She Came In Through The Bathroom Window

SCITTBW Chapter 4

Um, I really don't have much of an excuse for not posting this sooner...

~

I stood at the edge of the neighborhood where Dannys' house was.

Should I really go and see him?  What happens if I do?  What happens if I don't?

Curiosity killed the cat...then again, I'm not a cat.  It couldn't hurt, right?

There was a part of me that told me to run and never look back.  I had been left before, so why trust anyone now?

But what did I have to lose?

I took a deep breath, and started walking down one street.  I hoped it was the right one.  I finally came across a house that looked like the one I had visited a while back, but it had been dark that night, so I wasn't sure.

I knocked on the door, and a heavyset, middle-aged man opened the door.  "Whaddya want?" His voice was filled with a country accent.

"Erm....I was just...I-is Danny here?"

"Danny?  You mean the Ingram boy?"

"I..guess.." I didn't know his last name was Ingram.

"He lives down the street!" The man thrust his finger towards a pale blue house in the distance.

I ducked my head.  Great.  I had the wrong house.  "Oh, um sorry.  Thanks."

I turned on my heel and ran towards the house that supposedly belonged to the Ingrams.

This time, with my heart beating faster, I hesitantly knocked on the door.

"Coming!"  A voice called from inside.  I was greeted at the door by a woman.  "Hi, can I help you?"

I swallowed loudly, "Is Danny here?"

Her face brightened, "Oh! You must be Jackie!  Danny told me you were coming.  Why don't you come in."

I stepped into the warm house.  It was so much nicer than what I was used to.  It had a homey feel.  The floors weren't made of old boards, and there was furniture, and it smelled nice.

"Danny's up in his room.  Why don't you go meet him up there?  It's up the stairs, and the second room on the left."

I nodded awkwardly, "Okay."  I walked up the stairs slowly, still really about what was going to happen.  When I found his room, and tapped quietly on his door, but no one answered.  I wasn't sure what to do, so I carefully pushed the door open.  I looked around his clean room, but he was nowhere to be found.

Was this some kind of trick?  I started to get freaked out.

"Jackie?"

I spun around and saw Danny standing in his door way.  I didn't know what to say, so I just stood there.

"I didn't think you would come."

I just shrugged.  I waited for him to say something.  After all, he was the one who wanted me here in the first place.  I wasn't going to try to make small talk.  And he seemed to realize that.

"You're welcome to sit down..."

I thought about it for a second, then sat down in the window seat while he sat on his bed.

"Why did you run from me when I tried talking to you the other day?"

I stared out the window, not sure how to answer that.  He tried again.

"Was there a reason you came through my bathroom window?"

Again, I couldn't answer that.

I heard him sigh.  "Let's start out with something simple then, shall we?  Favorite color?"