XI

Danielle left Mr. Matthews' classroom without looking back, ignoring the familiar pull to rejoin her friends. William, Lilianna, Brooklyn—they could wait. She wasn't in the mood for their usual effortless banter, for the shallow conversations that came so easily.

Instead, her feet carried her somewhere else. Somewhere she shouldn't be going.

By the time she reached the hole, she already knew what she would find.

Sure enough, there they were—Riley and Maya, sitting in the same spot they had been trapped in yesterday. There hands on the railings looking up at the people.

Danielle stood at the edge, crossing her arms. "What is it with you two and this place?"

She knew why they were here, she was friends with the other senior trio.

Riley looked up first, her face lighting up as if Danielle showing up was the most natural thing in the world. "Danielle! Did you come to help us out?"

Maya, on the other hand, barely spared her a glance, still focused on whatever she was drawing. "Oh, look. Chiron's back."

Danielle groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose. "You have to stop calling me that."

Maya smirked. "Not a chance."

Riley, always the peacemaker, clasped her hands together. "You know, I think it's nice that you're checking in on us."

Danielle scoffed, leaning against the railing. "I'm not checking in. I just..." She hesitated, realizing she didn't actually have a reason for being here that didn't sound completely ridiculous. "I was just passing by."

Maya finally looked up from her notebook, raising an eyebrow. "Uh-huh. Sure. You just happened to be passing by the exact place we're. Again."

Danielle rolled her eyes. "Don't flatter yourself, Hart."

Maya smirked. "You keep showing up. I think that means you like us."

Danielle clicked her tongue, shaking her head. "Like is a strong word."

Riley grinned, clearly unfazed. "But you don't not like us!"

Danielle groaned. "Why am I even talking to you two?"

Maya grinned. "Because we're entertaining?"

Danielle huffed but didn't leave. Instead, she sat on the edge of the bench next to the railings., legs crossed at the ankles as she looked down at them. "You two are really this content sitting in a literal pit?"

Maya shrugged. "It's our spot now."

Riley nodded. "Yeah! We're embracing it."

Danielle shook her head, but there was something oddly amusing about the way they both seemed so... unbothered.

She should have left. Gone back to her friends. Gone back to her life.

Instead, she stayed.

"Your friends didn't show up, huh?" Danielle asked, leaning against the railing and peering down at the two girls still sitting in the hole.

Maya sighed dramatically "Nope. They abandoned us. Left us to rot down here."

Riley, ever the optimist, quickly shook her head. "They didn't abandon us, Maya. They just... haven't arrived yet."

Maya gave her a deadpan look. "Riles they are mad at us..."

Danielle smirked, tilting her head. "So, what I'm hearing is... you two have officially been ditched?"

Maya rolled her eyes. "Don't enjoy this too much, Chiron."

Danielle groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I swear, Hart—"

Maya cut her off with a smug grin. "You keep saying that, but here you are. Again."

Danielle ignored the way her stomach did a weird little flip at that. Instead, she shifted her weight against the railing, pretending to inspect her nails. "I just find it funny. Big group of best friends, yet you two are the only ones stuck down there. Again."

Riley let out a nervous laugh, tucking her hair behind her ear. "Well, maybe they just have... important things to do."

Maya scoffed. "Or maybe they figured out what I already knew—high school is just a bigger, shinier version of middle school, and nothing actually changes."

---

Danielle leaned against her Bugatti Chiron in the school parking lot, arms crossed as she waited. She wasn't entirely sure why she was waiting—just that she was.

And then she spotted her.

Maya was walking toward the parking lot, her usual confident stride carrying her forward. But she wasn't alone. Riley was right beside her, talking animatedly, gesturing with her hands as Maya hummed along, nodding absently.

Danielle exhaled through her nose, considering just getting in her car and leaving. But she'd already been seen, and there was something about the way Maya's gaze flickered toward her—quick, unreadable—that made her stay.

As the two girls approached, Danielle pushed off the car and raised an eyebrow. "Took you long enough, Hart."

Maya smirked. "Aw, were you waiting for me, Chiron?"

Danielle rolled her eyes. "Don't flatter yourself." She glanced between them, hands slipping into her jacket pockets. "You two need a ride?"

Riley perked up immediately. "Really? That would be amazing!"

Maya gave her best friend a look. "Riles."

Riley smiled sheepishly. "What? It's a long walk."

Danielle smirked. "Exactly. And I really don't feel like hearing about how tragic your commute is for the next twenty minutes." She reached for the car door. "Get in."

Maya hesitated for half a second before sighing and pulling the passenger door open. "Fine. But if you crash, I'm haunting you."

Danielle grinned. "You say that too much, I might just do it.."

Maya gasped, placing a hand over her chest. "Wow. The betrayal."

Danielle studied her for a second, noticing the way Maya's fingers tightened around her bracelet, her usual sarcastic smirk not reaching her eyes.

Danielle felt bad for the blonde. Everyone had their own horror stories, Danielle had heard about Mayas family.

Her friends weren't the quietest, at all. Danielle figured it was a fear of abandonment which was making her scared because her friends had left her and Riley.

"Listen, you guys will be okay. Your friends are just being stubborn, they need to learn to do this as a group."

Maya's fingers twitched slightly against her bracelet, the tension in her shoulders barely easing at Danielle's words. She let out a breath, rolling her eyes as if trying to brush it off. "Yeah, well, they're taking their sweet time figuring that out."

Danielle leaned against her car, arms crossed as she studied her. "They'll come around."

Maya huffed, shifting her weight. "And if they don't?"

Danielle tilted her head. "Then you and Matthews will be fine anyway."

Maya scoffed. "Right. Because we just thrive on being ditched."

Danielle let a smirk ghost over her lips. "You do like proving people wrong."

Maya narrowed her eyes but didn't argue. Instead, she sighed and ran a hand through her hair, muttering, "This isn't how high school was supposed to be."

Danielle exhaled through her nose. "Yeah, well, nothing ever is. You just roll with it."

Maya eyed her. "That what you do?"

Danielle shrugged. "I don't have much of a choice."

Maya studied her now, the sarcasm fading from her expression just a little. "Must be nice. Being able to pretend you don't care."

Danielle's jaw tightened slightly, but she kept her expression neutral. "You'd be surprised how much pretending people do, Hart."

For a second, neither of them said anything. The weight of the conversation hung between them, heavier than either of them probably intended. Then Danielle pushed off the car and reached for the driver's side door.

"Come on. Let's get you two home."

Maya hesitated, then nodded, finally letting go of her bracelet as she climbed into the passenger seat. While Riley got into the backseat again.

Danielle didn't say anything else as she started the engine, but she caught the way Maya stared out the window, lost in thought.

And for some reason, she didn't turn the music on like she usually did.

The silence in the car was different this time. Not awkward, not uncomfortable—just there. The engine hummed softly as Danielle pulled out of the school parking lot, the world outside passing in a blur of afternoon light and moving traffic.

Maya sat quietly in the passenger seat, her elbow resting on the door as she gazed out the window, her fingers idly twisting the bracelet on her wrist. Riley, for once, wasn't filling the silence with cheerful chatter. Instead, she sat in the backseat, watching both of them with an unreadable expression.

Danielle wasn't sure why she didn't turn the music on. Normally, she'd have something playing—something loud, something to drown out any lingering thoughts she didn't feel like dealing with. But today, she just drove.

She could feel Maya's mood like static in the air, something unresolved lingering between them. And maybe it wasn't her problem—maybe she could've just left Maya to figure it out on her own—but for some reason, she didn't.

At a red light, she glanced sideways at the blonde. "You good?"

Maya blinked, snapping out of whatever thoughts had been running through her head. She turned her head just slightly, her blue eyes flickering to Danielle before she exhaled. "Yeah. Just thinking."

Danielle arched a brow. "Dangerous."

That got a small smirk out of Maya. "Oh, absolutely." But the humor didn't quite reach her eyes.

The light turned green, and Danielle pressed on the gas, deciding to let it drop. If Maya wanted to talk, she would. If not... well, Danielle wasn't exactly the "heartfelt conversation" type anyway.

Riley shifted in the backseat. "For what it's worth," she said softly, "I think you were right earlier."

Maya turned slightly in her seat to look at her. "About what?"

Riley offered a small smile. "About our friends. About them figuring things out. They just need time."

Maya didn't answer right away. Instead, she looked forward again, her fingers lightly tapping against her knee. "Yeah," she muttered. "Time."

Danielle didn't say anything, just focused on the road ahead.

A few minutes later, she pulled up in front of Riley's apartment building.

"Home sweet home," Danielle announced, finally breaking the quiet.

Riley smiled. "Thanks for the ride, Danielle." She unbuckled her seatbelt and turned to Maya. "You okay, peaches?"

Maya gave a small nod. "Yeah. I'll see you tomorrow, Riles."

Riley hesitated for a second before nodding and climbing out of the car. As soon as she shut the door, Danielle pulled back onto the road, heading toward Maya's neighborhood.

It was quieter now with just the two of them, but for once, Danielle didn't mind.

Maya leaned her head back against the seat, exhaling. "You really don't have to keep doing this, you know."

Danielle smirked. "What, being a chauffeur? Yeah, well, I've already started, might as well commit."

Maya let out a breath of laughter. "Lucky me."

Danielle glanced at her out of the corner of her eye. "You are lucky, actually. Do you know how many people would kill for a ride in my car?"

Maya snorted. "Oh, sure. Because nothing says living the dream like being stuck in a car with you."

Danielle gasped dramatically. "The disrespect."

Maya smirked, but it faded quickly. She turned her head toward the window again, her fingers tightening around her bracelet once more.

Danielle noticed.

She didn't push, but when they finally pulled up in front of Maya's apartment building, she hesitated before unlocking the doors.

Maya reached for the handle, but then paused.

Maya gave her one last look before stepping out of the car, closing the door behind her.

Danielle waited until she was inside before driving off.

And for some reason, this time, she turned the music on.