I'll just pretend.

Knight ~ (picture of Daniel Knight)

Desperate doesn't even completely describe the state I'm in right now.

I am currently sitting in a chair, with a mug of hot chocolate that someone has shoved into my left hand while my other hand is tightly gripping onto the arm rest. I am surrounded by people, but i can hardly see who they are as my vision is blurry. I can only recognise their voices, cooing and consoling me as mom wipes the tears off my face with a damp hankerchief. Hands are touching me everywhere, my back, my shoulders, my hand.

I don't even realize I'm mumbling to myself until I hear Reese, Riley's 11 year old brother ask, "Why is she saying Riley's name, mommy? Why is she shaking so much? My friends say people who shake a lot are possesed..." Reese' eyes widens before he lets out a squeal and runs off.

The scene of Riley's departure only 10 minutes ago unfolds in my head, causing me to start sobbing loudly again. How embarrassing. 

She was leaving, getting onto a bus with two huge bags in her hands. She was leaving me, leaving me alone. I had tugged onto her hand, begging her to stay. In return, I received a sad smile and a shake of her head. I looked at her in disbelief and despair as she loosened my grip on her wrist and hugged me briefly. "Miss you, Drey. Take care okay?" she had whispered before breaking apart and the doors closed. I can't quite remember when I started screaming and chasing the bus but I do remember Aunt Linda, Riley's mom and my mom pulling up in mom's car and pulling me into it despite my screams of protests. 

CRASH!

I jerked at the sudden sound then caught sight of a small puddle of brown liquid and pieces of the mug that was in my hand scattered on the floor. "Bring her to her room. She needs to rest." I hear Aunt Linda whisper to mom. 

I am slowly guided upstairs to my room, then tucked into bed by mom. "Shh, my darling. Everything will be okay..." mom whispers as she tucks a strand of my light brown hair behind my ear. As I looked at mom, I only think of how she seems as if she was convincing herself more than she was convincing me. And I didn't believe it for a second. 

After she left, I could only hug Cookie, my blue coloured soft toy dog. "Coooookiieeee. Whats... gonna happen?" I breathed.

3 hours later, after I'm done weeping and tearing up in my room, I decided I needed a breather. As I walked downstairs, I heard mom and dad's voices. "Really, Lucas. She's still in quite a fragile state. What shall we do?" "i'm not sure, Arielle. But she needs her space for now. Whatever it is, we couldn't have avoided her from our um, decision. The longer we kept from her, the worse she would be." Somehow, I knew dad was right. He normally was anyways. Slightly shaking, I stepped into their view. "I'm gonna a walk." I announced. Dad gave me a small smile and nodded as mom just looked as if she was going to burst into tears. Stiffly, I walked out, hopefully before mom starts sobbing.

I breathed in the cold air as I wrapped my jacket tighter around my body. "Hm, last time I checked, Dracoe McCartney and November wind aren't the best of friends..." a familiar voice spoke behind me. Immediately, a glimmer of hope emerged in me as I whipped my head around furiously. "Whoa there girl. Easy now. Its just me, nothing to be so eager about." A grinning boy- no man mischievously said. Clad in a blue jacket, white shirt and jeans, Daniel Knight stood only a foot away from me.

"Daniel?!" I gasped. Daniel gave me his signature smile before stepping forward to hug me.  "Hello, Ms. McCartney. I heard you haven't been feeling under the whether lately. Care to explain to me whats with that?" he asked, stroking my hair. I hugged him tighter then much to my embarrassment, I started crying on his shoulder. "Everything is so wrong, Dan..." I sobbed. "I know, D. It gets like that sometimes." He chuckles, rubbing my back lightly. i pulled back, looking into his forest green eyes, his strongest feature. I attempted a small smile and leaned my forehead against his as he leaned his against mine. Our greeting. 

"Parents had the D-word and i'm all alone cause Riley left me for the Big Apple." I mumbled quietly. "I know." Daniel smiled, stroking my cheek tenderly. "Ri told me about it. Thats kinda why I'm here." I looked at him. "What about Harvard?" I raised my eyebrows. Daniel laughed and gave me a yeah, right look. "We both know that I can risk being absent more a week's classes." Daniel cockily stated in a duh, tone. 

He was right. Daniel Knight, beside his good looks, he had the brains. Daniel and I were the two in our age to be able to leap across a few classes and finish highschool early as well as college. Daniel received a scholarship to Harvard and Oxford just like I did. However unlike him, I declined both offers, opting to stay in good old Wapakoneta with my family and studying in Ohio Northern University, several miles away. Well, look how that turned out. 

" Wait, a week?!" I exclaimed. "Only?" I sighed. Daniel shrugged and nodded. "Sorry, bud. Harvard doesn't let me off easy." I wistfully looked the blond haired knight, willing myself not to cry. FInally, I forced a grin. "So, Daniel Knight. Skipping classes. What next?" I mocked, wiping my teary eyes. He grinned with an evil glint in his eyes, tugging me towards his car. "Kidnapping Dracoe McCartney." He merely stated before pushing a struggling me into his silver Peugeot. 

Hi thanks for taking your time to read this, I really appreciate criticism and comments as I really hope to mend any flaws in my writing skills. Thanks so much again and I hope you enjoyed reading this little story :) XXX