Chapter 1.
I woke up to the sound of pots and pans crashing to the tile floor. Sounds like the World's Best Mom went out and got drunk again last night. I sat up and stared at the 6 boxes piled up in the corner. Its crazy to think that in less than a half hour I will be going to live with my father who I haven't seen in 3 years. He doesn't even know me and she is letting me go live with him. In an odd way, I am kind of relieved.
"Dani, get your ass down here! Your father will be here to pick you up in about 20 minutes!" My loving mother shouted from the kitchen.
I threw the old sheets on to the floor and didn't bother to fold them. I threw on a pair of jeans and my favorite Disneyland shirt. I dug through one of the boxes to find my toothbrush and a hair tie. When I walked into the bathroom I shut the door and locked it. I washed my face off with some water and stared into the mirror. Things changed so quickly. 2 years ago my mom and I were inseparable. When she met Joey, he introduced her into drugs and alcohol and it all went downhill from there. Then, 6 months later, he broke her heart and she went off the deep end.
"Dani, your damn father is here. Hurry up."
I threw my hair up in a ponytail and brushed my teeth. I walked back into my room and put my toothbrush back into a random box. No one bothered to help me with the boxes so I had to make six trips up and down the stairs. When I finally crammed everything into the trunk of my dad's car, I walked back into the house and slammed the door.
"Jesus Christ Danille. Was that necessary?" My father asked me. He was taller since the last time I saw him. He had brown hair with a tint of grey. He was wearing ripped up blue jeans and a red plaid shirt.
"I go by Dani now. And yes, it was," I shot a glare at my mom when I said this. I walked over to her to hug her good-bye, but she wouldn't even look at me.
"No, get away from me. Just leave with your father so you can go start a new family," she said angrily. I was pissed.
"What did you just say to me? Do I need to remind you that this is your fault? If you never would have become a druggy and an alcoholic, CPS wouldn't be making me leave you. So why don't you get your crap together and come talk to me when you're ready," I retorted. She looked at me like I was trash, but I didn't take it personally. I walked over to the fridge and got a can of Dr. Pepper.
"Ready to go Rob?" I asked my dad.
"Rob? You aren't even going to call me dad?"
"I need to get to know you again. I need you to prove that you're going to be a dad this time."
"Okay, deal. Yeah lets go."
"Bye, mommy!" I said sarcastically. It put a huge grin on my face when she glared at me. I hopped into the passenger seat of Rob's pick-up truck. "So, how far to Adamsville?"
"About 4 hours. Try to sleep on the way because you have school tomorrow," he reminded me.
"Ah yes, new school, new me," I said sarcastically. He rolled his eyes.
"Just try to make some friends. Okay?"
"Its not as easy as it looks, Rob. People don't like me. Other than my Disneyland shirts, I wear dark clothes and I listen to weird music. They think I'm weird."
"How do you know that these kids will act like that? You haven't even met them yet."
"I just know, okay?" That was the end of the conversation. He looked at me like I was a wounded puppy. The next two hours I spent listening to Panic at the Disco on my phone. I ended up falling asleep but Rob woke me up when we were about ten minutes away from the house.
"So listen. I do have a girlfriend. Her name is Jenna and she has a son. His name is Frankie and he is only 7. He is having a hard time adjusting, just like you. So take it easy on him, okay?"
"All right." We pulled into the carport and I was stunned. Holy crap, my dad was like a billionaire or something. The house was two stories and huge. It was completely white and had red shutters. It looked glamorous. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.
I spoke too soon. We walked in with all my boxes and bags and there was a giant sign that read: "Welcome Danielle!" Great. A perky girlfriend. Jenna came around the corner wearing a tight dress that was the bright pink and matching 6 inch heels. You can tell that she has had plastic surgery everywhere. Her lips were enormous. Frankie was shyly walking behind her. Frankie was short. He has straight brown hair and blue eyes. He is adorable. I could tell that we would become close and I hadn't even said two words to him.
"Danielle! Welcome to our home! We are so happy to have you here and I am sure that –" I cut her off. I walked around her and knelt down in front of Frankie.
"Hi. Frankie, right?" he nodded his head and smiled. "Hi Frankie, I'm Danielle, but I want you to call me Dani. Do you want to show me where my room is? You can even help me decorate!"
"Okay," he said quietly but enthusiastically at the same time.
Rob and Jenna helped me move the boxes to my room. It was a big room, the walls were red, with a single white stripe across the middle of each one. A king sized bed was lying in the middle of the room. I told Rob that I wanted to spend time with Frankie alone and he nodded his head and closed the door behind him.
"Okay Frankie. Time to get started," I instructed as I grabbed my big black comforter and matching black sheets out of a box. Frankie helped me put the sheets on the bed and then the comforter. The pillow cases were already red, so I just left them because it added a nice touch to the room. I asked Frankie if he would help me push the bed up against the wall, even though I knew it wouldn't help me much. He agreed and we pushed the bed up against the far wall by the window. He put up my posters of Disneyland while I put some posters of Panic at the Disco! and Secondhand Serenade. Frankie even helped me put up lights in my room. I liked having strings of white Christmas lights hanging around the top of the walls. When we were all finished, we both collapsed onto the bed.
"So, Frankie. How do you like Rob?" I asked him curiously. I needed to know how my dad treated him.
"He's pretty cool. He teaches me stuff about baseball and he is nice to me. Nicer than my mom. Why do you call your dad Rob instead of Dad?" He asked me.
"Well, a long time ago, he left me and my mom. So I told him that I was going to call him Rob until he proved to me that he was my dad again."
"Oh, well that makes sense. Can I tell you a secret?" He asked.
"Of course. I would love that!" I said happily.
"I like you. You seem like a cool sister to have."
"Well Frankie, you seem like a pretty cool little brother to have," I said. "Race you downstairs!" We both got up and ran downstairs to the kitchen.
"Are you hungry or anything?" Rob asked.
"Do you have any pizza rolls? The pepperoni kind?" I asked.
"No, but I can drive up to the Walmart down the street and get some if you'd like," he offered.
"Mind if I just walk down there? I want to get to know the town," I explained to him.
"Of course. Here's 15 bucks. Take Frankie with you," He instructed.
"Awesome. See you in a bit. Lets go Frankie."
He showed me the way to the nearest Walmart. We walked up Oak Street and took a detour through the park. I sat on the bench while Frankie showed me his skills on the monkey bars. On the other side of the monkey bars was another bench which was currently occupied by a boy. He looked my age. He was tall, with brown hair and brown eyes. He was staring at me. Not staring at me like I was weird, but like I was a rare creature that he was admiring from a distance.
"Look Dani! I can go with one arm!" Frankie yelled to me.
"Wow that's great! Come on Frankie, We better go get those pizza rolls before Rob and Jenna start to worry." We finally made it to Walmart and found the pizza rolls. The walk home was quiet, but nice. I absorbed the sounds, the smells, the feel of Adamsville. It was incredible. It was like I was getting a new start, a new life.
We passed the park again on the way home. The beautiful boy was still sitting there. He tried not to make eye contact with me, probably because I was now the one staring at him. I noticed that he had an oxygen tank and tubes going through his nose. How can someone with cancer be so beautiful?
Later that night, everyone else was in bed while I sat on my bed and searched through my emails on my laptop. Around 10 p.m. I heard a knock on my door. I turned my light on and walked towards the door. It was Frankie.
"What's up Frankie?"
"Can I sleep in here with you?"
"Yeah, sure. Is everything okay?" I asked concerned.
"Yep. I just like you, remember?" He smiled.
"Okay come on. I was just shutting down my computer," I lied. He crawled in my giant bed and he slept near the wall. I set my alarm for 6 a.m. and turned off the light.
"Goodnight Dani," he whispered.
"Goodnight Frankie," I whispered back as I wrapped my arms around him. He held my hand and fell asleep.