The saga begins with Danny Verres. Born on September 30th, 1998 as the only child of two lower-middle-class midwestern American parents in their late 30s, Danny was set to receive a satisfactory yet unremarkable upbringing in the world. And he did for the first two years of his life.

However, as he grew into a toddler, Danny began showing strange behavior towards both his parents and anyone else he interacted with. He isolated himself for hours on end, often placing himself in corners or other confined environments. He failed to respond to others as they called out to him. He struggled to understand basic nonverbal cues and expressions. His motor skill development lagged behind. And his interests became far more focused than those of other children his age. 

Seeing these as potential problems, Mister and Missus Verres sought help from a variety of doctors, social workers, psychologists, and miscellaneous professionals. However, these pursuits ultimately proved fruitless, as Danny constantly refused to cooperate with those he was meeting with. Sometimes he threw tantrums when asked questions he did not understand. Other times he shut down mentally, refusing to so much as look at those he was meeting with. Because of this, every professional diagnosed Danny’s issues differently. Some claimed he had ADHD, some claimed he was anti-social, some claimed he had Asperger’s syndrome, and so forth and so on. His parents, exhausted mentally and financially from these endeavors, eventually paused their investigation to see how their son would fare in the realm of public education when Danny was sent to attend preschool at age 4. 

At school, Danny had a hard time socially. He struggled to maintain a conversation with his teacher or peers, had difficulties working with or alongside others, and refused to participate in various activities. He ended or abandoned most conversations as soon as possible. He never attempted to make a friend while at the preschool. And his peers were unable to befriend him. It was an unfavorable situation only worsened by Danny’s lagging motor skills, leaving him unable to write clearly or perform broader actions, and his developing speech impediment, making it difficult for people to understand him whenever he spoke.

Academically, Danny expressed an average to above-average level of intelligence towards some subjects, while he greatly struggled to comprehend others. This caused much frustration for the child, but he was unable to express his feelings in a way that the teacher could recognize. At least until Danny began convulsing, sobbing on the floor, or shouting while shoving his head between his knees. It was a behavior that concerned both the teacher and higher-ups at the school, leading them to recommend that Danny transfer to a school for children with special needs. A recommendation that Mister and Missus Verres hesitantly agreed to, worried about how this would affect them financially.

At age 5, Danny began attending a kindergarten that catered towards children with various disorders, conditions, and disabilities, offering them a more detailed, focused, and specialized education than public schools would provide. At first, Danny responded well to this school and appeared to be enjoying it far more than his preschool class. That is, before he was expelled after a mere 17 days of attendance. Danny was expelled following an incident where Danny assaulted a female classmate by repeatedly stabbing a sharpened pencil into her stomach. The girl, a 6-year-old diagnosed with Down Syndrome, was hospitalized for weeks due to the internal damages Danny had inflicted on her.

When asked why he did this, Danny claimed it was because of something that the girl said. That Danny was “just like” her. Danny explained, as best he could, that he found the concept of being someone “like her,” someone with a severe developmental disability, to be both frightening and disgusting. Danny said that he did not belong with people like her, that he was “normal” and wanted to attend a “normal” school once again. Within a week, Danny was attending the same Pre-K school as he did last school year. 

While Mister and Missus Verres expressed great affection for their son after he was born, their love had been decreasing as their child’s problems multiplied, and as the solution to his problems continued to elude them. So after hearing the news that Danny was expelled for assaulting another student, their parental love shattered out into a mere fragment of whatever affection they had when he was first born. They accepted that their child was incapable of working with others. They accepted that they could not do anything to help him. And they accepted that they would be responsible for him going forward. 

With heavy hearts and sullen faces, they reached the conclusion that they could not continue to treat Danny like a normal child, and their parenting strategy would need to become more restrictive. Not for his sake, but for their own. These past few years had taken a toll on their mental wellbeing, and when faced with prioritizing themselves or their child, they chose themselves. In order to ensure their happiness, they began confining Danny to his bedroom. They demanded that he only leave to use the bathroom, to speak to them, to leave for school, or to go on an escorted trip out of the house. 

In order to keep him preoccupied and allow him more stimulation than his age-inappropriate toddler toys could provide, Danny’s parents provided him with a small television with a built-in VCR and began taking him to the local so he could pick up VHS tapes to watch, along with books and comics to read. The concept and variety on display initially confused Danny, as his parents offered a poor explanation of how libraries function. However, through repetition and some advice from kindly old librarians, Danny became comfortable with the process, and trips to the library became part of his weekly routine. 

Mister and Missus Verres selected this solution for financial reasons above all others. They knew how expensive it could be to purchase entertainment for their child, and they had not financially recovered from all the appointments they sent Danny to over the years and the nonrefundable sum they paid for Danny’s tuition to the special needs kindergarten. 

His parents viewed this as a brilliant decision. They would be able to ignore and forget about their unfortunate offspring, while Danny would get all the alone time and isolation he craved. But in reality, all they did was starve Danny of what he needed. Attention, socialization, and the ability to talk to others. He struggled to speak to people, was cagey around strangers, and the only persons he was even somewhat comfortable around were his mother and father.

But now, a wall was established between them, blocking Danny from developing his weak skills, and encouraging him to remain isolated. He was now explicitly discouraged from speaking to his parents, was told not to share his thoughts with them, and could not use them to practice his skills. He was not even allowed to eat with them any longer, as Danny’s mother began bringing meals into his room. Even Danny could tell that this was wrong, and as his parents implemented these changes, the interactions Danny had with his mother and father became limited to simple pleasantries and greetings that Danny robotically responded to.

This left much of Danny’s development in the hands of his school and, unsurprisingly, Danny’s time in kindergarten was much like his time in preschool. His mother would silently drive him to and from school, and once there, Danny would routinely fall into fits and tantrums on a routine basis. The school continuously tried sending him to the counselor’s office to discuss his troubles… but it never worked. Danny would consistently ignore the prodding of the stranger before him, refusing to discuss his troubles or doubts, and after going on yet another tantrum, he would be sent back into his class.

From an academic perspective, he gave a very mixed performance, excelling in subjects like reading and math, falling well behind on others, and having low or nonexistent marks regarding his participation or socialization skills. His grades, as a whole, were below average, but his school was lenient with him because, despite all of his flaws, Danny showed great diligence with his school assignments and the matter of attendance. He did his homework almost immediately after returning home, and before turning on the television. 

Though, he would sometimes struggle with a particular assignment for hours, not fully understanding what was being asked of him. When he encountered these situations, he would throw a tantrum loud enough to draw the attention of his parents. Rather than using this opportunity to educate and help their son, Danny’s parents instead offered blunt answers to Danny’s questions, not bothering to explain how they came to this answer before they left him in isolation once more.

Any good parent would look at this situation and think that, perhaps, they should play a more active role in their child’s academic life. But the Verres had a different interpretation, and upon recognizing how diligent their child was, they saw an opportunity to shed yet another responsibility. 

After roughly the first month of elementary school, Danny’s parents stopped driving him to and from school. Seeing as how the school was less than a mile away, they viewed it as a way to shave off minutes from their mornings and afternoons, while giving Danny an opportunity to go outside and get some exercise. 

Danny took to this change rather well, as he no longer needed to stand and wait for his parents to drive him between home and school. And much like with classes and homework, Danny was diligent when it came to attending school. Every day he would leave for school at 7:45, despite the fact that it took him less than 10 minutes to get to school, and classes did not begin until 8:30. He maintained this schedule regardless of the weather. When it was pouring or snowing, his parents would sometimes volunteer to drive Danny to school, but he never took them up on their offer, resulting in him being positively soaked on certain days, and losing more than a few umbrellas to the wind.

Once Danny made it to school, he effectively had the entire playground to himself and spent most of his time on the various play structures, both playing on them like a typical child, and rubbing his hands along their surfaces, for he was fascinated by the texture of plastics and metals that made up this play area. During recess, however, Danny avoided the playground completely, preferring to sit in an isolated sitting area hidden behind some bushes. There, away from his peers, he would often talk to himself while picking away at leaves from the bushes, or sifting through rocks

This tradition continued until January of 2007, halfway through second grade, when Danny met a child who casually entered this sitting area during recess. The child, a boy named Terry Tanaka, was a recent transfer student who was in the same grade as Danny. Danny was apprehensive of this child, and tried ignoring him at first, but Terry proved to be a persistent individual, and returned to the sitting area every day with the expressed goal of getting to know Danny better.

Terry was remarkably patient and calm for a child of his age, far from the hyperactive and energetic individuals that made up the near entirety of Danny’s classmates. Because of this, Danny steadily grew comfortable enough to hold a conversation with Terry, and the two began to discuss things on a daily basis. First only during recess, but eventually during the mornings and briefly during the afternoons as well. They did not play games together, as Danny became apprehensive of the very concept after being forced to play along with various social workers. Instead, the two boys simply talked about the things they were interested in. Which was something of a problem for Danny.

While Danny had developed a strong fascination with Japanese and American animated shows, films, comics, and books he got from the library, he had not been exposed to a lot of things that Terry spoke of. The collectible cards, toys, and video games Terry could prattle on about were interesting and captivating to Danny, but he lacked any reference for those things, as his parents stopped giving him presents after the kindergarten incident. In order to amend this, Terry began bringing things to school to show Danny. Starting with the odd toy or two, then a binder of trading cards, and finally, a GameBoy Advance.

Given the high costs of buying a video game system and Danny’s poor motor skills, his parents had never so much as thought about introducing him to video games. However, Danny had still learned about video games through commercials he saw on television, and while he did not know much about the medium, he had always wanted to try them out for himself. Particularly the Pokémon games, as they were based on a series he regularly watched via syndication and VHS tapes he got from the library.

As such, Danny was thrilled when Terry brought a copy of Pokémon Sapphire from his home and began playing through the game, showing Danny the virtual world he had only vaguely glimpsed at in fuzzy snippets. It was a euphoric moment for Danny, who savored every second of what he saw, mesmerized by the sights and sounds produced by the small handheld device.

This continued for a week until the ensuing Friday afternoon, when Terry offered his GameBoy Advance to his dear friend, somewhat dismissively saying he had two more at home. Danny asked if it was just for the weekend, but Terry said he could keep it forever, much to Danny’s delight. Upon thanking Terry by giving him a very tight hug and a surprising kiss on the cheek, Danny set off back to his home, where, after completing his homework, he spent the entire weekend enamored with the game. At least, before the batteries died on Saturday night.

This presented quite the problem for Danny, who had not so much as told his parents about his one and only friend, and was completely unsure how they would interpret that news along with the fact he received such a thoughtful present from them. Something far greater than anything his parents had given him in the past few years of his life. He feared for the worst and chose not to tell his parents about his new gift. Instead, he stayed up late into the night, waiting until his parents went to sleep, before traversing into the dark basement, an unfamiliar cavern where he eventually managed to find the batteries he craved so dearly.

With a 24 pack of AA batteries in his possession, Danny was able to play the game without restriction over the weekend. During that time, he had started calculating the variables for an effective team, learned just how the stats worked together, and determined how experience points were distributed. He was enamored with the colorful visuals, designs he could see freely, descriptions of the collectible creatures, and even how characters were so willing to speak to the silent protagonist, never questioning him, judging him, or treating him with anything beneath kindness. It was a little thing, but it made this game so special for him. It let him do something, something ‘normal,’ that he couldn’t do in real life. By Sunday evening, he did not make much progress in the story, but had a powerful team at his disposal and managed to collect each and every Pokémon he could, even the elusive Ralts and Slakoth.

When the two met up yet again, Danny struggled to express his gratitude to his friend, who was pleased to see how much joy his gift had given Danny. This only went to further solidify their friendship, as the game represented something both Danny and Terry were passionate about and could discuss in extensive detail, from the function of subtle mechanics, the traits unique to the creatures, and the promising adventure that Danny was experiencing more of every passing day. 

After several weeks of jovial conversations, Terry asked Danny if he would like to go on a playdate. Danny was intimidated by the concept, having never had a friend before, but given the closeness bred between the two over the past weeks, Danny agreed, under the condition that they would not go to Danny’s house, as his parents would not appreciate it if he had a friend over. Or at least that’s what Danny assumed.

They scheduled their date for the following Friday afternoon, and after being picked up by Terry’s single mother, the boys spent approximately three hours reveling in Terry’s wide collection of toys and games. It was an almost overwhelming experience for Danny. He was in awe over the vast array of articulated toys he could touch and move freely, and he was stunned as he saw fully 3D video games play out before his very eyes.

Terry found himself infected by Danny’s excitement and, before long, the two ordinarily reserved boys were in ecstatic tizzies as they relished in everything Terry’s room had to offer. However, as the sun began to set, and the two lost their energy, Terry’s mother called the two down for dinner. Once seated, Danny looked at the meal before him timidly, because it had been years since he last ate in front of others. At home, Danny ate his meals in solitude, and in order to escape the furor of the lunchroom at school, Danny ate his lunches under a stairwell or in a distant bathroom. He was not used to eating in front of others, and as he tried, he soon realized that his table manners left something to be desired. But thanks to Terry’s careful and slow instructions, he improved greatly over the course of the meal.

Seeing as how it was getting dark, Terry’s mother drove Danny back home, and, at his request, dropped him off a block away from his home in order to hide this occurrence from his parents. Mister and Missus Verres certainly had questions for their son as he arrived home after 7 PM, but Danny deflected most of them by saying he was just playing in a nearby park. Neither of the parents believed this obvious lie, but they were not concerned enough to pry any further.

From there, things progressed similarly for Danny. He would continue to struggle with school while meeting with a person who seemed to have a genuine sense of affection for him. He steadily made his way through Pokémon Sapphire, excitedly talking about it with Terry whenever he could, and the boys continued their Friday night get-togethers. This lasted for approximately three months… before it all came to an end. As the school year came to a close, Terry informed his friend that his mother had to relocate for her job, and he would be leaving this state altogether. 

Danny was devastated as he heard the news. It meant he was losing his first and only friend. Terry was someone who accepted Danny for who he was, rather than viewing him as somebody with problems that needed to be fixed. He was somebody who actively liked him as a person and who he was. He was Danny’s favorite person in the world, and now their relationship was at an end. The two erupted in tears and, in the following weeks, they attempted to enjoy their limited time together as much as possible. During this time, Danny contemplated telling his parents about his dear friend, but could never muster up the right words or find the right time. He felt guilty for hiding it away for so long and worried that they would somehow punish him for keeping this a secret for so long. It was an irrational paranoia, but one that Danny believed in nevertheless.

On the morning of June 14th, 2007, the two met and played together for one final time. It was a particularly sorrowful get-together, as most of Terry’s belongings were already boxed up and scattered throughout the living room, but there was one curious box placed prominently in Terry’s bedroom. A box with an envelope taped on top that read: “To Danny, My Best Friend”. Upon saying their heartfelt goodbyes and embracing in one last hug, Terry gave Danny this gift and told Danny to read the letter once he got home. 

Danny spent the next hour walking back to his home, stopping periodically to cry his frustrations away, all while carrying the 15 pound box. When he did finally arrive at his empty home in the middle of the afternoon, Danny frantically rushed to his bedroom, where he opened the package up while sitting on his bedroom floor, and as he saw its contents, his face erupted in awe. 

Inside, he found a Ziploc bag of small figures, a box containing a dozen GameBoy and GameBoy Advance games, an original model PlayStation 2, along with a disc binder containing 10 PlayStation 1 games, 10 PlayStation 2 games, and 30 anime DVDs. Shocked by the generosity of this gift, Danny brought his eyes to the letter affixed to the top of the box.

Dear Danny,

I would like to thank you for making these past few months the best of my life. I normally have trouble making friends or fitting in with others, but you were different. I know you don’t have the best of time at school, or even at home, but I want you to know that being with you made me oh so happy. As for the gift, I know how much you liked all of my things, and my mom is pretty rich, so she was okay with me giving you a farewell present. And don’t feel bad about not getting me anything, you already gave me an invaluable friendship. 

I want you to know that you’re a special person to me and I’ll never forget the time we spent together. I hope we can stay friends even if we’re hundreds of miles apart, and that once we grow up, we can meet again. 

Thanks and goodbye,

Terrance Tanaka

At the end of the letter, Terry commented how he just realized that the two could continue to talk to each other via the telephone, letters, or email, and listed his contact information for all three. Unfortunately, Danny could not contact Terry through any of these methods. His parents never gave him any mail, he was not allowed to use the phone, and he only ever got to use a computer in computer class.

With the school year over, Danny vowed that he would contact his friend somehow, but first, he would need to explain his gifts to his parents, who never so much as heard of Terry or noticed their son’s GameBoy Advance. As the afternoon withered away, Danny devised a story to tell his parents why and how their son suddenly had a game console hooked up to their television. The lie he came up with was that his school held a raffle on the final day of class. Every student’s name was entered, and by sheer luck, Danny walked away with the grand prize.

Danny told his parents this story shortly after they got home, marking one of the only times Danny greeted his mother and father after work. They did not buy the story for more than a second. However, being the extremely hands-off parents they were, they also did not truly care how or where Danny obtained this bounty of entertainment and simply asked him to express self-control and only play games a few hours a day. To which Danny gladly obliged. 

With his parents’ approval, Danny dove into the collection of games he had been so generously given by Terry, and he spent hours every day during the ensuing months exploring and progressing through him. It was something he did with fervor and delight every time he played, but as he did so, he also struggled. He had difficulties adapting to the complicated controller and inputs of PlayStation 2 titles. He regularly failed to recognize and understand patterns. And while he tentatively abided by the game’s instruction, he routinely hit roadblocks where he did not understand where to go, what to do, or why something was not working.

Despite these struggles, Danny still persevered throughout his collection, wanting to see every game through to its end and everything they had to offer. The sprawling and elongated stories they told. The beautiful sights and environments the games painted. Along with the vibrant and dynamic soundscapes that filled his tiny room. Truly, these games offered Danny an experience like no other, but there was one thing that fascinated Danny above all others. The ability to control a character with his actions. It caused him to think about what it would like to control someone other than himself. What it would be like to be somebody else. And, after watching several episodes from an anime series called Gokudo, he wondered what it would like to swap bodies with a woman. A stray thought that would stick with the young boy, growing into a fascination, and eventually, an obsession.

Danny had originally planned on spending the entire summer immersing himself in Terry’s gifts, but the day after he parted with his friend, Mister and Missus Verres informed Danny that he was attending summer school, starting on Monday, June 18th, 2007. The classes were only three hours long and the course would only run for 6 weeks of Danny’s summer, but the news still left him dumbfounded.

As they saw their son stir into a tizzy upon hearing this news, Danny’s parents were quick to explain their reasoning. They thought that Danny would benefit from going over school material a second time, that he would do better in a more relaxed learning environment with fewer students than normal, and that he should not spend entire months alone and isolated in his room. All of which were at least partially correct assumptions.

At summer school, Danny completed his work promptly and correctly. He did not undergo any tantrums due to his familiarity with the material. And while his social skills developed little, he benefited from being around other people and in the more relaxed and quiet environment of a summer school. He was calm, efficient, and often finished his work first out of everyone in the classroom, giving his mind ample time to wander during class. When this happened, he would sometimes think about games, anime, or media he got from his weekly library trips. However, as his eyes darted across the small class, he developed more elaborate fantasies. He began asking himself what it would be like to swap bodies with someone. He thought about this when looking at the boys and girls who attended this class, but the most frequent target of his fantasies was the sole teacher of this summer school class, Miss Williams. 

Miss Williams was a newly hired teacher by the school and was set to teach a third grade class in the fall. She was a 25-year-old who just received her teaching degree two years ago, and she expressed a level of energy and enthusiasm that Danny found almost as captivating as her physical features. Miss Williams was a tall black woman with straightened black hair, sizable breasts, and a youthful face who expressed a diverse and flashy wardrobe considering her profession. She looked quite different from the middle-aged white men and women who served as Danny’s teachers in the past, and given his limited exposure to young adults like her, Danny could not help but find something about her physical presence… appealing.

When sitting idly with his work complete, he would observe the nuances and subtleties in her movement while also pondering what it would truly be like to be in her body, living her life. As he continued to do so, Danny became convinced that he could get over his reserved nature and be more comfortable around others if he could be Miss Williams. From the basis of naught but his own fantasies, Danny was convinced that he would be happier if he were her.

Danny’s infatuation with Miss Williams eventually led him to ask his parents to put in a request to the school for Danny to be in Miss Williams’s class this fall. While his parents agreed and called the school the following day, the act of asking them was difficult for Danny to do. It had been three years since they shut their hearts to Danny, and the gap between them had only grown. It had gotten to the point where Danny would not even comment on the food his mother prepared for him, or the clothes she bought for him. Even if he did not like something, he would simply accept it, if only to avoid talking to them.

After putting this request in, summer school came to a close, and August was well on its way, Danny realized that he had neglected to do something. That he needed to contact Terry somehow. Immediately as this came to the forefront of his mind, Danny began digging through his closet. He had stored the note in a shoebox he placed his toddler toys in, but the shoebox was not in the closet, or anywhere in the room. Danny could only deduce that his parents had gotten rid of the shoebox, his toddler toys, and Terry’s farewell letter along with it. Unknowingly robbing Danny of his only means of communicating with his only friend. 

In the tantrum sparked by this revelation, Danny pondered the possibility of Terry contacting him, but not only had they never exchanged numbers, Danny explicitly told Terry not to contact him by phone or mail. With no means of communication and without even recalling what state Terry wound up in, Danny was convinced that they would never so much as communicate with one another ever again… and he was right. Danny would go the rest of his life without ever meeting, seeing, or talking to Terry ever again.

Having truly lost his only friend, Danny was disheartened. He felt more alone than he ever had in the duration of his life and spent the last weeks of summer wrapped in sorrow. However, this changed when third grade began, and Danny saw Miss Williams once again. And as her student, Danny was determined to earn her favor. She had said little to him beyond the occasional words of praise in summer school, but those words stuck with him. He wanted to make her happy, to do well in her class, and as such, he changed his learning methods from day one of this new school year. 

As third grade began, Danny expressed the utmost diligence while in class, paying attention to every word Miss Williams said, and taking notes as she talked. He still struggled to comprehend certain things, but stopped his frequent emotional outbursts and maintained his composure even as his frustrations billowed. This continued for the first few weeks of class before Miss Williams started noticing patterns in Danny’s behavior and began approaching Danny when he was suppressing his frustrations. She would stop and gently walk him through the concepts he was struggling with, explaining them in various ways before one of them stuck with Danny.

Thanks to this additional attention and his improved composure, Danny was able to succeed in this class, but it was not enough for the boy. He began reading ahead in his workbooks, reviewing material even when there was no looming assessment, and even began rewriting his notes after Miss Williams made an off-hand comment about how writing something down makes it easier to remember. Through this dedication, Danny learned various study skills and shortcuts that would help him in his academic life. He went from a student who earned a spotty report card every quarter to a student who was regularly earning A’s and B’s in class. Yet even upon internalizing this improvement, he still was not satisfied. 

Danny wanted to impress Miss Williams with his intellect and understanding, but despite his devotion, he was still a smidge away from true understanding. With great hesitation and dread, Danny mustered the courage to ask Miss Williams for her help, and before class one day, he asked her if she could answer some questions he had about the current and upcoming curriculum. She was elated by the young child’s attentiveness and invited him to come to her office during their lunch break to discuss these concepts in detail. 

Danny nervously entered her office shortly thereafter, and they began going over what few questions the boy had. After 12 minutes had passed and Danny filled his notebook with the answers he sought, he shyly thanked Miss Williams and prepared to leave, only for her to stop him. After grabbing Danny by his small hand, she congratulated him for his achievements in the classroom, praising him for his diligence with his work, and for his determination across all subjects. 

It was a feat she thought students should be proud of, especially students with various conditions and disorders, such as Danny. Miss Williams then explained how she participated in a work-study program throughout college that had her working with children with autism, dyslexia, and various other learning disabilities. She understood how hard it can be for some people to understand class material and communicate any misunderstanding in a place as social as a classroom of 20 or more students. Knowing that Danny managed to get as far as he did with his disabilities made his accomplishments all the more remarkable, and she congratulated him accordingly.

Danny was unsure of how to take this information. He could not recall the last time his parents or any other teacher had ever praised him. The most vivid memories were when social workers and the like offered him kind words because he knew what the color blue was, or something equally expected from a 4-year-old child. All Danny could think to do was thank Miss Williams, tears rolling down his face as the words eked out his mouth. As Miss Williams noted Danny’s confused emotions, he rushed out of her office, fleeing to the underside of a nearby stairwell, where he quietly sobbed until the lunch period was over.

For the remainder of the school year, Danny continued practicing his admirable study habits… and less admirable social habits. He diligently took notes in class and earned A’s on nearly every assignment. But he continued refraining from saying more than a few words at a time to any of his peers and always performed group work on his own. But when he was not immersed in his studies, Danny still found the time to pursue his body swapping fantasies. He would continue to look at Miss Williams with a blank expression as he wondered how well he could lecture as her, explain things as her, and what exactly her life was like beyond school. It was a thought he revisited nearly daily from the very beginning of third grade, all the way until… it was all over. 

During that last day of the school year, a 20 minute day where the students simply said goodbye and received their report cards, Miss Williams asked Danny to meet with her after the other students departed. A request Danny accepted without question. They sat face to face in the now isolated classroom where Miss Williams began by telling Danny just how proud she was in his performance, and how he overcame whatever hurdles he encountered while retaining his composure, something she had been warned about by other teachers. As they talked, Danny opened up his report card, which revealed that he received A’s in all of Miss Williams’ classes, along with a few Bs in his courses with other teachers, such as art and physical education. 

Miss Williams told Danny he was one of the best students in her class, and that she was incredibly proud of Danny’s improvement considering his grades in earlier years. She restated much of what she said during their lunch meeting months ago and concluded her praise with a hug, something the 9-year-old Danny had not received from an adult since he was 5-years-old. Miss Williams then gave Danny her personal phone number and asked him to contact her if he ever needed help with something, or just wanted to talk to her.

Danny was unsure how to interpret this and simply thanked her before walking away in a daze. After he arrived home, he placed the phone number in his disc binder, in order to never lose it. He refused to lose her like he lost Terry.

As Danny put the number away, in a place his mother would never think to look, he cried once more. Over the past year, he had lost his two favorite people in the world. The only two people who he truly cared about. Because while his parents remained in the background as his legal guardians, even Danny could tell that they had stopped loving him long, long ago.

Still, his parents were his parents, and he had to give them his report card once they arrived home later that day. When Mister and Missus Verres finally looked at their son’s performance, they were in awe. They had grown to expect Danny to deliver report cards lined with B’s, C’s, and D’s, so seeing something like this was unheard of for him. However, as they looked at Danny, he did not seem proud of that fact. If anything, he looked as if he were about to be scolded. He slunk away to his room before they could say anything, leaving his parents unsure what to do. They wanted to offer him a sufficient amount of praise, while also congratulating him by giving him something he could really use. Over dinner that night, they developed an idea and gave Danny a gift the very next day.

The gift was a computer Danny’s father brought home from his office job, one that was to be replaced and recycled, but Mister Verres felt it would be best to give it to his son. The computer, an eMac G4, was set up on the desk Danny used to do his homework. With this gift, they gave Danny access to a world far larger than the one he knew. 

A world that would serve as a happy place for Danny as he exited his childhood proper and entered his adolescence. A world of infinite knowledge, boundless entertainment, potential kinships, and erotic nightmares an innocent man cannot so much as fathom. A world known as the internet.