𝐃𝐎𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐃 || 𝐃𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐘 𝐁𝐈𝐗𝐋𝐄𝐑

𝐈𝐈.

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐎𝐍𝐄
𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐆𝐨𝐭 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬
𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬: 𝐍𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐬 𝐂𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐬 𝐌𝐫. 𝐇𝐮𝐝𝐬𝐨𝐧
➳

"Danny! Up!" Aunt Beth's voice rang outside the door as she knocked on it a few times. The platinum-haired boy groaned, pulling the pillow over his head. He didn't want to be going back to school. He felt like it was too soon. He just wanted to stay locked in his room and do his own thing. He wanted to mourn in peace, but he couldn't.

Aunt Beth had insisted he go back to school. He understood why, of course. She didn't want him to fail, but, God... it felt like it was far too soon. He could barely get out of bed and get ready in the morning, let alone feel good enough to go to school and do a decent job at it.

"Danny, c'mon! Kassie's already ready!" Beth insisted, knocking on his door once again.

"Okay, fine! Give me a minute!" He finally replied, knowing she wouldn't give up. He flipped the covers off of himself and stood up, heading to the bathroom. He looked at himself in the mirror through squinted eyes, letting out a disgruntled hum as he stared at himself. He did not look good at all. He barely even looked like himself anymore.

"Danny! I'm serious, last chance!" Beth once again yelled, breaking him from his trance of his current hatred for himself, and what he was.

"Just go! I'll walk, it isn't far!" He replied, growing frustrated.

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. Go. I'll see you guys later!" He said, waiting till he heard the door open and close before doing anything else. He ruffled his hair, making it look a bit better than before. Still didn't look great, but at least it didn't look like he just rolled out of bed.

After brushing his teeth and splashing some water on his face, Danny didn't look nearly as dead as before. "You got this, you got this, you got this..." He mumbled as he stared at himself in the mirror, holding onto both sides of the sink. "You're okay..."

He walked out of the bathroom and back into his bedroom, grabbing his bag and lunch money, and then heading out the door. The blaring of the cars was usually the first thing he heard in the mornings, but instead, there was near silence. A couple of cars drove by, but it was nothing crazy like Los Angeles was.

He used to hate the crazy traffic, but now? Now he missed it. He missed his old life, who he used to be. "You got this." He reminded himself, fighting the urge to go back into the house and lock himself away in his room. "You got this..." He once again mumbled before beginning the short walk to school.

• • •

"Name?" The secretary asked as she opened one of her file draws, waiting for his answer.

"Danny-- uh, Daniel Bixler." The platinum-haired boy replied, shoving his hands into his pocket. The woman pulled out a couple of pieces of paper before handing it to him.

"There's your schedule and a map of the school, and the last page is your locker code. Once you've memorized it, throw it away." She said before peeking around him. "May I help you?" Danny turned around to see the same girl with auburn hair from yesterday at the church. His eyes widened a bit as he stared at her, jaw slightly dropped. Shit. Guess the whole stranger thing didn't work all that well. Just his luck.

"Ah, yes. Um--..." She began, looking at Danny. She offered a small smile. "Hello again." She greeted before walking closer to the desk. "I could use my schedule, please."