Chaos in the Basement

Chapter 6

Louis and Danny agreed that she could stay there as long as she wanted/needed. He'd take her to work with him in the morning and she'd meet Riley for a ride to school and then find herself back to the pharmacy for him to take her back to her house. Danny felt nauseous about the situation still, she couldn't get used to the idea that she was actually staying with him. She felt like it was just a matter of time before someone found out and the whole town knew. 

On Sunday she had explored some of the hiking trails so she could continue running in the mornings, Monday became just like her usual Mondays. Waking up early, running and then getting to ready for school. Louis drove her to his pharmacy and she waited outside for Ethan's truck to appear. 

"Good morning, Danny!" a cheery voice said. 

Danny looked up to see Mrs. Williams, the woman Danny sometimes babysat for. "Good morning, how are you doing?" 

"Doing well, it's so good to see you! What are you doing out here?" she asked.

She was also a big gossiper. "I'm just waiting for my friends to pick me up," Danny said. 

"Oh how nice. I came to pick up my husbands prescription. Sick old thing," she rolled her eyes. She had married her high school gym coach, meaning he was quite a bit older than her. 

"I'm sorry to hear that he is sick," Danny said. 

"Eh," she rolled her eyes again. Her eyes glanced in the window, spotting Louis. "Do you know if you Mr. Spencer is single?"

"I-I don't know," Danny said caught off guard. 

"You'll let me know right?" she winked at Danny. 

"Um, sure." 

"Thanks, good to see ya!" she patted Danny on the back and went inside. Danny shook her head in disbelief. Finally, Ethan's truck pulled up. 

 The rest of the week went by as normal, school was the same and no one had a clue about Danny staying at Louis' house. Danny's parents didn't even bother looking for her, they never went the school and they never ran into each other at the pharmacy. Louis told Danny he had her father's prescription being mailed to their home so that helped slim the chances of them running into one another. She still Sean at school, he never talked to her but she did find him looking at her every time they passed by. Molly probably asked him to see if she was at school. Part of Danny started to hold a grudge against her family. She was glad they were not trying to harass her to come back but the fact they didn't even care enough to see if she was okay or to see where she was staying. 

Danny and Oliver agreed to have a date after school, they went to the only thing the town had besides a gas station, a pharmacy, a restaurant and local grocery store, there was a small convenient store that had a coffee shop in it. They sat at a table facing window and when the conversation would stop they'd people watch together. Danny really liked Oliver, other from him being attractive, he was actually a very interesting person. He was really into science, something that went over Danny's head, he talked about becoming a biochemist but lately he had been thinking about teaching chemistry. He didn't know high school or higher level would interest him more. He was a good listener too, which she desperately appreciated. Since Shannon was gone, Riley was not much of a listener so Danny just become even more quieter. 

He asked her questions about her family and kept very vague about it as she always did. 

"Do you mind if I ask about your friend Shannon?" he asked. 

She shook her head, "No, I don't." Because of the recurring dreams of Shannon, the ache of her missing seemed to be less painful. 

"Did you see her the night she disappeared?"

Danny felt deja vu from when the police were asking here this last year. "I was sick that day, so Shannon came over and brought me a movie that we'd like to watch when we were sick and I asked her to stay but she said she couldn't and told me she was going to walk home. And I never saw her again."

"That's cute that you guys had a movie you watched when you're sick," he smiled and laughed a little.

"Oh, yeah," Danny laughed a little. She didn't even realize she told him that detail, something like that she wouldn't share with anyone but it slipped out. She felt slightly embarrassed but the feeling left as quick as it came. 

"And you have no idea where she went after that?"

"No. I watched her leave the house and walk to end of the road and she went the right direction to her house but she never made it home."

"Do you think she could have ran away?"

"No, it's just-" Danny was getting her words scrambled. "She wouldn't do something like that." Not without me I hope, Danny thought to herself. 

Oliver nodded his head, he looked like he trying to put the pieces together. "I hope they find her," he said. He placed his hand on top of hers. 

"Me too," Danny looked at him and smiled and put her eyes back down on their hands. 

After awhile, they decided it was time to leave. "Do you want me to take you home?" he asked.

"Uh, if you could just drop me off at the pharmacy. I need to pick up my dads prescription." The knot in Danny's stomach came back. He agreed and he dropped her off there, he asked her if she wanted him to wait for her but she said no. 

Before she got out of the car he asked, "Do you want to go another date?" 

"I'd like that," she waved goodbye and went inside. 

Louis was finishing up shutting down the store for the night. "Hi," she called out to make sure he was aware she was there. 

He appeared from under the counter. "Hey, how was school," he asked.

"It was good. Nothing too exciting," she leaned up against the door. 

"Who dropped you off?"

"My friend Oliver, we had study group." She didn't know why she lied, but it felt weird to tell Louis she went on a date. 

"Oh," he said and smiled. Something seemed more off than usual with him. Danny tried to ignore it and just kept making small talk until they went back to his home.