Hey Punk, Keep This a Secret

Chapter Five: Chance Andrews

 The next morning, I went to Danny and CJ's homeroom to tell CJ what happened: "CJ! I was walking by Danny's house yesterday, and I saw an unfamiliar car there, so I went up the driveway to see who it was, and it was someone from CYS! She told me that she's going to do whatever she can to find Danny. I think it just might work. She seemed very nice."

Her response was not as relieved as I hoped it would be. "You went to her house?!" CJ shouted at me angrily. "And you called CYS?!"

Nervousness washed over me. "...Yeah?"

CJ slapped me so hard her hand could have exploded my face like a missile. "How stupid are you?! You can't trust them! Why would you talk to them?" CJ shouted. As my eyes wandered anxiously, I noticed that everyone was staring at us now (which only made my jitters worse).

"I don't understand, CJ! They're the people trying to save her, why wouldn't I trust them?" I asked.

"Because they have a history of not helping her. Sometimes, they don't even try. And when they do, it usually ends up doing less good for her than just sweeping it under the rug. I thought you would know that, with how often you were talking to her before she disappeared." She said.

"No, I didn't know that! Why do you think I know everything about Danny? You've been her friend for longer! Maybe you should know everything about her, not me," I said.

"Well maybe if you weren't so stupid, you'd know that they have a long history of failing to help everyone, and not just Danny," CJ said.

"I am not stupid! Quit saying that," I said.

"Please," CJ continued, "Nobody who wasn't stupid would willingly date someone with an illegal age gap and pretend like there's no red flags."

I think I was so offended that the nervous sweat from before was now evaporating off of my body as I stormed away.

My thoughts raced throughout the day so quickly that I could have sworn I was going to fail that history test. I couldn't even begin to explain how pissed off I was at CJ for that comment about my boyfriend. At one point, my friend Chris had to ask me if I was okay. I could have sworn we were in math when he asked, but when I answered the question we were in the cafeteria! I rambled on and on to him, and I was so delusional that I could swear for a moment that Chris was siding with CJ! By the time I was on the bus, I didn't even remember a thing!

But when I got home, my interaction with CJ faded into oblivion, because that man she insulted so blindly was at my house already.

"Oh my god! Babe, why are you so early?" I gasped, half shocked and half happier than the sun and the stars. My excitement shot through the roof and completely obliterated whatever frustration and tiredness was left from this morning.

"I wanted to surprise you, silly." He said with that perfect smile that makes me fall head over heels every single time. "I figured since you were going through some rough times with your friends, it'd lighten you up a bit!"

My mom came into my room soon after. "I just talked to Hart about it, Chance, and I'm going out for the night. I figure it'll give you two some alone time together. Have fun, boys! Don't do anything silly, now." Her last words before walking out the door and leaving me by myself with the love of my life. A dream, really.

"She didn't talk to me about going out," Hart mumbled to himself.

He stood up and closed my door, since my mother had left it open when she left. I noticed he locked it, too, which gave me a little spark of worry. I started to remember what CJ said about how stupid I was to ignore the red flags, and I wondered for a quick moment if she was right. Quietly, he dragged my desk chair in front of the door and sat down on it. "This chair is simple. I like it." A weird comment, coming from Hart.