“Any last words, you little misfit?”
“MMM!!”
“Oh, that’s right.”
“OW!!” She exclaimed when her mother ripped the tape off of her face.
“Now do you have any last words?”
Dannie heard a noise, and assumed that her mother didn’t when she didn’t move. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw the police.
AndTyler.
“Um, yeah. I don’t mind spendin’ every day out on your corner in the pourin’ rain. Look for the girl with the broken smile. Ask her if she wants to stay a while. And she will be loved.”
“What? Why are you singing?”
“Because I don’t know if I’ll ever be loved.” Her eyes began to shed tears, at the thought thatTylerwould never know how she felt.
“So why do I care, exactly?”
“I don’t know. But, I got your picture, I’m coming with you. Dear Maria, count me in. There’s a story at the bottom of this bottle, and I’m the pen.”
“Again with the singing! What is with you?!”
“Well,Tylerloved it when I sang, so…”
“So this is your way of telling me that you love him?”
“Hey, I never said that!”
“And? You really do love each other, huh?”
“I guess so. Yeah, I love him.”
“Too bad he’ll never know.”
“Can you tell him?”
“And why on Earth would I do that?”
“Because I’m your only live daughter, and … you love me?”
“Yeah, that’s why I’m doing this, because I love you.”
“…Why are you doing this? I mean, what gain would you get from killing your husband, and both of your daughters?”
“I get to live my life without worrying aboutPaisleypartying a little to hard, or you going into a spiraling depression and become more of a loner misfit that you already are. Your father, on the other hand, committed suicide on his own. I think I stressed him out too much. Oh, well. He couldn’t exactly go back after jumping off of the bridge. And I can’t do anything about that, like you said. It just saved me the trouble of killing him myself.”
Dannie just knelt there, stunned. There was no way that Lily couldn’t see the cops standing there. There was no way that any of this was happening. Robert committed suicide,Paisleywas murdered, and Dannie was about to die. All in the same summer. What the heck was wrong with her family?!
Lily lifted up Dannie, so that she was standing. “Don’t scream, dear. It will just make my job harder, okay?”
“No promises,” she snickered.
“Huh, you really haven’t changed, have you?”
“And I won’t get the chance to, now will I?” That’s it, keep stalling.
“That’s it, you little brat!” She pushed Dannie up against the wall, thrusting a knife to her throat.
She screamed as loud as she could.
“Move in, men!” That’s when the cops finally made their move.
“Dannie!!”Tylerproclaimed, embracing her.
“Tyler! You know, this hug would work a lot better if I wasn’t tied up.”
“Oh, sorry,” he untied his love, and took her in his arms.
“Tyler, I am so sorry that you got caught up in all of this. It’s all my fault that you were put in danger, and that all of this happened to begin with an I—“
She was cut off byTylerthrowing his lips onto her. When he pulled back, he spoke, “I don’t care what the heck just happened. I don’t care that you think it was your fault. I don’t care that I have absolutely no idea what’s wrong with your mom. What I do know is that I am so glad you’re safe and okay. Are you hurt?”
“No, I’m fine. I am so sorry that all of this happened.”
“I don’t even care. I mean, I do, but … I don’t know.” He rested his head on her shoulder and sighed.
“A girl like you is impossible to find, you’re impossible to find,” he sang.
“I still don’t see why you’re into me, but I guess I’ll just go with it. You want to know why?”
He smiled that big, goofy grin that Dannie loved, “I love you too.”
YOU ARE READING
Under the Little Black Hoodie
Teen FictionDannie was a girl that got bullied, while her sister Paisley was living it up as the school's most popular junior. But when something happens to her father, Dannie, her mother, and Paisley go to California for the summer. The boy who lives in the ho...
