Chemistry

Chapter 18: Parental Guidance

Daniel pulled up the driveway of his home and noticed his little brother outside shooting a basketball into his goal. 

"Hey, Daniel!" Tyler called as his brother drove past him and into the garage. He held the ball between his arm and his upper abdomen. 

"Hey, Kid," Daniel greeted hopping out of his truck and onto the ground of his garage. 

"Remember that chick I told you about yesterday?" Tyler asked. He tossed the ball to Daniel, and he caught it with ease.

"Yeah," Daniel replied following his brother out of the garage. "What about her?"

"I took your advice and told her she was beautiful."

"And...?"

Tyler turned to face his brother and folded his arms across his chest. "My friends laughed at me and called me gay."

Daniel laughed and shot the ball towards the goal.

"That's not funny," Tyler grunted as he ran to go get the ball.

"Do those 'friends' of yours have girlfriends?"

"...No," Tyler answered. He shot the ball, and it bounced off the rim.

"Exactly," Daniel replied catching the ball. "What did the girl say?"

 "Oh, she just smiled and walked away."

Daniel grinned. "See there! Step one has now been accomplished."

"What's step two?" Tyler asked. He squinted his eyes from the glint of the sun, and waited for his brother to either pass or shoot the ball.

"Give her different compliments every day next week. Anything except stuff with the word 'hot' in it. After this week, stop complimenting her," Daniel passed the ball to his brother.

"For what?" Tyler asked tossing the ball into the basket. And for the first time since Daniel's been home, it had gone in. "Yes!"

Daniel caught the ball from underneath the net. "You'll see."

"What do I do after that?"

Daniel raised the ball into the air, positioned it so that it was only in his right, and shot, The ball touched nothing but net. "You wait."

But Daniel and Tyler's attention were immediately caught by a loud sound of a door yanking open. They turned to see who had opened the door so violently, and not so surprisingly at all, it was Daniel's mother. 

She peeked her head out of the side of the door, and Daniel could tell that his mother was distressed by the weariness on her face. And he silently hoped that none of her stress had anything to do with him. "Come here," she said. Her voice sounded tired and weak. And trying not cause his mother anymore problems, he obediently walked up the driveway to the front of the house.

"Mr. Jackson just called," Karen said as her son walked past her and into the house. 

"So I guess you know," Daniel replied sitting on the edge of the living room sofa. 

Karen closed and locked the screen door, then turned to face her son. "ISS on Monday and Tuesday," she spoke. Daniel nodded his head. She walked towards him with her hand out. He sighed, already knowing exactly what she wanted, and dug into his side pocket to retrieve it. "You'll get it back on Wednesday," she announced as he placed the phone into her palm. 

Daniel started to stand up to go back outside, but his mother abruptly stopped him by releasing a sharp, "Wait!"

Daniel sat back down on the edge of the sofa with concern on his face. His mother was acting very uneasy but he couldn't identify why.