The following day was a school day and it started like every other dreary Monday morning except this day was going to be different - Dan would insist upon it. Dan had finally won his ongoing battle with himself around his feelings of guilt and sensibility. He’d decided to finally send a very clear, but different, message to two girls at his school today. His intentions were to set Ally straight; she was clearly a liar and a thief, and he had no time for such an immoral character in his life or his circle of friends. Jen would receive a kinder message and hopefully one that would be reciprocated. After all of her outrageous flirting and suggestive remarks Dan was finally ready to take their burgeoning romance to the next level. He was at ease with his decision to officially dump Ally and get serious with Jen. The fact that Jen would be Dan's girlfriend would spread like a wild fire through the schools rumor mill; it was going to be an eventful day.
The walk into school went surprisingly quick, Dan had procrastinated by dragging his feet but rehearsing his lines and thinking about how he would handle various scenarios, conversations and individuals was a welcome distraction that had occupied his time. He’d arrived at the school almost on autopilot, as he couldn't remember details about his journey or passing any of the familiar landmarks upon his route. Upon arrival at his school and the creature of habit that he was, he headed for the same morning meeting area that he always did. He saw the usual group of kids and walked over to them in a determined mood.
"Look what the cat dragged in from the weekend!" laughed Ray, teasing Dan about his disheveled look.
"I think it's hot," smiled Jen - even though she preferred Dan to look neat, rather than his rugged appearance today; she knew she could work on his appearance once she had him to herself.
Ally was a bit more hesitant, "Hi, how are you?" she said looping her arm around his forearm and sending a strong signal to Jen.
"I'm fine thanks," snapped Dan, moving his arm away abruptly and sending a completely different signal to Jen. Jen noticed Dan’s cool reaction and liked the way he had rebuffed Ally’s show of affection. Dan flicked his unruly hair back out of his eyes and tried to smooth it out. He barged past Ally and stood closer to Jen, very close. Ray's initial laughter quickly subsided as his confused look turned to shock when he realized Dan was moving in on his girl.
"What are you doing?" he barked.
"Using my head," said Dan, "I find when it comes to women you often have to see past your heart and use your head." Dan remembered the broken twisted lifeless body of Ryan, betrayed for following his heart. Ally's face crinkled in disgust, she was angry, confused, embarrassed and hurt. Ally's face flushed a bright crimson color; she could feel the heat of her embarrassment in her cheeks. She stared at her feet, hanging her head in shame before turning quickly and deciding to just walk away. She headed to the far end of the cafeteria before exiting to get some fresh air trying to conceal her tears.
"That was intense and totally deep dude," said Ray breaking the awkward silence. Jen was delighted to shuffle a little closer to Dan where her arm touched his. Ray was not pleased but tried to distract them, "I have some good news to share with you both - I'm going to Paris, yeah!" Ray's ‘yeah’ was not as enthusiastic as he’d wanted it to be, the sight before him confirmed his chances of getting with Jen had fallen to zero. "Did either of you hear me? I'm going to Paris."
"What, say that again - you're going?" said Dan, finally listening and pretending to care, "I thought your money was stolen?"
"Here's the funny thing dude, I put it in an envelope and shoved it into my backpack right. A few days later I flung my backpack on my bed at home and the envelope peeked out from a tear in the inside lining. It was in there the whole time, in my backpack - isn't that great news, so I didn't lose it at all."
Dan's eyes widened as the truthful words hung in the air to remind him what a colossal fool he’d been. Ray was excited and pleased; Dan was not.
There was a look of horror on Dan’s face, "Oh no," Dan reached for his backpack laying on the floor at his feet, snatched it up with one hand and ran after Ally leaving Jen with her mouth wide open.
What a fool he'd been, what an idiot. Luckily for Dan he remembered where Ally always went when she wanted to be alone at school. He caught her crying, angry and alone; Dan decided that honesty was his best defense and came clean around his feelings of suspicion. He begged for forgiveness and to his surprise Ally fell relieved into his arms and cried even harder. He leaned in and kissed her lightly on the lips staring at her beautiful eyes, "I've been such a fool, I'm so sorry I ever doubted you, but I couldn't see how you could ever get the money and every time I asked you wouldn't tell me."
"It's partly my fault," said Ally through her tears.
"No, no, it's not your fault at all, it's all my fault, my mess up and I'm sorry."
"Just listen to me Dan, just be quiet for a second and listen." Ally had never spoken this directly to Dan before so he immediately complied. "I was sworn to secrecy and I made a promise. I promised I would never, ever, reveal where I got the money from for this trip; but I'm going to break my promise for you. Here goes," she said taking a deep breath, "I got the money from your Mum, Liz."
Dan's eyes widened, "What? - I don't understand."
Ally interrupted, "She showed up at my house one night and talked with my Mum, she asked me how I felt about you and told me that you really liked me."
"Awww man," Dan rubbed his face in embarrassment and anger.
"Don't be mad at her, she said that you'd been a different person, a better person, since you met me. So she really wanted me to go on this trip with you and that's when she gave us an envelope containing enough money to send me to Paris - she insisted. My Mum was embarrassed, we both tried to refuse and give it back but your Mum, but she was so insistent, I mean really insistent."
"That's my Mum," Dan said rolling his eyes.
"She wants us to be together, she said she had a feeling about me and the positive influence I had on you, I liked that, and I want us to be together. She said she'd worked really hard for this money and she couldn't think of any better way to spend it than bringing you happiness."
Dan and Ally patched up their fractious relationship and eventually agreed that Liz had done a wonderful thing. Liz didn't have a lot of money to spare and she’d sacrificed to enable Ally to be with Dan in Paris. She wanted them to be together because she knew how much it meant to Dan. Perhaps her struggles to find the right partner in her own life weighed heavily into her decision.
For once the school day flew by with interesting classes and a long walk with Ally at the lunch break to talk through the past week’s events. Ally had stopped walking at one point, she’d squeezed Dan's hand and turned to face him, "Let's make a promise; let's never keep secrets from each other again - it only causes problems and I don't want problems between us ever again. Here’s to no secrets."
"No secrets," said Dan, thinking about the Dream Cane, Raj, and his new adventuresome life. Dan paused, reflected, and opened his mouth as if he were about to speak, feeling ashamed he closed his mouth again and just smiled.
Once the day was drawing to a close, Dan had walked home feeling relieved and confident in his renewed feelings for Ally. He was extremely proud of his Mother's intervention and overwhelmed by her generosity. He thought carefully about how he would address this topic with his Mother that night at dinner. Dan was rehearsing his words, thoughts and responses; he was so much in his head that he walked right past the makeshift sign taped to the restaurant window informing patrons that they would be closed tonight.
Dan bounded up the stairs leading to his apartment; he entered announcing his arrival, "Hi Mum, I'm home." Dan moved quickly to his bedroom where he stored his heavy backpack and joined his Mother in the living room."
She looked nervous, concerned and was quiet, "I have something to talk with you about, come, sit here," she said, patting the couch cushion next to her.
Dan thought he'd put her at ease right away so she didn't have t
o fret, "I know Mum. I know what you did for Ally and I just wanted to say I'm really proud of you - thank you so much. Mum, I'm not mad at you, I love you."
Liz stared at Dan; she was taken aback and surprised she was having this conversation, "Thank you love, and I love you too - but that's not what I want to talk to you about." She looked downwards and grabbed his hands cupping them tenderly. Tears welled up in her eyes, "It's Raj, I'm so sorry love, this afternoon he suffered a massive heart attack. I was out shopping but when I got home I got a call from the hospital from my boss. She told me not to come in to work tonight; I’m so sorry love but Raj has passed away. I'm so sorry love, I know you were so close."
Too many thoughts battered there way into Dan's head as he sat there silent and in shock.
The End …
"The moment you stop believing in fanciful things, the world stops being fanciful."
- Phil Armstrong
Author’s note: Jean d’Alluye was a real crusader knight but his exploits and association with the order of the Golden Fleece are fictional and written for entertainment purposes only.
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