Thanks for the reviews guys! Here's Chapter 3 (yay for Buddy and Dana goodness!)

These Are the Days
Chapter 3: Learning By Ear

"Buddy."

Buddy turned to see Dana standing there, smiling at him. He returned the gesture and started to walk toward her.

"Buddy…"

His eyebrows furrowed. He was right there in front of her, yet she sounded like she was calling him from far away. Did she not see him?

"BUDDY!"

His eyes shot open and he found not the blonde waves that belonged to Dana in front of him, but the chestnut/auburn locks of his stepsister, Lindsey, hanging over him. He got up off the couch, and irritated yet again, growled, "What?"

"Natalie wants you to help set the table," Lindsey said, simply. Buddy looked up at her and realized something was different about her… for once, her face wasn't contorted into a scowl.

"Did you have fun on your date?" Buddy inquired.

Lindsey's cheeks began to color. "It wasn't a date, how many times do I have to tell you?"

But she was smiling. Buddy took that as a yes to his question.

"Whatever you say, Lindsey," Buddy said, rising to a standing position. "I'm going to go help Mom now."

After dinner, Buddy was sitting around on the Internet when a random IM screen popped up.

DanaGirl13: Hi :)

Buddy smiled and typed a reply back.

buddyb345: Hey you. How goes it?
DanaGirl13: I'm doing okay. Just feeling a little dizzy.
buddyb345: Are you okay?
DanaGirl13: Yeah. I think I just need to go take my insulin shot. Hold on.
buddyb345: Okay. Hope it makes you feel better.

Auto response from DanaGirl13: Poking myself with sharp things; I'll be back in a jiffy!

Buddy frowned, wondering what it was like to have to give yourself shots every day. Someone as beautiful and wonderful as Dana shouldn't have to go through that every day, he thought. He then remembered one of his old baby-sitters, Stacey McGill, who had the same condition that Dana did. There were times when she would get sick and have to go to the hospital; Buddy wished that nothing like that would happen to Dana.

"Hey Buddy! I've been trying to get your attention for like two minutes now!" a voice yelled. Startled, Buddy turned around and found his stepbrother Taylor there.

"Hey man, what's up?" Buddy asked, shifting in his seat.

Taylor asked, "You think I can use that when you're done?"

Buddy exhaled, ran a hand through his hair, and nodded. "Yeah. But it'll be a bit."

"Why? What are you up to?"

Just like Lindsey earlier, Buddy said nothing but the color of his cheeks gave it away. "What?" Taylor prodded.

"I… I'mtryingtoaskagirlout," was what came out. Taylor nodded. "I see. Well, dude, I would love to let you be, but unfortunately, Dad's forcing me to finish this project that I promised him I would do." He gave Buddy an apologetic smile, and Buddy's face fell.

"Are you sure you can't ask him to just wait?"

"Dude, I tried. Do you think I want to be here? But no, he insisted that it has to be done tonight. Some kind of thing for his work or something." Taylor sighed. "Well think of it this way. You can always call her and instead of just watching her type, you can hear her beautiful voice and all that good stuff."

Buddy grinned. His brother did have a point.

Taylor chuckled and said, "Man, you've got it bad. Now hurry up and say bye to lovergirl so I can finish this up for Dad."

Buddy, still thinking about Dana, nodded vaguely and turned to the screen, where the IM window was now flashing.

DanaGirl13: Okay, I'm back!
DanaGirl13: Hello?
buddyb345: Hey, sorry about that. My brother was talking to me about something.
DanaGirl13: Oh, okay. I feel a lot better now.
buddyb345: Good. Hey… I hate to cut this short, but I have to go now. My brother needs to use the computer.
DanaGirl13: Oh… well, alright. I guess I'll talk to you later then.
buddyb345: Okay. grins It may be sooner than you think. Bye Dana!
DanaGirl13: Bye! :)

buddyb345 signed off at 7:36:42 PM

"There you go, Taylor," Buddy said, getting up and offering the seat to his brother.

"Thanks, dude," Taylor replied, sitting in the seat. "Good luck with…" He trailed off, apparently not knowing the name of the girl Buddy was enamored with.

"Her name's Dana," Buddy told him.

"Okay," Taylor said, nodding but half-listening.

In the same daze, Buddy made his way upstairs to try and get the phone, not realizing that he lived with a thirteen-year-old girl. So when he got to the unit on the wall and found it gone, he panicked, until he saw Lindsey sitting on her bed, her feet up, talking to someone.

"So like, when we were waiting for his mom to pick us up, he said to me, 'I really like you, Lindsey, and I don't know why, because I've only known you for about a week. But you're my kind of girl.' And then he kissed me. He kissed me, Dri, can you believe it?"

Buddy's jaw dropped and he was torn painfully from his dream state. And she said it wasn't a date…

"Oh, you have to go? Okay. I might go online later, so maybe I'll see you then. Bye, Dri! Thanks for listening to me." She hung up the phone and lay back happily. Buddy took this as his cue to knock on the door.

"Yeah?"

"Hey Lindsey, can I use the phone?"

She shrugged. "Sure. Catch." She pitched the cordless set to her brother, who caught it. "Thanks."

"No problem." He went across the hall to his own room, where he pondered, I kind of like this Lindsey better than the annoying mean Lindsey… but I can't believe Linny kissed her! Wait until I get my hands on that guy.

Buddy was thankful for this distraction because after he remembered why he had the phone, he got nervous all over again. "I'm calling a girl," he said to himself, out loud. He took deep breaths to calm himself. Buddy, it will be okay. Just do it!

Quickly, before he could change his mind, Buddy dialed the number after Dana's name on the info list Firecracker had made up that day. It's ringing… oh gosh… hang up now!

"Hello?"

Buddy tried to open his mouth to talk, but nothing was happening. He looked like a fish with the way his mouth opened and closed.

"Hello?" the voice repeated. And Buddy realized that it wasn't Dana.

"Uh… hi, is this Dana? I mean, no, it's not Dana, it's Buddy…"

ARGH! Just say it, Buddy!

"Um… can I talk to Dana?" he finally managed to spit out.

"Who is this?" the voice inquired.

"Buddy Barrett," he replied, feeling his heart pounding in his chest.

"Oh, you're Taylor's stepbrother!" the voice said, recognizing the name. "Hang on, I'll get her for you. DANA!!!"

Buddy held the phone away from his ear. Why did kids do that? He knew Suzi and Madeleine still did that, and it was irritating.

There was silence, in which Buddy thought lasted way too long, until finally, a new voice said, "Hello?"

Buddy smiled. "Hi there."

"Hey, Buddy. How are you?"

"I'm doing good. Hey… I was going to ask you something earlier, but I got kicked off by my brother."

"Okay… what is it?"

"I…" Suddenly, words left Buddy. Why was asking a girl to the movies this hard? Going to the movies was never this complicated before.

"Well, see… I was wondering… didcomeatoyouwatchwithmoviewantme?" As soon as this left his mouth, Buddy was mortified and blushed a deep shade of crimson. Thank goodness she can't see me! She must think I'm such an idiot!

"Um… did you mean if you wanted me to come to a movie with you?" Dana asked on the other end, her voice unsure.

"Yeah. That's what I meant."

"Oh." There was another silence, and Buddy's heart sank. Great. She doesn't want to go to the movies with me. She doesn't like me.

"Yeah, I would love to watch something with you. What did you have in mind?"

"Oh, okay… Well, maybe another… wait. Did you just say yes?"

Dana laughed. "Yes, silly. I like spending time with you, Buddy. I… actually, I like you a lot."

Buddy nearly dropped the phone in shock. Dana, liking him? Was this too good to be true?

"You… you do?"

Dana sighed. "Why do you think I hugged you the other night?"

Buddy smiled at the memory. "I don't know. So… what movie did you want to see?"

"Anything is good for me. When did you want to go?"

"How about Saturday night? I can ask my mom to take us."

"Perfect. I guess I'll see you then!"

Buddy breathed a sigh of relief. "I can't wait," he said, sincerely. After his comment, a weird silence ensued. So what now? What do I say to Dana?

His unspoken question must have been heard by somebody, because right then, Buddy heard the unmistakable beep of call waiting. "Hey, Dana, I have another call. Hold on."

Buddy waited for her "Okay" before he clicked over. "Hello?"

"Uh… is Lindsey there?"

Ever the overprotective stepbrother, Buddy's eyes narrowed. "Who is this?"

"It's Linny."

He felt this anger rise up in him that he didn't know he had. "Okay, you listen to me. You are not going to hurt my sister in any way, or else I'll sink the whole neighborhood on you."

"Whatever. I'm not going to hurt her. Can I talk to her now?"

Buddy rolled his eyes. Man, these two are definitely made for each other.

"Hold on for a sec. I'm on the other line with someone else."

"Kay."

Buddy switched back over to Dana. "I hate being in such a big family," he complained.

"Why is that?" Dana inquired.

"People always want to use the phone and the Internet. Someone's calling for Lindsey," he said, apologetically.

"Oh… okay. Well, I'll see you on Saturday, plus we'll see each other at band practices and stuff, right?"

"Yeah." Buddy's heart lifted at that. "I guess so."

"Then it's all good. I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Sure thing. Bye, Dana."

"Bye, Buddy. Thanks for inviting me to the movies."

Buddy grinned. "My pleasure."

---

Click on that little blue button thing. I read somewhere that his name was Herman, but that's been unconfirmed. ;D