If you make a man laugh, he likes you but if you make a man cry then he loves you.
I am alone when I ride the bus back home. I need to get my things, my belongings, and my clothes because I don’t want to go back into that hateful house again. When I am dropped off at the bus stop, I take my time walking there and I have no idea where I am going and when I look up, I am surprised to see Danielle’s house in front of me.
I can see her through the window, working on her homework, I can see her tongue between her teeth and I can see her bright blue eyes even from here and I feel as if the fist around my heart has just loosened.
I reach into my back pocket and take out my phone. I dial her number and press the speaker onto my ear. I watch her as she picks up her phone and then I am hearing her voice again,
“Matt?”
“Look out the window,” I say.
She does and then her eyebrows tug in confusion as she sees me standing there. I smile and wave. I don’t know what I’m doing but it feels right.
“Why are you here?” she demands, standing up and heading to the front door. I stand my ground.
“Why don’t we talk face-to-face then?” I say, cracking a grin as she heads out.
The wind whips her hair back and forth as she walks in my direction. I end the call and let my hand drop. I feel empty and hollow but looking at her now as she stops right in front of me, I feel that spark inside me ignite again. She looks beautiful under the moonlight and I want to reach out and embrace her, to feel her warmth against mine because after having that talk with the therapist, I need another human being’s touch to soothe me.
But I restrain myself.
“Hi,” I say, smiling.
“What are you doing here?” she says, concern and shock written all over her features, “It’s night already!”
“I just needed someone to talk to,” I whisper.
There is recognition in her eyes and her face softens. She steps forward, looking as if she wants to say something but shakes her head instead. “Let me get a coat first,” she says and as she turns to head back inside her house, I see the flash of pain in her eyes.
.
“What happened?” Danielle asks as we walk around our neighborhood. I look up at the star speckled sky and the sadness and hopelessness returns to my chest.
“There’s something I haven’t told you about me yet,” I say as we pass by my house. Neither of us mentions it. We just continue to walk and I want to keep going on and to never look back.
“To be honest, you haven’t really told me a lot about yourself,” she states, giggling.
I run my fingers through my messy hair and smile at her. “Yeah, that’s true. Maybe it’s because I’m just really boring,” I say.
“You’re not boring,” she argues, looking at me straight in the eye, “I think you’re interesting.”
“You’ll be the first,” I say and she doesn’t say anything else. I shove my hands to the pockets of my jeans. “My dad beat me up.”
She stops in her tracks and stares wildly at me, her eyes wide with shock and fear. I continue to walk and I am already ten steps ahead of her when she calls out,
"Matt!"
This is it. This is where I will see the pity in her eyes, the same pity I saw in Kayla's and Dr. Starr's eyes but when I turn around, I am surprised to see that anger is flaming in those blue orbs of hers and somehow, that makes me feel better.
