Chapter 9

"All right children, welcome to your first day of Kindergarten! I'm your teacher, Mrs. Renson and we're going to have such a fun year together. Can we go around the circle and tell each other our names? Here, let's start with you. What's your name?" Danny watched as Mrs. Renson pointed to a little blond girl sitting next to her.

"I'm Elizabeth," she replied proudly.

"That's a lovely name! Do you know what letter Elizabeth begins with?"

"Yeah, an E!"

"Correct! Do you know what an E looks like?"

"Um… I think so…"

"Do you want me to draw it on the board for you?"

"Okay."

Mrs. Renson got up from her spot in the circle and drew a three-pronged letter on the board. Danny stared at it, trying to memorize its shape.

"Now Elizabeth, could you go and find a seat over there that has this letter on the desk?" Mrs. Renson asked the little girl kindly. Elizabeth nodded her head quickly before standing up and searching around all the desks before she finally found it.

"Great job! Now, take a seat there. That will be your desk for the year! You'll each share a desk with a partner, okay? Now, who's next in the circle?" Mrs. Renson looked down and pointed at a girl with black hair.

"What's your name?" She asked nicely.

"Um… Dani," she answered quietly, not looking up from a spot on the carpet.

"Danny's my name!" Danny said quickly, never having met a girl with his name before.

"Oh, you two are the two D's, aren't you?" Mrs. Renson asked with a smile on her face. The two kids nodded. She went through the same routine with them as she had with Elizabeth. She drew a D on the board and together they searched the room for their desk. Once they found it, they proudly took their seats.

"Great job guys!" Mrs. Renson congratulated them before continuing on with the next child in the circle.

"So your name is Dani?" Danny asked the girl next to him in a quiet whisper.

"Yeah, it's short for Danielle. You're Danny too?"

"Yeah, it's short for Daniel. I hope this doesn't make things confusing!" Danny said with wide eyes. What if they got their papers mixed up or something?

"Know what we can do?" The girl said as she pondered their dilemma.

"What?"

"My last name is Kelleher. And I know that it starts with a K. So I can be called… D.K!" She said happily.

"Okay, D.K! My surname is Jones and that starts with a J my mum said. So I'll be called D.J!" Danny said just as happily.

"Okay, D.J!" She grinned, giggling at the nickname. "Do you want a piece of my Mars Bar? My mum gave me one for snack time, but I want to eat some now," D.K. asked as she pulled the little treat out of her pocket.

"Yes, please!" Danny replied, amazed by his good luck. He made a friend and she had sweets. Could life get any better?

She broke off half of the chocolate bar and kept the rest for herself. Danny quietly ate it while the rest of the kids were sorted into their seats.

"My mum's favorite kind of candy is liquorish. Have you ever had it?" D.K. asked after she finished her half of the chocolate.

Danny shook his head as he chewed his half. He wanted to swallow it quickly so the teacher wouldn't know they were already snacking.

"I don't really like the taste but she loves it. What's your mum's favorite?"

"I don't think my mum likes candy. She says she's on a diet, which I think means she doesn't like sweets."

"Who couldn't like sweets?" D.K. asked, her eyes wide in amazement.

"I don't know. She must be crazy," Danny giggled, making his desk partner laugh as well. He liked making her laugh. Her eyes lit up and he knew she was being honest.

Danny pulled himself out of his dream, looking at the clock. Again it was nearly midday and Danny mentally cursed himself. He should start setting an alarm clock. But then he wouldn't be able to fully dream. He wouldn't have interacted with… D.K. the way he had.

There was a small part of him that didn't believe his dreams were just dreams. He wanted to think that they were memories but he couldn't be sure. But there was another part of him that didn't want to think about her anymore. He kind of wished he'd never found out she was real. He liked the way he was living before. Now he was just even more confused.

He got up from the bed and started to repack his suitcase. Three days wasn't really a long holiday, but it was enough for him. He needed to get out of the town and back in London where things made sense.

"I can't believe you're leaving already. You just got here! Do you think you could stay just a few more days?" His mother asked him as he ate some cereal in the kitchen. It hurt him to tell her that he honestly couldn't – he was needed for the new album – but he knew that even if he wasn't needed for the band, he would have to leave anyway.

"How about in a few weeks you come visit me? You haven't been to London in a while," Danny smiled as she sat next to him.

"Yeah, it's just so busy. I don't know how you can live there. I'd go nuts," she laughed, patting his hand.

Her nutty comment reminded him of his dream when he said his mum was crazy. "Hey, can I asked you more about Dani? Or D.K?" He asked, looking up from his bowl.

"Ask me anything, and I'll try to answer it. You two didn't really clue me in on much," she smiled sadly.

"Well, when did you start to call me D.J? Did you decide the nickname or did it catch on somewhere else?" He asked, searching to see if his thoughts about his dreams were true.

"Well, from what I remember, you came home from your first day of kindergarten chattering on about this girl that had the same name as you. You said that you'd only go by D.J. for now on, and that she was going by D.K. so you guys wouldn't get confused. I thought it was cute, but I didn't think that it would stick till you were thirteen," she laughed as she recalled the memory.

Danny wanted to be able to remember, too. He wanted it more than anything. It was so frustrating being in the dark.

"Can I bring the photo album back to London with me? I promise I wont lose it. The doctor said maybe I could jog my memory by looking at things that remind me of her. It kind of worked when I saw her house," Danny explained. The photo albums were his mother's pride and joy. She never let them leave the house.

"I'll let you take it with you if you promise that no harm will come to it," she chuckled, going into the living room and bringing it back out for him. He didn't open it. He'd look at the pictures when he was on the train later.

"You'll let me know that you're okay, right? When you get back to London? You'll let me know if you remember her, okay? Or if it gets any worse?" She looked nervous. He could tell she didn't want him to go.

"I promise," he replied, hoping with all his heart that he could remember her.