Dani and the Dork Ch. 01

"Oh, we're not going to the beach," Ollie chuckled. "My buddy Harry hates the sun. He's paler than an albino mouse. It flash fries him in seconds."

Dani giggled at the imagery, eliciting a relieved and slightly proud smile from Ollie. "So how does he tan?"

Ollie shrugged. "He doesn't."

"Really?" Dani wrinkled her nose. Tanning at the beach was one of the best ways in the world to unwind. What the hell did this guy do when he was stressing over coursework, or needed some alone time?

"Hey, neither do I," Ollie said, a small spurt of confidence creeping into his tone now that he had made her laugh. He took a step closer and held out his arm. "See? I'm a ghost compared to you."

"How do you even cope?" Dani held up her arm next to his. She had always had a moderately tanned complexion, and the golden hue of her own skin appeared to glow against an arm that very much resembled the long, thin bone underneath.

A shiver of excitement ran up Ollie as their skin touched, if for only a second. Even her arm was perfect, toned and smooth and completely unblemished, as opposed to his pale and slightly hairy stick of an arm with that awful mole on the wrist. He looked at her, and she at him. Their eyes met again, and they both giggled softly.

Between the generally successful conversation, the physical contact, and even making her laugh, Ollie could feel a growing lightness in his chest that spread across his body, an antidote cleansing the poisonous rigidity of his muscles and posture. He smiled at her with more ease than he had ever felt around a girl and, as his arm dropped back to his side, a daring idea came to him borne upon his newfound sureness.

"I'll tell you what my friends and I are doing," he said. "But you need to promise not to laugh. Or judge."

"Ooh." Dani cocked her head curiously. "Alright then, ghost boy. What's the big secret?"

Ollie took a deep breath. "So, I'm meeting up with some buddies at one of their apartments. We're going to be playing..." He tapered off, suddenly unsure of himself again. What if she thought it was stupid? He scraped his heel against the path anxiously, but he had said too much now. Better to just come out with it.

"...we're playing Dungeons & Dragons." As soon as he said the name of the game, instant regret pelted him. God, he sounded like such a dork.

"Dungeons and dragons?" Dani repeated the name slowly, as if lost in thought.

"Yeah, it's... well, I swear it's cooler than it sounds, really. It's set in this fantasy world, like... well, not fantasy but... well, no, it is fantasy, but it really is fun and... kinda like Lord of the Rings. You seen Lord of the Rings?" Ollie realised his palms were sweating, and he hastily rubbed them dry on his faded jeans. "Ugh, I'm doing a really bad job of explaining it. It's, like... really not as nerdy as everyone says. And you get to create your own character, and--"

"Isn't that the game they play in Stranger Things?" Dani asked suddenly. "The board game they play when they're little kids?"

Ollie gulped, very much unsatisfied with the comparison to a group of fictional 12-year-olds. "Um, yeah, it is. I guess."

"Riiiight." A slow smirk spread across Dani's face, although at least she wasn't laughing. "Yeah, I've heard of it actually. It's supposed to be a game for nerds who live in their parent's basements, isn't it?"

Ollie's cheeks burned. If he had just completely torpedoed her opinion of him by mentioning the game, he wasn't sure he would be able to bring himself to play anyway. "Well, I'm sure people like that do play it, but... everyone plays it. You know Vin Diesel plays it? It's really fun, and... well..."

His voice had lowered to scarcely above a mumble, and his cheeks lit up like red traffic lights as he squeaked out his final proposition: "...I think you could probably enjoy it too. So, if you're not doing anything and you wanted to play with us... maybe you could... maybe...?"

"Play Dungeons & Dragons with you guys?" Dani raised an eyebrow, but an impish grin lay beneath. "Can't say anyone's ever asked me to play Dungeons & Dragons with them before."

Ollie's face was still bright crimson, but the colour began to recede from his face slowly. She wasn't completely ridiculing him, and that was a start. He opened his mouth to respond, not even entirely sure what he was planning to say... and shocked himself with the words that came out.

"Well, this might be the only time anyone ever asks you. So maybe you should take me up on it?" He froze. So did she. It was hardly a controversial thing to say, but it was so... not him. A slightly cheeky quip more suited to Ryan's mouth than his own. He could even perfectly imagine his roommate saying it. But not him. Never him.

Dani's grin took on an air of curiosity beneath her narrowed eyes. She looked around quickly, as if checking for anyone who might know her, before inching closer to him. "Well, well, well. How very forward of you Ollie. And why do you want me to play with you so badly, exactly?" Ollie gulped -- it took every ounce of his willpower to avoid staring at the yawning gap of cleavage that had opened up below him. She was so close he could smell the faint lavender fragrance of her hair and, when he finally replied, his voice sounded like it was coming from inside a box.

"I just... think you would enjoy it. Might make a nice change from, I dunno, parties and stuff? And, well, we do need a fifth person and I... well, I don't really have any other friends... and I just think you might find it fun or... or something. Y'know? I could... show you how to play?"

"Hmm." Dani giggled a little as she backed up again. He was watching her so tensely, as if his very life depended on her response. Was she actually interested in playing Dungeons & Dragons? Not really. At least, she didn't think she was.

But there was something to Ollie that almost made her want to say yes and she couldn't, for the life of her, put her finger on what that was. There was no denying that he had a certain charm to him... a geeky, innocent charm. It was a breath of fresh air to spend time with a straight guy who didn't want to fuck her. Or, at least, a guy who wasn't overt about it if he did. Not to mention she could already imagine the stunned looks on the faces of Ollie's friends if he brought her in to play their nerdy game, and that alone would probably make it all worth it.

"How about it?" Ollie nervously wrung his hands as he studied Dani for a reaction. "I'll show you the ropes myself. The two of us could have some fun together in a hands-on private session or something?"

His face started to go red again even before his brain managed to fully register what he had just said. They both knew how that line had sounded. A look of sheer horror imprinted itself over Ollie's face, but Dani was stunned into silence for only a second before she started to cackle uncontrollably. "Oh my God! Ollie! You cheeky little flirt!"

"That's... that's not what I meant!" Ollie stammered frantically, his face resembling a beetroot more and more with every word as he tried desperately to salvage the situation. "That came out so wrong, I didn't mean to... I mean, I only meant to..."

But Dani just kept giggling. Even if entirely unintentional, Ollie's slip-of-the-tongue was the first vaguely sexual thing he had said or done during their entire conversation, as long as she wasn't including the constant "sneaky" glances he made at her chest, midriff, and legs. A mistake it may have been. But Dani was smart enough to know that it hadn't come from nowhere, and a spark of arousal twinkled in her belly as she wondered whether he had been subconsciously urging himself to make a move on her all this time.

"Sure thing, Ollie. What did you have in mind?" A bratty, cocky beam lit up Dani's face as she regarded the mortified geek in front of her. "How private are we talking? Just you and me? Alone together?"

Ollie's head shook so frenziedly it was as if he were having a seizure. "No, no, never, I--"

"Never?" Dani pouted, her bottom lip stuck out in mock disappointment. "So you don't want a private session with me?"

Ollie's mouth opened and shut like a drowning fish. "I... no, I would love to... I mean... I didn't..."

"Let me guess: the two of us in a small room in just our underwear?" Ollie's eyes rolled so far upwards at this that he looked set to pass out. Dani would have burst out laughing -- if she hadn't been having too much fun to stop for that. "Is that the sort of private session you want with me?"

"I would give anything for... but, not like that, I... Dani, I swear..."

"Maybe we could go even further?" Dani took a step closer to Ollie, her eyes caked with mischief. His breath held in his throat as his stuttering ceased entirely. He wished more than anything that he could just melt into the path as she posed in front of him with a thumb running behind the shoulder strap of her sports bra. "We could play a special version where I'm totally buck naked--"

"Okay, I get it!" Ollie cried, throwing his hands up in despair. "Forget it then. It was a stupid idea anyway." His lips pressed themselves together, trembling slightly, and after considering a thousand other things to say, he instead only went stone-cold silent. His haunting glare was more than enough to give Dani pause. Her bright grin faltered at the edges.

"Oh... Ollie, I was just kidding around. I know what you meant. I was just having a bit of--"

"Fun?" The single word was stained with derision as Ollie crossed his arms across his chest. "You were just having a bit of fun, right? That's all a girl like you does, isn't it? Has fun." The memory of Friday night, of how she had also mocked him then when he asked her out, incensed him. His words began to speed up, overtaking his brain. "It was the same on Friday, I guess? You wanted to have fun, and to hell with everyone else. I mean, why else would you go home with--"

Ollie's growing tirade tapered off in an instant as his brain kicked into gear again, aware he was on the verge of saying too much and freezing him in place before he could. But it was the look on Dani's face that told him he had stopped far too late. He cast his eyes regretfully to the ground as she stared him down icily.

"With who?" Dani narrowed her eyes, and her heart started to beat a little faster. "Who did I go home with?" Surely he didn't know about Ryan? How could he possibly know?

Ollie groaned silently to himself. Now he'd done it. If he could have wished his outburst out of existence he would have done so without a second thought. But, already neck-deep in water with no rescue in sight, all he could do at this point was draw a deep breath and take the plunge. "You... Ryan. You went home with... with Ryan."

"Right." Dani's entire body language changed in an instant. Her shoulders went rigid. Her face darkened as her head bowed, and she folded her arms defensively under her chest. "So you know about that, huh?"

"Of course I do. I'm his housemate, remember?"

"So, what? I guess Ryan told you or something? Decided to brag about us hooking up, did he?"

"No. No, I... I didn't really know for certain until just now. But I thought I saw you leave our place that night."

Dani's eyes widened. "That's impossible. What do you mean? How did you see me?"

"I was literally stood in the hallway. I left my room to get some water, and I saw you leave." Ollie took a deep breath to steady himself. "Of course you didn't notice me. Why would you notice me, huh?"

"Hey!" Dani said irritably. "I had enough on my mind, thank you very much!" The panic that had strangled her once she realised she had been inseminated by Ryan flooded back in an unwelcome rush.

Ollie scoffed. "Yeah? Like what? What colour you were gonna paint your nails the next day?"

"No, not my fucking nails!" Dani's voice rose, and Ollie visibly shrank back. "If you must know, I was freaking out because your stupid, dumbass housemate decided to cu--" She caught herself, just in time. Too much information. Too private. There was no need to tell Ollie about that.

Silence descended between them. Simultaneously, both remembered where they were and glanced around awkwardly, hoping that they hadn't accidentally created a scene. Nobody appeared to be paying them any attention on the relatively empty path but, nevertheless, they both lowered their voices to a hush.

"What? What did he do?" Ollie's voice was riddled with concern.

"He... nothing," Dani replied, glancing away with embarrassment. "It's nothing."

"Did he hurt you or something?" Ollie sounded incredulous. "He can be a knob, sure, but I didn't think he was capable of--"

"He didn't hurt me," Dani snapped, upset more than anything at being reminded of the still-unresolved problem Ryan had created. His sperm remained inside her, and the morning-after pill remained on her nightstand, very much untouched. She still had three days to take it. But the last two had passed in a flash, and the fact she was dragging her feet was all the proof necessary to show she was being far too careless about the whole ordeal.

For ten full seconds, Ollie said nothing. Something was clearly up. He knew Ryan could be a cocky prick, but he had never suspected him of doing anything bad to anyone. "Do... do you want to talk about it?"

"No." Dani waved a hand in front of her face. "It's fine, really. He didn't do anything awful, it's just... a problem, okay? I have a... a problem because of that night. And I'm gonna take care of it later. Okay?"

Ollie's jaw hit the floor. Now he understood. There was only one thing she could possibly be talking about. "Holy shit," he gasped. "Fuck, Dani, did... did Ryan get you pregnant?"

"No!" Dani cried, backing away and shaking her head. She nearly tripped over her own feet as she stumbled on the grassy verge at the edge of the path, and was saved only by Ollie, who grabbed her arm to steady her. "No, no, no!" She shocked herself by bursting into laughter -- stunned, slightly panicked laughter.

The thing that really got her was that, in a certain sense, Ollie's assumption wasn't necessarily incorrect. Especially if she continued to do nothing. Dani's cheeks began to heat up a little at the thought, at the reminder of what was at stake for her. Like clockwork, a familiar heat flared up between her legs, growing with every passing second. The same heat she had felt earlier, in her room, on the tram, and running through the park.

Dani realised Ollie was still staring at her, and she cleared her throat loudly as she tried to re-focus. "Um... sorry, heh... uh, what were we talking about?"

"We... I was asking if Ryan got you pregnant."

"Right." Dani's cheeks glowed, and she giggled giddily again. "No, he... he didn't." She bit her lip to stop herself from laughing more. But he sure as hell gave it his best shot. Her pussy had started to drip all over again, marking the already stained crotch of her panties, and she fidgeted with the white drawstrings on her shorts as Ollie blinked in confusion.

"Well... that's good then," Ollie said, surprised by the relief he felt sweep through his stomach. He didn't know Dani that well -- why the heck did he care if she got pregnant or not? Perhaps a girl like her even deserved a reality check like that...

A little stunned at himself, Ollie stopped that thought process in its tracks. What kind of thing was that to think? If he didn't know Dani well enough to care if she was pregnant, he certainly didn't know her well enough to think she deserved to be.

There had been a few girls at his high school who had got pregnant. Not many, but just enough to turn it into a bit of a scandal. All of them had dropped out soon after but, thanks to a potent combination of social media and good old rumours, Ollie had a decent enough idea of where most of them had ended up. One was, against all the odds, happily married to the very guy who had got her pregnant. Whereas another was at the tail end of her third pregnancy with her third absent baby daddy, the toll of sleeplessness, stress, and weight gain evident in her appearance. The whole thing seemed, in Ollie's mind, to be a gamble of epic proportions. Did he even understand what it was he wished upon Dani?

Sleeping with Ryan wasn't a crime. Dozens of nameless girls had done the same, and he felt no derision, no anger towards them. Dani just happened to be the first one to have spoken to him first, before Ryan had put his dick inside her.

Still, Ollie felt frustration as he looked at Dani. He didn't want to. But he did. And he just couldn't work out why.

"Hey, Ollie? Oh, have I lost you again?" Dani's bright, playful smile drifted back into view as Ollie refocused, shaking himself from his thoughts. Her posture had relaxed again. "You're being very quiet." Her smile drooped a little, followed up with a huff of disappointment. "Ugh, are you still mad at me? Look, it's not like I was trying to upset you, I just--"

"No, no, it's fine," Ollie said hurriedly, holding his hands up. His heart lifted as she smiled again, making his chest feel weightless. He smiled back, unable to stop himself. And Ollie realised in that moment that, while he was indeed angry at someone, that someone wasn't her at all.

"I'm not mad at you... not really. I think I'm... I think I'm mad at myself."

"Oh." Dani blinked, unsure what to say.

"Yeah, I... I feel like I fucked up on Friday. Like, I missed my chance. I shouldn't be mad at you, or Ryan. It's my fault. I should have made more of an effort with you. But I didn't. But I think I would have if I'd known you were so... so..."

Ollie trailed off as he struggled to find the right word. But there was no right word for what he knew he was thinking, not without insulting her or insinuating something he didn't want to. Dani seemed to be thinking along the same lines -- she had her head cocked curiously to the side, although there was more understanding in her eyes than her indifferent smile would have otherwise indicated.

"You didn't realise I was so... what?" The implication seemed obvious. Dani knew exactly what a lot of guys thought about her, and had long ago learned to deal with it. Whatever they chose to extract from the way she acted, looked, and presented herself was down to them, and that didn't bother her as long as she was living the way she wanted to. Besides, ignoring yet another of Ollie's obvious faux pas was far easier than kicking up even more drama over it.

But the idea that Ollie thought the same of her -- as a cocktease, a bimbo, or perhaps even a slut -- was more of a turn-on than she would have suspected. Dani took a step closer to him, still playing dumb, although his inference was so clear she was almost concerned it wouldn't stick.

"I... I didn't mean that either," Ollie said, growing steadily flustered all over again as he covered his face with his hands. A low groan emanated from between his fingers. When he removed them seconds later, red imprints remained on his pained expression. "I'm... I'm such an idiot, Dani. I'm sorry. I... I can't say the right fucking thing to you, apparently." He laughed, almost a little relieved at this personal epiphany.

"Ollie, it's fine, I--"

"No, it's not fine. I don't... I don't want to imply anything I don't mean. It's just... just kind of... really fucking annoying, you know?" Ollie began to pace, pausing every so often to look at Dani. "I won't lie, I... I really do feel like I missed a chance with you. Not that I expected anything to happen, but... but..." He paused, shook his head, and tried again. When he resumed his words came out rapidly, spitting like a machine gun, as if he had only moments left to live and needed her to know everything before the end came.