taking chances

part 13
(I actually wrote this while Witty was down...which was before I talked about ending. After this, I'll be posting one last chapter to show you how it ended.)


I looked at the lady standing in front of me, not knowing what to make of her. I was guessing that she was this boy's mother. I then realized that I hadn't said my name to either of them.

"I'm sorry." I said, turning to the boy standing next to me. What was I supposed to call him? No-name? "I never introduced myself." I looked at no-name and then at no-name's mother. "I'm Danielle." I said in a shy voice. It wasn't like I'd never see these people again that I'd have to present myself in such a high manner. I knew, for a fact, that if Brittany were here, she'd be chatting away at how expensive college would be and how little her job payed. 

"Nice to meet you, Danielle." The mother stepped foward. "You can call me Charlotte." She said and smiled. I shook her hand and turned to no-name.

"And I'm Christopher." He said and smiled. He held his own hand, and I shook it and smiled. 

"Well, I've just made a fresh batch of lemonade. Are you interested?" Charlotte said, looking back and forth from me to Christopher. I imagined for a second that she was asking if I was interested in Christopher, but nodded my head at the offer of lemonade. Christopher and I followed Charlotte into the kitchen and sat down at the counter, where there were stools to sit on. "So, what brings you here?"

"She's headed to Boulevard! And she's walking on foot, Ma." Christopher spoke for me. Normally, I would have told them that I could speak for myself, but I liked the way Christopher's faint accent sounded telling this little part of my life.

"Oh, honey. That's very far away." Charlotte said as she placed a glass of lemonade with ice in front of me. She repeated the process for Christopher. "Where are you planning on staying?" 

"Oh, actually, I was just coming over here to ask for directions. I'm going to head on the road right after this." I took a sip of the lemonade. It was actually really good. "Actually, I'd best be on my way." 

"You can't go out when it's about to get dark! Why don't you stay here for the night?" I felt myself tighten up. Stay at someone's house that I'd just met 10 minutes ago? 

"Yeah, why don't you?" Christopher asked. "Come on, we don't bite. There's a guest room upstairs next to my room. You can stay in there." 

I didn't like the idea of staying in a stranger's house. In spite of my thoughts, I felt myself nodding my head. "Yeah, that would be great. Thank you so much." I said as my stomach growled. My hand flew to my stomach as if trying to make it shut up.

"Oh, it's no problem." Charlotte said with a sweet voice. "I'm just about to make lemon chicken. Does that sound alright to you?" I nodded my head and smiled. 

"Christopher, why don't you show her around? Go for a walk or something?"

"Okay." Christopher said and stood up. I followed him out the door. 

"Wow, you have a nice property." I said, looking out at the cows and horses.

He didn't respond like I thought he would. Instead, he said, "What's the real reason you're going to Boulevard? On foot even?"

I thought long and hard before I'd said the next thing. "My sister. She-she's gone missing." I didn't dare tell him that my boyfriend's dad was kidnapping her, or anything that would lead to thinking about Brian. I was missing him too much. What if I ended up being here for a week? Or 2 weeks? How long until I forgot what his voice sounded? How long until I couldn't hear his voice, even when he wasn't saying anything. How long was it until I could no longer feel what his embrace felt like?

"I'm really sorry to hear that." He said.

After a while of walking around, we went inside because it got dark. Dinner was just being set around the table.

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After dinner, I went up to the guest room and got ready for bed. A whole day of walking sure made me tired.

As I wrapped myself in the down comforter, I felt thankful that I'd stopped at this place for directions.