Chapter Six

Weeks passed and Daniel came over whenever he wanted. He didn't have to sneak in anymore and I didn't have to hide him. He would leave at ten on school nights and eleven on weekends. On weekends he snuck back in and slept over. I didn't mind sharing my bed. Like I said, it was nice.

            One night he came through my window. He was supposed to come over earlier that day, but he never showed. I had called him, but he didn't answer his phone. He came over in the middle of the night. In fact, I was asleep already.

            "Ky," Daniel whispered. I woke up immediately. His voice was different, but I couldn't tell what the difference was. I didn't bother turning on any lights. We didn't need any.

            "Daniel. What are you doing here?" I asked. It's not that I wasn't happy to see him, because I was. It just wasn't like him to come in the middle of the night with no warning.

            "I wanted to see you." Now he was really acting strange. Something in his voice was definitely different. He was good at hiding it.

            "Are you okay?" I thought something might be wrong, but I couldn't be sure. He was physically alright, from what I could tell.

            "My mom died, Ky." I froze. This wasn't right. She wasn't even sick. Was she? He'd never mentioned it.

            This kind of thing didn't happen in my world. Parents didn't die. Everyone was there to take care of their children. Nothing bad happened to them. This was all wrong.

            "Ky?" He finally asked, after a few minutes of silence. I was trying to remember how to listen and comprehend. It wasn't registering.

            "Kyland?" He touched my shoulder, trying to figure out if I was awake. I wasn't facing him and I wasn't moving. He had every right to assume. I just felt bad that he did.

            "I'm, uh…" I didn't know what to say to him. I wanted to tell him that it was all a dream and everything would be okay if he just stayed with me. But it wouldn't. No matter what his mom would be gone when he went home.

            He finally understood my silence. He knew I was awake, but didn't exactly know why I wasn't talking. So he laid with me and fell asleep.

            I didn't sleep after he told me that. I listened to his even breathing, not disturbed by nightmares. I didn't know what I would do when the rest of my family woke up and found me with Daniel in my bed. They certainly wouldn't understand, even for this.

Reviews

[Wendy Seames Garner]

Daniel didn't make a habit of coming over in the middle of the night? I'm not quite understanding Kyland's reaction to Daniel's news that his mother was dead. She didn't give him a hug or say any words of comfort. It almost seemed like Daniel was comforting Kyland because he had upset her. Obviously Daniel had come seeking comfort, but he stayed even when none was coming.

[lori c]

hmm, a little insight into daniel's family, but still too many questions hanging in the air. there are some rough patches here, but that can wait until the editing stage. daniel falling asleep in ky's bed is understandable in this instance, and i will be reading on to see how her family does indeed handle this. i do have to say i was a bit bogged down reading this, ... but i can't quite put my finger on it. onto the next chapter....