"Sharing tales of those we've lost is how we keep from really losing them."

― Mitch Albom, For One More Day

"Sam." To say I was starting to lose it was an understatement. My heart hurt to see her like this and to know she got here by helping me. I'd say it were killing me if I weren't already half dead.

Mom's question rang out strong and clear in my mind. Why was I so intent on staying with her every second through all of this? Tucker, all of our parents, and even Jazz had come, but I was the only one that refused to leave unless I absolutely had to. Maybe part of it was because I felt like this was at least partially my fault, but...something told me that wasn't it, at least not completely.

I wish I could say I'm staying because she's my best friend, but Tucker is nearly as close to her as I am and while he's here when he can be, he's yet to drop everything to be by her side. I let out a small laugh as I realize Tucker's probably about ready to smack me upside the head, yelling "figure it out already, you idiot."

The only answer I can find scares me more than Pariah Dark or even Dan ever did.

This is so hard to finally admit, even within the confines of my own mind. I..I have feelings for her, and we're the only ones that didn't see it. I don't want to say I like her; that would feel like I'm comparing how I feel for her to how I felt for Valerie or even Paulina when I know it's not that.

But if it doesn't feel right to say I like her, then what the hell is it?

The second field trip of the year comes around, but I'm not too fond of it. I don't like the circus. There are too many people, and more importantly, there are too many people I don't know. While the circus itself doesn't entertain me, the trips to and from it do because me and Danny have a new game to play.

We make little dogs out of our fingers by putting our middle and ring fingers on our thumb and raising the other two up like ears. Danny's dog is named Latex Dog and he deemed mine to be his side kick Ziploc Puppy. When our characters have training fights, Danny always beats me, but I think it's rigged in his favor. He can make balloons and fill them with just about anything he wants, but my Ziploc Puppy can't do much more than trap him in a bag. It's annoying, but I'm willing to let him get away with it, maybe I'll outsmart him eventually.

Our history and science teacher has started us on a unit in electricity and after we take our test over where all the states are (which I can never seem to really get down) we all get to build some simple circuits in our groups. Since Tucker isn't in our class this year, me and Danny are almost always sitting alone, and this time is no different. It doesn't matter to us though, since I've spent a lot of time around his parents, both of us have learned the basics of how these things work and with most of our parts already connected, we're done within about a minute.

Well, we would have been if Danny hadn't dropped the tiny light bulb on the table and broken it. I tease him for it and he just sticks his tongue out before our teacher gives us a new one and we complete our circuit just as she's walking out the door to go talk to another teacher for a second.

It's then that I here it, it's then that I here the first of several comments from that idiot, Dash.

When Danny broke the light bulb, he drew attention to the fact that it was just us sitting together and that wasn't a detail Dash forgot.

"It figures you and your girlfriend would finish first, geek." Did he just call me Danny's boyfriend? Ew. I didn't have a problem with being around Danny, but I didn't want to be his girlfriend! We were in the fifth grade and I didn't want to be anyone's girlfriend, much less Danny's!

"She's not my girlfriend!" "I'm not his girlfriend!" We said in unison, barely noticing that we had spoken at the same time. I wasn't his girlfriend and I didn't want to be called something I wasn't!

"You can deny it all you want, but we all know you're dating!" I wanted to hit him, but the teacher chose that moment to walk back in, my revenge would have to wait.

I never did get revenge on Dash, but I didn't hear about it again, so it was okay.

It was now two weeks before school let out for the year and the fifth grade was getting ready for it's final trip of the year. We were going to a baseball game. It wasn't something that interested me much, but we were allowed to choose our own seats for this trip, so I got to sit next to Danny and Tucker the whole time. The game was boring, but Danny and I kept ourselves busy with Latex Dog and Ziploc Puppy while Tucker pulled a DS out of seemingly nowhere.

We talked and played the whole day except for when there was some sort of break in the game itself and the announcer person started playing the SpongeBob Square Pants theme. Danny hated it, he said his parents didn't let him watch it because it was full of nothing but stupidity, he didn't mind his parents' ban on it though since he hated it just as much. I just laughed at him when he covered his ears and started pretending to bang his head on the seat in front of him.

As we leave one class at a time, the mascot of the local team is handing out pictures of himself with a fake autograph on it. I take one, not because I enjoyed watching the game or found the guy entertaining. I take it so I can put it in my scrapbook so I don't forget this day. The tied game may not have done much for me, but I spent almost all of it with Danny, and I have a feeling that's something I'll never want to forget.

Yeah...I said I'd have this up yeaterday...I lied, life ate up a bit of my time... Oh well, you have it now! :D

Comments and feedback are as welcome as always! :D

Invisible One