“Oh my gosh, Bri, I’ve never had so much fun clothes shopping in my entire life!”

My eyes flicked to Kyla as I let out a small grin.  Kyla spoke animatedly, her hands flying through the air as she described the events of her afternoon.  Everyone in the group sat at a huge café area, seated at the table nearest the front doors.  Different mini-restaurants spread out around us, taking people’s orders and handing others their food.  The restaurants were motley, going from McDonald’s fast food to Chinese food.  I’d gone to some place called Pandorita’s where they served me spaghetti and some Sprite.  It was pretty damn good.

“That’s nice,” I said, stabbing the huge meatball on top of my spaghetti with my fork.  The thing was huge!  Easily as big as a tennis ball.  No joke.

“Seriously!” Kyla shrieked enthusiastically.  “They were so enthusiastic about what I should buy, and they told me what colors went good with my tone.”

I shook my head, smiling.  “Shop with them from now on, okay?” I laughed shortly, cutting off a part of the meatball and plopping it into my mouth.  As I chewed I shot my friend another bright smile.  “I don’t want to try to live up to your shopping expectations.”

Kyla shot me a grin.  “Sure thing.”

I glanced at Kyla’s plate.  She’d purchased Chinese food.  I scrunched my nose as she scooped some up in her fork and plopped it into her mouth, chewing delightedly.  I hated Chinese food.  Everyone thought I was crazy for having such a distaste for it, but that was the way it was.

I turned my gaze to Shelley and Garner, who were having an intense argument about Joyful Noise.  I couldn’t concentrate on the words that they were saying, however, because all I could picture in my mind was Shelley attempting to push him into the trashcan.  The thought caused me to snicker out loud, making me scramble to cover my mouth with my hand.  Laughing caused for dropped food.  Which was not good.

“Oh my gosh, you two!” Paula said loudly, her distaste for their bickering showing freely.  “Will you stop it?  Some of us are trying to eat here!”

“You can eat while listening to people argue,” Meghan pointed out, taking a sip of her Mountain Dew.

While Paula shot Meghan a pointed look, Kyla turned to Dannon and me, a bright smile on her face.  “So, what did you two do?” she asked curiously.

I glanced at Dannon from the corner of my eye.  He sat next to me, fiddling with the noodles he’d purchased.  He didn’t really look like he was eating them.  In fact, for a moment, it looked as though he was going to be sick.  I blinked, tempted to ask him if he was okay.  But then he looked up and he looked perfectly the same.

Wow, my mind was going crazy.

“We went to Borders,” I said finally as though stating the obvious.

I snuck another glance in Dannon’s direction, partially not convinced that my mind made up the sickened-looking expression Dannon had on his face.  He looked like he was in pain—maybe with a headache or something.  Or maybe he looked like he wanted to vomit.  I couldn’t be sure.

But no.  One look at him and I could see that my mind made up the whole thing.  Dannon was fine.

“What did you do at Borders?” Kyla pressed, leaning her chin against her hand as she stared at us.

I gestured to our bags of books settled beside us on top of the table.  I refused to set them on the floor out of fear that someone would steal them—or worse, step on them.  Dannon, seeming to have the same concern, set his bag on the table to, out of reach of anyone’s feet.  “Uh, we bought books.”  I cocked an eyebrow.  “Isn’t that obvious?”

Dannon chuckled under his breath.  I shot him a pointed look, not wanting him to tell her about our spontaneous game.  Dannon didn’t seem to understand this, however, because his chuckling continued.  So, doing the only thing I knew, I slapped him lightly upside the head.  Dannon reeled back, letting out a cry of shock.  “Owie!” he exclaimed.

My eyebrows rose.  “Owie?  What are you, two?”

Dannon grinned, nodding.  “’Course.”

I rolled my eyes, turning back to Kyla.  She stared between us suspiciously, her eyes narrowed as she crossed her arms over her chest.  She leaned back in her seat, waiting for us to answer.  When she noticed that neither of us was talking, her eyes narrowed even further.  “You two are hiding something from me,” she said simply.

I side-glanced Dannon again.  He grinned mischievously at me, and I couldn’t help but smirk in return.  That was a huge mistake.  Kyla instantly knew that something was up, smiling that triumphant smile of hers.  I inwardly groaned.  If she found out—she would probably go haywire.  I mean, she always did.  So how was now any different?

“We’re going to play a game,” Kyla announced.

I stared at her for a moment, caught off guard by her suddenness.  “And what game is that?” I asked finally, my eyebrows rising.

“Twenty questions.”

Ah.  That made sense.  Now that I thought about it, why wasn’t that the first game that came to my mind?  I mean, it was quite a popular game when in need of information.  Well, that and Truth or Dare.

I shrugged and nodded.  “Yeah, okay.”

Kyla smiled, adjusting her position in her seat and folding her hands out in front of her.  I inwardly snorted.  She was doing this thing where she tried to look professional—and failed miserably.  “Okay,” she began, unfolding her hands to bring one through her hair.  Her smile remained on her face as she continued.  “Did it involve other people?”

Dannon nodded before I could say anything.  “Mmmhmm!” he said cheerfully.

I cocked an eyebrow in his direction.  “Your enthusiasm is odd.”

Dannon flicked my cheek playfully.  “Your lack of enthusiasm is odd.”

I scowled as he pulled his hand away.  I flicked him back, feeling a small sense of satisfaction when he let out a small cry and rubbed his cheek with a pout.  “Do not flick!” I snapped.  “That is worse than pinching, hitting, punching, kicking, and any other assorted painful physical activities.”

“Oh my gosh they’re talking about doing It!” Garner shouted suddenly.

I whipped my head around along with Dannon and Kyla to see Garner pointing a finger at us, amusement clear in his eyes.  I tilted my head to the side, utterly confused.  What did flicking have to do with . . . ?  Oh, right.  He must have entered the conversation at “painful activities.”  He was such a genius, really.

“You’re such a pervert!” Shelley shrieked, whacking Garner upside the head.  Garner cried out in pain, flashing a glare at her.  “Don’t butt into people’s conversations at the tail end, you idiot.  Can’t you tell by their faces that they weren’t talking about sex?”

I grinned, amused by the two.  They fought like a married couple.

“They act like you two,” Kyla murmured, her gaze sliding to Dannon and me.

Okay, I totally took back my earlier comment.

“Uh-huh, sure,” I said with a roll of the eyes.  “Are you going to finish your questionnaire or what?”

Kyla nodded, fixing her position again—even more dramatic than last time.  Dannon and I watched silently as she did.  “Okay,” she said finally, flashing another smile at us, “here we go.  Was it spontaneous?”

Dannon and I nodded simultaneously.

“Did Dannon think of it?”

I loved how she assumed that just because it was spontaneous it had to be Dannon’s idea.  Everyone did.  It made me feel like one of those cranky old men who yelled at people to get off their lawn.  “No,” I said hotly, placing my hands on my hips. 

“Did Brianne think of it?”

She was such an idiot.  “Dude, you just wasted a question,” I said, not believing that Kyla just asked such a stupid question.  “If Dannon didn’t think of it, who else do you think did?”

Kyla sighed, shaking her head as she realized what she’d just done.  “Whatevs.”  She waved her hand dismissively, pausing as she tried to think of another question to ask.  “Did it involve people getting weirded out?”

I laughed.  “When don’t spontaneous moments involve other people getting weirded out?”

Kyla nodded.  “True, very true.”

The questioning went on for a while.  Most of the questions were quite redundant and got her absolutely nowhere, but that was fine by me.  By the uselessness of her questions, I really doubted that she was going to get it.  And if she didn’t get it, she wouldn’t be able to gush all over us.

“Hmm, were you hugging people around the store randomly, trying to see who could get the most hugs?”

Hell just froze over.

My mouth dropped open.  Kyla laughed, leaning back in her seat, looking more triumphant than I’d ever seen her.  I turned, staring icily in Dannon’s direction, sure that he’d somehow told her.  “You went and told her, did you?” I said slowly, my words drawing out like poison.

Dannon held his hands up innocently.  “No, I didn’t.  I swear.”

Before I could even really process what I was doing, even think that there were people watching, I pushed my face close to his, my eyes blazing.  “If I find out that you’re lying to me,” I threatened lowly, “I will drown you in my shower.”

Dannon smiled, not at all fazed by our close proximity.  Girls were probably this close to him all the time.  It wasn’t a very comforting thought, but I wasn’t about to pull away now.  “Yes, because that worked out brilliantly for you the first time,” he teased.

I was acutely aware that Kyla was watching us, her eyes wide.  Without a doubt everyone else was watching, too.  I didn’t really care, though.  It wasn’t like we were going to make out or anything.  I glance down at his lips, shocked and a little disturbed to notice how attractive they were.  Yes, I just called a pair of lips attractive.  Sue me.

“Shut up,” I muttered.  “You won’t be able to shove me in the bathtub because by the time you manage to get to your feet, I’ll be out of the bathroom.”

Dannon continued to smile.  “Wasn’t that exactly what you were planning the first time?”

I glared, not saying anything.  I didn’t know why neither of us was moving away.  I waited for him to, but apparently he was waiting for the same exact thing.  But then, suddenly Dannon brought his hand up as though he was going to caress my cheek.  I froze, my eyes locked on his hand.  And then, right as I thought he was actually going to caress my cheek, he flicked it.

I shrieked, immediately pulling away.  “That was so rude!”

“Shoving your face in my bubble is rude,” Dannon shot back, his smile growing.

I was about to answer, but suddenly Kyla laughed heartily, causing our banter to stop.  We looked over at her.  I didn’t know what Dannon was thinking, but I knew what I was thinking: there was something seriously wrong with her and we needed to get her mental help immediately.  I mean, that laugh could not belong to a sane person.  It was too obnoxious and weird.

“Oh, I cannot wait until you two confess your love for each other!” Kyla hooted, clapping her hands excitedly.

I stared at her.  Way to make a situation awkward, Kyla.

| It ♥ All ♥ Started ♥ With ♥ An ♥ Apple |

“Now, tell me a little bit about yourself.”

I scoffed, plucking at my pillow.  Dannon and I sat on my bed in my bedroom, turning to the project at hand.  Despite the fact that my mom adored Dannon to death, the bedroom door had to remain open.  Why she thought we would actually do anything, I really didn’t know.  Maybe she just felt like she needed to act like a concerned parent.  Not only that, but Garrett was told that if he came upstairs and disturbed us while we worked, he’d be grounded.  Garrett tried to say that he was an adult and couldn’t be grounded, but that didn’t end very well.

“What are you going to do, write everything I say down?” I asked, noting the sheet of paper set in front of him and the pencil in his hand.

I cocked an eyebrow as he began writing.  What the hell could he possibly be writing, anyway?  I crawled over to him, glancing over the sheet of paper.  I let out another scoff when I saw what he’d written: What are you going to do, write everything I say down?

“You’re diabolical!” I exclaimed, whacking the piece of paper lightly before moving back to my spot.

Dannon made a noise through his throat—something that didn’t even sound human—before pulling the paper away.  “Don’t hate on the paper because you don’t appreciate the work of art being written on it,” he said with a grin.

“Glad to know that you think what I say is art.”

Dannon laughed.  “Okay, so what else, besides having words of poetry, is interesting about you?”

I grabbed the pillow I’d been picking at and tossed it at his head.  “You know, we do have to get some work done,” I told him simply with a small sigh.

Dannon held up his sheet of paper.  “I am trying to get work done,” he retorted.  “You aren’t cooperating.  I think you’re tampering with my grade.”

I would have chucked another pillow at him, but they were all on his side of the bed.  The little traitors.  “Whatever!” I huffed.  “Besides, you know a lot about me.  I know like zip about you besides the fact that you smile a lot and always laugh.”

“You know I’m a football player,” Dannon pointed out with a smile on his face.  “You know that I’m—what do you call it again?  Oh right, popular.”

I still couldn’t believe that he didn’t understand the concept of how popular he was.  “Don’t give me that disbelieving tone.”  I brought a hand through my hair.  “You should know by now how popular you are.  I mean, by the number of girls you’ve probably dated—”

Dannon cut me off, stopping the words that were tumbling out of my mouth before I could stop them.  “Dated?” he said blankly.  “Never done that before.”

My jaw dropped.  “You’ve never dated a girl?”

Dannon shook his head.  “No.”  He paused.  “Have you ever date one?”

I laughed, sickened by how happy I felt.  Was it normal to feel ecstatic that your guy friend hadn’t dated anyone?  I wasn’t really sure.  “No, I’ve never date a girl—or a boy for that matter.  I’m a nun.”

Dannon smiled.  “Can I join the nunnery?”

“I’m afraid that the nunnery is very sexist and only allows girls.  Go join the monks.  I heard they have great pizza.”

Dannon chuckled, throwing down his sheet of paper.  I stared at the paper.  Huh.  I guess that meant we were done “working” now.  He smiled, crawling over to my side of the bed and plopping next to me.  “Let’s take a break,” he suggested, leaning his head back and staring up at the ceiling.

“Yeah, because we were getting so far,” I drawled, following Dannon’s gaze up to the ceiling.  “And, didn’t we start like two minutes ago?”

“That’s the beauty of it,” Dannon said lightly.  “We have the power to take as many breaks as we want.  We have two months to put this together.”

“Procrastinator!” I yelled teasingly, leaning forward and shooting him a mock-annoyed look. 

Dannon smiled, turning his head slightly to face me.  “Mhm.”

I sighed, stretching so I could touch my feet with my hands.  “Let’s talk about how we’re going to make this thing,” I suggested.  “We’ve agreed that no one is making a poster.  So are we just going to make a slide show or something?”

“Slide shows are boring, too,” Dannon said with a shake of the head.  “We should make a video with actual clips.”

“Audio?”

“Totally.”

“Kickass music?”

“Obviously.”

I snickered.  “Well, it’s totally simple then.”

Dannon smiled at me.  “Yes.  But remember, no cussing in the film please!”

I grinned, leaning back and shoving him playfully.  “I’ll swear all the hell I want!”

“Dammit!” Dannon exclaimed.  “Why the hell do you always have to be so stubborn?”  He paused before adding, “Pisses me off.”

I chortled so hard that I thought I was going to die.  I started coughing so violently that I couldn’t breathe, and my face few so hot that it was burning.  Dannon actually began patting my back, asking if I was okay.  I was actually tempted to smack his hand away since it was his fault that I was now going to die.  I mean, the guy never swore and then he goes and does that?  Too hilarious.  And now I was going to die.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, the laughing and coughing subsided.  “Don’t be funny anymore,” I ordered, shooting a mock-glare at him.

“Sure thing.”  Dannon winked.

I rolled my eyes, scooting forward and hopping off my bed.  “I’ll be right back.”

With that, I trotted out of the room.  Dannon didn’t question it, didn’t even acknowledge that I was leaving the room.  Well, he might have nodded.  But I didn’t see it.  So, therefore, that didn’t count.

I sauntered to the bathroom, opening the door and heading to the shower.  I felt a smirk curl on my lips as I pulled back the curtain.  Yes, I was planning on “drowning” him in the shower again.  He deserved it!  He just almost killed me back there—making me laugh like that.  Jeez.  And, this time, I wasn’t going to end up wet, too.

Right as I turned on the shower, someone grabbed me by the hips and lifted me up—yes, lifted—and plopped me into the shower.  It probably would have been harder to get me in the shower if I hadn’t been too shocked to struggle.  But, now, as I was getting soaked beyond imagining, I was able to scream and rush out the shower as fast as I could.  I hurried to turn off the water before turning around slowly.

Dannon, the cause of my demise, laughed heartily, covering his mouth with my hand.  I let my glare settle steadily on him, hoping it would choke him to death.  “I’m going to kill you,” I stated calmly when the glare didn’t do its job.

“Wasn’t that what you were just going to attempt to do?” Dannon asked, struggling to contain his laughter.

“No, this time I’m actually going to kill you.”

I rushed forward, ready to strangle him to death.  Dannon grinned, jogging away and heading down the stairs.  Ignoring the fact that I was probably going to have to mop up the house later, I pelted after him, screaming, “Get back here!” followed by very creative names I thought up for him.

We entered the living room, where Garrett sprawled out on the couch, watching A Walk To Remember.  He was obsessed with the movie, he really was.  “What are you guys doing?” he asked as we ran through, momentarily blocking the screen.  “And Brianne, do you have a thing for getting wet while Dannon’s around?”

Dannon guffawed as I tried to kick him. I paused from my high-speed chase and scowled at my brother.  “Shut up, Garrett.  Can’t you see we’re busy?”

In that span of five seconds that I’d stopped running, Dannon managed to make it to the front door.  I cursed under my breath, chasing after him as he pulled the door open and slipped outside.  He wasn’t going to get away that easily, that was for sure.

Dannon rounded the left side of the house.  I grinned, turning and running the opposite way.  He was probably expecting that, so he was going to stay in one place for a few moments before turning back the way he came.  But, he wasn’t a mastermind like me, so he didn’t know that the garden hose was on my side of the house.

After getting my weapon ready, I waited.  Sure enough, a few moments later Dannon appeared, skidding to a stop in front of me.  “Hello,” I drawled, smiling evilly. 

With that, I proceeded to shoot him with the hose.

Dannon screamed as the water collided with his skin, spinning around and running the other way.  I ran after him, dragging the hose with me.  “Come and fight me like a man!” I shouted.

I didn’t expect him to take the comment literally, thought I probably should have.  I gave a small screech of shock mixed with terror as he turned and came barreling towards me.  I let the hose fall, not knowing what else to do.  I wanted to run, but I couldn’t.  My legs wouldn’t move.  So, all I could do now was squeeze my eyes shut and wait for the impact.

It didn’t take long.  The next thing I knew Dannon tackled me, pushing me into the soaked grass.  My eyes popped open.  Dannon was on top of me, our noses not even an inch apart.  Dannon grinned, leaning in so that our noses were touching.  “Gotcha.”