“Danielle?” A male voice asked, from behind the skinny, dark-haired girl. She turned to look, though she didn’t have to. She already knew who it was. She hadn’t seen him in years, but there, standing in front of her was one of her oldest friends. He had black hair that spilled onto his face and a nose, which reminded her of that of a pixie. He had mesmerizing hazel eyes and a kind face. He hadn’t changed a bit.
The only thing she managed to say was “hi”.
“Hello.” He smiled. His whole face lit up when he smiled. It was sad, because it wasn’t often that he had something to smile about.
“Dani!” A girl behind the counter called. The girl turned her head to look. Her coffee was sitting on the bench in a take-away cup.
“I’d better get that.” She said quietly and walked away from the man she had been talking to. Well she was trying. She couldn’t find the right words to say. She quickly picked up her coffee and then walked straight back, but he was gone.
“Excuse me, miss.” A man of about thirty walked up to Danielle.
“Um, um, yes?”
“Are you okay?” He asked. “It’s just that, you were talking to someone, but there was no one there…”
“Excuse me?” The coffee slipped out of her hand, falling to the floor, closer, and closer until it hit the carpet and splashed up all over her and the other man.
She was confused. How could she have seen him, standing right there, in front of her, when no one else could see him? It just didn’t make sense. With one quick movement, she pulled her phone out of her pocket and dialed his number. She didn’t even know if it was still his number. It had been five years since she saw him, not counting today. Maybe her mind was playing tricks on her.
“The number you have dialed is not in service.”
So he had changed his number, right? That’s the only explanation. But how do you explain the fact that she saw him? She dialed another number; her call went through this time.
“Dani? What? Are you back? Why are you calling? It’s been so long… I thought I’d never see you again. What’s going on?” The man asked so many questions, she couldn’t even process them all.
“Look, it’s about Gerard.”
“Oh. Maybe you should come over... I don’t imagine you’d want me to tell you this over the phone…”
“Frank? What? Just tell me. Please. Just tell me…”
“I will. Just not over the phone.”
“Fine… Is you address still the same?”
“Yes.”
“See you in ten minutes then.” Dani hung up, annoyed. She just needed to know what happened.
She wrapped her coat around her, tighter than before and turned her collar up against the wind. Frank’s place was only a couple of blocks away, so she just walked in the wind and the rain.
She finally arrived, banging on the front door continuously until Frank opened it.
“Okay, okay, calm down.”
“No! I know that something bad has happened because you wouldn’t just tell me-“
“Would you like to keep on yelling at me or would you like me to tell you?” Frank asked, raising his voice to the same level as Dani. She took a deep breath.
“Okay,” she said calmly, “sorry.”
“It’s fine. Here, come in, take a seat.” He opened the door wider to let the girl in. She was shaking from the cold. Frank fetched a blanket from the closet and wrapped it around her shoulders.
“So what happened?”
author's note: I know this chapter is short but yknow. Whatever. Next chapter coming soon.
