How Ironic Ch. 01

"Danielle? Time to wake up," my father yelled down the hallway. It was the way he woke me up; it wasn't very effective.

My mom used to be the one who woke me up in the mornings, but now that my parents were divorced, my dad had to do it. I guess the obvious thing to do would be to set an alarm, but that wouldn't work because I would just get annoyed with it and shut it off...indefinitely. So waking me up was my dad's job now.

"Danielle!" he called again.

Oh, just get up, lazy ass, I told myself.

Fifteen minutes later, I was walking out of the small, one-story house. My father followed behind me, locking the door once it closed. I got into his car, waiting for him to drive me to school.

Baxton High School was about five miles away. I was in the area of town that all the "nobodies" lived. Which, in turn, made me a nobody. Anyone who lived close to the school was obviously richer and more popular. I wish it could be different, but since the divorce left my father with almost nothing, there was nothing I could do about it.

When my dad got into the car and started driving, he started talking to me. Normally, I just tuned him out. But today was different.

He started off by saying, "Danny, honey, I'm getting married."

Wait, WHAT?! "How could you possibly be getting married, Dad?" I asked. "You haven't even dated anyone in three years!"

He and my mom had split my freshmen year. Now I was a senior, and nowhere in that time frame was there any other woman in my father's life.

"I know it's a little shocking," he said while stopping at a red light. "But I have dated some people. And I really love this woman. We've been seeing each other for about a year now, and I proposed spontaneously a couple days ago."

This was shocking alright. I had no idea! "Why didn't you tell me before now?"

"There was just never the right time..." he said. Lame excuse, Dad.

"There hasn't been the right chance? For a year?! How do you not find the time to tell your daughter, who you see every day, about a woman who you are getting married to?! Huh?" I nearly screamed. He had started driving again, and I could see his hands shaking on the steering wheel.

"I know I should have told you earlier." You think? "But, honestly, I didn't know how. It was so complicated in the beginning and when all the things started to work out in the relationship, I was just caught up thinking that I might jinx it. But all that matters is that you know now, right?"

We were getting closer to the school, and I knew I needed to calm down before I actually got there, or else I might do something embarrassing. I could be caught yelling at my dad (even talking to him was social suicide) or I might be so angry that I walk around practicing how I could yell at him later and people would think I was yelling at 'voices' or something. So, I decided to change the subject. "I heard there's a seventy percent chance of rain today. How about that?"

My dad knew that whenever I started to talk about weather, I was getting too worked up over something, and might have a nervous breakdown. So he went along with it.

"Yes. A little rain would be nice."

We were both quiet for the rest of the ride to the school. It was an awkward silence.

As my dad dropped me off, I heard the bell for first period ring. Shit. I had five minutes to get to English, and Mrs. Vence would chop one of my fingers off if I was late. I ran across campus; I made it just in time, and out of breath.

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When the bell rang for lunch, I was reluctant to leave Government class. I wasn't in the mood to eat today. Plus there was the fact that I was quite the loner, and with no one to go to lunch with and no one to eat with, there wasn't much pushing me to leave the nice, warm classroom too quickly.

But I had to leave at some point, so I did. I went straight to the vending machine and bought myself a bag of chips and a bag of cookies, a very nutritious and delicious lunch.

Looking at the lunch tables in the cafeteria, it was obvious who was someone and who lived even further away from the school than I did. At the innermost table sat the 'populars'. They were the cheerleaders, the jocks, and all the rest of the beautiful people who lived in beautiful houses. In the circle outside of that were all the second-tier students, which included the most of the upper-middle class. Then came the math geeks and science nerds (who only sat that close because they did the populars' homework and let them cheat off their tests). After that were the wanna-be's tables. And the outermost tables held all the stoners, loners, and losers.

People like me didn't really belong anywhere. So most of the times I just ate in the bathroom. Sad, I know; I practically had a reserved stall. But at least I had my lunch time to myself to think.

However, today, all I could think about was this morning. My dad was getting married.

Questions filled my head. When? Where? To who? Who's going to be there? Will I have step-siblings? How long will it last this time?

It occurred to me then that I didn't know anything about my father's life. Had he talked about meeting someone at work? Did he mention anything about finding a woman online? When had he had time for dates? I was truly blind.

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Working late. Walk home. – Dad

There were two things wrong with this text message. One, I was going to have to walk home. Two, my dad was texting me!

It was twenty minutes before the last bell, so I was in Study Hall. Which meant that I could sneak a text back to my dad. (How lame is that? I text in class: to my own father!)

OK.

Okay, speaking of lame... That was the text I 'snuck' in class? I needed to get a life.

The remaining minutes ticked by painfully slow, but finally the bell rang, and I was released. Now I got to walk five miles home. Yay.

The shortest way to get back to my house was to go through the student parking lot and through the surrounding neighborhoods. However, that route would be full of danger (not to mention mocking of my social status). But I didn't feel in the mood for a long walk today.

As I walked out of the gates near the parking lot, then past a couple of houses, I started to realize the sky was darkening...quickly.

Then, suddenly, it was raining. And it wasn't just the light sprinkling turning into the big rain drops kind of rain, it was the amazingly hard, fast, and windy kind of rain. Shit.

I pulled up my hood and started walking along the sidewalk all hunched up, trying to avoid the rain as much as possible. Shit, shit, shit.

It was then that I heard a car horn. I didn't look up at first, thinking it had nothing to do with me. But after a couple more beeps, I looked to my side and found a shiny, silver, expensive-looking car slowly following me. It definitely wasn't my father's vehicle.

I stopped walking and turned, squinting, trying to see who was in the car. When the window started to roll down, I saw Kevin Dermit looking at my now soaking wet...well, everything.

"Hey, need a ride?" he asked.

Did he just ask me, Danielle Nobody, for a ride? In his car? ... It had to be a trick; he sat in the middle of the cafeteria. I would say yes, and then he would say something like, "Maybe you should find one!" and drive off, while purposely splashing me with the growing puddle on the side of the rode. I could just see it.

"No thank you," I answered, shivering.

He gave me a funny look, then asked, "Are you sure?" I would categorize his tone as sincere, although he could have had a lot of practice at this pranking business.

"Yes."

I had turned and continued walking. The car kept following me, inching along.

Then Kevin said, "Come on. Get in. You'll catch a cold."

I turned and tried to give him a look that conveyed my feelings towards this little joke. But when I looked at his expression, I thought it looked more than just fake-sincere.

I did a quick mental debate while standing in the rain. The just-get-in-the-car side won.

I opened the door handle, and then stared at the drops of water attached to me start to fall off onto the nice leather seats. I read somewhere once that water kills leather (or something along those lines), so I immediately thought Kevin (a POPULAR kid!) would tell me to get back out and never go near his very, very expensive car again.

Instead he said, "Hurry up, get in. I don't want it to rain too much in my car."

I half jumped into the seat, wanting to please him, and shut the door. Suddenly the noise of the rain and other cars and students leaving the school disappeared. His car was extremely quiet on the inside. It was also warm.

"So, where do I need to take you?" he asked.

Only then did I understand that he would have to know where I lived for me to get home. And if he knew where I lived, he would know how much of a nobody I was. I wasn't even sure that he'd drive me home if I told him where I lived. Well, at least I got to warm up for half a minute.

Without even answering I started to open the door again.

"Hey, wait! Why are you leaving?"

With my hand on the door handle, I looked back at him. "What do you mean?"

He laughed. It was a really nice laugh. It was deep, but not too deep. The smile that went along with it was nice too; all straight teeth and luscious lips. "I'm offering you a ride home. That means you stay in the car and I will take you home. You don't leave before it gets to your house..." Kevin ended with another laugh. I wasn't sure if I was swooning or not.

"I don't know if you want to drive me all the way home. It's kind of far away," I told him.

"I bet it's not too far." He smiled at me again, and I took my hand off the handle.

"It's about five miles down the road, off of Greenway on Cherry Lane," I said hesitantly. He looked at me for a minute, probably seeing that I was not on his level (socially, that is). I could almost feel him telling me to get out. I almost believed it was real too, until he gave me another smile.

"Okay, just tell me where to turn."

Whoa. Was this happening? I discreetly tried pinching myself, telling myself to wake up. But the scene I was in wasn't changing. Kevin was driving, searching through the music on his iPhone, right next to me. I told myself to calm down. Even if this was a dream, did I really want to wake up?

A mainstream song, you know, the ones you never listened to unless you were popular or trying to fit in, started playing through the car. It was actually pretty good; maybe I should stop hating songs just because everyone else liked them.

"Is this song cool with you?" Kevin asked. Did he just ask me if his song choice was okay? This was so not for real.

"Yeah, it's cool," I replied, trying to act like I knew what I was talking about.

"Cool."

After that we just kind of sat there. I was dripping onto his seat, and he was nodding to the beat of the song. And somehow it felt totally normal.

As we got further from the school, I started to give Kevin the directions to my house. My original plan was to have him drop me off at a house that was bigger and prettier than my own, but I got carried away with the feeling of being in a boy's car, so I acted like a dumbass and gave him directions to my real house. It was a small, shabby-looking mess, and I led him right to it. Can you say fuck-tard?

"This the right house?" he asked, as he turned down the music.

I mentally groaned and nodded.

I started to open the door and grabbed my bag when I heard him say, "Mind if I come in?"

I stopped. Just froze. This is not happening! I turned toward him. "You want to come into my house?"

He gave me another smile (another one!) and said, "Yeah. If you don't mind..."

In a rush to please this beautiful specimen, I quickly murmured a 'yes' of some sort. Then I got ahold of my brain again and made a more clear answer. "Yes. You can come in."

As I opened my door and got out, he shut off the car, turning off the music along with it. Then he got out too, and followed me as I led him to my front door.

Once we were both inside, I became aware once more of my cold, wet state. Kevin had only walked a short distance in the rain, only having wetness scattered across his broad, manly (I think I just drooled) shoulders.

I assume he noticed the same thing because he said, "I guess I should let you change? You're kind of soaking."

I looked down at my clothes, and then I felt my whole body turn beet red. My gray jacket was unzipped, and under that, my white t-shirt was thoroughly soaked. Anyone who even glanced at me could clearly see my polka-dot bra. HOW EMBARRASSING.

I quickly mumbled something to him and almost ran to my room down the hall. I closed the door, and tried not to make it squeak. I tried to tear away my clothing, but the wetness of all of them just made it that much harder.

Once I had completely stripped, even the bra and panties (they were drenched, too), I started searching for something dry to wear. I remembered that Kevin fucking Dermit was in my house, and suddenly had to find something that looked sexy enough for him. Damn it, Danielle, why can't you by sexy clothes for times like these!

Just as I was mentally chastising myself, I heard the door squeaking. The squeaking that it only made when it was opening and closing. And it was closed before. Which meant that it was being opened. And I was naked. Shit!

When I turned slightly away from my dresser, I saw the door half-opened with Kevin standing in the hallway. His eyes were looking over my body and when they reached my face, his expression turned to something that might have matched mine, a strange mixture of shock and surprise.

"Oh my God, I'm sorry," he quickly stammered before he closed the door again.

I started hyperventilating. One of the populars had seen me naked. Was he going to leave and tell everyone about this? Was this the plan all along? Is this the only reason he took me home, asked to come in, and told me to change?

After the encounter, I changed as nimbly as I could. I ended up with a new bra (cherries instead of polka-dots) and panties, with a slightly baggy blue t-shirt and sweats.

When I walked out of my room I didn't expect Kevin to still be there. But I saw him at the end of the hallway. He turned towards me as I walked to him.

I was going to confront him. I wanted to tell him that he was a mean person, and that he should leave and never come back. I wanted to curse at him until I felt I was done.

But when I reached him, he pushed me against the wall and placed him mouth upon mine.

He held my face between his hands and kissed me. His lips pressed against mine, and suddenly I felt his tongue on my bottom lip.

This had never happened to me before. I never had a boy over...I had never been kissed. And now I felt another person's tongue on my lip? What was going on?

I didn't know what to do. And maybe Kevin felt that. He pulled back, not letting go of my face, and gave me a questioning look. I didn't know how to respond to his look. I just stood there, trying not to look too socially retarded.

"Do you hate me?" he asked.

I was shocked. Did he think I hated him? Well, obviously. Why would he ask that if he didn't?

"No. Why...why do y-you think that?" I tried to say at least a little bit normally.

He just looked at me and said, "Because you don't want a ride from me, even when it's pouring rain, you didn't want me in your house, and you aren't even kissing me back."

No! I couldn't let him think that. But I couldn't think of a way to tell him what I was thinking. While I was thinking, though, my eyes wandered down to his lips. A feeling I couldn't quite describe came over me. He kissed me with those lips. I licked my lips, seeing if I could replicate the feel of his tongue on my lips.

Before I knew what was happening, his mouth was on mine, only this time his was open, and so was mine. I felt the dampness of his mouth, his tongue gliding across my tongue. His hands fell away from the sides of my face and traveled to my shoulders.

My hands had a mind of their own and decided to land on his chest. His muscular, well-built, incredibly sexy chest. Wow. And then (you're not going to believe this) he moaned. But it sounded more like a sexy wolf-like growl.

His own hands started to move lower, hovering down to where they gripped my sides. He pushed me further against the wall, which was totally not uncomfortable like you might think it would have been, and took the kiss even deeper, probing his tongue deeper into my mouth.

I wrapped my hands around his neck, arching my torso into his, making contact with his body with mine. I surprised myself with a little moan of my own, which sounded like a short giggle. My moan then triggered another one to come out of Kevin.

It was then that he pulled back and leaned his forehead against mine, preventing out mouths from touching anymore. I noticed how hard we were both breathing. Kissing couldn't be that strenuous, could it?

Then Kevin smiled. All rational thought left my head and all I wanted to do was kiss him some more. As I leaned my head back a bit to capture his lips, he also leaned back, anticipating my move.

Wait, did that mean that he didn't want this anymore? I could feel myself turning red again. My arms unraveled themselves from around Kevin's neck. I tried to get away, but I felt his big hands still holding me in place against the wall. I looked back up at him, not sure of what was going on.

"Do you know how hard it is to resist you right now?" he asked in a wonderfully husky voice.

"Then why are you resisting?" I asked. I wanted to keep going.

He nuzzled his nose into my neck. While he was still there, he whispered into my ear, "Because, if I don't stop now, I might not stop ever." Then he planted a kiss on my neck.

"So?"

I could feel his smile as he kissed me again on my neck. I was beginning to realize that was a huge turn-on for me. "So I don't want your dad walking in on us, then going to get his shotgun."

I groaned in what I hoped was a sexy way and said, "We're only kissing. It's not like we're fucking or anything."

I don't know what set him off, but suddenly Kevin was back at my mouth, kissing me. It felt nice, the passion mixed with the urgency. This may only be a one-time thing, but hey, it was good; why stop?

His hands slowly slid to the hem of my t-shirt. His fingers slipped under it, and traveled across my stomach. It tickled and I squirmed a little bit. Kevin pulled back.

"Are you okay with this?" he asked, seriously.

I looked in his eyes and saw some kind of desire (not that I would know, or anything). I nodded. "Totally."

And then we both heard the front door open, and two voices floated through the air.

"I'm sure that's his car," a female voice said. "I don't exactly know the license plate number, but I am pretty sure."

"Well," my dad's voice responded, getting closer, "Did you tell him to come here after school?"

"No. Did you?"

Then I saw my father and a young-looking blonde bombshell. They stood right next to us by the hallway, looking at Kevin and I, standing extremely close to each other against the wall.

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This is only the start of something. Please let me know if it sucks. It is an unedited version. Hopefully by the time I have the next story I will get a response from someone to be an editor for me...

Remember, feedback (questions, comments, concerns, suggestions) is always welcome!

Thank you,

- L.