'I fell for it.' Toad thought to himself. He sat at the edge of his bed. His head hung down, it felt to heavy to lift up. He had waited for Holly until 10:00. He had actually believed that she was going to show up. He had been an idiot. Toad laid on the bed and starred at the ceiling. He thought about the night before.
After he had dropped off Holly, he had headed for The Brotherhood hideout. He had been there it'll 6:00. Then he had headed back to his trailer and took a shower. When he got out he thought about not going. He knew she wasn't going to show up, but something inside him made him think she would…he knew what it was….Hope. Hope…it was always hope that got him. He sat on the edge of the bed again. He felt anxious, like he wanted to do something, but he wasn't sure what. He stood up and looked out the window, at the long lonely swamp. Then he got the eerie realization that, that swamp was what he was doing to be waking up to for the rest of his life.
Holly drove down the dirt road practicing what she was going to say to Toad in her head. 'Would he even talk to me?' She asked herself. She wondered how long he had waited or if he had even showed up. She hoped that he had chickened out, but somehow she knew he didn't. She turned and came to the end of the road. She parked the Honda that Scott said she could borrow. She had lied and said she was going to the mall to buy new clothes. Jean hadn't been up or Holly probably would be still stuck at the mansion. Holly got of the car and headed down to the swamp. Her heart was pounding. The swamp seemed really quite…or was it just because her thoughts were too loud for her to hear anything. She moved farther and walked over a small hill. Then she saw the trailer, She felt her heart stop. She took a deep breath and started to make her way to the trailer.
Toad was back on the bed. 'I should have jumped' He thought to himself. 'If I would have just jumped I wouldn't have been stood up by Holly. I wouldn't have even had the date with Holly…..if it was even a date.'. But he hadn't jumped, he had had the date and he had been stood up. 'Why hadn't I jumped? So she kissed me, she left….I could have jumped.' His mind kept taunting him. He got up. He couldn't take it. He didn't know how he was going to do it…maybe he would get on top of another building and jump. It would be cheaper than getting another gun. He opened the trailer door….and there stood Holly. "hey" She said half whispering. A range of emotions went through Toad. Mostly anger and sadness. "what do you want?" he asked her. "I just came to say I'm sorry" She said. "Your sorry?" He asked. "About last night" She said. He stayed quiet. "Well, is that it? Is that all you came here for?" Toad said after a long moment of silence. "Umm…a…yea" Holly said surprised by his reply. "It would have been better if you wouldn't have come at all." Toad said. "How do you know I didn't have a whole group of Brotherhood members here, ready to kidnap you. Or for that matter how do you know that last night wasn't going to be a set-up". "Because you saved me before and I thought you wouldn't…" Holly stopped relating that she put her guard down.
Toad smirked. "Well, was it?" Holly asked. "Does it matter?" Toad asked her back. "Well, I'd like to know." Holly said. "Why? Will it make you feel better?" Toad asked. Holly didn't know what to say. It would make her better in a way. She would be glad for not walking into a trap. "Look, I just came to say I was sorry" Holly said. "Well, you said it. Now what? Did you expect me to act happy and glad to see you?" Toad asked. "No…I…well, I'm not sure what I expected you to do" Holly said. "Just leave" Toad said. "ok, I understand." She started to turn. "Before I go…I wanted to go last night. I really did." Holly said over her shoulder. "Don't come back, Holly" Toad said. "I really don't need this". "Don't need what?" Holly turned back around. "This" Toad said gesturing to him and Holly. "You making a date with me and then not showing up. It wastes my time. I've been through this before." He said. "Toad, I really did want to go out with you. I swear. ….I would still go out with you!" Holly said. "Just stop, Holly" Toad said. "Stop what? I'm just telling you that I have feelings for you." Holly said. Toad stepped back from the door. "No , you don't….Get out!!" Toad said. He went over to the bed and sat down. Holly stepped into the trailer and stood in front of him. "Why do you do this? Even last time when I tried to talk to you, you freaked out." Holly said. "Leave me alone" Toad said in a whisper. "Not until you give me a good reason." Holly said crossing her arms. "Fine you wanna know why?" he stood up and looked into her eyes. "Because people like you think that going out with me will make you a good person. You think that giving me hope will make me feel better, but in the end, you'll leave and I'll be depressed. No, not this time." Toad said. As their eyes were looked images were flashing in Holly's mind. She was seeing everything Toad was talking about. Her eyes were getting red. Toad backed up. "What the…?" He started to say, but Holly grabbed her arm. He felt the tension and stress he had start to go away. He suddenly felt tired. He sat down on the bed. Then he passed out.
