Bright - Chapter Two - 30 More Seconds

Danny's point of view during his movie night with Emma

Chapter Two

30 More Seconds

Wolfgang : how did you dream this? 

Ben : I guess I'm just that kinda guy.

Danny had Dr. Pepper coming out his nose after that one. He wiped his mouth and chin, and looked over at Emma, curious as to how she didn't find that scene absolutely hilarious. She definitely would have, had she not been sound asleep. Danny reached forward to place his nearly empty can on the coffee table. He thought that he should probably go. He also wondered how Emma could have thought that she would have been able to watch three movies tonight, if she was already out after 20 minutes of the first one. He gently tried to lift her limp legs so he could get out from under her without waking her. As soon as he tried, she made a cute little sound and he rested her legs back on his lap. He decided to stay.

Danny tried watching the movie, but an incessant thought was nagging at him and he couldn’t swat it away. He saw Emma everyday, spoke to her everyday, but he never saw her sleep before. Not since they had their last sleep over, which must have been when they were 11 or so. She kept inviting him, but he had to kindly decline. Morning 'stiffies' and wet dreams became a regular occurrence for him at that age. She stopped asking after a while. She realized that they weren't kids anymore, and innocent boy/girl sleepovers were officially a thing of the past.

He was aware that he was verging on “creepy” but he couldn't help himself. He was mesmerized. He listened to her soft breath escape her plump, parted, rose colored lips. He watched her chest rise and fall, with each slow breath. He followed her glossy, blonde hair as it draped down her tan face, and flowed so elegantly down her neck and collarbone, stopping just below the outline of her perfectly sized breasts. He looked down the length of her abdomen, down further past her tiny little cat print shorts. The opening of her shorts from underneath revealed a tiny bit of her white panties.

Okay, too far. Danny thought to himself. He closed his mouth and turned his gaze forward, trying to wish away the stirring below his navel. He took another sip of his Dr. Pepper and saw the urn on the mantle piece in front of him. His face turned a bit pink and he fidgeted in his seat, whilst sending a mental apology to the spirit of Mr. Roy.

Just then, the front door opened. Maggie was greeted by Rosie at the door, and she bent over to give her a pat.

“Hello old girl.” Maggie said. She hung up her purse and placed her keys in the bowl by the door. She looked over the corner when she saw the glow of the t.v.

“Oh hi Danny.” Maggie said cheerfully. She walked around the corner and he turned his head up to smile at her and gave her a slight wave. She saw Emma sprawled out on the couch like a princess, feet propped upon her servant and she snickered. Maggie sat down in the big comfy chair and squinted at the t.v. She didn't have her glasses on so it did take a while for her to decipher the film.

“Oh gosh, Explorers again.” She whispered to him. “I don't know how she can watch the same movies over and over and not get sick of them.”

“I think it's a comfort thing. Like food.” Danny whispered back. He was very grateful that he had managed to get his hormones under control before Emma's mom entered the room.

“Yes, I think you're right.” She gazed at her sleeping beauty and smiled. 

“Danny I'm glad I caught you actually, what are your plans tomorrow?” she asked, removing her white socks. 

“Nothing. I have a bit of homework, but that's it.” He said softly.

“Do you think you could come by and cut the grass? Emma usually does it, but I want to give her a bit of a break. She hasn't been sleeping so well lately. I'll pay you twenty bucks?” She said, trying to sweeten a deal that didn't need to be sweetened. Danny enjoyed helping them around the house. He wasn't about to tell her the many reasons why. 

“You don't need to pay me, I can help anytime, I told you that.” He said sweetly.

“Well alright, if you’re sure.”

“I’m sure.” He replied in a don’t worry about it kind of way.

“You're a good one kid.” She said clutching his shoulder. 

“Okay, I'm off to bed… Oh, do you still have that key I gave you?” she asked, stopping at the foot of the stairs. 

“Yeah.” He answered.

“Okay can you make sure the doors are locked when you leave? Emma's been sleep walking again and I found her out in the middle of the yard last night.” 

“What?” She had said it so nonchalantly, it took him a few seconds to register. He knew that Emma was an occasional sleep walker, but he didn't know that she was prone to roam around the town.

“Yeah. I know, I couldn't believe it, she was just standing in the middle of the yard. Rosie woke me up and I came down here to find the front door wide open. I need to have an alarm installed.” Maggie was halfway up the stairs.

“Yeah, you really should.” Danny was still flabbergasted, and a little creeped out. “I’ll make sure they’re all locked.” 

“Okay thank you. Night” Maggie said, mid yawn. She walked up the creaking steps and Danny heard her in her room, directly above him. It sounded like she fell into bed, scrubs and all. This was an exhausted little family.

The movie wasn't over yet, but he felt like it would be strange of him to stay. Especially now, since Maggie knew that he knew that Emma was asleep. He tried again, lightly lifting her legs. It worked. He got out, turned off the VCR and the TV and gazed down at Emma. Would it be rude of him to just leave her here? But would it be weird of him to carry her to bed? 

He thought for a moment what Frank would want. His wife and daughter have been trying their best to keep things together since he passed. Maybe a little too much, Danny didn’t even see Emma cry. At the funeral she was her mom's rock, and right afterward, she wanted to go to the movies. She laughed a lot, and was wicked funny that day too. She had him clutching his stomach a few times from laughter. After the movie, she didn't want to leave, so they played games in the arcade for hours. People stared a bit, Emma was still wearing her black dress and he was in his black suit. But it made sense the way she was handling it. He would have probably done the same.

Danny decided that Frank would prefer that his daughter be safely tucked in her bed at night, so he crouched down, slid one arm under her knees and the other beneath her shoulder blades and lifted. He had started weight training in the garage everyday after school a few months ago, and was already able to lift 150lbs no problem. Emma couldn't have been more than 110lbs so it wasn't difficult for him. He expected her to wake when he lifted her, but she was out cold.

 

He gently laid her in her bed, and pulled the sheet over her. It was hot, so she wouldn't need a comforter. He turned on her standing fan that faced her and pulled the top of the sheet tighter. He stood up and looked at the photos taped to her double sized headboard. Her lamp was on from earlier and the room was dimly lit, but he could see the pictures well enough when he stood next to her bed. She had cut outs of different rock bands, and their album covers. The Velvet Underground, Led Zeppelin, Explosions In The Sky, and of course, her dad's favorite; E.L.O. But among the collage of artists that adorned her headboard, there were also photos of her with family and friends. A lot of them were of her and Danny, and he laughed silently as he reminisced on the goofy camera poses they had shared through the years. It was apparent that grade school was a time for posing with a “peace” sign, whereas high school poses tended toward either a tongue out face or a jokingly disgusted face, or both. And then there was the time where he let her put makeup on him and braid his hair. It wasn’t a long braid, his hair was usually disheveled, but it was now considered shoulder length. Damn, he hated that she had photographic evidence of that, but seeing it again, he had to admit that she was right when she told him he would have been a very pretty girl. He wasn't ugly, but he wasn't a Greek god either. A few months ago, Emma's friend Kiera told him that he looked like a pre-teen, greasy version of Xavier Samuel. Whoever the hell he was. Kiera saw him in a magazine when they were hanging out by Emma's pool, and she gasped when she saw it.

“Oh my god you guys!” Keira wasn't one to stand out. She was that type of girl that was just like every other girl. Danny wasn't even sure why Emma was friends with her. They didn't have much in common, except that they were both female. 

“Emma, look at this picture! Is this guy not Danny's twin or what? I mean besides the hair, and the body.” (ahem, thanks for that. Danny thought.) “But Oh. My. God!” Keira continued.

Emma was used to Keira's exaggerations, but she took the magazine and looked anyway.

“Oh my god!” Emma gasped.

“What?” Danny asked, not sure if he should be embarrassed.

“Danny, look at me and smile like this.” Emma demanded, motioning with her own mouth how she wanted him to do it.

Danny tried to mirror the way that Emma was doing it, and the girls both shrieked and started laughing.

Danny's face turned red, he wasn’t sure if they were laughing at him, but he wanted out. He cleared his throat and rolled his eyes. Emma caught on and changed the subject. She was good at that, noticing when he was uncomfortable. He's usually a good sport, and he can laugh at himself, but he has his buttons. And being singled out and laughed at by two gorgeous girls when you’re a sixteen year old guy, was definitely one of them. Keira didn't catch on right away, that’s when she made the “pre-teen, greasy” comment. Danny remembers going home that night and dusting off his brother's weights.

#   #   #

He scanned Emma's headboard and saw something out of the ordinary. A picture of Emma and Ryan kissing, with a big pink heart drawn around their faces with lipstick. A) Emma has never owned pink lipstick (he didn't think) B) she wasn't one to draw hearts on things, or be mushy with the guys she dates at all, and Danny has seen her jump from boy to boy ever since she got her first padded bra. (Yeah, he remembered that. It was definitely a shock to see all of a sudden, on the first day of seventh grade. He had just seen her in the pool the day before, so he knew it was fake, but boy was it convincing. He had to try hard not to stare during class.) And C) he thought Emma and Ryan had only been on like three dates. Okay maybe it had been more like eight dates, but it couldn’t last, he was such a d********g. 

Danny hadn’t spent a lot of time with Ryan, he had seen him here and there. But he hated that guy. He couldn’t put his finger on exactly why he hated him. Maybe it was the big Range Rover he drove, or the Rolex watch he wore. Or maybe it was because he was just a typical jock; captain of the hockey team, rich parents, and he got other people to do his homework for him. Maybe it was the fact that he was nowhere close to being good enough for Emma, and if it wasn't for that stupid, idiot jock moving to West Glen this past summer, Danny and Emma could be kissing in this picture instead.

It was the first Friday after school started. Danny was working on his 1975 F100 Ford Pickup that he got for dirt cheap from the scrap yard. It had been his summer project to get it working, and that afternoon, he finally did.

His dad wasn’t in the shop, he was all alone, but he was on cloud 9 when he turned the key and heard that beautiful rumble. He couldn’t wait to show Emma, since now they wouldn’t have to rely on parents for a vehicle. He jumped in it, grinning from ear to ear and puttered it next door. It must have been quite loud because she was already out the front door, mouth agape before he parked it. She ran up to the rusty hunk of metal and looked at it with such awe.

“You did it!” She yelled, over the loud rumble of the engine.

“Yup!” He said, conveying pure pride.

Maggie walked up behind Emma, and folded her arms. She tried to look approving, but she turned her nose up a bit and said “Wow Danny, just look at this!” “It’s… It's very rustic.” She tried to say it kindly, but she had a worry about cars. Who could blame her.

Emma was already in the passenger seat, busy tying her Chuck Taylor's. She was clearly in a hurry to get out of the house. “So where are we going?” She looked upon from tying her shoe.

Danny was about to answer when Maggie poked her head through his open window. She was pretty tense.

“Is it safe for the road yet Danny?” She asked.

“Yes mom! He’s a mechanic, he knows what he’s doing.” Emma answered for him.

“Well, not certified.” Danny murmured under his breath.

Maggie looked at him with more worry, and he realized where he had messed up.

“No no! I just meant, cause Emma said I was a mechanic, but I’m not a certified mechanic.” He saw by the look on her face that that didn’t help things. “but my dad is.” He quickly added. “and he oversaw everything. We have the papers. She's good to go.” And he nervously patted the dash. Just as he did, Betty (the truck) made a rattle sound, but it slowly dissipated. Danny laughed nervously, Maggie was still giving him an untrusting look. 

Emma realized that if she was going to be able to go anywhere, she would have to help ease her mother's concern.

“Look mom, we'll drive slow, and Danny has a cell phone now, so I’ll call you every now and then with updates.”

That seemed to work, Maggie backed away from the truck a little bit.

“Okay…” She said still a bit of uncertainty in her voice. 

Maggie stuck her finger out and motioned to both of them. 

“You'll wear your seat belts, and you'll have her home by 8 o'clock sharp.” Maggie said sternly. Danny nodded in agreement.

“Mom no, it's already 7:30. We'll be back by 9.” Emma said. 

Maggie backed off and threw her hands up.

Danny started to back out of the driveway, Emma yelled out the window “Bye Mama! Love you!” Maggie still looked nervous, but she blew a kiss and waved.

After driving around a bit, and finishing off a basket of fries each from the local chip stand, they got some gas at the convenience store and Emma bought a popsicle and picked out a new DVD to rent. The new Martin Scorsese film of course. 

 It was dark, close to Emma's curfew when they turned onto their gravel road. They were both belting out the end of Bohemian Rhapsody with the radio. The song ended and Danny changed the radio to heavy metal. He tapped on the steering wheel and yelled/sang along with the Metallica verse. He was rocking out and looked over at Emma who was busy laughing at him. She made a disgusted face and motioned her finger in her mouth followed by a fake gag reflex. She despised heavy metal. She turned the knob of the radio to the classic country station. Tit for tat. Danny hated country music. She was happy and sang along to “Walk On By”/Leroy Van Dyke. 

Danny sighed, and admitted defeat. Just then, Betty started making some rattling sounds again, and a bit of steam started coming out from under the hood.

“Awww s**t…” Danny said, pulling over to a stop. He got out, and Emma stayed, content with her Popsicle. He lifted the hood and looked under. Nothing serious, just overheating. He hopped back in the truck, Emma looked at him concerned. “Is it bad?” She licked the drippy frozen desert and her tongue was colored blue. Danny thought that was funny, but he kept it to himself.

“No, the engine just needs to cool for a bit.”

“Oh, how long?”

“A few hours.” He said with a convincingly serious face.

“What?” She frowned and was in the middle of biting off a big piece of her popsicle.

“Just kidding.” Danny said, putting on a girly voice for fun. He was making fun of an absent Keira. It was an “inside joke” because Emma knew how much it annoyed Danny when Keira said that. Which was A LOT.

“No, it just needs a few minutes.” His manly voice was back.

Their jokes were cut short when they both turned their heads abruptly forward, in the direction of the bright, flying light that they had both seen in their peripherals.

“WHOA!” they both shouted.

“I Fall To Pieces”/Patsy Cline was playing on the radio. 

“Oh man! I forgot! It's the peak of the Aurigids tonight!” Emma was already partially out the small back window, and Danny looked around confused. He saw what she was trying to do, and that she had gotten herself stuck. He got out of the truck and walked around to the back, hopping up to help her.

“It’s the what?” he said grabbing both of her arms and starting to tug.

“The Aurigids Meteor shower.” She said, slightly out of breath.

Danny had pulled her free and they both fell into the flat bed.

“You know, normal people use doors.” Danny said. Emma smiled at him and fidgeted off of him. “Yeah, but where's the fun in that?” Emma said.

She positioned herself on her back, next to him and they both looked up into infinite space.

“So what are the Aurigids?” he'd hope he was pronouncing it correctly. He didn’t know much about space, but he knew that Emma did. She started to answer him, but he didn’t hear a word she was saying. She was moving in slow motion, and he was watching her lips move. He realized his setting. Beautiful sky above, crickets chirping in the distance, summer wind blowing in her hair. And he swallowed hard. He was going to do it. His heart was pounding, but he was ready. He opened his mouth and tried to make the words come out. But they got stuck. He licked his lips and swallowed again. 

“Hey Emma?”

She stopped talking and looked at him.

His heart pounded harder and faster, but he was having trouble with the words again. He opened his mouth to speak, but he was interrupted. His cell phone was ringing. D****t, the curfew, what time was it he wondered. He scooched himself toward the cab and stuck his arm through the window, feeling around for his ringing cell phone on the upholstered seat. He found it and flipped it open.

“Hi Mrs. Roy. Yes, she’s right here.” Danny handed Emma the phone and she sat up to grab it. And laid back down, looking up at the stars.

“Hi mom. Sorry, we got sidetracked, we're just down the road watching the meteor shower.” Danny gave her a thumbs up. He was glad that Emma didn’t mention the steam coming out of the hood, but she knew better than to tell that to Maggie.

“Oh no!” Emma gasped and pulled herself upright. Danny looked at her with concern.

“Oh shoot, I completely forgot! Can you tell him to meet me at the end of the road? We're literally a minute away. Okay thanks Mommy. And tell him sorry for me?” Emma closed the phone and handed it to Danny. She rushed out the back of the truck and pulled her elastic band out of her hair.

“Who are you supposed to meet?” Danny asked, still frozen in his spot. Emma was tousling her hair, looking in the side view mirror at herself. “I forgot I had a date tonight.” Emma said. “A date? With who?” Emma was now trying to wipe something invisible off of her face. Danny thought she looked perfect. Plain black summer dress that was sleeveless and just stopped below her knees, dirty sneakers and messy hair. She was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. Emma didn’t seem to have the same feeling, based on the grunts she made at her reflection.

Headlights came over the hill in front of them, and Danny squinted to look. He didn’t have too. He could tell that this was the guy.

“Well, I guess I’ll have to go like this.” Emma said, disappointed.

The Range Rover slowed to a stop next to them, and the electric, tinted window buzzed as it went down, revealing a primped, good looking douchebag.

“Wow, cool truck man!” The DB said.

“Thanks.” It was painful, but Danny managed a smile.

“Ryan, you’ve met Danny right?” Emma said, trying to break the silence.

“Uh, no. Nice to meet you man.” Ryan said.

“Yeah. Nice to meet you too…man.” Danny's tone would have only been obvious to someone who knew him, which Emma did, extremely well. She threw him a “knock it off” kind of look as she walked around the front of Ryan’s car, heading for the passenger seat. 

“Okay, I'll talk to you tomorrow!” She hollered at him from inside the luxury car. She went from rags to riches in two minutes.

“See ya.” Danny said, and he waved as they drove off. The DB's car shot a bunch of rocks at Danny's truck. He stayed where he was, not surprised in the least. “All I Have To Do Is Dream”/The Every Brothers played, and Danny noticed. He usually liked when the radio gods picked a fitting soundtrack to his life. This time, he wasn’t so amused. He dropped his head and sighed deeply. He felt a sharp pain, right in the chest, and he decided to sit there a little longer, and reflect on the fact that his dreams could have ALMOST come true, had he just had 30 more seconds.

#   #   #

Danny stopped reflecting on that night. He was feeling that same sharp pain all over again. He shook his head looking at the photo of Ryan and Emma, turned off her lamp, locked up the house and walked home in the hot, sticky air. 

He reached his house and tried to open the front door slowly. He saw the flicker of light in the window when he approached, so he knew that his dad was passed out in his bed of empty bottles in the la-z-boy. He tiptoed on the grey carpeted floor and headed to the staircase. He quietly took off his sneakers, held them and then continued to slowly creep up the stairs. He reached the top without complication and sighed with quiet relief. He put his shoes in the hallway and went into the bathroom. He brushed his teeth, inspected his face for pimples, trying to pop one here, one there. It wasn’t too bad today he thought. Then he looked closer for new stubble. His facial hair had been showing up in uneven patches, but he was confident. He stepped a bit further back and gave himself a once over. He looked at his hair, and considered. He had worked so hard to grow it. It went through so many awkward growth phases and it was finally the perfect metal-y length that he had wanted since he was 13. But he wasn’t sure that he wanted it anymore. He didn’t want to be a 'follower', but he also didn’t want to hide anymore, he wanted to be seen. At least, by one person in particular.

Danny closed the door and went through the grimy cupboards, searching for his dad's electric razor. This bathroom hadn’t seen a woman’s touch since Danny's mother was alive. Danny cleaned once in a while, but he didn’t really know how to “clean”. He just knew where to put the clutter and how to wipe down surfaces.

He found the razor under the sink and plugged it in. He knew there were different settings. He didn’t want it too short, just in case he had an oddly shaped head that he wasn't aware of. He grabbed the scissors first, grabbed a lock of hair that hung down the front of his face. He placed it between the blades of the scissors and braced himself as he squeezed. Okay, that wasn’t so bad, he thought. He kept going and got more confident as he did.

Danny rinsed his head in the sink when he was finished. He looked in the mirror again, brushed back his short brown hair and evaluated. Not bad he thought. He fixed the hair thing, he was working on the “pre-teen” thing every day after school, he just had to manage the “greasy thing”. 

#   #   #

Author's Note

Please let me know what you think :)

Reviews

[emipoemi]

O - M - Freaking - G! I love this!! Let this be the day you stop cutting yourself short about your writing, this is incredible! The story is taking a typical Best-Friends-RomCom, but you've made it your own in a way, and it's spectacular. You still have the charm and the occasional humour slipped in the right places, and I'm hooked even more! I love these characters (every one of them).
My only comments about the chapter itself is be careful with descriptions that involve reasoning with "so" (like "the lamp was on, so the room was dimly lit")...best to avoid that (and there were a number of those especially in the first half), because it's weak writing (a suggested alternative would be presenting the description and branching from it, like "the lamp was on, casting a dim light about the room, enough for him to clearly see the pictures".... something like that). Apart from that, be careful with your tenses, you're using present when it should be past (not half as often as in Chapter 1, but it's noticeable in the few occasions that you do). You also have typos, particularly in the second half that should be looked at, and finally, the description on what was happening during the meteor shower is kind of confusing (with respect to how Danny tugged Emma out of the car.....you said they landed on a bed.....from the window to a bed...... of what?.....Danny's line about "using doors" is fantastic, though, couldn't contain my laughter).
This is otherwise brilliant! This is going places! You are going places, my friend! Way - To - Go! Well done! much enjoyed!

[J.L.Q.]

Thank you so much! I know, I finished this at 4am this morning lol. I definitely have typos to fix and editing to do! But thank you so much! And the “flatbed” is the back part of a pickup truck, but I could find another way to explain it if it does make things confusing. But ugh thank you! I lov your detailed responses, you are so incredibly helpful - i’m still working on the “redo” of chapter 1, thanks to your recommendations :) So thank you thank you !

[emipoemi]

Ok, not many people would actually pick up on the "bed" thin, especially if you just say "bed" and not "flatbed"....I seriously was having trouble picturing that, since there wasn't any clear detail that it was the back window Emma was trying to climb out of.....I thought at first she was trying to climb out the passenger window, which was amusing to picture, but still confusing in the long run. Still a fabulous read! You're doing a tremendous job with this. I'm doubting how this is going to end up as 6 books, but I'm intrigued how you're going to make it work! Keep at it! I'm hooked.

[J.L.Q.]

Lol yeah. True I definitely need to clarify the scene in the truck. And well, I guess without giving too much away, believe it or not, the series actually a sci-fi/fantasy/paranormal component to it, but book #1 is very slow to start. It has a lot more to do wit the teenage/romance part. I’m working on a prologue as well. At first, I wasn’t going to do one, but it just makes more sense. It is a prologue that connects to the final chapter. So it gives the ready a taste of what is to come. But thank you again! You are my 1 and only reader at this point lol, but I have to keep at it!

[J.L.Q.]

*reader, not ready haha

[emipoemi]

The first reader (of my calibre) is usually the most important ;) You're very welcome. always happy to help. Looking forward to more.