Speak it out (Final Draft) - Thanh Tran

It’s been seven years since the last time Danny and Lucy saw each other after graduating from high school. Danny went abroad to study and after seven years this was first time he came back to Viet Nam. It was on a Sunday, his high school members had a reunion party. He saw Lucy talking with old classmates. He came to all the way back from America just to meet her. His heart was beating so fast when Lucy’s eyes caught his eyes. He turned round and tried to avoid her eyes’ look. They haven’t talked during the party. Lucy walked to Danny when party ends. They looked each other deep in the eyes without saying anything. Everybody went home, just Danny and Lucy still stayed there. It was a Sunday afternoon, sunshine was shining through the trees, everything seemed to be very quiet. Danny and Lucy were there. None of any words could come out of their mouths. Standing there for a while, Lucy was the first one to talk. Her voice broke the inconvenience silence.
“How have you been, Danny, long time haven’t seen you?” she asked
“I am good, I have just come back from America a week ago, how about you?” he said
“I am fine, thank you, I am working in a foreign company. I have been to America couple of times. I wanted to call you but…” she answered him.
“Really? I am sorry for not having said anything about my studying abroad. Anyway, It’s good to come back after so many years and it’s good to see you again” Danny said
“Yeah, It is good to see you again, too. You look more mature and more handsome” Lucy said with a beautiful smile.
“Oh, thank you, you also become even more beautiful girl than in high school…” he said and smiled back to Lucy.
“I am going to get married next month, will you come?” Lucy asked Danny
Danny was speechless. His smile’s gone. He didn’t believe what he’s just heard. He wanted to see Lucy again after so many years and now he knew that she would marry next month. From deep inside his heart, it cut like a knife. He felt his heart stop beating for a while and he couldn’t breathe. Danny tried to get his confidence back and answered Lucy with a sad smile.
“Yes, sure, I will come, can I have your cell phone number? Just text me” Danny said
“Hold on a second” Lucy answered and took out from her bag a piece of paper and wrote down her cell phone number and gave it to Danny.
“Ok, thank you” Danny received the paper from Lucy’s hand.
“I have to go, hope to see you on my wedding day, Danny” Lucy said to him.
“Yes, see you on your wedding day. By the way, it’s really good to talk with you again” Danny said.
“Me too, Danny, good luck” Lucy smiled
Lucy left. Danny still stood there. He felt cold inside his heart. The girl that he loved would get married next month. He regretted not having come back because of her marriage. It was on Sunday evening, it was getting dark like darkness in his heart.
Lying on hotel bed, Danny couldn’t sleep. He was thinking about Lucy, he still couldn’t believe that she would marry next month. He looked at the message which she texted him for the address. He wanted to tell her his feeling so much that he loved her but was afraid of breaking up their friendship if she knew the truth. He wanted to ask her whether she really loved her future husband or not and was she happy? He didn’t have the right to ask, he couldn’t break up their happiness. Danny picked up the phone. He wrote a message but he felt so hard to lick the “send” button. He erased it and then he wrote that message again but he still couldn’t send. He left the message there with a lot of thinking in his mind.
Lucy was working with her laptop, her cell phone was next to her. She kept looking at her cell phone, waiting for a message from Danny that she knew it would never come. She was thinking about him a lot when she saw him again. She started to consider about her marriage. She didn’t know whether it was a right decision or not because she wondered why she was thinking about Danny. She didn’t know whether she loved her future husband for sure or not although she knew that he loved her. He cared so much about her. She felt guilty for her future husband but she wanted to know that she would have a happy family with him or she would regret because of Danny. She was waiting for something from Danny…
Danny came to Lucy’s wedding. He chose a table at the corner of the room. He saw Lucy wearing wedding’s dress. She was so beautiful. She was hand in hand with the man Danny never wanted to hear anything about him. Danny felt jealous of him. He saw Lucy smiling all the time during the wedding but when she saw him, her smile was gone. Sadness came on her face. Lucy walked to Danny and whispered into his ear:
“Thank you so much for coming”
Danny went back home. He was so sad. He wanted to cry to feel better but he couldn’t. He hated this feeling. He felt hopeless like losing someone very important to him without doing anything. He took a flight back to America the day after.
Two years later. When Danny was working in his office, he received a call from a classmate that he had given his phone number in USA when he was back in Viet Nam. Lucy was dead because of a car accident. He took an immediate flight back to Viet Nam to attend Lucy’s burial.
After the burial, Lucy’s mother gave Danny a diary that she knew Lucy wrote this about Danny from the very first paper “Danny”.
He stayed in his hotel room and started to read her diary “Danny is my high school classmate. We talked for several times. Sometimes I saw him looking at me. I like the way he looked at me, it was deep in the eyes. He was trying to say something to me. I realized that I start to like him and I know he likes me too but I can’t tell him because I am a girl. I wish he would say that he like me one day. He has something very special in his eyes”
Danny turned the diary into the last page. Lucy wrote “As if I could turn back the time…”
Danny started to cry like he never cried before. He blamed himself for not being brave enough to tell Lucy that he liked her in high school just because she was so beautiful and many boys followed her, he would not have a chance to win her heart. Danny just knew the truth when Lucy was gone. It was too late.