On the Fringe Read online

  “I can’t walk,” I confessed, wishing to collapse into a little ball and quietly roll away.

  “Seriously?” asked Addie.

  “Uh-huh. I think I sprained my ankle, or something.”

  Daniel looked at me funny, probably unsure whether or not I was going to start crying, probably wondering what to do if I did.

  “It’s official,” I said, trying to lighten things up a little. “I’m super awesome at riding my bike.”

  He laughed, sending the tension hissing into oblivion like a balloon pricked by a pin, and then softly punched me in the shoulder. “Nice crash, Claire.”

  “Yeah,” Addie joined in. “Maybe later you can give us some pointers.”

  I could already feel the dizziness coming on, and thought I might blackout. Gripping the edge of a rock and closing my eyes, I tucked my stringy hair behind my ear, hoping the feeling would pass. Soon. When it didn’t, I subtly reached for the ring Daniel had given me a few weeks ago and mindlessly twisted it around my finger.

  “Here’s an idea.” Daniel’s voice broke in through the silence. He seemed so serious, like some calculating plan was simmering inside. “I’ll carry you down to the trailhead, and then Addie—you ride ahead for help.”

  My heart answered first. Yes! Absolutely.

  Wait a second…what was going on, here? “No, it’s okay,” I protested, embarrassed by the strange emotions bubbling up inside me. “I can just wait here with Addie while you go get help.”

  No, no…what was I saying? Back up. Back up.

  Daniel looked away for a minute while I tried to untangle the confusion inside my head. Did I really want to be alone with him? With Daniel?

  “I guess,” he said, lightly touching my ankle while I tried not to scream in pain. “But I still think you’ll be better off if I just carry you down. It’ll be a lot faster.”

  Addie came to my rescue without even trying to. “Come on, Claire. Daniel’s right. What’s the big deal?”

  I wanted to hug her, but played it cool. “Fine,” I said, still pretending to be put out. With an exaggerated sigh I pulled myself up on my good foot and let Addie help me climb on Daniel’s back.

  During the first few minutes of piggybacking down the hill, the only two sounds seemed to be my speeding heartbeat, and Daniel’s labored breathing. I couldn’t stand the spaces of awkward quiet hanging in the air between us, and especially wasn’t used to Daniel being so serious.

  “Thanks for doing this,” I said, leaning in close to his face. “You probably didn’t know I had such sweet biking skills.”

  He let out a quick laugh. “No problem.”

  It was quiet again, despite all the times we’d talked and laughed together like it was no big deal. I couldn’t believe how nervous I was.

  I felt myself slipping, and clasped further around Daniel’s neck, my head inching even closer to his. He had a different, more mysterious scent than Matthew, who smelled more musky and familiar. Daniel smelled like—well, he just smelled good.

  Around the next turn, he stopped and twisted out of my embrace, helping me onto on a moldy old log that cracked when we sat down. “Sorry,” he said. “I just need to catch my breath.”

  “It’s okay.”

  “We’ll be down the hill in about ten more minutes. I’ll hurry.”

  “Daniel, seriously. It only hurts when I stand on it. Take your time. I’m good.”

  We sat excruciatingly close to each other, our bare arms sometimes touching when one of us moved. I unwittingly drew his attention to my hand while twisting the ring around my finger again, its thin edge engraving a subtle line in my skin.

  “So, you still wear that thing?” he asked, touching my hand.

  “Yes,” I said tentatively. Did he think that was a good thing or a bad thing?

  I gazed up into his dark eyes as he scrutinized me, and I blushed when he placed my hand in his and slowly slid the ring off my finger, leaving my entire hand tingling when he let go. Holding it in front of him, he twisted it back and forth in the sunlight, like he was enamored with it.

  “What? Are you going to take it back now?” I sabotaged the moment, suddenly afraid of my own feelings. “Just like that?”

  When he turned to answer me, it felt like he knew more about my sudden somersaulting feelings than I did. A soft glow surrounded us when the sunlight slipped in through the trees, and I was convinced right then that Daniel had never been more appealing in my entire life. But I had to turn away from him, afraid to look in his eyes anymore…afraid for what it meant.

  He squeezed my hand and finished off the moment with a carefree laugh. “I’m not going to steal it from you. I just wanted to see it again, since it was mine, you know.” Then he slid the ring back on my finger, more quickly this time, and released me. “You ready?” he asked, standing up and turning around.

  I nodded and tried to stand, but Daniel squatted in front of me. “Hop on.”

  “Are you sure I’m not hurting you?”

  “Please. Don’t insult me.”

  I playfully punched his shoulder, and then wrapped my arms around his neck while linking both legs around his waist. Holding me tightly, he stood up and made his way through the bushes, down the trail.

  In a fit of insanity mixed with flirtation, I lightly brushed my cheek along the side of his face, and moved my lips to his ears, barely touching them. While trying to fight off the drunk, bubbly sensation tingling through my body, I inhaled his subtle aroma once more and whispered softly, “Thanks for rescuing me, Daniel.”

  He didn’t say a word, but I was certain I could feel his smile.

  ***

  Now, three weeks later, nothing had really changed between us, at least in front of other people. That was why I was having such a crisis in my bedroom. Because I was still afraid Daniel would reject me. It was a lot easier being daring and flirtatious when I had my arms and legs wrapped around him.

  The silver ring seemed to burn through my finger, begging me to say something to the boy who had given it to me, to the boy who was still standing out there in my front yard, still waiting for Matthew…stillalone.

  I wondered what was taking Matthew so long.

  Well, okay, I had a guess. It had something to do with a girl and the fact that tonight’s party was supposed to be the party of the year. I was not cool or old enough yet to be invited. It was just for juniors and seniors—well, the popular ones like Daniel and Matthew, and of course all the girls who followed them around everywhere like a bunch of ditzes. Addie and I vowed to never let each other turn into a ditz, no matter how much we claimed to be in love. EVER. Stalker, okay, but ditz, forget it.

  I pulled my hair into a ponytail and released it again—nervous habit, thanks to hair that always seemed to be having an identity crisis. Not only was it forever stuck somewhere in between reddish-brown and strawberry blonde depending on the day and the color I wore, but it also couldn’t seem to choose curly or straight. It insisted on lingering forever in a wavy in-between that was always getting in the way.

  Your hair? You are obsessing about your hair now? What is wrong with you? Get out there already. Fine.

  His back was toward me when I finally reached the edge of the porch.

  “Hey, Daniel,” I called, the cool breeze relaxing me a bit, giving me a little confidence. When I couldn’t come up with anything else to do with my hands, I nervously fingered the corner of my glasses, and then finally dropped both hands to grip the porch railing.

  A strand of Daniel’s dark hair fell across his dark eyes shadowed by the porch light as he turned toward me, smiling his playboy smile. He wore jeans and a snug, grey t-shirt pulled across his chest just right. When he brought his hand up to brush the hair away from his face, the butterflies in my stomach began their migration north, straight toward my heart.

  “Oh, hey, Claire.” He said my name calm and easy, like he was expecting me (or so I imagined). For a second I was speechless, and felt my face go warm, but then manage
d to pull it together.

  “So, you guys are going to a party?” I asked, flipping back my flyaway hair, trying to be smooth. I wondered if he could hear my heart pounding.

  “Yep,” he said coolly, seemingly content to stay where he was, just staring at me.

  And then I couldn’t think of anything more to say. My brain shriveled up, leaving me mute and defenseless. Daniel seemed to wait for me to speak, like it was my turn, but I was too busy trying to locate the earlier confidence I had somehow misplaced.

  Concentrate. Concentrate!

  Just when I started to stutter out something (probably something really lame, too), Daniel smiled his famous dimpled smile that had nearly every girl at school under his spell, including me. “Matthew wants to check out the new girl. So as his best friend I’m supposed to go, too. You know how that goes.” He laughed a little, throwing his hands in the air for effect. Then he looked around, like he was checking to see if we were alone.

  We were.

  Before I knew it, he was walking toward me. I held my breath and looked around, wondering if anyone else could see us. Oh, my. He was still coming…

  “Addie and I are going to a movie. You guys should come with us,” I blurted.

  What the…? Did I just ask Daniel out on a date?

  I suddenly felt queasy.

  What was I thinking?

  While debating whether to run back inside and take cover behind my curtains again, I noticed Daniel had made it to the bottom of the steps and was now looking up at me. Something seemed different now. His eyes? Yes, his eyes had definitely changed. They didn’t look as flirtatious, or quite as confident anymore.

  “Sounds fun. Maybe I’ll meet you there,” he said, more quietly than usual. “If I can get away.”

  I didn’t know what else to say. Was Daniel Holland nervous? Was that even possible?His dimples about did me in, and before I knew it, I was wandering down the steps, like something was pulling me. Our feet and eyes met, and I nearly froze when I felt his fingers reaching for my hand. Sure, they were barely touching, but still, Daniel’s hand was right next to mine, and it was even kind of warm. I had to tell myself to breathe.

  “Claire.” His dark eyes found mine. I dared look up at him, to the outline of his lips. His face seemed so close and I felt my heavy eyelids falling…

  Breathe.

  “Letsssgooo!”

  The front door burst open as Matthew tore out of the house. Without even looking at me, he bounded down the steps, right through us, interrupting our perfect moment. Daniel jumped back at the intrusion, like he was about to get in trouble.

  He turned and followed Matthew to the car.

  I couldn’t move, almost couldn’t breathe. All I could do was watch Daniel walk away from me. Before disappearing into the dark, he briefly turned his head and smiled.

  That was the last time I saw him alive.

  CHAPTER TWO

  THE END

  Claire

  About an hour after I watched Daniel drive away to his very important party, I was sitting in the dim theater with Addie, waiting for the previews to start. When Addie started texting Daniel, I casually looked over, trying to read the screen while trying even harder to hide my interest in all things Daniel. Addie still had no idea how I felt about her brother, and my plan was to keep it that way.

  “Are they coming?” I asked in my best casual voice, though secretly I felt like bursting.

  “Nope. They can’t,” Addie said, matter-of-factly, her fingers still working.

  My heart sank. “Why not?”

  “He says they met some friends at the party. They’re going to stay.”

  Dang!

  “What’s so great about that stupid party, anyway?” I griped, resigning myself to a lousy mood for the rest of the night.

  Addie whipped her head around and rolled her eyes in usual Addie fashion. “Who cares, Claire? Get over it.”

  Okay, so I was usually fine with the attitude. Occasionally, it got on my nerves, but Addie was mybest friend. We’d known each other since we were three, so I was willing to overlook a little moodiness here and there, accepting it as part of the package deal. Tonight was no different, though it didn’t help my mood any.

  As the lights dimmed, so did my excitement for the rest of the night. No matter how much I tried to clear my mind and think of something else, it was impossible trying not to picture Daniel getting comfortable with a bunch of clingy girls, while I’d been left behind in a stupid movie theater.

  “Everyone’s going to be there,” I pouted again. “I wish we could go, too, instead of hanging out all by ourselves like losers at a dumb movie.”

  “Which was your idea,” Addie answered dryly.

  Convinced my life could not get any worse, I sunk back into the spongy headrest and closed my eyes until my phone buzzed from somewhere at the bottom of my purse. After fumbling in the dark for a couple of seconds, I finally found it. My heart jumped as soon as I saw the text. “It’s…it’s Daniel,” I announced too eagerly.

  Addie turned. “Why’s he texting you?”

  I couldn’t help smiling, but still tried to hide my excitement. Addie would never let me live it down if she knew how much I dwelled on thoughts of her brother.

  “He says he’ll see us after the movie,” I said very coolly, though inside I felt like a combination of Diet Coke and Pop Rocks.

  “He couldn’t just tell me that?”

  He could. But he didn’t.

  The next ninety-three minutes crawled by. I tried to watch the movie, but didn’t care at all if the girl got the guy in the end (of course she did, they always do). I even checked my phone during the slow parts just to be sure Daniel wasn’t trying to call.

  But he wasn’t.

  Dang, again.

  When the credits started rolling, Addie and I made our way through the crowds to wait outside for our ride. We shivered in the misting rain at the edge of the sidewalk, wishing Mom would hurry up. I began wondering what was taking her so long since she was usually pretty OCD about that kind of thing.

  After tucking my hair behind my ears for the thousandth time, I realized any attempts to tame it were useless. The wind and rain would never stop shrinking it into a wavy, frizzy mess. That was just how things usually turned out for me.

  I glanced over at Addie with her smooth, dark hair flying all over the place, wondering how she always managed to look impeccable, even in the rain. She wore almost no makeup, yet her dark skin and thick eyelashes seemed merely an accent to the better parts of her—deep topaz eyes, subtle dimples that emerged when she smiled, and thick, mane-like hair extending down to her waist. Except for the scowl on her face, Addie was a striking image of natural beauty.

  When the mist turned into fat raindrops, Addie used her oversized purse as an umbrella while eyeing me again, this time with a look I took to mean my mom, my fault. Which was kind of true, but still. I turned the other way and pretended to ignore her as images of Daniel continued to invade my mind, images of a familiar smile that nearly crippled me, of dark hair falling into dark eyes.

  Cars came and went. Ten minutes more...

  Feeling rejected, I fell into a daze watching the swirling patterns of white, orange, and red car lights through my rain-spattered glasses, wishing Matthew and Daniel had come with us to the movies. I secretly hoped their party was a bust so they’d be as miserable as me.

  “Where is she?” Addie grumbled again, breaking into my thoughts just as Mom’s blue Audi pulled up.

  I started to move until I saw my mom’s red, hollow eyes staring out at me, even through the dark passenger-side window veined with rivers of rain. I was hesitant to get in the car. I didn’t want this, whatever this was.

  A car honked behind her, and an irritated Addie quickly slid into the backseat. “Get in, Claire,” she said, already getting comfortable.

  The car honked again. Finally I moved, sliding in next to Addie. Instead of driving off, Mom pulled into the closest parki
ng spot, prompting Addie to ask what was going on. Turning around in her seat, Mom took one look at Addie and started to cry.

  Daniel

  The night had gone from boring to deadly in about two minutes.

  Before I knew what had happened, there was shouting and breaking glass as a rush of bodies flew around me, everyone climbing on top and over each other, trying to get out of there as quickly as possible.

  Then I saw the gun, and froze.

  Everyone froze. As if that would keep a killer from pulling the trigger. I even thought about ducking. But it was too late by the time the thought reached my brain.

  The bullet reached it first.

  Surprisingly, it was nothing like the movies where everything happens in slow motion as the victim helplessly watches fate mow him down. No, Matthew just stared at me blankly as the crack of a surreal blast tore through the air, and then I felt myself jerking hard to the left before falling against the bookcase, my head oozing warm juice.

  Claire

  “What’s wrong, Mom?” I was terrified of the answer. “What happened?”

  Mom sniffed loudly. “It’s Daniel.”

  “What? Is he okay?” Addie asked. But the interior of the car was already beginning to spin, and I felt my own head falling into my shaking hands. I closed my eyes, afraid to look up, because Mom couldn’t seem to answer Addie’s question.

  It was a simple question.

  Addie gripped my knee. “Where is Daniel, Mrs. James?”

  “There was an accident… But I need to get you home now, honey. Your grandparents are waiting for you.”

  “Grandparents? What about my parents? Where are they?”

  “They’re taking care of everything.”

  I still couldn’t lift my head, even as I heard Addie’s voice tipping into delirium. “Taking care? Everything? I don’t understand. Where’s Daniel? Where is he, Mrs. James? What happened to Daniel?”

  “Addie… Daniel’s…” Mom choked. “Daniel’s been shot–”

  “SHOT?” she gasped. “How? Wait. Where is he?”

  “He…Daniel didn’t make it, Addie. He’s…”