I SWEAR (continued)
Page 2

Chapter 4

"Danny? Hey this is Aleyna," I said into the phone.

"Hey baby! Whats up?" Dan greeted me cheefully.

"I’m next door right now and Maria and I are moving in, do you wanna come over?" I asked.

"Sure! I’ll be over there in minute honey!" Dan answered.

A few minutes later, I was grabbing some boxes out of the back seat of the Wrangler when two hands on my shoulders surprised me, "Aaah!" I cried, dropping a box of books onto the driveway. I turned around and Danny’s friendly smile was staring back at me. "Danny! You scared me!" I scolded, catching my breath.

"Aww, I’m sorry sweetie!" Dan grinned mischievously. It was hard to stay mad at him for long, his smile always got me.

"Ok, well I’ll only forgive you under one condition," I said playfully, "you have to give me a piggy back ride!" I cried. Before Danny could answer I hopped on his back and threw my arms around his neck.

Dan laughed heartily, "Aww, c’mon Leyna, I haven’t done this since…" he trailed off.

"Since I moved away?" I guessed, leaning to the side to look Danny in the eye.

"Yup, exactly!" Dan agreed, "I had forgotten how much you liked it!"

"Well I still am the piggy back queen," I giggled, "now take me inside!" I ordered, pointing to the front door, "I wanna show you the house!"

Once we were inside, I hopped off Danny’s back. "C’mon, you’ve gotta see this place!" I said excitedly. I grabbed Danny’s hand and led him around the house, showing him all the rooms. "This is the kitchen, the living room……hey look there’s Maria! Danny, I’d like you to meet Maria. Maria, this is Danny," I introduced my friends.

"Nice to meet you," Danny said, shaking her hand politely. Before Maria and Danny could talk for long I grabbed his hand again and dragged him upstairs, "C’mon, you haven’t seen the best part yet!" I squealed excitedly. I opened the door to my bedroom and pulled Danny inside.

"Wow, this is amazing!" Dan breathed. The ceiling of the room was slanted upwards and a huge sky-light in the center of the ceiling illuminated up the room. One whole wall was consumed by an enormous bay window, and a cozy alcove housed a plush window seat overlooking the ocean.

"Isn’t it beautiful?" I gushed, "and it’ll look even better as soon as I have all these boxes unpacked," I added, pointing to the cardboard boxes that littered the floor and the bed.

Danny and I spent the next hour carrying boxes from the cars into the house. It was hard to believe how much stuff Maria and I had! We finally finished getting the boxes in the house, and so Danny and I decided to unpack my room and set everything up.

"Aww, look at this!" I said, pulling a picture frame out of the box. Danny leaned over my shoulder to see the picture, a snapshot of Danny and I after a high-school basketball game. "look at you Danny! I was so proud of you that year, the only freshman on varsity!"

"Well I never could have done it without you there cheering me on at every game!" Danny said, putting his arm around my waist, "you were the cutest cheerleader out there!"

I blushed and inside I felt my heart skip a beat. "What about this picture?" Dan grabbed another frame out of the box. I looked at the photo and immediately recognized it, it was Danny and I at my Sweet Sixteen party. I remembered that night all too well. That was the night Danny and I shared our first kiss, on my front porch after the party. It was also the night we both realized we had feelings for each other. But nothing more ever happened between us, I moved away a week later and we never had a chance to pursue the relationship.

"Aleyna?" Dan interrupted my flashback, "are you ok babe?" Dan asked, concerned.

"Yeah, I’m fine, sorry about that," I said, realizing I had been daydreaming. I flashed Danny a quick fake smile and continued unpacking. By the look in his eyes, I could tell that Dan had been thinking about our kiss too. There was an awkward silence as we both considered our feelings for one another.

"Hey," Dan broke the silence, "whats this?" he pulled an old, well-loved teddy bear out of the box. "Oh my gosh, this isn’t Mr. Cuddles is it? You used to carry him around everywhere! I can’t believe you still have this thing!"

"Mr. Cuddles is special, of course I still have him!" I said defensively. "Now give it to me!" I grabbed for the teddy bear.

"Not so fast!" Dan teased. He held Mr. Cuddles up to his ear, "whats that Mr. Cuddles? You don’t love Aleyna anymore? You love me? You want to come home with me and sleep in my bed?" he said in a surprised voice.

"Daaan! Mr. Cuddles did NOT say that!" I whined. I reached for the bear once again but Dan held it over his head where I couldn’t reach it. "Give him to me!" I ordered.

"Its not gonna work that easily!" Dan grinned mischievously, "you gotta come get him!"

"Fine I will!" I chased Dan around the room, encircling the bed. I finally caught up with him and grabbed his waist, tackling him, and we both fell to the ground. We lay there for a few moments, my body pressed on top of Dan’s and our faces almost touching. Our eyes were locked and I could feel Dan’s heart beating rapidly against my chest. As if it was in slow motion, I felt Dan lean in towards me for a kiss, and our lips nearly met when…

"Aleyna?!?" a sudden voice startled me and I jumped up off of Dan. Maria walked into the room, "do you know where my CD player is?"

"Umm….yeah I think its in the box in the corner," I pointed out. Maria grabbed the box and left the room, leaving Dan and I standing in an awkward silence, unsure of what to do next.

"Well hey," Dan broke the silence, "its almost 2 and really gotta get to rehearsal. I’ll be home around 8, so if you need any more help, just give me a call."

"Allright, great. And thanks for all your help today, I really appreciate it." I said sincerely.

I let Dan out the front door and watched him walk away across the lawn, wishing I could understand what my heart was feeling.

******************************************************************************

Chapter 5

 

I slept in the next morning, enjoying my spacious, private bedroom as compared to the cramped, stuffy dorm room I had shared with Maria for the past few months. I rolled out of bed at 11-o-clock and went downstairs in my pajamas to eat breakfast.

"Good morning sleepyhead!" Maria chirped. "I made your favorite breakfast!" She set half a grapefruit and a cup of coffee down on the table in front of me.

"Wow Maria, you’re such a great chef!" I teased as I dug into the grapefruit. Even though it wasn’t exactly a home cooked meal, it was comforting to have a friend who knew everything about me, right down to what I wanted for breakfast.

Maria sat down across from me at the table. "Doesn’t it feel weird living all on our own here? I feel so….grown up." Maria mused.

"Yeah," I agreed, "and the house is amazing. I can’t thank your parents enough for letting us stay in their place for the summer," I said happily.

"Its no biggie," Maria grinned, "they’re not using it so we might as well take advantage of it!"

Just then the doorbell rang. "I’ll get it!" I called, jumping up from the table and racing towards the door, excited to have a visitor. I flung the door open. "Danny!" I exclaimed, surprised to see him there.

"Good morning babe!" he said enthusiastically. He leaned in and gave me a quick peck on the cheek. Dan pulled a large bouquet of flowers out from behind his back and handed them to me. "These are for you, just a little house warming gift from your big bro!"

"Aww Danny, how sweet! They’re beautiful! You know white lilies are my favorite! Thank you so much!"

"Anything for you Leyna," Dan winked playfully at me.

"Well hey, why don’t you come in for a while and have coffee or something?" I offered.

"Wish I could but I gotta jet, photo shoot." Dan explained. "But hey, the guys and I are having a party at our house tonight, why don’t you and Maria come?"

"Well….I don’t know, I’ll have to see if I can pencil you in…" I teased.

"C’mon, you gotta come! It won’t be any fun without you there!" Dan insisted, smiling at me with his eyes.

"Okay, okay. You got me!" I grinned at him.

"So I’ll see you around 8 then?" Dan asked.

"You bet!" I thanked him for the flowers again and then said goodbye.

"Look what Danny brought over!" I cried excitedly as I walked back into the kitchen. I set the flowers in a glass vase on the counter.

"Wow, that was so thoughtful of him!" Maria said, impressed. "Dan seems like a really sweet guy."

"Yeah, he is." I sighed dreamily as I sat back down at the table and rested my chin in my hand.

I felt Maria’s eyes studying me curiously, "wait a sec, you don’t have a crush on Dan, do you?" Maria asked, as if it had just occurred to her.

"No! Of course not!" I said defensively, "Dan and I are just friends," I insisted, trying to convince myself that it was the truth.

"Don’t pull that one with me Aleyna!" Maria giggled. "I know you too well! You like him, I can see it in your eyes."

"Noooo, so not true!" I insisted. Maria just rolled her eyes at me.

Inside I knew she was right, I did still have feelings for Dan. But I wasn’t ready to admit it, not yet. My heart was still broken from my relationship with Jim, and I was afraid of being hurt again.

"Well hey, Dan invited us to a party tonight, do you wanna go?" I changed the subject.

"He has hot friends, right?" Maria asked jokingly.

I giggled, "well I haven’t met them yet but the four other guys from O-Town are gonna be there, and I’m sure they’re cuties!"

"Ok, well then count me in!" Maria exclaimed. We high-fived each other and started talking about what we should wear to the party.

****************************************************************************

Chapter 6

 

That evening, Maria and I stood at the back gate of the O-Town boy’s house, ready to walk into the party.

"Are you sure I look ok?" I asked her nervously.

"Aleyna, you look fine! What are you so worried about?" Maria said.

I glanced down at my black capris and red halter top. I knew I looked great, but inside I still had butterflies in my stomach. "Why am I so nervous?" I thought to myself, "its just Danny, I shouldn’t be nervous around him, he’s like a big brother to me."

I took a deep breath and opened the gate. Maria and I stepped into the big backyard. There was a huge three story deck overlooking the beach, and there were tons of people on it, talking and laughing. Tiki torches lit up the beach area, where people were hanging out and dancing. Music blared from speakers set up all around the backyard and a huge bonfire on the sand lit up the night sky.

I saw the outline of a guy on the deck, waving excitedly to us.

"I think thats Danny," I said, pointing to the guy on the deck, "lets go say hi." Maria and I walked up the steps onto the deck. Dan walked over to meet us.

"Aleyna, Maria, I’m so glad you girls could come!" He hugged us both and once, "C’mon, I want you to meet my friends." Dan led us to a corner of the deck where four guys were standing.

"This is Aleyna and Maria," he said, pointing at us, "and these guys are Erik, Ashley, Trevor, and Jacob." Danny introduced us.

"Nice to finally meet you, Danny has told me a lot about you guys." I said, shaking hands with the boys.

"Well Dan has told us a lot about you too!" Trev said. Dan looked embarrassed and poked him in the ribs.

"I hope he’s told you all good things!" I grinned mischieveoulsy.

"Oh believe us, he has only good things to say about you!" Erik insisted.

"Yeah, this guy talks about you all the time, you should hear him," Jacob commented, pointing at Dan. I noticed Dan blushing.

I slid my hand into Danny’s, "well he’s told me a lot of good things about you guys too. He says you’re all very talented singers and dancers…"

Ash interrupted me, "well from what I hear you’re not too bad of a dancer yourself."

"Well…." I said uncomfortably, "I guess I’m ok"

"Leyna!" Dan cried, "don’t be modest! You’re an amazing dancer!" He grinned down at me, and I felt myself blushing. He turned to the rest of the group, "She’s an amazing dancer," he insisted.

We all talked for a while, and all the guys were really friendly. I noticed that Ashley seemed to be checking out Maria, he wouldn’t take his eyes off of her!

After a while Dan leaned down and whispered gently in my ear, "do you wanna take a walk?"

I nodded, "sure I’d love to." I whispered back. Dan excused us from the group. He took my hand and we walked off together down the beach. The moonlight danced across the ocean and cast a warm glow across Danny’s face. He led me down to the shoreline and I stood in front of Danny, my back pressed up against his chest and his strong arms wrapped around my shoulders. The cool water gently lapped up against our ankles.

"Your friends seem really nice Danny. They’re all so friendly and funny. And Ashley seems to really like Maria, did you get that impression too?" I didn’t give him a chance to answer, "well anyway, thanks for inviting us to the party, I’m having a lot of fun and…"

"Shhhh….." Danny interruped me. He put his finger to my lips.

"Whats that for?" I asked, turning around to face Danny.

"I just want to enjoy this moment," Dan explained soothingly. He put his hands around my waist and drew me closer to him. "You look so beautiful tonight Leyna, you know that?"

I looked down, embarassed, but I felt my heart flutter in my chest. "You don’t look too bad yourself" I grinned mischievously at him.

We stood quietly, listening to the sound of the ocean crashing up against the shore. We could still faintly hear the music blaring from the party. The song changed and "Truly, Madly, Deeply" by Savage Garden came on.

Dan gazed into my eyes and I knew what he was thinking. This was the first song Danny and I had ever danced to together, in a way it was our song. We smiled knowingly at each other. "May I have this dance?" Dan asked romantically, lifting my hand up in his and kissing it.

I grinned at him, "of course." Dan put his hands on my waist and I placed my arms around his shoulders, pressing my body up against his. We danced there in the moonlight, the water gently caressing our feet. I rested my head on Dan’s strong shoulder and closed my eyes, taking in the feeling of the moment. I breathed in the manly smell of Danny’s aftershave and felt the warmth of his body against mine.

"Leyna?" Dan whispered softly.

I lifted my head from Dan’s shoulder to look him in the eyes. He ran his finger gently across my lips, and I felt my heart melt at his touch. Dan gazed into my eyes and leaned in towards me for a kiss…..

"Riiiinnnnggg!" A shrill ringing sound interrupted our moment. "Not again!" I thought to myself, "are we ever gonna kiss?" Dan pulled away from me and reached into his pocket.

"My phone," he explained apologetically, holding it up. He turned it off and put his arms around my waist again, but the moment had already been ruined. Our song was over and "Who Let the Dogs Out" was blaring, not exactly romantic music! Dan shot me an awkward fake smile. "Do you wanna just go back to the party?" he asked.

"Yeah," I agreed, relieved. I realized that if we tried to re-create the moment, it would just be awkward and forced. Dan took my hand and we walked up the beach to the party.

"Wow, looks like they’re getting along well!" I commented, pointing over to the bonfire. Maria was sitting behind Ashley and giving him a back massage, which he seemed to be enjoying very much.

Dan laughed, "well one things for sure, those two aren’t shy!"

"C’mon! Lets go dance!" I said playfully. Dan and I went over to the crowd and danced for the rest of the night. Dan kept doing goofy moves to make me laugh, like "the hammer" and "the running man." I had an amazing time with him, dancing and laughing, and I wished the night could have lasted forever.

******************************************************************************

Chapter 7

The following afternoon, Maria and I were lounging outside on our back porch, trying to get tan and talking about, what else, boys!

"So how’d it go with you and Ashley last night?" I asked as I flipped over onto my stomach so my back would get tan. "Did Ash get any sweet sweet lovin’ from you?" I teased.

"No way!" Maria insisted, "I gave him a massage, thats it! But what happened with you and Dan? Don’t think I didn’t catch you two sneaking off together!"

"Nothing happened, we’re just friends, remember?" I lied to myself and to Maria, "and plus, I’m not ready for another relationship right now" I said firmly.

"Okay, whatever you say Leyna. You two just seem awfully close for friends, thats all" Maria said.

Just then the phone ran. "I’ll get it!" I volunteered, eager to get off the subject of my relationship with Dan. I hopped off my lawn chair and grabbed the cordless phone off the patio table.

"Hello?"

"Aleyna? Its Dan."

"Hey baby! Whats up?" I asked

"Listen, I’ve got a favor to ask you. One of our dancers got sick and she’s not going to be able to perform in the show tomorrow down in Tampa. We need someone to replace her and you are the first person I thought of, can you do it?" Dan asked.

"Wow," I said, speechless, "I’d love to Dan, but do you really think I can learn all the dance moves by tomorrow?"

"I’ve seen you dance Aleyna, you’re the best dancer I know. I’m sure you can do it," Dan assured me, "we’ve got rehearsal in an hour, we’ll pick you up on the way there."

"Okay then, I’ll see you soon!" I said enthusiastically.

I hung up the phone. "Oh my gosh Maria, you won’t believe what just happened! Dan asked me to fill in for one of their dancers! I’m gonna be in their show tomorrow!" I exclaimed.

The guys’ van picked me up and took us all to the rehearsal studio. I felt nervous and excited, but the guys joked around with me and eased my anxiety. When we arrived at the studio, I followed the guys inside to a large, mirrored room. Dan introduced me to the four other dancers that would be in the show with me.

"Aleyna, this is Daniela, Jodi, Kylie, and Vanessa." Dan said, pointing to the girls. The flashed friendly smiles at me.

"C’mon, we’ll show you the dances while the guys do their vocal practice," Jodi said, grabbing my wrist and leading me to another room.

The girls spent the next two hours teaching me the dances. We finally took a short water break.

"Wow Aleyna, I’m impressed! You’re picking up the dances really quickly!" Vanessa commented.

"Yeah, you’re a great dancer!" Kylie added.

I blushed and thanked the girls for their compliments. I was relieved to have learned the dances so quickly, and all the girls were being really friendly and helpful.

After our break, we joined the guys in the main rehearsal room to practice the dances together. We worked hard, repeating the routines over and over while the choreographer criticized our every move. After several hours of dancing, rehearsal finally ended. It was late by then, and everyone began gathering up their stuff to leave.

"You did great today Leyna, I’m so proud of you." Dan said warmly, putting his arm around my shoulders, "you’re gonna be great in the show tomorrow."

"Yeah, I guess." I shrugged my shoulders.

"What’s wrong baby?" Danny asked me, concerned.

"Its just, I still don’t feel confident with some of the choreography." I admitted.

"Well hey, do you wanna stay here with me and practice some more?" Dan offered.

"Could we? I think it would make me feel a lot better." I said.

Dan let the other guys know we were staying to practice, "go ahead home," he instructed them, "we can walk home when we finish, its not that far."

Everyone but Dan and I left the studio. We stood together on the empty dance floor, our images reflected in the large wall of mirrors facing us. "Lets start from the beginning of Liquid Dreams," Dan suggested, turning on the CD player. The familiar song echoed from the walls of the studio.

"1 and 2 and 3…" Dan counted out loud for me. Our bodies moved in sync to the music. I stopped the CD halfway through the song.

"This is the part I’m having trouble with," I explained. I demonstrated the move for Dan. "It just doesn’t look right when I do it." I sighed, exasperated.

"Here," Dan put his hands on my waist, "try moving more like this," he twisted my body gently to the side. "Try it."

I attempted the choreography again the way Dan had shown me.

"Perfect!" Dan applauded me.

Dan spent the next hour helping me perfect the dances until I was confident that I was ready for the show tomorrow.

"Are you ready to go?" Dan asked, grabbing my gym bag for me.

"Yup, lets hit the road." I said enthusiastically.

GO TO NEXT PAGE
Back to previous page
Back To Fan Fic Main Page