“You can always call me Dad,” he replied with a wink. “Ann took Darren to the store to get some dress clothes for tomorrow so I’m afraid you’re stuck waiting with me.”
“Oh, um, okay.”
“Did you want something to drink?”
“No, thanks, I just had dinner.”
“In that case, what do you say we hang out in the family room?” Gerald suggested.
Danni followed him into the family room. She smiled when she glanced at the TV and recognized a scene from Casablanca frozen on the screen. Gerald picked up the remote and turned off the set. Danni dropped down on the couch while he sat in his favorite chair.
“How’s school?” Gerald asked.
“It’s okay,” Danni replied. “My grades are good, but it’s not my favorite place to be.”
Gerald sighed. “Something you and Darren share in common of late.”
“I think it’s getting better for him.”
Gerald smiled at her. “You are a terrible liar, young lady, but I appreciate what you’re trying to do. Ironically, I didn’t enjoy high school that much until my senior year while Darren was doing great until his.”
“Is that because you met Mrs. Jacobs in senior year?” Danni guessed.
Gerald chuckled. “Darren told you that story, huh?”
“Yeah, before you told me about the vicious dog attack.”
“Ah, shoot, and here I thought I had you fooled.”
“Don’t worry. I won’t tell Chelsea and Marcy the truth.”
“Oh, good, I wouldn’t want to sully my reputation as a hero,” Gerald said. “You know, you and Darren remind me a lot of Ann and me at your age.”
Danni’s face warmed.
“I was head over heels for Ann from the first time I saw her,” Gerald continued. “I’m sure you know our first meeting wasn’t the first time I saw her. I used to go to school sporting events just to watch her cheer.”
Like I used to do when Darren played baseball, Danni thought.
The front door opened and Danni glanced over her shoulder. Ann walked in first, followed by Darren. Although he smiled at her, there was a hint of sadness in his eyes.
“We’re home,” Ann said as they entered the family room. “Hello, Danni. Sorry we’re late, sweetie. The stores were more crowded than I expected.”
“It’s okay. I was early,” Danni said, keeping her eyes on Darren.
“Did you find what you needed?” Gerald asked.
“He’s all set.” Ann turned her brilliant smile on Darren. “He’s going to look so handsome up there tomorrow.”
Danni would have smiled too if it weren’t for the look in Darren’s eyes. It took all of her self-control not to run up and put her arms around him.
“I’m gonna grab a soda,” Darren said. “You want one, Danni?”
“No, thanks,” she replied.
“Okay, I’ll be right back.”
Gerald frowned after his son. “Everything all right?”
Ann’s smile faded and she mashed her lips together. Before she could answer, Darren returned with a Dr. Pepper in hand. Though he came to join them in the family room, he didn’t take a seat. Instead he stuffed the soda can into his jacket pocket and held his hand out to Danni.
“Let’s go hang out in my room,” Darren said, pulling her up.
“I don’t think—”
That was as far as Ann got before Gerald spoke up. “No problem, son,” he said, giving her a pointed look.
With her face turning red, Danni trailed behind Darren as he led her from the room.
“Leave the door open,” Ann called after them, and Danni thought she’d burst into flames from the heat of her embarrassment.
For all the times Danni had been to Darren’s house, this was the first time she ventured up the stairs. At the top they turned right. Two steps later, they were in Darren’s bedroom. Danni marveled at how clean it was. The only other guy’s room she had been in was her brother’s, and it looked bad and smelled worse. She never understood how Nick got so many girls to go in there with him.
It wasn’t just that Darren’s room was clean. There weren’t any photos of girls anywhere either. Nick’s room was wall to wall girly pictures; half-naked girls on motorcycles and cars and the like. In contrast, the posters here were a mixture of baseball players and pieces of abstract art.
Danni was still adjusting to the realization that she was in Darren’s bedroom when the door closed behind her. She was about to remind him that his mom wanted the door open when he slid his arm around her waist and rested his chin on her shoulder.
“You have no idea how glad I am that you’re here right now,” Darren whispered.
Danni started to turn toward him, but he held her in place.
“Don’t, not yet. I don’t want you to see me like this.”
Danni’s heart swelled. Though she ached to face him, she kept her back turned. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“Shopping just sucked,” Darren said. “Everyone was staring at me, and some girls said something about how hot I’d be if I wasn’t crippled.”
Danni frowned. “They said that to you?”
“No, they didn’t know I was behind them in line.”
“I don’t guess there’s any chance they were talking about someone else.”
“Not likely when one of them said she saw this blond guy who’d be so hot if he had both arms, and her friend said it wasn’t fair that all the hot guys were either gay or taken or crippled.”
Danni drew in a sharp breath. “What did you say?”
“Nothing, I just pretended not to hear.”
“What about your mom?”
“She started to say something, but when I shook my head she let it go.”
Danni couldn’t take it anymore; she had to see his face. With his arm still around her, she spun around. The tears glistening in his eyes broke her heart.
“I’m sorry those girls were so dumb, but they’re wrong,” she said, placing a hand on his cheek. “I think you’re totally hot.”
Darren bit down on his lower lip. “Why, Danni?”
“Your eyes are so beautiful and bottomless, like the ocean,” Danni said and then smiled. “Wow, that was corny, huh?”
He didn’t smile back at her.
“And you have a perfect smile,” she continued. “I mean, you have dimples. That is just too adorable, and don’t even get me started on your amazing body. Every time you get near me, I get all tingly inside and I feel like I can’t breathe and my heart jumps to my throat. Even now, I feel like that with you.”
“Thank you,” Darren whispered.
Danni would have given anything to take all of his insecurity, pain and sadness and make it go away. Since she couldn’t, she just held tighter to him, hoping her love would be enough.
Chapter Seventeen
Danni barely made it out of fourth period on Friday when her cell phone rang. When she freed it from her purse, she wasn’t surprised to see Darren’s name.
“Where do you want me to meet you?” she asked.
“I’ll wait for you by the old locker bank,” Darren replied.
“Okay, be right there.”
The old locker bank was near the middle of the school. It was a set of old metal lockers that were no longer used and had been locked behind a rusty cage. According to school officials, lockers were dangerous and too easy for kids to hide drugs or weapons inside, which Danni did not understand at all. Those things could fit in a backpack or purse just as easily. With all the books she had to carry every day, it would have been nice to have lockers.
It took only a minute for Danni to catch up to Darren. As she approached, she flashed what she hoped was a confident smile. Though he returned a smile, it dripped with uncertainty.
“Hey,” Danni greeted him. “You ready?”
“I don’t think I can do this,” Darren said. “Can we just skip it?”
“You can’t skip tonight so you might as well star
t getting used to this.”
“Okay, but you’re not gonna bail on me and make me do this alone, are you?”
She laced her fingers through his. “You know I’m not.”
Darren exhaled. Hand in hand they walked toward the quad where the other students were already gathering for the rally.
“Listen, Danni, about tonight, I’m not gonna ride over with you guys,” Darren said.
She frowned. “What?”
“J.J.’s gonna take me, and you and your friends can go with my parents.”
“Why are you making us ride with your parents without you there?”
“I still get sort of freaked out in cars,” Darren said with downcast eyes. “I don’t want Chelsea and Marcy to see me like that, especially since the chance of me having a panic attack is pretty high.”
Danni felt embarrassed for him. She hadn’t even considered that. Now she understood why he never wanted her to drive him anywhere.
When they reached the middle of the school, Darren tightened his grip on her hand. The quad was full of people who stood shoulder to shoulder watching the cheerleaders do a crappy dance to an overplayed pop song. Danni’s gaze drifted to Whitney whom she grudgingly conceded looked cute in her uniform. When the cheerleaders finished, everyone around them burst into applause, along with a few whistles from the guys.
“Okay, we need the king and queen candidates up here,” Amber called over the scratchy microphone.
Instead of moving forward, Darren took a step back.
“Watch it dumb ass.”
Danni spun on the guys behind them. “Why don’t you watch your mouth?”
One of them smirked at her. “Got your bitch fighting your battles, huh?”
Darren whipped around. “What’d you fucking say?”
The boy’s gaze drifted to Darren’s empty sleeve, and recognition flickered in his eyes. “Sorry, I didn’t know it was you, Darren.”
“King and queen candidates up here with me please!” Amber said again.
Danni tugged on Darren’s hand. “Come on. They’re not worth it.”
All of the other candidates were already standing with Amber. Murmurs of shock rippled through the crowd as Danni dragged Darren toward the front of the festivities.
“What is she doing here?” Whitney glared at Danni. “She’s not a homecoming queen candidate.”
Darren narrowed his eyes.
“Let it go, Whitney,” Spencer said, and Darren furrowed his brow.
“Why should I?” Whitney said. “She doesn’t belong up here.”
“Yeah, she does. She belongs with me.” Darren turned to Amber. “Do you have a problem with this? Because if you do, I’m out of here.”
Amber smiled at them. “It’s totally fine.”
“Whatever,” Whitney huffed, moving closer to Garrett.
“Okay, so this is how this is gonna work,” Amber began. “Everett’s gonna call out all of our names and then we’ll just step forward and wave to the crowd. That’s it, and then we’re done.”
Danni thought that didn’t sound too bad. She gave Darren another encouraging smile, but he didn’t smile back at her.
Amber held the microphone to her mouth once again. “Attention everyone, I’m going to pass this over to your vice-president, Everett Stone, who will be introducing the candidates for homecoming king and queen.”
Cheers erupted as soon as Everett grabbed the microphone. If they hadn’t been standing so close to him, Danni wouldn’t have been able to hear the names he called out. She could feel Darren’s hand shaking already.
Darren turned and pressed his mouth to her ear. “I think I’m gonna pass out.”
Before Danni had time to react, Everett yelled out Darren’s name. The cheers that followed were nothing short of deafening, but Darren didn’t move to acknowledge them as the other candidates had. Instead, he froze, but it didn’t stop the cheers. If anything, they got louder. Over the random shouts there were rhythmic chants of his name. Still holding onto his hand, Danni stepped forward and pulled him with her.
“I wanna have your baby, Darren!”
The proclamation came from a voice that sounded suspiciously familiar to Danni. While the crowd roared, Darren’s face turned bright red, which only made some people laugh even harder. With the crowd still going wild for him, Darren stepped back. Danni could barely hear Garrett’s name called out. The cheers for Garrett were nowhere near the same level.
After all of the candidates had been introduced, Amber reclaimed the microphone. “Okay, everyone, thanks for coming out. We’ll see all of you at the game tonight,” she said and then turned off the mic. “Wait, you guys. Don’t leave yet. I can’t believe I almost forgot these.”
“Forgot what?” Whitney asked.
“All of the candidates get a pair of tickets for the dance tonight,” Amber said, and Danni frowned.
“What’s wrong?” Darren asked.
“Nothing, I just didn’t think about the dance,” Danni said. “Are we going?”
“Do you want to?”
“Don’t take this the wrong way, but I kind of don’t,” Danni replied. “It’s not because I don’t want to go with you. I just hate school dances, and I already told Marcy and Chelsea we could have a sleepover after the game, but if you really want to go, I’ll go with you.”
Darren grinned. “You’re doing the fast talking thing again.”
“Here are your tickets,” Amber said as she held the envelope out toward them.
Darren traded glances with Danni. “You know what? Just keep ’em. We’re skipping the dance.”
“Are you sure?” the two girls asked in unison.
Darren kept his gaze on Danni. “I’m sure.”
“Okay, but if you win it’ll be hard to have the king and queen dance without you,” Amber said.
Darren shrugged. “You guys will figure something out.”
“Are you sure?” Danni repeated when Amber moved on.
“Yeah, I’m sure,” he said. “I didn’t want to go anyway. I’m not into dances, especially now.”
Neither was Danni. The only dance she and her friends ever attended was the first one in freshman year and it was horrible. They sat in the corner of the stuffy gym all night, watching everyone else have a much better time.
“By the way, thanks for being here for this,” Darren said. “I probably would’ve lost it if you weren’t.”
Although she smiled at him, the words weighed heavy on her. She hoped with all her heart Darren wouldn’t break down in front of the homecoming crowd, which was sure to be twice the size of the one he’d just faced.
* * *
“I still can’t believe I’m going to a football game with Justin Jacobs,” Chelsea said, following her words with a sigh.
“It’s not exactly like that,” Danni pointed out.
“I know,” Chelsea said. “Just let me have my moment.”
Any minute now, Darren’s mom was going to pick them up for the football game. Even though the game wouldn’t start until seven thirty, Ann and Gerald wanted to be there no later than seven since they were afraid they wouldn’t find good seats. Having never gone to a school football game before, Danni took their word for it.
“Don’t you think it’s a little weird we’re riding over with Darren’s parents and he’s not?” Marcy asked.
“I told you, he and Justin are riding over together because the candidates have to be early,” Danni explained.
It was the first time she had lied to her best friends. For as long as they had known each other, Danni had always been honest with them, even if it sometimes meant hurting their feelings. She was never mean, but she always told them the truth, like reminding Chelsea she was going to be at a football game with Justin, but not as his date. This lie was different though. Danni wasn’t about to embarrass Darren by telling her friends about his fear of being in cars since his accident.
“I get that part, but if he’s not coming with us, why are we
going with his parents?” Marcy asked. “Why don’t you just drive us? Then his mom won’t even have to worry about driving us all over the place.”
Danni hadn’t thought of that. For some reason, it made sense to ride with Darren’s parents. Not that it mattered now. Ann and Gerald were already on their way over.
“Okay, how do I look?” Chelsea asked.
Danni and Marcy looked her up and down. Though she wore jeans and a T-shirt, she had fixed her hair and put on make-up.
“Like you want to get laid,” Danni teased.
“I just hope Justin agrees with you,” Chelsea said.
Danni swallowed a sigh. “You know that probably won’t happen, right?”
“Even if he does like you, it would be totally illegal for him to hook up with you,” Marcy agreed.
Chelsea gave them both a sly smile. “Only until January!”
Danni rolled her eyes. Convincing Chelsea that Justin was never going to be interested in her was like waiting for snow in July. It was a lost cause.
When the doorbell rang, the girls threaded their student ID-card lanyards around their necks and trotted down the stairs. Knowing it would get cold later, Danni draped Darren’s letter jacket over her arms. When she pulled the door open, Ann was standing on the other side beaming at her.
“Hello, girls,” Ann said. “Danni, your home is just lovely.”
“Thanks, I’ll tell my mom you said so,” Danni replied.
“Is she home?”
“No, she’s working through dinner.”
“That’s too bad,” Ann said. “I was hoping she’d want to come with us.”
“They’ve got a huge case going to court in a few weeks so they’re working round the clock,” Danni explained.
“Maybe next time. Are you girls ready?”
Danni locked the front door before following Ann to the car. Darren was right; they did all fit in his dad’s car. It was so huge that all three girls could sit on the middle seat without being squished together.
“Everybody have their seatbelt on?” Gerald asked.
“Yes,” the girls chorused.
“In that case, we’re off,” he said, laughing as he pulled away from the curb.
“Thanks for driving us,” Danni said.
“It’s no problem at all,” Ann replied. “By the way, I don’t know if Darren told you, but we’re having dinner at Tahoe’s after the game.”
Chelsea slid her eyes toward Danni. There was no way Chelsea could afford Tahoe’s. The five dollars it cost to get into the football game was probably a stretch in a family of so many kids to so little money.