The Thread Between Danny and Me

Chapter 12: I've been worried

Terrible days don't always start black and ominous. This one had started quite the opposite. It was a bright, warm, sunny day without a cloud in the sky. Much to Danny's chagrin, the entire school was still buzzing about the baseball tournament. It didn't matter that he'd ultimately lost. He still went. And those who listened to the radio broadcast of the games knew the announcers were impressed with his performance. Everyone had high hopes for him.

I took my seat in history class.

Emily Saladin came and sat down next to me.

"Hey Maria," she said. "I heard you went to Danny's tournament game."

"Mmhmm."

"Are you two dating?"

"We're just friends," I assured her.

"Do you know who Danny likes?"

I shrugged, now used to this question.

"Do you think it's me?"

I turned my head and raised my eyebrows at Emily. Yes, Danny had asked her out, but that was at the beginning of seventh grade. Did she really think he was still into her two years later?

"You'd have better luck asking Tim," I suggested.

Emily made a face. "I did ask Tim and he said Danny doesn't like anybody right now. But I don't believe him."

"I don't know anything more than that."

Emily ran her fingers through her perfectly crimped blonde hair. "Maybe Danny would go out with me anyway. Homecoming is in a couple of weeks, after all."

I stiffened. Homecoming?

She looked over at me. "I know I was pretty dumb for turning him down a couple of years ago. But he's actually really nice and going places in life and...he's hot. He wasn't back then, but god, he is now."

"Guess you'll have to see what he says about Homecoming." I tried to keep a neutral tone.

"Yeah, totally. Thanks, Maria." She smiled. "It's not Sadie Hawkins but ya know. Whatever."

"Sure." I turned away from her and grabbed a notebook which ended the conversation.

None of the friends I usually hung out with were in this class, so to pass the time, I decided to sketch. To the right of me were some girls from the field hockey team talking about their first game. Behind me, some boys were discussing Magic: The Gathering, and beyond them was the general chatter of our class.

Our teacher was late.

I looked up at the clock and realized she was over five minutes late. Very few students had noticed, and if they had, they didn't care.

A few more minutes passed. It was now 9:45 in the morning. The classroom clock ticked.

Just when I started to be concerned, our history teacher, Mrs. McFadden, rushed into the room.

The look on her face was panicked. Horrified.

"Everyone! Look up here, please."

The tone of her voice made the noise from the class cease.

"There's been a terrorist attack."

The words hung between us and Mrs. McFadden. I didn't understand what she meant by that. A terrorist attack?

She inhaled, then tried to steady her breath. "In New York City this morning, and Washington DC. Two planes have struck the Twin Towers and a third has hit the Pentagon."