HEARTBREAK HIGH; •Spencer White•

six - make me your queen

"I'll see you out there, Miss!" Missy practically skipped out of the changing rooms already energised from training, leaving Daisy alone amongst the echo of locker doors slamming and distant voices carrying in from the gym.

Usually sport was one of the few things Daisy actually enjoyed about school. It was easy credits, less sitting still, less thinking. She liked moving, liked the burn in her muscles after training, liked having something to focus on other than the constant noise in her head. But today felt different.

Wrong. Daisy stood in front of the mirror slowly peeling her jersey from her skin, her eyes immediately catching on the faint bruises and marks scattered along her ribs and shoulders. Her stomach twisted violently. Suddenly the room felt too hot and too small.

Her breathing picked up sharply as her fingers tightened around the jersey material. The fluorescent lights above her seemed to blur together, the mirror almost spinning as she stumbled backwards a step.

"Not now," she whispered shakily under her breath. "Not now. Not now." Her hands planted themselves against her hips as she forced herself to inhale deeply.

In.

Out.

In.

Out.

"Fuck." Her voice cracked halfway through the word. Her chest tightened painfully, lungs refusing to cooperate no matter how hard she tried to breathe properly. Instinctively, she clutched at the fabric of her sports bra while backing up further until her shoulders hit the cold wall behind her.

"Stop it— stop it," she muttered desperately. Her fingers twitched like she wanted to yank at her hair, but instead she kept twisting the jersey tighter between her hands.

"Breathe... breathe..." The air still wouldn't come.
A horrible choking sound escaped her throat as she slid down the wall onto the floor, curling slightly into herself while panic clawed violently at her chest.

God, she wished Missy would come back. She hated this, hated how weak it made her feel. Her lungs constricted harder as tears blurred her vision uncontrollably. She pressed a hand against her chest desperately like she could physically force herself to calm down.

"Breathe," she gasped again.

"Woah— hey?" Daisy froze, that definitely wasn't a girl's voice. "Coopers?" The sound of footsteps moved quickly across the changing room floor before stopping directly in front of her. Embarrassment crashed over her instantly and she buried her face into her knees, hands tangling into her hair.

"Daisy?" His voice softened immediately, Spider.
Of course it was bloody Spider. "Hey," he said more carefully this time as she struggled for breath. "Hey, Daisy girl, need you to look up for me." Large hands gently wrapped around her wrists, carefully pulling them away from her hair before she could keep digging her nails into her scalp.

"Daisy," he repeated softly. Still shaking, Daisy finally lifted her head enough to look at him. Spider was crouched down properly in front of her now, concern written clearly across his face despite how calm he was trying to sound.

"What's three things you can see?" he asked quietly. "Need you to focus for me, alright?" Daisy wanted the floor to swallow her whole. Tears were still spilling down her cheeks and her breathing sounded awful, sharp little gasps she couldn't control.

"Three things, Coopers," Spider repeated, his tone turning teasingly patient. Somehow that helped more. Her eyes darted around the room desperately, trying to focus anywhere except him.
"The... gym," she managed shakily. "Gym bags."

"Good." Spider nodded immediately, his thumbs rubbing small circles across the back of her clammy hands. "That's good, Daisy. What else?"
She swallowed hard, forcing herself to look again.

"The bench."

"Perfect. One more." Daisy sniffed hard before glancing towards one of the open bags near the lockers.

"I can smell weed," she breathed out weakly. Spider barked out a surprised laugh. The sound startled a tiny laugh out of Daisy too despite herself, and suddenly breathing felt a fraction easier.

"Think it's Sasha's," she added shakily. "Hope it's vegan."

Spider grinned immediately. "You're funny, Coopers. Anyone ever tell you that?"

"Loads," Daisy muttered. Another weak laugh escaped her and Spider smiled softly, one hand briefly leaving hers so he could wipe away the tears still clinging to her cheeks with his thumb.
The gesture made her chest ache for an entirely different reason.

"Why're you even in here?" she asked eventually, mostly to distract herself. Her voice still sounded shaky as she bit down hard on her lip to stop it wobbling again. "Perving?"

Spider scoffed dramatically before finally sitting properly on the floor opposite her, his own jersey damp with sweat from training. There was a sheen of perspiration along his forehead and his hair was sticking up messily at the front.

"Totally," he deadpanned. "Didn't find anyone interesting though." He winked and Daisy rolled her eyes weakly, but her breathing had finally started settling back into something normal again.

Spider slowly stood first before holding a hand out towards her. After a second of hesitation, Daisy took it, letting him pull her carefully back to her feet. "Sorry," she muttered immediately, wiping at her face with the sleeve of her jersey. "That was... yeah. Horrible."

She quickly tugged the shirt back over her head before Spider could stare any longer.

"It's okay." Spider shrugged casually like she hadn't just fully melted down in front of him. "Ant gets 'em too sometimes." Daisy blinked at him in surprise.

Something about hearing that softened her slightly. Spider wasn't exactly known for being understanding. "Also..." she hesitated awkwardly, rubbing at the back of her neck. "Thanks for walking me home the other night."

After the cemetery incident, and outrunning the cops, Spider had stayed with her the entire walk back despite Ant and the others yelling at him to hurry up. Spider shrugged again, suddenly looking almost shy beneath all the cockiness.

"You're good," he said simply. "Just what a friend does, yeah?" The teasing edge returned right at the end and Daisy looked at him suspiciously, trying to decide if he was serious or not. Before she could answer, Spider was already backing towards the door.

"See ya, Coopers." And then he was gone, no dramatic goodbye or flirtatious comment. Daisy stood there alone in the changing rooms for another few seconds, trying to steady herself while confusion twisted in her chest. Maybe Spider wasn't as awful as everyone said he was.