Chapter 4
Looking for something I've never seen
Alone and I'm in between
The place that I'm from and
The place that I'm in.
~ Trust Me by The Fray~
~*/*\*~
Dani twirled her pencil between her fingers as she stared down at the paper on her desk. The essay question on her test was a bit harder than she anticipated. With a quiet sigh, she put pencil to paper and continued her train of thought. If it wasn't right, then it wasn't right.
Just as she finished the last sentence to her test essay, the teacher called for the pencils to be set down. Sighs of relief and frustration permeated the air. Dani smiled triumphantly to herself. She knew she did well on this test. After all, she loved her English class.
Test were handed in and books gathered together. Friends stopped to talk amongst themselves about the test, other classes, or activities after school. Dani, on the other hand, squeezed her way around her fellow students that stood in the center of the aisle and darted out the classroom door.
Lunch hour caused the hallways to be overcrowded as students returned to their lockers or loitered in the hall. Dani wanted to get her lunch as soon as possible so she could escape to the one place where judgmental idiots couldn't watch her every move.
When she reached her locker, Dani groaned aloud. She had the bottom locker and unfortunately, the locker above her belonged to Jessica's current jock boyfriend Drew Mason. He did everything - and then some - that Jessica asked him to do. So if Jessica wanted Dani to be late for a class, she would just bat her eyelashes at the dunderhead and he would hang out in front of his and Dani's locker until five minutes before class.
Dani shifted her weight from one leg to the other. She knew that he wouldn't stay too long. Jessica was probably waiting for him to come walk her to the cafeteria.
He finally closed his locker door and turned. His blue eyes landed on Dani and a grin broke out over his face. "Oh! If it isn't Jessica's criminal - I mean cousin."
Dani rolled her eyes and shouldered her way past him. "Nice to see you too Moron - I mean Mason."
Drew's smile never wavered on his Ken-doll face, instead he leaned a shoulder against the locker beside her. Dani hated when his eyes followed her like that. She looked up at him with an expression that read, 'can I help you'. "Jessica was wondering if you were going to join us in the cafeteria today."
"Was she now." Dani's voice dripped with sarcasm as she turned the dial of her locker with deft flicks of her wrist.
"Yeah. She said something about needing to talk to you about the plans for after school." Drew continued as he watched her.
Retrieving her paper sack lunch, Dani stuffed a couple of her school books into the locker before pulling out others. "I don't see why. I already know what the plan is. Get on the bus or walk back to the house. Jessica is in charge while Veronica is out. The boys will be at school. Peter because he's meeting with his special aids teacher and Eddie because he's practicing soccer." Raising her head to meet Drew's stare head-on she quirked an eyebrow, wordlessly asking if she's forgetting anything.
Drew lifted a shoulder lazily. "She wants to have a few friends over."
Rolling her eyes, Dani shut her locker door. "In other words, she wants me to make myself scarce while she hangs out."
"No - I'm sure that's not what she meant." Drew insisted as he stepped back to allow Dani some room to stand up. However, he invaded her space once she was up. "Besides, if that is what she wants you to do, maybe you and I could have some fun together somewhere."
"What?" Dani felt her back hit the locker behind her as she attempted to back away from him.
"Hey, Jessica can be a bitch sometimes." Drew stated an expression of sympathy on his face. "Figured you needed a friend. How 'bout it?"
Eyes narrowing, Dani asked, "So, backing a girl against a locker is how you ask her to be your 'friend'?"
A laugh passed his lips before he lifted a hand to tug the strands of hair that hung over her right eye. "Well - I guess you caught me."
"Naturally." Dani mumbled as she swatted his hand away.
"You're not as bad as Jessica makes you out to be." Drew leaned back a bit. "And you're not bad looking either." A smug smile stretched across his face. "You're rep might benefit from dating me."
"First of all - what the hell?" Dani scowled at him. "Have you even dumped my cousin? Second of all - ew. You're not my type. Third of all - nothing I do will help my rep. Not while Jessica is around."
Drew had begun frowning at the beginning of her speech. Rolling his head so his neck popped, he shrugged again before turning on his charming smile again. "Didn't think it would be easy to convince you. After all, I'm sure you've had more experienced guys-"
Again, Dani interrupted him with one spoken word. "What?"
"You know. Bad girls have needs too, I'm sure." Drew was still smiling.
She lifted a hand to brush her bangs back behind her ear. Dani turned her head to the side before glancing out of the corner of her eye at Drew. Her blue eye fixed him with a deadly serious glare. She watched his smile waver only a little. Turning her head back so she could face him, Dani's glare hit him square-on.
With a small amount of pride, she watched the smug smile disappear completely. When she spoke again, her voice was even and low - hinting at suppressed rage. "Go back to Jessica. Tell her her little mind games are bull. If that is what this was all about. If not, then you can go jump off a bridge. Go play with Jessica's pretty cheerleader friends who wouldn't mind satisfying your - 'needs'." Taking one step closer she jabbed a single finger into his chest. "And if you ever talk to me like that again - let alone look at me - I'm gonna show you what I do to douche bags like you. I'm sure Jessica has hinted at something." Narrowing her eyes she asked, "Understood?"
Drew nodded before backing up a step to get away from her finger that was still resting on his chest. Dani let her hand drop and she jerked her head to the left - the direction of the cafeteria. "Get out of my sight." she hissed.
The jock stumbled back another step before turning and walking quickly down the blessedly empty hallway.
Dani waited until he was gone and out of sight. Tears pricked her eyes and she slumped against the lockers, sliding down until she was sitting with her knees up against her chest. Her belongs slipped from her hands as she hugged her knees to herself and shuddered.
"I wanna go home." She mumbled to herself. Taking a quivering breath, she gathered her things once more and headed in the opposite direction Drew had taken. She was going to her place in the library. Dani knew that at least she would be safe there.
Sure enough, the library was relatively empty at this hour. It was simple enough to weave through the bookshelves and over to the forgotten utility closet. With a little jiggling of the door handle, the door swung open again.
Dani slipped into the room and shut the door. Groping around in the dark, she found the pull string of the single light bulb. She tugged on it in order to cast the shadows away. Looking around at her handiwork, Dani smiled.
She had snuck into the utility closet every day since she found it five weeks ago. Every lunch hour, free hour, or whenever she was forced to stay after school - Dani had been in this closet cleaning and moving things.
Dani snuck forgotten blankets and pillows that Veronica didn't use anymore into the closet last week. Now there was a nest of them in a corner beneath the scrubbed clean window. Dani could sit there and read or do homework. Peace and quiet. On a shelf next to her reading corner, Dani had stocked a few non-perishable snacks that she had grabbed from the pantry.
There wasn't much to her hideaway - but it was hers. That was all that mattered. Dani sunk down into her corner and kicked off her sneakers. The tears she had denied herself escaped in two blinks but with an irritated growl, she rubbed the back of her hand across her eyes. "He's a jerk and not worth the tears." Dani chastised herself.
Reaching for her lunch bag, she pulled out her sandwich and water bottle. Dani opened her science textbook in order to study for her quiz that was coming up after lunch.
~*/*\*~
Dani looked at the bus that was waiting for people to board. She knew Jessica would be on that bus. Jessica and her douche boyfriend. And Jessica's cronies. Shouldering her heavy shoulder bag, Dani turned to begin the walk back to her relatives' house.
She heard the bus roar to life as it began pulling away from the curb. Dani didn't turn to look over her shoulder. She knew what was coming next. Someone would most likely roll down their window and throw something out at her as the bus passed her.
Splat!
Laughter travelled over the wind back to the girl who stood wiping something wet and gooey out of her hair. "Gross." She growled, shaking the goop from her hand to the ground below her. Dani didn't pause. If a teacher caught her throwing the stuff from her hair on the ground, she would get in trouble for 'littering'.
Her steps followed the well traveled sidewalk. It would take her thirty minutes to get to the park and five to eight minutes to get from the park to the house. Dani wondered if she should just camp out in the park. With a sigh she shook her head. Jessica would want Dani back at the house to yell at before Dani disappeared.
Thoughts of home forced their way to her mind. These unaccompanied walks often resulted in Dani recalling happier times. Times spent with her mom and dad. Times spent with friends. She missed her friends. They'd tried to stay in touch - but it was difficult when Dani didn't have a cell phone or a computer with which to contact her friends. Veronica nearly had a conniption fit when she found Dani on the phone with an old school friend. Dani was forbidden to call her 'druggie' friends from her old school.
"Can't talk about Mom and Dad. Can't contact my friends." Dani grumbled as she kicked a stone. "Why do I even bother sticking around?"
"Because of Eddie." That voice that accompanied her rants reminded her. Dani sighed wearily and rolled her eyes. Why that voice had to be logical was beyond her.
Her mind wandered away from her desire to take a GED test, get a job, and move out. She couldn't. Not without Eddie. She couldn't even call someone about Eddie's situation. Not without revealing to him - certain issues. Dani sighed in anger. "Life would have been easier if Veronica had just agreed to letting Mom take Eddie."
Dani looked up at the sound of happy kids shouting and laughing. She was walking through the park now which meant she was almost back home. Her steps slowed as she watched kids that were fresh out of school running and playing. Parents sat at park benches watching their children. Older siblings sat working on homework, occasionally lifting a head to check on the younger kids.
Dani remembered going to playgrounds when she was younger. Picnicking with her parents. A sigh passed her lips again. Maybe the upcoming weekend would have good enough weather where she could bring Eddie to the park. The kid needed to get out of that house more often.
As always, her attention was drawn to that bridge. Dani longed to go over it and see what was around those bushes. Something was there. She was sure of it. For some reason, she just never had the time to actually go over there to find out what.
Dani didn't stop. It was as if her mind was telling her that she wasn't ready to cross the bridge. That whatever she thought was over there wasn't there quite yet. It was an odd sensation. Yet she forgot about the bridge just as quickly as her attention was drawn to it.
The path back to her relatives' house led her past the bookshop. The light in the store was rarely on. The sign always flipped to read CLOSED. Dani paused at the large window and cupped her hands over her eyes so she could peer into the dim room. Shelves were stacked with old, dusty looking books. An antique cash register - like the ones from old movies - sat on the counter across from the door. The shop looked clean. There didn't appear to be any dust or cobwebs anywhere.
"So why isn't it ever open?" Dani murmured as she stepped back again. Her hands rested on the window a little longer. Lifting her hands from the cool, smooth surface, Dani smiled at the hand print that was left behind. At least now the owner would know someone had wanted to come in. It was a habit of Dani's to leave a hand print on the window. Every day the hand print was gone - wiped clean off.
"Next time I'll paint my hand and stick it on the window!" Dani said loudly, in case anyone was inside and was listening. With a shrug of her shoulder she moved on. Jessica was waiting no doubt.
Dani's feet dragged as she drew closer and closer to the white house. Coming to a stop at the mailbox, Dani looked up at the Victorian style house. It was like a prison for her and Eddie. She almost smiled at the image of the attic looking like a tower from a fairy tale or something.
Her daydream was interrupted when Jessica wrenched the door open and marched out onto the porch. Her hands rested on her hips as she glared down at the dark-haired girl. "Where have you been?"
"Walking back from school." Dani answered as she walked up the path from the mailbox to the door. "Not everyone can catch the bus before it leaves."
"You were being slow on purpose." Jessica hissed.
"Yes, Jessica." Dani pushed her way past her cousin and walked into the house. "That's exactly what I did. I made sure I was wrongfully blamed for misbehaving in class so Mr. Murton could make me stay after class for another lecture on how my behavior will affect my school year. A lecture I could quote word for word now."
Jessica followed Dani in and closed the door behind them. "Whatever. It's not like you didn't deserve it anyway."
Dani didn't try to argue. There was no point to trying. She merely walked to the kitchen and grabbed a peach from a bowl of fruit on the kitchen table. "Drew said you were having friends over. So I am assuming you either want me in the room upstairs or out of the house. Which will it be? And what time do I need to be back so you don't get in trouble with Veronica?"
Jessica's face reddened in embarrassment. "Don't be so smug! Just because Mom believed you that one time -"
"Hey, I was telling the truth." Dani countered. "You did kick me out of the house last time and you did have people over - more specifically your boyfriend, who you were sucking face with."
"Shut up, Dani!" Jessica yelled. "It's not like you don't sneak out of the house. I bet you go off and have fun with all your criminal friends."
Dani remembered Drew's accusations from earlier. Rounding on Jessica, Dani growled, "Yeah. I've got so many friends." In a quieter voice she said, "No thanks to you." She stormed out of the kitchen and headed for the stairs.
"Where are you going?" Jessica yelled up the stairs after the retreating girl.
"To dump some stuff and get some stuff so I can get out of this house and away from your freakish friends!" Dani shouted over her shoulder. She walked into the annoyingly pink room and did as she said. The sounds of Jessica's stomping feet coming up the stairs alerted Dani that the heated conversation was not over yet.
"My friends are not freaks. You're the freak!" Jessica retorted.
Dani threw her hands up in the air. "And who made me the freak? You! From all your little lies. You and Veronica's freakin' lies!"
"No!" Jessica shouted back. "You're a freak because your parents are freaks and couldn't raise a normal child even if they wanted to!"
Jumping to her feet, Dani faced Jessica - nose to nose. "Shut up, Jessica! I told you not to say anything about my parents!"
"Your dad killed himself and you killed your mom." Jessica insisted harshly. "Not until they'd messed you up by getting you on drugs and smoking and-"
Dani's hands clenched into fists. "I swear if you don't shut up right now I'm gonna-"
"What? What'll you do?" Jessica demanded. "Hit me? Kill me? 'Cause if you hit me, Mom will throw you out. If you kill me, you'll just go to jail."
Dani's breath hissed through her clenched teeth as she tried to control her anger. Her eyes fixated on Jessica's, wishing she could intimidate her cousin with her glare just as easily as she had Drew. Jessica was too riled up though. Jessica was winning the fight. There was no way Dani could make her back down now.
Backing up, Dani turned and snatched her things from her mattress. "Believe whatever you want." Dani answered in her level, low voice. "I know the truth and that's all that matters." She shoved Jessica out of the door way and headed down the stairs. Pausing just inside the front door, Dani said, "I'll be gone until five o'clock. That gives you and your - friends - two hours to hang out. Veronica gets back at five thirty. If your friends aren't gone by then," Dani turned to level her cousin standing at the top of the stairs with an icy glare, "if they're not gone then I won't have a qualm making sure Veronica finds out again." A smirk quirked Dani's lips. "Oh, and you might want to keep Drew on a tighter leash. Seems he wants to go to the bad girls now for some attention."
The door slammed shut as Dani stormed away. "I hate her. I hate. Her!" Dani repeated over and over as she walked back the way she had come not all that long ago.
She walked through the woodsy area across the street and cut through the nice neighborhood with the big, fancy houses. Dani didn't slow down or pause to look into the quaint shops that lined the street. She got to the street corner just across from the park and stopped to glare at the hand prints she'd left on the bookshop window.
A car drove by, rousing her from her angered thoughts. Dani looked both ways, for any incoming traffic. Not seeing anything, she jogged across to the park's entrance. She ignored the playground and those that were playing there. Instead, she walked straight for the bridge.
Dani paused at the edge where the stone met the grass. She stared down at the river that flowed beneath it. Her gaze rose to look at the bushes just beyond. Taking a deep breath, she stepped onto the stone bridge.
Once across she cautiously walked around the bushes. Ahead of her was another bridge and more of the river twisting and turning around the park. Dani followed the river's lazy path with a curious look. As far as she could tell, there were many more bridges connecting sections of land to each other. Stone pillars with pointed ends stretched to the sky, words etched into them.
Looking back the way she had come, Dani took another steadying breath, her anger still simmering just below the surface. "I might as well get lost in this maze of bridges." she mumbled to herself. Her feet led her to the next bridge. And the next.
Dani kept walking until she couldn't hear the shouts and laughs of the children from the playground. Glancing back, she couldn't even see the playground anymore. Trees and bushes obscured her vision. "When did this park get so big?" she whispered.
The flash of white on the water caused her to turn her head. Two lone swans glided over the water, heading the same direction her feet were carrying her.
Eventually, Dani reached a section that branched off in two different directions. One dirt path led to a stone bridge that looked rough and not quite as new as the one before it. The other dirt path led away on what looked like a biking path.
Dani strained to see what was beyond the bridge. She could just make out a large oak tree and part of a stone bench could be seen from around the large bushes and shrubs that tried to obscure her vision. A stone marker stood beside the water's edge, more illegible words scratched into its surface.
"Continue on? Or stop here?" Dani questioned herself aloud.
"Why not rest a little?" That voice suggested. With a sigh and shrug of her shoulders, Dani stepped onto the rough looking bridge.
Her gaze swept around the large area. To her left another bridge connected this place to another plot of earth and more trees obscured whatever lay beyond it. Turning she saw that on the opposite bank that she once stood on had a few rose bushes growing on the water's edge. The white roses were in full bloom, reaching for the sky.
Dani turned again and spied another stone pillar. "Why are there so many?" she looked from one pillar to the other. Her feet led her to the one closest to her - the one closest to the bridge. Her hands reached out to touch the circle that was etched in the stone. Fingers trailed slowly over the letters that stood out in the center of that circle. "JGK." she mumbled. "Wonder what that stands for."
Looking back over her shoulder at the other pillar, Dani wondered whether the other pillar had anything on it as well. She walked up to it and looked at the circle. Another JGK was etched there. Stepping back, she shrugged the sudden shiver away. She felt like she was being watched.
Dani made her way over to the stone bench that was standing beneath the large tree. She had the sudden urge to climb up the tree. Glad that she had the foresight to bring her shoulder bag, Dani stepped up onto the bench and grabbed onto the branch that was within reach.
Pulling herself up, she climbed up a few branches more until she was hidden behind the fall colored leaves. Dani brushed her hair out of her eyes and settled back against the trunk with a contented sigh. Her anger had diminished, but she could still feel the tears prickling at the back of her eyes. She refused to cry. She would not cry.
The first book Dani pulled out was her copy of Macbeth. Flipping open her book, the first page made her pause in shock. All over the first page and copyright page were words written in Jessica's hand. Words like 'freak' and 'criminal'. 'Witch' and 'hag' were written alongside some lame stick figures with pointed hats and scraggly hair sticking out from the sides.
Stick figures with the names Veronica, Jessica, Jason, Peter, and - Eddie written above them were drawn sprawled at the bottom of the page. X's served as eyes and some had tongues sticking out of the sides of their mouths. In all of them a dagger had been drawn. A smiling stick figure stood above them. Next to it was written, Mac-Danica.
With a scream of anger and frustration, Dani threw her book. Screwing her eyes shut, she felt the hot tears squeeze out from her lids. Her fisted hands pounded on the trunk. "I hate her!" Dani could only guess as to what Jessica had planned for the play script.
Dani could just imagine what would have happened if Veronica had seen it. Or what a teacher would have done if Jessica had placed in their hands.
A sob escaped her lips. "I hate them. All of them." The heels of her hands dug into her eyes as she rubbed the tears away. "I want to go home. I don't belong here." Dani sagged against the tree. "I want my life back." she cried as everything that had happened in the past couple of weeks washed over her. All the tears she had held back flooded out of her system. "I want my life back." Dani repeated miserably.
"Crying about it won't fix anything." An almost familiar voice spoke up from below her.
Dani's head jerked up from her hands. Blinking in surprise she held her breath. That voice - it had not been inside her head and thoughts.
"Drawing silly doodles such as these won't fix your problem with these people either. Rather childish, really." The voice drawled in his accent.
Leaning forward so she could peer around the leaves she was hiding behind, Dani looked down at the blonde head below her. The man was flipping through her copy of Macbeth.
Anger still predominant among her emotions, Dani stated, "That's mine."
The head tilted back and Dani stared in mild - but hidden from the stranger - shock. His eyes were different colors. His left eye was brown while his right eye was blue.
Dani didn't have much of a chance to stare at his eyes for long. An amused smile had spread across his face as he lifted the book up and waved it back and forth. "This dirty, little thing? You threw it away. So now it belongs to me. One man's trash as they say."
"I did not throw it away." She insisted as she began scooting across the branch so she would be in the right spot to drop down onto the open space on the bench. "If I'd thrown it away, I would have thrown it in a garbage can." Dani lay on her stomach before sliding down. Her hands held her suspended in the air for a few moments before she let go of her hold and dropped the rest of the distance to the stone bench.
Dani scowled at the man as he leaned to the right in order to avoid touching her. She wasted no time in stepping down from the bench. Walking around him so she was standing in front of him, Dani stuck her hand out for her book. "Now, please return it."
"Good to see you've been taught some manners." The man smirked up at her as he leaned backwards so he could rest against the tree trunk. "The fact still remains, young lady, that you did throw the book and made no attempt to retrieve it."
"I don't care what it looked like to you. It's my book. It belongs to me. I want it back." Dani insisted.
"I, my, me, I." The man tsked. "Such a self-centered girl." His gaze searched her from head to toe before returning to her eyes. "A puffy-eyed, red-nosed, self-centered girl." Dani retracted her hand to rub at the wet traces that were on her cheek. The man wasn't finished mocking her appearance. "And have you never heard of a barber's shop? Did you take a pair of scissors to your own head? Those clothes - they look like boys' extra large!"
Dani looked down at her outfit. She wore jeans that fit her comfortably on her thighs but bagged and pooled around her black sneakers. She wore a black and white striped, long-sleeve shirt that had a white star on the chest. Her shirt was one size larger than she needed - a medium when she needed a small. The collar was wide and if it were any wider, it would slip down on her shoulders.
Returning her attention to the offender, she rolled her eyes. "For your information, it's all I have and it's just a size too big. I don't wear boys' clothes." Motioning to the book again she said, "Just like that book is one of the few possessions that belong to me. So give it back."
"No more 'please'?" His voice sounded hurt but his expression conveyed amusement. "Poor and self-centered. Lack of courtesy to strangers - elder strangers at that." Flipping the book open again the man smirked at the pictures. "Not to mention a violent streak. Self-depreciating too."
Dani rolled her eyes. "I'm not polite to strangers who steal my stuff and then criticize how I look." She glanced down at the book that was cradled in his leather-clad hands. It wasn't that cold out. She wondered if she could just make a grab for it and run. "And I didn't write that stuff in there." Dani corrected him. "My cousin did."
"And how old is this cousin that you would throw such a tantrum over what they did?" The man inquired with a roll of his eyes - answering her own if not rivaling it. "Five? Six?"
"Try sixteen." Dani grumbled. "She acts enough like a five-year-old."
The man chuckled. "I don't work very closely with teenagers - so I wouldn't know if that comparison is accurate."
"You work with kids?" Dani demanded skeptically.
"Of course, Danica." He shut the book and smirked at her again.
Stepping back warily, she asked, "How'd you know my name?"
Waving the book back and forth the man answered, "Well I'm assuming you're the one with the smile standing over the other stick figures. Not to mention there's a sticker in the back of the book that says 'return to Danica Trent'." Glancing at the cover his nose wrinkled. "Although I believe the address listed has changed."
"Yeah well, people move." She replied irritably. "Look, just give it back."
"And why is it so important to you?" He questioned. "Wouldn't you get into a lot of trouble if someone found this defaced book? Not everyone would believe you so willingly, I'm sure."
"That's what white-out is for." Dani retorted reaching forward again.
He stood and stepped out of her arm's reach. "Not even going to ask or demand for it now? That's very rude of you."
"You sure you work with kids?" Dani growled as she folded her arms in front of her chest. Trying to hide the fact that his height was a bit disconcerting. It was easier to try to be intimidating when the person you were trying to intimidate was sitting down. "What do you want with my book? Or with me?"
The man shrugged a shoulder. "Believe it or not. I do work with children. Now, back to the original question -"
Danica snorted. "Which one is the original? 'This dirty, little thing?'"
A toothy grin answered her cheeky answer. "No." he drawled slowly. "Why were you throwing a tantrum over such a trivial and childish prank?"
"It's my book." she hissed in answer.
"There you go with being self-centered again." The man sighed heavily.
Danica lifted her hands in the air before slapping them down on her legs. Her frustration had hit a new high. "It's one of the few items that survived the fire, okay?"
"Fire?" he pressed in an almost bored tone.
"Yeah. A fire destroyed my old home and my life. Now I'm staying with my suckish relatives who hate me. My cousin likes to get me in trouble so no doubt she drew that stuff in there in order to show my aunt later. Now I either have to throw it away or white it all out. I'd rather keep it so can I please have one of the few ties to that life back? Please?" Danica felt the tears returning and instead of glaring up at the blank expression of the man standing opposite her, she turned her head away so she could stare bleary-eyed at the stone pillar that was a few feet away from them.
"Wishing for your old life - won't fix anything." His quiet voice drew her attention back to him.
Dani looked at him, sniffed, but then looked away again. "I know that." Wiping at her wet nose with her sleeve she said, "But can't I - can't I just say empty words when it gets so hard? Too hard to deal with?"
The man stepped back over to the bench and bent over to lift a briefcase that Dani hadn't noticed earlier. When he straightened he answered, "Words - even if empty or spoken without meaning - have power. Once spoken," he turned to level his mismatched gaze on her and said, "they cannot be retracted."
Dani sniffed again but held his gaze. She watched as he gave her a small smile before reaching into his suit-jacket pocket. He produced a white handkerchief and held it out to her. "Try wiping your nose on that instead of your clothes." Dani reluctantly accepted his kind gesture and blew her nose into the fabric. Her eyes narrowed when he laughed. "Maybe your likening teenagers to young children wasn't so far-fetched after all. I thought only toddler's rubbed their runny noses on their clothes."
"Shut up." Dani grumbled, blushing at being called a toddler. She looked from the cloth in her hands to the immaculately dressed man before her. She lifted the handkerchief in one hand. "Thanks."
"Keep it." He scowled at the fabric. "It's been - contaminated now."
Dani laughed and stuffed the cloth into her pants pocket. "What's with the way you talk? You sound like an old movie that my - that my mom would watch." She swallowed around the lump that had suddenly formed and cleared her throat. "And I'm not diseased."
The man smiled again. "It made you laugh, didn't it?" He bowed his head in smug acknowledgement at her shocked expression. "Good day, Danica Trent." Turning to walk toward the rough bridge she had crossed earlier, he paused right before that threshold as Dani had earlier that afternoon. "By the way," he said, "whenever you feel like it is too much again - try serving or helping someone else. Someone who has it as rough or worse than yourself." The way he tilted his head, Dani could just see a sadness in the lines of his face. His next words conveyed an understanding that struck a chord in her heart. "I have found that this method truly helps me."
Dani watched in open-mouthed awe as he quickly stepped across the bridge and disappeared around the bushes. Blinking a few times, her head shook as if she was trying to clear it. Lips pursing, she frowned. Head snapping up, Dani shouted, "Hey!" Running for the bridge she called, "You still have my -!" Skidding to a stop on the other side, Dani looked around for the blonde-haired man. He was no where to be seen. "Book." she sighed wearily.
Reaching for her pocket, Dani patted the bulge of the handkerchief. With the reassurance that the meeting had happened, Dani stood staring down at her shoes in confusion.
A bell chiming caused her head to lift and turn to look at the clock tower that was visible between the trees. It was five o'clock. With a groan, Dani raced back the way she had come - back toward the park she knew. She hoped she didn't get lost or turned around in the maze of bridges and islands. She hoped she'd come across that infuriating man that had walked off with her book.
Dani stopped when she crossed the last bridge. Her gaze swept over the almost empty playground, her chest heaving. No sign of the man with blonde hair and mismatched eyes. Setting off on a run again, a frown creased her features again. She couldn't remember much else about what he looked like.
He'd been wearing a business suit - he was older than her but not the same age as her aunt or uncle. What was the style his hair had been cut? What color had his suit been? He'd been wearing leather gloves.
Dani wondered when he'd walked past the tree and from what direction. Had he seen the book fall from the tree or had he come by well after the book had hit the ground? Had he heard her crying and had spied the book when he came to investigate? How much had he actually heard her say? Had he seen her climb the tree from a far?
Her thoughts were put on hold when her relatives' house came into view. Lights were on due to the dimming light outside. The garage was closed - so Veronica wasn't home yet.
Dani's feet pounded on the porch as she raced up the steps. Stopping just outside the front door, she bent over and took several gasping breaths. Her chest and legs burned from the excursion but Dani felt so much lighter now that she'd let off some steam. However, she was sorely disappointed that she no longer had her copy of Macbeth.
Once she had caught her breath, Dani opened the front door. "I'm back!"
Jessica stepped out of the living room with an exaggerated look of disappointment. "You said you'd be back at 5 o'clock."
Glancing at the clock on the fireplace mantel, Dani shrugged. "So I'm ten minutes late. What does it matter to you?"
"I could have kept my friends over longer!" Jessica retorted.
"Well as long as that's the only thing that bothers you about my tardiness." Dani headed for the stairs. "Oh, and by the way, Jess -"
"Don't call me that!" Jessica shouted as she flicked her bleached-blonde hair over her shoulder.
Dani continued, ignoring the interruption. "If you ever draw in any of my books again, don't think I'll help you out when Veronica gets mad at you." Turning her head to look over her shoulder, Dani glared at her pale faced cousin. Without another word, Dani continued up the stairs and made her way to the room she shared with her cousin.
Settling down on her mattress, Dani reached for a notebook and pen. She thought about doing homework, but she really didn't want to. Twirling the pen between her fingers, she silently contemplated her meeting. Setting pen to paper, she wrote, Man in the Park. Underlining the words she began making a list.
"Creep. Jerk." She said the words aloud as she wrote them. "Stole my book. Works with kids? Question mark times five. Kind." Dani paused and pursed her lips. "Listens." Looking up to the window, she smiled briefly at spying her owl friend. "I never learned his name."
~*/*\*~
"Dani! Dani, I scored a goal in practice today!" Dani looked up just as Eddie jumped. She laughed as he landed on the open space on her mattress and moved so he had room.
"Did you now? That's awesome, Eddie." She ruffled his brown hair, noting that it was getting a bit long.
"I also jumped really far on the swing today." He puffed his chest out.
"Nearly touch the sky?" Dani teased him before setting aside the homework she had been concentrating on.
He giggled and shook his head. Eddie's attention focused on the sheets of notebook paper and he frowned. "Why are you doing homework? You're usually reading that play thing when I get back. Didn't you finish your homework before leaving school like always?"
"I'm working ahead." Dani hoped he didn't ask any more questions about her book.
Jessica burst into the room, talking loudly on the phone. "I know! Such a pain. You guys could have stayed ten extra minutes before the freak -" she stopped mid-sentence when she spotted Eddie. "Eddie! Get out of my room you little twerp!"
"Hey!" Dani barked at the girl. "I invited him in here."
"Boys don't come into a girls room!" Jessica retorted. "That's the rule in this house."
"So what was Drew doing in here last week?" Dani sneered.
Jessica spluttered for a few seconds before pointing to the door. "Eddie! Out! Or else I'll send the goblins and trolls after you tonight!"
Eddie's eyes widened and a strangled yelp left his lips before he darted out of the room. Dani jumped up from her mattress, hands clenched. "Jessica! That wasn't nice! He's your brother for crying out loud!"
Jessica lifted a finger in the air and held the phone to her ear. "Hold on a sec, Darla." Walking over to the door, Jessica shouted down the hall, "Moooom! Dani won't be quiet while I'm on the phone!"
"Dani, either be quiet or leave the room!" Veronica shouted up the stairs.
"I was doing homework in here first!" Dani retorted, anger building.
"It was my room before you got here." Jessica bickered.
"I, my, me, I." Dani grumbled bitterly.
"What?" Jessica asked.
"You're a self-centered little witch." Dani stated, snatching her homework from the floor. "Don't bother yelling at me. I'm leaving."
"Wait until I tell Mom -"
Dani smirked at Jessica. "Tell her what? Tell her you told Eddie you'll send monsters after him? She won't be happy about that. Like she wasn't happy about it the last time you told him that and he got up in the middle of the night crying." The dark-haired girl's smirk widened a fraction before she exited the room and shut the door.
Walking down the hallway, Dani poked her head into Eddie and Peter's bedroom. Rapping her knuckles on the door that was propped open, she said, "Knock, knock."
Eddie sat huddled on his bed holding a baseball bat. He looked up at Dani through a football helmet that was too big for his head. "You'll kick goblin and troll butt if Jessica sends them after me, won't you Dani?" he asked in a trembling voice.
Dani walked over to his bed and sat on the edge. "You know I will, Eddie. And don't worry, I told Jessica that in no uncertain terms that she will never send them after you. I mean it." She reached for the helmet and pulled it off. Smiling at him she said, "Tell ya what, go get your book and I'll read you a few more chapters before dinner."
"Really?" Eddie perked up a bit. "What about your homework?"
"I was working ahead, remember?" Dani shuffled back until her back hit the wall and she had her legs stretched out before her. "Besides, it's a known fact that goblins and trolls don't like stories. Just as much as they don't like singing."
Eddie nodded before scooting off the bed and running for the bookshelf that held all of his books. Returning, he crawled over to where Dani was sitting and settled down beside her. Dani opened the book to where the bookmark was sticking out and sighed. "Now, where were we?"
As Dani read to her captivated audience, she thought absentmindedly, There's no place I'd rather be. If I can be here for Eddie, then that's good enough fo rme. Taking care of Eddie - that's what Mom and Dad would want me to do.
The familiar voice chuckled in her mind. "That's my lonely girl."