Spikes and Sparks [DAERIN]

Chapter 4

It has been three days since Danielle and Haerin last talked. Ever since then, Danielle hasn't talked to Haerin. Staying true to her words that she'd stop bothering her for a while.

The past few days, she'd busied herself reviewing for the upcoming quiz bee and practicing for the upcoming swimming competition. Danielle could now feel the difficulty of simultaneously reviewing, practicing, and doing their school assignments and projects.

Every day, she only had at least two to three hours of sleep, which is why she was always dozing off, even in classes. In fact, almost all of their professors had now threatened Danielle not to fall asleep in their class.

During free times like lunch, it is only thanks to her best friend, Ice, that she is able to eat.

"Girl, what were you thinking?" Ice asked the half-asleep Danielle, as she tried to force feed her a sandwich. "You shouldn't have accepted the offer to be the representative of Quiz Bee. Look at you now" she said, shaking her head.

Danielle could only hum in response as she placed her head on the canteen table, trying to get sleep, not even minding the noise of the crowd.

"Totally girl" said the voice of a man. "You're so crazy about your crush, you'd do anything to be with her" he added.

Even half-asleep, Danielle could recognize that manly but really not-so-manly voice. It's Matt Antonio. Their other friend who was seldom with them because he was in a different department. Danielle realize that Matt knew why Danielle accepted the offer, so she figured Ice must have filled him up.

"Is that cold coffee you bought?" she heard Ice ask. "Yes, girl" he said, full of sassiness. Matt is out and proud gay. And they love him for that.

Danielle could feel him sitting down next to Ice.

"Salted caramel cream for you, chocolate cream for me, and cinnamon caramel cream for our sleeping beauty here" he said while placing down the cold coffees. "I'm going to start calling her Princess Aurora from now on" Ice giggled in his remarks.

Danielle lifted her head and slightly opened her eyes. "I heard that" she said weakly, still sleepy, but she tried her best to sit up and face her friends, eyes still half closed. "C'mon, Princess Aurora, drink up and eat some food" Ice said, totally calling her Aurora after the sleeping beauty.

Danielle sipped from the cold coffee that Matt bought; it jolted her up a little. "I'm not Princess Aurora, I'm Cinderella" she said.

"Yeah, and I'm Elsa" Ice said. But Matt disagreed "Nah, I'm Elsa," then he looked at Ice like he was studying her. "You're more of a Princess Fiona" he said and laughed. "Hey!" Ice threw a piece of nachos in his way. Which Matt just swatted away.

Danielle had to smile at the sight in front of her. She totally missed the three of them together. Lately, only she and Ice have been bonding because Matt's schedule hardly matches theirs.

"Anyway" Ice looked at her. "You should start eating. You lacked sleep already; you can't risk having an empty stomach" Ice said worriedly. "Totally girl. You'll die if you don't" Matt said while chewing nachos from Ice's plate. With that, Danielle ate too.

"What's your schedule today?" Matt asked her. Danielle looked up, trying to remember her schedule. "I have two classes after this. Then at 4:30 I have swimming practice until 6:30 PM. Then I'll head to the library to finish my assignments, and then at exactly seven in the evening, I'll meet up with Mrs. Lim in a nearby coffee shop. She wants to see the progress of our review" she said.

Mrs. Lim found out that Danielle and Haerin were not talking with each other. The professor was disappointed, reminding them that the competition wouldn't be done individually. They have to help each other, so they must review together and agree on the topics each of them will review, so the loads won't be heavy for them both.