𝖋𝖑𝖔𝖜𝖊𝖗 𝖕𝖔𝖜𝖊𝖗 ⋆ 𝕶𝖊𝖛𝖎𝖓 𝖉𝖆𝖞

𝖙𝖜𝖔

╔═══°∴,*⋅✲══〖✰〗══✲⋅*,∴°═══╗

Some days are better than others. It's true of everybody who's ever lived; some days suck and you wish the ground would swallow you up whole, some days leave you beaming with pride and dancing across the earth you came from.

Those lines get blurrier the deeper you go into Daisy Cohen's mind. Sure, she remembers the elation of winning games, she remembers the heart-wrenching pull of high school love gone sour, remembers sadness and joy and all of the emotions that come between it.

But that was before. Back when her brain was only a little screwed up. Now it teeters on the verge of insanity every day.

Moving back into her dormitory was an event she hadn't planned for. Deep down, she knew couch surfing at Wymack's place wasn't going to last forever, but she assumed she had more time than this. Now she's sitting on a couch in a room she remembers all too well, staring at the spot on the carpet a slightly different colour to the rest.

The girl with white blonde hair and rainbow streaks is sitting next to her. One hand is twined between Daisy's fingers, the other taps away on her phone. Renee Walker has always been the sweetest of them all, and somebody Daisy is happy to let back into her life no matter what. Renee hasn't got it in her to judge. Renee's the best of everyone.

It's Dan and Allison she's worried about. The team captain has fight in her, and Daisy's little stunt in April really fucked with her team dynamic. Allison is loyal at the best of times, but deep down the only thing she thinks about is herself. While the four girls were close once, Daisy feels like that bond has been fractured.

"No," says Renee. "I know what you're thinking. They aren't mad at you, Daisy. Upset, maybe? Heartbroken, absolutely. But angry? Never."

"I'm sorry," replies Daisy. It's the only thing she can make come out of her mouth. Renee latches her arms around the girl in a loose embrace. Daisy takes a slow breath.

The front door to the suite bangs open, and chatter comes in from the outside.

"Hey!" a male voice calls into the room. "We got frozen pizza and The Usual Suspects!"

Renee leaves Daisy with a squeeze of the leg and stands to help the others with grocery bags. Her spot is soon filled by Dan Wilds. The two girls look at each other for a minute; Dan analysing Daisy's gaunt features and dead eyes, and Daisy just staring straight back at her, black hair in a frizz around her deep face, pink lips pursed. Then Dan hiccups down a sob and launches herself at the other girl, her arms wrapped tight around her shoulders.

"I missed you," she whispers into Daisy's ear. "We all did. We should have known something was going on, we should have intervened. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

"It wasn't your fault," Daisy says after a moment of consideration. She doesn't have the energy to say anything else. A little fraction of her wants to take Dan back into her arms and cry on her shoulder, but the rest of her doesn't agree to that.

Dan says, "It wasn't yours either, Daisy," and then stands, wiping an angry fist across her eyes to rid all evidence of tears. "Coach said you haven't been eating that great, that's okay. We have pizza if you want it."

"We got you your special one!" Her boyfriend, Matt Boyd, chirps from the kitchenette. "We even got the one with that fake cheese shit you like, no meat and extra pineapple. It still grosses me out that it's your favourite, but, like, I gotta be nice about it since you almost kicked it."