Kiss Me

PART III, chapter 3

- III -

DANNY

_________

February 14, 2005

Danny sat in his car and listened to country music. He hated country music. He wouldn't turn it off though, because the torture that the songs were giving him was nothing compared to the torture that he felt when he listened to anything else. He wished he had her picture, just so he could stick needles in it, and maybe burn her eyes out with a cigarette. He was seriously considering getting really drunk – something he hasn't done in almost a year – when somebody tapped on his window. He sighed and rolled the window down.

"Danny... I need to talk to you..." she said, biting her lower lip.

"What do you want, Maxwell?" he said, thinking that he should've parked his car somewhere else, somewhere in the desert. Or maybe he should've just driven off a cliff or something. That sounded better and better every minute.

"There is something..." His eyes flashed anger at her when she stopped talking, and she winced. "I am sorry," she said quickly. "I wouldn't bug you, but it's really important..."

"What is it?" he lit a cigarette.

"It's about Stephanie..." she mumbled, and he almost laughed.

"Are you kidding me, Maxwell? Get the hell out of here. Go to your boyfriend, it's a holiday; go buy him some chocolates or something..." and he started to roll up his window when she blurted:

"I think she wants to hurt Laurie!"

He froze for several minutes.

"Get in the car," he said finally.

"My car is here..." She started saying, but he interrupted her.

"Just get in the damn car. I'll drive you back."

She quickly walked towards the passenger door and carefully slid into the front seat. Danny started the car and turned off the music.

"Where are we going?" Trisha asked in a small voice.

"I need a drink," he grumbled.

"Danny..."

"Jesus Christ on a unicycle! A caffeinated drink, Maxwell. I am going to the freaking Starbucks!"

"Sorry," she whispered, and he silently drove out of the parking lot.

...They were sitting outside Starbucks, and Trisha shivered from the cold wind. Danny absent-mindedly pulled off his jacket and threw it to her.

"You'll get cold," she said, and he just gave her a dark look.

She closed her mouth and wrapped his jacket around herself.

"Thanks," she muttered.

"The only reason you are freezing out here is because I can't smoke inside," he said, lighting a cigarette. "So I figured it wasn't quite fair. Now, what did you want?"

She slowly drank her coffee.

"Ah, what the hell," she muttered. "Give me one of those..."

She carefully puffed on the Parliament that Danny handed her, and thoughtfully looked at him.

"Do you think it's sick that I was totally turned on by Tim Curry in a transvestite outfit?" She asked suddenly, and Danny started to cough.

"What?" he finally managed.

"Well, Andy brought The Rocky Horror Picture Show last night," she said without looking at him. "And when it got to the part where Tim Curry was dressed up like a woman, I started to think that it was really hot and it totally turned me on... Am I sick?"

"Maxwell..." Danny carefully drank his coffee. "Yes, you are sick. Also, you'll be dead soon if you don't tell me what the hell you wanted to talk to me about."

She sighed.

"Right... Danny," she looked up at him. "Do you love her? Please, don't get mad again," she said quickly when his eyes darkened. "Because if you do love her, you have to do something..."

"I could kill her," he said tightly. "Or I could perform some kind of a voodoo ritual with dolls and pins and whatnot."

"Danny..." she sighed. "I tried talking to her ever since she got back with Tyler... She is obsessed. Did she ever tell you about that whole Cinderella story nonsense?"

"No," he said shortly.

"Well, she is convinced that she is in one of those ridiculous stories that... You know, the ones where a popular guy falls for a dorky girl? That kind of garbage. She's been obsessing about the whole story idea ever since she saw Tyler for the first time. Somehow, she got it in her head that this was her story, and that Tyler and her were destined to be together because..." She drank more coffee. "...because that's how it always happens in the movies."

Danny just looked at her incredulously. Trisha nodded.

"I know," she said. "I tried telling her that it was beyond ridiculous, but she wouldn't even listen... And now it's so much worse, Danny, I have no idea what to do."

"What is it?" he asked in a dull voice.

"Well, I was talking to her yesterday, and she was, like, totally crazy. She said that Laurie was, like, a black magic witch, and I don't know if that was just a metaphor or if she was serious... It's like, she suddenly just lost her mind, you know?"

"You have no idea," Danny muttered, and Trisha nodded.

"She said that Tyler wouldn't spend the Valentine's Day with her because Laurie is forcing him to be with her..."

"Maxwell," Danny interrupted her. "I am done with Palmer, okay? She is insane, and so am I for ever getting involved with her. I am going to graduate and move the hell out of this city... I'll probably move to freaking China behind the Great Wall..."

"Danny," she shook her head. "Let me finish. Please."

"Fine," he grumbled. "Hurry up."

"Okay... So she was ranting on and on about how Laurie was making her life miserable, and then she just stopped talking and started to smile. It was so creepy that I almost ran away from her. So then, she looks at me and says, 'I know what to do, Trish! All I have to do is to make sure that there are no tire tracks on the ground, and I'll just need to wash my car.' And she just went away..." Trisha looked at Danny with huge eyes. "Danny, I think she wants to run Laurie over with her car!"

Danny stared at her for several minutes, and then he started to laugh. Trisha silently looked at him, her coffee forgotten. Danny howled with laughter for almost ten minutes, and then finally, he calmed down.

"Okay," he took a deep breath. "Question number one. Has she gotten any thinner?"

"Huh?" Trisha blinked at him.

"Has she lost anymore weight?" he asked impatiently. "Yes or no?"

"I am pretty sure, yes," Trisha said slowly. "She looks like she is ninety pounds or something..."

"Jesus," he closed his eyes briefly. "Okay, question number two. Do you know if Blake is still doing Ecstasy?"

She stuttered.

"W-what..."

"Spit it out, Trish," he said quietly. "He used to buy that s**t from me all the time. Do you know if he is still using it?"

"I don't know for sure," she winced. "But Andy once told me that Tyler buys his stuff from some Puerto Rican guy, and that he was really unhappy about the prices..."

"That means yes," Danny said softly. "Okay, question number three... Did Palmer look agitated to you? Did she pace around a lot, couldn't leave her hands alone?"

Trisha stared at him.

"Oh my God, Danny," she said finally. "You think she is on drugs?"

"Pretty sure," he sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Freaking A," he said softly. "Why, Maxwell, why the hell did you bring her to that goddamn party?!"

Trisha stared at her cup, and Danny sighed again.

"Never mind. Question number four. Where is Laurie now?"

"I don't know," she said softly. "I am pretty sure she is with Tyler."

"Where is Palmer?"

"Probably at home," Trisha shrugged. "Her parents are, like, totally oblivious to everything... I mean, they are there, but it's like, they don't see that Steph is so skinny that she looks like a ghost... And she smokes in the house all the time, and her Dad..." She paused. "He brought her a freaking ashtray one of those times, can you believe it?!"

"That's because she holds both of her parents by the balls," Danny smirked bitterly.

"What?" Trisha frowned.

"They both have affairs, and Palmer is the one who holds the card to both of them," Danny explained. "So they will do anything she wants just to keep her quiet..."

"Oh my God..." Trisha muttered.

"Goddamn..." Danny squeezed his eyes shut. "I never learn, do I?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I am talking about the fact that I am the greatest i***t who ever existed," he said and got up. "Come on, time for intervention."

...Danny turned off the car and got out. Trisha almost ran after him when he quickly walked to the front door of Stephanie's house. He pushed it open without bothering to knock or ring the bell. He went upstairs, and Trisha realized that the house was eerily quiet.

"Where is everybody?" she muttered.

"Who cares," Danny shrugged and kicked the bedroom door open.

Stephanie jumped up from her chair.

"Danny!" she said in disbelief. "Trisha!" She exclaimed a second later.

"Hey, Palmer," Danny said lightly. "Where are your car keys?"

"Why?" She asked suspiciously, and Danny shrugged.

"I parked kinda close to your car," he said. "Need to move it."

She blinked at him in confusion.

"Why..." She shook her head. "Never mind... Whatever... Fine, I'll move it."

She took the keys out of her drawer, and Danny immediately grabbed them from her hand.

"Hey!" she cried.

"You will get them back when you get off Ecstasy," Danny said calmly and put the keys in his pocket.

"Are you kidding me?" She hissed. "Give them back!"

"Later, Palmer," Danny said and turned away from her.

"Give them back!" She shrieked and jumped on his back.

He shook her off easily.

"You might wanna gain a few pounds," he said without looking at her. "I can hear your bones rattling," and he walked out.

Stephanie stared at Trisha who stood frozen by the door.

"Get out!" she hissed. "Get the hell out!! You are the one who told him! I hate you!!"

"Steph..." Trisha started saying, but Stephanie interrupted her.

"Get out!!" she screamed and threw a shoe at her.

"Move it, Maxwell," Danny said and pulled Trisha out of the bedroom. "I don't have all night."

****

He pulled next to Trisha's car and looked at her.

"See you later, Maxwell," he said.

"What are you going to do?" she asked miserably, and Danny shrugged.

"Might enroll in the National Guard," he said indifferently. "Here," he took Stephanie's keys out of his pocket and handed them to her. "Give them back to her when she seems normal. I don't want to talk to her ever again."

Trisha nodded, took the keys, and silently got out of his car.