The Silence Is Scaring Me

It had been nine days since Ashlynn's father had given her the gash, now scar, on her face. It had healed almost completely now so that it was only noticeable if you were up close to her face. She remembered on the fourth day when the side of her face was completely swollen and the scar was bright red. Since then Ashlynn was beaten three more times leaving heavy bruises on her, already injured ribs, both hands, and back. Only three days ago she was in so much pain that she could barely move.

Ashlynn hadn't spoken to Danny in person since their date, but he would always call just to make sure she was okay. Danny was still under the impression that Ashlynn was incredibly ill. He would call and ask if she needed anything or if she needed a ride to go anywhere, but she would always decline his offers. It was these kinds of caring gestures that made Ashlynn trust Danny more than she trusted anyone else, but she feared that he actually cared so much about her that she wouldn't be able to tell him about the pain she suffers nearly everyday. She knew that even if she did call the police and her dad was put in jail that he would find a way to cause her pain.

Her father was at work now. He would be working even later than usual: until seven at night. She had to wake up extra early to make him a larger breakfast, get him his favorite coffee from "A Cafe", and go grocery shopping because she had forgotten to buy a new carton of eggs the previous night. She had to run to and from the grocery store, carrying a carton of eggs with a sore back, aching ribs, and bruised hands, just so she would make it to the house to prepare breakfast and wake him up at the usual time.

Ashlynn had even narrowly escaped another beating because she had spilled some of his coffee when she was running back to the house. Holding the coffee made her hands hurt even worse. Her hands started to get stiff and the steam burned them.

Ashlynn was just happy to be free of her dad for an extra two hours. She sat in her room once more, singing. Usually she would sing music like The Beatles or Burt Bacharach (His name is really fun to say hahaha it's like back-a-rack!!! hahaha*ahem*...moving on...) simply because she sung that kind of music well, but today she was singing McFly songs. She couldn't stop thinking about Danny and how perfect he was, at least he was perfect in her eyes. He seemed to care for her more than anyone in living memory ever did, besides her mom. She just wanted to see him, to be with him, and not have to hide it. No matter what she did she would always think of him. Danny brought out the best in her. All she could think of was how she wanted to be close to him and hug him again. His hugs made a few seconds seem like an eternity and she never wanted to let go. Ashlynn wanted to kiss him like she would see in old movies, a kiss so passionate that neither her, nor Danny, would even be able to think straight. But right now, at this moment, all she wanted to do was hear his sweet voice again.

As if it were fate, Ashlynn's mobile began to ring and she picked up the phone to see Danny's cheesy grin on the screen from the picture she took at the coffee shop. She answered the phone almost instantly.

"Hi Danny!" Ashlynn nearly yelled through the phone.

"It's good to hear your voice too," Danny laughed at her excitement as Ashlynn blushed on the other line."Are you well?"

"Yeah, much better now actually," Danny couldn't see it, but Ashlynn was jumping around her room and happy dancing. She ignored her aching limbs and started jumping on her bed.

"That's great!" he said sounding particularly excited. "So you can go on a date with me tonight?"

Ashlynn immediately stopped jumping on the bed, her smile dropped to the floor and she started to feel really terrible. She had about a snowball's chance in hell of her dad letting her go out that night, or any night at all for the rest of her life for that matter. She sat there thinking she wasn't even aware of Danny calling her name on the other end of the phone because she hadn't answered. She decided then and there that if she and Danny were going to have a relationship she was going to have to take risks. She silently wondered why she was about to risk life and limb for this boy she met, properly, only about three weeks ago.

"Hello, Ashlynn?" Danny called as Ashlynn zoned out, "Anybody home?"

"Oh," Ashlynn said, quite startled because she had forgotten she was even holding a phone. That blow to the head must of had more of an effect on her than she thought. "Yeah Danny, It would be absolutely wonderful to go on a date with you."

"Awesome!" Danny said in a "I'm-really-excited-but-trying-to-keep-my-cool" kind of way.

"So what kind of date is this?" Ashlynn asked, wondering what to wear and how she was going to cover her scars.

"I figured we could just hang out with the guys and Gio if that's alright with you," he told her in a way that slightly sounded like he was asking.

"That sounds great, but I'll need a ride do you think you could pick me up at 'A Cafe' like last time?"

"Yeah no problem." he told her. On the other line he was smiling like an idiot. "So I'll pick you up around eight?"

Oh right lets just make sneaking out that much easier by doing it while my dad's home. Just fan-freakin-tastic!(oh so much sarcasm) Ashlynn thought as she picked out a hoodie and a pair of jeans.

"Yeah, eight. Sounds great!" She sighed.

"Hey that rhymed!" Danny shouted suddenly.

Ashlynn thought about it for a second,"Oh my god, it did!"

They both laughed.
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(7:51 pm)

Okay. Ashlynn thought to herself Its now or never.

Her dad *ahem*slave driver*ahem* was, as usual, downstairs on the recliner drinking either brandy or beer, Ashlynn wasn't sure which. She just thought about how good of a time she was going to have and not the prospect of another vicious beating.

Ashlynn prised open the window with her injured fingers. She threw one leg over the edge and was instantly reminded of the day, weeks before, when she had done this, also resulting in a meeting with Danny. She then threw the other leg over and was now hanging by her fingers, which were absolutely throbbing at this point. She dropped into the garden and looked through the window to she if her dad had heard the loud crash she made when she landed, only to find him in the exact same position as before.

Ashlynn walked slowly down to "A Cafe", stretching her finger muscles as she did so. When she walked in she saw Danny sitting at a booth with his head buried in his arms which were rested on the table and she walked over to him.

"You know," Ashlynn began and Danny's head shot up, "It's not good manners to put your elbows on tables."

"Ashlynn!" Danny smiled. He got up from his seat and wrapped his arms around her waist. He hugged her as if they hadn't seen each other in years. Ashlynn smiled as she rested her head on his chest because she wasn't quite tall enough to put her head on his shoulder. Danny kissed her on the cheek before pulling away, but not letting go of her waist.

"Come on let's go we're all gonna have a scavenger hunt!" Danny proclaims.

"Awesome!" she yells as Danny grabs her hand an they run to the car.
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(In the studio)

"Okay here are the rules," Harry said, marching up and down the studio like an admiral and pretending his drumstick was a sword, "We have two hours to complete as many of the tasks as possible. Each task completed is worth ten points. If you're not back in two hours you're disqualified. The teams are boys vs. girls."

"Harry!" Ashlynn and Gio shouted.

"What?" Harry asked innocently.

"There are two girls and four guys." Gio explained.

"Fine then," Harry continued "The blue team is Tom and Gio and the red team is Danny and Ashlynn. Now we just have to split up me and Dougie."

"You can never keep me away from my love!" Tom said dramatically.

"Aw, that's sweet Tom." Gio said.

"I meant Harry." Tom said with a smile, earning a slap in the back of the head from Gio as everyone in the room burst with laughter.

"Alright then we've got Doug." Danny said.

"How are we gonna know if you really did the task?" Gio asked.

"We got these free Sony video cameras from some guy at the P.R. meeting." Dougie said.

"Yeah they're always giving us all this free junk." Harry said.

"Come on mate, lets get started." Danny shouts.
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(*The Red Team*1 hour and 45 minutes later)

"Come on, what do we have left?" Dougie asked excited, this game has turned into world war three.

So far the red team has completed a lot of tasks. These tasks include: Do cartwheels in a park in your underwear. Dougie did this task even though the cartwheels weren't exactly cartwheels and they did try very hard to convince Ashlynn to do it. The truth was she would have done it had it not been for her scars. Have a race with the trolleys in the grocery store. Dougie and Danny raced as Ashlynn recorded. Buy a pizza and try to deliver it to a random person's house. Ashlynn did this one because they didn't want Dougie and Danny to get recognized. The woman who answered the door was actually really nice and bought the pizza for five dollars.

(*The Blue Team*1 hour and 45 minutes later)

"That was absolutely mental!" Tom laughed "Did you see the way that woman looked at you when you asked for her left shoe?"

The blue team had almost finished the list. They were having a blast doing all of the absolutely ridiculous things on the list. So far they had managed to: 1.) Go to a costume store, buy a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles outfit, and walk down the street with it on. 2.) Get thrown out of a taxi by asking the driver to take them fifteen yards down the street. 3.) Find a fit girl that could do a front flip (This was Harry's accomplishment).
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Both the red and blue teams' cars raced into the parking lot with minutes to spare.

( two hours later)

The both of the videos had been watched and points had been counted. The tally showed that the game was completely tied.

"Nu-uh," Dougie protested "We totally beat you!"

"Whatever, mate we won!" Harry shouted back.

They looked at the videos again. In the middle of the blue teams video Ashlynn shot up from the sofa.

"That doesn't count!" She shouted.

"How does it not count?" Tom asked as if she were crazy.

"The task was to write the person who has the longest name's name on someone's lawn with whipped cream!"

"So?" Gio asked with her right eyebrow arched.

"So, you should have put 'Giovanna' not 'Harry'. It doesn't count!"

"You're brilliant!" Danny jumps to his feet and lifts Ashlynn in the air. At some point Dougie randomly joins in on this joyous celebration, screaming, over-dramatically, with happiness.

(To be continued...)