Danny Clark is a Nobody

Chapter Thirty

Trigger warning: Violence, Abuse, Alcoholism

It took everything in me not to kiss her red lips as she ranted. She was talking about philosophy. Once again, I was completely blown away by how smart she was. We were walking back to the cafe. Michael had asked me when I was returning back home, and I told him I'd be back at 6 p.m.

I almost forgot about the heavy shopping bags I was carrying because she was just so mesmerising. We were walking to Lily's house, which wasn't that much further from the mall than mine.

When I'm around Lily, I can't think of anything other than her. It's so weird, because I feel like I'm constantly overthinking and I have a thousand different thoughts just scattered around my brain. My mind is a tangled mess until I look at her, hear her voice. Fuck, even texting her. She had me under her grip and I don't think she realised how bad it was.

"Have you read the Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka? It's this book where the main character, Gregor, wakes up one day as a giant insect. It sounds silly but it's actually such a good short story. You should read it. I know you're more of a science nerd, even though you're annoyingly good at everything. It's literally so unfair. Like how did you teach me 2 months' worth of chemistry in barely an hour? Anyway, this is my house. I rambled again, didn't I? I'm sorry. It's uncontrollable. Shut me up."

"With a kiss?" I smirked. Lily rolled her eyes and tiptoed to kiss me.  I was taken aback but I wrapped my arms around her waist and kissed her soft lips. Her fingers were tangled in my hair and I gasped when she pulled on it.

She let go and I just stood there with my mouth still open, like a damn fool. "Wow." I breathed, and she giggled which made me smile. "I had a great time today. Thank you, Danny Clark." She gave me a quick kiss on the cheek and went inside.

Blushing, I made my way back home. I was feeling giddy and love-stricken. I couldn't wipe the smile off my face. I checked my phone for the time, and my heart plummeted when I realised I had 12 missed calls from Will.

I called him back and he answered almost immediately. He was breathing heavily. "Will? Will what's wrong?" I called into my phone. "Danny?" He breathed. "Yeah, yeah it's Danny. What's the matter? Are you okay?"

"Danny..." he cried.

"Will, please tell me what's wrong."

"I... I'm so sorry for pushing you away I..." he panted as if he were running or exerting himself in some way.

"Will, it's okay. I'm just worried about you. What's wrong? What happened?" I asked again.

"My d-dad, he..."

"What did he do?!" I rushed out.

"Danny, he... he hurt me." He gasped in pain.

"Shit, where are you? I'm on my way."

"I don't know. I-I don't know where I am." Will sobbed.

"Alright, it's okay. Can you turn on your location on your phone?"

"Okay."

I opened the Find My app and I searched for Will. He wasn't far away from me. I speed walked. I didn't care that it was nearing 6 p.m. and that I should call Michael and tell him that I was probably coming back later. All of a sudden it didn't matter that Lily kissed me. All that mattered was Will.

I was worried something inexplicably bad had happened to him. He didn't usually sound this panicked, this utterly terrified. Will usually kept his guard up, but he didn't this time.

I was near a playground when I checked the app again. It told me Will was there. I looked around and I didn't find him anywhere. "Will!" I called out. It was completely empty. "Will!" I yelled again. I looked up into the slides which were entered via tubes. I climbed up, feeling ridiculous.