Chapter 12

"Care to share the joke? The last note was so morbid, I could really use the humour," Zander sidles up to us and tucks his hands in his pockets casually. But there is nothing casual with the way he studies the distance between Luke and I, his eyes lingering on Luke's fingers that are currently brushing my wrist.

Isn't he supposed to be dating Jodie Williams, the English major? Why so interested then, Zander?

I shrug, my expression one of pure innocence when I turn to acknowledge his presence. "I don't know about him," I pause gesturing to Luke. "But I would never laugh at someone's grief. It's all Luke's fault."

Luke chuckles in response. "Sure blame it on the guy."

"You two seem pretty close." Zander notes, his dark eyes narrowing on his best friends face. "Didn't know you were neighbours."

I want to tell him that Elizabeth's our neighbour as well but with the way he dates girls, I doubt he would even recognise the name. He doesn't recognise me, someone who was always seen with his ex 'girlfriend'. I doubt he even knows that she's taken a semester off.

Which really angers me to the bone. How can someone act so nonchalant after ruining someones life like that? And the worst part is he doesn't even know it. He's here, smiling and mingling with his friends and family, a draft beer in hand and not a care in the world.

I have to force all thoughts of Elizabeth out of my mind before I resort to violence. Thankfully, Luke's taken charge of the conversation, steering Zander to topics about football.

The crowd thins and some of the guests head to the dining room where all the refreshments and food have been laid out.

Luke's sister Indica rushes up to us excitedly and I notice the path to the front door has been cleared for me to leave. "It's time for cro-hockey! Danielle, are you joining us? Pleaseee? We're always lacking girls."

My body freezes in contemplation and I stare up at Luke.

"You're welcome to join us. You've been welcome from the moment you walked past the house." He says and Indica smirks, making me want to hide my burning cheeks.

I glance at the front door which doesn't look so appealing anymore. It's not like my parents are expecting me at home anyway. It wouldn't hurt anyone to spend a little more time here, would it?

"What's cro-hockey?" I frown and all three of them stare at me like I just told them the Earth was flat.

"You've never heard of croquet or hockey?" Indica places her feet at hips width and bends over, making a swinging motion with her hands. "Pall-mall?"

"I've heard of hockey but not croquet." I shake my head and Zander gestures to the patio doors. "Looks like you absolutely have to stay and join us. It would be a sin to let you leave without knowing how awesome cro-hockey is."

I give him a pointed look and he only grins, that dimple in his cheek deepening. He leads the way and we follow him past the sliding doors. There are a few women lounging on the deck, Luke's mother is one of them.

"Danielle, dear. Has Indica packed your food yet?" She asks me in concern, drawing attention from the rest of the table.

"She's joining us for a round of cro-hockey, right Danielle?" Zander announces proudly and I notice his mother straighten up from her seat when she sees me behind him. The rest of the ladies around her analyse me from head to toe, the same way she did.

"Danielle, is it?" Mrs Wyatt lifts a bony wrist. Her Van Cleef bracelet gleams under the stark yellow patio lights and she tilts her hand, making me wonder if she is doing this on purpose.

"Yes," I answer, trying to be polite even though her stare is startlingly judgemental. The woman obviously dislikes me even though I haven't given her any reason to.

"And who are you again? One of the boys girlfriends? The latest squeeze?" She asks and then lets out a small shaky laugh, gesturing to her friends for confirmation. Some of them nod in agreement, making it apparent that they are wondering the same.

They are all dressed in designer clothes, with the same styled hair and make up. Only Luke's mother stands out in her sleek satin blouse and pants. Her hair more casual than the others around her.

"Ladies, please. This is Luke's classmate. She goes to Daltech as well." She tells them, looking rather appalled by their behaviour.

"She does?" The woman next to Mrs Wyatt exclaims, staring at me disbelievingly.

"She's majoring in Economics." Luke says, his voice tight almost as if he's trying to reel in his anger.

"And on scholarship," Zander adds proudly and my head whips towards him in surprise. How does he know?

He only smiles at me and shrugs, making me wonder if he has done some research on me as well.

"An Economics major." Mrs Wyatt murmurs, leaning forward as she stares at my loose t-shirt and pants. "Must be why you're dressed so...economically."

The patio runs silent as her insult echoes though the air. Luke's mothers face has paled and she turns to her guest, horrified by her words. I roll up a sleeve and smile at her.

"You are right, Mrs Wyatt." I tug at my shirt, gesturing at the material. "This shirt is American made, locally sourced. You know what happens when Americans buy more local goods than imports? Local manufacturing helps with our economy, it creates job opportunities for our people and reduces our dependency on other countries for their exports. Not to mention lowers our apparel trade deficit which amounts to about 120 billion dollars a year."

She opens her mouth, looking like she wants to speak but I'm not done yet. "You're wearing Chanel. A dress made in France, jewellery made in Switzerland. I mean imports are good for the economy, don't get me wrong. Unless you bought them over there." I wink at her and she adjusts her dress self consciously.

"But I guess you could say that on this Memorial Day, my locally sourced outfit could be considered more patriotic, therefore more suited for the occasion?"

Mrs Wyatt's jaw goes slack, she has no answer to that.

I turn to Indica, who is staring at me in shock. "Weren't we supposed to be playing cro-hockey?"

It takes a moment for her to gather herself. Everyone around us has stopped to stare. I presume Mrs Wyatt doesn't have conversations like these very often.

"Excuse us." I smile at the ladies graciously and head to the field with Luke, Zander and Indica.

"Danielle, I have no words. You have just become my favourite person on the planet. I can't stand that lady. She's the absolute worst, always judging everyone around her," Indica exclaims and then she looks at Zander. "Sorry."

I suddenly remember that I'd just told off his mother and quickly shoot him an apologetic look. "I'm sorry if I was rude to your mother."

"Stepmother," He correctly me quickly. "And trust me I enjoyed that probably much more than you did. She definitely needed that telling off."

"Danielle sure has a way of putting people in their place," Luke teases.

"She definitely does," Zander grins sheepishly and I blush, remembering the way I told him off the first time we met.

We walk just a little further ahead where a group of youngsters and a few adults have gathered.

"Dad." Luke addresses an older man who is the spitting image of him. "Ready to lose?"

Mr Bradshaw laughs and pats his son on the back. "Dream on kid." His gaze then settles on me when Luke introduces us.

I notice the warmth from his smile, something that his entire family seems to have in common. All of them have welcomed me so easily into their midst, it makes it hard not to like them.

Indica teaches me how to play. All I have to do is hit the small tennis ball with the wooden mallet given to me through the hoops embedded in the grass. Sounds doable.

We are then divided into teams and I find myself separated from Luke.

And as luck would have it, Zander is on my side and he never misses the opportunity to teach me things I have no interest in learning. For example, the angle of my mallet head hitting the ball in order to make a side shot.

I mean who cares. This isn't the olympics. I'm too busy staring at Luke and how his arms flex when he tightens his hold on the mallet hilt before taking a shot. The way he smiles and his eyes light up when he gets the ball through the hoop. The setting sun casts a warm glow over his head, turning his hair orange.

It's now our turn to score and I steady myself, trying to focus on the hoop about ten feet away.

"You need to bend more to give your swing more power." Zander comes closer and I almost roll my eyes at him.

"Yeah, yeah. It's not rocket science," I snap but I do what he says anyway. I swing the mallet behind me just as he warns me not to lift it too high but it's too late. I hit the ball with too much force and it shoots up into the air, missing the hoop completely.

Zander sighs next to me and I glare at him. "Maybe if I had some peace and quiet I would have scored for once."

His eyebrows raise in surprise just as I stomp away angrily, heading to retrieve the ball across the field.

"Are you seriously blaming me for your poor aim?" He asks me and I groan, realising he has followed me, both of us breaking away from the crowd.

"Yes, I am. You keep saying unnecessary things and it's not helping with my concentration."

Zander laughs disbelievingly. "Excuse me? I was teaching you the rules of the game."

"No, you weren't." I stop walking and turn to him abruptly, making him stumble. "The rules were already stated at the beginning of the game. What you were doing was trying to impress me with your immense knowledge of croquet which I never asked for."

"I have no reason to impress you, Danielle." He quickly says, shoulders squared defensively.

I cross my arms over my chest. "Oh, maybe I was mistaken then. Maybe that's just what you do around girls in order to feed your fragile masculinity."

"Woah." Zander puts his hands up. "Where is all this anger coming from?"

I bite down on my lip. Shit, I shouldn't have said what I was thinking. He isn't supposed to know I hate him. But then again he's dating someone now, so my ten steps aren't necessary. Meaning I don't need to pretend I like him anymore.

I sigh loudly. "Just stop talking so much. I'm a competitive person and you're ruining my concentration, okay?"

I then turn around and begin looking for the ball.

"It's over there." Zander catches up to me, making me wonder how stubborn someone can be. Can't he take the hint?

He runs over and picks it up, dusting it over his heel before clasping it in his palm.

We walk back silently, our shoes trampling the soft grass the only sound around us. Far ahead, the game progresses without us.

"So..." Zander says and I pick up my pace. "So you never got back to me about our date."

"What?" I ask him, genuinely confused. "Weren't you the one who was supposed to get back to me? And then I hear you're dating someone else."

"Well what did you expect me to do? I didn't hear from you so I figured you weren't interested."

My eyes narrow and I stop walking. We're nearer to the house now, I can hear Indica squealing happily from afar. "So if you don't hear back from someone you want to date, your solution is to date someone else?"

Zander's eyes widen, looking like a deer caught in headlights. "Well no. I just didn't think you were interested. Is that why you're angry with me?"

I let out a frustrated laugh. "No, I don't care what you do with your life."

I take a step forward, heading back to the group but he grabs my forearm, pulling me back.

"Be straight with me, Danielle. Do you like me or not?" His expression is dead serious, evening shadows settling across his face making his cheeks look more angular.

"I don't know. You never gave me a chance to find out." I answer crisply, shrugging out of his hold but his grip is unrelenting.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean? Are you telling me this is my fault? I asked you out and you didn't get back to me. What do you expect me to do? Chase you down the campus corridors? Vandalise the walls with proposals to you?" His voice raises an octave and it's obvious he's getting angrier by the second.

"Your creativity amazes me," I drawl sarcastically. "And yes I would have loved a grand gesture like that." I tell him even though those ideas are ridiculous.

"I don't date publicly." He says in a low voice and his grip around my arm loosens.

"And I fail to see how that's my problem." I then shrug out of his hold, turn on my heels and walk away.

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