Through The Dark

by Jae

  “Nothing’s wrong. Where are the fireworks?” I ask with a tad too much excitement in my voice and start to bounce on the balls of my feet.

  “I’ve been waiting for you to ask me that.” He laughs. “They’re in the garage.”

  “Awesome! Thanks, Dad!”

  “Be careful, Daisy!” My Mom shouts after me as I make a break for the garage. It takes me no more than a few seconds to spot the bags full of fireworks, grab them, and exit through the front door.

  “I got them!” I yell as I run down my driveway to the street where all my friends are waiting.

  “Holy shit!” Jack says when his eyes land on the four huge bags filled with fireworks in my hands.

  We all roam through the bags after I set them down at the end of my driveway. I instantly grab the brick of firecrackers and a punk before moving away from everyone. I sit down on the side of the street and light the punk as Liam comes and sits next to me.

  “Why do I have feeling that you and fireworks are not a very good combination?” He asks as I hand him my now lit punk and quickly rip open the firecrackers.

  “Head’s up, bitches!” I yell as I grab my punk back from Liam and light the wick of the firecracker before throwing it in the air away from us. I fall back into Liam in a fit of giggles as our friends instantly scramble away from the street, the firecracker exploding just before it hits the ground.

  “God damn it, Daisy!” Ella shouts. “I hate when you do that!”

  I continue laughing as I straighten up and grab a few fire crackers then move into the street. Liam watches me closely while I light the dangerous fireworks, scolding me like a small child when I don’t throw them far enough away from me.

  “Hey, Daisy!” Taylor shouts when I’m lighting my next firecracker a while later.

  I look at her, not paying attention to the firecracker still in my hand

  “Holy shit!” I yell, jumping back a few feet in surprise when the firecracker explodes between my fingers. This causes all of the girls to erupt in laughter.

  “You guys did that on purpose!” I yell, pointing an accusing finger at them.

  “Payback’s a bitch!” Zoie shouts through her laughter.

  I roll my eyes as Liam rushes over to me, grabbing my wrist to inspect my fingers.

  “You’re done.” Liam states as he takes the punk out of my other hand and drops it to the ground, putting it out like a cigarette with the tip of his shoe.

  “What?” I ask, my eyes widening in surprise. “Why?”

  “A firecracker just exploded in your hand!”

  “But that wasn’t my fault!” I protest.

  “I don’t care.” Liam responds, narrowing his eyes on me; a flash of darkness going through them. “You should’ve been more careful and paid attention to what you were doing.”

  “But –”

  “No, Daisy.” Liam cuts me off. “You’re done. End of story.”

  I shoot a death glare at the girls, who are still laughing, while Liam drags me inside. When we get into the kitchen, he lifts me up by my hips and sets me on the counter beside the sink before turning on the cold water.

  “Why do I feel like we’ve done this before, huh?” I joke, but only receive a look of annoyance from Liam.

  “What happened?” My Mom asks when her and my Dad walk into the kitchen through the patio doors.

  “A firecracker exploded in her hand.” Liam answers while he shoves my injured fingers under the water.

  “It wasn’t my fault!” I protest again.

  “Daisy, I just gave you those fireworks not even a half hour ago and you’ve already managed to hurt yourself?” My Dad asks with a slight chuckle. “Normally a good two hours goes by first.”

  “It wasn’t my fault.” I groan this time.

  I watch my Mom rush out of the kitchen and come back with the first aid kit, setting it on the counter next to me.

  “Are you going to be okay?” She asks while looking towards my fingers in the sink with water still running over them.

  “Yes, Mom.” I grumble, rolling my eyes.

  “Don’t you dare get at attitude with me, Daisy Lynn Fields!” My Mom snaps. “You could’ve blown your fingers off!”

  “Sorry.” I mumble, looking down at my lap.

  “I just worry about you, sweetheart.” She says after taking a calming breath and placing a kiss to my forehead.

  After a few more minutes of hovering and ensuring I’m going to be okay, my parents exit to the backyard, leaving Liam and I alone in the kitchen.

  “What if I just sit next to you while I light off the firecrackers?” I ask Liam after he shuts off the water and pulls my fingers out of the sink.

  “No.” Liam responds, gently drying my fingers with a towel.

  “Okay, what if you light off the fireworks and I’ll sit next to you and watch?” I beg, slightly sticking out my bottom lip in a pout when he lifts my hand up to inspect my fingers again. “Please?”

  Liam’s eyes quickly get distracted by me, momentarily forgetting about my fingers while he stares at my pouting lips for a moment before grabbing the back of my neck and pulling my face closer to his. He bites down on my bottom lip, just like I knew he would, before sliding his tongue across it and deeply kissing me.

  “The answer is still no.” He states after pulling away from me with a knowing look in his eye.

  “You’re no fun.” I grumble and pull my injured fingers away from him.

  “I just don’t want you to get hurt again.” Liam says while he opens the first aid kit and pulls out the things he needs.

  “You can’t protect me from everything, Liam.”

  Liam’s expression softens as he looks up at me, his emerald green eyes locking with my icy blue ones again. “I can try.”

  I don’t say anything in return, my mind sort of blanking while my heart beings to race from his response and the intensity in his eyes. Instead I watch him lift my injured fingers again, pressing his lips to the pads of my thumb and pointer finger before rubbing some burn cream on them and then tightly wrapping Band-Aids around each one.

  “Can we at least go back outside with them?” I ask, motioning to the front of the house when Liam comes back from putting the first-aid kit away.

  “Sure.” He says after lifting me from the counter and setting me back down on the floor.

  “Are you okay?” Tony asks when Liam and I reach the bottom of the driveway.

  “Oh, she’ll be fine.” Taylor answers in an annoyed voice before I can respond, causing all of us to look at her. “I don’t get what the big deal is. She hurts herself like this, sometimes even worse, every year.”

  “You’re joking right?” Liam practically growls. “What kind of friends do shit like this to each other? You guys are supposed to be looking out for each other – not trying to blow each other’s fingers off.”

  Tony puts a hand on Liam’s shoulder, trying to help him stay calm, as the girls eyes widen and the other guys move closer to us

  “It was just a joke, Liam.” Zoie butts in.

  “Hey, it’s fine.” I say, trying to stop the situation from escalading. “I’m fine. You guys just go back to what you were doing.”

  I look down to see Liam’s fists are clenched, knuckles white. At my say-so, Tony moves away to direct everyone else back to what they were doing.

  “Hey, I understand why you’re getting mad, but you have to calm down. They were only messing around to get back at me for earlier. It’s okay. I still have all my fingers. See?” I softly say to Liam as I pry his hands open and lace my fingers through them, squeezing gently so he can feel every single one. When Liam doesn’t respond, I pull my hands away from his, stand up on my tippy-toes, wrap my arms around the back of his neck, and press my lips to his. It takes a few moments, but eventually his lips pucker up against mine.

  “Let’s go get something to drink.” I suggest after I pull away from him.

  Liam nods his head and I slide my hand in his again while we
make our way back up my driveway. As soon as we walk through the patio doors, Aria, my five year old cousin who met Liam at the wedding, comes running up to us.

  “Liam!” Aria exclaims in her cute little squeaky voice while she tugs on Liam’s free hand. “Will you color with me?”

  “Absolutely!” Liam smiles as he bends down and picks her up. “Where are we coloring at?”

  I smile as Aria points to a table and Liam lifts her over his head likes she’s an airplane and walks away. I watch until they sit down at a table that I now notice is covered in plain white paper, coloring books, and crayons. I quickly fill up three cups with lemonade before making my way over to them. After I sit down at the table, I set the cups down in front of me before handing one of them to Aria. Liam helps her hold the big cup in her little hands so she doesn’t spill while she takes a drink. I set Liam’s cup to him then grab a piece of paper and start to draw on it while Liam and Aria color on the same Hello Kitty picture.

  “Look, Daisy!” Aria exclaims, picking up the picture and holding it in front of her face for me to see.

  “Oh, wow, Aria!” I exclaim. “That’s so pretty! Good job!”

  “Thanks!” She beams as Liam sticks his hand out to her and they high-five.

  “Liam,” Aria begins thoughtfully a little while later.

  At this point they’ve colored nearly ten Hello Kitty pictures and I’ve just about finished drawing a sketch of Liam from his shoulders up.

  “What’s up, Princess Aria?” Liam questions with a small grin, putting all of his attention on her.

  “Do you love Daisy?” She asks, still coloring on her picture like she’s only asked what color the sky was.

  My eyes widen in surprise, but I instantly relax when I see Liam blush at her random choice of words.

  “I do.” Liam tells her matter-of-factly.

  “Are you going to marry her?”

  “I don’t know.” Liam responds after a few silent moments, his blush deepening. “Maybe I will someday.”

  “I think you should!” She exclaims. “You are perfect for each other; like Cinderella and Prince Charming.”

  This makes Liam and I chuckle.

  “And then I could be your flower girl and wear a really pretty pink dress!” She continues.

  “I’ll keep that in mind.” Liam says as he looks over at me, my favorite smile on his face.

  “Liam,” Aria begins thoughtfully again.

  “What’s up, Princess Aria?” Liam repeats.

  “Will you be my best friend?” She asks as she completely stops coloring and looks up at him.

  “I would love to be your best friend.” Liam responds without missing a beat, making a huge smile spread across her face.

  My heart swells as Aria scrambles onto Liam’s lap and wraps her arms around his neck in a hug, squeezing him as tightly as her little arms can. I shrug my shoulders when Liam looks over at me, trying to act like I’m not completely melting at the site of him right now, and go back to my drawing.

  “Here.” I tell Liam, handing him the sketch.

  “You sketched me?” Liam asks, looking from the paper to me in disbelief.

  “Yes.” I grin, nodding my head as a blush creeps into my cheeks.

  “Daisy, this is amazing.” Liam tells me sincerely, squeezing my hand and pecking my lips. “Thank you.”

  After a little while, I get up and go hunt down my Mom. When I find her, I take my camera away and walk out front to see my friends are still messing with fireworks. I sit at the end of my driveway and take pictures of them lighting the fireworks and pictures of the fireworks exploding until it gets dark outside.

  “The street lights are on!” Zoie yells. “You know what that means?”

  “Roman Candle fights!” Ella, Taylor, and I yell in response.

  “What?” Jack questions while I hand him my camera and then us girls scramble to the bags and pull out all of the Roman Candles, dividing them up evenly between each other.

  “Daisy, you guys shouldn’t do this.” Tony states while he looks up my drive way behind him, searching for any sight of Liam.

  “We do this every year.” I tell him while we girls spread out into a large square formation. “Just like how I always throw a firecracker in the air to scare the girls and then I get hurt as payback. We can’t break tradition, no matter how pissed Liam gets.”

  “Liam is going to kill us.” Connor whines while running his fingers through his hair.

  “Only if he comes out here; which he won’t.” I respond as we light the Roman Candles. “But if he does, yeah, he’s definitely going to kill all of us.”

  I turn my Roman Candle towards the ground and watch the colorful ball of light bounce off the cement before jumping to the side when Taylor shoots one at me. We continue to do this - jumping, dodging, and screaming - until all of the Roman Candles are gone. The boys manage to relax a little when Liam never comes out and Jack even takes pictures of us.

  “What are you doing?” I hear Liam’s voice ask before he sits down next to me at the end of my drive way.

  “Nothing.” I respond, quickly turning off my camera to hide the evidence of the Roman Candle fight.

  “You’re a terrible liar.” Liam says, narrowing his eyes on me.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I tell him with a shrug of my shoulders and a kiss to his cheek. “Are you and Aria done coloring?”

  “Yeah, she fell asleep.”

  “That was really cute earlier, how you were with her.”

  Liam shrugs his shoulders, a small blush tinting his cheeks.

  “You’re going to be a really great Dad someday.”

  “You think so?”

  “Yeah, I really do.”

  This makes Liam smile while he pulls me onto his lap and protectively wraps his arms around me. I’m not sure how long we stay like this, talking about what our days have consisted of since the last time we saw each other, before we turn our heads up to the sky to watch the fireworks bursting high above the houses and trees in the distance.

  The Fourth of July is one of my favorite holidays because everything just seems so magical on this day. I think the bright colors and sudden noises of fireworks are so captivating and beautiful – a lot like Liam. So many people are scared of fireworks because they’re dangerous. But if you take the time to learn how they work, you’ll realize they’re really not so bad after all.

  “I love you, Daisy.” Liam whispers in my ear.

  “I love you too.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  It seems like the next few weeks pass by almost too quickly and before I know it, it’s the day of my college basketball tryout. I’ve been working extra hard during Liam’s practices; going to as many of them as I possibly can. On top of that, I went for runs every morning and worked out in the weight room with Liam every night. I’ve built up a lot more strength in my knee and I’m moving a lot faster than I was when all of this started. To say I’m nervous is an understatement. I don’t know what to expect from the other girls. I know I am a solid basketball player – but what if they’re all better? The only reason why I even get to be a part of this tryout is because Liam’s coach put in some very good and convincing words for me. I’m scared I’m going to let him down and ruin all of my chances all over again. I can’t help but keep wondering if that wouldn’t be such a bad thing though.

  I walk into the gym that Liam’s basketball team practices in every day. I know this gym. I am familiar with it. I try to tell myself that over and over again while I sit down on the bleachers and put my white basketball shoes on. I’m also wearing a red sports bra with a white cut-off shirt over it, black basketball shorts, and black Nike socks that stop at the bottom of my calves. I then slide down to the floor, pressing my back against the bleachers, and stretch. I tune everyone out and now tell myself over and over again that I can do this. When the whistle blows for all of us to gather on the court, a part of me wants to run out of the gym and into Li
am’s waiting arms on the other side of the door; he had practice before this and promised to wait for me until I was done.

  I quickly stand up and jog onto the court, joining the large group of girls that form a circle around the coaches. I look around and notice that I am nearly the shortest girl here, everyone else starting at least three inches above me. I try to tell myself that the height differences between me and these girls doesn’t matter because I’ve been practicing and scrimmaging against guys who are more than twice my size. Slightly shaking my head to clear it, I stretch onto my tippy-toes to get a better look at the center of the circle. There are four women standing in the center, each of them holding a clip board. They individually introduce themselves before explaining what todays tryout is going to consist of. We will be doing defensive and offensive drills, ball handling drills, basic fundamental drills, shooting drills, and a lot of running. After they’re done explaining this, they do a roll call and separate us into groups by the positions we play. I drop from my tippy-toes to rest flat on my feet while I wait for my name to be called.

  “Daisy Fields.” One of the coaches shouts. “Point guard.”

  I move through the cluster of girls that are still left waiting and walk to the group behind the coaches that holds all the point guards; as of right now there’s a little over ten of us. Once I’m standing with them, I can’t help but notice the sideways glances I’m getting from everyone; some of them even being full on dirty looks. I look down at my feet and try to ignore them while the rest of the girls are called on.

  I notice Liam’s coach is standing by the gym doors when we break for the first ball handling drill. He gives me a smile and a head nod that doesn’t go unnoticed by some of the girls around me. I don’t want to be rude though, so I give him a small head nod back. We line up on the base line and dribble to half court with our right hand, do a cross over, then dribble the rest of the way with our left hand then repeat the process on the way back. I keep my head up the whole time, never once looking down at the ball and trust it’ll come back to my hand every time. I move through the rest of the tryout much like this, tuning into all of my knowledge of basketball and trying my best to appear as confident as possible. If there’s anything I know about girls, especially ones that play sports, if you show that you are anything less that confident, they will attack you like wild dogs. Unfortunately, girls feed off of the humiliation and failures of other girls. It’s like some sick twisted drug we all constantly crave.