Chapter Eleven
Sam's eyelids slowly fluttered open at the sound of someone tapping on her room door the following morning. She rolled over in her bed and cast a glance towards the digital clock on her nightstand. "It's not even nine yet, mom. What do you want?"
"Good morning, Miss Manson." The friendly voice certainly did not belong to her mother, but rather her family's butler, Bailey. "There is a young lady by the name of Alyssa who is currently downstairs. She's urgently requesting to see you."
Her eyebrows curled together as she positioned herself upright. "Alyssa?" She didn't know why Alyssa was at her house so early or how the girl even knew where she lived, but she decided not to question it and to just go downstairs and see what was going on. "Uh, tell her I'll be right there."
"Yes, ma'am." She waited until his heavy footsteps became faint before slipping from beneath her blankets and standing to her feet. She wasn't planning on getting all dressed up just to go downstairs, but she wasn't going to be completely unpresentable either.
She dragged her elastic hair tie from her wrist and gathered her hair into her hands, preparing to pull it into a messy bun. As she did that, she crossed over to the other side of her room and started for the bathroom. Something about Alyssa's request apparently being urgent caused her to move faster as she brushed her teeth and washed her face.
After she finished freshening up, she made her way downstairs, suppressing a long yawn. Her only goal was to finish up her conversation with Alyssa as quickly as possible so that she could catch up on some more sleep before her parents and her grandmother arrived home.
She found said girl awkwardly standing in the center of her living room. She looked torn between sitting or standing, but once she noticed Sam, she rushed over to the girl. "Look, Sam, I have to talk to you. Danny might want me to keep this a secret, but I can't anymore."
Sam really didn't know what to say, nor did she understand what Alyssa was talking about. "O-Okay..." She wrapped her arms over her stomach and took a few more steps into the living room. "What are you talking about? Keep what a secret?"
Alyssa's eyebrows quivered and she parted her lips like she was about to reply, but then she pressed them together again. Why she was so hesitant was beyond Sam, but once she finally started to explain what was bothering her, her discomfort made sense. "I wasn't being completely honest about what happened at the party."
Sam leaned her right shoulder against the living room wall and pressed the side of her head against it. "What do you mean?" She was trying her best to be patient, but the wonderful idea of sleep was practically calling her name. She wanted to heed its call, but she managed to disregard it and focus on Alyssa.
"Danny came onto me that night in the bathroom. I was in there when you stopped by to check on him, but he made me keep quiet until you left." She swept her fingers underneath her eyes and wiped away the tears that collected there. "He forced me to stay away from you and Tucker when I told him I was going to tell you what happened, and when I said no, he stormed off."
Sam felt her heart crack and crash into her stomach. "That can't be right." She didn't want to believe what she was hearing, but the more she thought about it, the more it seemed true. Danny had been acting strange around her lately, especially whenever Alyssa was brought up. "Is that why he was acting so tense around you last night?"
"I guess." The girl wiped at her eyes again and sniffed. "While you were in the bathroom at the theater yesterday, he snapped at me and told me to stay away from you guys. That's why I've been keeping out of your way. I just wanted to tell you this because it's been eating me alive. I tried catching you in the lobby before the movie, but he was walking so fast with you."
Sam raised her hand over her heart and slowly slid her back down against the wall. The world seemed to crash around her; she really, really didn't want to believe Alyssa, but everything she said explained each of Danny's actions. Instead of overthinking herself to death, however, she was going to have him march right over to her house and explain himself.
"Thank you, Alyssa. I'll handle it." She spun on her heels and swept out of the living room like a ferocious tornado. Anger spread through her like a wildfire, but she tried to keep it under control until she spoke with Danny and got his side of the story.
Danny was surprisingly awake. It was difficult for him to get much sleep when his mind was still swirling. He was inwardly kicking himself for not telling Sam the truth from the beginning, but he was only holding back because nothing like that ever happened to him before. He was concerned about what her reaction would be and what she would do with the information once she found out.
He grabbed his cell phone from his nightstand and dialed in Tucker's number. He was positive the boy was still sleeping, but he never usually minded receiving early phone calls from any of his friends, especially when needing advice was the reason. That was just one of the many things Danny loved about his best friend.
"What's up, man?" came Tucker's groggy response once he answered the phone. "It's really early."
"I know, and I'm sorry for waking you up." He sat up in bed and inclined his head, bringing his hand to his temple. "I just need advice. I want to tell Sam what happened at the party, but because I made it seem like nothing happened when she first asked about it, she's probably going to get mad at me."
Tucker fell silent for a few seconds before a shifting noise was heard from his side of the call. "She's probably going to get mad at you for keeping this from her more than she'll get mad at you for what actually happened. Alyssa came onto you, and that wasn't your fault because you didn't initiate it. It was sexual harassment. You're only at fault for keeping it from her. It's been almost a month. You need to tell her before she hears a twisted version of the story from Alyssa."
Danny fell back onto the bed with a long sigh. "Okay, which one of Sam's books did you steal that from?"
"No books my dear, clueless friend. Just knowledge."
"Yeah, well, I'm going to need a lot more than knowledge to get me out of this situation." He folded an arm behind his head and gazed up at the ceiling. "Alyssa said she's not going down without a fight. She really thinks there's something going on between us."
Tucker hummed into the phone. "I usually give better advice when I've been through the situation myself, so I'm pretty helpless here. I've never even had a girl obsess over me before. You'd better handle that situation quickly before her obsession turns into something more."
"Yeah, I will." Danny faintly heard the front door being shut, and since his parents were down in the basement, that meant it could only be one person coming inside. "I think Sam's here. I'll talk to you later, Tuck." He hung up and carelessly dropped his phone onto his bed. "She didn't say she was coming over so early. I don't even have time to change into anything decent before she comes in here."
He peeled off his blankets and rolled onto his side, pushing himself upright again before getting out of bed. He could hear Sam climbing the stairs, so he raked his fingers through his hair to somewhat appear straightened up. "Well, here goes nothing." He expected her to casually walk in with the same smile she usually reserved for him each morning, but instead, she stormed in with her face twisted into a scowl. "Uh-oh."
"Uh-oh's right." She closed, or slammed, his room door and crossed her arms over her chest. "Is there anything you want to tell me, Danny?" She narrowed her eyes onto him as he took a step back. "Maybe something related to a certain birthday party we threw our best friend almost a month ago?"
Danny felt the muscles in his face tighten as his heart sank. How was it possible that she already knew what happened? "H-How do you know about that?" His shocked expression and his wide eyes gave the Goth before him the answer she was seeking.
"So it is true." She stepped back in disgust and moved her fingertips to her lips. He was absolutely perplexed as to what she was talking about, that is, until she continued speaking. "Alyssa was telling the truth. How the hell could you do that to me? With her?"
"Alyssa?" His face grew pale and his eyes enlarged even more. "Sam, whatever she told you, she's lying about it. I promise you that's not what happened at the party." But Sam wasn't trying to hear excuses. She dropped her arm and clenched her fist, advancing closer to Danny with her nostrils flared.
"Oh, no? Then tell me what happened." Her lips compressed into a flat line and she cocked her head to the side slightly, impatiently waiting for him to explain his side of the story.
"I was using the bathroom at the party and she just walked in and started forcing herself onto me! I pushed her away and was still pushing her away when you swung by to check on me, but I didn't say anything because I knew it was going to look worse than it was. I swear that's the truth."
"But that's the thing, Danny. How can I trust what you're saying? Why did it take you a month to tell me this?" She pressed her palms to her forehead and slammed her eyes shut, taking a few deep breaths before lowering her arms and turning to him again. "If Alyssa didn't say anything, would you have even told me about this?"
"Of course I would have told you!"
"When? Whenever it was convenient for you?"
"Sam." He clenched his teeth together and growled lowly, drilling his eyes into her angry-clouded ones. "She's lying. I promise you she came onto me first. I left the party upset because of what she did, not because of something that happened with some guys upstairs. She's been coming onto me ever since then and has been threatening me. That's why she randomly popped up last night."
"Why didn't you just tell me this the night it happened? Or even the day after? I specifically asked you what was up and you lied to me." Sam looked away for a second. "You let me be friends with this girl and you let me defend her. Contrary to popular belief, you're supposed to tell your girlfriend when another girl hits on you."
Danny threw his hands up with a slight scoff. "What was I supposed to say? I was sexually harassed by some obsessive fan girl. That's not something you can easily bring up to someone you love."
"Yeah, well, now you're the guy who was sexually harassed by some obsessive fan girl and lied to me about it." She glared into his eyes and shook her head slowly as anger consumed her. "We've always trusted each other with anything and everything. Why wasn't I worth the truth this time?"
He reached his hand out to her, but she pulled away from him and retained her furious expression. "Look, Sam, I'm sorry. It's not that I didn't want to tell you what happened because I did. Ask Tucker. You told me you loved me that same night and I didn't want to spoil it. I didn't know how to bring it up to you."
"The supposed evil one in this whole situation came to me first and told me what 'happened' before my own boyfriend did. You know me more than anybody else, Danny. I wouldn't have gotten mad at you if you just told me this when it happened. If she really came onto you, then you weren't guilty of anything, so how could you look me straight in my face and lie to me? Pretend that everything was okay?"
Danny let out a defeated sigh and briefly ducked his head. "I don't know. I honestly don't, but if I could redo that entire night over again, I'd make sure this never happened." Sam flattened her gaze and tucked her lower lip between her teeth, chewing it to stifle any comebacks that threatened to slip out. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about this."
"No." She mustered up the courage to look into his eyes again, flashing him a look so cold that he damn near shivered. "You're just sorry that she told me about this first." And then she was out of there, brushing past him and stalking out of the room. He should have gone after her, but he didn't.
Because in a way, she was right.
