Swing for the Fences (Dansby Swanson/Ender Inciarte)

Chapter 5

"Thanks, Dansby-" Jess laughed softly as she pulled her hair down and shook it out. She pretended not to watch as he ran his fingers through his own hair, which made it look even messier. The water dripped off his face and she couldn't stop looking at him. She tried, but it was to no avail.

"Actually, Ender started it-" He splashed in Ender's direction and frowned, "Ender? Um.. Bristol?"

Hearing him call their names her from her thoughts. She quickly glanced around and felt sick at the thought they'd left them alone, "Bristol? Ender?" She frowned and avoided looking at Dansby.

"Where did they go?" Dansby shook his head in disbelief, his eyes on Jessalyn.

"I have no clue," She stared over to the door, silently hoping they would walk through it, "Maybe they just went to get drinks?"

"Maybe-" He felt that she was nervous and he was nervous too. Dansby wasn't sure why, but that feeling he had after class in high school was back. The one where there was no way a girl with her beauty and smarts would want an athlete like him. He wasn't anything to the type of guy she'd be attracted to.

She nervously chewed her bottom lip and kept her eyes away from him. Her body was tense. Mentally, she planned to kill Bristol when she got the chance, but physically, she was enjoying being close to him, alone. It scared her. This was the guy she'd played with at pre-school, the guy who'd hugged her under the bed during thunderstorms, the guy who had told her she'd make it when her parents passed away in a horrible car accident, the guy who had held her hand at prom when no one else would, the guy who had dried her tears and made her laugh until it hurt. She froze her thoughts when she felt his hand on hers. It was innocent. Completely. There was no way him, a superstar, be interested in HER, his best friend from the small town who was simply just a book worm and a journalist.

"You okay, Jess?" He whispered. Dansby wanted to say more, but there were no words that could come. None that would make sense anyway.

"Uh huh-" She shivered a bit and finally met his gaze. The rest of the time spent would be quiet, as each of them tried to figure out what the other was thinking. They both knew it wasn't to be and knew the other didn't feel nearly the same.

♥♥♥

"Well, you could have at least taken me to your room-" Bristol laughed as she watched him pick through Dansby's dresser.

"Shhh," Ender turned around and was face to face with her, "Here."

Bristol eyed him before taking the photos from his hand. There was one of Dansby and Jessalyn outside of the elementary school on field day. She smiled at the memory then flipped to the next. It was of the two of them on Jessalyn's tenth birthday. Dansby had made her a cake himself and it was a disaster, yet she was kissing his cheek on the picture. Bristol smiled when she saw Dansby beside his car on his sixteenth birthday. She had taken the picture while Jessalyn and Dansby shared a hug in front of it, each wearing huge smiles. There were a few more and she browsed through them. Once she'd finished, she handed them back to Ender, "So Dansby has a few pictures of his best friends in his dresser, I'm not seeing the purpose of this? Ender, if you wanted to be alone with me, you could have just ask."

"I didn't want to be alone with you-" He shook his head, "I mean, I did. I DO, but that's not why I brought you here," He sighed, "And to correct you, he has a picture of his best FRIEND, not friends.."

She raised an eyebrow and stared at him as if he'd grown two heads, "Ender, what are you trying to say here?"

"I'm saying... he doesn't want to just be her best friend anymore."