Life Isn't All That Bad

I spent the next several days avoiding all other people. My mother was the only one who really saw me, and that was because I was either in the living room playing Left 4 Dead, or curled up on my bed in desperate need of the Midol she supplied me with. She also shooed the boys away whenever they came over.

I didn’t want to know what John had told them about our date. Especially not at this time of the month. Until my period was over, and I stopped being so moody, I was perfectly content with being all by myself.

I was downstairs watching TV, dressed in an old Pink Floyd shirt, with my messy hair tucked into a gray beanie, when my phone went off. ‘Danny the Sexy Beast’.

“Hello, darling,” I said cheerfully. I hadn’t talked to him in days, and was starting to miss my best friend.

“Hey, boo. What are you up to?”

“TV, drinking tea, avoiding people. The usual,” I remarked, grabbing my mug of tea off the table and taking a sip.

“You need to stop avoiding people, Beau! You live in Arizona; it’s a beautiful day outside! Go out and enjoy it!” He whined. I just grunted in response, having no desire to leave my spot on the couch. He sighed. “Beau, I want you to open up your red front door, and walk down your brick walkway, and enjoy this sunny day.”

“Wait, I never told you…” I paused, the realization finally hitting me. I dropped my phone and ran for my front door, throwing it open. There stood Danny, in all of his 5 foot 9 glory, my mom standing next to him. I couldn’t believe my eyes.

“The first time you see me in a month, and all you can do is stare?” He said, feigning hurt.

I couldn’t form words. Instead, I ran, tackling him in a hug. He stumbled back a bit, but balanced himself, holding me up. I wrapped my legs around his waist. “Danny! What are you doing here? How did you get here? Why are you here? Oh my god, I missed you so much!”

“I’ll let you two get reacquainted,” my mother laughed, grabbing his bag and heading inside.

“I didn’t know I wasn’t allowed to visit my favorite person in the whole world without being questioned,” he smirked, wrapping his arms around me. He kissed my nose. “I’m here because New York is boring as hell, and well…” He paused.

“Well what?”

“Your mom called me…”

My smile fell as he lowered me back onto the ground. “Why did she call you?”

“She was worried about you, Beau. She said…” His voice faltered. “She said it was like you were going back to your old ways. That you were having anxiety attacks, and you were avoiding people, and just… I was worried.”

I frowned. “You thought that I’d start cutting again?” I asked, and he nodded. “Danny, I haven’t hurt myself since I was fifteen. I just… I’ve just been having a really bad week, that’s all.”

“Well, now it will be better, because I’m here!” He said with a grin, trying to lighten up the conversation.

“Well then, come on inside,” I said, starting towards the front door.

“Wait!” He called after me. “Is that your lover boy’s house?”

I turned around to see him pointing across the street at Garrett’s house. “Garrett isn’t my lover boy,” I groaned.

“Why are all of those cars there?”

“Band practice,” I said without thinking. But when an evil grin spread across Danny’s face, I suddenly regretted telling him. He began to walk towards the house. I ran after him, grabbing his arm and trying to pull him back. But our five inch height difference meant that I had no effect on him. While I attempted to pull him back to my house, he ended up dragging me across the street to Garrett’s house. He rang the doorbell, and I quickly hid behind him. “You’re such a dick,” I grumbled.

The door swung open, and I peered around his arm to see a confused looking Pat standing there, Garrett behind him with an equally confused expression. “Uh, can I help you?”

Danny stepped to the side, pushing me in front of him, despite my small cry of protest. “You see, my friend Beau here, well, she just doesn’t shut up about you guys,” I felt my cheeks growing hot. “And since I’ll be living with her for the next week, I figured I should meet these boys she’s so crazy over,” now my cheeks were absolutely burning.

“You met them. Let’s go, Daniel,” I hissed, grabbing his wrist and attempting to pull him away. He easily slid out of my grip, grabbing onto my hand instead.

“No, no! Please, stay. What exactly is she saying about us?” John, who had shoved both Pat and Garrett out of the way, smirked. This was my first encounter with John since our date, and I could feel an anxiety attack starting, my chest tightening.

I pulled at our linked hands. “Please, Danny, can we go?” My desperate plea was weak, but fortunately he was the only one who heard.

He turned to me, and leaned his face close to mine. “Just take a deep breath. I’m here for you, you’ll be okay,” he whispered, before turning back to the guys, pulling me along behind him.

“So, you talk about us a lot, huh?” John smirked at me. I just stepped closer to Danny, hiding my flushed face against his arm.

“Oh, all the time. Every time I talk to her, she has something to say,” Danny said, and I wanted nothing more than to kill him. Or myself. Whichever would save me this embarrassment.

As we walked into Garrett’s kitchen, the other’s turned to stare at us, confused who this new boy was. For once, Halvo wasn’t here. Instead, Pat’s older brother Tim was.

“Oh, I’m Danny Knight, by the way. I’m little Beau here’s boytoy from New York,” he smirked, pulling me against him and wrapping his arms around me. Don’t get me wrong, I love Danny. He is like a brother to me. But I had every intention of making his week stay at my house complete and utter hell. “So which one of you is John?”

“I am,” John said, seeming a bit confused.

“Please, tell me all about your date with my little Bopeep,” he grinned, and it took all my strength not to murder him right there. Especially when the guys all turned to stare with a confused expression.

John hadn’t told anyone about our date. But it was too late to tell Danny that.