Page 20 of Bad Daddy

Stomach twisting, Danny opened his mouth again. He needed to pass this class. “Oh. So… what do I do for you?”

Manuel blinked at him. “Uh. I mean… I need your email? To send you the notes.”

Danny crossed his arms, uncomfortable and trying not to glare. He just wanted to know what was expected of him. “But what do you want in exchange for the notes?”

“Nothing,” Manuel said slowly. “I volunteer to do this. Volunteer. I do it for free. It, like, you know, it doesn't cost me anything to send you this stuff. I’m writing it all down anyway.”

“Oh,” Danny said faintly. He’d never had someone do something for him just because. Well, except Lily, but even she had been strong-armed into volunteer tutoring by her dad. “Well. Um. Thank you.”

There was silence from Manuel, who probably thought Danny was just as dumb as Danny felt.

Then Manuel said, “Hey, you want a cookie?”

“Excuse me?” Danny asked, taken aback.

Manuel pulled a tupperware container out of his bag. “Peanut butter oatmeal,” he said, opening the tupperware to reveal half a dozen cookie balls. “Made ‘em myself. Oh, do you have any allergies?” He ticked off his fingers. “They’ve got peanut butter, oats, flour, butter, light and brown sugar, and egg.”

“No, no allergies,” Danny said, blindsided.

“Great! Cool.” Manuel offered the tupperware. “You want one?” Then he hesitated, smile slipping for a second before it came back full force. “Uh, free of charge. I’m a stress baker and I’m in college. My freezer is very full right now. You’d be doing me a favor.”

Danny tentatively took a cookie ball, relief going through him when Manuel plucked one out too. “Um, thanks.”

“No sweat,” Manuela said cheerfully.

The cookie ball was really good.

Chapter 5

Danny spent most of his Friday morning doing an incredulous round-up of all the new resources he had at his disposal. Audiobooks of all his textbooks. A text-to-speech reader apparently patented by the Goldburgs, Jacob’s parents. Recordings for his astronomy and business law classes, Manuel’s notes from algebra. It was amazing and overwhelming and Danny spent hours organizing everything just so and then listening to all his lessons multiple times just because he could.

He had been blitzing through his homework all week too. It was the normal amount of work, but between being able to just go back and listen to the questions instead of having to struggle to read through them halved the time it took to do it all. Even though he still had to be careful writing out his answers, for the first time in his whole life, learning wasn't painful.

It was even kind of fun.

Danny had always liked to learn. His dad… his dad used to say he was a sponge with how he soaked up information. Back before the heart attack that took him. Before Danny entered the foster system. Before adults gave up on him because he was too dumb.

Danny had forgotten what it was like to want to ask questions, instead of wanting to disappear into the ground.

Maybe that was why he felt so giddy when Haru texted him next, saying he had been dying to talk to Danny in person to ask for more details on how the week has gone, and would he be interested in a late lunch? Danny didn't even think twice about saying yes. He felt jittery with possibility for the first time in his whole life, that things might actually turn out okay for him. He wanted to see Haru again, and tell him so. Thank him in person for the miracle he’d brought to Danny’s life.

Haru’s office was apparently close to Danny’s apartment, and he asked if Danny wanted to be picked up. This time Danny didn’t hesitate to say yes.

“Hey!” Haru greeted him with a smile from the driver’s seat when Danny opened the car door. “Come on, get in, get in, it’s freezing!”

Danny grinned at him and slid inside, the wind blowing the door shut for him. It was snowing lightly again, but with the wind, nothing had settled on his shoulders. He was happy that it was a warm-coat day though. The weather would have been a nightmare in Clint’s stupid too-thin present. “Hi. Thanks for picking me up.”

“No problem,” Haru said easily. “You’re on the way.”

“On the way?”

“I mean,” Haru said. “If you’re cool with me picking the restaurant? My treat, of course.”

“Oh.” Danny had honestly not even thought that far. He’d just been too excited and happy to see Haru, to tell him in person what had been going on. “Yeah, sure. Wherever you want to go.”

“Great,” Haru said, pulling away from the curb. “I promise to take you somewhere good.” Then he glanced over at Danny, looking excited and hopeful. “So? How have things been?”

“Really good,” Danny said in a rush, knee bouncing up and down with restless energy.

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