Low Fidelity

Martin Johnson always seemed like a happy person. His smile was always barely there, but still there. He had this facade of being so happy with his life. He dressed proper and was easy on the eyes. He wasn't too skinny, nor too big. He was just right. It seemed like he had the perfect family and the perfect life. Seemed being the keyword to it all. Martin knew he had to be tough. He was boy, and, from numerous long lectures that his dad had given him he knew boys were supposed to be strong.

Danika Armani was the perfect girl. She never cursed outloud, and, seldomly did in her mind either. She had straight and perfect white teeth. Her hair was long, wavy, and chocolate brown. It had never been dyed and she intended to keep it that way. She had freckles on her tan skin, but it made her blue eyes seem brighter. You could always see the smile in Danika's eyes. She was always helping out with whatever she could. She was the Student Body President who actually took the initiative to make changes, important ones that students actually liked. She played soccer and she always managed to fit AP classes and church into that schedule.

Martin Johnson came to dislike hearing about Danika Armani and how perfect she was. You see, Martin seemed perfect to everyone else. But the truth of the matter? His family was far from it. When they were at home, his mother and father loved to fight over him. Who was right about Martin and who was not. Usually they were both wrong, but, Martin stayed out of it. You think he'd fear his dad more then his mother. In reality, her words hurt worse then a hit ever could. It hurt to the point that Martin started to sometimes believe that he was a "damn lazy and worthless child" and that "It's no wonder you don't have any friends. No one could stand a selfish sloth like you." Sometimes he believed her, but, he never showed any emotion to them. He decided it was best to keep it all bottled in because, really, they didn't need to argue more over who made their son cry. Martin knew that boys were not supposed to show emotions, he'd heard it enough. He was not a pussy, he was not worthless, and he was not going to show how he felt. He didn't need to, at least...he thought that. It's because boys can handle anything, according to his parents. Because boys just do not cry.



Danika was the last person anyone expected to show up at Joey's graduation party. There was a lot of booze, a lot of drugs, and a lot of sex. It was, however, on a beach and it involved a bonfire. Danika loved those two things so she agreed to accompany her friend Eliza to the party. The minute they arrived, the two girls ditched their flipflops in the back of and headed over to the group that consisted of their entire graduating class. Danika had spoken to most of them and when she walked up, a chorus of 'Hey, glad you could make it!'s greeted her and Eliza from all different directions. Danika gave them all polite smiles and made her way to a drink table. She spied one can of soda that had not been opened and reached for it, only to have another hand go for it at the same moment.

She looked over and smiled at the tall boy next to her and laughed lightly, "You can have it, I'll be okay without anything!"

Martin grabbed the soda and nodded at her, mumbling a thanks. Really, his dislike for Danika was starting to grow even more because she was so nice that it was a little hard to hate her. Danika was not going to make it any easier, either. "Wait! I don't think we've ever met! I'm..."

"Danika Armani, I know. I'm Martin Johnson, nice to meet you but I need to go now," Martin smiled at her and waved as he walked off into the crowd of drunken seniors. Danika shrugged, kneeling down so she could search for another soda. She found a box of root beers and pulled one out, opening it and taking a sip. Her smile grew, since root beer was her favorite soda and she managed to get one. She looked around and crossed her arms as she surveyed the crowd of student she had known for most of her life, Oh yes, tonight should be very interesting...



Danika managed to sneak away from the very drunk Eliza, and, somehow away from the party in general. She walked down the beach with the sand digging into her toes and her smile gone. She wasn't really having any fun at the party, she was just pretending to so that she could hangout and say that she went to one in high school. That she wasn't a prude like everyone thought she was.

Noticing someone approaching, Martin quickly stood up and brushed the sand off of his pants. Danika watched him and laughed, her smile coming back, "You didn't need to stand up, it's just me."

"Danika?"

"Yepp. What are you doing all the way out here Martin Johnson?"

"Nothing. Tired, I guess."

"You guess?" Danika sat down in the sand, patting the spot next to her. Martin followed, looking out at the ocean and sighing through his nose. Danika pulled her knees up, setting her chin on them and frowning, "You know, I only came here so people would stop thinking I was perfect and a prude..."

"Seriously? I don't think everyone thinks that Danika..."

"You do, don't you?"

"Well...Uh...I don't...I mean..." Danika sighed, nodding and turning her head so that the side rested on her knees and she could see Martin, "See? You do. It's okay, I'm not offended or anything. I'm just tired of being a prude. I don't drink at parties but it doesn't mean I can't be here, right?"

"Totally," Martin smiled as his opinion slowly began to change about the girl sitting next to him, "I'm not drinking. I'm still...well...I wasn't really having any fun. It was lame to be the only one sober. Actually, I mean, you're sober so I guess I wasn't the only one..."

"You ramble a lot," Danika smiled, laughing a little as she wrapped her arms around her jean-clad legs, "It's not a bad thing, it's actually kind of cute. Are you nervous or something?"

"I was thinking before you came over here and my mind is kind of still off in other places," Martin shrugged, taking a sip of what Danika assumed to be beer. She was wrong, it was a Jones Cream Soda but leave it to Danika to assume the worst of people.

"What were you thinking about?" Danika did not know how to mind her own business, either. It came with the whole 'I want to save the world' attitude she had. Martin looked over at her, sighing and shaking his head as he returned his attention to the water in front of them, "It's nothing, don't worry about it."

"You sure?" Danika gunuinely cared about people. No matter how long she had known them, she cared about if they were happy or not. Danika wanted to make the entire world happy. She was one of those people searching to attain world peace. It wasn't for the recognition, it was to make herself happy. She liked making a difference in peoples lives. She wanted people to remember her as a nice girl.

"Yeah, I'm sure. Can you do me a favor though? I usually would not ask this of anyone I don't know well but I mean...you're trustworthy. You're Danika Armani, of course I can trust you not to kill me," Martin sighed through his nose, letting his cocky attitude and pride go for a breif second, "Can I get a ride home, please? I don't want to walk this late around Boston without friends here."

"Sure," Danika laughed, stretching out her arms above her head. She felt her back pop and let her arms drop to her sides, a lazy smile making its way onto her face. "Whenever you want to leave, we can go. I just needed to show my face at a party, as lame as that sounds."

"Let's go right now. It's almost midnight and I probably should be home already anyways."

"Curfew?"

"You could call it that," Martin smirked at her, his cocky demenor slowly starting to creep back. He stood up, brushing off his jeans once again to get all the sand off of them. Danika pushed herself up, ignoring the sand stuck to her jeans and instead digging her toes into the sand below her feet. She began to walk off, leaving Martin to finish brushing his pants off as best as he could. He jogged to catch up with her, his change and house keys jingling in his pocket. Danika smiled at him as he fell in step with her, slightly out of breath. "Little out of shape there Martin Johnson?"

Martin took the blow to his ego with a smirk and a shrug of his shoulders. Danika liked that he could do that, just brush off a joke and take it. She led Martin away from the party to her car. Climbing into her truck, she reached across and unlocked the door for Martin. He got into the car as Danika kicked off her flipflops and started the engine. The heater kicked on and she turned it down a little, hating it at full blast. Her tape player started to play the Beatles mixtape her cousin sent her when she was little. She loved that mixtape. It had so many memories attached to it that she would never be able to part with it. "You like the Beatles?"

"Whoever doesn't is an idiot," Danika smirked, turning 'Revolution' up a little and quietly singing along. She knew how to sing. She wasn't amazing at it, but, she wasn't horrible either. She was just adverage, and she liked being that way. "You need to give me directions."

"Right, do you know where the corner of Cherry Avenue and Haight Street is?"

"Of course, where from there?"

"First left and all the way down at the end."

"Alright, easy enough," Danika drove on, humming along to the Beatles as she did. She tapped her fingers to the beat that each song produced and out of the corner of his eye, Martin watched her with a smile. She pulled up in front of his house too soon for either of their liking and killed the engine. Leaning back into her seat, Danika tilted her head to the side and stared at Martin with a smile, "We should hangout after my Graduation party tomorrow. Are you going to grad night at the high school?"

"Naw, I was just going to hang around my house. Do you maybe want to grab some food?"

"How about you come to my house, eat dinner with my family while we hang around my grad-party, and watch a movie with me after?"

"Deal," Martin smiled, taking his seatbelt off and opening the truck door. Danika sat up, starting the truck again before she looked over at him once more, "See you tomorrow Martin."

"Yeah...see you later Danika."

Danika watched him as he walked up to his front door, noticing that his mother watched out the window as he did. She waited until he got inside before pulling away and heading home.



Danika slid out of her car and rushed towards the football field in panic. She was late, having slept in a little extra that morning, and she still had yet to put on her shoes or anything. She made it to where she was supposed to be, at the front with the Saludictorian, and flashed him a smile as she began slipped on her shoes. "Just in time, right?"

"Long night?"

"No, why would you say that?"

"Rumor has it you let your hair down and when to Joey's party..."

"Yeah, so?"

"...and you left with Martin Johnson. Get a little action Danika?" Chan, the boy Danika was supposed to walk with, gave her a wink and a nudge, "Good for you!"

"What are you talking about!? I did nothing of the sort! I'm still a virgin!" Danika hissed out, looking at the people near them who were bluntly easedropping. She looked back to Chan, glaring at him as she finished putting her heals on, "Stop the rumors or I'm telling everyone about what happened at retreat last summer."

"Okay okay, I will stop them," Chan pulled out his Blackberry, quickly typing away and sending a message. Danika knew he could stop it. Everyone knew Chan and loved Chan, so, he had just about everyone's numbers in his phone. The music began, interrupting Danika as she was about to speak, and causing the students to break out in nervous whispers. Danika stayed silent throught graduation, only speaking during her short Validictorian speech.



"Danika!" Martin's voice shouted over the noise of all the graduates and their parents. Danika searched for where he was, finally spying him waving to her a few feet away. She weaved through the crowd to where he stood, giving him a relieved smile once she made it, "Thank god that's finally over! Most stressful thing I've ever experienced!"

"Well, Miss Validictorian, excited?"

"Duh!" Danika laughed as Martin gave her a one-armed hug, "How about you? Future plans already laid out?"

"Yeah, I want to play music."

"That's awesome!" Danika turned to face Martin as his arm slipped from around her shoulders back to his side, "I wish I could play a cool instrument like drums or something. I play piano but that's not as cool, ya know what I mean?"

"I think it's cool. I play guitar and sing."

"Well, you'll have to show me!" Danika smiled up at Martin, looking away only when a throat was cleared near them. Danika looked over at a pair of people and smiled at them cheerfully. Martin's smile was wiped off his face briefly, before he put a fake smile on to please his parents and to make Danika not worry. "Mom, Dad, this is my friend Danika. Danika, these are my parents."

"Pleasure to meet you guys! Your son is such a great person, really," Danika offered a hand for Martin's parents to shake and they both took it lightly, showing reluctancy towards meeting her. Danika frowned, glancing at Martin and nodding, "Alright, well...I'm going to go. I have to find my relatives and parents so we can head to my place. You still coming over for dinner?"

Martin smiled at Danika, nodding quickly, "Yeah I am. What's your number? So, I can call you and all to get directions."

"Just got to Ashaven Avenue, you know where that is right?"

"Of course, I'll just look for your car."

"Alright," Danika smiled, standing on her toes and wrapping her arms around Martin's neck. He wrapped his arms around her waist, squeezing lightly before letting go, "I'll see you later Danika."

"For sure," Danika smiled, waving to Martin's parents, "Nice to meet you both! Bye Martin!"

Danika left Martin with his parents, heading out to her truck so that she could beat her family home and get changed into a more comfortable outfit. Martin looked at his parents and smiled, "So, yeah..."

"Get in the car, we need to have a talk."



Danika made her way through the sea of her Italian relatives that were all over the house, making it almost impossible to walk anywhere. She got to the door, finally, and stopped for a second to fix her outfit. She adjusted the straps to her white halter, making sure the tan strap was under her breast and making them look larger like she wanted. She brushed her bangs out of her eyes and reached for the door, opening it slowly. She smiled at the sight of Martin and opened it wider, "Thank god. Please, ignore my family. All eighty-two of them."

"Wow, lots of relatives?"

"Yeah and cousins. I have a ton of cousins," Danika laughed, grabbing his wrist and leading him into the crowd of people, "Follow me!"

She let go, starting off through the people and down a long hallway. She finally found the room she wanted and pushed the door open, checking for family quickly and to her relief, finding no one in there. She stepped into the room, looking back to make sure Martin followed her okay. He gave her a smile as he slid by her great-grandmother. After passing her, he briskly walked over to where Danika stood, siging in relief, "You have too many family members."

"That's what I said too. So, I thought we could just watch the movie now? Dinner won't be for another five hours and I am avoiding my family."

"Sounds good."

"I'm locking this door. They're insane."

"Go right ahead."

"Oh, I will," Danika laughed, locking the door before she crossed the room to a large bookshelf. She 'hmmm'd to herself. Martin watched her with a smile, making his way to the couch and sitting down. "What movie are we watching?"

"Have you ever seen Garden State?"

"Nope," Martin frowned, "Is it good?"

"Most amazing movie ever. We're watching it, you will love it trust me."

Danika walked over to her TV, turning it on and putting the DVD in the DVD player. She started the movie up and adjusted the volume before she sat down next to Martin, "Prepare to fall in love with this movie."



Martin and Danika sat staring at the screen as the credits began to roll. Martin was the first to break the comfortable silence, speaking softly still, "Wow...that was just...wow."

"The ending scene makes me want to be in love."

"Same," Martin glanced over at Danika, smiling at her. Danika looked over at him, tilting her head a little and smiling, "What are you so smiley about Martin Johnson?"

"Nothing," Martin continued to smile, "Just...nothing."

"Okay. Hey, loo---" Danika was interrupted by a knock at the door. She heard the knob being picked at and jiggled, causing her to frown. Martin watched curiously as the door was opened and her mother came into the room. She looked to Martin and raised an eyebrow before looking over at Danika and giving her a disapproving look, "Your father said to come join us for dinner. We didn't know you had a erm...friend over."

"This is Martin, Ma. Martin, this is my Mother, Franchesca," Martin stood up, walking around the couch and offering Danika's mother a hand to shake. Her mother took it, very lightly, and barely shook it. Danika frowned, seeing similarities in her mother with his mother when it came to meeting the kids. She figured they'd get along well and mentally scoffed at her own stupid joke."Il Danika, si affretta su. Lei non dovrebbe avere questo ragazzo qui!"

"Mamma! Fermata! Saro giu per la cena in un secondo e viene alla cena!" Danika hissed at her mother in Italian, glaring at her as she did. Her mother scoffed, turning on her heal and leaving without a reply. Danika turned to Martin, sighing and shaking her head, "Sorry, please excuse my mother. She's a little rude...oh, my father is the same way, just for the record."

"It's okay. Do not even worry," Martin smiled, wrapping his arms around Danika in a hug. She sighed, relaxing and closing her eyes as her arms found their way around his waist. Taking a deep breath, Danika sighed slowly. Martin looked down at her with his little smirk. Not a full smile, just this little crook of the mouth. "You speak Italian? That's sexy..."

Danika laughed, shaking her head and unwrapping her arms from around Martin. She shoved his chest lightly, still laughing lightly, "Way to ruin a calm and perfect moment, asshole."

"Oh no, Danika Armani cursing? I might have to tell your parents on you!"

"Shut up and lets go eat damnit."



Danika and Martin found themselves walking together towards Martin's house after dinner. The dinner was awkward, to say the least. Danika's parents shot her disapproving looks every chance that they could. Danika and Martin pushed their food around, not really saying much to each other or her parents.

Martin's hand found it's way to holding Danika's and Danika's cheeks started to turn pink. She'd like to blame the cold but it was June and it was not cold in Boston in June. They walked together, hand-in-hand, trying to make it slow so that maybe they could hold onto the moment they were sharing for a few seconds longer. Soon enough, they arrived in front of his house and started up the driveway. All the way from the driveway, you could hear the yelling that was coming from inside. Martin sighed and closed his eyes as they got to his front door, silently cursing God for having allowed his parents to be that way while Danika was with him. Danika tugged at his hand, pulling him out of his thoughts, "You okay?"

"I'll be fine..."

"No, I mean, right now. This very second. I don't care about later, well, I mean I do care. But, I want to know if at this moment, are you okay?"

"Sort of?"

"Come on then."

"What?"

"Come on," Danika pulled him away from the door and back down his driveway, leading him away from his house. Martin allowed her too, without much protest (if any at all), and watched her with an amused look. "We're going back to get my car and we're going to find some alcohol and relax."

"You drink?!"

"Sometimes, yes!"

"I know someone who could buy for us..."

"Then lets go."



Danika parked the car at the edge of the beach, sighing softly as she hopped out of her car. Martin followed her, holding the bottle of Malibu in his left hand with his right hand shoved in his pocket. They walked down to a quieter area of the beach, sitting together in the dark with only the moonlight lighting up the sand and water. Danika was the first to open the bottle, taking a few sips before she passed it to Martin. Martin took a few more than her, passing it back with a small smirk. They continued that until three-fourths of the bottle was gone and they were starting to feel light headed.

"They fight a lot, you know," Martin was the first to talk, "I mean, my parents. They do that all the time. It sucks, because I mean like, it's always about me. I don't think it's my fault but sometimes I start to believe it is."

"That must be horrible," Danika frowned, setting her head on Martin's shoulder and taking his hand in hers. She rubbed her thumb in cirles on top of his as they sat there, making Martin smile slightly, "It kind of is. Well, no, it really is. Sometimes I just like, I hate them sometimes."

Danika heard him as he started to get choked up and she gave his hand a small squeeze. Martin sighed, trying not to cry. He'd been able to hold it back so many times before, why not with Danika? He took a sip of the Malibu, staring blankly out at the water in front of them. "I hate being with them. I get scared of them, ya know?"

"That's okay, I hope you know that. It's okay to be angry or sad or anything like that."

"It makes me feel week."

"It's week of you to not cry, in my opinion."

Martin looked over at Danika, smiling at her. She returned it, leaning up and kissing him lightly on the cheek, "It's okay to feel things, you know. It's normal to feel things. It makes you human."

Martin leaned down, pecking her lightly on the lips, smiling against them as he murmured a faint 'thank you' before he kissed her full on. Danika wanted to help him and Martin wanted to be saved, and, they planned to save each other.