I took a deep breath and marched into the kitchen, prepared to put up yet another fight with my mother.
She was sat at the breakfast table, her long blonde hair cascading down her back behind her. My mother and I looked a lot alike, I was told this often. According to all of her friends from college I'm a spitting image of her in her younger years. She must think that too, because she was always trying to make sure I turned out just like her, just as successful as her.
I stomped into the kitchen, my grey combat boots hitting the floor and making a much louder noise than I an anticipated. My mother didn't notice me, though. She quietly ate her yogurt parfait as I walked past her while reading something off of her phone.
"Mom." I stated, clearing my throat. She glanced up at me, only to look back down at her breakfast again. "Mom." I repeated.
"What is it, Danielle?" She finally tore her eyes away from the iPhone in her hands and met my eyes.
"Can I please have my keys back?" I asked calmly. This time I didn't bother telling her not to call me by that name, that I had grown out of it. I was trying to get on her good side.
I checked the clock hanging on the wall and saw that it was 7:05 on the dot, that gave me another fifty-five minutes to get to school before I was tardy.
"Once you get your grades up and stop sneaking out to go to these wild parties." My mother blinked, her eyes flicking back down to what was set out in front of her.
"That's not fair! How do you expect me to take the bus? I've never taken a bus in my entire life!" I complained. This was very true, for as long as I had been going to school I had never had to take a school bus and I wasn't looking forward to start doing so.
"Get used to it. When I learn how to trust you again you may have the keys to your car back." She didn't even look at me while she spoke, her eyes never leaving her phone.
"This is ridiculous." I huffed, angrily crossing my arms over my chest.
"Be out on the corner at 7:15."
"And what if I decided to get a ride from Brooke? Or her boyfriend Luke?" I asked, referring to two of my closest friends. They had both offered to drive me to school every day once they found out I had my car keys confiscated, but I doubted that my mother would allow that.
"I would only keep the keys hidden from you longer." My mom sighed. She rose from her place in the table and walked to the sink, setting her bowl down in it.
"When everyone makes fun of me for being the only senior taking the bus I'm blaming you!" I yelled over my shoulder as I quickly exited the kitchen.
"Your father will be coming home tonight, don't be late for dinner!" Was the only response I got from my mom as I stomped away from her.
I grabbed my jacket and backpack off of one of the couches in the living room on my way out of the house, not bothering to say goodbye.
I slammed the door behind me, cautiously looking around to make sure no one saw me walking out to the bus stop. I wasn't personally friends with anyone that lived around here, but that didn't mean no one was going to see me waiting for the bus. My biggest fear at the moment was that word would get around school about how I was taking the school bus this morning, and every morning after this until my mother came to her senses.
I made it to the corner and leaned up against the stop sign, smoothing down the bottom of my floral print dress. I checked my phone, it was now 7:12.
Just as I had suspected, there was no one else at the bus stop. Of course everyone else was getting a ride from their parents or friends or even driving themselves. I figured that I was going to have to take the bus alone every day until I finally got the car keys back, or at least until I found a way to steal them. It was going to just be me, myself, and I for the next few weeks. At least no one was going to see me.
I heard a cough next to me and I jumped up, startled by the sudden presence of another person. I glanced awkwardly to the side, only to find another boy leaning against the other side of the stop sign. I hadn't even heard him walk up, it's like he popped up out of thin air.
He had curly, dark blonde hair that was tousled on top of his head in a very messy manner. His eyes, which I presumed to be a lighter color, were covered by a pair of black sunglasses. And this boy was tall, but not the tallest person I've met. Brooke's boyfriend Luke was still much taller than him. I don't remember ever seeing this boy around before, and for a second I wondered if he even went to our school at all.
I nonchalantly took out my phone again and checked the time; 7:15 exactly and the bus still wasn't here. Being impatient was always a bad habit of mine that I just couldn't seem to control.
"Danielle Murphy, what the hell are you doing at a bus stop?" He spoke and I turned to face him again. He pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and lit one, placing it in between his lips.
"It's Dani. Dani Murphy." I said back to him. He stepped in front of me and blew smoke out of his mouth, right into my face. I let out a cough.
"So what the hell are you doing here? Don't you have some big expensive car that daddy bought you to drive to school?" He asked, the cigarette wiggling up and down in his mouth with every word he spoke.
"Who are you?" I scowled at him.
"Of course you don't know me." The boy scoffed, taking another drag from his cigarette.
"That will kill you." I said, pointing up to the cigarette hanging in between his teeth.
"Why do you think I'm smoking it?" He scoffed, blowing out more smoke in my face.
"Who are you?" I asked again, getting frustrated with the boy.
"You don't need to know." He smirked.
"How do you know who I am?" I asked instead, thinking that maybe he would be more open to answering that question.
"Who doesn't know who you are?" He laughed. Despite his annoyingly rude attitude, he had a beautiful smile. "You're Danielle Murphy."
I glared at him, having told him before that I did not like the name Danielle.
"Sorry, Dani." He corrected himself. "Your mom's a big successful businesswoman and your dad owns that huge law firm, right? You live in that big house down the street and you get everything handed to you on a silver platter."
"That's not true." I shook my head, though I knew that it was. It seemed like everyone in this town knew who I was because of my parents their success, not because of me. I was Danielle Murphy, the daughter of Charles and Samantha Murphy, the richest people in town.
"You're taking the bus because your mom caught you and some guy sneaking back in from a party and took your car keys." He continued, and I began to feel scared with how much he knew about my life when this was the first time I'd ever seen him.
"How do you know all of this?" I asked. No one but Brooke and Luke knew the exact reason why I had to take the bus, they were also the only people that knew I was having to take the bus at all. I knew I was popular and had a lot of people in my business, but I had made sure to keep this part a secret.
"I know a lot more than you think." He said, dropping his cigarette on the ground and stepping on it to put it out.
Two minutes later the bus pulled up, opening it's doors and letting me and this mysterious boy on.
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New fanfic YAAAAYYY these first few chapters are going to be short but they'll progressively get longer woohoo! I hope you all like this one :)
