Hello! Thanks a million reviewers! Your reviews give me the confidence to go on. Again sorry for the lack of updating, but I'm terribly busy. Anyway, I've decided to do another nonchalant chapter so when I go back to the tense ones you'll be devastated, haha. Just kidding, but I am doing a 'somewhat' calm chapter. Well, that's enough from me, here's chapter eight.
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Chapter Eight-Danny's Birthday
"Danny!" Nikki shouted in her sleeping cousin's ear. "Wake up!"
"What?" Danny replied jumping out of bed oblivious to the date. "What happened? Did someone die?" Nikki giggled gleefully at his unusual reaction.
"Of course not. It's Spring 15th, your birthday." For a few seconds Danny gave his cousin a baffled expression, but then it dawned on him what day it was and a smug grin spread across his face.
"Oh, that's right. I'm eight today." Suddenly Danny realized that he was still in his pajamas so he quickly kicked Nikki out and began to get ready for school. He made sure that he wore his favorite outfit.
"Come on, Danny. We're going to be-" Nikki halted abruptly smack in the middle of her sentence. Danny's sharp intuition told him right away that Aaron was around. He quickly abandoned his unsuccessful effort to comb his unmanageable hair. His pink hair, unlike many others' in the village, just remained in stubborn clumps.
Once again Danny's tuition ceased to fail him for sure enough there was the presumptuous Aaron coming down the lane. This time Danny decided to get way ahead of the two lovebirds since witnessing their petty run-ins was beginning to irritate him. So with an annoyed expression on his gaunt face, he walked straight past Aaron barely avoiding a 'bumping-into' incident.
"What's up with him?" Aaron questioned Nikki with slight grimace.
"Oh, it's his birthday," Nikki replied at the moment oblivious to what she'd say next. Aaron gave her a baffled expression. "Uh, that is...he's eight. You know, people get grouchy when they turn eight." Nikki's hand instantly flew to cover her mouth, for she realized that what she had just said unintentionally applied to Aaron, who was also eight. "I mean, that is- " Aaron was quick to stop her.
"I understand. He's a little zoned out since it's his birthday."
"Right," Nikki replied blushing wildly.
Danny's mood brightened the farther away he got from Nikki and Aaron's scene, and by the time he reached the church, he was as happy as a lark.
Miss Dalton's patience was wearing thin due to the fact that Nikki and Aaron were about thirty seconds late and counting. Miss Dalton could outdo anyone, even Nikki, when it came to being meticulous. She continuously glanced at her watch impatiently. Nikki's really going to get it, Danny thought to himself. Finally Nikki and Aaron burst through the door out of breath.
"Aaron! Nikki! You are precisely," Miss Dalton took a brief glance at her watch, "53.6 seconds late for class!" A coy snicker fluttered across the classroom, but it abruptly stopped when Miss Dalton shot her class an indignant glare. "Go to the corner immediately!" Then as if nothing had happened, Miss Dalton continued with the usual lesson.
"Miss Dalton," Nikki added from the corner, "it's Danny's birthday." Miss Dalton's usually blank expression transformed to a warm and happy one.
"Well class, shall we have Nikki lead in a classic version of Happy Birthday?" Nikki gave her cousin a sly look as she led the singing, for she knew what her statement had triggered. Danny sheepishly sank in his seat with an embarrassed expression on his red face. Once the song was finished Miss Dalton's expression, as well as her harsh tone of voice, returned to normal. "Now no dawdling, class! Get to work!" Once Nikki was out of the corner, Danny made sure to keep an eye on her and made sure she didn't get into anymore trouble despite the embarrassment she caused him.
The rest of the school day passed rather pleasantly, other than the fact that Aaron got sent to the corner a second time for menacingly throwing paper airplanes at Michelle and Emily. After school was out, Danny anxiously raced home due to the anticipation of awaiting his birthday party.
He ran into the house to find that his chocolate, birthday cake was already on the table. Suddenly Karen walked into the kitchen to find her nephew staring euphorically at his cake.
"Now hold on there, birthday boy," she acknowledged him gesturing to playfully push him away from the cake. He played along by nodding his head eagerly. "We'll have to wait until your cousin gets home." Danny responded by plopping into the chair nearest to the cake. Luckily it wasn't long before Nikki came bursting through the door, but she exited almost the instant she entered to check on the chickens. Danny rolled his eyes, sighed, and impatiently rallied everyone into the kitchen. He was delighted when his party finally began, but every good thing has its flaws and once again Danny had to endure another enthusiastic round of Happy Birthday. He was greatly relieved when it was time to open his present.
Danny sat eagerly anxiously tapping his fingers on the table when Rick set a strange package in front of him. Danny saw that there were tiny holes punched into the sides of the package. He rapidly tore the elaborate wrapping off and opened the box to find a small, brown puppy nervously cowering in the corner. He lifted it out of the box and calmed it down.
"Thanks a lot everyone!" Danny expressed with an exuberant smile on his face. "Thanks so much!"
"Well," Karen began, "Barley's dog, Hanna, had another litter so we took advantage of the opportunity." The small puppy happily licked Danny's face.
"He's very friendly. I think I'll name him Scout. Can I take him for a walk, Aunt Karen?" She instantly nodded as Danny raced through the door.
As he made his way past the library he noticed that Michelle was walking towards him.
"Hi Danny!" she cheerfully greeted. "What you got there?" She pointed to the puppy trembling between Danny's feet.
"Oh, this is my birthday present, Scout. You can pet him if you like." Michelle took Danny up on the offer and softly petted Scout, which calmed him down a little. Her pale face brightened flamboyantly with a warm smile and she began to blush.
"He's so cute! Is he from Barley's litter?"
"Uh huh."
"How neat... Um, well happy birthday... This is for you." She gently placed a book in Danny's hands and sheepishly ran into the library. He brushed a thin layer of dust off the cover, which revealed the title, Aesop's Fables. He grinned as he tucked the book under his arm and continued on his way through town.
Scout remained well behaved throughout the rest of the walk until Danny ran into a familiar but very unwelcome relative.
"Hello son," greeted an all too familiar voice. "Happy birthday! I got you a present." Kai slapped a poorly wrapped package into his son's hands. In a split-second Kai received a defensive growl from Scout followed by an attempted bite. Danny stared blankly into his hopeless father's face, and Kai must've thought he'd actually made some progress because a very bizarre grin was beginning to form on his dark face, but Danny quickly shattered that thought.
"Do you honestly think that you can buy my affections?" Danny sarcastically replied while he neared his house. "I won't fall for your goody-goody talk that way...or any other way for that matter so why don't you just give it up?!" And with all that said and done Danny angrily threw the package to the rigid ground and slammed the front door to his house in his father's face.
"Still resisting, eh?" Kai questioned himself. "Well you just wait and see... I'll never give it up!"
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Heheh, Kai just gets even more evil as you go, huh? Well thanks so much for reading and please review. Later!
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Chapter Eight-Danny's Birthday
"Danny!" Nikki shouted in her sleeping cousin's ear. "Wake up!"
"What?" Danny replied jumping out of bed oblivious to the date. "What happened? Did someone die?" Nikki giggled gleefully at his unusual reaction.
"Of course not. It's Spring 15th, your birthday." For a few seconds Danny gave his cousin a baffled expression, but then it dawned on him what day it was and a smug grin spread across his face.
"Oh, that's right. I'm eight today." Suddenly Danny realized that he was still in his pajamas so he quickly kicked Nikki out and began to get ready for school. He made sure that he wore his favorite outfit.
"Come on, Danny. We're going to be-" Nikki halted abruptly smack in the middle of her sentence. Danny's sharp intuition told him right away that Aaron was around. He quickly abandoned his unsuccessful effort to comb his unmanageable hair. His pink hair, unlike many others' in the village, just remained in stubborn clumps.
Once again Danny's tuition ceased to fail him for sure enough there was the presumptuous Aaron coming down the lane. This time Danny decided to get way ahead of the two lovebirds since witnessing their petty run-ins was beginning to irritate him. So with an annoyed expression on his gaunt face, he walked straight past Aaron barely avoiding a 'bumping-into' incident.
"What's up with him?" Aaron questioned Nikki with slight grimace.
"Oh, it's his birthday," Nikki replied at the moment oblivious to what she'd say next. Aaron gave her a baffled expression. "Uh, that is...he's eight. You know, people get grouchy when they turn eight." Nikki's hand instantly flew to cover her mouth, for she realized that what she had just said unintentionally applied to Aaron, who was also eight. "I mean, that is- " Aaron was quick to stop her.
"I understand. He's a little zoned out since it's his birthday."
"Right," Nikki replied blushing wildly.
Danny's mood brightened the farther away he got from Nikki and Aaron's scene, and by the time he reached the church, he was as happy as a lark.
Miss Dalton's patience was wearing thin due to the fact that Nikki and Aaron were about thirty seconds late and counting. Miss Dalton could outdo anyone, even Nikki, when it came to being meticulous. She continuously glanced at her watch impatiently. Nikki's really going to get it, Danny thought to himself. Finally Nikki and Aaron burst through the door out of breath.
"Aaron! Nikki! You are precisely," Miss Dalton took a brief glance at her watch, "53.6 seconds late for class!" A coy snicker fluttered across the classroom, but it abruptly stopped when Miss Dalton shot her class an indignant glare. "Go to the corner immediately!" Then as if nothing had happened, Miss Dalton continued with the usual lesson.
"Miss Dalton," Nikki added from the corner, "it's Danny's birthday." Miss Dalton's usually blank expression transformed to a warm and happy one.
"Well class, shall we have Nikki lead in a classic version of Happy Birthday?" Nikki gave her cousin a sly look as she led the singing, for she knew what her statement had triggered. Danny sheepishly sank in his seat with an embarrassed expression on his red face. Once the song was finished Miss Dalton's expression, as well as her harsh tone of voice, returned to normal. "Now no dawdling, class! Get to work!" Once Nikki was out of the corner, Danny made sure to keep an eye on her and made sure she didn't get into anymore trouble despite the embarrassment she caused him.
The rest of the school day passed rather pleasantly, other than the fact that Aaron got sent to the corner a second time for menacingly throwing paper airplanes at Michelle and Emily. After school was out, Danny anxiously raced home due to the anticipation of awaiting his birthday party.
He ran into the house to find that his chocolate, birthday cake was already on the table. Suddenly Karen walked into the kitchen to find her nephew staring euphorically at his cake.
"Now hold on there, birthday boy," she acknowledged him gesturing to playfully push him away from the cake. He played along by nodding his head eagerly. "We'll have to wait until your cousin gets home." Danny responded by plopping into the chair nearest to the cake. Luckily it wasn't long before Nikki came bursting through the door, but she exited almost the instant she entered to check on the chickens. Danny rolled his eyes, sighed, and impatiently rallied everyone into the kitchen. He was delighted when his party finally began, but every good thing has its flaws and once again Danny had to endure another enthusiastic round of Happy Birthday. He was greatly relieved when it was time to open his present.
Danny sat eagerly anxiously tapping his fingers on the table when Rick set a strange package in front of him. Danny saw that there were tiny holes punched into the sides of the package. He rapidly tore the elaborate wrapping off and opened the box to find a small, brown puppy nervously cowering in the corner. He lifted it out of the box and calmed it down.
"Thanks a lot everyone!" Danny expressed with an exuberant smile on his face. "Thanks so much!"
"Well," Karen began, "Barley's dog, Hanna, had another litter so we took advantage of the opportunity." The small puppy happily licked Danny's face.
"He's very friendly. I think I'll name him Scout. Can I take him for a walk, Aunt Karen?" She instantly nodded as Danny raced through the door.
As he made his way past the library he noticed that Michelle was walking towards him.
"Hi Danny!" she cheerfully greeted. "What you got there?" She pointed to the puppy trembling between Danny's feet.
"Oh, this is my birthday present, Scout. You can pet him if you like." Michelle took Danny up on the offer and softly petted Scout, which calmed him down a little. Her pale face brightened flamboyantly with a warm smile and she began to blush.
"He's so cute! Is he from Barley's litter?"
"Uh huh."
"How neat... Um, well happy birthday... This is for you." She gently placed a book in Danny's hands and sheepishly ran into the library. He brushed a thin layer of dust off the cover, which revealed the title, Aesop's Fables. He grinned as he tucked the book under his arm and continued on his way through town.
Scout remained well behaved throughout the rest of the walk until Danny ran into a familiar but very unwelcome relative.
"Hello son," greeted an all too familiar voice. "Happy birthday! I got you a present." Kai slapped a poorly wrapped package into his son's hands. In a split-second Kai received a defensive growl from Scout followed by an attempted bite. Danny stared blankly into his hopeless father's face, and Kai must've thought he'd actually made some progress because a very bizarre grin was beginning to form on his dark face, but Danny quickly shattered that thought.
"Do you honestly think that you can buy my affections?" Danny sarcastically replied while he neared his house. "I won't fall for your goody-goody talk that way...or any other way for that matter so why don't you just give it up?!" And with all that said and done Danny angrily threw the package to the rigid ground and slammed the front door to his house in his father's face.
"Still resisting, eh?" Kai questioned himself. "Well you just wait and see... I'll never give it up!"
----
Heheh, Kai just gets even more evil as you go, huh? Well thanks so much for reading and please review. Later!