The Girl I Hate...

CHAPTER 6

"Hello~? Heeelllllooo~?" I vaguely saw a hand waving in my face. All I could think about was the kiss Nala gave me. The scene was constantly replaying, and it left me in a daze all day. Daniel grabbed my shoulders and viciously shook me. He shouted in my ear, "HEY!"
I jumped and yelled back, "WHAT??!" Satisfied, he released me and sat in his hammock.
"Why're you in such a daze? Did something good happen?" Daniel nudged me with his elbow while uncontrollably grinning.
"Wha- what are you talking about, you idiot?" I avoided looking at him and mentally cursed at my blushing face. "Anyway, let's get going. The guys are probably waiting." I stood up, brushed off the dust on my clothes, and started walking towards the forest.
While walking a winding and complicated path out of the forest, I asked him, "Do I look 'delinquent' enough?" Daniel raised an eyebrow.
"What?"
"I deliberately wore my clothes like this to look like a delinquent." I answered with a shrug.
"Why would you do that? Going in normal clothes is okay."
"I don't want everyone to think that I went soft or anything." I eyed his blue blazer, white button-up collared shirt, red tie, black slacks, and red shoes. All of the buttons were done while the tie was pulled all the way up. The shirt was even tucked in.
He defiantly shouted, "This isn't soft! And it's for your birthday!!"
I scoffed and mumbled, "Well, at least it has black..." Daniel glared at my black button-up collared shirt, black jeans, and black boots. I had the sleeves rolled up to the elbows, the shirt-tails were untucked, and the top two buttons undone.
"Don't you think that it's TOO black?"
I shrugged with a smirk and answered, "If it's too much, then at least I don't look like you." His glare deepened, causing me to grin. "Anyway, where's the party being held?"
"At the iceskating rink!" I froze for a few seconds and furrowed my eyebrows.
"What the...? The iceskating rink?"
Daniel nodded and added, "The guys said that they wanted to see you skate. I dunno why but that's what they said." I clenched my fist.
"Do I really have to show them how violent I can be?" I managed out through my clenched teeth.
"What's the fuss? You can do any sport so at least you won't look like an idiot and fall a lot." Daniel patted my shoulder with a smile and pushed me roughly in the direction of my party's venue. I reluctantly complied, knowing he was right. He happily shoved me into the building, gave me the skates in my size, and yelled at me till I put them on.
"You are such a demon!" I groaned while shoving my feet into the bulky skates.
"Thank you!" He happily replied while putting his on. Then he got me on the rink and shoved me forward. I smoothly went forward and skillfully went halfway of the rink when I heard thirty voices ring out my nickname, "Scarlet King." I quickly stopped in my tracks and braced for the impact. In a matter of seconds, I was ruthlessly pushed against the wall as thirty bodies rammed into trying to get a "hug."
"Get off!" They all shifted away, some falling down since they weren't used to the skates yet. I rubbed my chin and felt slight scratches. I glared at each one intensely while flailing my arms. "Who told you guys to ram into me?! Huh?! I could have gotten hurt, you morons!!!" They all quickly pointed to Daniel who was deftly made his way to my side with a smirk.
"I thought you wanted a beautiful reuniting moment." I continued to glare at him when the thought hit me.
"Guys, why don't you do the same to Demon?" His eyes widened, and he slowly backed away. They turned to him with mischievous smiles and tackled him. Satisfied, I grinned and continued skating, while Daniel glared at me from below the bodies. When the gang realized that I was gone, they quickly got up, helped Daniel stand, and chased after me. I rapidly made a complete circle and got off before they could ram into me again. I walked into the "party room" they had reserved for me and sat down. They all rushed in and eagerly sat around me. Two forced Daniel to sit next to me though he was flashing them his "I'll break you in two if you make me" smile. I snickered and watched him sigh in disappointment.
I stared at all of them, feeling nostalgic. Each had a bright red streak in their hair, which was our group's trademark.
I turned to Daniel and asked, "Where are the other sixty?"
"I only invited the lieutenants. I mean, we'd have to go to the base camp with such a large group."
I slightly pouted, "It sucks that you have all of the contact numbers while I only have a few..." He gave me a wolfish grin.
"This is the only way I can keep track of them and keep them in line. I don't want my secret to go too far."
"... Out of the two of us, you really are the scariest..." He gave me a bright smile in reply.
"Oh yeah. We still have to do the bet." I nodded and motioned with the flick of my wrist for the guys to gather around. They huddled near us, listening intently.
"Demon and I have something ask you." I looked to Daniel slightly nervous.
"Which of us do you admire more?" He smiled as if he were an innocent little fawn. I glared at him and the guys as they were running around trying to get us take the question back.
"What...?" I glared that them even more harshly. "You're not going to answer...? Even when I asked you...??" They jumped and slightly cowered. They began to cower even more when Daniel gave them the Death smile.
"So? Which is it??" They discussed amongst themselves, trying to decide which of us would brutally beat them less. They were still talking it over when a latecomer waltzed in, oblivious to the tense air.
"Sorry! I was caught in traffic!! Did we open presents already?" He brightly smiled but slowly froze when he saw what was going on. In his hand was a medium-sized box wrapped in white and red striped paper. All of them shoved him to us and motioned for him to speak. He fumbled around and thrust the box into my hands.
"Scarlet King! Here!"
"Thanks."  My face softened up as I held it in my hands, grateful that he bothered. I quickly opened it though some grumbled that I didn't stick to the tradition of "cake first, presents last." I yelled, "Shut up!" Everyone hushed and I opened the box in pleasant silence.
I pulled out a picture in a black frame and gaped at the picture that could ruin me. This is never going to leave my room. It was of me and Daniel two years ago. Both of us had just finished a battle, and we did a victory pose. We both looked at the camera, and our arms were on the other's shoulders. We had slight scratches all over us, but we both brightly smiled while each holding bats. Our black jeans had multiple mud marks, and our shirts had a few too. I scoffed at our matching red hair. Daniel had on his baggy white T-shirt that had red splatters all over, looking like someone threw paint at him relentlessly. I had on a  loose black T-shirt that had a red muscled thumbs down on the front and on the back in huge red letters were "Get lost!" Tied around my waist was a black and red hooded jacket.
I smiled gently at the memories it brought up. Suddenly, a small shiny red box came flying at me, and I managed to dodge and catch the object. It had slightly scratched my cheek.
"Who threw tha-" Another one came flying, and I also caught it. "What the?! Demon! Quit it! What's wrong with you!!" He was pelting me with presents... Throwing them like you would with dodge balls... "You freaking moron!!! Stop!"
"No! You had the most disgusting expression on your face!!! I almost puked!" I caught one then ever-so-slowly smirked.
"Well, that's why I call you BARF..."
He roared, "I'll kill you!!!" and chased me around the room, trying to hit me though I managed to catch every single one.
"Quit throwing the gifts they got me! Have you no decency?!!!"
He stopped chasing me and snorted, "I'm an ex-delinquent with the nickname Crimson Demon. How am I supposed to have decency?" I quickly snatched the gifts from his hands and set the neatly on the table.
"Then I'll just have to beat it into you."
We both started wrestling when I heard a small whisper ask, "So why were they asking who was more popular???" We both stopped in mid-tumble and got up. We both looked at each other.
Daniel absently noted, "Oh yea. We never got our answer..."
We both plopped into chairs, and I demanded, "Answer." I impatiently tapped my finger against the table. We were getting too distracted.
While they were debating, Daniel playfully smiled at me and whispered, "Instead, of just a favor, why don't we wager that photo?" I raised my eyebrows. This could be the worst double-edged sword.
"Alright." I always did like a good competitive bet.