HEARTBREAK HIGH; •Spencer White•

twenty four - jam !

"Chips and lollies, Ant, really? What part of 'no dumb food' did you not understand?" Amerie groaned, dropping the bags of sugar onto the desk with enough force to make a packet of Killer Pythons slide off the edge.

"At least it's edible," Daisy shrugged from where she leaned against the teacher's desk, plucking one of the snakes from the open packet before Ant could protest. "Honestly, we should be thanking him. You lot would've brought celery or something tragic."

Ant looked deeply offended. "Oi, I brought balance. There's chips, lollies and dip. That's nutrition."

"That is absolutely not nutrition," Sasha muttered, dragging a hand down her face. "This stuff is supposed to last us the whole night."

Missy burst through the office doors dramatically, dropping three bottles of cordial onto the table with a loud thud. "Ant, ya dog! Where's the water?"

"Why's everyone obsessed with water?" Ant complained instantly. "Humans survived centuries without water bottles."

"They literally did not," Amerie snapped.

Daisy rolled her eyes, chewing lazily on the lolly snake as the argument grew louder around her. Across the room, Spider sat sprawled back in a swivel chair, balancing it dangerously on two legs while Dusty talked absolute shit beside him. Every few seconds, Daisy could feel Spider's eyes drifting toward her.

Sleeping at school really did not appeal to her, but none of them were willing to give up. Not after everything with Jojo. Not after the suspensions and rumours and protests and the way the school had completely spiralled over the past week.

By one in the morning, though, Daisy was seriously reconsidering her life choices. "Bring it, bitch!" Missy yelled dramatically, slamming another plastic cup of cordial onto the desk.

Crouched opposite Spider and Ant, Daisy watched them prepare for yet another round of whatever stupid chugging competition they'd invented to keep themselves awake.

"Three..." Ant pointed between them like some sort of referee. "Two... one!" Spider won again, mostly because Ant started laughing halfway through and nearly inhaled cordial through his nose.

Daisy snorted tiredly from her spot against the wall, legs pulled to her chest. She'd joined in earlier, mostly because Spider kept taunting her until she'd accepted out of spite, but after the fourth cup of red cordial she'd started feeling mildly ill and dramatically retired from the competition. Now exhaustion dragged heavily behind her eyes.

The office lights felt too bright. Everyone's voices blurred together into one constant hum. Somewhere nearby Quinni and Sasha were debating conspiracy theories while Dusty attempted to stack staplers into a tower.

"Hey, hey, hey, guys..." Amerie's voice cut through the noise weakly. "Remember why we're here..."
Daisy's head lolled back against the wall before Amerie could finish. Her eyes slipped shut for what felt like half a second.

Then— "Coopers." Soft hands rested against her hips. Her eyes blinked open slowly to find Spider crouched in front of her, hair messy from people constantly shoving him throughout the night. His expression had softened completely now that everyone else was half asleep.

"You okay, baby?"

She rubbed at her eyes with the sleeve of her jumper. "M'tired."

"No shit." His hands slid under hers, pulling her gently to her feet. Daisy swayed slightly the second she stood upright and Spider's grip tightened automatically around her waist to steady her. The gesture was small, but it made her stomach flip anyway.

His fingers brushed hair back behind her ears carefully, eyes scanning her face like he was checking she was actually awake. "Really shouldn't call me that, Spencer," she mumbled sleepily. The second his name left her mouth, Ant's head snapped around from across the room.