"What do I do?" Dan asked himself while lying in bed in his bedroom. You can see in his face that he is troubled. He buried his head in his pillow. From all around his room, you can see different things that best described his personality - scattered albums and photographs, a DSLR camera, Sherlock Holmes book compilation, Clue do game board, travel and photography magazines, laptop, guitar, song books, music sheets, a basketball - typical for a teenage boy who loves photography, solving mysteries and playing ball. He glanced at the clock above his study table - 11 o'clock.
"Ugh, can't sleep," he groaned. He decided to get out of bed, he checked his personal refrigerator in the corner of his room. It's always stocked with his favorite beverage - root beer and chocolates. "Thank you, Mom." He got a can of root beer and sit beside his bed. He suddenly saw a photo album underneath his bed. He opened it. It is their friendship album. All three of them has it. Libby, Mimi, and Dan. Libby made it for them. Her gift to them last Christmas. You can see their pictures from Kindergarten up to Grade 9. Them three, they're inseparable, always together. They were called the cool trio. Mimi always excells in any subject. She's always the school representative for Quiz Bee and Academic conference. Libby is always a leader, the head of school committee, the school council president, party and event organizer. While him - Dan, is the school's all rounder - brainy and handsome. Captain of basketball team, Head of School Clubs, Debate Champion, Head of the Photography Club.
"Mimi and Libby were so cute when we are younger," He smiled. God knows he will do everything to protect his friends. They're too precious for him. That's why he seems troubled and torn. He checked his phone and a message pops out:
"Don't do it Dan. Please. Think it over. I love you."
The message is from his girlfriend - Kate. They are going out for three months now. Kate is also a smart girl. They are in the same class, with Mimi and Libby also. They got close during the school's sports retreat last summer. Kate is the captain of their school's girls basketball team. She's so good as a player.
"Don't worry Kate. I'll think about it. Love you too. Sleep well okay? See you tomorrow." he replied. Now Dan is really torn. He has to make a decision soon. He's afraid that whatever he do regarding this situation, he will have to hurt someone.
"Okay, enough of this. Need to sleep. Needs to rest. So much work to do tomorrow." He stood up to throw his now empty root beer can and clean up a bit. He fixed his bed, set his alarm clock, lay on the bed, uttered a short prayer then closed his eyes.
His alarm went off at exactly 6 o'clock in the morning. Dan opened his eyes. He felt tired. It's like just closing his eyes then opening them but it's already morning. He sat up, did a light stretching, then stood up to fix his bed. He's always like that. Cleaning his own mess immediately. After he went out of his room to their second floor bathroom to freshen up a bit before coming down to the dining room where a breakfast is already set up. While walking downstairs he smelled the aroma of freshly baked bread and cooked eggs and corned beef.
"Hmm.. smells nice here. Good morning Mom," Dan greeted his mom before sitting. His mom Grace is a stay at home mom. She used to worked at corporate accounts but decided to stay home to take care of her family. Now, you can usually find her in the kitchen, either baking which she do as a hobby, or making cooking videos. Grace has her own YouTube account where she uploads videos of her wide variety cooking.
Grace smiled. "Good morning Dan. Eat up. Your dad's already at work. He needs to prepare for an important meeting." Eric, Dan's dad owns a travel agency. He runs it himself but has a total of ten staff. He's always busy attending meetings and conferences mostly out of town and out of the country. "What do you want for dinner later baby?" She still calls Dan his baby. Dan is their only child. So she treats him like a baby.
"Mom, can you please stop calling me baby?," said Dan
"I'm already sixteen."
Grace laughed. "I can't help it. You're still like a baby to me," she looks at Dan fondly. She can see Eric's features in Dan's when he is younger.
"Fine. But please not in front of my friends," he asked sulkily.
"Okay, okay. So, what's for dinner later?"
"Something simple Mom. How 'bout fish fillet and buttered veggies Mom? Or instead of buttered veggies, Caesar salad?"
"Sure. I can make that. I have all of the ingredients here so I don't need to go to the grocery store."
"And Mom, can I bring Libby and Mimi here later?"
"Sure baby. I think it'll be good for Mimi. She needs to clear her head and not think of what happened. We all know that she's not guilty. We know her eversince."
"Thanks Mom, you're the sweetest," Dan said smiling.
"Finish your breakfast sweetheart. It's almost 7 o'clock. You don't want to be late."
Dan eat hurriedly. Finishing almost everything his mom gave him. After, he collected his plate and put it in the sink.
"I'm done Mom."
"Okay, head upstairs then."
Dan walked up to his room, prepare his things, took a shower, put his uniform on, then went down. He walked to the kitchen where his mom is drinking her tea and preparing to make another video for her YouTube channel. He collected his packed snacks and drinks prepared by his mom, kissed her on the cheeks, then head out the door. He checked his watch - seven thirty. He looked up and saw a red convertible nearing their driveway. It's Kate. He hopped inside and kissed Kate. Kate then drove towards school.
"This is gonna be a great day," Dan thought.