A Relationship Gone Bad:
Inside the Mind of an Adolescent
By Daniel Grevillius
Copyright 2012 Daniel Grevillius
Smashwords Edition
ISBN 13: 978-1-4661-1419-7
Smashwords Edition, License Notes
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Preface
This is a third person account of two young teens and the struggles they went through in their relationship. I wrote this when I was 14 and the main character is a shadow of me and what went through my head at the time. I have made only minor edits to format it correctly, and remove a few glaring grammatical errors, however most of the essence of my 14-year-old mind is still intact. As you are reading this, you must remember that the narrator is a 14-year-old boy who is very naïve about relationships, love, and the world. Enjoy!
Character Outlines
Daniel Parker: Daniel is a fairly relaxed young boy. He is 6'0'', blond hair, and blue eyes. He is probably the most liked at the apartment complex at which he lives.
Andrea McGill: She is a quiet girl who usually keeps to herself unless she is really upset. She is very cautious of giving her heart to a guy. She is about 5'3'', black hair and black eyes. She is half white and half Korean.
Cherri Swift: She could be considered as the bully of the complex. She gets what she wants or she'll hurt someone.
Ambur Smith: The "little bully". She is not quite as bad as Cherri, but her mouth is ten times worse. If you make her mad, she'll get you back. She is Daniel's biggest enemy.
Shauna Hughes: Daniel's best friend and ex-girlfriend. She tries to stay out of other people's business, but sometimes she has to help out. She is probably the most understanding of anyone at the complex.
Laticha Smith: The most hyper girl in Milpitas. She tries to forget her problems and keep them inside, but sometimes, they'll come roaring out. She is probably the most dramatic person in the complex.
Justin: The party freak. He is always partying and smoking a joint. This guy is someone who you would not want to meet on a dark alley at night.
Julius Wiig: He tries to act tough, but he's probably just a baby inside. He's the most likely one of the bunch to grow up to be a pimp.
Leo: The pervert of the complex. He can turn anything into something sick. He and Ambur don't have the best background with each other. He hates her and she hates him.
Brian Xi: Daniel's friend that he spends a lot of time with.
James Garcia: Daniel's best friend. He thinks he is God's gift to women, but he is far from it. He is not the slightest bit shy to talk to any girl.
Chapter 1
The Beginning and the Beginning of the End
On Sunday November 1, 1998, Daniel Parker woke up thinking that it was just going to be a normal, boring, Sunday. Little did he know that he would see his future girlfriend for the first time ever.
When he first went outside, his mom told him to take out the trash. When he went to the trash place, he saw a dog inside of a car just by itself. You usually see that at a store or something like that, but not at an apartment complex. He thought it was sad that someone would leave their dog in a car overnight.
Later, he was outside with some of the kids that lived in his apartment complex. He was standing on this little playground thing with a slide when he saw some girl walking with her family. He had never seen the girl before and wondered who she was. Then, he noticed that the dog that was in the car was with them. He was just standing there looking at the girl. All the kids started to notice what he was doing so he thought he better make a funny comment to keep them from saying something to him. He chose one of the worst ones, but it gave everybody a good laugh. He said, "That girl has a nice butt!" Then, this girl named Michele said to yell it louder, so he did. "Nice butt," he yelled. She didn't hear him, which he was happy that she didn't.
On that Wednesday, his school got out at 12:15. He went over to his friend's house for a while. His friend's name was James. They stayed there for a while, about one and a half hours. They played video games and watched TV and stuff like that. Then, they went to McDonald's to get some food.
There was this one girl at McDonald's that Daniel liked. Her name was Kristan. He was going to buy her lunch, but by the time they got there, she had already eaten. James told his friend Lauren what Daniel was going to do and she started laughing and said that she already left. Daniel and James ordered their food and left to go to Daniel's apartment.
They walked with Lauren and this guy named Azizi half way. Azizi took all of Daniel's French fries. Azizi and Lauren lived in a different neighborhood.
When they got to Daniel's apartment, James ate his food while Daniel changed clothes. James asked Daniel what there was to do there. Daniel said that there was a clubhouse, and James said he wanted to go down there.
When they got down to the clubhouse, Daniel had to help carry food in for a party. After that, they played a game of pool and tried to play Ping-Pong. Neither one of them were very good at Ping-Pong.
They decided to go back up to Daniel's apartment. When they passed by the playground, the girl Daniel had seen on Sunday was there with her little brother. Daniel said, "That girl's heck-a-fine." Then, James went crazy and yelled at the girl. He said, "Hey, what's your name," and, "What's your phone number?" Then, he yelled, "Do you have a boyfriend?" Daniel started laughing and said, "Say that with a butt like that she should." James wasn't shy so he yelled it out. The girl didn't know what to do. She was standing there saying, "Oh my gosh!" James and Daniel went over to her and started talking to her. Well, James talked to her. Daniel was shy and didn't say anything, except, he said, "It's just a question." James asked her where she lived and she pointed at the second floor of the building next to the playground. He asked her what her name was and she said, "Andrea." As the two boys walked away, James said, "Daniel, that's how you do it."
Later, James saw Andrea's little brother, Kenny, and said to him, "Tell Andrea to meet me back here at 4:30 tomorrow." Daniel thought James was stupid because he already had a girlfriend. Kenny said, "Okay."
After James had gone home, Daniel went up to Andrea's apartment and asked her if she liked James. He really didn't want to know that, he just wanted to see her again. He had a crush on her. She said that she didn't know and that she had to go because she was busy. After she shut the door, her step-mom opened the door and said, "Why do you want to talk to my daughter? What is wrong?" Daniel said, "I just wanted to ask her something."
Daniel was too shy to actually talk to Andrea for about the next week, but he would say, "What's up," every chance he got. Then, on Monday night he finally got the guts to go talk to her. She never came down to the clubhouse for more than two minutes. So, Daniel went and asked her, "Why do you never come down to the clubhouse."
"What do you mean?"
"The only time you ever come down there is to get your brother. You never stay down there. You can meet people, and talk to people. What do you do in your apartment?"
"I don't know."
She said that she had to go home and went up the stairs.
That night, Daniel decided that he was going to ask Andrea to be his girlfriend on Wednesday. Wednesday was Veterans Day and there was no school, so he had the whole day to work with. There was one thing in his way, though. His girlfriend Melody. He swore to himself, though, that he would NEVER dump a girl for another girl. So, he had to find a way around that rule. It wasn't too hard. He had two good reasons. The first was that she was about two feet shorter than him. Also, he was 14 and she was only 11.
He used those reasons and told his friends to tell her it was over. He realized he should have told her himself, but he had to get home and he didn't want to deal with it. He felt bad, but he liked Andrea too much to not try to be her boyfriend.
The next evening when he went to the clubhouse, Andrea was actually there. He knew that she was right for him when he saw her sitting there. He was going through his shy mode so he slowly walked past her to the drinking fountain. Then, his friend Brian came up to him and asked, "Do you think that that girl over there is pretty?" He said, "Yeah. I'm going to ask her to go to McDonald's with me tomorrow. But don't tell her." He went in the video game room with Brian, where Andrea was. Everybody was making jokes and throwing gummy worms at each other. Daniel said to Andrea, "Isn't this more fun than just sitting at home?"
The person that Daniel hated the most at the complex had just walked in the clubhouse. Her name was Ambur. To Daniel, it seemed like her purpose in life was to destroy his. Michele was there to, and started talking to Ambur. Michele told Ambur about Daniel saying that Andrea had a nice butt. When he went back to the fountain, Ambur came up to him and said, "Why did you dump Melody, and is it true that you only like that girl for her butt?" He said, "Who said that I even like that girl?" From that point, he didn't want Andrea and Ambur to meet because he knew that if they did, Ambur would tell Andrea all kinds of bad stuff about him.
A couple minutes later, Michele came into the game room and said, "Do you believe that Daniel said that you have a nice butt?" Andrea started laughing and said, "No." Daniel was relieved.
Daniel's mom told him to be home at 6:00. Well, it was 6:00. He didn't want to leave because he knew that if he did, Ambur would start her little thing. Well, he was right. Ambur, Melody, and Andrea all went into the art room and locked the door. Ambur told Andrea that Daniel only liked girls for their body. But, he didn't know until later the next day.
It was Wednesday, and Daniel had a good feeling. He could feel everything that was going to happen the whole day. He went over to the park with all his friends in the complex to play football. They played for about two hours until they got tired. Daniel was going to start getting ready to ask out Andrea when Ambur and Melody came to the park. Daniel gave Ambur a cold look. Ambur asked, "Daniel, where does that new girl live." Daniel was ticked off. He blew his top and said, "Why?!" Ambur said what Daniel feared, "She's my friend!" Daniel said, "No she's not. I don't want you guys to be friends!" Ambur and Melody went back to the clubhouse. When they left, Brian said to Daniel, "After you left last night, Ambur and Melody took Andrea into the art room for a long time talking to her." Daniel knew what they were talking about, him.
After Daniel went home and changed, him and his friend Brenda went up to Andrea's apartment to tell her to go outside. Andrea said that she would be out later. Everybody but Daniel went back to the park to play football.
It had been about an hour and Andrea wasn't outside yet. Daniel was getting really bored. Then, he saw his friend Cherri. Cherri asked Daniel what he was doing. "I'm waiting for Andrea to come outside."
"Let's go up and get her." So, they went up and Andrea said it would be a little while longer.
Daniel and Cherri went to go talk to Ambur after that. Daniel asked Ambur what they talked about in the art room, but the only thing Ambur would tell him was, "Just the truth."
"Well, what's the truth?"
"That you only like girls for their body and stuff like that."
Daniel was mad. He had never liked a girl for just her body, and he never would. Daniel was about to slap Ambur, but he knew it would only make things worse. He argued with her for a long time and then left with Cherri.
Daniel and Cherri were waiting for Andrea at the playground for a long time. Finally, she came out. Daniel asked her what Ambur told her in the art room. She said that they were talking about music artists. Daniel was surprised that she would lie like that. But he told her not to listen to Ambur because Ambur just wanted to destroy his life. He also told her that it wasn't true about him only liking girls for their body. Daniel and Cherri were talking to her and then Daniel saw his friend Justin. Justin came over and started talking. Then, he said he was going to 7-Eleven. Cherri was going to go and asked Daniel, "Do you want to go or stay here with her?" Daniel was going to stay with Andrea at first, but then Justin said, "There you go, Daniel, stay with her." Then, Daniel said, "Yep! That's it Justin." He went to 7-Eleven and told Andrea that he would be back in a few minutes.
Justin took forever at 7-Eleven. Daniel kept saying, "Hurry up! I got to get back to Andrea before Ambur sees her." Finally, they went back across, but Andrea was gone. Justin went home and Daniel went to look for Andrea with Cherri.
Andrea had gone back home. When Daniel and Cherri went back up to Andrea's apartment, she said that she would be out later. So, Cherri and Daniel went to go get Justin and they started talking. They went over by the clubhouse and Daniel went inside, while they stayed outside.
Andrea was in the clubhouse in the video game room. Daniel walked in and Andrea said, "Where were you? I came down here because I thought you would be here." Daniel thought in his head, "She has to like me." Then, he said, "I was with my friends."
"Well are you going to go back out there with them?"
"They're coming in here. I'll be back in a minute."
He went outside to see what Cherri and Justin were doing. They were just sitting there talking. Cherri had been suspended from the clubhouse and they told Daniel to go in the clubhouse and ask if Cherri could go back in. He went in to ask. His mom was the one working at the clubhouse. She said that she couldn't come back in. When he was going back out, he noticed that Andrea was in the TV room watching a movie with some kids, including Melody. He went outside and told Cherri that his mom said that she couldn't go back in.
After he told her that, he got Melody to open the window. He asked Andrea if Melody was telling her anything bad, she said that she wasn't, but like she would tell him anyway. He just stood there for a while and then walked away.
Cherri had involved herself in getting Daniel and Andrea together. So, she was going to go with Daniel and Andrea to McDonald's, but she decided to go to Burger King, instead. Cherri asked Daniel if he was ready to ask Andrea to go to Burger King. It was really hard for Daniel to ask, so he said, "I will, just wait."
The clubhouse was just then closing so Daniel's mom could go eat lunch. Daniel knew it was time to ask her. Andrea, Melody, Rebecca, and Michele all went to the playground. Daniel and Cherri followed them over there. Daniel was under a lot of pressure, but he knew he had to do it. Finally, when Cherri was next to Andrea, he said, "Cherri, are you ready to go to Burger King?" Then, Cherri said, "Andrea, do you want to go with us?" She had to go ask her mom first. Everyone else invited themselves and went to ask their parents also. When Andrea came back, she said that she could go.
Daniel was happy. Melody came back with food her mom had already bought her, so she couldn't go. Michele and Rebecca could both go. So, Daniel, Cherri, Andrea, Rebecca, and Michele all went to Burger King.
On the way to Burger King, Cherri started talking to Andrea about Daniel. Daniel knew what they were talking about. Usually, when someone does that, he would tell them to stop and say it wasn't true. But, this time it was different. He could tell that Andrea liked him. When they got to Burger King, Daniel ordered the food while Andrea and Cherri talked. He kept looking at Andrea to see how she was reacting. She kept laughing.
After they ordered the food, Rebecca's best friend Peiter came through the door. Daniel got mad and told him to leave. Daniel didn't like Peiter because he was what everyone called a nerd. Daniel hated nerds and didn't want his sister hanging around them.
When Rebecca found out that Peiter was there, she ran out to catch him. Daniel got mad. He started yelling at Rebecca telling her not to hang around him, but she didn't listen. Cherri said, "Daniel, I've never seen you take up for your sister like that before." She thought that Peiter was a nerd to.
There were only four people eating there now. They were in a private eating room by themselves. They started throwing ice cubes at each other. Daniel tried to throw one at Cherri, but it slipped and almost hit Andrea. Cherri said, "Daniel, I don't think you should be doing that. You should be impressing her not throwing stuff at her."
When they got back to the apartments, Daniel talked to Cherri about what she and Andrea were talking about. Cherri said that Andrea did like Daniel, but that she wanted to get to know him better. Then, she said that if he asked her out that night she would say yes. It was the best day of Daniel's life.
Daniel, Cherri, and Andrea went to the park for a while, and when they got back, everyone already knew what was going to happen. Everybody came up to Daniel and said, "When are you going to ask her out?" Daniel said that he was going to ask her in about an hour. He went home to get ready. He fixed his hair and put too much cologne on.
When he went back down to the clubhouse, Andrea was watching a movie in the TV room. Daniel went into the video game room and told Michele to tell Andrea to come in there. When Michele came back, she said that Andrea said she didn't want to go into the video room. Daniel got scared that she didn't like him. He went to Cherri's apartment and told her what happened. Brenda came to the clubhouse door and Cherri told her to tell Andrea to come outside.
When Andrea came out, Daniel walked away. Cherri and Andrea talked for a minute and then Andrea went back in. Andrea didn't even look at Daniel, so he was really scared. He went over to Cherri and asked what she said. Cherri said that she told her to tell him to go in the TV room and sit beside her. Daniel went from being scared to being nervous in a second. He was so nervous he was about to fall down. But, he made himself go in there and sit beside her.
He went in and set down beside her. Everyone already knew what was happening. They all got hyper and made Daniel put his arm around Andrea. They indirectly asked for him. But, Daniel never officially asked her. It was like they were going out, but not. Daniel was more nervous at that point than he had ever been his entire life. He had five girlfriends before Andrea, but four of them asked him and Ambur asked the other for him.
This was the first time that he had ever asked for himself. On top of that, everyone in the room was putting pressure on him. He turned as red as red can be. He tried to stop blushing, but he couldn't. He was too nervous.
After a while, Andrea got up and went to the bathroom. Daniel's best friend Shauna was there by that time. She also saw him blushing and said, "Tone done the red." Shauna went into the bathroom because Andrea had been in there for about five minutes. They talked while Daniel talked to Shauna's boyfriend Steve. Finally, they came out of the bathroom.
Daniel and Andrea started walking, but not talking. Daniel was too nervous and shy to talk to her. They stood behind the clubhouse for a long time. Daniel was still too shy to talk, so he just stood there and held her in his arms. Everybody kept looking around the corner at them, so they started walking, but Michele followed them. When they got back to the clubhouse it was six o'clock and Daniel had to go home. So he gave Andrea a hug and left.
When he got home, he thought about not really, officially, asking her out. He told himself that the next day, he had to do it the right way. But at that point, he had no idea how hard his relationship would turn out to be.
The next day, Daniel was still shy, but not as shy. He asked Andrea out the right way. Of course, she said, "Yes." Cherri was with them and they walked over to the park. When they were walking over to the park, Cherri started saying things like, "Daniel, when you go home tonight, you have to kiss her." She kept saying things like that the whole time they were at the park. When they went back to the clubhouse, Andrea had to go home. For some reason, she told Daniel to stay in the clubhouse and not go outside to say bye to her. At first, he stayed in the clubhouse. Then, he remembered he wanted to get her phone number. When he went outside, she said that she didn't know it and pushed him away. She said, "Go back in the clubhouse."
Daniel thought that she was going to break up with him. He got really sad and scared. His friend went out and asked her if she was going to break up with Daniel, and she said that she wasn't. Daniel was trying to figure out why she told him to go back in the clubhouse.
That night, he called Cherri and asked her why Andrea told him to stay in the clubhouse. Cherri said that it may have been because Andrea thought that he was going to kiss her and she thought she had bad breath. Daniel thought it was sort of funny because he didn't really care if she had bad breath. Like it would be a long kiss anyway. Daniel gave Cherri his phone number to tell to Andrea because she was supposed to go to Cherri's apartment before she went home. She never went over there, so she never got the number.
On Friday night, Andrea's step-mom saw Daniel walking with Andrea. Andrea's step-mom didn't want Andrea to have a boyfriend, so when Andrea got home she said that Andrea wasn't supposed to be around Daniel anymore.
On that Saturday, Andrea went to San Francisco. Daniel's friend Ronson also went to San Francisco. Everyone was giving Daniel a hard time saying that Andrea was cheating on him with Ronson. Daniel knew that Andrea wouldn't cheat on him, but he didn't really trust Ronson.
On Saturday evening, Cherri told Daniel about Andrea's mom not wanting her to be around him and that he wasn't supposed to go to Andrea's apartment anymore. Daniel got mad and sad. When he went home, he got on the computer and wrote a "message to the public". It said:
“Hey Parents,
Just because you are parents doesn't give you the moral right to tell your kids who their friends can be. By the time they are 13, they can decide for themselves who they want their friends to be. Now, if your kid wants gang members as friends that could be a different story. But, don't say your kids can't hang around certain people just because they wear baggy clothes or wear gang colors. That's a stereotype, and that's one of the biggest problems in America today. Don't be prejudice and say your kids can't have Mexican, African American, etc. friends. Prejudice has gone too far in this country and it needs to stop. Most importantly, by the time your kids are 14, they are old enough to have a girlfriend or boyfriend. So next time your daughter/son gets a new friend, look at what's on the inside of the person, not what's outside!! Get to meet the person before you decide whether your daughter/son should be hanging around the guy/girl.”
Daniel hung that up by the mailboxes and put two copies of it by Andrea's door, hoping her mom would pick it up and read it. But, her mom most likely never saw it, although after that, she wasn't quite as mean.
On Sunday, Daniel talked to Andrea's brother Kenny and he said that when they went to San Francisco some guy was checking out Andrea's butt. Daniel started laughing because he did the same thing two Sundays before. Daniel's friend Julius had come to visit. Julius thought that he was tougher than Daniel so he kept saying that he was going to take Andrea away from him. He was saying that until he saw her. He thought that Andrea was ugly. Daniel got mad at him and said that he was stupid and that Andrea was pretty. Andrea's parents had gone somewhere so Daniel, Julius, and Cherri all went to Andrea's apartment. Julius kept doing some stupid match tricks. When Julius and Daniel were going to leave, Julius said that Daniel couldn't leave until him and Andrea kissed. Daniel and Andrea kissed, but it was just a little peck, which most of their kisses were. After Daniel and Julius left, Julius kept telling Daniel that Andrea was ugly. Daniel just ignored him because he knew that Andrea was pretty.
On that Monday night, Andrea walked Daniel home and they kissed. Daniel said, "I love you." Andrea just sort of laughed, but didn't say it back to Daniel. But, that's what all of his ex-girlfriends did to. Daniel hadn't learned the power of those three words yet and he used them way too much and way too soon.
On Tuesday night, Andrea's parents were gone, so he went over to her apartment. Andrea's little brother Christian kept wanting Daniel to make him an airplane. He made a paper airplane for him and drew one on his Magna-Doodle. Then, Daniel started writing stories about Andrea on the Magna-Doodle. Andrea's brother Kenny came home and started watching Johnny Quest. Daniel had never watched it before, but Andrea said that it was stupid, so he watched it just to make her mad. Usually, Daniel wouldn't make his girlfriend mad, but he was hyper that night and just wanted to see what she would do. When he left, Andrea gave him a kiss he would never forget. It was perfect. At least, it was perfect compared to the ones before.
On Wednesday, it was their one week anniversary, but Daniel sort of forgot about it. He remembered after he had gone home that night. Nothing exciting really happened until Saturday.
On Saturday, Daniel had written a good-bye note to Shauna because he was moving. In the letter, Daniel mentioned Andrea. He said that he thought Andrea was afraid to make out with him. He worded it wrong. He meant that Andrea acted like she was afraid to sit beside him at her apartment because she thought that if she did, he would try to make out with her. Andrea thought it meant that Daniel wanted to make out with her. She didn't want to move that fast. So after that, she didn't even talk to him. Daniel didn't want to either, but she didn't see that.
Melody got mad at Andrea, so Andrea and Ambur went up to Andrea's apartment. Daniel went up with them, but didn't expect what happened next. Ambur shut the door in Daniel's face and locked him out. He went back downstairs and Julius came. He talked to Julius for a while. Then, Shauna showed up also. He told them what happened and when Ambur and Andrea went across the road, Daniel, Shauna, and Julius followed them. Daniel and Andrea talked, but Andrea still ignored Daniel after that. In fact, Andrea tried to walk away while Daniel was talking to her. Then, Shauna went to talk to Andrea. Shauna did a better job than Daniel did. But, Andrea still went up to Ambur's apartment without Daniel.
Daniel, Shauna, and Julius all went in the clubhouse. They sat there and talked about Andrea. Daniel saw Andrea go home and wanted to go talk to her. Shauna had to go home. Daniel talked to Andrea and got everything worked out. They talked for about 20 minutes and then Andrea went back to Ambur's apartment.
On Monday, Ambur, Andrea, and Daniel went to McDonald's after school. There was this one guy that Andrea knew that was there. His name was Carl. Carl and Andrea started talking. Daniel was watching Carl closely. Daniel had had bad experiences with other guys taking girls away from him, so he got jealous quick. He thought that Carl liked Andrea. When they were walking home, Andrea said, "Oh my gosh! I touched Carl." She was just joking, but it still hurt Daniel. He didn't say anything, but inside he was hurting.
On Tuesday night, Daniel had written two letters to Andrea that he was going to give to her. At first, he was going to tell her before she got the letters, she had to give him a kiss, not a peck, a long kiss. But, Cherri ruined everything. Cherri started reading the first letter, while Andrea was in the clubhouse. She also wanted to read all the other letters that were in his pockets. There were two letters from Andrea and a letter from Ambur in his pocket. Andrea wanted Daniel to go in the clubhouse, so he went in there. She asked Daniel if he was smoking and Daniel wasn't so he said that he wasn't. He went back outside where Cherri was. After a while, Daniel went back in the clubhouse to see what Andrea was doing. Ambur was helping her practice for a play she was doing at school. When he walked in, Ambur said, "Stay in here. It's like you’re going out with Cherri and not Andrea." Daniel said, "Just let me go get the letters, I'll be back in a few minutes." When, he went out to get the letters, Cherri got all mad and said, "Daniel, girlfriends come and go, but friends are there forever." Daniel felt really bad for getting Cherri mad, so he said, "You do got a point there." But, Cherri threw the letters at Daniel and told this kid named Chris to go in the clubhouse and tell Andrea to come outside so that Cherri could break Andrea and Daniel up. Daniel said, "You wouldn't do that." But, she was going to. Daniel and Chris both ran in the clubhouse, but they couldn't find Andrea. Then, she came out and Cherri ran over to her and started talking to her. Cherri yelled at Daniel to go away. He didn't want to get in a fight with Cherri so he walked away and trusted Andrea to not break up with him. He did the right thing. Andrea didn't break up with him and he didn't get in a fight with Cherri. But, Cherri was still doing it. Andrea started to cry and for the first time in seven years, so did Daniel. But, a miracle must have happened because they got everything worked out. Andrea and Daniel were still going out.
The next day was even worse, but this time it was Daniel's fault. Daniel met Andrea and Ambur at McDonald's after school. They set there and talked for a while. But then, Andrea started whispering stuff in Ambur's ear. Daniel thought for the worst and thought that she was whispering stuff about other guys. He didn't really care at first, but they just kept doing it. Finally, Daniel said, "Why do you keep whispering in her ear?" Ambur made the remark that ticked him off. She said, "Because she doesn't want you to hear." He sat there for about a minute and then said, "I'm going to order some fries." Well, he didn't exactly order fries. Without Andrea and Ambur knowing he walked right out the door and left. About half way home, he almost turned around and went back, but he thought for the worst again and decided not to. When he got back to his apartment, the first thing he did was sit down and write a letter to Andrea. It said that he was sorry for leaving McDonald's the way he did and why he left. He went across the street to 7-Eleven and waited for Andrea and Ambur to come. On the way over there he saw his friend Leo. While he and Leo were waiting, Daniel bought Andrea a candy bar. Daniel saw them coming and went outside to give the letter to Andrea. Andrea read the letter. But, it didn't work the way Daniel wanted it to. Andrea was supposed to say that she was sorry also, but she came up to Daniel and said, "I was only telling her not to tell you about what Carl said." She was mad and Daniel was shocked. Andrea and Ambur walked off. Daniel told Leo to just wait for a minute before they followed them. When Andrea and Ambur got across the road, Daniel and Leo started following them. They were just standing there and Daniel asked, "Are you mad at me?" Andrea didn't say anything. Daniel got more depressed than he had ever been before. He walked off throwing his keys at things. Leo said, "It's Ambur's fault." Daniel turned around and yelled at Leo, "No! It isn't!" Leo got scared and walked off.
When Daniel went in the clubhouse, Ambur's sister Laticha had locked herself in the TV room and was crying and everyone else was arguing. Daniel yelled at everyone to stop arguing. Then, Laticha let Daniel in the TV room. He asked her what was wrong and she said, "Everyone's arguing and being mean to me." Daniel said, "Come on. Let's get out of here."
When they were walking out of the clubhouse, Ambur was walking home. Daniel told Ambur to stop so he could talk to her. She wouldn't stop. At that point, Daniel was almost crying again. Finally, Daniel and Laticha caught up with Ambur. Ambur said that Andrea told her not to talk to Daniel. Daniel threw his keys against the wall so hard that it bent all three keys and the key ring. After that, he picked up his keys and ran across the road. At first he didn't plan on ever coming back. Then, when he was walking down the tracks, he decided it wasn't worth it to run away for good. So, he went to his friend's house for about 20 minutes.
When he came back, he went to the clubhouse. The clubhouse director told him that Andrea was looking for him. He left the clubhouse. When he went back outside, everyone was asking him if he and Andrea broke up. He said that they didn't, but he was afraid that they would. He went over to the park and started talking to Cherri's sister Stephanie, who was also having a relationship crisis. Daniel and Stephanie walked back to the clubhouse and set down. About two minutes later, Ambur and Andrea walked in. Andrea didn't even pay attention to him. He told Stephanie that if Andrea didn't start talking to him in ten seconds he was leaving. Stephanie got up and took Andrea outside to talk to her. When they came back in Andrea went over to Daniel and said, "If you don't trust me, we can't have a relationship." Daniel remembered that he learned in 5th grade that the basis of a relationship is trust. Daniel and Andrea talked it out and they stayed together.
After that, they went to help Stephanie with her problems. Her boyfriend Edmund was over at the park playing basketball. Stephanie was having problems with him because she thought he was cheating on her. They talked about it and stayed together also.
That night, Ambur called Daniel and kept asking him what he would do if Andrea broke up with him. He got scared that she was and told her, "If she's going to break up with me just tell me!" She said that Andrea wasn't going to break up with him. She was telling the truth; Andrea didn't break up with him.
That Thursday was Thanksgiving. Daniel's half sister and her family were coming over. Daniel took his little nephew Christopher outside to play at the playground. When Andrea came outside, Daniel told Christopher to say that Andrea had a nice butt. Christopher said that about 4 times.
Later, after Daniel's half sister and her family had gone, Andrea's parents went out to the store. Andrea let Rebecca and Melody in her apartment, but she wouldn't let Daniel in. She told Daniel that she didn't let him in because she would get in trouble for letting him in. This was because he was a guy. But then, she let Chris in. Daniel started to get sad. He wrote, "143 AJ" on a concrete wall by the playground for Andrea.
Later, she went to the door and started playing around saying that her and Daniel broke up. Then, she started kissing all the other guys that were there to make Daniel jealous. Daniel was hurting inside. He didn't say anything about it, though. Andrea didn't know how much her kissing them hurt him, even though she was just playing around.
Right before Andrea's parents came home, Chris went inside Andrea's apartment and locked Andrea out. When her parents came back, he was still in there. She had to yell at him and tell him that her parents were back so he would open the door. When Andrea went inside with her parents, they started yelling at her. At first, everyone was going to stay there, until they heard her dad's voice yelling at her. He was as mad as a person can get. They all ran as fast as they could. Daniel was scared of what her parents were going to do to her. She got grounded until she moved to Salinas, which was about 3 and a half weeks later.
That night, after all of this happened, Daniel was outside with Shauna talking to her about what happened. They walked around the park a couple times and then went to the playground and sat down. After Shauna went home, Daniel stood up on top of the slide at the playground. You could see inside of Andrea's apartment from up there. He did it twice. The first time, he thought Andrea's dad saw him. He jumped down and ran. The second time, he saw Andrea just standing by the kitchen sink with her head down. She was really sad.
Daniel had gotten a bracelet for Andrea on Thursday morning. On Saturday, he went to get a necklace for her. He was wondering when he would give it to her. On Saturday night, her parents were gone, so he could give them to her. But, he didn't want to give them both to her at the same time. So, he gave the bracelet to her and told her he had something else for her and would give it to her later. He was going to give it to her on Sunday, but she couldn't come out any on Sunday.
On Monday, Daniel and Ambur walked with Andrea home. Daniel gave the necklace to Andrea and Ambur took a picture of them together. When they got to the apartments, Daniel had to ask the question that would lead to a commitment. He asked Andrea, "After I move, are we still going to be going out?" She said that she would have to think about it.
Tuesday was his last day of school, which meant the last time Daniel would be walking home with Andrea. Andrea still didn't have an answer to the question. Daniel kept saying that he needed a yes or no answer. She kept saying that she didn't know.
Daniel got grounded because he was late getting home. He had to move some stuff down to Hollister where his new house was. Daniel didn't want to move and would have given anything to stay in Milpitas. But, he also looked at it in a good way. Moving to Hollister would make him closer to Andrea after she moved to Salinas.
That night, Daniel called Andrea to get an answer. She never did answer him. He was waiting for an answer that whole week of endless moving, but never got one.
Sunday was Daniel's last day in Milpitas. He went around saying bye to everyone. He went up to Andrea's apartment about five times. Her parents were gone, so she didn't get in trouble. She still didn't have an answer. She just kept saying that it would be hard. Daniel said bye to everyone before he left. He got everyone's phone numbers and addresses. The last person from the apartments that he saw was Andrea. He was almost in tears the whole way to Hollister. When he left, he turned Andrea's answer into a yes and made a commitment. He made a commitment that no matter how hard the relationship got, he would make sure that it works, but after he left, it got really hard.
Chapter 2
The Ending
Every time that Daniel called Andrea, she would say that she was busy and couldn't talk. She never called him, either. She did write, though. In the letters she would say that she missed him. But, she never did answer him. She just kept saying that it would be hard. Daniel thought that she was trying to get him to break up with her, or get him to realize that the relationship would be too hard to deal with. But, Daniel wouldn't back down. He made his commitment that he would make the relationship work.
Every day, the only thing that Daniel could think about was Andrea. Every day he would almost cry. Then, when she starts joking around on the phone he hurts down inside.
On Dec. 12, Daniel called Ambur and she said that Andrea was going out with someone at her school. Then, on Dec. 15, He called Laticha and she said the same thing. They both said that they were joking, but it made Daniel think. What if she was? Not that Daniel didn't trust her, but if she really did like Daniel, she would miss him and miss his hugs and kisses. She might turn to anyone who was willing to give her the love that she missed.
Then, he called Andrea the next day. In an earlier letter, she wrote that she would give her new address to him sometime. But, when he asked for it she said that she didn't know it. He knew that it was possible she could be lying, since she lied about not knowing her phone number, which hurt Daniel deeply. It made him wonder about her possibly moving and then never calling or writing to him after that. But then, Andrea said to trust her that she would call when she got moved. But, she couldn't promise him, which really started to scare him. She claimed she didn't have her address and she couldn't promise him that she'd call. But, Daniel trusted her that she would call him. But, still, it was too weird. Maybe that would be her way of not having to answer the question. It's been a week and a half since he left now, and she still hadn't answered the question. Daniel actually got sick over the whole thing. The next morning, he couldn't go to school because his stomach hurt and he almost threw up. All because he was scared of what might happen. But, he had to trust her. He knew how much Andrea liked him. She could never bring herself to do something like that.
Now, here's Daniel just sitting and waiting. Hoping that she doesn't do something like that. He trusts her. Maybe he has just watched too many movies where stuff like this happens. There's this one song he has been listening to lately that describes the way he feels perfectly. It's on the 'N Sync CD and it's called "Everything I Own". It says that he would give his life, his heart, and his home just to have Andrea back again. It's true. He would give everything he owns to have her back again. He just hopes that everything goes as planned and they go to Northridge on the 26th.
On Dec. 18, Daniel called Andrea, but she actually wasn't allowed to talk on the phone. Her mom got on the phone and told him never to call there again. He talked to Ambur and she said that Andrea had another boyfriend. Andrea said that it was a lie and he had to trust her. He wrote Andrea a letter about being scared she would leave and never call or write again. This is what it said:
Wed. Dec. 16, 98
Andrea McGill,
What's up? I'm not doing fine at all. I woke up sick this morning because of everything that's been going on. I talked to Ambur and she told me what I feared. She told me that your waiting for me to say that's it's too hard and it's not going to work out. If that's the truth, I'm sorry, but I can't do that. I told you when I moved that I would make the relationship work. I committed myself to making it work and I can't back down. If you feel that it's too hard for us to stay together, you need to call me or write to me and tell me yourself. I don't really know if I should believe her or not. It does seem sort of like that's what you’re doing, but I can't bring myself to believe that you would do that to me. You've been too nice to me to do that to me. I've worked so hard to make this relationship work all ready. I just hope that you don't feel like it's not going to work. When I told Ambur about everything she thought the same thing I did earlier. That you might move and never call or write again. Especially after you said in one of your letters that you would give me your Salinas address later, but when I asked for it you said you didn't have it. I want to trust you that you don't have it, but you lied about your phone number. You could have least told me that you didn't like it when guys call you, instead of just saying you didn't have your number. I didn't go to school today, because I felt too bad. I got sick because I kept thinking about you leaving without calling or writing ever again. But, you told me to trust you. The basis of a relationship is trust, so I trust you that you’re going to call or write. Ambur told me that we would probably be better off without each other. I personally don't believe that. You are the most wonderful girl I've ever known. I'd give everything I own just to have you back again. Some girl named Heather asked me out on Monday, I told my friend to go tell her that I already had a girlfriend. I didn't even know who the girl was, and I still don't. I didn't care who she was because she wasn't you. Nobody could ever take your place. I'm serious. You mean so much to me; I can't count all the reasons why. You are the first girl that ever actually made me feel loved. For that alone, you are the most important person in my life. When Ambur told me on the phone that you were going out with someone else, I almost fell down on the ground. Losing you would be like losing air, it's like not being able to breathe ever again. All I'm asking is that if you truly do feel like it's not going to work, tell me now. Don't leave me hanging on to someone from the past. Please. I have to go. Bye.
Love ya,
Daniel Parker
He started sending her a lot of letters. She probably was getting tired of it, so he decided to stop until he heard something back from her.
The hardest part of the relationship seems to possibly be over now. Things should start to calm down and the relationship should get easier. He began not to think about her quite as much. For the first time in a week, he could actually have fun. All he has to do now is wait for her to call him or write to him.
He was sure that everything would work out so, he started saving money to buy Andrea something for Christmas. He was not exactly sure what he was going to get her, but it was going to be something nice.
Just as everything seemed to be brightening up, he got a letter from Andrea saying that the relationship was over. It was so sad. After everything he'd done, she broke up with him. She got the letter he sent the day before, but it didn't change anything. It was over. She meant more to him than anyone he'd ever met. His commitment didn't mean anything anymore.
He liked Andrea too much to just let her slip away. Ambur told him that he should just back off, but he couldn't. Andrea told him to write back, but she still didn't give me her Salinas address.
In the letter she wrote, it said that Daniel was trying to control her life and he was mean to her guy friends. This was totally not true. At first, he was mean to Carl, but he changed. He even told her to say what's up to him in one of the letters he wrote to her. She also said that he only thought about his feelings. All he thought about anymore was her feelings. Then, she doesn't listen to him on the phone, because after he already told her that Ambur told him she was going out with Carl, she asked him why the heck he thought she was going out with Carl. What really made him feel bad was that she wrote that she wanted to go out with other guys. It was going to be really hard to get back together with her, but he prayed that he could do it.
On Saturday, the letter he sent to Andrea on Wednesday got returned to him for some reason. He didn't know why. It was weird.
By Thursday, he still hadn't heard from Andrea yet. If he didn't here from her by Saturday, he was going to send his final letter to her. He had already written the letter, but he hoped he wouldn't have to send it to her. Ambur claimed that she didn't have Andrea's phone number, and he wanted to trust her, but she lied to him before so it's really hard to trust her.
The letter he wrote to Andrea said that what she did was wrong. It's wrong to move away like that and never call or write to your friend ever again. He also told her that he never wanted to hear from her again because he didn't want to be friends with someone that hurt him like that. He didn't want to send it to her, but if she didn't call or write, it's what he'd have to do.
Daniel had Mattie-Lou and Melody work undercover for him to find out if Ambur was telling the truth about not having Andrea's new phone number. He called them that night to see what they found out. They said that Ambur did not have the phone number.
Daniel couldn't bring himself to send the "final letter". On Sunday the 27th, he wrote a letter to Andrea that asked her why she hadn't written or called. He had finally gotten over her. He didn't have feelings for her like he did anymore. She couldn't be more than just a friend to him now. He let her know that in the letter. He didn't like her anymore, but she was still his friend. He felt bad when his friends were mad at him.
He also wrote a letter to Ambur. It was the longest letter he'd ever written. It was 4 front and back pages plus the front of a fifth. He told her a lot of hidden secrets that he had never told her before. He also told her how much he missed her. She had really been there for him through his last days in Milpitas.
He was waiting for Andrea to call, but she never did.
Chapter 3
Moving On
It was Friday January 8th, 1999. It was a good new year so far, except Daniel was losing friends. Ambur claimed that she had Andrea's phone number. She gave Daniel a number, but not the number he wanted. So, he wrote Ambur a letter saying that he wanted to be her friend, but all the pranks had to stop. He let her know that he didn't like all the pranks she pulled on him. Usually, her pranks didn't work, but they still got annoying. He sent that out to her. She never called or wrote back. Andrea never called or wrote either. That's two friends that he lost.
That night, at about 11:00, he woke up because his pager was going off. He was wondering who would be paging him at 11:00 on a Thursday night. When he checked to see who it was, it only said 69. Someone was playing a joke again. He knew that whoever it was would do it again, so he put it on vibrate so he didn't have to listen to it. As soon as he put it on his dresser, it went off again, and once again it only said 69. It was too loud on the dresser, so he put it down on the floor, where it went off for a third time. He wondered who would have done that. The only people who know his pager number were Ambur, Andrea, and Mattie-Lou, he thought. Mattie-Lou wouldn't do that, and 11:00 seems too late for Ambur, so he was stuck with Andrea. Maybe it was Andrea's way of telling him she was still mad at him.
Later on that night, he had a dream about Andrea. He dreamed that Andrea moved in next to him. In the dream, the first and only thing she said to him was, "Your girlfriend keeps calling me." Now wait, even if he did have a girlfriend, how is she going to get Andrea's phone number when he didn't even have it. So he said, "What girlfriend?" She said, "The one that goes to your church." Daniel didn't even go to church! He said, "I knew Ambur would do something like this," without even thinking. He thought maybe it was a sign that Ambur was keeping something from him.
On Friday February 12th, Daniel finally got some e-mail back from Andrea. Finally! But, he should have seen it coming. She told him never to write to her ever again. Never! He showed his friends the e-mail and they said that they were going to terrorize her. Andrea said that she didn't live in Salinas, but Florida. I don't know if that's true, but if it is, I'm sure Ambur knew about it the whole time. I'm not going to tell Ambur anything about this to see if she'll come out and tell me that she did know. I know that she knew something.
After that, the name Andrea meant nothing to Daniel. The case was closed and he forgot about her. The strangest thing happened though. The dream about the girlfriend that went to his church wasn't totally wrong. He started going to church and met this girl named Nicole Laspina. They got together for about a week and then broke up. Then he got together with another girl from the same church. Maybe that dream had some sort of hidden meaning in it.
I guess this brings me to the end of my story. There are four morals to this story. The first is don't move to fast into a relationship. The second is DON'T try to maintain a long distance relationship unless you are mature enough to handle it, but even then it could turn out like this relationship did. The third is that trust is the basis of any relationship. Without trust, there is no true relationship. Finally, the fourth, think about what you want to say before you say it. Don't say things you don't mean, and especially, don't say you love someone unless you truly mean it.