Chapter 3
Daddy, daddy, get me out of here!
~*/*\*~
The dreary summer days passed by like a horrific Cinderella story for Dani. Unfortunately, there wasn't a prince charming coming to rescue her. Veronica was tyrannical, Jessica was a power-hungry task master, Peter and Jason were oblivious to much of the goings on, and Eddie - blessed little Eddie was Dani's only ray of sunshine during the rainy days.
Eventually, Eddie was able to convince his parents - with a great deal of Jason's help - to let him show Dani the park. The first day they went was a bit overcast but nothing could dampen Eddie's spirits. He jumped in puddles, sending water flying with his camo colored rain-boots. Dani walked a distance behind him with her jean jacket pulled protectively around her to fight off the humidity. A smile tugged at her lips as she watched Eddie laugh in delight. This was probably the first time she had seen him act like a happy kid. Normally he was just a little scared whenever he was home. Her train of thought caused her lips to turn down. Dani wondered what life had been like for Eddie before she arrived.
"We're almost there, Dani!" Eddie announced as he stopped on a street corner. Dani chanced a glance into the shop window and was pleasantly surprised to see that it was a book store. She made a mental note to stop by again sometime. Eddie took her hand and tugged for her to follow. Dani pushed her previous contemplations to the back of her mind. Today, she would try to make Eddie as happy as any kid deserved to be. "Well?" he asked eagerly, "What do you think?"
Dani looked around at the lush green park and just stood still to take in the sights around her. There was a river that ran through the park, trees surrounded it making the park seem more like a field in the middle of nowhere instead of a park in the middle of a small town. She let her eyes pause on the metal playground set that seemed out of place with all the nature around them. Dani's eyes followed the path of the river and she instantly fell in love with the stone bridge that stretched over it. The bushes that lay beyond the river caught her curiosity. She wasn't sure why - but there seemed to be something important over there.
"Do you like it?" Eddie's question brought her out of her almost daze. Dani looked down at him and smiled at the worried, lip-biting boy.
"I love it! Where do you like to hang out when you come here?" She let Eddie drag her over to the playground to show her all his favorite hideaways. Dani couldn't help zoning every once in a while - her thoughts and gaze returning to the bushes beyond the river.
The pair spent hours in the park. Eddie laughed and his mirth spilled over, touching Dani and lifting her own laughter from within her. The town clock struck six, bringing them out of their fun and games. Dani sighed as she stood from the wet wooden step leading up to the metal slide. "We better get back for dinner."
"I wish we didn't have to go." Eddie mumbled from where he sat.
Dani's heart clenched at the sight of the miserable boy. "Hey." She squatted down in front of him so they were eye level. Dani brushed her bangs back behind her ear so both her eyes could search his face. Eddie didn't meet her gaze. She smiled, just in case he was looking at her from his peripheral vision. "Things may seem tough now, but it'll get better. We'll make things better. You and me - we're family. Nothing changes that."
Eddie chanced a glance at her. "Promise?"
She smiled sadly. "I promise we'll always be family. But I can't promise much else than that." Dani was shocked when Eddie flung his arms around her neck and hugged her tight. She didn't hesitate to embrace him and return the tight hug. Slowly, she released him and began pushing him away. "Come on. We better get back."
As they walked back through the town - Eddie's energy gone and his feet dragging - the silence stretched. Eventually, his hand found hers and Dani gave him a reassuring smile before squeezing his small hand in hers. As they got closer to the house, Eddie asked, "Can we go back to the park soon?"
"Sure thing, Eddie." Dani answered. She inwardly cringed when the door opened to reveal Veronica standing on the porch, her hands on her hips. Dani squared her shoulders and took on the air of someone confident and upbeat. She smiled once more down at Eddie. "Sure thing."
~*/*\*~
The day began with birds singing before the sun even rose. That was enough to wake Dani from her dreams. Rolling over so she faced the room and the window, she slowly opened her eyes and tried focusing her bleary eyes on Jessica's digital clock. It read six o'clock and if she wanted to get the bathroom and the shower before Jessica or Peter, she had better get up now.
Dani groaned quietly as she sat up and twisted till her back popped. Tilting her head from side to side, she cracked her neck as well. Satisfied, she shoved her meager blankets aside and stood from the mattress. The teenager hurried to gather her shower things and a change of wrinkled clothes from her one dresser drawer - which Jessica had begrudgingly relinquished. Dani slipped out into the hallway and made a beeline for the bathroom.
Several minutes later and she was out of the bathroom. Quickly returning to the bedroom, Dani spared a glance at Jessica's still sleeping form and then at the clock which now read 6:36. Rolling her eyes, Dani stored her nightwear in her drawer before leaving the room once again. In her socked feet, Dani padded down the hallway and toward the stairs. She planned on eating a simple breakfast consisting of a bowl of cereal then she would sit down in the empty living room to read from her copy of Macbeth.
Lost in the murder and deceit of the Shakespearean play, Dani missed the sounds of people in the rooms above waking. Jessica was yelling at Peter to get out of the bathroom while Eddie shouted to Veronica, questioning where his pants were. Jason was the first to come down the stairs, tying his neck tie and carrying his briefcase. He was about to charge out the door but he stopped upon seeing Dani sitting quietly and patiently in the living room. He set his briefcase down and finished tugging the fabric of his tie through the loop he had made.
"Excited for your first day of school?" Jason asked his niece.
She looked up from her book and gave him half a smile. It was all she gave him whenever he spoke to her. "Yeah. Thanks again for the school supplies."
"Don't mention it." He mumbled as he checked his wrist watch.
Veronica practically flew down the steps with curlers in her hair and a fluffy pink bathrobe wrapped around herself but she stopped when she spotted her husband and niece. "You staying for breakfast, Jason?"
As if jolted from a daze, Jason snatched up his briefcase. "No time. See you at five. I'll call if I have to stay later." He hurried out the front door without so much as a backward glance.
Veronica listened as the car engine started and frowned out the window as Jason drove down the street. Turning, she scowled even more at Dani. "Don't forget to make a sack lunch. I'm not paying for cafeteria food." Dani wordlessly held up the brown, paper bag sitting on the couch beside her and her backpack. Veronica heard another shout from upstairs and with a groaning sigh, hurried back up to see what the matter was. "If you three don't get your butts down here in five minutes, I'm going to make you all walk to school!"
"In the rain?" Jessica shrieked in horror. Dani lifted her head to look over her shoulder and out the window. Sure enough, it was raining - again. Does it ever do anything else other than rain here? The girl wondered as she asked herself what she would do about the rain. She didn't own an umbrella. Stuffing her book into her backpack, Dani stood up and hurried back up the stairs to retrieve her jacket.
Jessica was just coming out of the bedroom when Dani topped the stairs. "Hurry up!" her cousin snapped. Dani rolled her eyes but made no reply. Looking around the room upon entering it, the girl walked toward the dresser drawer. She couldn't remember where she had last put her jacket.
"Hurry, Dani! Mom's almost done getting ready." Eddie whispered loudly as he too rushed by the room. In a last ditch attempt at finding her jacket, Dani threw open the closet doors and sighed in relief. Snatching the jacket off its hanger, she practically sprinted down the stairs. She skidded to a stop just as she reached the front door and groaned. Her backpack. Dani turned and ran into the living room and grabbed her backpack and lunch bag.
She stepped out onto the covered porch and looked irritably up at the pouring sky. First day of school at a new school and it was raining. Dani held her jacket over her head, not bothering putting it on. Her sneakers squelched in the mud as she cut across the lawn to the garage. Dani looked up to see how many of her cousins were waiting. Everyone was seated in the car - including Veronica. Dani mentally groaned before she opened the backseat car door and slid in beside Eddie.
Veronica turned to glare at Dani and by all appearances was about to scold the teenager, but Eddie interjected, "Come on, Mom! We're going to be late." Veronica glanced from her son to Dani before scowling at her again. Thankfully, Veronica returned her attention to the steering wheel and put the car into reverse. Dani snapped her seat belt into place, giving Eddie a smile of gratitude.
The drive was quiet and short. Veronica instructed the group to be waiting for her after school before driving off. The foursome hurried like every other student getting dropped off to the awning over the sidewalk. Safe from getting wet, Dani spared a moment to look up at the school building. She sighed. One public school looked almost the same as any other to her.
"See you after school, Dani!" Eddie called to her as he ran to catch up with some classmates. She smiled and waved to his retreating form before letting her hand drop to her side. Shouldering her bag, Dani followed the flow of student traffic.
The first place all students had to congregate was the gymnasium for registration and to receive schedules. Dani hoped the school was big enough that Jessica couldn't influence how everyone saw or treated her. She glanced around at the assembly from behind the strands of long hair that fell before half of her face.
Students were gravitating toward the bleachers and chairs, looking for friends or a group to associate with. Dani took a deep breath for confidence and began walking toward a row with some empty seats. She settled down on the aisle chair before shrugging her shoulder bag off. Glancing to her right, she watched the people sitting next to her as they talked.
Another girl came up to the same row and smiled apologetically. "Excuse me." Dani moved her feet and bag so this new girl could shuffle by and sit down in the empty seat next to her. With a loud sigh, the girl sat down before turning and grinning at Dani. "Thanks!"
"No problem." Dani returned the smile but remained quiet otherwise. The girl turned to the group beside her and fell into a conversation.
Dani returned to inspecting the growing crowd but her thoughts were interrupted once again. "So are you new here? I don't think I've seen you before."
Dani turned her head to look at the girl sitting beside her. "Yeah. I - moved here recently."
The girl beamed encouragingly. "That's cool! I'm Sophie. These are my friends," she leaned back to motion with her hand to the others as she spoke, "Grace, Charlotte, and that's Greg on the end."
Dani smiled and nodded at the group. "Nice to meet you. I'm Danica."
Grace tilted her head and scrunched her nose up. "Danica - that's a different name."
Dani shrugged. "My parents were into different stuff."
"That's still pretty cool though." Charlotte asserted as she nudged Grace in the arm.
"What grade are you?" Greg asked, moving the topic away from names.
"I'm a sophomore." Dani replied, brushing her bang back so she could look at the group clearly.
Charlotte grinned. "That means you and I are in the same grade and probably in some classes together!"
"What about you three?" Dani glanced over at Sophie then at Greg and Grace.
"Juniors." Grace answered as she sat up a little, proudly. "But Charlotte -"
"Dude! Your eyes are different colors!" Sophie exclaimed as she leaned suddenly into Dani's face for a closer look.
Dani backed away, her space invaded by a relative stranger. "Um - yeah. Been that way for a while too."
Grace pulled on Sophie's arm. "Sorry. Sophie tends to be a bit - dramatic."
Sophie pouted for a few seconds before glancing at Dani sheepishly. "Yeah. Sorry about that. But hey, it's cool! I thought people only could have different eye colors because of contact lenses. Those aren't contacts, right?"
Dani grinned. "No, they're my real eye color."
"As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted," Grace called the attention back to herself with a pointed glare in Sophie's direction, "Charlotte's been my friend since kindergarten, so when she got to high school, I introduced her to my circle of friends."
"And we've hung out together ever since." Charlotte supplied.
"Do you know anybody that goes here?" Greg asked.
Dani froze. What should she do? Tell the truth and explain her relations? They would find out eventually. With a shrug of one shoulder, Dani nodded. "Yeah - I'm related to Jessica, Peter, and Eddie Drake." She watched as the smile on Charlotte's face faded and the other three struggled to appear cheerful - but it didn't reach their eyes.
"Oh - Jessica? How are you related to her?" Grace asked.
"She's my cousin." Dani admitted. "I'm living with her family."
"So why aren't you sitting with her?" Charlotte demanded. Her tone and demeanor radiated of hostility.
Dani sighed inwardly. Apparently Jessica didn't need to spread rumors. Jessica's reputation alone and the blood relation they shared would be a turn off. "She and I aren't exactly close."
Greg, who seemed to be the friendly mediator of the group, seemed to turn curious at her answer. "Really? So - you don't like her?"
"She hates me. But it's kind of a mutual dislike." Dani stated. The group relaxed a bit, but Dani had a feeling they still didn't trust her completely.
"Well that's a shame." Sophie said, as if it really were sad that the cousins disliked each other. She opened her mouth to say more, but the principal was stepping up to the microphone. All conversations stopped as beginning of the year formalities were addressed.
Dani sat back and listened only partially. Glancing every once in a while out of the corner of her eye, she wondered what the group was thinking. She hoped she could count them as friends someday. The next three years of high school might become unbearable without an ally.
~*/*\*~
Lunch time came around and with it, Dani received an unexpected invitation from Charlotte. She followed the other girl through the lunchroom toward a table where the rest of her group of friends were sitting. Dani clenched her lunch bag nervously in her hand.
"Ugh. I hate math. Any form of math." Charlotte groused as she slid into a chair beside Grace. "What about you, Dani?"
"Algebra is okay." Dani sat down slowly in the vacant seat next to Sophie and glanced around at the group.
"You just don't appreciate the finer nuances." Greg accused while taking a bite out of his pizza slice.
Charlotte's nose wrinkled in disgust. "Just because we're all not math wizards like you Greg -"
"Mathematical equations are puzzles! And patterns." He mumbled around his next bite.
Grace rolled her eyes. "Anyway," she turned to smile at Dani. "How are you liking your first day, Danica?"
"Well enough." The girl replied while pulling out a sandwich bag.
"School is school." Sophie grumbled. "How anyone can like it is beyond me. If somebody actually loves school, they should be admitted to an institution. And yes, I'm including you into that lot, Greg."
Dani laughed along with the group at Greg's mock-offended expression. She took a sip from her water bottle and turned to look around at the cafeteria. Her heart nearly stopped when she spied Jessica at a table of girls that almost looked like carbon copies of her blonde cousin. They were all glaring in Dani's direction, and by all appearances, talking about Dani in heated discussion. She prayed Jessica wouldn't come over and ruin the day that was going so well.
Dani felt relief when Jessica's head turned away to talk to her groupies. Maybe her cousin would only content herself with gossiping among her cronies. But when Jessica stood abruptly from her table and began marching - or runway-walking - toward Dani and her lunch-mates, Dani felt her heart sink.
The whole table seemed to feel the approaching disaster. The whole cafeteria seemed to. Conversations quieted, eyes followed the vindictive blonde's path. Jessica stopped behind Danica's chair and shifted her weight to one leg and crossed her arms. She flipped her hair over her shoulder and gave a sugary-sweet smile. "It's so nice of you to include Danica like this, Charlotte."
"Well, she is new." Charlotte grumbled.
"Yeah - new to the school." Jessica smirked. Dani didn't know when, but sometime during the course of Jessica's approach, Dani had turned her face so she was staring down at her hands and not up at her looming cousin. Tilting her head, Jessica said, "Of course, I just hope your kindness isn't misguided. Hopefully your taking her under your wings won't damage your reputation any. You know what they say, 'guilty by association'."
Sophie's gaze flickered in Dani's direction. "What do you mean?"
Jessica lifted her hands up and shrugged her shoulder with a pitying expression on her face. "Oh, you don't want people thinking you're the rebellious type. Especially the teachers. Or the type who would potentially go out killing people."
Grace snorted, giving Jessica a look that said, 'are you crazy?'. "Killing? What are you talking about?"
"Well, Dani's mom died in a fire. A very suspicious fire." Jessica blinked several times and lifted a hand to wipe beneath her eye. "It was out of the kindness of my mother's heart that Dani came to live with us instead of getting shipped off somewhere. Good thing no one pressed charges or pressed for an investigation."
Dani's hands clenched. "It was an electrical malfunction. An old house." she said loud enough for those in close proximity to hear. "Mom went back in to get something."
"Of course, that's just the biggest thing." Jessica continued. "You don't want to know everything Danica did before that. It breaks my family's heart knowing that she has fallen so low. My mom hopes to help her. And it's nice of you guys to take an interest in her too." Jessica gave them all worried looks. "Sophie, I just hope you can still remain in the drama club."
Jessica then clucked her tongue. "Oh, and Greg! What would happen if all those perfect grades of yours - that we all know you earn because of hard work - get passed off as you cheating?" Her eyes fell on Grace and Charlotte. "I can only imagine what people might suggest you two are up to – stuff that's not at all true."
The long strands of her black hair fell in front of her green eye. Dani stood from her seat and turned to glare at Jessica. "That's enough, Jessica. You've done enough!"
Jessica took a step back and in an alarmed voice said, "Don't get so angry, Danica! I'm just concerned for them!"
"Danica." she turned to glance back at Sophie who had a tight-lipped expression. "Maybe you should - go cool off." Dani glanced over the group she had been laughing with only moments ago. They all were looking at her like she was a monster or something equally as frightening.
She snatched up her paper-bag lunch and shoved her way past Jessica. Dani felt the eyes of the students follow her. Their shocked, disgusted, and judgmental gazes burned her very soul. Dani stormed out of the cafeteria and stalked the mostly empty halls.
Dani hated them. She hated all of them! Jessica for telling lies, for ruining Dani's new chance at life. She hated those close-minded twits that believed a girl they didn't even like just because she catered to their fears and threatened what they held dear. Dani felt tears sting her eyes. Most of all, she hated herself for not being the kind of person who could stand up for herself and offer a good enough argument in her own defense.
No. She thought bitterly, I can be sarcastic and rude to my relatives but in front of an entire school, I choke. I'm such a spaz!
She turned back from the path she had taken through the halls and decided to go to the bathroom to wash the tear stains from her face. Dani tossed her half-eaten lunch into a garbage can on her way through the halls. Her appetite was gone. She reached the restroom and headed straight to the sink.
Dani let the cool water run over her hands as she just stared at her own reflection. Her eyes were red and watery. Her hair draped over her face as she shook her head at the miserable picture she made.
Voices from the hallway interrupted her silent contemplations. Dani began splashing her face and hoped whoever was coming was not a group of people from the cafeteria. Or if they were, that they would leave her alone. The voices did come into the restroom, and they stopped suddenly.
Dani didn't look up. She didn't want to see them. She didn't care who they were. She reached for a paper towel and began patting her face dry.
"Well, if it isn't Jessica's freak of a cousin." One girl said as she came around to stand on one side of Dani. The girl leaned against the sink and smirked. Dani noted that it was one of Jessica's carbon copies but remained silent.
"It's a good think Jessica warned those guys about you." Another girl piped in, her jaw smacking as she chewed on a piece of gum. "Who knows what you would have done to them."
"Most likely would have brainwashed them. Or gotten them hooked on dope." A third girl said nonchalantly as she stepped up to the mirror and began to apply lip gloss.
The first girl who was still standing beside Dani said, "I don't understand why Jessica's mom took you in. You better not corrupt Jessica's brothers. Or kill the whole family."
"Why don't you just go back to where you came from, you freak?" Bubble-gum girl snapped. "No one wants you here."
Dani tossed the paper towel into the face of the girl standing beside her and shoved her out of her way before quickly striding out. "Who said I wanted to be here?" Dani grumbled as she fled down the hallway.
The bell rang, alerting students that it was time to make their way to their next class if they had not started to already. Dani hurried to her locker, ignoring the stares and whispers that followed her. She hurried on to her class.
Once there she looked around for an empty seat. Charlotte was in the middle and there was a seat open next to her. When their gazes met, Charlotte hastily looked away and flagged another girl over to take the empty seat. Dani made her way to the back row and plopped down. She let everyone know she was upset.
Dani flipped her copy of Macbeth open and tuned out everyone around her. She read in silence as the bell for class to start rang. She ignored the teacher as he introduced himself and began explaining the class procedures.
"Miss Trent." Her head lifted, half of her face shrouded by hair. The teacher was frowning at her from the front of the room. Students had turned in their seats to look back at her. "Miss Trent, class has started and although I appreciate your enthusiasm to read, now is not the time. Put the book away."
Dani shut the book and set it down. Her icy stare remained riveted to the front of the room as the teacher continued. She ignored the students around her who snickered. She ignored their whispered conversations. However, the teacher didn't.
"Miss Trent!" He turned to glare in the direction the voices had been. Unfortunately, the real culprits had been sitting in front of her. "I do not care how interesting the book was. Complaining to your classmates will not help matters. Now be silent and pay attention."
"I wasn't talking!" Dani sat up and tried to defend herself.
"I am not deaf or stupid, Miss Trent. Do not lie to me. If you continue to be a disturbance and disrespectful, then I will send you to the principal's office." The teacher's eyebrow rose to dare her to say another word. Dani did not retaliate. When the teacher commenced with his explanations, Dani sent a glare at all who had turned to look at her once more. Smug smiles faded at her death-stare.
No one whispered any more.
Dani breathed a sigh of relief when the bell for the class to be over rang. She slowly packed up, letting the class empty. She thought about making peace with the teacher. But remembering that she had been wrongly accused and then threatened with undeserved discipline, Dani stubbornly decided against it.
As she made her way to the door that was at the front of the classroom, she did not make eye contact with her teacher. "Miss Trent, a word if you please." Dani froze and squeezed her eyes shut and counted to ten. She turned wordlessly and waited. Her teacher, Mr. Murton, stared at her. "I hope I will not have to fight with you every day." Dani didn't answer. "The school year is what you make of it. It can be pleasant or it can be dissatisfying. Whatever you choose, be prepared to reap the consequences." He nodded as way of dismissal.
"So you're going to automatically assume that I'll choose the later, therefore, earning consequences for my actions." Dani said angrily. Mr. Murton looked up at her with an almost bored expression on his face. "You don't think I can behave and gain benefits? You think I'm a lost cause?"
"I never said that, Miss Trent." He stated in a placating manner.
"You didn't have to." Dani retorted.
Mr. Murton shook his head. "Don't read too much into things. Control yourself."
"Just like you can control your class?" Dani shot back.
The teacher's ambivalent expression fell into a scowl. "Watch your next words, Miss Trent. Or you will be reaping consequences very soon."
Dani returned the scowl. "Sorry to take up your time. I need to get to my next class." She spun on her feet and stormed out of the classroom.
Everywhere she walked, eyes of students followed. Now that Dani had the chance to looks around herself, she saw that teachers who were loitering in the hallway were giving her the exact same judgmental stares. They all thought the worst of her. They all expected her to fail.
Dani walked past the classroom she was meant to go to. She kept walking even when the bell rang. She ducked down halls to avoid teachers and whoever may be on hall duty.
Walking by a hall that junctures with the one she was passing through, Dani spied windows looking into a large room filled with shelves of books. Dani stopped and backtracked. She stared at the shelves with longing. Looking around, she didn't see anyone coming. Hesitantly, Dani walked up to the windows and followed them until she reached double doors with a sign on them both designating the room beyond them as the library.
Dani opened one door and quickly entered the library. She glanced over at the desk where the librarian should be sitting, but it appeared that no one was around. Dani walked further into the room and began wandering through the shelves. She stopped every once in a while to make sure no one had followed her or was watching her. The knowledge that there were windows that looked into the library from the hallway disconcerted her.
Her meandering the labyrinth of books, brought her to a halt. Dani found herself in a section of shelves where the books looked like they had not been used in ages. She ran her fingers over the old books' spines and smiled. The smell of old books always reminded her of her dad. He had liked vintage books.
"Dani." She whirled around. Her heart pounding in her throat. Dani expected to see a teacher or the school principal standing behind her, but there was no one. "Dani."
She looked around in confusion. "Is that the owl's voice I've been hallucinating?" she muttered to herself.
"You're trying to get away." The voice stated, an amused lilt to the masculine tone. "Look behind you, lonely girl." Dani turned to find a door with a sign that read 'Utility Closet'.
Rolling her eyes, Dani shook her head. "I'm stressed and hungry. I'm listening to an owl that isn't even here. What am I saying? The owl wasn't even really talking." She ran a hand through her hair. "It's the smell of the books and stress from the day. That's what's getting to me." Dani looked up at the door and frowned. "Stupid. I'm just stupid." She was about to continue her aimless wandering through the library, when a thump from the other side of the door made her jump in fright.
"What was that?" Dani mumbled as she narrowed her eyelids and tried to peer through the crack between the door and the doorframe. Lifting a hand, she cautiously knocked on the wood. Ear pressed against the wood, she waited. A responding thump made her jump back again.
"Okay. That's weird." Dani knocked again and said in a loud whisper, "Is someone in there?" She waited again and heard another thump from the other side of the door. "well it's not a person." The girl decided aloud. "Maybe a squirrel is trapped in there. Or a bird." Dani shuddered. "Or a rat."
Dani placed her hand on the door handle and began jiggling it up and down. The lock was loose and obviously old. She had seen handle's like this before. With enough force, she could break the lock and get into the storage closet.
A click met her efforts and with a satisfied smile, Dani felt the door swing open beneath her hands. She only let the door open a crack. Unsure of what was on the other side, thumping in response to her knocking, Dani cautiously opened the door wide enough so her head could poke in.
Mismatched eyes staring into the dark, Dani called, "Hello?" Reaching one hand in, she felt along the wall for a light switch. Nothing. With a sigh, she opened the door wide so the light from the library could reach into the darkness.
Dani took a tenetive step into the large closet and looked around. A single light swung from the ceiling, a pull cord dangling within reach. Dani lifted her hand and tugged on the cord. The light bulb clicked to life and cast a struggled to bathe the room in light.
Another thump caused Dani to look up at a dirt encrusted window. The window swung up on its hinges before falling down again to bang against the frame. With a chuckle, Dani climbed on top of some wooden boxes and other odds and ends to shut and latch the window shut. Rubbing her dirty hands on her pants, Dani turned to look around the forgotten supply closet.
The teen looked at the floor and the walls covered in dust and cobwebs. "Your new hideaway, lonely girl." The voice inside her head stated.
"Well, if I'm going crazy, at least I can do it in here and away from those idiots." Dani lifted her hands up in a helpless gesture before letting them slap against her legs. Plans were already circulating through her mind. She would need to keep this place a secret. The door was still locked – it just wouldn't work all that great. Dani could clean the place up. Maybe put a latch or some kind of lock on the inside so she could make sure no one stumbled across her while she hid in here.
Dani exited the closet as the bell rang. The school day was over and even though Jessica had ruined part of it, the weird voice in Dani's head had made it somewhat better. With that thought in mind, she hurried out of the library, making sure she was not seen by the librarians.
Dani weaved her way through the crowds of people so she could get to the hallway where her locker was located. She didn't notice the stares as much now. She had a place she could go to now where their eyes and words could not reach her. Dani smiled to herself.
She collected her bag and books from her locker. Dani sped through the halls so she could get outside where Veronica would be waiting to pick up the group. Once outside, Dani scanned the groups of kids and teens for Eddie.
"Dani!" The teen turned towards the sound of her name and smiled at her youngest cousin as he raced up to her.
"Hey, Eddie. How was your first day of school?" She asked as she slung her arm over his shoulder.
"Great! I saw all my friends. And I even have the teacher I wanted!" Looking up at her, the boy asked, "How about you? Did you have fun?"
Dani's smile faded a little and she tried to ignore the stares directed her way as she walked with Eddie. "It was - tolerable." She smiled encouragingly at Eddie, knowing he didn't buy her nonchalant attitude. "So tell me about this teacher." Dani let Eddie ramble as they stood waiting for Veronica. Dani let his excitement carry her away from her bad day. She wanted to think of anything else. Anything that could take her away from here.