Chapter 2

Present Day

"Miss, would you like some water or soda?" The stewardess asked Sam, waking her up gently.

"No, but I'd be glad if you had tea." Sam smiled, sitting up straight on her first class chair.

"Of course, I'll be right back."

Sam sighed and stood up, walking to the bathroom. She hated airplane's bathroom, but she couldn't help herself, being in the air always made her feel sick, especially after her last trip. She still remembered how sick she felt back then, she barely got out of the bathroom the whole trip and it was about three hours.

Her father had died. She was going back to Amity Park to say her final goodbyes. It wasn't like that she had hoped she would go back. When she left she imagined herself returning there to show him that she had actually made it on her own, that she didn't need him or his money. But now everything had changed.

And what about her friends? Had they changed? Had Danny gotten married to Valerie? Was Tucker still going out with Star? Whatever happened to them, Sam was sure they weren't missing her. Danny wouldn't miss her after their fight. Sam felt herself growing cold just by the memory of that faithful day.

She was breathing shortly and quickly when she knocked on Danny's door. She was so nervous she even forgot how to breathe right. Only to make it worse Valerie was the one who answered the door.

"What are you doing here?" Valerie asked.

"Guess." Sam replied.

It was obvious to everyone that both girls couldn't stand each other, but they tried their best to be civil because they had Danny in common. They couldn't fight each other and expect Danny to be okay with it.

"Danny!" Valerie called, opening the door for Sam to go inside. "Sam is here."

"Coming!" Danny called from his room.

Sam felt the nervousness coming back to her. She had some bad news for him and she couldn't say them in front of Valerie. Actually, it would be better if Valerie was as far away as possible.

Danny came down the stairs and said 'hi' to her, not daring hug or kiss her in front of his girlfriend. Sam hated how their relationship seemed to be based on not making each other jealous, even for the smallest things.

"Danny, I have to talk to you, it's very important." She said, quickly, Danny immediately understood that she was near panic.

"Well, just say it." He said, confused. Sam remained silent, looking at him, indicating Valerie standing there. "Sam, you're freaking me out."

"I'll tell you in private." She insisted.

"I'm not going anywhere." Valerie put her hands on her hips. "Danny and I have no secrets."

"Danny, please." Sam insisted.

"Well," He seemed to think about it for a moment. "I'm sorry, Sam, but whatever you have to tell me, you'll have to do it in front of Valerie."

"I can't!" Sam said, pleading him silently to do as she said.

"I'm sorry." Danny kept his word and Valerie sat on the sofa, watching them quietly.

"Danny, I'm your best friend!" Sam yelled, feeling her eyes filling up with tears. She had never cried in front of him, she never showed her weakness to anyone.

"Well, Valerie is my girlfriend!" He insisted. "Sam, you can tell me." He tried to calm her down, seeing that she was desperate. He wanted badly to hug her at that moment, but he couldn't.

It was when lost her mind completely.

"Danny, you have to make a choice right now." She said seriously. Danny looked down at her, terrified. "Me or Valerie?" She kept her eyes on his, noticing that Valerie had stood up in surprise, waiting for his answer, too.

Danny found himself in panic. He didn't understand Sam's question. Was she saying that she wanted him? Was she so jealous that she was trying to break him and Valerie? He suddenly felt furious. What was Sam playing at? She had never liked Valerie; of course she'd try to make them break up.

"Valerie." He answered, not blinking. His face hardened and Sam could see that he was angry so angry that his eyes had flashed green for a second or two.

"I'd expected that." Sam whispered, turning around and leaving the house, leaving both Danny and Valerie completely confused.

"Wait, Sam!" Danny had running after her, but when he got on the street he saw that she had entered her convertible vehicle that was full of bags. Sam didn't look back at him. She stepped on the gas and sped up, disappearing completely of Amity Park.

Sam couldn't believe she was actually going back, back to face it all again.

Five Years Ago

It had snowed on Christmas day. Sam had alone on her house when she woke up. Her parents had traveled for a party in Brussels and weren't coming back until New Year's Eve. She was in the kitchen pouring herself some eggnog when a very happy Halfa showed up, bringing her present.

"Merry Christmas!" He said, hugging her when she less expected it. She dropped the eggnog all over her pajamas. "Sorry." He laughed. "Looks like you won't spend the day in pajamas this Christmas."

"Yeah…" Sam pouted, pretending to be hurt. "You ruined it."

"Don't make that face!" He laughed. "Or I won't give your present."

"Ok!" She cheered up quickly. "I'm going to change and I'll be right back!"

Fifteen minutes later she came down the stairs wearing a long skirt and a sweater. Danny was sitting on the stairs with his back to her when she jumped on him.

"I want my present now!"

"Fine, fine!" He said, managing to get the crazy girl off him before he suffocated. "Here it is." He said, handing her the small box.

"Thank you!" She smiled, kissing his cheek. "I bought you something, too. Don't tell my parents." She put a larger box in front of him.

They sat down grinning at each other as they ripped the wrappings and saw what was inside. Danny got a watch, with silver and gold in the center forming the numbers and the pointers.

"Gosh, Sam, that must have been expensive!" He said, looking at the watch closely.

"It wasn't that expensive." Sam laughed. "My mother bought me a diamond necklace, but since I wasn't going to use it, I returned it to the store and got something cheaper for me and got that watch for you."

Sam saw that her present was a golden bracelet with her name on it, gasping by the sight of it. She had never gotten a jewel from Danny before.

"Well, by your silence, I guess you like it." Danny grinned.

"I love it!" Sam squeaked like one of those prep girls she hated involuntary. She took it from the box and tried to put it on, but she couldn't close it with her left hand so Danny gave her a little help. "It looks amazing."

"I guessed you'd like it." Danny smiled. "It made my choices in presents much easier since you decided to light up your gothic thing."

"I'm still a Goth!" She remembered him. "Let's go to the kitchen, I still haven't eaten anything."

"I want some of your magical eggnog." Danny said, standing up.

"Magical?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, it's so sweet that at each sip you gain three pounds magically."

"That must have been the worse commentary I've ever heard!"

"Sam…" Danny looked at her, becoming serious as she poured him some eggnog. She looked up, smiling, only to see how serious he looked.

"What is it?" She asked.

"I'm going out with Valerie."

Nothing.

Sam dropped her mug on the ground, breaking the silence.

"Oh!" She said, picking some napkins to clean the mess. She didn't say anything else. She tried to use these feel seconds to figure out an answer, but her brain was completely blank. Before she could stop herself she was wearing the friendship mask. "That's great! How did you manage to make her say 'yes'?"

"I guess she liked me for a while, too." He tried to look over the table, to the ground where Sam was hiding herself.

"That's wonderful!"

"Sam, come out from under there. I want to look at you." Danny said, he feared she was annoyed, because he knew how much Sam hated Valerie, maybe as much as she hated Paulina.

Sam sighed and put the pieces of mug on the table, before standing and leaning towards Danny with a big smile that made her heart bleed.

"I'm happy for you." She said, sounding sincere, even though she was lying.

"Are you sure?" He asked again, suspiciously.

"I am." Sam smiled, picking the glass and the wet napkins and throwing them at the garbage. "So, would you like to go out for some fun on the snow?"

"Sure, why not?" He grinned at her, believing that everything was all right.

Present Day

Sam crossed the airport after checking herself in the country, getting her small bag and going out, looking for a taxi.

"To Amity Park cemetery, please." She said, opening her purse and grabbing a mirror, checking if the circles under her eyes weren't visible. She looked at the time; her watch was on her right wrist with the bracelet she had never taken out. She was late for the funeral in her house, maybe she'd be able to arrive in time at the cemetery.

Her eyes were red. She covered them up with sunglasses, even though it wasn't a sunny day. She looked out of the window, seeing the familiar views. The buildings looked the same, some houses had been painted and others seemed to rot quicker than usual.

She sighed when the taxi stopped in front of the cemetery. She paid the driver and looked over the green field, seeing a large reunion of people wearing black, all of them had their backs turned to her so they didn't see her arriving.

Crossing the field over the other tombs, Sam saw her mother, wearing red and sitting on a chair in the first line. She had an empty seat by her side, which Sam thought was reserved for her. Her heart was heavy, but Sam learned how to control her feelings so that they wouldn't surface on her features.

Her face was normal, as if she was walking on the street doing nothing in particular. Her black dress and high heels were modest and she hoped nobody would recognize her. When she got closer of the group, she saw Danny standing there with his family. Tucker was nowhere to be seen and neither was Valerie or Star.

Some people looked up when they heard her arriving. She saw her uncle and aunt and they recognized her immediately. Her aunt tapped her mother's shoulder gently, making her turn around anxiously. When she did that, lots of people followed her eyes and saw Sam, too, adding one plus one and realizing who she was.

Danny gasped when he saw her. Sam completely ignored him, noticing that Jazz was holding him by his shoulder so that he wouldn't run at her. Sam walked to her mother when people freed the way for her.

Mrs. Manson stood up, sobbing in a mix of happiness for seeing her daughter again and dread for the situation they were in. She opened her arms and Sam walked faster, burying herself in her mother's welcoming arms.

"Oh, my baby girl." Mrs. Manson said, crying on her daughter's shoulder. "Your father, he regretted so much what happened."

"Don't worry, mom." Sam whispered, caressing her back, trying to calm her down. "We'll talk later, okay?" Sam couldn't believe that she was being more mature than her mother. She had never comforted her mother, it was weird.

Both daughter and mother sat up and watched the rest of the burial holding each other's hand tightly, remembering who they were.

It didn't take long to people start standing up and going away. Danny watched Sam as if he was enchanted. He couldn't believe how much she had matured. She was looking like a woman, she was standing and acting like a woman. He reminded himself that she was still a girl; she was only twenty two, the same age as he was.

He didn't know what had happened to her these five years she had gone away, what she had done, where she worked, if she had gone to college, if she had found a boyfriend. She could even be married for all he knew. He heard someone yelling and looked up to see Mr. Manson's brother looking at Sam really pissed off.

"How could you leave, knowing his condition? Worse, how dare you come back here?" He yelled, making people look at them. Mrs. Manson tried to get in the way, but it was the man's wife who was able to hold him back and drag him out of the cemetery.

"Sam, don't listen to him, he doesn't know what happened." Mrs. Manson said. Sam had her back turned to Danny, but he could see when she lifted up her hands to dry her tears.

Whatever that man had said, had broken Sam in a way Danny had never seen before. He desperately wanted to go to her and hug her, saying that he was sorry for their stupid fight and that he'd never let her go again.

Truth be told, when Sam went away, Danny thought she wasn't going for real. He reasoned that she might be gone for a week or two because sooner or later she'd need money, a place to stay and of course, she'd have to finish high school. He really imagined her knocking on his door and throwing herself in his arms saying that she was sorry. But the first week passed, and then the second.

He had looked for her everywhere he thought possible, looking on near cities on hotels, on her credit card account on the internet, but he hadn't found anything. In the first six months he hadn't given up, but when time passed and she hadn't returned, he realized he had lost her for good. And all that time he had thought it was because of a silly answer to her question.

Now he realized there was a deeper reason for her to disappear. She had fought with her family. Her uncles and cousins seemed to hate her. Only few friends were treating her decently; her mother was being so gentle to her that Danny thought she was a different woman.

His family walked in Sam's direction, hugging her and her mother. Danny sighed when it was inevitable to talk to Sam. He held her tightly. She was completely hiding herself under her sunglasses. Sam didn't hug him back as enthusiastically as she normally would, just politely stepped away from him.

"My condolences, Sam." He said, not knowing what else to say. It had been five years since he had seen her and the first line that came out of his mouth was that one.

"Thanks, Danny." She said, quietly, turning away from him to hug Jazz, who seemed to get a warmer embrace than he had.

She still hadn't forgiven him.

Hi! Well, I bet it'll get confusing from now on, but you'll enjoy the little mistery I've prepared. Don't forget to make an author happy, leave a review and I'll love you forever :)