�Constant Change� Chapter 6: Go Get It

�Hello beautiful,� Valerie said to herself as she applied mascara in the mirror of her bathroom.

Joel walked by and stopped at the door. He rolled his eyes. �Talking to yourself again?�

�Of course, Joel. Not everyone has the ego and self confidence of Justin Timberlake like you,� Valerie went on applying her makeup.

�And no one has the makeup bag of Britney Spears like you do,� Joel retorted.

�Oh ouch, my ego hurts,� Valerie said sarcastically.

Joel turned serious. �Hey, Val?�

�Yeah?� she replied not taking her eyes away from the mirror.

�I heard about what happened today with Ashley,� Joel said kicking the floor lightly with his shoe.

Valerie stopped. She felt tears well up in her eyes. �Yeah,� was all she could manage to say.

�I�m sorry, Val. You don�t deserve to be treated like that,� Joel said watching her carefully.

Valerie tried as hard as she could not to let her tears fall, but a few slipped down her cheek. Joel saw this and hugged her tightly. Valerie brushed him off.

�I�m fine, I just poked my eye with the mascara brush,� she said hastily wiping away the tears.

Joel knew she was lying but let her be. He also knew that this was hard on her. �I�m going to grab some dinner with my friends,� he said. �Mom and Dad will be home later if you want to wait and eat with them.�

�Can I come with you?� Valerie asked quietly.

�Of course,� Joel replied. �Be ready in fifteen minutes.�

�K,� Valerie said as Joel continued to walk down the hall.

She grabbed her makeup bag and went into her room shutting the door behind her. She picked up the phone and found Dan�s number. She dialed carefully even though her hands were shaking. She hung up before she reached the last number. She threw the phone on her bed and ran to Joel�s room.

Valerie knocked on his door. �Joel? Joel?�

�What Val?� he answered through the door.

�Can I invite a friend?� Valerie asked timidly.

�What kind of friend?� Joel answered opening the door.

�Um, Dan Miller?� Valerie asked raising her eyebrows.

�Dan Miller?� Joel laughed. �You want to invite the Dan Miller?�

�Yeah,� Valerie looked away. Was it so hard to believe that she and Dan could be friends?

�Have you ever even talked to the guy?� Joel asked.

�Yes, I have,� Valerie said matter of factly.

�Then call him and invite him to meet us at the pizza place down the street,� Joel said skeptically.

�Thanks Joel!� Valerie screeched hugging her brother.

She ran down the hall back to her room and picked up the phone. She felt her heart beat rapidly. She dialed his number, which she had already memorized. She counted the rings. One� two� then three, was he going to answer?

�Hello?� Valerie heard a voice answer. She immediately knew that it belonged to Dan.

�Hi, is this Dan?� she tried not to sound overly excited.

�Yeah it is. Is this Valerie?� Dan asked her.

�Yep,� Valerie replied forgetting why she had called. �Um��

�Hey Valerie,� Dan said warmly making her hands sweat.

She brushed her hands off on her jeans and adjusted the phone on her shoulder. �Dan?� she asked him innocently.

�Yeah,� he replied.

�You wanna get a pizza with my brother and me and some of his friends?� Valerie bit her lip hoping he would accept her invitation.

Dan was silent for a few moments as if thinking it over. Valerie chewed on a fingernail nervously. Then finally, Dan spoke.

�Sure. I�d love to,� he said to her.

Valerie let out a sigh. She turned bright red when she realized that he had heard her sigh of relief. She turned even brighter red when she realized she was blushing. Then she relaxed, just a little, when she realized that he couldn�t see her.

�Okay. Cool,� she played it off. �Can you meet us at Pizza Hut in about twenty minutes?�

�Of course. I�ll see you then,� Dan smiled into the phone.

They said their goodbyes and hung up. Valerie�s heart was beating rapidly. She jumped off her bed when she realized she needed to pick out a killer outfit. She tore through her closet searching for just the right thing. Finally she decided on a pair of low-rise jeans and a tight long sleeved blue tee. She touched up her makeup and grabbed her purse meeting Joel at the front door.

�Whoa! Who hit you with the pretty stick?� he asked. (A/N: �Gilmore Girls� rules!)

�Joel,� Valerie rolled her eyes. �Let�s go. Dan�s going to meet us there.�

�You mean Dan Miller is really going to come?� Joel asked her.

�Of course. Why wouldn�t he?� Valerie asked exasperated.

Dan Miller was the big guy on campus. Every girl had a crush on him. He was the star of all the teams. Football, basketball, and baseball were the school�s pride sports, all because of Dan. He was super popular and the teachers adored him. He walked around school with a huge smile on his face. He loved the attention. Of course, all the attention tended to go to his head at times. He was known to have a huge ego and not care about other people�s feelings.

�Do I even have to explain?� Joel answered his sister. (A/N: Nope, because I just did!)

�Let�s go,� Valerie said as she ushered him out the door.

Joel and Valerie got in Joel�s red Jeep Cherokee and drove to the pizza place. When they entered they heard Joel�s friends nosily discussing something in the corner booth. Joel went right over to them as Valerie scanned the restaurant for Dan�s face.

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