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Chapter 14 - Under The Stars

I sighed as I laid my head back on my pillow. My eyes scanned over the sky, the stars more colorful and bright than I expected. The air was crisp and cool and made the hair on my arms stand up. Maybe I should have brought a blanket? I shrugged the feeling away and continued to stare up at the night sky. The serenity and peace of this area was like heaven. It wasn't like the suburbs where someone is always up, always alert, and always doing something. Here, it seemed everything was asleep except for me and Danny.

I turned my head to look at him, who was laying right beside me on the hard, metal bed of the truck. He didn't notice me as I looked at him with a smile on my face, but instead absorbed the view of the stars. I looked back up at the sky, still grinning, and sighed again.

I broke the serene silence by saying, "This makes me want to never go home again."

"I don't want to either."

Him saying that warmed my heart. Then it hit me: Right now, he could be with his family, or his other friends, or his cousin, or anybody else for that matter, but instead he's out here with me saying he doesn't want to go back home. A sense of self-esteem was now in my head and it caused some sort of warmth in my stomach.

"Do you think I'v should've ever agreed to all this stuff?" I asked just above a whisper.

"What stuff?" He asked as he put his arms under his head.

"This whole 'Makeover' deal. Do you think I should've said yes?" I questioned then sucked in a breath of chilling air.

"Well, here's the thing. It may not look right thing to do in some cases. But my Dad's not stupid, he knows his black from his white. I don't think this may have been as planned as you think it was," He explained but I was still puzzled.

"What do you mean?" I asked as I fiddled with my fingers.

"I mean, maybe my Dad knew that this was a good idea because God was telling him it was. Maybe it was a test for you, Preston, Amanda, and even me," He explained further.

"And Lucas?"

There was a hesitated sigh from Danny and then he answered with, "Yes, him too."

"So what you're saying is that it was good for me to agree to all of this?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying. You could change lives by doing this. It can even change yours."

"It already has changed mine. It's turned it upside down as a matter of fact. But how can this effect someone else's life? I'm nothing special. I'm not clever, I'm not witty, I'm not super smart, I'm nothing amazing. I just try to live my life how God wants me too and then this happens."

"That's exactly why you're special. You do what God wants you to and don't try to question it. You can help change someone's life if you really love them and care about them. You don't think you've had some sort of significant effect on Parker or Suzanne? It may seem like you barely know them but you don't know what's going through their mind. Maybe you were exactly the type of person they needed at that time and you showed up."

"Well when you put it that way..." I scoffed then smiled in his direction. I rolled my eyes and then said with a genuine tone, "Thanks."

I stopped fiddling with my thumbs and set on hand on the cool metal of the truck in between Me and Danny, I rested the other one on my stomach and took a deep breath, it rising and falling with my stomach.

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Danny's POV

She's so beautiful. Just everything about her. It occured to me that she was still wearing some makeup by the way there was some clumpy mascara on her eyelashes. I hated that so much. I'd much rather have her face bare. Yeah, I know, I'm not like most guys.