Along Came Ari (boyxboy; Open Novella Contest 2019)(Complete)✅

Chapter 2

My house was dark except for the nightlight in the kitchen. That kiss with Danny sobered me up enough to feel a headache coming on.

Even in my half-drunken slumber, those blue eyes with the purple specks invaded my dreams. I liked that dream. Just a few nights ago, I dreamt that all my teeth fell out. So distressed by this dream, I told my mother about it in the morning. She told me it's a common dream many people have; I had just never had it before. It was probably the worst dream (or nightmare) I'd ever had because I had nice teeth and I hated to lose them. I preferred dreaming of Danny, that's for sure.

No doubt hung over, John spent all of Sunday in bed. Since he didn't call or text me, I knew he was in rough shape. I didn't see him again until Monday morning when I picked him up for school. Because I had a car (and a license), I drove John to school. Sometimes Caitlyn would tag along, whether I wanted her to or not. These days she always seemed to be there. John would often catch a ride home with his teammates after one of his various practices. I had an after school job so I couldn't always drive him home.

Caitlyn usually blushed whenever she saw me, but today her face turned even redder, a beet red as she got in the backseat of my Toyota. As I pulled out of the driveway, I spotted Danny leave the house and head down the street. Dressed in a black hat with yellow trim and mixed black and yellow Pom Pom, his dark hair stuck out the sides. He was ten times cuter than John, sending my heart racing in a way I had rarely ever experienced.

For a second I contemplated pulling over to offer him a lift to school. As I slowed down, he distracted me so much I nearly hit the sidewalk. Danny's eyes met mine briefly, only to quickly refocus on his brisk walk.

"He likes to take the bus," John said, but I wasn't so sure about that since no one liked to take the bus. "Yeah, he does," John insisted. "He just sits there on the bus and listens to his music."

"It's true," Caitlyn said. "He likes taking the bus."

I didn't believe either of them, but I decided to drop the subject and drove away, leaving Danny behind us.

Once we got to school, Caitlyn tagged along beside me, walking me to my locker down the senior hallway.

"You're going to be late for class," I told her. Twirling strands of her dark hair around her finger, she bit her bottom lip, her cheeks pink, watching me as I opened my locker.

"Will you drive me home from school?" she asked.

"I have to work," I lied. I worked twenty hours a week at the local grocery store and wasn't due to work again until Wednesday. The last thing I wanted to do was drive Caitlyn home.

"You can drop me home first, then go to work," she suggested. Wow, she was desperate. I almost felt bad for her.

"I don't have time to drop you home first," I said. "Maybe one of John's friends could drive you home. I don't know. I gotta go or I'll be late for class."

As I headed down the hall, I felt Caitlyn's eyes still on me. She really didn't have a clue.

In-between Physics and English class, as I innocently walked down the school hallway, some stupid kid bumped into me so hard I bounced against the lockers. As I rubbed my bumped elbow, a boy in the same black and yellow hat I saw this morning looked over his shoulder at me. I recognized both the hat and those eyes. As students passed me, I stood in the middle of the hallway, watching the boy disappear around the corner.

Reaching inside the coat pocket of my hoodie, I discovered a small piece of paper. Even after the bell rang, I stood there, unfolding the piece of paper.

Meet me at the park after school, Danny scribbled.

Which park? I wondered. He didn't leave me his phone number or anything. I mean, he could have written his phone number somewhere on that piece of paper instead of leaving me guessing.