Girl in the White Dress: Sam's Story by Nikki D. Walker Page B

the nicest guy and had a drinking problem. When he drank, he would get verbally abusive with Tim’s mom and, though Danny never saw it, assumed it was possible that he hit her, too. After they divorced, he went to go live with his mom but he and Tim kept in touch. He actually spent summers with Tim’s family.
                  Danny was already attending WSC when Tim was looking for a job and decided to take one out here so they could still be close. When Danny moved in with his mom, his dad dropped out of the picture and, since Tim was a few years older, he always seemed like a father figure to Danny. It was a sweet but sad story.
                  I told him that my parents were divorced, too, but that they get along much better now as friends. Everything happens for a reason, he said. One of my least favorite sayings, mostly because it seemed to be true. I shivered and he put his arm around me. We sat in silence for a bit just enjoying the night. We chatted about everything and nothing. It was nice. Neither of us realized what time it was. It was nearly two in the morning...
                  He drove me back to my car because it was still at the pool hall. (I had flown home one weekend and finally came back with my car. Life was so much easier when you had transportation.) He made sure I got to my car and we said our goodbyes. He told me he would call me later that day. He was about to get back into his car when I told him to wait. This time I took charge and planted a kiss on him. It was a little different from the one the night before. It was a little sweeter, filled with more wanting.
                  “Goodnight, Danny.” I climbed in my car and headed home. What started as a horrible night turned into the best one in a long time.
     

Chapter 7
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    Sunday was uneventful. I spent the day studying and then went shopping with the girls. I was beginning to wonder if Danny was ever going to call. I was also kicking myself because I did not want this. I had empowered myself by telling Matt where to go and I had no interest in finding a replacement in the near future. However, I could not deny that I had a lot of fun with Danny and the past two nights had made me happier than I had been in a long time. We were deciding on where to eat that night because none of us felt like the cafeteria when my cell phone rang. It was Danny.
    “Hello?” I tried to sound nonchalant.
    “Hey, Sam.”
    “Hey to you.” Apparently, my extensive vocabulary was out the window.
    “I’m not interrupting anything, am I?” he asked.
    “Nope. We were just trying to fig ure out what to order. We are not really feeling like Suzy homemakers tonight,” I said.
    “Ah,” he said. “I think the guys here were ordering Blue Bird Pizza. They don’t feel like cooking or going to the caf eteria, either.”
    “Hmm… I have not had them in a while. Hang on a sec,” I covered the phone. “Anyone feel like Blue Bird?” A round of oohs followed. I went back to the phone call. “Looks like we’re getting that, too. They have really good ziti.”
    “I haven’t tried that yet. I usually just get a pepperoni pizza. Boring, but delicious.”
    “I like pepperoni.”
    “Me, too. But I didn’t call to discuss pizza, even though it’s a very exciting topic of conversation,” he teased. “I wanted to let you know that I had a lot of fun the past two nights.”
    “Me, too.” Definitely more fun than I had had in quite a while, I added to myself.
    “Good because I was wondering if you’d like to do it again.” Yay!
    “Yeah, absolutely. When did you have in mind?”
    “Um,” he paused. “Is tomorrow night too soon?”
    I laughed. “No, it’s perfect. I’ll see you at, say, six?”
    “Perfect. I’ll meet you at your dorm.”
    “Ok, I will see you then.” I hung up the phone. My roommates were all staring at me. “What?”
    “What do you mean what? What did he say?” Miranda asked.