice. My brain and heart had switched positions and my hormones were itching to take control here.

His hand which wasn't cupping my cheek went to wrap around my waist and pull me closer so he could take control. Instinctively, like they were made to be there, my hands came up to his shoulders and squeezed. One of them found its way to the back of his head and situated itself deep inside his hair.

I almost sighed in satisfaction. Ever since this entire charade, I'd wanted to feel his hair, find out if the were as soft as they looked. And I'd be damned if they didn't surpass my expectations.  Daniel let out a soft sound from the base of his throat and the sound reverberated though me. A low moan escaped my lips when he angled his head and deepened the kiss.

In all my nineteen years of living, I'd kissed a total of three guys. And none of them even compared to this. With Daniel it wasn't too fast or too slow, just deliberate enough for me to crave every inch of him. If the rational part of me wasn't shuddering in a cage somewhere, she'd wonder when the attraction had blown up into this. It felt like magic.

But of course, all good things have to come to an end. Only, with me, things like this end up in embarrassment.

"Shit." A shriek from the door had me breaking the kiss and springing away from Daniel. His eyes flew open, lips turning downwards.

It took exactly one and a half seconds for me to realize what I'd just done and another one and half seconds for the banana peel emotions to hit with a full force.

A warm tingle on my lips, Daniel's unwavering stare and Cherry's red face reminded me that this was infact not a dream but reality. I'd just kissed Daniel Brighton and I'd liked it. Honestly, I didn't know which was worse.

Daniel's lips parted like he wanted to say something but he stopped himself and spun around to face Cherry and Carol who had just interrupted us. With each degree of his turning, my eyes grew three times wider.  And when he finally set his eyes on them standing at the door, Cherry with her hands covering her eyes and Carol muttering to herself, I almost peed my panties.

"What are the both of you doing here?"

Dear God, please strike me with a bolt of lightning and let this end.

My prayers weren't answered. Instead, I got a front row seat to the drama that was about to unfold.

Cherry's hands glided down her face to reveal the same shell shocked expression on Carol's expression. The latter opened and shut her mouth, trying and failing to string words.

When Daniel turned to me, my brain automatically switched off. I balled my eyes into fists, the thought of twenty five grand exploding yo smithereens in my mind.

"Noah?"

Shit on a stick.

For the next couple of seconds, I just blinked at him and he stared back with harsh intensity. Like he was daring me to tell him I had nothing to do with his ex's friends.

"We're her roommates."

All attention in the room snapped to Carol who had her deadpan expression back on. It was almost like she wasn't affected by Daniel.

Both Daniel and I shared a look before he faced the duo at the door again. I, however kept studying his face for a sign of suspicion. Of disappointment. But I found none.

I exhaled and bit my lip. "Y-Yeah. Do you know them?"

Daniel rubbed the back of his neck, still facing cherry and Carol. When he turned to me, he had a sheepish look on his expression. He let out a nervous chuckle, eyes drifting between me and them. Rational Noah, now free of her restraints, reminded me that the roles would have been switched if I wasn't so good at lying.

"I—" He exhaled and took my hand, gaze boring into mine. "Can we talk outside?"

The sun was setting, sending rays of orange and yellow cascading down the road in front of my hostel. My oversized tee did a decent job of covering my bum and the upper part of my legs and the shame of not putting on a bra had been replaced with sweet relief of not getting caught.

Asides the looks I was receiving from other students as they passed, nothing felt off here. Not even the silence that had settled between Daniel and I.

He'd loosened his ponytail by now, curly strands of hair bouncing around his face. I distinctly remembered the feel of my hands in them. A stupid part of me wanted to do it again.

"I'm sorry for how I reacted back there. It's just." Daniel paused to sigh, gaze drifting from mine to the sky. Then, he covered the space between us and stood in front of me. "They're friends with my ex."

I didn't move. Not even a muscle. And I wasn't sure exactly how I was supposed to react to the news since I already knew all this. So I bit my lip.

He licked his lips. "While it's not really that big of a deal, she was very... Controlling. My ex, Chanelle, she liked having her way all the time. She liked bossing everyone around, including me." Well, I could testify to that. "She put me on such a high pedestal. And our relationship wasn't formed out of love or anything like that. Since she's the VC's daughter and I'm Furman's golden boy—" He threw me an amused look at that statement. "—She thought we were meant to be together. At first it was cool and all, we weren't deeply in love but she wasn't too bad, but then she started demanding too much.

And even though we broke up four months ago, she still accidentally shows up at my games and bumps into me in my apartment complex."

At that, my eyebrows drew together. When Chanelle had demanded for my help, I'd thought she was just someone who couldn't take a breakup.  Now, she seemed obsessed. But not with Daniel himself. She was bent on controlling him.

It was messed up.

"Your ex. When was the last time you bumped into her?" I asked slowly.

"About a month or so ago." When I began this mission.

Sweet heavens, I felt like such a bad person now. My stomach plummeted to my feet at the thought of tossing Daniel right back into such a toxic relationship. Especially with this attraction I was beginning to have towards him.

Daniel shook his head and put on a smile. "You don't have to worry about it though. I was out of line there. Besides, it's not like you knew they're friends with my ex."

I simply smiled at him, but inside, I was torn between him and how badly I needed the money Chanelle was offering.

"Hey." I looked up to find Daniel watching me with a soft gaze. He touched my cheek and grinned. "I didn't know you could kiss so well."

That did it. The heat that rushed to my cheeks had me grinning like a fool and looking away. "I was—it was—"

My sputtering was cut short when he pressed his lips to my forehead. I froze instantly.

"You should go back inside and keep watching SpongeBob, or whatever it is you were doing."

I swallowed. He stepped away, smiling.

Willing my brain to work, to remove this weird feeling from the atmosphere, I shook my head out of its daze.

"I'll text you," I told him when he was about to hop into his car.

He sent me the smile that always made my insides turn to jelly.

"I'll wait."