Chasing Day Series: Chasing Day & Catching Day

by Twyla Turner

  Chasing Day

  By Twyla Turner

  ©Copyright by Twyla Turner

  Front & Back Cover image: iStock. By Getty Images™

  http://www.istockphoto.com

  ©Copyright by Marc Dufresne

  ©Copyright by Bizoo_n

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblances to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  To my girls Squash and Cos,

  Thank you so much for all you input and passion for my characters.

  Table of Contents:

  Preface

  Prologue

  Bullies and Best Friends

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Growing Pains

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Lost Innocence

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Beer Bongs & Keg Stands

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  The Best of Times & The Worst of Times

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Tough Love

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Preface

  Readers,

  These novels take place over a 30-year span. So not only will some of the clothes and style take you back in time, to when you were young and innocent to the ways of the world. I also wanted to create a playlist that would take you back as well. So please, click the titles and enjoy!

  Chasing Day

  Catching Day

  Prologue

  Present…

  Chase found his seat in the packed auditorium. He sat down and straightened his jacket and tie nervously. He had no idea why he was so nervous. It wasn’t like he was performing though that didn’t stop his palms from sweating. It didn’t keep his hands from trembling. Nor did it silence his erratically beating heart. He wasn’t sure what had him more anxious.

  Maybe it was because Day had finally realized her dream, and tonight would be her first solo performance as a principle cellist for the Chicago Symphony. Not that she’d told him about it. Chase had found out from her mother. He would’ve thought that twenty-five years of friendship would have made her pick up the phone and call him to tell him she’d finally gotten into the prestigious orchestra. But he guessed the twenty years of history between them, probably stopped her.

  The latter was more than likely the main reason for his nerves. Chase hadn’t seen nor talked to Day in five years. The longest they’ve ever gone without contact. He’d missed her every second of those one-thousand-eight-hundred-and-twenty-five days.

  The sold-out auditorium became eerily silent as the heavy burgundy curtain rose. There in the middle of the stage, alone, except for the polished wood and strings between her legs was Chase’s best friend. The love of his life. My Pretty Day.

  Chase’s breath hitched and he was catapulted back in time…

  Bullies and Best Friends

  Chapter 1

  August 1990

  Chase McCoy sat on the bus with his friends, riding home from his first day of fifth grade. He had been so happy that school had started just so he could get out of his house. Even now, he dreaded walking through the door. His father, Ben McCoy would probably be drunk already and shouting at his mother. Ben was a real standup guy. He lived off of his so-called disability, from an “injury” at his factory job. Chase’s dad had made a career of finding a job, getting “hurt” after a little over a year on the job, and then collecting disability so he could spend his days drunk. Ben would sit in front of the TV for hours, shouting at his mother and talking down to her every chance he got.

  Stephanie McCoy did everything she could to please Chase’s father. Everything was never good enough, so she remained a sad, shell of a woman. Chase had rarely ever seen his mom smile. He tried to be on his best behavior at all times. He didn’t want to rock the boat. If he did anything out of line, his father wasn’t opposed to smacking him around every now and again, which would only upset his mother more. He couldn’t wait till he grew up to be big and strong so that he could stand up to his father. For is mother’s sake and for himself, though for now, he had to bide his time and keep quiet.

  “Hey dude, what’s your problem?” Chase’s friend Miguel asked as he nudged his shoulder.

  “Nothin,” Chase said as he turned away from the window and the world speeding by in a blur. He pulled himself out of his dark thoughts.

  “You daydreaming about Whitney Taylor, aren’t you?” Miguel elbowed Chase in the side suggestively.

  “Shh…man! She might hear you.” Chase whispered and looked over the back of the green vinyl seat at the girl in question. She sat at the back of the bus with all of her friends. “I mean, yeah, she is pretty,” Chase smirked, willingly going with the subject of Whitney instead of his sad home life.

  “Pretty! That chick is smoking hot! So fine.” Miguel exclaimed quietly.

  Chase grinned at his friend. He knew that Miguel got most of his turns-of-phrase from his older brother. Then he’d come to school and tell them all about it so that they could try to be cool and act older too.

  “Alright, alright. She is pretty hot.” Chase agreed.

  He thought about the girl, sitting in the back. Whitney Taylor was one of those girls that all the boys instantly fell in love with. Every ten-year-old boy at Dickson Elementary School had a huge crush on her. Her chestnut hair nearly touched her butt and hung in big ringlets. Her large blue eyes were the most dominant feature on her pixie face. Those two things alone had them all swooning.

  “You know, I saw her looking at you during the assembly,” Miguel said as he gave him a sly grin.

  “What?!” Chase said doubtfully.

  “Yeah, man. She’s definitely digging you.” Miguel assured him.

  They both took the next moment to slowly peek over the seat to the popular, pretty brunette girl. Once Chase peered over the top, Whitney caught his eye and smiled boldly at him. Chase whipped around and sat back down quickly when he realized he’d been caught. If he were being honest with himself, girls scared him to death. So many of them were so bold and confident. He didn’t have the first clue what to do when it came to the opposite sex, which was why he always tried to absorb the knowledge that Miguel would impart. Once he learned it from his brother.

  “See dude! I told you!” Miguel smiled big and smacked Chase on the chest.

  “Shh…shut up dickwad! She can probably hear you!” Chase growled under his voice.

  “Ask her out, man,” Miguel suggested.

  “To where?! We’re in the fifth grade!” Chase looked at his friend like he was an idiot.

  “I don’t know, dude. Just like hold her hand or something.” Miguel shrugged, unsure. “My brother said that guys should try to hit all the bases.”

  “What bases?” Chase frowned in confusion.

  “Like in baseball. There’s first base, second base, third and home plate. You have to reach all the bases.” Miguel explained.

  “Why would I want to play baseball with a girl?” Chase asked, completely in the dark.

  “Naw, douchebag! You don’t play baseball with them. You gotta feel them up and stuff.” Miguel
said it like Chase was supposed to know what he was talking about. When Chase continued to look at him with a blank stare, Miguel leaned in to whisper the details in his ear. “First base, means you kiss a girl. Second, is when you feel her boobs. Third is fingers or mouth below the belt. And home plate, is full-on sex.” Miguel whispered conspiratorially.

  Chase just nodded his head as if he understood. He didn’t want to look like some dope, so he went along with his friend. He understood the kissing part. He even knew about boobs, not that any of the girls in his grade had any to touch. But he had no idea what he was supposed to do with his fingers or mouth below anyone’s belt. And sex was still a vague concept to him. Chase prayed that no girl would ask him to put his hands, let alone his mouth, down her pants. Yuck, he thought.

  Raised voices and girls’ giggles in the back, suddenly drew Chase and Miguel’s attention.

  “She’s so fat! Gross!” Chase heard Whitney say loudly.

  “Yeah and she’s ugly too!” Another girl, Christine said, chiming in.

  “Oh my God! She looks like Miss Piggy!” Whitney burst out, to all the girls’ amusement. Then she started oinking and all the girls mimicked her.

  This time, Chase and Miguel got to their knees and clutched the back of their seat as the bus bounced down the road. Everyone else on the bus had followed suit, wanting to see what was going on.

  “She’s such a freak! She should go sit up at the front of the bus with all the other dorks and the smelly bus driver.” Whitney smirked deviously. All the other girls nodded their heads in agreement with their team leader.

  Chase’s eyes searched for the butt of the girls’ jokes. He scanned the seats and his eyes finally landed on a girl that he had never seen before, with tear-filled dark brown eyes. Wet tracks ran down her plump caramel-colored cheeks, stained pink with embarrassment. Her tears trembled on her chin and then fell to soak the front of her yellow shirt. And her full pink lips trembled.

  The bus rolled to a stop and Chase looked out the window to see that it was his stop. He grabbed his backpack and high-fived Miguel as he stepped over his friend to get to the aisle. The crying girl also stood up, to leave the bus. Chase paused. He wasn’t sure why, but he felt a deep sympathy for the girl.

  As she walked past Whitney, Chase watched as the cruel girl stuck out her foot just as the chubby girl went to walk past her seat. The girl tripped over Whitney’s foot and she fell to the floor of the bus aisle. A sob broke past the girl’s lips and a smug sneer spread across Whitney’s face, as she looked down at the devastated girl. Then the pretty girl looked up at Chase and smiled sweetly, looking for his approval of her harsh treatment.

  At that moment, Chase learned the valuable lesson that external beauty didn’t always match what was on the inside. Even his ten-year-old mind understood the lesson when he saw true cruelty in the pretty girl’s eyes. The beauty he had seen in those giant crystal blue eyes in her pretty pixie face, completely transformed. Chase saw her for who she was and it made his stomach turn. He dealt with a bully every day at home. He wasn’t amused.

  He ignored Whitney’s smile and knelt down in front of the humiliated girl. Her jet black hair that was half down and half up in a side ponytail had fallen forward, covering her face.

  “Here, let me help you,” Chase said, holding out a hand to the girl.

  She looked up in surprise that someone was willing to help her in her hour of need. Her long sooty eyelashes were spiked with tears. When her sad chocolate brown eyes connected with his, Chase didn’t know why, but he knew that this was an important moment in his life. But he shrugged off the feeling as she reached out to take his hand.

  She stood up awkwardly and Chase reached down to pick up her New Kids on the Block backpack. He smiled at her warmly and he let her limp past him so that he could protect her back from any more mean pranks. Chase looked down at Whitney. Her mouth hung open in shock that he hadn’t gone along with her cruel joke. She sat up straighter, snapped her mouth closed, and gave him a sheepish look, trying to save face.

  “We were just messing around, Chase,” She said sweetly.

  “Yeah.” Chase responded doubtfully, then turned and exited the bus.

  Chase hopped down from the last step of the bus and looked around to see where the girl had gone. He spotted her yellow top, ruffled denim skirt, yellow socks, and white Keds. She was headed in the direction of his house. He didn’t recall ever seeing her before in the neighborhood and wondered which house she lived in.

  He quickly jogged over to her. “Hey, wait up,” Chase called out.

  The girl quickly wiped her eyes as he caught up to her and started walking along beside her.

  “I’ve never seen you before. You live here?” Chase asked curiously.

  “Um, y-yeah. We j-just m-moved in.” Her voice hitched as she tried to pull her emotions together.

  “Cool. So, what’s your name?” He continued.

  “D-Daylen Daniels,” she said softly.

  “I’m Chase McCoy,” he said as he hefted his backpack up higher on his shoulders.

  “Nice to meet you, Chase,” Daylen said, keeping her head down.

  Chase could tell that she was still embarrassed by what had happened on the bus. She refused to look at him, finding the concrete sidewalk more fascinating.

  “Don’t worry about those stupid girls, Daylen. I think you’re pretty.” Chase admitted, wanting to make her feel better.

  Once more she looked up at him, shocked by his kindness. Her large almond-shaped eyes seemed to search his for honesty. Chase became bashful and now it was his turn to look down at the sidewalk.

  “T-Thanks.”

  “So uh, what grade are you in? I’m in fifth.” Chase asked, wanting to know more about the new girl.

  “I’m in the fourth grade,” Daylen answered, relaxing marginally.

  Chase stopped in front of the cracked concrete path that lead up to his house. “This is where I live. Where’s your house?”

  Daylen pointed to the house right next door.

  “Really? I saw movers the week before school, but I never saw you. Do you not play outside or somethin’?” Chase asked, still surprised that he hadn’t seen her.

  “I was busy unpacking my room and helping my mom unpack in the other rooms,” Daylen explained.

  “Oh, okay,” Chase said. He wanted to keep talking to her. He’d do anything to keep from going in the house though Daylen cut that thought short.

  “Um, well, I better get inside before my mom starts to worry,” Daylen said awkwardly.

  “Oh yeah, cool. I guess I’ll see ya tomorrow.” Chase kicked at some loose rocks on the sidewalk. “Uh, you can sit with me on the bus if you want. I mean, only if you want to?” Chase offered and shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

  “Uh, sure. That would be nice,” Daylen said. “Um, thanks for h-helping me, Chase.”

  “Sure man, no problem. It was nothing. Girls are stupid.” Chase shrugged it off and then realized what he’d just said. “Uh, I mean…I-I didn’t mean all girls. Those girls are stupid.” Chase stumbled over his words.

  Daylen actually giggled and for the first time since he’d looked at her on the bus. She smiled brightly. “I get it.”

  Chase was shocked at the change in her face. Earlier when he’d said she was pretty, he was mainly just trying to be nice. But her prettiness grew by leaps and bounds when she smiled. It lit up her entire face. Her large cheeks rosy and her eyes sparkling.

  “Well, see ya tomorrow, Chase,” Daylen said as she started to walk to the house next door.

  “See ya, Daylen,” Chase called out to her back.

  He turned to look up at his house. His smiled faded away, he inhaled deeply, and then sighed resolutely as he made his way to the front door.

  Chapter 2

  Daylen stood in front of her mirror after she was dressed for school the next morning. She wore her white stirrup leggings, an oversized hot pink t-shirt with ‘Hey Dude’ written i
n white and tied to the side of her left hip. She put on her matching pink and white slouch socks and Keds. Her hair once again was half up, half down and curled into tight banana curls. A pink clip wrapped around the base of her ponytail to make it stand up high and to the side.

  Daylen prayed that she looked cool enough that the other girls didn’t make fun of her again. She also hoped that Chase still thought she looked pretty and remembered to let her sit with him on the bus.

  “Daylen! Get some pep in that step and get down here to eat, before the bus gets here.” Her mother shouted up to her.

  “Coming, mom!” Daylen yelled back.

  She grabbed her NKOTB bookbag, blew her customary goodbye kiss to her Jordan Knight poster, and ran out of her bedroom. Daylen sped down the stairs and around the corner, into the kitchen. On the table were a bowl and a box of raisin bran next to it. Her heart sank at the sight of the healthier cereal choice. She wanted something extra sweet with some food coloring for good measure.

  “Don’t give that look. Eat your cereal. You don’t need all that sugar.” Her mother, Pat, scolded, reading her mind.

  Daylen collapsed in her chair and slumped down, pouting. It was the only sign of defiance she could get away with and she took it. Her stomach growled, but it took all she had to get the bland cereal down her throat.

  “Here is the permission slip and check for you to join orchestra and to get your cello. I’m putting it in your bookbag so you don’t forget. Make sure you give it to Miss Penny.” Pat opened Daylen’s backpack and slid in the two pieces of paper. “Do you hear me?”

  “Yes, mom.” Daylen fidgeted in her seat for a moment, building up her bravery. “Do I have to play the cello? It’s soooo big! Most of the girls are picking the violin.” Daylen complained.

  “You don’t need to be like most girls. Now finish your cereal before you’re late.” Pat said, officially ending the discussion.