Just Beyond

By Tia Austin

Fifteen-year-old Lane is fed up with his boring and predictable life. Also, the pressure from his parents to always be the best has him frustrated, to say the least.

Danny is a shy freshman who loves to stay at home and listen to music or play board games with his younger sister. He hates going to school - and not just because some of his

• Language: English
• Publisher: Book Vine Press
• Release date: Jul 31, 2021
• ISBN: 9781955885089

Book preview

Contents

Chapter One Danny

Chapter Two Halsey

Chapter Three Lane

Chapter Four Persuasion

Chapter Five Strange Happenings

Chapter Six Reality Check

Chapter Seven Trying Again

Chapter Eight The Hard Truth

Chapter Nine Mixed Feelings

Chapter Ten The Same Old Thing

Chapter Eleven A Magic Book

Chapter Twelve Other-Folk

Chapter Thirteen Discussions

Chapter Fourteen Giants

Chapter Fifteen Explanations

Chapter Sixteen Camping Out

Chapter Seventeen Reed

Chapter Eighteen Friday Night

Chapter Nineteen Troubles

Chapter Twenty Taking A Stand

Chapter Twenty-One Surprises

Chapter Twenty-Two Aftermath

Chapter Twenty-Three Goodbyes

Chapter One

Danny

Danny stared at the big, round clock high on the classroom wall.

Tick.

Tick.

Tick.

Two minutes until the final bell rang. He wished he could stuff his books into his backpack right now, zip it shut. But Mr. Whitmarsh would glare at him if he made any noise while he was still talking. Who cared what happened when you put copper into nitric acid? Danny just wanted to get off the school grounds as fast as possible.

Tick.

Tick.

Tick.

Finally! The long, loud ringing signaled the end of the school day. Everyone shuffled books, pens, and papers as Mr. Whitmarsh rattled off reminders about tonight’s homework, but no one was really listening.

Danny shrugged into his backpack and slipped quietly out of class, heading for freshman hall and his locker. The hallways were crowded and noisy, and it wasn’t long before he could hear the usual remarks being thrown in his direction. He didn’t even need to listen to know what they were saying. He’d heard them all before.

There goes dorkus!

You mean d-d-d-dorkus.

Don’t trip over your own feet!

Laughter. Admittedly, Danny had tripped over his own feet once, going down the same hallway he was passing through at that moment. Right in front of everyone, of course. Right in front of them. Damon, Alex, and Joey.

Most of his schoolmates had mercifully tried pretending they hadn’t noticed when he stumbled and fell flat out on the floor, his heavy backpack sliding up onto his head.

But not them. Oh, no. Danny had already been an easy enough target for them because of his stuttering, but now they’d had a real laugh. Clumsy, stuttering Danny! Tripped over his own feet! Ha ha ha! And we saw it ourselves!

It was as if they’d made a pact with each other. Let’s never let him forget it!

And they hadn’t.

Danny had gotten used to it by now, but that didn’t make it any easier to bear their endless teasing.

He had some friends, of course, good friends. But most of the students at Lincoln High, he knew, kept their distance from him for fear they would become a target themselves. Being someone who everyone wanted to avoid was hard enough, but what Danny really couldn’t stand were the looks of pity he got from time to time, especially from the girls. He did not want to be pitied. He would rather be invisible.

He kept his gaze on the scuffed linoleum floor as he made his way down the hall and out through the main doors, feeling a wave of relief as the crisp, cool air of the October afternoon enveloped him.

He shifted his heavy backpack on his shoulders as he began the four-block trek home.

When he finally pushed open the front door, he let out a sigh of relief.

I’m home, he announced, shutting the door behind him.

Hey, Danny, his mother’s voice called out from down the hallway. How was school?

F-fine.

Danny kicked off his shoes, adding them to the jumbled heap already beside the door, then headed down the hall, pausing in the doorway of the room his mother called her office. He still chuckled at the use of the word office for the space. Yes, there was a desk, and yes, it had a computer, along with drawers full of travel books and brochures she used when booking trips for clients. But the room also doubled as an art studio; a large easel stood by one window, holding a half-finished work, surrounded by crates and bags of painting supplies. Shelves lining the opposite wall were stuffed to bursting with bins, boxes, and baskets full of various odds and ends, anything from holiday decorations to Danny and Hannah’s preschool art masterpieces to the past year’s bank statements.

You’re sure it was fine? Danny’s mother asked.

He nodded.

Hungry?

Almost.

She smiled. Well, why don’t you hang out for a bit? I just need to finish up here and we’ll get started on an early dinner. Sound good?

Sure, Danny replied, smiling and heading off to his bedroom. He dropped his heavy backpack onto the carpeted floor and flopped on his stomach onto the bed, reaching across it to where he’d left his mp3 player on the floor. He settled his earbuds into his ears and turned the volume up on Hey Jude. After a moment, his sister appeared in the doorway.

Hey, Danny.

He couldn’t hear her—the music was too loud—but he could see plainly that was what she’d said.

He tugged out one of the earbuds.

Hey, Hannah.

I’m going to take Chips for a walk, she informed him. Want to come?

Danny considered it. How f-far?

That depends on whether or not you come with me.

Danny smiled at his sister. He knew where she wanted to go, where she wanted to take their chocolate lab. If he didn’t go with her, she would only walk him around the three blocks of their neighborhood. Sidewalks. Only sidewalks. The city park, on the other hand, was wide, flat, and grassy, with oak and aspen surrounding it. Chips loved it there.

Okay, I’ll g-go with you.

Super, Hannah replied with a bounce in her step. I’ll go get my jacket.

Of course Danny would go with her. She was his little sister—three years younger, still in 6th grade, and he would do anything to look out for her. Even if it meant having to leave his music behind.

Sure, she could be a pest at times, Danny admitted to himself as he sauntered back down the hallway. Hannah tugged her dark, wavy hair out of her jacket collar. Yes, she could be a pest at times. She was only twelve, after all, but pest or not, Danny had a soft spot in his heart just for her. She really could make him smile.

Chips danced and wagged his long, stiff tail as he watched Hannah pull his leash down off the hook by the door. Hannah smiled over at Danny when she saw him coming.

Mom! she called down the hallway. Danny and I are taking Chips for a walk!

All right! Kim replied.

Danny stuffed his arms into the sleeves of his jacket, zipping it up to his chin as they went outside. Chips dragged Hannah down the sidewalk, pulling hard at his leash, nose to the ground. Danny considered trying to help her, but he could see that she was holding her own against the four-year-old lab. So, instead, he stuffed his hands into his pockets and walked silently beside her.

Danny enjoyed the silence as Chips zig-zagged between the trees edging the park. The smooth, flat cement pathway split, heading off in two different directions. Danny looked off into the park in the direction of the path Hannah had chosen, then stopped.

N-no, Hannah, he told her, and she looked back at him.

What?

D-don’t go that way.

Why not?

Danny looked again just to be sure. Yes, he had seen right. It was Damon and a bunch of his pals. Danny had seen enough of them at school. Why did they need to come here? To his park?

Are those guys from the high school? Hannah asked, and Danny nodded.

Bullies?

Danny winced at the word, then nodded again, hating to admit that he feared them. Hating his stutter.

Let’s just g-go the other way, he suggested.

Come on, Danny, Hannah said, her chin held high and her eyes flashing. If they say anything to us, I’ll tell them off for you. I’ll kick them in shins.

N-no, Hannah. P-please. I just want p-peace. Let’s g-go the other way.

Hannah sighed. Okay. Come on, Chips. This way.

The chocolate lab’s license tags jingled and clanked as he hurried along happily, oblivious to Danny’s tension. His embarrassment. Why did Hannah seem so much braver than he was? Why was she so willing to stand up to bullies when he wasn’t? Why did punks like Alex need to pick on him in the first place? Danny didn’t want to be different. Stress only made his stutter worse, anyway. If the guys at school didn’t tease him, he wouldn’t get tense, and he wouldn’t stutter so much. Why couldn’t they just accept him, the way Hannah and his parents did, the same way they accepted his love for music or the loose curls in his hair? 

You know what? Hannah spoke again at last.

What?

We should play Trivial Pursuit again. Just you and me.

Danny smirked and shrugged. I always b-beat you, though.

"You have always beat me. That doesn’t mean you always will."

Danny laughed softly.

So? Hannah urged. Will you? Play me? This weekend, maybe?

M-maybe, Danny replied with a teasing smile.

Okay. Hannah grinned back at him. Just you watch out. One of these days, I will be just as smart as you are.

Chapter Two

Halsey

Halsey could hear the music pulsing from the garage as soon as she set foot on the front steps. Tugging at the woven lanyard that kept her house key hidden under her clothing, she unlocked the door and let herself in. Just like she did every day.

Inside, the music wasn’t as loud, but she didn’t bother to call out and tell her dad that she was home—he wouldn’t be able to hear her. She simply locked the door again and pushed it shut with a heavy thud. She ran her fingers through her long, dark, blue-streaked hair as she crossed the front room and took a few steps down the hall to her bedroom. Shrugging out of her sagging school bag, she flung it onto her unmade bed and kicked off her shoes.

One of her socks had gotten a hole in the toe, she noticed, but she didn’t particularly care. The kitchen was right next to the garage, and from there the music sounded louder. The days her dad worked, it was quiet in the house. Today, he’d either gotten off early or had the day off altogether. He was in the garage, she knew, as she rifled through the refrigerator until she found the leftover chicken from last night’s dinner. He was in the garage, working on that old clunker of a car again.

The clunker, she always called it, but she’d heard her dad refer to it more than once as his baby.

His baby, she thought sarcastically as she dumped the chicken onto a plate, punched a few buttons on the microwave, and stood waiting for the food to heat through.

When had he ever called her his baby? She couldn’t remember. Not that she’d been around much. Until three years ago, she’d hardly seen her dad since