Chapter 2 - Chapter Two

Chapter Two:

Danny took a sip of his canned soda as he sat in his old bedroom within the home he had grown up in. He was sitting at his desk trying to multi-task as was typing out a paper, about himself, of all things, for his speech class, plus doing his Statistics III work. They were the only courses he attended on campus at Amity Park State University. In fact, each semester he always took his math classes on campus.

His other courses he took on-line because of the convenience. He tried taking his speech class on-line as well, but it wasn''t offered, for obvious reasons. Besides, between ghost hunting, his job at local car shop, and his Air Force Reserve responsibility - because there was no way he wasn''t going to be an astronaut - he needed convenience in his life.

“Danny!” Maddie suddenly yelled out, which startled Danny, causing him to spill soda all over his keyboard. “Are you busy?”

Danny looked around for something to clean the soda up with. “Kinda!” he yelled back. His shoulders drop as he found nothing for the mess and took off his shirt to wipe down the board and the desk. He groaned picking up his wet Statistics book. “What is it?” he called back to his mother.

“I''m going out for a little while,” she announced. “Make sure you bring in the mail for me, alright?”

“Sure, mom,” he responded as he stood up, taking his soaking shirt and book to the bathroom down the hall. Once there, he laid his book on the sink counter and tossed the shirt into the hamper. He then found his mom''s hairdryer and went to work drying the wet pages. He sighed. “Just my luck,” he said to himself.

Twenty minutes later, Danny was back in his room with a clean shirt, trying to deal with stained pages and a keyboard whose ''T'' key, ''S'' key, and ''N'' key all became got stuck whenever he pressed down upon them. It was going to be a long day.

A few hours later, Danny found himself in the kitchen getting something to eat. When he had finished he started to head back to his room and while at the base of the stairs heard someone outside the front door. He opened the door to find the mail carrier on his way back down the porch steps, trying to hurry back up to his vehicle because of the cold weather. So Danny opened the mail box and carried the handful of envelopes inside. He flipped through them as he walked up to his mother''s office to set them down.

“Bill, bill, junk, bill,” Danny separated them on the desk. “Ooh, jury duty.” He smiled as he knew his dad would be more than please to share his knowledge of ghost with anyone who would listen. But not even a moment later, his smile faded as a small packet, in one of those yellow envelopes, was revealed to him. “Valerie,” he whispered, dropping the other items in his hand to the floor.

It had been a couple of weeks since he had seen her, and he had been desperately trying to keep his mind off of her. He was deluding himself into thinking that maybe she would finally understand and forgive him, if he just gave her a little time. So Danny ripped it opened immediately and looked inside to find a letter. It read:

Danny,

I don''t have much so say, so I''ll keep this short. I hope you don''t think this has been easy for me. I''m confused and torn between loving and hating you at the same time. You don''t know how badly I want to forgive you, forget what you are, but I can''t. You''ve lied to me, and not once, but twice tried to kill me-

“That was an accident!” he yelled at the letter. “I was trying to protect you!”

“Danny?” he gasped as he heard his mother''s voice behind him. “Dear, what''s wrong?”

“Nothing,” he told her quickly as he stuff his letter in his pocket before picking up the remaining mail off the floor. He put them on the desk. “I''ll be in my room,” he said softly as he walked passed his mother. Maddie looked at him as he walked down the hall. She was afraid for him. She knew his break up with Valerie had been a painful ordeal for him, but he refused to talk about what had happened. And she was afraid how that kind of bottled up emotion would express itself.

Danny closed and locked his door behind him before pulling out his letter, as he did so, something else fell out of the yellow packet. He looked at it curiously, shaking his head in disbelief as he fell to one knee and picked it up. It was the engagement ring he had given her. She had given it back.

Danny sat down and leaned against the door, drawing his knee in before resting his elbow upon it, running his fingers through his dark hair. He stared at the ring in his other hand. He had had no intentions of marrying Valerie so early into their relationship, but with a baby on the way, he wanted to do the honorable thing.

He tilted his head back towards the door, he was at a lost. When Valerie had told him she was pregnant, there was nothing he wanted more. He had even imagined a little boy with Valerie''s eyes, but now, he cursed the little boy he had thought of, and all the unhappiness it brought into his already imperfect life.

Danny closed his eyes, disgusted with himself for almost hating his unborn child. He wondered what kind of man that made him? How selfish could he be to think such a terrible thought, when he knew everything laid on him? He was the one who had thought he could hide his other self forever. He was the one who had thought, that somehow – someway – that she would love him enough to see past her own hatred. Although, he knew he had only told her the truth because he felt forced to.

He looked back at the ring. He had been so wrong about so many things, because he had done the one thing he had never wanted to do when it came to Valerie, he had hurt her.

Danny stood up, stuffing the ring into his pocket before grabbing his coat out the closest. He left his room and traveled towards the front door. “I''m going to Tuck''s,” he called to his mother and was out the door.
OoOoO

Valerie pulled her winter coat tighter around her body as she walked the grounds of Amity Park State University. Her last class of the day had just let out and though they were only a week into the new semester her Literature 101 teacher, Dr. Monet had already given them an assignment to work on. They had been instructed to pick up a certain book in the library and prepare to discuss the first chapter for the next class meeting.

Valerie picked up her pace as she looked down at her watch. She had to hurry, for she had to be at work in less than an hour. Once in the library, Valerie didn''t take the time to remove her coat, not believing that the task would take more than a few minutes. She then made her way upstairs to the second floor. She passed rows of books, scanning the markers on the sides until she found where she needed to be.

She preceded to walk down the aisle slowly, not wanting to over look the book. She nodded her head and smiled politely as she passed other students within the aisle. Spotting the orange covered book, Valerie smiled and reached out for it. “Oh, excuse me.” Came a voice, whose hand had ran into Valerie''s while trying to obtain the book. “Let me guess,” he continued. “You take Dr. Monet?”

“Yeah,” she responded, not being able to help the smile that came to her face, for saying the man that stood before her was cute, would have been the understatement of the year.

“Here,” he said gently, holding the desired item towards Valerie.

“Thank you,” she responded just as soft, taking it from him before looking at where the book had been. “It seems to be the last copy. Are you sure you want to give it up?” she asked him.

“Don''t worry about it,” he told her, taking off his glasses and cleaning one of the lenses with the bottom of his shirt. As he did this, his light green eyes looked into Valerie''s. “I can find another copy. Besides, it looks like you''re in a hurry,” he said, indicating that she was the only one inside still sporting her winter gear.

“Thanks, again,” she said.

He shook his head before replacing his glasses. “Honestly, it''s no big deal.” He waved the matter off, turning around and walking away. “See you around, Valerie,” he said before reaching the end of the aisle and disappearing around the corner.

It wasn''t until Valerie was waiting in the check out line that she realized the guy had said her name without her giving it to him. She frowned as she tired to remember if she had a class with him where he could have heard it, but she was sure that today was the first time she had seen him on campus. Valerie finally shrugged the matter off, it wasn''t really that big of a deal, she decided as she made her way out the library and headed to work.
OoOoO

Valerie worked at a check out counter in the power tool section at Sears. She had been a there a few hours and was counting down the last hour until she was able to get off her feet and go home. Things were going fine, until a she saw a familiar face in the crowd walking towards her. She groaned in irritation.

“We need to talk,” Danny demanded.

“I''m working,” she told him, turning back to the next customer in line. “Would you like to apply for a Sears cards,” she asked her customer. “You''ll get ten percent off your purchase.” The man politely declined her offer.

“You couldn''t break it off with me in person?” Danny asked, ignoring the fact she was still on the job.

“What do you think that was three weeks ago?” she asked. “Here''s your receipt, sir, have a nice night,” she said with a smile to the customer. “Next please.”

“You sent the ring through the Goddamn mail, Valerie.”

“Well, I was going to pawn it,” she lied just to upset him. “But that relic you call an engagement ring, I''m sure it isn''t worth very much.” She pulled the security sensor off some clothes, that were placed on the counter, quite angrily. She then struggled to make a convincing smile. “Will you be using your Sears card, Ma''am?” she asked her new customer.

“Will you just look at me!” he yelled through clench teeth. “You know you don''t want this. You know I still love you!”

Valerie turned to him quickly. “Go home, Danny,” she hissed. “Don''t make me call security on you.”

Danny rose both eyebrows, surprised at her statement. “What''s wrong?” he began in a whisper. “Afraid to fight your own battles now. . . knowing what I can do to you?”

Valerie scoffed and shook her head. “That''s great, Danny. Tell me you love me and then threaten me, in front of several witnesses no less. You''re really using that noggin of yours today, aren''t you?” She went back to her task of ringing up store items. “But if that''s your passive-aggressive, roundabout way of asking me if I went through with the procedure or not,” she paused and Danny anxiously found himself waiting for the answer. “If you really must know, I didn''t.” There was the slightest smile on his face as he looked at her. “But only because it was too late.”

Danny continued to watch her as she worked. “I just want us to be a normal family, Val,” he told her one of his greatest wishes.

“Well, that''s hard to do,” she handed the customer her receipt, “when you''re a freak.” She never saw Danny''s reaction, but waited for one of two things to happen when she knew she had provoked him. The first would be for him to yell at her at the top his lungs, which was what he normally did when they fought. The second was rare, where he would do the complete opposite and just close himself off. Then, to her surprise, the next thing Valerie heard were Danny''s footsteps as he walked away.

She turned her head in enough time to see him get on the down escalator to leave the store. “Next please,” Valerie said to the next person in line as she tried to focus back on work, but then something caught her eye, and her chest sunk at the sight. Valerie reached for the engagement ring Danny had placed on the counter. She couldn''t just leave it there, so she stuck it in her pocket. “Hi, will you be using your Sears Card today, Sir?” she tried to smile, but suddenly found it an impossible task.

To Be Continued. . .

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