Chapter 3
One Year Ago
Sam was sitting on her bedroom, holding her pillow and crying desperately. It was raining outside and she wished very hard that one ray would fall on her heard. She was starting to run out of breathe when she decided that she couldn't go on like that.
She screamed on top of her lungs, not caring what her neighbors would think. She was in pain and that felt never-ending. It was like she'd have to live with that pain for the rest of her days.
Her head was pounding painfully like she had hit it repeatedly against the wall. Maybe she had, she didn't remember anything. She wanted badly to erase him of her mind, but it was impossible. She was going to burn his pictures, but that wouldn't help.
She had tried everything already. She tried to drink herself to unconscious, she had taken four sleeping pills after that, but the only thing that happened was waking up twenty three hours later with the same pain.
Standing up on her weak legs, she managed to walk into the bathroom, leaning on everything she could reach. She found a razor behind her medicine. With a heavy heart, she walked back to her bed. If only she could stop crying for a minute and start actually thinking, but it was impossible.
She bit her lip open as she slit her left wrist. The blood pooled out deep red and dense, dripping on the floor like an opened faucet. Sam leaned on her pillow, feeling tired. By the time she fell asleep, she was still crying.
Present Day
Sam woke up on her old bed at three in the afternoon. Her mother had brought her straight home and prepared her bed, saying that Sam should get some sleep and that they would talk later.
She smelled pancakes and orange cream and couldn't help a smile. She had missed her mother's food, there is, when she cooked. She stood up and out of curiosity, opened her wardrobe. The clothes she had left were still there together with some flowery dresses she had never seen before. She saw a small summer dress that wasn't pink nor had flowers in it and decided to try it on.
It was tight on the chest, as she expected it to be. It wasn't very uncomfortable, so she decided to wear that anyway and make her mother happy. She checked her left wrist, making sure her watch would cover the scar.
She climbed down the stairs, remembering the all the details and memories that had been shut down somewhere in her brain. It had been long since she felt home and completely forgetting the sad events that made her come back; she was enjoying the visit as much as she could.
"I smell pancakes…" She said, entering the kitchen, seeing her mother finishing to put the last one on a plate. Sam suddenly felt like she couldn't get enough of hugging her mother, she smiled and embraced the woman she had liked to pest so much.
"Honey, you have no idea how much I missed you." Mrs. Manson said, kissing her daughter's forehead.
They sat together at the kitchen table. Mrs. Manson took out her apron, watching as Sam helped herself of her favorite food.
"So…" Mrs. Manson started, a bit uncomfortably and Sam went rigid, already knowing what she was going to ask. "Why didn't you bring-"
"Don't." Sam said quickly, cutting her mother before she could ask anymore questions. "I'm trying not to think about it."
Mrs. Manson's eyes widened up, her mouth hanging open in a sad surprise.
"How have you been?" Sam asked, pouring herself some orange juice.
"As good as it was possible." Mrs. Manson sighed, trying to not show Sam how shocked she was from the news. "Your father had been in bed the last six months and I was taking care of him because the nurses pissed me off." She tried to joke.
"Six months in bed?" Sam repeated. "Sounds like hell."
"Ironically, it wasn't the cancer that killed him, but a stroke." Mrs. Manson said not dropping one single tear; it seemed she had dried her eyes off.
"Our family is full or ironies." Sam said. "Grandma ended in the hospital because of her diabetes and died without any sugar on her body."
Both women stared at each other in silence for long minutes before Sam broke down completely. She leaned over her mother, hugging her tightly.
"I'm so tired of funerals!"
Five Years Ago
Danny had no idea why Sam had skipped school that day so he decided to pay her a visit when the class ended. He stopped at the Nasty Burger and bought two strawberry Sundays, her favorite, and resumed his walk to her house.
He knocked but nobody answered. He tried the handle and the door opened. He had his free way to her room so he didn't waste his change to talk to her without her parents making faces at him. He climbed up the stair and saw her bedroom door opened and the lights were on.
"Hey, Sam, I got you ice cream!" He walked inside cheerfully, but both ice creams ended on the floor when he saw her.
Sam was wearing just a towel and it dropped when she jumped in surprise when she heard him.
They stared at each other, embarrassedly for what seemed centuries. They didn't dare move. Danny saw everything and he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Sam was beautiful.
Sam, in the other hand, quickly looked away from him and picked her tower up, covering herself.
"Danny, please knock before coming into my room." She said.
Danny was confused by the fact that she didn't seem to be angry at him and she hadn't told him to go away, either. He watched her as she turned away from him, picked her panties and bra and put them on without dropping her tower with an amazing skill.
Danny tried to not blush, but he was really annoyed that she didn't mind him seeing her. Did that mean he wasn't a 'threat'? That he wasn't male enough so that she didn't mind him seeing her?
"Looks like the ice creams are ruined." He said.
"We can always go out and get more." She smiled at him, putting on a skirt and a shirt quickly. "Just wait a minute, I'm almost finished."
"No problem, by the way, why didn't you go to school?" Danny asked, sitting on her bed.
"Nobody woke me up, I just slept in." She explained. "I wonder where everyone is."
"Well, wherever they are they didn't mind locking the door." Danny said. "But I guess they just went out looking for a new convertible or something."
"You really know my parents, don't you?" Sam grinned, finishing her hair. "Ok, I'm ready."
"Sam…" Danny started, gulping when he saw that she was looking at him. "You didn't mind?"
"Mind what?" she half laughed.
"Me? Seeing you?" He tried, feeling his face burning.
"Of course not, silly." She laughed; sitting down next to him and hugging him. "You're my best friend. I trust you." And she finally let go hitting his arm playfully "Besides, if you've seen it before you're not surprised and if you haven't you don't know what it is."
Danny laughed, too and they went together to the Nasty Burger to get new ice creams. Danny thought that her logic was a bit twisted, he had seen a naked girl before, but he was still surprised, but he wasn't going to tell her.
Present Day
Danny stood in front of Sam's house, thinking very hard if he should or shouldn't knock. He wanted to talk to her, to hug her and say he was sorry for the stupid fight. He wanted to know how she was doing. But it was ridiculous to call her for a walk on the day she buried her father.
He thought of returning the next day, Jazz suggested waiting for about a week to talk to her, but he couldn't wait that long. What if Sam wasn't back to stay? What if she went away the first thing in the morning? Danny couldn't let her go away again without talking to her properly, without hearing the reason why she decided to go.
He held his breathe and knocked.
Someone walked towards the door and opened it slightly. Danny saw Sam's surprised face when she saw him. He worked on a smile, not a very enthusiastically one, and said what he always said when he saw her.
"Hey, Sam."
"Danny… I wasn't expecting you." She said, not stepping away from the door.
"I know it's not the best timing, but I'd like to talk to you." He said in a small voice.
"Uh… sure." She said, very confused. She turned away from him and called her mother "Mom, I'm going out for a while. Do you need anything?" Danny heard Mrs. Manson saying that she was fine and so Sam closed the door and climbed down the porch, standing next to him. "Do you mind if we take a walk?"
"I was hoping for the same thing." He grinned, putting a hand on the small of her back. "Let's go to the park."
"Sure." She agreed, after a long moment of hesitation.
They walked side by side for long minutes and Danny realized she wasn't going to start any conversation so it was up to him. He wished she hadn't grown so cold and distant. He really missed her, the old Sam he used to hang out with.
"So… how have you been?" He tried.
"All right, I guess." She sighed. "You?"
"Pretty much the same since you left." He replied quietly. The uncomfortable silence threatened to return, but he wouldn't allow it. "Have you finished high school?"
"Yes, it took me one summer studding, but I finished it with high scores." She smiled at him. "Have you gone to college?"
"Yes, I studied astronomy and I have this part time job on the observatory." He finally felt like they were getting used to each other again. It was weird trying to know your best friend all over again. "Have you?"
"Yes. I studied Publicity and now I work as an editor in a Magazine." She smiled, seeing Danny's surprise.
"Do you like it?" He asked.
"Yes, it's very rewarding." She replied. "Do you want to walk by Tucker's house and call him to walk with us?" She asked, remembering how easy it was to be around Danny.
"Tucker…" Danny laughed silently. "That old dog." He put his hands on his pockets. "Tucker is on his honeymoon."
"What?" Sam's eyes widened and her jaw hit dirt. She couldn't help but laugh, too, stopping in the middle of the sideway, making Danny look at her in the eyes. She had to know it wasn't a joke. "Tucker got married? You're kidding right?"
"Nope, I'm not." Danny laughed. "He married Star last week. They're somewhere in England."
"STAR?" Sam cried out in a happy surprise. "I can't believe it!"
"Neither can I." He replied, his laughter subsiding. "It's weird to see Tucker as a married man."
"Really, I wasn't expecting that." Sam said, resuming their walk.
"He didn't send you an invitation because he didn't know where to find you." Danny explained. "He really wanted you to be there as a bridesmaid."
"Well, looks like I'll have to send my apologies to him when he returns."
"You haven't, right?" Danny asked, suddenly feeling his heart drop.
"What? Gotten married?" Sam half laughed, seeing Danny nodding. "No, of course not. You know how much I hate social conventions such as marriage."
"But you're not alone are you?" Danny insisted.
"Yes, I am. I'm a completely independent business woman." She grinned.
"You never got a boyfriend?"
"I don't have time for relationships." Sam explained, wanting to end the questions about her love life that instant. "What about you? Are you still with Valerie?"
"No, we broke up two weeks after you left." Danny said, quietly, kicking a rock out of the way.
"Oh, I'm sorry." Sam said, but indeed, she wasn't sorry at all. "Do you mind me asking why?"
"That's fine. She got angry because I was looking for you." He explained. Sam frowned, as if she was thinking very hard about something, but she didn't interrupt him. "She was the jealous type and couldn't get over the fact that I still thought you would come back." Danny sighed. "But it was a long time ago. We finished high school, we went to college and I never saw her again."
"Are you over her?" Sam asked.
"Of course I am, I dated other girls after we broke up, but I think I never found the right one." He smiled. "Now I'm single."
"Life is weird." Sam said to herself out loud. "Are you still living with your parents?"
"Yes. I can't leave the Ghost Portal and move away, besides the lab is the best place to test my powers."
"Have you improved?" Sam asked.
"You'd be surprised. I can duplicate."
"Great. And the Ghostly Wail?"
"I can control it just fine, though it is hard to use it and keep the town in one piece."
Sam smirked at him. He was her Danny still. He hadn't changed a bit. She looked at his face noticing that now he looked like a man, he was taller than she was and had some sexy atmosphere around him. Danny looked down and saw her staring at him.
"What?" He grinned.
"You're shaving." She smiled, reaching up and touching his cheeks. "It's so weird to see you all grown up."
"You grew up, too." He smirked, looking down at her tight dress.
"Oh, I see you still like to embarrass me." Sam blushed, covering her chest.
"Sorry, old habits die hard." He said, putting one comforting arm around her shoulders. He noticed on her right wrist the bracelet he had given her and smiled, happy that she hadn't forgotten him. "Where are you living now?"
"Uh," Sam remained in silence for a long time. Should she tell him? Would he go look for her? "Canada."
"I didn't imagine you'd leave the country." Danny looked slightly surprised. "That's why I didn't find you."
"I didn't want to be found." She answered simply.
"Why not, Sam?" Danny asked, frustrated. They had just crossed the Park's gates and were heading for the lake. When Sam didn't answer him, he bent down and grabbed a small rock, throwing it in the water. He sighed. She wasn't going to tell him the reason. "How did you manage to live? Have you worked somewhere before going to college?"
"It's not a very pleasant story." She said, sitting down under a tree, watching Danny as he threw rocks on the water.
"I want to hear it. I want to know what happened to you." He sat down by her side, grasping her hand. "Whatever happened I'm here for you now."
"When I decided to leave Amity Park I closed my account on the bank, got all the money in cash I could and drove until I reached New York." She started telling him, sighing in frustration. She didn't want to tell her misfortunes to no one, but Danny was the only best friend she had ever had and somehow she felt she owed him the truth… or part of it.
"I looked there, too." Danny sighed.
"Anyway, I spent three days there; I sold my car and bought tickets for a flight to Canada." She said. "I managed to buy a small apartment in a small town near Toronto, but after that I was left with no money." She looked down at their joined hands. "I did something crazy…" Danny wasn't looking at her, but he tightened his grip on her hand to show her he was there. "I stripped once, got the money and never returned to that club. After that I got a part time job as a waitress… the stupid uniform was pink!"
Danny didn't laugh. He was looking at the lake so serious that it frightened Sam. She stopped speaking for a while, waiting for him to say something.
"And after that?"
"I finished high school and got into the university. The university was near my town so I didn't have to move again. It was really hard to make friends, but in the end I met one girl that helped me a lot. Unfortunately after the classes were over she moved away to work in Europe and I was left alone again."
"Have you always been alone?" He asked. "Nobody helped you?"
"I'm used being alone, Danny." Sam sighed. "Even here I was mostly on my own. You and Tucker were great friends, but you couldn't be there for me 24-7." She explained, as if it was obvious. "Anyway, I got that job in the magazine, got a bigger apartment and I'm really good. Life is smiling at me." She finished her tale, with a happy smile.
"Are you happy?" He asked, quietly.
"I can't say that." Sam sighed. "I have my happy moments, but they don't last forever, right? That's normal, I guess."
"What happened that you had to go away? Was it that bad that you couldn't stay and get help?"
"It was impossible." Sam said.
"Sam…" Danny pressed on, turning to look into her eyes. Sam held her breathe. "What would have happened if I had chosen you instead of Valerie?"
There you go, another chapter
I'm so sorry I took so long to update! I'm finally working on my final project to graduate and never return to college again (ok, I might… so I can get a PhD, lol). I'm so clumsy in that university and I have to tell you what happened to me last week. In the campus there are five huge buildings, two of them which Film students (me!) have classes in. I had a project to show my teacher on building #5 with a friend (who was having class on building #1, which is also a museum) and the teacher gave me 5 minutes to find her and bring her to the classroom or he would fail us both! I ran through the buildings like crazy and climbed about 5 thousand steps (I'm not kidding!) to find her and when I was already on building #1 I decided to take a shortcut through the museum (which was closed because it was about 7am)… it was completely dark and I almost decided against going in there, but I had only 2 min left! I saw a light in the end of the museum (which is where the classrooms are) and ran for it, I ran and ran and bang! I hit my head straight in the wall! I fell backwards with a huge bruise on my forehead! Instead of thinking I might have a concussion (or that I might have ruined an artwork), I thought 'OMG! I need to find my friend!' and ran again. I found her and brought her to the classroom… while I was talking about my project in the front of the whole class everything started to spin and when I looked up I saw how swollen my forehead was… I understood at that moment why everybody was looking at me worriedly. As soon as I finished speaking my teacher said 'ok, now please someone take her to the nursery.' I spent the rest of my day there… and ouch, it still hurts.
