Sam leaned her
head back, resting it on her windowsill as she looked out her window
up at the night sky. She watched the trees blow in the wind for a
while, but she always eventually ended up staring at the stars.
I
used to be able to find the big dipper, when I was a kid, Sam
thought to herself, now I can't find anything except random
clusters of stars and slow moving airplanes. She closed her
eyes. That day hadn't turned out the best, but Sam still smiled, as
she reflected upon the days previous activities.
Earlier that day
The front doors of Amity High School burst open as Sam entered flustered. Just as she reached her locker, the late bell rang. Great. First my alarm didn't ring, now I'm late. I wonder what else is going to go wrong. Sam trudged into Mr. Lancer's literature class, carefully taking her seat behind Tucker, trying to avoid Lancers line of sight.
"Sam,
why are you late?" Tucker asked in a hushed whisper.
"My
alarm didn't go off. What'd I miss?" Sam asked back.
"Well.
" Tucker began. "Mr. Lancer assigned us partners for our reading
analysis project."
"Am I with Danny?" Sam asked a little
eagerly, glancing over at the raven haired boy two rows over.
"No….
Danny's with Paulina" Tucker pointed towards the Latina girl
in the back of the room.
"Great." Sam groaned, slumping in
her chair. "Who am I with?"
"Uh," Tucker stammered,
"Dash."
Sam dropped her head on her desk and sighed.
"Perfect."
Sam barely made it through the first four hours, realizing that because she left her house in such a hurry that she forgot her bag and already had two incomplete assignments, earned herself a detention by falling asleep in Chemistry, and accidentally slammed her finger in her locker door. She didn't notice Danny come up to her as she stuck her bruised finger in her mouth.
"Hey
Sam" Danny greeted her, leaning himself against the locker.
"Hmm?"
Sam said, looking up with her finger still in her mouth. "Oh, hi
Danny. Where's Tuck?"
"It's Pork Chop day at the
cafeteria, where do you think he is?" Danny chuckled. "What's
wrong with your finger?"
"Ugh, I accidentally slammed it in my
locker putting my books away." Sam replied.
"Ouch. Are you
coming to lunch?"
"Yeah." Sam said through her teeth, still
nursing her throbbing index finger. She sighed in pain.
"Oh,
here." Danny announced as he reached for her hand. Danny brought
her finger up to his mouth and lightly kissed the bruised area. "That
oughtta make your booboo feel better." Danny started walking away,
towards the lunch room. "See you at lunch!"
"Yeah, I'll be
there in a few minutes." Sam called to him. Danny caught her off
her guard, she didn't expect for him to do that. She walked to the
bathroom, mildly reeling in shock and elation.
"Hey, unpopular
goth girl," Sam heard a familiar valley girl voice. "Looks like I
got paired with your little boyfriend this morning."
"Danny's
not my boyfriend Paulina." Sam shot back at her. Almost everyone
though Danny and Sam were dating. Sam really wished she could say
they were.
"Either way I'm going to be spending a lot more
time with him than you are. Especially right now!" Paulina then
pushed Sam back and ducked out the bathroom door. She pulled a key
out from her purse and locked the door from the outside. I knew
this key would be worth stealing from Lancers office! Paulina
thought to herself as she swayed her way down the hall.
Sam pounded on the door, hoping someone could let her out. "Sigh, it's no use. Nobody is going to come around here until after lunch." Sam told herself. Her stomach released a low grumble, telling Sam of its desire to be fed. Sigh, Sam slid down on the floor and prepared for a long hungry wait.
The rest of the day went by uneventful after Sam got let out of the bathroom. Trudging through her final three classes, Sam met up with Danny and Tucker later that evening to go hang out at the Nasty Burger. Sam didn't really like the place because it served so much meat, but they served tofu melts and wheat grass juice, which was what she ordered every time she was there.
"Sam,
why do you order the same thing every time we come here?" Tucker
asked her between bites of his all you can eat ribs. If the Nasty
Burger didn't lose money on Tuck, Sam would eat her combat boots.
"Because Tucker, it's the only vegetarian thing on the menu."
Sam responded angrily. Why can't anybody accept that I don't
eat meat?
"But meat tastes so good!" responded Tuck,
wiping barbeque sauce off his lips. "I only eat meat and look at
me!"
"Yeah Tuck, look at you, neck deep in ribs. I bet you'll
attract all the ladies like that." Danny told his best friend,
getting a weak smile out of Sam with his quip.
"Hey, just you
wait Danny. All the lovely ladies will be flocking to the T-man."
Tucker modestly shot back at him. Danny almost shot wheat grass juice
through his nose, earning a dirty look from Tucker. Sam just sat and
watched. She took a bite of her Tofu Melt, and immediately spat it
out on the table.
"Ugh!" Sam screamed, storming out of the
restaurant. Danny and Tucker watched her leave.
"What's with
her?" Tucker asked.
"You probably offended her with your meat
eating habits." Danny said while looking at the remains of the Tofu
Melt. "Or somebody put bacon on her food." He held up a slice of
bacon he picked from the partially eaten melt.
"She wouldn't
just ditch us because of that, would she?" Tucker wondered out
loud.
"I dunno, I'm gunna go see what bothering her." Danny
said while standing up, leaving the Nasty Burger. Tucker picked up
the slice of bacon. "Well, more for me!" he sighed gleefully. A
man with a Nasty Burger visor on handed him a check. "Hey!"
Tucker exclaimed, stuck with the bill.
Sam
sat up on the room outside her room. She'd had enough with today;
she just wanted it to end.
"Hey Sam." Sam turned around to
see Danny phase through her bedroom wall to sit next to her outside.
"Couldn't you just use the window like a normal person?" She
asked him.
"A normal person wouldn't be out on their roof.
What's wrong?" Danny asked, concerned.
"It's nothing."
Sam looked away from him.
"Sam," Danny said in such a strong
tone of voice that it made Sam look up at him. "talk to me. What's
wrong?"
Sam sighed to herself and told him everything, from
waking up late to being locked in the bathroom to almost eating
bacon. Danny sat and listened to her, never looking away. Sam didn't
want to feel weak or sad in front of him, but she did feel a little
better once she finished telling the story of her day.
"Wow,
that sounds like it sucked." Danny said to her when she finished.
"Yeah, it kind of did." Sam replied. The two sat and looked
at the stars. "I don't think I want to go to school tomorrow."
Sam told Danny. "It's not like anybody would miss me anyways.
Tucker could eat all the meat he wanted, I wouldn't have to work
with Dash, and there'd be one less girl for Paulina to prey upon."
"Sam, I'd miss you." Sam looked up to meet Danny's gaze.
"When you're not in school it always seems lonely. Lunch today
seemed empty. Tucker thought so too."
Sam just stared back at
Danny, almost getting lost in his deep blue eyes.
"Besides, I
already talked to Lancer. He moved Dash to work with Paulina. You're
working with me, and I'd be totally lost without you."
Sam
laughed. "Yeah, you usually are."
"Sam? Sam where are you?"
a voice called from downstairs. "I've got some wonderful new
clothes I want you to try!"
"Crap, it's my mom." Sam
groaned.
"Looks like I'd better leave before she catches you
hanging out with 'Invis-o-bill'".
"Sammy dear?" The
shouts were getting louder.
Sam turned to face Danny. "Take me
with you."
Danny laughed. "Sorry Sammy dear, I need to get
home and clean out the OP center fridge, you're better off here."
Danny turned to ghost and prepared to take off. "I hope you change
your mind about school tomorrow." Danny knelt down to Sam and gave
her a kiss on the check, just one quick peck that shot butterflies
throughout Sam's body. Danny waved goodbye to her and started to
fly away.
Sam jumped back into her room and locked the door. She was not trying on clothes for her mother. Sam leaned her head back, resting it on her windowsill, looking out her window up at the night sky. She watched the trees blow in the wind for a while, but eventually she ended up staring at the stars. She closed her eyes. Today hadn't turned out the best, but Sam still smiled, thinking about Danny, not focusing on the big picture, whether or not Danny and she would ever be an item. Tonight, Sam was just thinking about Danny, and what she should lay out for school tomorrow.
