The Story Of Daniel

/t w o/

Chapter 2

Eleven Years Before

Daniel didn't bother to tell his dad that Amelia wasn't his friend that night. He had said he was proud of his son, and Daniel didn't want to disappoint his dad. The next day, Daniel woke up and went into the kitchen for breakfast. His mom was one step ahead and handed him a plate of waffles. Soon, his dad joined them. The three ate their breakfast in silence until Daniel's mom spoke. "Make sure you're on your best behavior today, Daniel. We don't want another call from the principal," she told him.

"I will, mom. I promise," he replied. Daniel had no desire to get into another fight. His hand was still hurting from the last one. Daniel's dad winked at him knowingly and after they were done eating, the three of them gave their goodbyes and went their separate ways. His mom went to the sink to wash the dishes, his dad walked to his car to go to work, and Daniel was left outside waiting for the bus.

When it finally arrived, Daniel started to get nervous. The kids were only going to be meaner now that Daniel had beat up their leader. But to his surprise, no one glared at him or tried to trip him in the aisle. In fact, most of them averted their eyes to the floor and looked nervous. Were they afraid of Daniel? He walked with a bit more confidence and when he passed the leader of the kids he noticed the bruise on the boy's face and smirked. With a newly found confidence Daniel took his seat at the back of the bus, but instead of looking out the window, Daniel looked straight ahead.

***

The first half of the day passed by much better than the day before; everyone left Daniel alone and no one called him Bug Boy. At lunch, Daniel was about to sit by himself at the same table as yesterday, when something caught his eye. Amelia walked by with her black curls swishing in their ponytail, and Daniel got an idea. Why should anyone have to sit alone at lunch? So he made his way to Amelia's table instead. She looked at him with a confused expression. "Can I sit here?" he asked.

"Sure," she said in a quiet voice. Daniel said his thanks and sat in the chair across from Amelia. She stared at him. "Thanks," she finally said. "For punching that boy in the face."

"Your welcome," Daniel said, taking a bite of his sandwich. Another idea came to his mind. "Hey, do you want to play tag with me at recess?" No one would mess with them because they were all afraid of Daniel.

"Sure," she replied. They ate and talked through lunch and when recess time came around, they both walked out, side by side.

The two of them played tag until they were out of breath. Amelia was much faster than Daniel, so she won most of the game. Daniel wasn't even jealous, he was just having fun. They both lie down in the grass, panting to catch their breath.

"Do you want to be my friend?" Amelia asked.

"Yes," Daniel said. He reached over and tapped her shoulder, "Tag! You're it!" He sprung up and ran away from her, hoping the element of surprise would help him win. But of course, it didn't. And he was okay with that, he had a friend now.

Now

Daniel knew he was dying, he could feel himself pulling away from his body. But still, he tried to stay. He thought of all the reasons he needed to stay, and held on to them in a last effort to stay alive.

Amelia. She needs me. She has no parents. I can't leave her alone with her aunt. She hates her aunt.

My parents. I'm an only child. They wouldn't be able to cope with my death.

Jelly, my dog. He would have no one to cuddle with when he was cold.

It wasn't working, Daniel was still fading. Memories, I need to remember, he thought.

It was freshman year, first day of school. Daniel was scared. The movies make high school sound like a prison. But Amelia was with him so he wasn't that scared. Amelia could always make him feel better. They were walking in the school and they heard a whimpering coming from the bushes by the entrance of the school. Amelia walked over to it and pulled a cringing puppy from within the depths of the hedge. "Danny! Look!" she exclaimed. He looked like a beagle, but black and white, and he was licking jelly from a jar he must have found in the trash. Amelia's aunt wouldn't let her keep him, but my folks did. Amelia and I named him Jelly.

Daniel could hear a soft murmur of a voice. The words blended together so Daniel had no idea what they were saying. The words were spoken so quietly that even if they were clear Daniel would still have no clue to what the message was or who it was from. It was working! Daniel was starting to hear things, but it sounded like the voices were under water. Remember, Daniel!

Daniel was in love. Somehow he had ended up with the prettiest girl in school, Sarah Smith. They had truly been in love, and they were together for two years. They were only seventeen when she told him, it broke his heart. On one of their dates Daniel took Sarah to the park at about midnight, he was so happy. But for some reason Sarah started crying, and that's when she told him that she had been diagnosed with leukemia. Two months later Daniel got a call from Sarah's mom. Sarah was dead. Daniel ran out of his house and ran to Amelia's, crying all the way.

Daniel could hear clearly now, it was like water had been cleared from his head. But he didn't care; the memory had resurfaced the emotions he felt that day when Sarah died. His heart was breaking all over again. It's funny how hearts work; they're strong, but if you break them once, you can never fix them to be perfect again. For a moment he thought it would be easier to just die, no more broken hearts. But, then he heard Amelia's voice. She sounded tired and there was a certain croakiness to her voice that suggested that she had been crying. The words she said sounded so rehearsed that Daniel could imagine that she had said them over and over again as Daniel was fighting for control of himself.

"Danny, please. You can't leave me. I'd never forgive myself. I could have warned you sooner. I could have pushed you out of the way. It's my entire fault," she said in her tired, sad, repetitive voice.

No. Don't say that. I should have been watching where I was going, Daniel thought.

"Danny, if you can hear me right now, wake up. I can't take another day of you in this coma," she pleaded.

Coma? I was in a coma? Wait, days? How long have I been out...It felt like only an hour had passed.

Daniel let go of all the thoughts he was thinking before. No more sad memories. No more wishing he was dead. That would be too selfish of him. Here Amelia was; blaming herself for what had happened, while Daniel was only thinking about himself. Sure, it would be easier to just die but Daniel wasn't going to be the type of person that gave up that easily. Amelia needed him to be there for her, she was begging him to be there for her. And Daniel didn't care about her so little that he would pick the easy path just for the sake of his own needs. There were people in his life that cared for him and he needed to show appreciation for all they had done by doing this. Daniel knew he had to keep fighting. If it was the last thing he ever did; he would fight for the people he loved. And if he died doing so; so be it.

A/N: hello, readers :) if you enjoyed this chapter then please click the star icon to vote for it, it would mean a lot . also, feel free to leave a comment and tell me what you think