Haunted

Xander dropped the bomb that we were going for dinner with Leven that night about five minutes after giving me the bracelet. That explained it. I guess it wasn’t so bad; Isabelle, Jackie Emerson, Dayo Okeniyi and Josh Hutcherson would be there too, aswell as Amandla Stenberg. And to say I was excited about meeting them was an understatement.

The two of us arrived at the restaurant at least ten minutes late, and I had to admit, I loved the fact that it had pissed Leven off. “About time,” she muttered, smiling through gritted teeth as she made a point of giving Xander a kiss.
“Sorry babe, Leven this is Danni, Danni this is Leven.” I reached out my hand but Leven just nodded and sat down. There was a spare seat at one end of the table, directly opposite Leven, and another right up the other end, next to Isabelle and opposite Dayo. Something told me this arrangement was not accidental. Hesitantly, I went and sat down. “So we finally get to meet the girl Xander’s told us so much about,” Dayo joked. Everyone introduced themselves and despite being glad to be getting so much attention, I wasn’t comfortable with Xander and Leven being left alone together at the other end of the table.

“So how was your day?” Isabelle asked knowingly, once everything had calmed down.
“It was good,” I smiled, biting my lip as I showed her the bracelet.
“Holy fuck, they cost like a hundred dollars!” Isabelle cried, grabbing my wrist.
“As much as I love it, I think he was just buttering me up cos of Leven though.”
“Oh yeah, sorry I told him you knew.”
“No, it’s okay. Was he mad?”
“God no. I think he was upset actually…that he hadn’t been around when you needed him. He feels terrible.”
“It’s not his fault.”
“Try telling him that,” Isabelle sighed, rolling her eyes.
“So Danni, how did you and Xander meet?” Dayo asked, interrupting my thoughts. I glanced nervously at Isabelle who, being the saviour she is, jumped to my rescue.
“Dayo, how about we talk about that later, huh? How was work?” He looked confused but nodded anyway, clearly used to this kind of thing.
“Apart from the fact that I could sleep for a year,” he laughed.
“I know the feeling,” I smiled. Isabelle and Dayo carried on talking, but I pretty much drowned out what they were saying, distracted by the sight of the guy I couldn’t stop thinking about, having a laugh and being happy with his beautiful, famous, talented girlfriend. I couldn’t have him and I never would. Who could blame him really? Fame, talent and beauty were three things I lacked so that ruled out all possibilities of anything happening between us.

The evening went on and despite what was going on at the other end of the table, I managed to have a pretty good time. There was Dayo: the sweet, caring one that had a laugh anyone in the restaurant could hear. Then there was Jackie: the happy, fun, friendly one whose smile never left her face. Josh: the funny, confident, talkative one who could easily be mistaken for a dwarf thanks to his height. Amandla: the sweet, kind, polite one that seemed wise beyond her years. And finally Leven: the blond, bitchy, stuck-up one that couldn’t keep her hands off Xander the whole evening. To top it off, she couldn’t resist smiling sweetly at me every time Xander leaned in for a kiss.

After we’d eaten, Dayo’s manager called and he had to go outside for a minute. Leven wasted no time in coming over to see me. “Hi, that’s a nice bracelet,” she smiled menacingly.
“Thanks,” I grinned, unable to stop myself from adding, “It was a present from Xander.”
“Oh,” she didn’t seem surprised, “So you two seem pretty close, huh?”
“Yeah, I haven’t known him long but he’s so nice and easy to get along with. How long have you two been together?”
“A couple of years now, I think he’s the one, you know?” Well, after what Xander had told me today, Leven was either extremely gullible and easy, or telling a lie, said purposely to upset me. I knew it was most probably the latter.
“Aww, well I’m happy for you both,” I lied.
“Oi, get outta my seat,” Dayo sung jokingly as he returned.
“Whatever,” she smiled, giving him a kiss on the cheek and going back to Xander. Don’t get me wrong, everyone was being so nice and I was having such a good time but right now, there was nothing more I wanted than to be with Xander.

It was gone half ten when we left the restaurant. Leven was not happy when she found out Xander was dropping me home so she demanded a lift herself, too jealous to leave us alone together. Sure I was crazy about Xander and wanted nothing more than for something to happen between us but I wasn’t a bitch. Leven clearly did not understand that I wouldn’t try anything as long as they were together. Besides, Isabelle was coming too so I couldn’t do anything even if I tried. So we went the journey home is complete awkward silence. I wanted nothing more than to be with Xander alone, even if Isabelle was still there, so I was hugely relieved when he dropped Leven home first.