Page 20 of Through My Window
“We do things for our friends,” Dani says with a shrug. “Don’t we, Gabo?”
He looks at her as if stunned. “Yes.”
“Great.” Dani’s gaze falls on me again. “Get your things, and I’ll wait for you in the parking lot. We have to go now.”
“But . . .” I protest feebly to no avail. A few minutes later, I jump into Dani’s car, clutching my small backpack. I can’t believe it. She busted me out.
“I’m supercool. I know,” she says.
“Gabriel? Really? I thought redheads weren’t your type.”
“Ed Sheeran changed my mind.”
“What did you do?”
“I promised to accept an invitation to go out.”
“You can’t go through life using your looks to get your way.”
“Of course I can.”
I snort. “Where are we going?”
“Insomnia, of course.”
My eyes widen in surprise. Insomnia is the most popular club in town, and Dani’s favorite place to go on Friday nights. I’ve never been there because you have to be twenty-one to get in. And I’m only eighteen, which Dani seems to have completely forgotten.
“I don’t know if you forgot but I’m eighteen. And, you don’t really expect me to go smelling like French fries and looking like this, do you?”
“One, I’m eighteen too. Two, you’ll change at my house.”
“So you can lend me one of those dresses where you can see right down to my soul? I’ll pass.”
Dani bursts out laughing. “You are so dramatic. It’s not a crime to show your knees, Raquel.”
“For your information, in some parts of the world it is.”
“We are not insome parts of the world.”
“Green,” I tell her when I see the traffic light turn green. Dani is easily distracted while driving.
“Relax, we only have two weeks of summer left, and you’ve done nothing but work.”
“Fine, but I won’t spend a penny.”
“That’s not a problem.”
“Of course, I forgot your ability to get what you want.”
Dani puts her sunglasses on top of her head and winks at me. “Oh yes. Now.” She parks one house away from hers. “Time to get beautiful.”
Once we get to her house, I watch her walk past the front door and go to her bedroom window. “Dani?”
“Oh, I forgot to tell you that my parents don’t know about my nights out, so we have to sneak in and out.”
This girl is incredible.
What feels like an eternity later but was actually only an hour, we arrive at Insomnia, and somehow we’re able to get in despite being underage. Dani lent me a tight, black dress that fits my body perfectly. Even though she’s more voluptuous than I am, the dress is molded to my silhouette, as if it had been mine to begin with. It doesn’t go all the way to my knees, landing about midthigh, but I feel like I can move around and still stay covered.
