Chapter Two

"I made a friend, Mom," I said after school on Friday. The rest of the week had gone by smoothly and I talked to Daniel at lunch every day. We talked a bit in class, too, but not much. He had to pay attention because they were reviewing for midterms.

            "A friend? Oh, that's great! Why don't you have her over for dinner?" My mom suggested. She was already starting on dinner. She usually cooked fancy stuff. She always wanted to be a chef, but cooking for her family pleased her more.

            "I, um…I didn't say my friend was a 'her.'" I said shyly. I looked at my feet and she stopped sorting her ingredients to look at me.

            "A boy? Do you like this boy? Kyland, you're too young to date." She began sorting her ingredients again, so I looked up.

            "No, I don't like him. He's just a friend from one of my classes. Can he still come over for dinner?" I wasn't expecting anything at this point. I never brought boys home. My family didn’t need to know about the people in my life. That was private.

            "I guess. But you're not allowed to go in your room with him. You will stay in the living room." I took that as a yes and ran up to my room. I didn't know why I ran, but I did. Daniel was already coming, no matter what. Today he was coming at 7:00, though. He usually came when my mom went to get Gracie from school.

            It was very boring hanging out all by myself with nothing to do. I tried to read, but I was too excited. I couldn't wait to see what my family thought of him. If he made a good impression, they wouldn't mind him coming over sometimes. It was all up to him, though. He seemed like someone who could please parents easily. He could put on a very polite attitude.

 

            "Hi, Daniel, I'm Kyland's mom, Mrs. Kreston. Dinner will be ready in just a few minutes," My mom said. I was glad she didn't stand there and try to talk until dinner. Gracie did, though.

            "Daniel, are you Ky's boyfriend?" Gracie asked. I blushed and put my head down, laughing to cover up my embarrassment. Daniel laughed, too.

            "No. Your sister and I are just friends," He said. Random questions like that were asked by Gracie, and typical parent-meets-daughters'-friend-who's-a-boy questions were asked by my mom. Gracie watched a movie with us after dinner, but my mom went in her room, leaving the door open so she could spy on us whenever she felt like it.

            Once ten 'o' clock rolled around, my mom left her room.

            "Alright, it's getting a little late," She said.

            "Mom. My curfew's eleven," I reminded her. I knew she knew very well when my curfew was, but it was obviously different when a boy was involved.

            "Not tonight it's not. We have a busy day tomorrow." Now that was a complete lie. She would just run errands and leave me to babysit Gracie, who didn't even need babysitting. Daniel left and I called him as soon as my mom went to bed.

            "Sorry about that. My mom thinks we can't just be friends. And my sister's just annoying," I said.

            "I wasn't annoyed. Your sister was cute. I can totally understand your mom's behavior. It happens all the time," Daniel replied.

            "I'm not doing anything tomorrow if you want to come hang out in my closet." I smiled.

            "As fun as that sounds, I think I've been spending too much time away from my house. My family's a bit curious. I think I better spend the weekend home if I want to keep hanging out with you." He laughed.

            "Alright. I'll see you Monday, then." I hung up the phone and sighed. Forty-eight hours with no school and no Daniel. I would have to catch up on sleep and reading. I hadn't been reading at all lately because of all the time I'd spent with him.

Reviews

[tremainiator]

Daniel's comments about being missed at home contradict the Author's Note (Chapter 1) that he is not missed when he goes out because his father's a workaholic and his mother is usually out of town. So either Dan is making it up to cover for something else - and the author should make something of it - or a rewrite is called for. The chapter lacks specificity: what are they wearing? What movie did they watch that Gracie could also watch (and presumably enjoy) with them? Does Ky have a dad and what's with him? (She speaks of her 'family' a few times.) Her mom says she's too young to date - how old is she?

Despite these criticisms, you haven't lost me yet.

[JulieÉmile]

Well written so far. This Daniel seems to have a mysterious ring about him. I wanted to learn a little more about Kyland first. But its a great story.

[Wendy Seames Garner]

I wish you had developed Gracie's character a bit more. How old is she? Daniel is giving me a bit of a creepy feeling.

[lori c]

good to know that daniel's family is curious about his absence. i am hoping to gain more insight into ky's reason(s) for so quickly abandoning her thoughts of independence from friendships. i can see some conflict with mom settling in,,,,good for moving story along. ky's invite to spend time in the closet made me chuckle. a good reference back to chapter one. there are some spots where needing minor editing but that's nothing that can't be done once the story is written. now that ky is friends with daniel, i am missing a conflict, perhaps develop more of her internal struggle to stay true to herself ??? maybe it is coming in later chapters and i have to keep reading.....