Chapter Four

Sunday, 11.45 AM
Dan's Apartment

When he saw the blue pickup pull up by the building, Dan felt his mouth go dry. He had been pacing his apartment for over an hour, wondering if she would show up or not. He was now considering whether this was such a good idea. The previous night he had been quite sure of himself…well, not really, but he had found the nerve to offer to go with her. But right now… It all depended on whether she was in the same mood as last night. Chances were she wasn't because Crabapple Farm and its inhabitants made everyone feel good; on the other, because he did realize that visiting Sally wasn't very pleasant for Joeanne.

But still, she hadn't called it off. He had checked his answering machine many times to make sure of that. And now here she was.

He saw her come out of the car and look up. He smiled at her and signaled he was coming downstairs. She nodded in agreement and went back into the car.

"Hi!" Dan greeted, casually, as he entered the car, hoping his smile would hide his nervousness. Joeanne smiled back at him, but he noticed how hard she was clutching the steering wheel. She looked like she hadn't slept much, the light make-up not properly hiding the bags under her eyes. But despite that she still looked pretty, in her light blue jeans and pink sweatshirt.

"Rough night?" Dan asked, as he buckled up.

She sighed. "Yeah, I guess…I stayed up late, working on some stuff."

"You got to take it easy. You really do look tired."

"You might as well just say I look awful. I do have mirrors." Joeanne didn't take her eyes off the road as she spoke.

"You couldn't look awful, if you tried," Dan remarked, staring out the passenger window. But from the corner of his eye he saw her stare at him in amazement. He smiled inwardly.

"There's a pretty decent restaurant close to the centre. Is that ok or you rather eat someplace else?" She asked after a while.

"That's fine by me. So," Dan changed position on the seat, so he could look at her. "Your father didn't want to come?"

"It's not like I asked him. I told you last night he doesn't want to see Sally."

"And your brothers?"

There was a visible shadow in her eyes. "They want to come, but Dad won't let them. It really isn't a suitable place for children, but still…"

"I hope you don't mind me asking but what will you do when Sally gets out? Where will she stay?" For a few awful seconds, Dan thought she would stop the car and tell him to get out. The expression on her face told him that that was a subject she wasn't quite ready to deal with just yet. But still she answered him.

"I try not to think about it, but I guess she'll have to stay with me." The determined look on Joeanne's face couldn't hide the anguish in her voice and Dan couldn't help but to feel sorry for her. All those problems were eating her youth away. He wished there was something he could do.

"Jo, don't get me wrong," he didn't even notice what he had called her, "but though your self-sacrifice and generosity are wonderful, that's not really fair on you. Your father must take responsibility."

"My mother used to call me Jo," she whispered, her eyes suddenly getting shinier from the held back tears.

Dan bit his lip. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"

To his surprise she smiled. "It's fine, Dan, don't worry. It felt nice."

He gulped and suddenly felt at a loss for words.

Hudson River Rehabilitation Centre
2 PM

The skinny girl sitting under the old oak seemed very young. But there was a strange look on her face that seemed to belong to someone at least four times her age. It was the look worn by most of the faces around them. Young people with old eyes, which had seen the very worst of human nature.

What troubled Dan the most when he visited such places was the wasted years. Those lives would never be complete again. There would be years those people would never account for, years in which they had lost so much. Years before, Dan had done some volunteer work in a centre similar to this one. And the stories he had heard seemed unbelievable to this day.

"That's Sally," Joeanne said, gesturing towards the girl sitting under the tree.

"How long has she been here?" Dan asked, as they walked towards her.

Joeanne sighed. "Eight months, three weeks and four days."

Dan didn't comment. He couldn't start to understand how Joeanne was able to deal with this on her own.

As they approached, he noticed that despite the thinness and paleness, there were certainly similarities between the two young women. Still, their expressions were very different. Though only seventeen, Sally looked almost worn out, with hollow, pale cheeks and the light gone from her eyes. She was merely a shadow of the beautiful young woman she would have been if her life hadn't gone so terribly wrong.

"Sally?" Joeanne called out.

The dark haired girl looked up at them, and Dan thought he had seen a strange flash in her weary eyes. "Hi," she said with a blank expression.

"How've you been, sweetheart?" Joeanne asked, crouching beside her. "Are you feeling ok?" She reached out to brush back a lock of the girl's hair but she moved away.

"I'm fine," she said, coldly, looking straight ahead.

The hurt look on Joeanne's face when Sally moved away from her didn't escape Dan, who had decided it was best to stand a few steps back until Joeanne was ready to introduce him.

"I brought you a book. It's the kind you like. They say it's pretty good," Joeanne reached inside her backpack and took out a book. Sally didn't even look at her or the book. Her sister finally gave up on handing it to her and laid it on the grass beside her. Sighing, Joeanne turned her back on Sally and walked towards Dan. The moment she did it, Dan saw Sally suddenly look at the book, interest and curiosity visible in her dark eyes. He couldn't help an inner smile. Sally was certainly playing hard to get.

Joeanne walked up to him, shrugging her shoulders. "Well," she said, lowering her voice. "At least, today she's talking. Last week, she wouldn't open her mouth. Come, I'll introduce you now."

The pair walked up to the dark haired teenager, who finally gazed up at them, her interest pricked up by Dan's presence. "Sally, this is Dan Manga," Joeanne said.

The girl stared up at Dan for a while and then said, with a cynical grin unbecoming to her youthful features, "Finally got yourself a man, sis?"

Dan saw Joeanne grow pale as paper, her eyes brimming with tears. But she seemed to compose herself quickly, as if this kind of sting was usual. "He's a friend of Jim Frayne, Honey Wheeler and Trixie Belden's. You remember them, don't you?" she asked in a tone as calm and gathered as if Sally hadn't hurt her deeply.

"Yeah, sort of." Sally finally got up and reached out to shake Dan's hand. Her hand lingered in his for a moment, and Dan could swear her eyes acquired a strange glow. "Pleased to meet you. And what can I do for you?" Her tone of voice became huskier, almost seductive.

Before Dan had time to say a word, Joeanne answered her question. "Dan's an attorney and is here to ask you a few things about a very serious matter."

Sally put her hands in her back pockets and swayed her body, as she blatantly gazed at him. "You really don't know men, do you, Jo? Dan here doesn't seem the serious type. I really think he likes to party. Can you handle it, sis?" Then she turned to Dan, a sarcastic grin on her lips, and said, "You know, Dan, my sister never had a boyfriend, so she really knows nothing about men!"

"Sally, stop it!" Joeanne's voice was strangled, and Dan knew he had to do something. Sally was acting like a spoiled, obnoxious brat, and he simply couldn't let her go on hurting Joeanne, who seemed ready to turn around and run away. Therefore, he put on his most serious face and spoke for the first time. "Your sister is right, Sally. What brings me here is a very serious matter, which I hope you can help me… us with." A sidelong glance at Joeanne told him that the 'us' he had used had made a difference. The young woman seemed a little less distressed and her eyes had widened in amazement. Taking a deep breath, he went on. "There's a drug problem in Sleepyside High right now, Sally, and we…"

"Oh, I get it! Sally, the junkie, must know something about it, right?" Sally's eyes had hardened and were darting with hatred at Joeanne.

"That's not it at all, honey! We just…" Joeanne took a step to touch her sister's arm, but the girl brushed her hand away violently. "Sally!"

"Don't 'Sally' me! That's what you thought, right?"

Joeanne and Dan exchanged glances, none of them able to say truthfully they hadn't.

"Just as I thought!" Sally shook her head in disbelief and walked up the lane, towards the building.

Dan suddenly saw Joeanne clench her fists and put on the same decisive look she had worn many times before. He watched in awe as she ran after Sally and forced her to stop and look at her. "You're not doing this, Sally. This is not about you and me and whatever grudge you hold against me! This is about kids that are getting into something they will regret forever! It's about a little girl who is being framed for something she hasn't done… A little girl that's as old as you were when you met the people who…" Joeanne stopped and gulped. Then she took a deep breath and went on. "They might be the same people, Sally! And you can help her by telling us whatever you can. A name, something."

However feeling as if he was trespassing on something terribly intimate, Dan knew he couldn't just stand there. Joeanne needed his help. "Sally, all we need from you is to know if you remember anyone who could be dealing within the school," he said, as the younger girl looked from him to her sister and back, her anger seemingly dying away. "Or anyone who could be organizing it from the outside."

Sally wiped her brow with the back of her hand, looking as if she was still deciding whether or not to speak out. After a few agonizing moments, she finally said, "I'm not sure… Within the school I don't think I know anyone. The people I hung around with were all a bit older than I was and most of them dropped out."

"And on the outside?" Dan tried to keep the anxiety away from his voice, but he felt as if he had failed miserably.

Sally stared at him, frowning. "At that time, Dick was the top man. Or rather, I think he had some kind of boss, but I never saw him or heard his name. The guy was in jail or something, but I really didn't care. Whatever we needed, Dick would provide."

"Do you remember his last name?"

The girl shook her head. "No, I don't. I remember hearing he had done time for theft but that really didn't matter then. And most things are all blurry in my mind," she added, with a sad grin.

"That's fine, Sally. We really had nothing, so this may help." Dan smiled and touched the girl's cheek. "Thank you."

Somehow the thought of being helpful softened Sally's heart and she smiled too, her face almost resembling that of a seventeen-year-old girl. But the look faded as Joeanne tried to hold her hand again and she drew it back.

"You have what you wanted, now you can go," Sally spat at her, bitterly.

Closing her eyes for a moment, as to stop herself from crying, Joeanne said, her voice almost perfectly under control, "We will leave. But I'll be back next week. Be good!"

"Oh, you're the good one in the family. I will never be able to reach your and dad's standards." With that, Sally turned her back on them and walked away.

Joeanne made a gesture as if to stop her again, but Dan took her hand instead. "We better go, Jo. Just leave her be. She'll come around, you'll see."

She looked up at him, her eyes red and moist. Then she turned her back on him and quickly walked towards the car. Dan took a deep breath and followed her.

As they reached the pickup, he noticed how her hands were trembling. She wasn't fit for driving and he told her so. To his surprise, she didn't argue and merely handed him the keys. He couldn't help a smile as he got in the driver's seat.

They drove for about half an hour, in silence. Joeanne had her forehead pressed against the passenger's window, silent tears running down her face faster than she could wipe them off.

"It's ok to cry, Joeanne. You've been through hell up there," Dan finally said.

"I haven't got time for tears, Dan." The bitterness in her voice almost broke his heart and he suddenly had an almost irresistible urge to stop the car and hold her in his arms. But he simply couldn't do that, so he held on to the wheel and clenched his teeth.

"I'm very sorry that you had to deal with that. I told you this wasn't a good idea. You must understand my sister is not in herself right now." Joeanne sat up straight and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

"Jo, I hate to tell you this, but I don't think you can blame all that on the drugs." Dan took a deep breath. "There was something else there. She was really trying to hurt you."

"I know." Joeanne rubbed her temples, as if she was in pain. "Every time she finds a soft spot, she just pokes at it until… Until you give up and leave."

"And then she can just feel sorry for herself and blame it all on other people," Dan completed. "Yeah, I know the drill. I used to do that myself, when I thought I had no friends and was feeling miserable. But some people just refused to give up on me and everything changed."

She seemed to digest his words and then said, "Maybe that's it, but I don't know what else to do. I know she's miserable and hurting, but I've tried to be her friend, to talk to her. She seems to hate me!"

"Were you two ever close before?"

Joeanne shook her head. "No. When Mother was alive I used up all my time studying or reading. I didn't play with her much. Then when Mother passed away, I had the house to take care off and the babies. Sally was already 8 years old, so I thought she didn't need that much attention. I know I made a mistake."

"Jo, you were no more than a child yourself. You can't be blamed for anything!"

"I keep trying to tell myself that, but…" Joeanne's voice faltered. "Sally became more and more capricious. In the beginning, I thought she was just acting girlie-like. I was always more of a tomboy, so I couldn't tell the difference. And Dad kept excusing her, saying she was just missing her mum. There was one time though… My prom night." Through the corner of his eye, Dan saw the sadness cover her face as a veil, as the words left her lips. "I had a date, I had a pretty dress and I felt happy. When I was ready to go, Sally had a temper tantrum, I don't even remember why. She cried and screamed and locked herself up in her room. Dad didn't know what to do, so I…"

"You never went to the prom, did you?" Dan did his best to keep the pity out of his voice but he knew she would feel it nonetheless.

Joeanne stared out the passenger window once more, tears streaming down her face. She didn't answer.

"I'm sorry you had to go through all that, Joeanne," he said, knowing there were many other things he would like to say, but just not sure what.

"I don't need your pity." The bitterness was back in her voice and he noticed how she sat up straight, wiping the tears from her eyes.

Taking a deep breath, Dan reached out his right hand to squeeze hers, his eyes never leaving the road. "I don't pity you, Jo. Pity is the last thing you need. But you do need friends and that's what I'm offering you. My friendship. And I won't be brushed aside by your bitterness." He was amazed at himself for saying all that but certainly no more than Joeanne. One quick glance at her and he saw her struggling for something to say, but too surprised to even pull back her hand.

Dan parked the car in front of her apartment building. Suddenly, Joeanne remembered that it was her car and that she was supposed to drop him off. "Oh, Dan… I'm sorry. Drive on to your place and then I'll drive back here," she said, sitting up straight in the passenger seat.

He shook his head. "That's ok, Joeanne. Don't worry. I'll walk home. It's not that far anyway and I kinda need the exercise." He grinned. "Besides, I'll feel better knowing you're home safe."

Joeanne lowered her eyes and sighed. "This was not a first for me, you know?"

"I know. But it was the first time I witnessed it, and I didn't like the way you looked afterwards." He reached out his hand to brush back a lock of her hair and she couldn't help shivering at his touch. He pretended not to notice her discomfort and slowly let the back of his fingers slide down the silky skin of her face. But what Dan wasn't ready for was the way the tender gesture made his own heart race and he drew back his hand as he cleared his throat and motioned to open the car door.

Her voice stopped him. "Dan…," she called. "Thank you."

He turned to her again, his heart still beating hard in his chest.

"For what?"

"I don't know…" She smiled sadly. "For trying to be friends with me."

He didn't answer immediately. Instead he got out of the car and walked to the passenger side. He needed a few seconds to think of an answer that wouldn't betray his own bewildered state. As he opened the door for Joeanne to get out, he said, with a little hoarseness in his voice, "I'm not trying anything. I intend to be your friend, whether you like it or not."

She couldn't help a smile. "Guess I might as well give up running away then, hum?"

His face lit as he smiled back. "Yeah, I think you should do that."

They crossed the street in silence, stopping near the building's front steps. "Will you be ok?" he asked.

She nodded. "Yes, I'll be fine. Don't worry."

"Well, I'll see you then. Call me up if you need anything."

Joeanne smiled at him and waved goodbye as she slowly climbed the steps. When she got to the door, he turned and walked down the street.

Getting home that evening was harder than usual for Joeanne. She felt just like Cinderella would have felt after midnight, when her dress turned to rags once more. It had been a long time since she had experienced the feeling of being taken care of, and she had always told herself she didn't want it, that she could take care of herself. But for the first time she had felt comfortable in knowing she wasn't alone and that she wasn't pitied, only backed up.

But as she entered her apartment, the soft warmth in her heart began to wear away as she remembered she was alone again. Well, he had said she could call him, but she wouldn't. She had to stop that romantic nonsense before it got out of hand. She had no space in her life for that. And Dan certainly wasn't interested in an emotionally crippled girl, that didn't know how to deal with people and had a difficult family… Of course he wasn't interested! Why would he be? An intelligent, handsome guy, with a bright future ahead of him? No way! And of course, there was Hallie Belden. And that she could never match. So it was best to leave it at that. But still she couldn't help the memories that came flooding into her mind.

Joeanne sighed as she kicked off her shoes and undressed, on her way to the shower. Hallie had always been sort of an obsession with her. The beautiful Belden from Idaho had mesmerized half the Sleepyside male population under 25 when she had come to stay with her aunt and uncle. She looked glamorous and exotic even in plain old blue jeans. There was something about her air, her posture, even the way she walked that had made Joeanne feel more awkward than she already did. And even though many years had gone by that impression remained.

She shook her head, trying to dismiss the strange feeling, but then her eyes caught her image in the mirror. Joeanne had always been her most fierce critic and there was always something wrong with the image the mirror shot back at her. But somehow, now she was finding the girl in front of her attractive, in spite of her tired, weary eyes. She was shapely, with graceful curves in all the right places. The remnants of a tan still remained upon her skin, giving it a most becoming shade of gold.

Reaching up, Joeanne let down her black air and watched as it fell in soft curls over her shoulders. But the beautiful picture the mirror showed her scared her more than it pleased her and she turned her back on it. I'm going insane, she thought.

A/N: I'm so sorry you guys for not updating sooner, but I wasn't home. I just want to say thanks to all you readers. I was finally able to view the traffic tab on my account control page which hasn't been working up until now and when I saw the results I think I almost fainted. Haha, well maybe I didn't faint, but I was so shocked. You see, I found out that my first story, Never Second Best which came out last Sunday, January 9, 2011, has recieved alomost 1700 hits and exactly 225 visitors. My spin-off story that used to be 3 chapters, called Mystery at Drake University has recieved 150 hits and a little more than 75 visitors. Then I found out that this story has already received 535 hits and alomst 160 visitors. So I am still really shocked right now, but I am beyond ectastic. YOu guys are the BEST! Thanks so much for appreciating my stories and please review if you can!

Love you guys,

Claudia

Sleepyside
5:30 PM