the year everything changed

Prologue

          Daisey didn't want to move. Georgia was her home. Sometimes Daisey would imagine that she was the only one there. Like she owned all of Georgia. And, for the most part, she liked it to feel that way. She'd never known anything aside from her worn house. The two acres, enclosed by a weathered picket fence. Sure, some of it could've used a bit of reshaping, but that's what she loved most: that you could tell just how long she'd lived there. There were heights marked on walls, and crayon scribbles behind picture frames. How could she leave it all behind? She didn't want to, but it wasn't her choice.

          Growing up, Daisey's mother, Gloria, was strict. She was much more strict than any of her friend's parents or the parents in her favorite movies, and she never understood why. Daisey was a good kid who did what she was told, but for some reason, enough was never enough. Gloria didn't ever wish to become what she did, in fact, she was becoming her worst nightmare. But she was practically raising Daisey and her younger brother Wes on her own. The kid's father was still in the picture, and he and Gloria were still married, however, he wasn't really; not to Gloria at least. In earlier years, he was a family man and was always around, but with a new job, the family saw him less and less. Income wasn't the problem, it was just tough for Gloria to do everything on her own. The kids did their best to seem appreciative through the struggles, even when they could smell the alcohol on their mother's breath. The drinking had its ups and downs, but it never went away. At some point in time, all of the responsibility had been shifted to Daisey. Eventually, she was the caretaker; the mother.

          This would continue to be true until Gloria was diagnosed with stage four Breast Cancer. It took Daisey weeks to believe it. She didn't want to, no matter how much her mother had put her through. Though, there was a part of her that was almost relieved. Relieved that maybe her hell could be over. Maybe Wes would live the rest of his life the way a kid should be able to. Daisey would never admit this though. At least, she never thought she would.

          Gloria's experience with cancer was no prettier than any other. To make life run smoother, Daisey stopped going to school and her father changed his work hours. The two of them did their best to give Wes a normal childhood. He went to school dances and was allowed to hang out with his friends. When it was just Gloria, they were never allowed out, but now, Wes was never home. Daisey almost missed him. She did. She missed having someone who got her jokes and who knew what she was going through, but she knew it was better for him not to be around. Their father did their best not to be like Gloria. He tried to keep from drinking and yelling and all of the "Gloria" things. Though no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't quite keep his act up.

          Gloria passed a year after her diagnosis. There was a small funeral, and Daisey laid new flowers on her grave every couple of days. Daisey's father thought it was a waste to spend so much money on fresh flowers, but he was wrong. They weren't going to waste; Daisey made sure to remind him.

          Six months after Gloria's death, Daisey convinced her father to let Wes move in with their grandparents. It broke her heart to let him go but it was the best option for all of them. Two months after that Daisey's father suggested she moved in with her best friend Mckenzie. This was Daisey's dream, it was just that Mckenzie lived thirty hours away.

          When Gloria was growing up, she and her best friend made a pact to have their first kid at the same time. It sounds strange, but they went through with it. The two of them had their daughters within a couple of months of each other. Naturally, the women raised their girls together; their babies shared first words, first steps; lots of firsts. Daisey and Mckenzie were bound to be best friends and nothing would ever get in between them. Except for when Mckenzie moved. Halfway through the summer before sophomore year, two months before Gloria's diagnosis, Mckenzie's father got a new job. Their family had to move from their small Georgia town to something different, something new: Michigan. Daisey made it clear that she wanted her best friend to stay. In her words, "Who the hell lives in Michigan?"

          The thirty-hour distance between the two girls didn't do too much damage. They still texted and facetimed when they could. It wasn't until sophomore year started that things really began to shift. Daisey was grateful to have shared her freshman year with her best girl, but that didn't change the fact that she was gone now. Sophomore year wasn't the same as freshman year. Daisey was older and more mature. High school was supposed to be four years of just her and Kenz, nothing else. But now she'd have to spend the next three years by herself, without her favorite hallway buddy. And Daisey would continue to believe this until her father's suggestion.

          "Don't you think it's a little far away?" Daisey asked her dad as she shoveled the last bite of her cereal into her mouth.

          " I mean, yeah, but you're your own person, you know? You'll be alright, it'll be good for you."

          "Dad, I'm 17, I can't do big things like this on my own."

          "Daisey, don't be like this. You've taken care of yourself and more since middle school. You know you don't need anyone else. Besides, you'll have Mckenzie and her family." Her father persisted as he slid the milk carton back into the half-empty fridge.

          "Yeah, whatever."

          "Okay, Daisey Jae, what the hell is going on with you? Every time I've brought up Mckenzie you've gotten super cold and weird about it. What happened to the two of you?"

           "Nothing. Nothing happened, Dad. I've got to go now anyway- Wes texted me to bring him something for school."

          "Oh, um, okay. Goodbye, I love you."

          "Goodbye."

          Daisey's father didn't know how to raise a teenager, especially not a girl. He liked to think that he tried his best, and he did sometimes, but Daisey would never believe that. On the drive to her grandparents' house, Daisey thought a lot about her options. She could stay home, alone, and rot in sweet old Jasper, Georgia, or she could awkwardly live in the bedroom adjacent to that of her ex-ish best friend. But, then again, maybe Michigan would be good for her, for her and Mckenzie, of course, but also just her in herself. That was what she would do: Daisey was moving to Michigan. She had to, she defended. Mckenzie's dad was so kind to offer, she couldn't possibly turn him down. That would be rude.

So there it was.

Daisey would be spending her last high school summer in "the best lake town in Michigan."

With her best friend turned enemy.

And hopefully with a cute boy to kiss.

But this was all in fate's hands.

Who was she to hope?