Mia suddenly burst into fits of laughter when I told her I had to babysit Daniel after school today. I knew Mia was being dramatic when she said afterwards, "your life is ruined" and "goodbye my dear friend, it was nice knowing you". But at the time, I legitimately felt like it was true.

"I can't believe Mr Halliday did that to you," Mia added. "It's like Mr Halliday is trying to play matchmaker."

I pursed my lips. "I'm glad to see my misery is entertaining you," I grumbled.

I observed the courtyard in front of me. It was going to take hours for Daniel to clean it all up.

When we left Mr Halliday's office, Daniel scowled at me for the rest of the day while I scowled at him right back. I didn't care if he terrified me. This was not how I wanted to get my first detention. This wasn't fair! And although I should be blaming Mr Halliday, I couldn't. I could only blame Daniel.

Mr Halliday, however, said Daniel could leave around four o'clock because he didn't want to make me suffer. He should've thought about that before making me attend Daniel's detention with him. One hour alone with Daniel! Did Mr Halliday hate me too?

It was beginning to feel like my bucket list was only creating problems rather than solutions. I was tempted to stop it, quit the Peer Support Club, and ignore Daniel for the remainder of the year. But I wasn't a quitter. Well, I didn't want to be. Daniel wasn't a good enough reason to stop doing something as important as this.

But, of course, if Daniel turned out to be a serial killer, then I'll definitely have a rock solid excuse to quit the club. I mean, my bucket list didn't say I had to join the peer support club. It could be any club. Or, I guess, I could just get a new buddy who didn't want to kill me.

"I have a feeling Daniel will make you do all the work," Mia noted.

I had the very same feeling. But I was also naïve, where a side of me didn't believe it. "No, he won't," I responded. If Daniel did ask me to clean the courtyard for him, the chances of me saying 'yes' was extremely high. "He doesn't seem to be the type of guy who'd make other people do his dirty work."

Mia snorted. "Sure, he is," she said, I think sarcastically.

The bell blared. Fantastic. Two more periods left and then my babysitting career would begin. But unfortunately, those two periods were chemistry and that meant, I'd be stuck in a room with Daniel... again.

I walked anxiously to Chemistry class, hoping—actually, begging to whoever was listening—that Daniel ditched today.

I knew it was pathetic to be afraid of him. But what made him scary was that I had absolutely no idea what he would do. He was unpredictable that it was difficult to figure him out. That wasn't saying given I sucked at reading people, but Daniel was ten times harder than the norm. At one point, he was laughing and joking around with his friends. Then the next minute, when he was with me, he either looked bored, or he wanted to incinerate me with his eyes. I couldn't tell whether he hated me or despised me. And now that he knew I was a Peer Support Leader, it only got worse.

I walked into class and Daniel was already at his seat. He was looking at the Bunsen Burner in front of him. But it was like he sensed my presence because the moment I walked in, he lifted his head towards me, and our eyes met. I immediately averted my gaze. I shuffled to my seat beside Kyle and inhaled and exhaled deeply.

"What did you do to Daniel?" Kyle asked suddenly.

"What? Why? Why do you think I did anything to Daniel?" I panicked.

"He's giving you the death stare, and he looks like he's ready to kill you."

I closed my eyes. "Please don't say that," I managed to say.

When I opened my eyes, Kyle was smiling amusedly. "Don't worry, I'll protect you," he whispered suggestively.

I blinked a couple of times, feeling my cheeks burn. Was Kyle like this to everyone? It felt like he was flirting with me. Why would he be flirting with me? I muttered an awkward thanks and looked at my Bunsen Burner.

Mr Hucks was in the mood for a lot of experiments lately. It was an awesome way to begin the year, but it would've been nice to know what he was planning to do with all these experiments. Were we going to get tested on this later? Maybe it'd be a surprise quiz. I should be paying more attention.

"Unfortunately," Mr Hucks began, "there aren't enough materials for each group, so I will have to ask that you pair up with another group for this next experiment."

I had a sickly feeling that Kyle was going to drag me to Daniel's table. It was only fate, no doubt. I mean, given my track record on luck, there was no way we weren't going to be partnered up with them. Regardless, I was searching the room, hoping I'd recognise someone else I was remotely close with. But of course, I was me and that meant I wasn't close enough with anyone here to approach and strike a conversation.

Unfortunately for me, Mr Hucks allowed us to pick our own partners. I practically jumped out of my seat ready to rush towards Lily. Someone whom I only spoke to once through Mia during gym last year. But before I could even take a step, I heard the chairs scrapped near me. When I looked up, Daniel was standing right across from me on our table.

To my absolute horror, he smiled. "Where are you going, road runner?" he asked kindly.

What in the world is happening?

I didn't know why I froze. I just stared at Daniel, his mouth stretched out into a smile, like he did earlier today when he was with Kyle. But instead of that smile being to anyone else, it was directed at me.

"To..." I was surprised to hear how low my voice came out, "find a group to partner with."

"Why would you do that?" he asked innocently.

This was the most Daniel had ever spoken to me.

"Don't worry, Ellie," Kyle intervened.

How could I not worry? I was going to die.

"I'll let you in on a secret though," Kyle said as he leaned closer to me. "The stuff everyone says about Daniel being a tough guy? It's all lies. Daniel is a bigger softie than any of the Care Bears."

Daniel scowled at Kyle, punching him on the shoulder. Kyle laughed as he rubbed his shoulder.

Dina, Daniel's lab partner, grinned largely at me. "Hey, Ellie! How are you?"

"Yeah, fantastic," I replied sarcastically. She didn't notice. "You?"

"Amazing! I just got a car from my grandma over the summer. I just know that senior year will be amazing!" she said over enthusiastically. "But what about you? I heard from Mia that you're doing something a little special this year."

What did Mia tell her?

"Oh really? What did she say?" Where did my sudden coolness come from?

"Oh, don't play stupid with me! I heard you joined the Peer Support Group. I'm so glad to hear that you're doing something other than just studying all day long," Dina answered.

Oh, thank God. Though there wasn't really anything wrong with people knowing I had a bucket list, I just didn't want them to know. And if Dina knew, although she was a great person, she couldn't keep a secret even if her life depended on it.

"Can we just start with the experiment already?" Daniel grumbled.

He looked really unhappy. I don't know how Kyle could say that Daniel was softer than a care bear. But me being me, who was too afraid to retort back unless it was Mia (even then, sometimes I couldn't), I go and get the materials.

~*~

Once we finished with the experiments, we all packed up silently. And when I say silently, I meant Kyle, Daniel and I packed silently while Dina told us a story about her time in the United States. When we finished, I sat there listening while Kyle and Daniel looked at her with a 'kill me now' expression.

The look of relief on both their faces were priceless when the bell rang. But I didn't waste any time. I jumped out of my seat, I grabbed my bag, ready to escape to my freedom. That was until Daniel grabbed me by my backpack before I could even dash through the door.

"We have detention, remember?"

You mean, you have detention.

Kyle was smiling amusedly before he said goodbye and left. How could he just leave me here alone with Grumpy?

I looked out the door, seeing the freedom fading into the distance. I sighed hopelessly. I stood in front of Daniel, patiently waiting for him to get ready to leave. But he was packing slowly. Slower than usual. When Dina said goodbye to me, three quarters of the class was gone. Mr Hucks was even gone.

"Why are you taking so long?" I whined.

Obviously, he was trying to waste as much time as possible. Duh. Or was he embarrassed?

"Sorry, didn't know you had somewhere else to be," Daniel answered sarcastically. I was intending to escape and hide for an hour before I go home.

"What if I just met up with you at the courtyard?" I suggested. I didn't even wait for an answer as I ran out the door once I was out of reaching distance. Daniel didn't even bother chasing after me, thankfully.

I went straight to my locker and put my books back inside and took out the books I needed for tonight. When I got to the courtyard, I felt the cool summer breeze against my skin. It was peaceful outside if you ignored the endless amount of empty chip packets, wrappers, cling wrap and even brown paper bags floating all over the place.

Daniel arrived shortly after. He approached me and then sat right beside me on the bench, leaving a metre space between us.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Get to work," I forced myself to say. Daniel didn't move. "Come on. Chop, chop," I clapped my hands.

Daniel huffed. He got up, pulled on the rubber gloves, and started picking up the rubbish. The whole time, however, I wondered what happened during chemistry class. He was all smiley, and weird during the first five minutes with me and then he went back to his normal self after Kyle said he was soft. I swear he was bipolar.

I was surprised that I actually preferred the irritated version of Daniel where he only spoke one or two words to me at a time more than his friendly version.

I shook my head. I needed to stop thinking about him. Why was I spending so much of my time worrying? I was being dramatic, and I needed to dial it down a notch. But I continued to wonder as I watched Daniel grabbing a handful of the rubbish and throwing them into the bin nearby. To distract myself, I pulled out my little book from my bag. I flicked through the pages until it stopped on my bucket list and I began reading it.

I only finished one item on the list, and it was already two weeks in. I guess that one item was a good start, but I had a lot more to go. I already knew the school year will fly by in a blink of an eye, so it'd be smarter if I get as much done now than later. It was final year. I had to concentrate on studies as well.

To be honest, I felt lost. I didn't know which one to do next and which one I could do later. I felt the laziness slowly consuming me, but I knew I needed to do something. I needed to get a job. I'd need money if I wanted to do all the things on this list. A name brand wasn't going to be cheap and dad's pocket money wasn't enough. Also, I needed to figure out when to go to Gold Coast. I needed to learn how to drive and that meant I needed someone to teach me, but dad was always busy.

Mia didn't mind the idea of going to Gold Coast with me, but she wasn't sure if her parents would let her go. Mia got terrible grades last year. She was reprimanded so much, she was too scared to even mention that I was planning to go to the Gold Coast in case her parents figured out that she wanted to go too. Her mum and dad knew that Mia was literally my only friend, so naturally, I'd ask her to go with me.

Suddenly, a shadow casted over my book.

"What's this?" I heard a masculine voice.

My book was snatched out my hands before I could even lift my eyes. Daniel stood in front of me, reading my book with squinted eyes. With a sudden adrenaline kick, I jumped up reaching for the book but of course, Daniel pulled it out of my reach as he continued reading. I was practically jumping around Daniel trying to snatch my book back, but Daniel was a couple of inches taller than me with arms much longer than mine.

"Give it back, Daniel!" I demanded.

He ignored me and continued. Does he not understand the concept of privacy? How would he feel if I came up to him and snatched a book out of his hand?

But instead of feeling angry, I felt utterly embarrassed.

I dodged his hands and reached for the list again, but he only walked away with my book.

"Daniel, please give it back," I asked nicely this time.

"Wow, I'm surprised you have nothing about falling in love in here," Daniel laughed. I tried to grab the book again, and this time, Daniel willingly handed it back to me with a mischievous glint in his eyes. Of all the people at school, why did it have to be Daniel Ross to read my bucket list?

"What? Are you kicking the bucket or something?" he asked.

I was tempted to say 'yes', hoping that it would make him feel guilty (if that was possible). But what if I was! But because his statement made me so angry, I only responded angrily.

"No, it's just something I wanted to do. Why? Is there anything wrong with that?"

He shook his head. "No, nothing wrong with it," he answered with a smirk. "But no wonder you're being so buddy buddies with Kyle. You're using him to get to Beth," Daniel accused.

"Say what now?"

"Hey, you should do one of the things on your list right now." Daniel already moved on. "Well, maybe it could be two things on that list."

What was he on about? I looked at my list, not really understanding what he was referring to until my eyes landed on the eighth item.

Number Eight: Make a deal you'd regret. Crap.

"What do you want?"

Daniel was suddenly closer now. Exactly one big step away. "Well." He looked so evil. "How about you get the Peer Support morons off my back? Considering that you're my buddy, they might listen to you." He rolled his eyes at the word 'buddy'. "And, in return," his smile only grew, "I'll help you finish that list of yours before graduation."

"Say what now?"

I wasn't expecting this. I tried to read his expression, trying to figure out if there was some sort of hidden message in there. But of course, I sucked at reading people so I couldn't trust anything he said.

"Why would you want to help me with the list?"

Daniel suddenly tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. It wasn't the very friendly kind that you'd see in movies that seemed sweet or romantic. It was the almost-threatening kind that made my heart drop to my stomach and burned in my stomach acid.

"Let's just say that I'm sick of the Peer Support cheerleaders following me around everywhere I go. So, if you agree, I guess, you'll be crossing two things off that list. Making a deal you'd great and making a difference to someone else's life."

"Who's life?"

"Obviously, mine. Having them off my back would be a huge relief," he said. He was awfully presumptuous. Not like that would count anyways.

"Let me get this straight." I cleared my throat, ready to outline the flaws of his deal. But I only resorted to one, "You want to help me with my thirty-five itemed bucket list, and in return, I get the peer support group off your back?"

That was the easiest deal I ever heard. I mean, sure, it would take some time to figure out how to convince Mr Halliday that Daniel was normal. But in comparison to what he'd have to do for me with what I'll do for him, it seemed disproportionate. Not like I was going to accept it anyways. Any unnecessary time with him sounded like torture.

"Hmm, you're right. I should ask for more," Daniel agreed. That was not the intention. "In addition to getting the Peer Support Group off my back, I want you to stop talking to Kyle."

"Why?" I frowned. That was random.

"I don't think you're good for Kyle," he responded blatantly.

"Why would I need to be good for Kyle?" I asked confused.

"You're using him to get to Beth. It's better if you use me instead."

"Who said? I'm not using anyone to get to Beth. I haven't even tried to start befriending Beth," I realised my voice was getting louder.

"Look, Kyle likes you. He's had a thing for you for a while but all you've done is ignore him throughout the years and now suddenly, you speak to him? Why? Because you want to be friends with one of his friends?"

"Okay, I see how this looked bad for me," I mumbled. "But I'm not using Kyle to get to Beth."

"Sure." He wasn't convinced. "Even if that's true, you're still no good for him. I don't know if the whole ignoring everyone is your style, or you're just socially ignorant, but whatever the reason may be, Kyle deserves better."

"Hey!" I was offended, to say the least. "Are you saying I'm not worth it?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying."

I wanted to explode. How could he say that about me?

"Yes, I am socially awkward, and I may have been unintentionally ignoring people, but that doesn't make me a bad person! When I'm in class, I'm in the zone. I'm a very worthy person."

"I don't like you." That shut me up. "If Kyle dates you, that means we have to hang out. If we have to hang out, that means I have to hang out with your friend, and I don't like her either."

"Her feelings are mutual," I mumbled incoherently.

"Well, do we have a deal?" he asked.

I scoffed. "Of course, we don't."

I felt pretty proud for sticking up for myself. I sat there, my arms crossed over my book and looked away from him.

"So, what? You like Kyle, then?"

"What? No," I answered, my cheeks burning.

"Then it should be easy."

"I'm his lab partner."

"Fine, you can speak to him. Just don't be friends with him, or anything more."

I wasn't sure why he was so against me and Kyle. I'm not saying I liked Kyle, but it was odd that this was one of his conditions. Kyle was nice and to be honest, probably the first people I had a genuinely interesting conversation with that wasn't with Mia, my dad or a teacher.

"If you don't accept the deal, then I guess I'll have to let Beth know about the list. I mean, as her friend, I'm obligated to—" before he could even finish, I covered his mouth with my hand.

"Are you threatening me right now?"

Daniel pushed my hand to the side. "That is a hundred percent what I am doing."

I couldn't believe this. I stared blankly at him, trying to comprehend what just happened. Saying 'no' was the smart thing to do. As if I could agree to this deal. Aside from the fact it was going to be hard to get the Peer Support Group off his back, I had to also stop being friends with Kyle. Was that even fair to Kyle? But if I said yes, I'd have help. But it'd be from Daniel and Daniel was the last person I'd want help from. I guess that was the point of Item Eight. A deal I'd regret.

"Fine, I'll accept the deal only if you stop being mean to me." I sounded so childish.

"Mean to you?" Now Daniel sounded offended.

"Oh, don't play dumb. You don't think I've noticed your glares, scowls and every other facial expression that keeps telling me that you hate every inch of me and my soul?"

Daniel chuckled. Not at what I said but as if he was laughing at the memory of me freaking out