scar-crossed lovers ➶-͙˚ ༘✶ wally clark

chapter five: spring of '79

"How's your mom?" Wally asked from his spot across from Daniella while taking a bite of one of his chicken nuggets. She just shrugged, playing with the cardboard tasting mashed potatoes with her fork. "I-I don't really know. She's tired all of the time and gets these awful coughing spells. "

"I found tissues in the bathroom trash," she gulped, not knowing if this was the right time to bring this up to her friend, but ultimately realizing that there never is a right time for a conversation like this. Wally froze, looking at his friend with anticipation. Adjusting her gaze back onto the mashed potatoes, she bit her lip as her eyes welled with tears, "there was blood on them. And-and not like nose bleed type of blood, but a lot.

"Do you think-" he didn't want to say what he was thinking out loud, not wanting to voice those thoughts into the universe.

"I think she's been coughing it up, but hiding it from us. From me at least," a lone tear fell down her face as she turned to the side, quickly brushing it away before any wondering middle schoolers would begin pointing at her and laughing.

"God knows if Rich even knows," she chuckled humorlessly, leaning her elbows on the cafeteria table and covering her face with her hands. "Danny," he uttered, desperately wanting to comfort her, but not really knowing how to, so offered all that he could. Standing, he made is way over to sit next to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder to reassure her. It felt kind of awkward doing so, neither of them used to displaying such forms of affection in public, but she was grateful for the gesture nonetheless.

"I'm so sorry, Danny," he muttered softly, leaning his cheek against the side of her head. "There's just nothing I could do.

As the bell signaled the end of their lunch period, the pair went their separate ways. Wally walked into the locker room to change for his favorite class; gym. Going to one of the lockers, he took of his jacket and shirt, tugging on the gym shirt he was required to wear. A locker next to him had slammed shut gaining his attention. He turned to see it was one of his friends, "hey."

"Hey, Wally. What's up?" He asked, tying the string of his gym shorts. Wally gave him a smile, going to change his own shorts, "same as always. School, football." He trailed on, feeling as if he displayed the general idea of his life.

"And Daniella," his friend spoke in a sing song voice, wiggling his fingers in front of Wally's face. Wally laughed lightly, "well, yeah. Obviously also Daniella." He put his shoes back on, tying the Nike laces tight so that they wouldn't fall loose during class.

"I saw you at lunch today, all over your girlfriend," the boy laughed lightly, bending down to tie his shoes. Wally shook his head, rolling his eyes as he faced the locker, "it's not like that. She's not my girlfriend."

"Oh come on, she's smoking hot. You mean to tell me you've never even kissed her?" The thirteen year old boy nagged. His voiced was irritating Wally more and more, so his own words were becoming more terse with his friend, "no, I haven't. Like I said, not my girlfriend.

"Look, dude. I'm just saying tha-" Before he could finish his words, Wally hit the locker in front of him hard, causing a loud bang to rattle and echo throughout the room. "She's not my fucking girlfriend okay?! Drop it," his voice was demanding and angry, but he couldn't understand why he felt that way. The whole locker room went silent with his sudden outburst.

Feeling everyone staring at him, he walked out of the locker room to make his way to the gym lost in his own thoughts. Even he couldn't understand why he was so upset over people assuming Danny was his girlfriend. Only recently had Wally realized that he had a crush on her, but it wasn't even that big of a deal. It was just a fluke, something he had to get over because at the end of the day, he knew he'd rather keep her in his life as a friend than lose her to confessing his feelings.

The last few periods of the day went on and all Wally could think about was Danny. Maybe his crush on her ran deeper than he truly understood. He eventually went to apologize to his friend with his behavior, being told that it was just "water under the bridge." Still, he kind of felt like a douchebag.

He took his usual seat on the bus, some Bee Gees song playing in through his headphones from his new Walkman, tapping his fingers on his thighs to the beat of the music in anticipation of Danny's arrival. She walked up the steps of the bus, immediately meeting the dark haired boy's eyes causing a smile to blossom on her face. Wally scooted over to the window, giving her room to sit in the spot next to him.

"Hey," she greeted breathlessly, pulling her backpack to place it on her lap. "Want to watch a movie or something after school? I don't really feel like going home," she tugged a piece of hair behind her year, her fingers brushing against the large earrings has on. Wally's smile falter slightly, "I can't, I have football practice." Her eyes furrowed lightly at the comment, "what? I thought the season doesn't start til the fall."

"Well," he gulped before he continued speaking, "my mom said that I have to practice, so that I have a guaranteed spot on the team at Split River High."

"I feel like she has your entire football career mapped out," she commented, taking a sip of a Coke she grabbed out of her bag. Wally scoffed, rolling his eyes pseudo dramatically, "uh, obviously. Who else would she live vicariously through?'

Daniella chuckled at the comment as the bus started moving. "I'll go to every single one of your games," she spoke thoughtfully, painting the picture of their high school years.

"Will you wear my jersey?" He asked shyly, pinching his lips together as he waited for her response expectantly. Danny looked deep into his eyes, a smile growing slowly, "only if you'll let me." A massive grin found its way onto his face, "of course I will." With that, there was only one thing on his mind. God, I can't wait for high school.