Author's Note- I changed Matt from chapter one to the name Danny. It's a long story why, but that is just a head's up so no bone is confused.


Chapter 2
I went on a run when I got home and saw Danny in the park on my way home. Having already gotten over what happened between us earlier today, I stopped and sat on the bench next to him. He had had his head and his hands and I wanted to know what was up.
“It’s nice out today,” I said conversationally.
“How do you do it, Addie? You haven’t gone on a date in like a year, but you never seem to get lonely and want anyone.” His comment stung a little, but he wasn’t the sweetest guy in town so I was used to it from him by now.
“You have no clue how far off you are,” I said truthfully. James was the only person I never told him about since they were best friends, and Danny had been friends with him way longer than he had even known me.
“But you’re always so happy, well besides today you’re always happy. You just didn’t drink any coffee today.” I was about to explode and go off on him about how I didn’t need coffee, but let it go since he was already obviously in a sour mood.
“I don’t need coffee to be in a good mood,” I said stubbornly and he casted me a sideways glance. “What? I don’t!”
“Ok, come talk to me if you can go a week without even a sip. Just don’t talk to me that week because I don’t like you when you’re grumpy,” he said with a smile. I rolled my eyes and stood up from the bench.
“I’m just going to continue my run if you’re just going to make fun of me.”
“Sit down, I’m just playing.” I sighed and sat back down. “You take everything so seriously.” I snorted and he looked at me confused.
“You’re one to talk.”
“What?”
“Never mind,” I said and shook my head. “Anyways, I’m guessing your getting lonely?”
“Really, Sherlock?” he said sarcastically and I lightly shoved him.
“Shut up. What happened to Jane Doe?”
“Jane Doe?”
“You never told me her name because she told you not to tell anyone. You would’ve thought that that gave you some warning bells, but do tell me what happened.”
“Her name was Brittney. She said that she doesn’t want to talk to me anymore. She didn’t even tell me why.”
“Whatever happened to arranged marriages and all that crap? Then you didn’t have to deal with crap like this. I guess it would really kind of suck if you did actually fall in love with someone and couldn’t be with them.”
“Yeah, I would rather be alone than with someone who I couldn’t stand. That’s why divorce was invented.”
“Yeah, it also reduced the number of people getting beaten.”
“I can understand why guys do it.” I gave him a quizzical look and scooted away from him on the bench. “Oh shut up.” He said and put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me closer. His arm lingered there longer than necessary.

“I should go; my mom’ll be getting home soon.” I tried to stand up, but his arm held me in place.

“Wait, don’t go yet. I want some company. What do you mean that I had no clue how lonely you were?” I didn’t want to want his arm around me, but it was kind of comforting. It didn’t mean we liked each other, it was just nice after the day I had had.

“Because it’s been about a year since anyone has had any romantic interest in me.” I said and laid my head against his chest. I sighed and watched little boys play flag football while all their moms and dads told them what to do. It was cute how they all ran together in circles. And all the girls and babies playing on the play gym screaming and running around. Those had been the days with no worries about love or anything.

“That’s not true,” he said quietly after awhile.

“Name one guy,” I said turning my head to look up at him.

“Me.” Oh gosh. I sat up and looked at him.

“No you don’t. Don’t say that, especially not today after… forget it. I have to go,” I stood up and started down the trail to my house before he could say anything or stop me.



“That was a long run,” my mom said as I walked into the kitchen.

“I went farther today; needed the extra exercise.” I grabbed a banana from the bowl on the island counter and sat at the table while she flipped through our mail.

“Did Alainia call you? Amy said she was going to because she called this morning.” Amy and Alainia were my older twin sisters. They were both at college: Alainia at Texas Tech, and Amy at Grand Canyon University. Alainia was always the really shy one and Amy was the outgoing one who always introduced Alainia to friends and all that. It was their freshman year of college so my mom still worried constantly about the both of them.

“Why would she call me if she didn’t call you?” I asked. Alainia and I weren’t very close. All of our conversations always ended in fights and she always gave me attitude and thought she ruled me. It drove me mad, and we hadn’t gotten any better even with her living two states away.

“Adalyn, don’t start.” My mother said annoyed.

“She’s always the one who starts it,” I mumbled as I walked upstairs to take a shower. Afterwards I called Amy to tell her about James and Danny.

“He did it again, and I fell for it, again,” I said when she picked up the phone. Amy and I were always close, especially when it came to talking about boys.

“Addie! You know he’s just going to keep messing with your head as long as you fall for it.”

“I know. And better yet, now Danny likes me.”

“The sensitive one who always gets mad at you?” she asked. I heard a door slam so I figured her roommate just returned home.

“Yep. I saw him in the park when I was on my run and we sat on a bench and talked for awhile and he asked how I was so happy when I hadn’t been on a date in like a year. Oh, and don’t forget that he said that about three times which really didn’t help my ego at all. Anyways, he had his arm around my shoulders and I was kinda resting my head on his side when I said that no one had liked me in like a year and he said he did, and then I panicked and left.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow down you’re talking a mile a minute. So he how did his arm get around you in the first place without you being suspicious?”

“That’s a long story that I don’t want to talk about. What am I supposed to do, though? He’s like my best friend and he shouldn’t like me. I mean anybody but him. And everyone thinks I can’t survive a frikin day without coffee! It’s really making me mad.” She laughed and my anger just rose to the top.

“Hey, Taylor is trying to talk to me so I’ll call you later,” she said and ended the call before I could even say anything.

“A lot of help you were,” I said to myself and rolled over on my bed and screamed into my pillow.



When I went downstairs to eat dinner my mom was on the phone so I grabbed my plate of spaghetti and went into the living room to watch E! News. I was halfway through with my spaghetti by the time my mom walked in and joined me.

“So how was school?” she asked conversationally.

“The usual,” I said monotonously.

“How are you doing in history? I know you’ve been struggling with that class lately.”

“They don’t send you those progress report things by email every week anymore?” My school always ‘accidentally’ sent my mom these progress reports every week that showed her all of my grades.

“No, they do I just want to hear it from you. You need to get that grade up, and even though you’re convinced that I’m a liar, I didn’t sign up for those annoying things. I know my daughter is perfectly capable of telling me when she is struggling.” I knew she told the truth this time and felt bad for all the fights I had started because of my ‘progress reports’. I had thought for sure that she had somehow arranged for my school to send them to her because she didn’t trust me.

“I’m sorry. I’ve just been stressed out lately from everything.”

“Do you wanna tell me about a boy named James?” I was shocked to hear his name leave her mouth since I had never talked about him with her, but I knew instantly who had told her. I was never going to tell Amy anything again.

“No I don’t. I don’t particularly want to even talk about him at the moment. He’s just a jerk that leads me on and then ditches me for some other girl just when he knows I’ve fallen for it again.”

“So why do you even give him a chance?” Her response surprised me a bit. I was expecting her to give me some lecture about how I probably mixed up what he was really doing in my head, and not her giving me advice on how to handle him.

“I don’t even know. I tell myself that I’m not going to talk to him and then he texts me or talks to me at school and says sweet things or buys me lunch or something and I’m right back under his spell.”

“Ah, I knew a boy like that when I was your age. He got me every time until I met your father at the library. Then he was the one that I was tricking until I had had enough fun and finally ditched him for good and fell in love with your father,” she said and a dreamy look came into her eyes like she was reliving her past.

“Tell me again the story of you two. You only ever tell me the basics, but I’ll be sixteen in a month and I think I have a right to know details now.” My mother laughed her voice softer than it normally was. It made me happier to see that we were getting along this well. Amy and my dad had been the only ones in my family that I had ever been close too.

“Well you know how I used to work at the public library in our town when I was just about your age, only a few months older. And every week he would come in, looking stunning every time I saw him. I knew this other boy, Jeff, and he and I almost had a thing I guess you could say. But, your father would take my breath away just by smiling at me which was something Jeff could never do. After a couple of weeks I would always catch him watching me while I shelved books, but he never said anything to me so I figured it was just my imagination. And then one day he spoke to me for the first time.

“ ‘Mary Jane, right?’ he asked me and I merely nodded in pure shock that he was actually speaking to me. ‘You’re the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen and I’d like to take you out on a date if you don’t mind,’ he said and I was a goner then and there.” She sighed and I saw a tear run down her face before she had time to wipe it away.

“Oh how my parents hated him. They thought I should’ve been with Jeff because he had money and they liked that. Your daddy had a bad-boy look about him and it intimidated them. I never told you before, but we even broke up once after about a year and a half of dating. My parents said they would ship me off to the farthest boarding school in the country if I didn’t, so I really didn’t have a choice. Of course I never told him their threat because I was so ashamed that they couldn’t accept him.

“I moved out of the house the minute I graduated and got my own apartment for the summer before I started going to school again. I ran into him at the library when I went to get a book, and we almost instantly fell in love again. We got married the next year and had your sisters two years after that. My dad walked me down the aisle, but my mother never showed and I never forgave her for it.” A few more tears slipped down her face and I scooted closer to her. We had never had a moment like this, and now that I knew why my grandmother had never liked us I started to cry too. “And to see how you and I are growing so far apart that we hardly even talk anymore just about kills me. When you get older and have kids I want to be there for them and for you, no matter how horrid your husband is. I make that promise to you right now. And I don’t want you to be afraid to talk to me about anything: I don’t want to have to find things out from your sister.” I laughed and hugged her.

“I’m so sorry that I was mad at you after dad…. I knew you loved him too, I just being selfish thinking that I was the only one he had hurt. It’ll be his three year anniversary in March.” She nodded and we both cried a little bit more before she composed herself enough to talk.

“He looks down on us every day, and even though it’s hard we’ll make it.” She kissed the top of my head and then got up to start the dishes. “So are we going to talk boys or are you going to do your homework? Those are your two choices.” She said with a smile, and I laughed and joined her in the kitchen.