kai parker • villains of circumstance ✔️

CHAPTER SEVENTY TWO

CHAPTER SEVENTY TWO
[72]
song: nothing breaks like a heart by mark ronson

IT FELT LIKE THE BRIGHT LIGHT NEVER FADED.
Through her closed eyelids, the harsh glow shined, seemingly never ending.

At first, she could only hear her staggered breathing. In and out, heavy but quick. Then came a breeze, that swept past her so fast she felt goosebumps grow on her skin immediately. Then a few birds chirping in a familiar sound that reminded her of Winter.

Then, the loud ringing of a school bell.

Daisy's eyes shot open, staring right into the harsh sun. Her brain felt like it pounded against her eyes, begging her to shut them again, and she did, not yet adjusted to the light she was met with.

She didn't move for a few seconds, everything seeming perfectly normal and fine, until rationalization quickly came rushing back into her head.

She just saw the sun, when not even two seconds ago— she was staring at a meteor shower in the dark of the night.

A meteor shower that was supposed to take her home.

That sound of the school bell hadn't stopped, and she realized it wasn't in her head.

Reopening her eyes, this time with her hand out to help block the harshness of it, Daisy let herself gather her surroundings. But she felt too petrified to even look around, let alone move.

She felt freezing cold, hard concrete on her back. On her back. She was on the ground, on her back.

She moved her head to the left, still squinting. Concrete half walls surrounded her, the tops of leafless trees poking out from behind them. As she rolled her head over to the left, she tried to understand what she was seeing. What looked like an elevator shaft sat a few feet away from her, but that was it— besides a few dead leaves rolling around from the heavy winds.

She was on a rooftop.

She squeezed her eyes shut once more before reopening them. She used her elbows to help her get to her feet, still not processing the fact that she was on her back.

The school bell paused for a split second, before beginning to ring again. It was unnecessarily loud, and it made Daisy want to vomit from the way it made her feel. Like hearing an alarm clock in a movie.

She got to her knees, nauseous and dizzy. She let out a few deep breaths, looking around as the wind swept past her and blew her hair around her face. She straightened her back a little bit to peak out over the side of the rooftop.

Her breath hitched at the sight of cars. Lots of them, moving, with people inside of them driving. And they turned corners, and they came to stops, and they honked at each other- and they were people. Real people, real living people.

Then she heard talking, all at once, loud, fast paced talking- and giggles- and shouts. She stumbled onto her feet, not sure she was even controlling her movements anymore. Excitement and hope pushed her foreword as she stood up despite her wobbly knees. She stepped towards the edge of the rooftop, looking down.

Hundreds of teenagers piled out of the building she stood at the rooftop on. Pushing out the door, not paying any mind to personal space or common decency as they all went their separate ways. Some went to the bike rack, some lingered in their own groups and talked, some went straight to the parking lot.