Love Or Hate

Chapter 23

The next day, Daniela received a text from Louis to meet her at the school. Her mom decided to take her this time. "So what does this Louis guy look like Daniela?" Her mother asked as she made a turn. Daniela thought for a moment. "Well, he has hair, a face and a body." She said as she nodded her head. Her mom stopped at a red light and looked at Daniela, "He must be the spitting image of your brother, and every single boy in the world." Daniela raised an eyebrow. "Ew," Daniela was disgusted of the thought,  "Louis has different hair, face and body than Drake." She laughed. Her mom sighed as they reached the school. "What time are you planning to be done?" Her mom asked. Daniela shrugged, "I don't know. I'll text you, okay?" Daniela waved her phone in the air. She exited the car and closed the door. Her mom sighed again, "Alright." And she drove off.
Daniela looked around the front of the school. She didn't see anyone. He should be here, shouldn't he? Daniela wondered. She sat on the bench next to the school's entrance and checked her new messages on her phone.
While Daniela sat on the bench, someone creeped up from behind her and quickly covered her eyes. "Whatcha lookin' at?" Startled, Daniela dropped her phone on the ground. "Oh," the guy said as he uncovered Daniela's eyes, "let me get that for you." He walked in front of her and bent over to pick her phone. Daniela stared at the guy. "Louis? What are you doing?" She asked. Louis picked up the phone and handed it to her. "Just handing over your phone," He smiled. Daniela tucked her phone in her pocket. She stood up, "No I meant startling me like that." Louis bit his lip, "Oh. I was trying to surprise you but you dropped your phone. Sorry." Daniela smiled, "It’s alright, you didn't mean to." "That's good. So are you ready for our date?" Louis grinned. Daniela blushed, "Yeah."
Louis took Daniela's hand and ran towards the school's large field. "Um, Louis, where are we going?" Daniela asked, trying not to be dragged by him. "I'll tell you when we get there." Louis replied and kept on running.
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Soon they made it to the end of the field. They faced the forest which ended the school's property. Louis let go of Daniela's hand and entered the forest. "Wait Louis, where are you going?" Daniela quickly entered the forest after him. She found a small, narrow path when she entered. Daniela followed the pathway. She looked around her. Squirrels ran up trees and birds flew away from the bushes and branches of the trees. Poison ivy and moss covered the bark of every tree. Soon Daniela saw Louis at the end of the path waving his hands in the air. Daniela ran towards him.
"Glad you made it." Louis smiled. "This is where I wanted to take you for our date." Louis held out his hand and Daniela placed her hand on his. He pushed away some branches and lead her through it.
Daniela looked around in amazement. In the small area, was an old park. A tall, red, rusty slide stood out in front of her. Behind it were two old swings which moved back and forth as the wind blew by. The monkey bars were painted green, but all you could really see was the metal as the paint chipped away slowly. "Cool isn't it? I was hanging out with Frank and Aaron one day and we decide to enter this forest and we found the small path. Then Frank when through the bushes and discovered this." Louis told her. "We hung around here but then I found more." "More?" Daniela asked. "Yup more." Louis nodded. "Follow me." Louis walked through another part of the area. Daniela followed behind him.
Daniela's eyes widened, "Oh my gosh! A merry-go-round!" She said excitedly. "Merry-go-rounds are my favorite!" Daniela ran over to the merry-go-round. She quickly jumped on to it and held on to one of the bars. Daniela closed her eyes shut and smiled brightly, "Spin me!" Louis started to laugh. Daniela opened her eyes. "Why are you laughing?" "Haha, I'm sorry, I just didn't know that you loved merry-go-rounds that much." Louis managed to say. Daniela blushed in embarrassment. "Haha but anyways, I'll spin you." Louis walked over and spun her. Daniela held on tight.
Her fingers slowly started to loosen her grip and her body started to move to the edge. Daniela opened one eye and noticed that she was close to falling off. "Okay, Louis, stop spinning." Daniela told him. Louis moved back and watched as Daniela clutched tightly to the merry-go-round. It soon stopped and Daniela wobbled off. "Dani, need any help?" Louis asked. "I'm so dizzy." Daniela wobbled around. She tried to walk towards Louis but she tripped over a small rock. "Ah!" Daniela said as she fell forward. Louis ran to catch her.
Daniela fell into Louis arms. "Are you alright?" Louis asked. Daniela's body was pressed against Louis'. Daniela blushed hard. "Yeah. I still can't see well though." Daniela replied. Louis smiled, "That's -" Crack. Louis turned his head and looked towards the park. "Frank?" Frank quickly stopped walking and turned over to Louis and Daniela. "Hi guys." Frank greeted awkwardly. Daniela tried to focus her eyes towards Frank's figure. Soon she saw him clearly. Daniela and Louis then looked at each other and quickly let go.
"Uh Frank. Hey." Daniela greeted back. Frank waved to her. Daniela looked at Louis. He was blushing shyly. "Um." Daniela looked back at Frank. She ran to him and they walked together towards Louis. "So what brings you here Frank?" Daniela smiled. Frank thought for a moment, "Well I was walking by here when I heard some noise from here so I decided to check it out. Then I saw you two, um together, so I was about to leave quietly but, yeah." "Oh okay, well lets sit down." Daniela suggested. "Sure." Frank replied.
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Louis, Frank, and Daniela sat on a log near the small park. They sat in silence. Then Frank leaned over to Daniela and whispered, "Are you on your date with Louis right now?" Daniela whispered back, "Yup." Louis sighed. "Well." Louis stood up. "What should we do?" Daniela shrugged, "You wanna go on the merry-go-round?" "Why not." Louis smiled. He jumped up and stood on the middle of the merry-go-round. "I'll go too." Frank did the same as Louis. Daniela's eyes widened. "You both are going to stand up during it?" "Of course." Louis smirked. "Isn't that dangerous?" Daniela asked, concerned. "When was there a time when we did something not dangerous together?" Frank asked. "Alright." Daniela sighed. I doubt they'll make it through without an injury, Daniela thought. "I'll try my best to spin you guys." She grabbed onto a handle and spun it her hardest.
Frank and Louis wobbled as they tried to keep their balance. Daniela spun it again. "You two doin' good?" She asked. Frank nodded his head, "Yeah -" "Don't worry," Louis finished Frank's sentence. "Want me to keep spinning?" Daniela asked. "Sure," Louis made a surfing stance. "What're you doing?" Frank asked as he wobbled back. "Trying to keep my balance, what else?" Louis concentrated on not falling, "I think you should -" Frank fell back and on to the ground. Daniela stopped spinning and ran over to Frank.  " . . . do it too," Louis sat down as the merry-go-round slowed down. "Oh my gosh Frank are you okay?" Daniela said frantically. Louis laughed, "Yeah you fell pretty hard." Frank looked up at Louis then at Daniela. "Yeah I'm fine, it could've been worse," Frank hopped back up and brushed himself off, "But that was fun, lets do it again." "Yeah!" Louis stood back up. "N-no, h-how about we do something else." Daniela shook her head. "Okay what do you wanna do?" Frank asked. "Um how about the swings?" Daniela suggested. Louis and Frank looked at each other and shrugged. They walked with Daniela to the swing sets. Daniela and Frank swung on the swing sets as Louis walked over to the monkey bars. Frank swung back and forth as he checked his phone. He then tucked it in his pocket. "So how was your date yesterday with Felix?" He asked. "It was fun. I had a great time." Daniela replied. "That's good." Frank nodded.
"Where did he take you?"
"Water park."
"Oh."
"Yeah."
Daniela looked over at Louis. Louis hung on to the monkey bars. He lifted himself up and climbed to the top of them. He sat down and looked back at Daniela. "Sorry for interrupting your date with him." "Huh?" Daniela looked back at Frank. "I didn't mean to interrupt. I know you mean a lot to him. I know how it feels to have someone that means so much to you. This date is pretty important to Louis. I left quicker." Frank told her. "Oh. It's fine, you didn't mean to." Daniela swung higher. "I guess it's my fault for this all to happen." Frank sighed. "What do you mean?" "I was the one that came up with the idea to have a date with Louis and Felix. And now I messed up your date with Louis." Daniela stopped swinging. "No it's alright. I don't really mind doing this. But just having a date with them doesn't mean I'll know exactly who to choose. I mean, yeah I  had fun with them both, but it's all gonna come from my heart. And you didn't ruin our date, I'm having lots of fun. So far my day has been really great. Don't worry. Take your mind off it." Daniela smiled. Frank checked his phone again and tucked it back in his pocket.
Frank smiled, "So what do you want to do now?" "I kinda wanted to try the slide." answered Daniela. Frank jumped off his swing. Daniela jumped off as well. Louis noticed and decided to join them. Frank walked over to the slide. Daniela followed behind him. "Ladies first." Frank motioned his hand towards the ladder. Daniela climbed up and sat down. "Is this slide safe to go on? I mean, it's pretty old and rusty so I don't know." Daniela asked. "Yeah don't worry, Louis, Aaron and I been on it tons of times." Frank replied. Daniela took a deep breath and slid down. She went down quickly. Finally Daniela landed at the bottom.
"Haha that was fun." Daniela stood up and walked back over to Frank and Louis. "Liked it?" Louis asked. "Yeah." Daniela laughed. Suddenly she felt a sting on her arm. "Ouch." "What's wrong?" Frank asked. Daniela looked at her arm. There was a small cut. "Oh I think the slide cut me while I going down." "You gonna be okay?" Louis looked at her cut. "Yeah of course." She nodded her head.
Brrrr! Frank's phone vibrated. He looked at his phone. "Aw man I just remembered. I have to go." Frank put his phone in his pocket. "What did you just remember?" Louis asked. Frank started to head towards the path, "I was supposed to watch my brother while my mom went shopping. I'll see you guys tomorrow. Bye!" Frank kept on going and left the forest.
Soon, Louis and Daniela walked back to the log to sit down."What was Frank talking to you about when you two were on the swings?" Daniela walked a little ahead of him, "Oh not much, just about today." Suddenly she felt Louis arms around her. "I'm sorry any troubles we gave you." Daniela blushed, "What do you mean?" "Felix and I fighting over you and stuff." Louis replied. "Oh, no it's okay." Daniela looked at the ground. "No it's not okay." Louis pressed his lips against her cheek. Daniela turned bright red. He then rested his head on her shoulder, "I really like you but it's no reason for me to be fighting over you like this. I just hope this will all end soon and you can choose who you wanna be with." Daniela smiled closed her eyes, then looked up at Louis. "God will help me choose the right path, and I have a feeling he has already shown me where it is." She looked up at the sky. "And where's that?" Louis asked. "It's somewhere close, really close." Daniela answered. Closer than you think.
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They spent some more time on the merry-go-round and soon walked back to the front of the school so Daniela's mom could pick her up.
"Oh yeah, I was wondering, how was your date with Felix yesterday?" Louis asked Daniela as they settled down on the bench. "Oh it was fun. We went on water slides and the Calm River and -" Daniela stopped her sentence. There was a frightened look on her face. "What's wrong?" Louis looked directly at her. ". . . I was almost taken by two strange men." She whispered. "Two men? What happened?" Louis demanded to know. "I-I was waiting for Felix at the gift shop when two men came up to me. And started to talk to each about my body and how they should take me with them, I was so scared." Daniela explained.
She took a deep breath, "But luckily Felix came just in time before they could snatch me." Louis' eyes widened. "He should've been careful." Louis muttered. "Huh?" Daniela wondered. "He should've  careful and watched you." He clenched his fist. "That idiot." Daniela shook her head. "No it's not his fault. I was waiting for him to finish changing, plus, he didn't know that would happen." "That's the problem." Louis looked Daniela straight in the eyes. "He should have know. Most men out there are dangerous to girls who are alone! Especially to those who are young and helpless!" Daniela's eyes widened. Louis sighed and slumped. "I'm sorry for yelling like that. But it's true, I don't want you to get hurt, but it's not like I can prevent you completely from getting hurt, abused, or anything to harm you." Daniela lowered her eyelids and smiled, "It's alright. I'm happy you care." "Why wouldn't I care? I want to protect you, I want to always be there for you." Louis confessed.
BEEP! They both looked up and saw Daniela's mom waving at them. Daniela sighed, "Seems like my ride is here." "Yup, seems like it." Louis nodded. "Um well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow then." said Daniela. "Yeah. So um bye." Louis waved and headed off." Daniela waved back and ran over to her mom's car. She entered the car.
"Was that Louis?" Her mother asked. "Yup, that was him." Daniela replied. Daniela's mom thought for a second. She sighed and paused. "He looks nothing like Drake." Daniela laughed. "I know." She felt another sting on her finger. Daniela looked at it. It was the same cut from the slide. This cut stings pretty bad, I gotta make sure it doesn't get infected.
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They headed home. Daniela walked into the house and slowly her entered her room and threw herself on her bed. His kiss . . . Daniela felt her cheek and blushed. Wait a minute, Daniela thought for second. He didn't confess to me, or did he? She thought about what he told her earlier. That probably was it. She smiled. Suddenly, Drake ran into her room. He jumped on her bed. "How was it?" He asked. "How was what?" Daniela questioned him. As she sat up. "Your date of course." Drake replied. "What else?" "Oh. Well. Um. It was fun, he took me to a merry-go-round." She said excitedly. Drake laughed. "You must've been super excited." "I was." Daniela sighed. "Frank actually came somewhere during our date." "Frank? What was he doing there?" Drake wondered. "Oh he just walking by and yeah." Daniela answered. "Oh okay. Have you picked yet? Felix or Louis?" Drake asked. Daniela blushed a little. "Why do you want to know? Plus, I'm not sure yet. But I have a feeling I'll know soon." She replied, bothered by Drake's question. "I just wanna know. Sheesh." "Well stop asking, I'm not telling you." Daniela folded her arms. "Fine then." Drake got up and walked towards the door. "Close the door on your way out." She told him. Drake slammed the door shut.
Daniela rolled her eyes and took a deep breath. She fell back on her bed. God who is it? Please tell me. I know you know who it is, so can you tell me? Daniela covered her face with her pillow and groaned. Her finger stung again. Daniela took a peek at it and then quickly tucked it under her pillow.