"FINE" LIES

Brown Eyes

Thursday, Ocobter 23

I walked into class. I tugged on the sleeves of Andy's jacket. I decided to wear it today in spirit of him.

Hannah looked at me as I walked in. I knew she wanted to glare at me, but she didn't.

"I like your jacket," Hannah said.

"Thanks," I said. I hoped she didn't ask where I got it.

"It looks nice on you."

"Thanks."

At lunch, I tried not to look at Andy's table a lot. I knew I'd miss him more and more, if I kept staring at it.

"You okay, Danielle?" Maia asked. "You've got that far away look in you eyes."

"I'm telling you it's Andy," Scarlett said.

"No," I said. "It's not."

"Whatever you say."

In Science, I tried to pay attention as much as I could. It didn't really work out that way. I'd looked towards the seat next to me and thought of Kaiden. The last words he said to me kept repeating in my head over and over.

"And you can thank those stupid razors for that."

As I thought more and more about that night, I thought about Andy. He was there for me. And he cared for me. I felt special, when I was with him. Like I was the only thing that mattered in this world. I care about him more than I'd admit.

When I got home, my parents weren't home. But there was a note on the coffee table.

"Went out for groceries. We'll be back before dinner. Love mom and dad."

I laid on the couch and turned on the Tv. My phone rang. It was Andy.

"Hey," Andy said.

"You called earlier," I said.

"Yeah, didn't want to make the same mistake twice."

I smiled.

"I get to see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, I can't wait."

"I've missed seeing you. Especially your eyes, they were beautiful, I mean are."

I smiled a little. "They're only brown. They're nothing like your ocean blue eyes."

"Yes, they are. Even though they're brown, if you get closer, you can see the light brown around your pupil. It makes you look so sweet and kind. I love it."

I smiled. "You're so sweet." I paused. "I didn't mean to say that out loud."

"It's okay. I don't mind."

Everything felt right when I was with Andy. It made me forget about my troubles and the serpent. It made me feel like I could over come anything with one hand behind my back, as long as the other one was holding his.

"I've got to get back to my chores," Andy said.

"Oh," I mumbled.

"Don't sound so sad. We'll see each other again tomorrow."

"Yeah."

"See you tomorrow."

"Yeah, tomorrow."

When my parents got home, they started cooking together. I watched them from kitchen table. They were laughing and talking. They looked so happy. It made me think about how I felt with Andy. I wanted to be with him. To feel his arms wrapped around me. To feel how his lips felt against mine.

"Danielle," my mom said, knocking me out of my trance. "You look upset. Did Andy not call?"

"No," I mumbled. "He called."

"Then why are you so sad?"

"Seeing you and dad make me think of Andy."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"No, it's all right. I'm fine."

We had our dinner at the table in the kitchen. The last time I remember us sitting here when I was five. My feet didn't make it to the ground and I wasn't even able to reach far across the table.

"It's nice sitting here again," I said.

"Yeah, I miss it," my mom said.

"How was your day?" my dad asked.

"It was okay," I said. "Kaiden and Andy come back tomorrow, so I'm pretty excited for that."

My parents smiled at me.

"Stop," I said, knowing why they were smiling.

"What?" my mom asked.

"Stop smiling like that." It was hard for me to control the smile I had formed. "I don't like Andy like that."

"Okay." The tone she said it in, made it hard to believe her.

"We're just friends."

"Not for long," my dad mumbled.