Valerie Hates Dan

"Hey Vals," I tensed hearing this voice come from behind me. It was unwelcome, yet all too familiar. Sly and just above a whisper, it was loud enough that I could not pretend I had not heard it. I let out an inaudible sigh. I needed all the mental strength I could scrounge up when dealing with Daniel McAllister.

"It's Valerie," I said as a greeting, pleased that I sounded stern. Now, if I could keep up the firm and collected demeanor, it would be a miracle.

"All your other friends call you Vals," he accused.

"Yeah, my friends." I stressed.

"I'm hurt," he responded, not sounding at all wounded. The smirk nearly ruined my attempt to appear calm.

"What do you want?" I asked rudely. The smirk grew more pronounced and one questioning eyebrow arched.

"Do you talk to all your customers so harshly?" He had me there. If my boss heard how rude I sounded, he'd be furious. This time my sigh was audible. He could tell he was getting under my skin.

"Can I help you?" I asked him, my tone dripping with false obsequiousness.

"Nah, I came by to say hello," he said and swaggered away. After he was out of sight, I clenched my fists and counted to ten. It didn't really help, but at least I managed to half smile when a customer approached me searching for Apothic Wine.

Daniel McAllister has been pretty harmless that day, but the problem was that any encounter with him got me annoyed. I loathed Daniel McAllister; he knew it and relished in it. Jerk.

His short visit alone kept me distracted all day. I seethed about him to myself the entire walk home.

I was so preoccupied that I bumped right into someone.

"Oof, Sorry," I mumbled.

"Vals?" I looked up into the handsome grey eyes of my older sister's boyfriend.

"Oh. Sorry John," I said, flushing at my clumsiness.

"It's okay. Are you alright?" His brows furrowed together in concern. He was always a sweet, caring guy. I could see why my sister liked him.

"Yeah, I'm fine, are you okay?" He laughed merrily.

"I hardly even felt it." Considering I was just tall enough to reach his toned chest, I could believe it. It felt like walking into a wall.

"Are you heading home?" I asked.

"Yeah," he said, then face me a scrutinizing stare, "are you sure you're okay? You look...distracted."

"I am a bit preoccupied," I admitted.

"Yeah? Me too."

"What about?" Suddenly, I realized how close we were standing, and I made a move to take a step back, but before I could, his hand went behind my back and pulled me closer.

"This," he whispered and kissed me hard. It was short, but intense. I could barely react before it ended and I still was reeling when he walked away whistling. I turned around to go after him and demand an explanation. I needed to set things straight. But out of nowhere, Daniel McAllister appeared and effectively blocked my path to John.

I groaned. He was the absolute last person I wanted to see. Could my night go any worse?

"So? How long has that been going on?" He asked, nodding towards John's retreating figure.

Yes, my night could get worse.

"Nothing's going on."

"Didn't look like nothing to me," he replied. I wanted to hit him and it surprised me. I didn't usually have violent thoughts.

"Well, it is nothing."

"I should tell 'Ris," he said, referring to my sister. Her name was Marissa, but everyone called her 'Ris.

"Why tell her about it when all it would only do is upset her? He kissed me. And once I get a chance to talk to him about it, I'll decide if 'Ris needs to know."

"You kissed back," he said.

"No I didn't."

"Maybe you did and maybe you-"

"I didn't!" I insisted.

"Don't interrupt me Vals."

"Valerie." He pretended not to hear me.

"As I was saying, maybe you did and maybe you didn't. I still think I should tell 'Ris."

"Please don't. She'd be so upset and so angry." And when 'Ris was angry, life was miserable. She would find some way to get even with me. Even though I had nothing to do with it.

"Well, perhaps we could work out a deal," Daniel pondered aloud. I was immediately suspicious.

"What kind of deal?"

"Be my girlfriend."

"Your what?!"

"My girlfriend," he repeated.

"No!"

"Fine," he seemed unconcerned, "maybe your sister won't care. Only one was to find out." He started striding purposefully towards my house.

"No! Wait! Daniel!"

"Yes?" He asked without turning or stopping. His legs were so long that I needed to run to keep up with him.

"Please don't tell her." I really could not fathom the idea of what would happen if he told her what John did. I doubted she would ever talk to me again.

"I made you an offer. Take it or leave it." He was at my door now, about to knock.

"Fine!"

"Say it," he ordered, "the whole thing."

"Yes, Daniel. I'll be your girlfriend," I muttered.

"I suppose that'll do, for now," he said, seeming amused at the glare that shaped my whole face. I figured if I was a rotten enough girlfriend, he would break up with me and maybe, finally, leave me in peace.

"Can I go now?" I asked.

"Is that any way to talk to your boyfriend?" But before giving me a chance to say anything, he said, "Come to my house tomorrow at ten AM. Dress nice." And he swaggered away. What had I just gotten myself into?

At least he hadn't kissed me good-bye. I didn't know if I could handle two unwelcome kisses in the same day.

The morning came way too quick and I hadn't slept very much. I needed to talk to John and figure out if I should tell 'Ris about what had happened.

I dresses semi-nice. I didn't want to be a good girlfriend, but if he was taking me out somewhere fancy for breakfast, I didn't want to look underdressed.

At ten AM exactly, I knocked on his door.

"You're late," he said as soon as he opened his blue door.

"I'm right on time," I protested. He showed me his watch which read, '10:10'. I looked at mine to see the longer hand creeping towards the first dot making it not even '10:01' yet.

"Your watch is ten minutes fast," I told him. He grabbed my wrist and ignored my struggling and protests until he had managed to set my watch ten minutes fast as well.

"Don't change it," he warned as he saw me preparing to fiddle with the dial, "if you do, I'll change it right back." I figured I could change it back again, but I didn't want him touching me again, much less grabbing my wrists, so I dropped my hands to my side keeping my frog watch ten minutes fast.

"Good. Now, I invited you over today so we could discuss my expectations for you as my girlfriend, and we should corroborate a story of how we started dating. Your friends will be suspicious do it'll have to sound convincing," he sighed, like it was a chore.

"Um... okay." He looked at me expectantly, but I didn't know what he wanted so I remained quiet.

"We'll work on that," he said smirking, "follow me." He led me up a carpeted staircase and down a hallway into a white bedroom all the way at the end. The bedroom had some navy accents, but the whiteness overwhelmed me. It was almost stark and sterile. There was little in the room that hinted at it belonging to a real person. There were a few photographs on a shelf and a stereo on top of a navy dresser. He pointed me to a desk on the corner. On it, I saw a mug filled with BIC pens and a stack of three hole punched loose-leaf.

I sat down wondering what on Earth was going on, but I didn't speak yet; something about Daniel McAllister scared me. His smirk today seemed more menacing than annoying and smugness oozed out of his pores when he looked at me.

"So, I have some rules for you to follow and I want them to write them down so you know what I expect of you." That sounded ominous. What he expected of me?! Like me was some teacher or lord of the manor. Did most girlfriends have to follow some set of rules? I didn't have any experience to go on, but my friends never mentioned it and if 'Ris ever was handed a set of rules, she probably would've snorted and tore them up.

Sure, there were things my friends and sister did and did not in order to please or piss off their current flame, but these things seemed more like guidelines.

"Rules?" I asked. Maybe he would further clarify.

"Number One," he started, not clearing anything up, "you will speak only when spoken to. Number two-"

"Wait!" He turned to me, calm and smirking as usual. He seemed to be amused and had obviously been expecting me to break his first rule so quickly.

"Yes?"

"That's not how a relationship works. I'm your equal. Not some...oh no." It sunk in. He wasn't really expecting me to be his girlfriend.

"Is something wrong, Vals?"

"Valerie. And YES! I agreed to be your girlfriend, not some little doll you can tell what to do! You know what? I'll tell 'Ris myself what happened. This isn't worth it." I started to get up, but he blocked me and whipped out his cellphone. He had my sister's number on the screen, and his index finger hovered over the call button.

"Alright, Vals. We tell 'Ris. And while we're at it, we can tell her that you slept with him too. And Lionel," he said referring to 'Ris's last boyfriend, "and we could call Bridge and maybe Lily. How about Joanie. We could them that you've dabbled with their boyfriends." The awful part was that they'd probably believe him and tell the entire world.

"I'll be ruined. Please don't Daniel. Please?" I liked me begging, I could see it.

"Listen Vals," he said, "I've got the power here. Now, you can follow my rules and I won't tell anyone anything- other than that you are my girlfriend. And wouldn't it be nice not to be a third wheel? All you need to do is follow my rules."

"All the time?"

"I think we can bend the rules in certain situations, but Vals, I think you'll learn to find following the rules comforting and rewarding." I doubted it, but I held my tongue and wrote down rule number one in neat letters.

"Good Girl," he said smirking, and I simmered with rage, but stayed silent, "number two, you will not speak to other males unless it is in a professional setting or if I approve of it. Number three. You will wear what I want you to." It was getting ridiculous, but I kept writing. Later I would figure out how to get out of this.

"Number four. In private, you will address me as Sir and in public, 'D.' In public, I will call you Vals and you will NOT correct me. In private, I will call you whatever I wish." The non-correcting was going to be a hard habit to break. It would take some practice.

"But mostly, you must do what I ask of you at all times and do it to the best of your ability. Any questions?"

I had many, but there was one that was really worrying me...If you could call it worry. Actually, I was downright petrified of his possible answer.

"Do you expect us... to...to be...um..." he seemed to enjoy watching me struggle to put it into words, "physical?" I could feel my face heat up.

"Absolutely. But don't worry, I'm willing to wait on taking your virginity for a little while."

"How'd you know...?"

"That you're a virgin? Everybody knows and you seem to be forgetting rule number four." I scanned my paper.

"Sorry," he waited so I hastily added, 'Sir."

"Better. And as I said, I'm willing to wait a period of time for that particular intimate activity, but do not think it means we won't be engaging in other-ah- physical activities." I felt my face paling now. He knew I was a virgin, but did he know that I had only ever kissed before? And yes, the kiss with Tim Dolans my sort of boyfriend a few years back had been a full on French kiss. But that was the extent of my experience.

"Oh, and Vals," he said.

"Yes...Sir?"

"If you do not follow my rules, you will be punished. Push me too far and I'll tell 'Ris. But don't worry. You'd have to push me VERY far for that. I have many other ideas cooked up that will help you learn not to break the rules. I imagine you will face a fair few of them."

He picked up my rules and placed them in a purple folder. Then he went to his closet and pulled out a pink (hot pink) frilly back pack. I felt somewhat nauseous just being in the same room with it since I was a slight tomboy. He then dropped the folder into the backpack and handed it to me.

"For you to keep. I want you to bring it with you every time you come over. It's good for you to have in case I ask you to bring over things or I give you things."

"Thank you, Sir," I managed. He knew I hated it. The way his mouth was pulled up in his usual smirk and his eyes flashed, daring me to tell him what I really thought of the horrid backpack. And now I would have to pretend to like it which would mystify my friends and family.

"And now, the hard part, what do we tell your friends? Any ideas?"

"None, Sir," I answered honestly. I saw the corners of his mouth turn down in disapproval.

"You'll have to think harder than that, Vals." I choked back the urge to say, 'Valerie.' I thought very hard, but before I could come up with any idea, he snapped his fingers.

"I got it! You'll love it," he taunted, "I saved your life."

"Sir, this town is pretty low on the dangerous list."

"Don't speak out of turn," he reprimanded, "I've got it all figured out. You were about to cross the street when a truck turns the corner way too fast and almost hits you. I see it and pull you back so fast that you fall on top of me. You're so startled that I'm worried that you're going into shock. You're shaking and look close to tears so I take you to Reggie's Diner to get some food and sugar into you. Then you realize after some conversation and concern, that I'm not the awful guy you always thought I was and you agree to give 'us' a try." He looked pleased with his story- him the hero and I the damsel in distress. He seemed determined to change my tough girl persona into a quivering, pink-loving, girly-girl, but what could I do?

"By the way, I'm no longer going to call you Vals in private, understand?

"Yes, Sir." I wondered what he would call me. I remembered the rules read that he could call me anything he liked, but what would he use? It seemed unlikely that he'd use Valerie. Not after he fought so hard to call me 'Vals.'

"Good. Now, slut, we must-"

"What did you just call me?" I was too irate to call him Sir. And after that comment, I didn't think it much mattered. No way he expected me to let him call me THAT! Even in private.

"Slut," he said, clear as a bell, "I can and will call you anything I want to. Unless you'd rather renege on our deal?" He already knew I wouldn't. "I won't remind you again not to speak out of turn or call me Sir. Next time, you will be punished. Do you understand, slut?" He smirked and I flinched.

"Yes, Sir."

"Good girl. Now grab your back pack and we'll head to your place." I dutifully donned my frilly backpack, folder inside and followed him downstairs.

"And by the way, slut," I will be adding to that list of rules, be prepared for that."

"Yes, Sir."

"I really like hearing you say that." I did not speak, but instead followed him to his green Mazda. He politely opened the passenger side door for me and I was surprised, but he took things a little too far when he buckled me in, and used the opportunity to brush his large hand over my chest. I bit my lip to keep from shivering.

The drive to my house was quick and quiet.

"Is anyone home?"

"Yes Sir," I said as I gazed in the driveway. My parents cars were not there, but

I did spot my sister's car. If she was there, John probably was as well.

"Who?"

"My sister and probably her boyfriend, Sir," responded quietly. I saw his smirk disappear, and his eyes hardened. But after a second it was back in place.

"Well, I hope nothing you do causes me to slip up," he warned, "and in front of your sister and John, call me D. Remember, act normal but in love." I wanted to gag, I was NOT in love with Daniel McAllister!

This time, he let me open my own door and undo my own seatbelt, but he grabbed me hand before we entered my house. I rolled my eyes when he wasn't looking. My sister and John were in the kitchen making what looked like a fruit smoothie. My already impossibly skinny sister was on yet another health food/diet routine.

"Hey, Vals," she said in a happy tone. I loved my sister, but was always on edge around her. You could never predict what mood she'd be in. And her bad moods were awful.

"Hi, 'Ris, John," I said. John smiled and said a casual 'hey.' He gave no indication that anything had happened. No blush, awkwardness, silent treatment or wink. I wasn't sure whether to be annoyed or relieved. Just then, 'Ris noticed that I had not come home alone and her pretty eyes narrowed. She knew exactly who he was and how I felt about him.

"Dan, hi," she said in an icy voice. I was the only one who ever called him Daniel. I had hoped that by using his full name, I could influence him use mine in return, but it had never worked.

"'Ris," he said with a nod, "and you must be John. Vals told me about you." Daniel said seeing John's questioning look at Daniel knowing his name.

"What are you doing here?" 'Ris asked with venom.

"Vals invited me over," he answered, doing a superb job pretending he didn't notice her challenging tone. That's when 'Ris noticed us holding hands and her eyes popped before narrowing again,

"Vals, can I speak to you alone for a moment?" I looked at Daniel and he gave me an infinitesimal nod so I let go of his hand and followed her into the other room with a quiet sigh. When we were in the living room, and (hopefully) out of earshot, she faced me.

"Vals, what the Hell is going on? You hate Dan!"

"'Ris, I know I did, but I don't anymore," I lied. I tried to sound convincing but I don't think I succeeded.

"And why not? Didn't he tease you all the time when you were younger and hasn't he lately started to kind of follow you around?" True and true.

"He...um...saved my life and afterwards he was really sweet and kind. I decided to give him a chance and he's been...well, pretty awesome."

"Right," 'Ris responded raising her left eyebrow with obvious disbelief. I don't know if she thought she could catch us in a lie, but she headed back to the kitchen and turned to Daniel with an accusatory stance.

"So, how'd you coerce my sister into dating the likes of you?" I almost died, her choice of words too close to the truth. Of course, Daniel couldn't murder me with all the witnesses, so he laughed politely. I had to save the situation.

"'Ris, I'm telling the truth. He didn't force me into anything. He-"

"Vals, I want to hear what Dan has to say," she interrupted, her voice dripping with false sincerity, "your story sounds fascinating."

"Well," Daniel said, "I was over n Rex Ave and I saw Vals. She was about to cross the street when some idiot truck driver turned onto the street way to fast. I managed to pull her back and I took her to Reggie's to get some sugar into her system. She seemed like she was about to go into shock. I was worried." He looked at me, his expression could've made him the poster boy for genuine concern.

"And after- like I told you- he was so sweet that I realized I should give him a chance," I finished, taking his hand to try to make it look real. He gave my hand a squeeze which I hoped I could take as a good sign.

'Ris still looked suspicious, but Daniel had confirmed what I had said. What could she do? I suppose she could have called us both liars, but no one could prove this.

Once we managed to escape her clutched, we trudged up to my room. Daniel kept quiet until we were in, with the door closed. This would never fly with my parents but my sister had promised not to tell on me if I kept quiet about her. I had made this deal with her long ago even though she had scoffed at the prospect of me ever having a boyfriend. I guess, technically, I still didn't.