The Way In Which Things Work

Chapter Eight: Predictable Matters

The walk I had to make to Danny's house was long and tiring. I was hoping by now that he wouldn't be there, or his mother so there wouldn't be any awkward encounters. As I approach the front of his house, I feel strangely intimidated. Maybe the thought of finally ending it all with him has finally hit me right in the gut and I feel scared that the safety of a relationship with him is disappearing.

A trash bag is clutched in my hand, prepared to be filled with all of my belongings that I've cherished in that house. It was time to start a new chapter in my life and it began now when I had the opportunity to change the course of what was happening to me. The only key I knew I'd be able to find would be underneath the flower pot to the right of their front door. Upon pushing open the front door, I silently prayed no one would be here. As the key slipped into the hole placed conveniently above the doorknob, I heard the rumble of an engine. It was Danny.

He screeches to a stop upon seeing my figure stood on his doorstep. Not even bothering to turn the engine of the car off, he pops the door of his car open and rushes towards me. Before he reaches me, I call out to him, "Stop. Don't," I tell him, hoping he'll catch the hint and stay away from me.

"You're back," he whispers, his words barely reaching my ears because they were so quiet.

Shaking my head no at his statement I reply, "No, I've only come to collect my things." Without saying anything else I slip inside and leave the door open for him because I know he's going to follow me in. I walk all the way up the stairs before he says something else to me. I don't let my face show anything emotion, knowing that if I do then he'll take advantage of my vulnerable state.

"You're not serious are you." Ignoring him, I open the door to his room to find it partly ruined. A few pieces of glass lay on the floor from the frame I had bought him for his birthday. The tiniest piece of my dignity is sucked out of my being after pulling the drawer full of my clothes open. I really thought we would last, my stupidity and ignorance made me blind to the notion that these juvenile relationships are against all odds. "Is this some kind of sick joke?" He yells at me. When I don't answer him he reaches over my shoulder from where he stood behind me and slams the dresser drawer closed. I flinch back slightly from the loud noise.

A surge of anger flows through my body at his slight violence, "You see Daniel! This," I motion with my hands at the drawer he forcefully shut, "Is why we'll never work. You can't just act like this every time you don't get the answer you want," I spit at him with venom.

His hand touches my arm and it burns through skin and heats up the blood making its way throughout my veins. He's gentle the next time he opens his mouth, "Then let's talk about it, I'll listen you can say whatever you want, I won't get angry."

I rip my arm from his grasp aggressively, "No, I'm not falling for that shit, not this time." I go back to stuffing clothes from the drawer into the trash bag I currently held in my left hand. I can feel his presence move away from behind me and it feels like a cloud has dissipated from around my head. Turning back around from the wall I was facing with a bag full of clothes, I see him pacing the room. Reality seems to have finally settled in for him at the fact that I'm leaving him, something I should have done a long time ago. All of a sudden a weight seemed to have lifted off my shoulders, the reality setting in for me too. This was really happening, he would no longer have any sense of control over my life. No influence, no say, no bossing me around. I was free.

Glancing around the rest of the room, I look for other items that belong to me. I see a necklace laying on the bathroom counter and go to pick it up, he had gotten it for me for Christmas last year. Clasping it in my hand, I look for other items. After turning the light on in the closet, I see a pair of my shoes neatly under the clothes I had hung up last week. I grab them from their spot on the floor and toss them into the bag. One of my purses full of small, tacky things is shoved on top of the shoes and I make my way back to the bathroom. A toothbrush and my shampoo is also thrown into the bag, I hope they don't leak all over my clothes. Scouring the bathroom one last time, I shut the light off after finding nothing else I wanted to take. Seeing the key he gave me last night was laying on the table next to my side of the bed, I grab that too, holding it in my fist.