That Boy Next Door

Chapter 21

A/N Dedicated to @K2J_two for the amazing banner on the side!!

"Hey, get out of there."

Dannie didn't reply but simply waited, sitting against the door of her room.

"I know you're in there."

"Don't make me break down the door."

"Come on, it's been a whole day, you're supposed to be having fun."

"Dannie open the damn door!"

Lucas had been pleading-- no begging, for the past hour, but to no avail. There was simply no way that Dannie was going to leave the safety of her room to venture out and maybe encounter Seth. The Memory Book he had given her still lay at feet, untouched.

"I've got all day," he tried again.

She felt bad, really bad, that she had to ruin her best friend's vacation with her acrimonious mood but she couldn't help it. There were no words he could say and nothing he could do that would change her mind.

"Alright Dannie, you've brought this upon yourself. I'm going to get Seth."

After hearing the sounds of fading footsteps and of a door slamming, the words finally sank into Dannie's brain. He was going to go get Seth! The whole reason for her being locked up was to avoid him!

"Wait! Lucas! I'm coming out," she yelled, clumsily jiggling the door handle. Bursting into the living room, she sprinted to the front door.

"Gotcha!" Strong hands wrapped around her waist and she was hoisted into the air and onto somebody's shoulder.

"Lucas!" Dannie whined, disbelief colored across her face that she had fallen for his little trick.

"It's been a day since your little date with Seth and all you've done is sit in that blasted room of yours. We've stopped at Saint Kitts and everybody is already off the ship. Let's go," he said, slipping out the door easily despite Dannie's constant wriggling and squirming.

"Just tell them I'm not feeling well," Dannie said. It was half true. She didn't feel well and her stomach was starting to make weird noises, but that was probably just because of her nervousness from meeting Seth.

"Sorry but no can do. It's my job as your best friend to make you the happiest you can be," Lucas said.

"That was really deep for somebody with an IQ lower than squirrel roadkill," Dannie muttered under her breath.

"I heard that!"

"You were supposed to!"

Finally reaching the stairs of the ship that led to the island, Lucas set Dannie down but kept a firm grip on her shoulders, as if she were going to make a run for it.

"Can I trust you to walk down the steps?" he asked her, saying it slowly as if she were a child.

Dannie stuck out her tongue at him and stomped down the steps to where Kate, Oliver, and Seth were stood. Butterflies-- or rather rampaging dinosaurs-- blossomed in her stomach. Just the sight of Seth made her heart flutter.

Wait, her heart fluttered? Since when did Dannie's heart flutter?

And flutter? That was such a girly word!

"Are you going to move anytime soon?" Lucas asked into her ear. Dannie shook her head, momentarily stooped. She hadn't realized that she had stopped moving and was staring dumbly at Seth.

Not to mention that Kate was shooting her murderous glares every five seconds.

Dannie walked the rest of the way at a leisurely pace, trying to calm down the beating of her heart. It felt like helicopter wings were taking off inside her chest. It was going to spontaneously combust one of these days.