Chapter 9:

The Coleman Children (Part 1)

Hamden, Connecticut

Morning

Hannah had just dropped off Max at her school, having walked her inside and wishing her well that day. She was now driving Daniel to school, who sat up in the front of Kate's SUV with her. Wild Strawberries' 'Heroine' was playing as they drove on in silence for a few moments. Hannah just quietly sang along with the song as she turned the corner.

"The first thing I remember, you were walking away…," sang Roberta Carter-Harrison, "You were singing something gentle in the fade… The next thing I remember, I nearly pushed you off the stage… I pretended; I pretended not to be afraid…"

Daniel's butterflies in his stomach felt like they were about to burst from him, and he feared saying something stupid in front of his crush, so he just quietly sat there, occasionally glancing over at her from his peripherals.

"I played the fool… I played the drowning ma-an… I will play… I will play your heroine…," the song continued, "I know the rules… Cause you wrote on my veins… I will play… I will play your heroine…"

She then glanced over at him, catching his gaze, and smiling over at him.

"What's up, Daniel?" Hannah asked, chuckling, "Something on your mind?"

"Huh? Oh, I was just looking out your window," Daniel said, glancing away, "I thought I saw Amy and the others, but it wasn't them."

"Ah, that Amy girl who you hung out with all summer?" Hannah asked, turning back to look out through the windshield, "Yeah, she's pretty cool. I like her friends, too." She glanced over at him and smiled. "I think she really likes you, Daniel!"

"What? Naw," Daniel said with a wave of the hand, "She's cool, but we're just friends."

"Aww, that's so lame, Daniel!" Hannah teased, "Don't deny yourself happiness! She's a lil' cutie! And I guarantee that if you ask her out, she'd definitely say yes. Don't pass up a good thing, Daniel!"

"I'm not trying to deny myself happiness, I just have my eye on someone else," Daniel said, trying not to make it obvious that he meant Hannah herself, "I'm just not sure if this other girl feels the same way about me. I really, really like this other girl, but she's older than me. Maybe too old for me. But that's part of the appeal."

"Ooh, there's another girl!" Hannah said, her smile widening, "The plot thickens! Daniel, you little heart-breaker! You're gonna make them fight over you, are ya?"

Daniel shrugged and gave her a cool smile, "I wouldn't stop them if they did."

They both burst out laughing, and then bumped fists.

As they pulled up to his school, saw his group of friends all standing by the front entrance, as they waited for him. Amy saw him, smiled, and waved. Daniel waved back, undid his seatbelt, and turned to Hannah, pausing before climbing out.

"I'll consider what you said," he said, glancing back over his shoulder at Amy, "I do really like her, too."

"Glad to hear it, Daniel!" Hannah said, handing him his backpack, "I promise that you'll both be happy once you give it a chance." She smiled, leaned over, and hugged him, adding, "Have a good day at school, huh? We'll swing by Dairy Queen on our way back to your place after school. How's that sound?"

"That sounds awesome!" Daniel said as they both hugged and he departed, "See you then."

"See you then, Daniel," Hannah said with a wink.

They waved each other off, and she then slowly pulled away from the curb and drove off, ready to go about her daily nanny duties. Daniel sighed as he watched her drive off. He then slowly turned and went over to his friends by the front entrance. Amy smiled and playfully tossed some autumn leaves at him, making them all chuckle.

"Hey, you," Amy said with a sweet smile, then giving him a hug.

"Hey Amy," Daniel said with a smile of his own, hugging her back.

"Ooh, your nanny's quite pretty, Daniel!" Taylor teased, with a playful wink, "You're one lucky little dude, having her all to yourself!"

"Hannah? Yeah, she's pretty cool," Daniel said and shrugged. But his friends could all see the obvious crush that he had on her.

"If by cool, you mean hot?" Oliver added, smiling at him. They all then laughed, with Daniel and Oliver bumping fists. Taylor then bumped Oliver with a jolt from her elbow, reminding him that the two of them were dating. Oliver played it cool.

"Hey, no harm in a little window shopping," Oliver teased with a sly smile at her, "I'm a guy after all. And besides, you've been my bestie since the sandbox. Like it or not, you're stuck with me. We're bonded for life."

"You better mean that, Ollie," Taylor said, "or I'll hurt ya." They both smiled at each other and the 2 of them then kissed. The others all groaned, with Amy pretending to vomit.

A While Later…

Everyone was soon inside the school, ready to begin their day. Daniel was digging in his locker, grabbing some of his school books as dozens of students passed behind him. As he was collecting his stuff, a folded-up note fell out of his binder. He frowned, picked it up, opened it and began to read it. He then sighed and crumpled it up.

"Hello, Daniel," said a female voice from behind him, mimicking Esther's voice.

Daniel felt a stab of ice down his back as he slowly turned and glared at Macy Stevenson, who was an older girl about 14, the same age as Taylor and Oliver. She was lovely, had long parted straight blonde hair, with dark gray eyes. She was wearing a white turtle neck sweater, navy blue jeans, and converse runners. All in all, she looked like your typical, entitled rich girl, with one helluva resting bitch-face.

Beside her was her younger, bratty little sister Mimi, who was in Daniel's grade. She had curly light-brown hair, large dark eyes and was dressed in a dark gray hoodie, jeans, and brown hiking boots. Big-eyed with a large nose, she was a bit of a tom-boy and Macy's little lacky.

"So, you've got another note from your adopted sister, huh?" Macy asked, smiling coldly at him, "Guess you better watch your back, Daniel. She could still very well come back for you."

"She's not my sister," Daniel said, slamming his locker shut behind him, "And she'll never be. I can't believe she has 2 losers like you 2 idolizing her."

"I heard that you know about our killer Halloween idea," Macy said, with the cold smile still on her face, "We already have our Esther costumes bought and put together." She then lowered the neck covering of her turtle neck, showing a black choker, similar to one of Esther's.

"Do you like it, Daniel?" Macy asked in Esther's voice, "Does it bring back happy memories for you? It does for me." As much of a bitch as Macy was, she actually did a damn near perfect imitation of Esther's voice, so good in fact that it gave Daniel slight chills.

"You guys are such losers," Daniel said, shaking his head in disgust.

"Us? But we don't look like the Colemans!" Mimi said, turning to Macy, who smiled.

"Good one, Memes," Macy said with a cruel smile, then added, "What's the matter, mama's boy? Is mommy still drinking?"

"What the hell do you both want?" Daniel asked.

"You can call it, us, bullying the bully," said Macy, looking him over, "For what you did to Esther. Maybe she wouldn't have snapped and tried to kill you and your family if you just treated her nicely. We saw you, Trevor, and Mikey that day in the hallway, along with Brenda, when you all made her have that breakdown of hers." She then gestured to Mimi, adding, "We hate bullies, Daniel. But we'll become what we hate in order to fight what we hate. And guess what? You're at the top of our shit-list!"

"And you're on ours!" barked Taylor's voice from behind the Stevenson sisters, startling them both, "And if you don't back down, I'll kick both of your scrawny asses!"

Both sisters turned and saw Taylor, Oliver, Amy, and Penny all quickly approaching. Macy looked Taylor over and scoffed in disgust.

"Well-well, if it isn't Tiger Lily and her 10 Little Indians," Macy said, taking a shot at Taylor's ethnicity. Mimi laughed a loud at that last remark as Daniel's group approached them.

"Call me whatever you want, I'll still kick your ass!" Taylor said, shoving her back against the wall. Mimi stepped in front of her sister, but Taylor lunged at her with her fist cocked back, making her jump back with a small yelp.

"You lay another hand on me, and my father will sue your trailer trash little family for what little you have!" Macy shot back, pointing to Taylor's face. Taylor quickly snatched the offending finger and twisted it, making Macy squeal. A few kids who were watching the confrontation all chuckled.

"Ow, you fucking bitch!" Macy squealed, "Let me go!"

Taylor turned to Daniel and smiled, asking, "Should I break it?" Daniel smirked.

"You better fucking not!" Macy squealed as she continued to squirm.

"Break it, Taylor!" Amy said with a smile.

"Yeah, I think I'll break it," Taylor said. Macy screamed, catching the attention of a few teachers who were standing close by. Taylor saw them watching and quickly released Macy's finger, which Macy pulled into herself, quickly massaging it.

"Everything okay here, you guys?" asked Mr. Hamilton, the science teacher.

"Yeah, we're fine," Daniel said, "We were just getting to class."

Mimi was about to speak up on Macy's behalf, but Taylor shot her a warning glance. Mr. Hamilton didn't see this. He slowly nodded and then ducked into his classroom. Macy pointed to Taylor, adding, "You're going to regret that, Taylor! Mark my fucking words!"

"Do your worst," Oliver said, putting a restraining arm around Taylor.

Macy gave them all a hateful look as she and Mimi quickly headed away from them. Daniel's group watched them disappear into the crowd of students before turning to one another.

"Aren't you guys worried about Macy's boyfriend Greg?" Penny asked Taylor, "What if she sends Greg after Daniel in retaliation?"

"Then I'll kick his ass," Oliver said, giving Daniel a wink. He could do it, too; he practiced MMA with his adopted older brother Reggie. Daniel smiled and they both bumped fists. Penny sighed and shook her head, pushing her glasses back up on her face.

"I don't like fighting; it's so primitive," Penny said, with a light shake of the head.

"No, it's not, sweetheart," Oliver said sarcastically, "If you don't make your enemies your bitch, then they make you theirs. And if they do get Greg involved, I'll make him mine."

"At ease," Taylor teased him, seeing that Oliver was getting all worked up.

"I'm sorry, but some people just need a good throttling!" Oliver said.

"Well, let's not let it come to that," Amy said, then turning to Daniel, "What caused the argument with those 2 idiots?"

Daniel sighed and then handed her the crumpled-up note. Amy gently uncrumpled it and read the note. After a few moments, she scoffed and shook her head in disgust.

"She even signed it from Esther," Amy said, crumpling it back up, "God, she's such a bitch." She then tossed it in the garbage to her left.

"Hey, we should give that to Principal Welles!" Penny said, going after it. Everyone all groaned in unison, with Amy putting an arm around her cousin to stop her.

"That's an awful idea, no offense, cuz," Amy said to Penny, "Tattling is still tattling. Besides, teachers and principals never do anything about it. All they do is file a report and talk to both sides." She then glanced over at Daniel, asking, "Are you alright, Daniel?"

Daniel nodded and then smiled at his friends, adding, "Yes, I'm fine. I have you guys."

They all laughed, tousled his hair, and then headed off to their classes. As they did so, Penny remained behind and took the note out of the trash, and quickly pocketed it.

"Just in case the angry Neanderthal method doesn't work," Penny said to herself, as she then hurried to catch up after her group.

One by one, Daniel's friends all separated into their proper home rooms, with Amy and Daniel being the last 2. They stopped outside of Amy's class, where Amy turned to Daniel and hugged him. He smiled and hugged her back, feeling that same butterfly feeling he'd had while he was with Hannah, only this time it was way more intense.

"See you in third period, Daniel," Amy said, kissing his cheek.

Daniel felt himself turn beet-red, and felt his facial expression betray his need to play it cool. He must've been looking somewhat shocked, because Amy giggled. Daniel shook it off and smiled at her.

"Um, see you in third period, Amy!" Daniel said with a bright smile. Amy smiled, winked, and then went inside Ms. Graham's class. Daniel stroked his cheek where she'd just kissed him. He smiled and slowly made his way to his first class, feeling like a million bucks.