Loving Mr. Daniels(37)

But I had seen him.
No one should have to stand in a cemetery alone.
Especially Daniel.
Within a few seconds, I was standing by his side. I wasn’t quite sure how I’d even arrived next to him. It felt like floating, my feet gliding me his way. He made me soar.
“Hey,” I whispered, making him turn toward me.
“Ashlyn,” he said, surprise in his tone as he looked up to me.  I almost forgot how much I loved how he looked at me.
I blinked and shook my head. “I’m sorry to bother you. I just saw you standing here and thought…” Thought what? “Thought nothing,” I muttered.
“Nobody ever really joins me out here.”
“I’m nobody,” I whispered.
He studied my face for a few seconds before he lowered himself down to the ground and the tiniest smile found his lips. “You look like somebody to me.”
I looked back and forth, noticing the darkness surrounding us. I wasn’t sure if I should stay or go. But my feet were telling me that they had no plans to backtrack.
“Why do they call you watermelons?” Daniel asked.
I smirked when he looked up at me. I took it as an invitation to stay. Lowering myself down, I sat next to him. I glanced down at my chest and laughed. “Is that a serious question?”
The corner of his lips turned up. “No, I get it. I do.” His fingers ran through the blades of grass surrounding us and he picked up a few strands. “Your body is beautiful. That’s not a secret. But how are they compelled to pick up on that small detail of you and not talk about those damn eyes? Or that f*cking incredible brain of yours?”
I looked down at his hands, which were rolling the grass through his fingertips, and I didn’t reply.
He continued. “I get so pissed off whenever someone looks at you wrong. Or says the wrong thing to you. Or posts pictures all over your locker. Or if they smile at you. Or call you beautiful. Or…anything!” He released a breath and took a deep inhale. “Anything they do to hurt you or make you smile makes me want to attack.” He exhaled. “And that doesn’t really make for great ethics.”
My teeth ran across my bottom lip. I was uncertain of what to say to him.
He noticed the look in my eyes and ran his hands across his face. “I’m sorry, Ashlyn. I shouldn’t verbally say the crap that runs through my mind.”
“I’m working on my friendships,” I said, turning so I was facing him straight on. I reached into the inside of one of my books and pulled out a piece of paper. Placing it in his hand, I smiled. “I did a little research on Wikipedia.”
He unfolded the paper and read it out loud. “Four important foundations to making a friend.” He stopped reading. “You’re such a nerd.”
He wasn’t wrong. “I’m a nerd-stud. What can I say? Keep reading.”
“Number one. Proximity, which means being near enough to see each other or do things together.”
I puckered my lips up and rubbed underneath my chin. “Well, seeing how I sit in your second row during third hour, that’s kind of being in the same proximity, right?”
He narrowed his eyes on me and moved on to step number two “Repeatedly encountering the person informally and without making special plans to see each other.”
“Holy crap. That’s like, I don’t know—running into you behind the bar. Or running into you at school. Or…running into you in a cemetery. It wasn’t planned at all. I have to admit the last one is kind of a downer.”
The way his smile stretched made me think I was somewhat charismatic, even though I just felt silly. “Number three, opportunities to share ideas and personal feelings with each other.”
“Hmph. Well, to be honest, I think we’re still working on that one. What’s the last one?”
“Ashlyn,” he groaned, reading the final step. “Wikipedia said this?” He raised an eyebrow and I nodded. “Promise, promise?”
My smirk reappeared as I bit my bottom lip. “I’ll promise, but no double promises. Come on, just read it.”
Clearing his throat, he sat up straight. “Last but not least, number four. Be named Daniel Daniels and Ashlyn Jennings.” He folded the paper and placed it back inside my book.
“What?! It says that?! Well, crapballs. That’s three out of four steps we have. I think that’s pretty good.”
“But it’s not perfect,” he argued. His fingers ran through his hair, making it a bit messy. He didn’t look like Mr. Daniels anymore. Just Daniel. Just handsome, talented Daniel.
“Humans weren’t made to be perfect, Daniel. We were made to screw up, f*ck up, and learn new things. We were made perfectly imperfect.”
He narrowed his eyes and moved in closer to me. His fingers brushed my hair behind my ear. The small touch awakened anything that might have been sleeping within me.
“Why did you have to be my student?”
A smile crept on my face. “Because God has a sick sense of humor.” My eyes moved to the flowers Daniel must have bought for his mom. They were a bouquet of daisies. My favorite flower. “I love those ones, too,” I said, gesturing toward the flowers.
“Mom would have liked you a lot. I just know it. Dad would have thought you were too smart for me.”
I grinned. “He sounded like a wise man.”
I shivered a bit from the chilled breeze and he frowned. “You’re cold.”
“I’m okay.”
He took my hands into his and started rubbing them, warming me up. I wondered if he knew how much his touch meant to me. How much I missed that touch.