14. I'll Catch You

"Shit." I cursed under my breath as I realized that I'm almost twenty minutes late for my meet up with Daniel.

I hurried to cross the wide field that separate the school buildings from the main gate. Curse that Math Club Meeting, if only I wasn't elected as the President — much to my dismay to be honest — I wouldn't be forced to listen to a thirty minutes lecture by the club's head teacher.

I finally exited the premises, but I'm nowhere near to my destination. A low grumble left my mouth as I toddled to the other side of the street, wondering if Daniel already left the café. I highly doubt it though since I have a few missed call and messages from him that I failed to attend to. He even sent some voicemails — all claiming that he has been waiting for awhile now for me to turn up. I almost sighed in relief when I saw the front of the café, decked with varieties of flowers in kaleidoscope colors dancing along the words of wisdom littering the glass window, giving off a cozy yet tranquil vibes.

My steps quickened. Honestly speaking, I could just cancel today's appointment with Daniel since it's already Friday, but both of us have our own personal stuffs to deal with during the weekends so I don't really have much choice. I halted a few feet away from the infrastructure. One of my eyebrows arched after witnessing how Daniel burst out through the door, a look of terror painted on his faltering face. He looked up and met my perplexed gaze, then as if he just realized something pivotal, he quickly bolted to my direction.

"Daniel wha—"

He didn't even let me talk and just hastily seized my hand, dragging me along as he sprinted. Flabbergasted, I stumbled while trying to make him stop.

"Daniel! Daniel what the hell, stop!"

Daniel ignored my protests. No matter how hard I tried to plant my foot on the ground, Daniel's strength is seriously no joke. Now I understand why he is called the ace of their team. He's not just hella fast, he's also strong.

An infuriated male voice boomed through the open space, making me flinch as I finally decided to stop resisting.

"THERE'S DANIEL! GET HIM!"

I heard Daniel cussed before running faster. Good thing I wore my flat shoes or else I would've tripped over with all this running. Even though I wasn't paying a glance at our pursuers, I could feel heavy footsteps trailing behind us, along with angry murmurs and yells for us to stop.

Damn, what did Daniel do for him to be chase by those guys? I don't know where we are going, Daniel seemed so keen at the idea of escaping the impending trouble that he just mindlessly turn corner to corner. My legs are starting to ache. The skirt I'm wearing that reached just above my knee is already lifted up to my thighs. Beads of sweat trickled down my face, exhaustion already coursing through my system. Why did Daniel even haled me to this mess? He could've just ran past me and pretend to not know me.

Daniel made a sharp turn to the right side of a street, by now I had mustered the courage to take a look at the guys tailing us. We are now far from them, though I could still clearly see their furious frames advancing to our direction. How long we're going to flee, I don't know. All I wanted is to tutor someone named Daniel — who's apparently a troublemaker — yet here I am all sweaty and gasping for air. Being chased by gangsters is not a part of our deal!

Daniel stopped, only to haul me towards a big tree. For a fleeting moment, we were both trying to catch our breathe when all of a sudden, Daniel began climbing up the tree. I watched incredulously at his idiotic stunt.

"Give me your hand!" He whispered-yelled while extending one of his arm out to me. He's already perched on one of the tree's branches.

"What?! Are you seriously asking me to climb up?!" I asked in complete horror.

Is he really expecting me to follow his lead when I'm literally wearing a skirt?! Not to mention that I don't even know how to freaking climb a freaking tree! Daniel's frantic state didn't helped at all, he glanced to the direction where we came from before giving me an exasperated look.

"You have to! We have no time so just fucking take my hand!"

A grunt resonated from my throat before I obeyed. Daniel grasped my hand so tight I thought my bones would break. With one, great pull, I found myself propped on the branch beside him. He motioned for me to stay quiet, hearing the distorted voices of our pursuers. I attempted to tug my skirt lower because my thighs are all too exposed but my position prevented me from doing so. Damn I didn't signed up for this! If I only know that this is what's waiting for me in that café I should've just cancelled!

The voices grew louder and clearer until those guys finally emerged from the corner. Daniel immediately scooted closer to me, hoping that the thick leaves could obscure our figures. The men huddled in confusion upon not seeing their target — a.k.a Daniel and I. From our spot, I couldn't quite hear their disgruntled conversation, all I could make out is that they are not yet through the aggravation. Whatever Daniel did to them, it's definetely grave or they wouldn't be this pissed. The group finally dispersed — three guys went the other way while the other four dashed to our direction.

Luckily though, none of them are smart enough to look upwards or else we're doomed. A sigh of relief escaped my lips when the coast is finally clear. My heart that was beating rapidly earlier because of that race to 'survive' finally settled into a much healthier rhythm. Though the dried sweats made me feel so sticky and uncomfortable, I couldn't be less than glad that the misfortune had already ended.

I glanced at Daniel. He is still panting while staring at nothing in particular. It seemed as though he's trying to let his adrenaline run its course. I furrowed my eyebrows as the annoyance took over me.

"What the hell was that?!" I snapped, making Daniel turn to me. "God! Why the fudge are they even chasing you?! What have you done?!"

One thing about me when I'm angry is I could never contain my temper. It would spew no matter how much mollification would be given to me. And now my buttons had been pressed.

"I'm sorry, really. I didn't mean to dragged you."

"Yet you did." I snarled, glaring at him.

"I'm sorry, ok? I really am! I didn't know Jackson would really stick to his threat."

My eyebrow lifted after hearing his last words. Threat?

"He's been threatening you? You should've told an authority!"

"Geez, calm down Skie. It's nothing you know. All they could do is throw punches at me, nothing serious."

"Yeah, unless they break your bones."

Daniel snorted. He adjusted his position, and without further ado, he sprung — his hands holding onto the branch. He let himself dangle on the tree for a few seconds before he let go, toppling gently on the ground with nothing but a soft thud. I stared at him in consternation. Am I....supposed to do that too?

As if he heard my query, Daniel glanced at me, cocking his head to the side. He granted me a taunting smile.

"What? You need to jump to get down!"

My stomach plunged as my blood ran cold.

He can't be serious right? He's just messing around, right? My attempt to convince myself that he's just joking went down the drain when I realized that there's really no other way to get back to the ground aside from his suggestion. My heart hammered inside my chest, possible bad outcomes swarmed my head.

The tree is quite tall, if Daniel managed to land on the ground unscathed, that's only because he's someone who's greater in height. How about me? I wasn't that small, just average, but I couldn't even surpass Daniel's broad shoulders! What if I jumped and my legs give out? Or what if the impact would crush some of my bones? Worse case scenario is if I bashed my head on the hard ground. My parents would surely kill me if they found out I got admitted to a hospital because of a stupid, nonsense reason.

"Skie?"

I jerked my head to focus my gaze on Daniel. Something flickered across his face, banishing his teasing smile.

"Hey, don't be scared. Look — just jump and I'll catch you!" He said, spreading his arms wide in the process.

And if things couldn't get even more ridiculous! He really thinks he could catch me?

"N-No! What if you lost your balance?!" I shrieked in fear.

Daniel huffed out some air.

"Trust me, Skie. I'm strong enough to secure you." He goaded. "Please trust me. Jackson's, gang may come back any moment from now."

Curse those guys. Curse this life. I never asked to suffer, yet I always do. I assessed the distance of the fall, if I end up bruised I'll really strangle Daniel to death.

"Trust me Skie!"

I heaved myself off the branch, closing my eyes as my stomach plunged. Wind whistled pass my ears at the abrupt momentum and I tightly clenched my fists. Oh good Lord.....

I felt Daniel's arms wrapped around me, breaking the fall as a soft grunt emitted from him. I refused to open my eyes just yet. I decided to feel anything odd on my body. Aside from Daniel's strong biceps, I felt nothing more. No painful injuries or even stinging scratches.

My eyes fluttered open and my breathing hitched.

Daniel's face is right in front of me — one wrong move and our lips would collide. I froze. The unexpected proximity made my heart pound, my throat constricting and my knees began to wobble. I stared at Daniel's hazel brown orbs that bore into mine in utter shock. I've never been this close to any other guy before. Sure I hug Austin once in a blue moon but we've never been in this kind of awkward situation. Something twisted in my stomach — something that I couldn't quite fathom.

A smile broke out on Daniel's face.

"I told you I'll catch you."