The Dreamer

Austin meets Daisy

Daisy looks wan and battered on Monday. It's clear she didn't sleep for at least two nights. When Austin sees her hollow, vacant-eyed appearance, he can't help but feel guilty. He knows all too well why Daisy's looking like this. And he's the only one who knows.
As Austin approaches her, he can sense that she's struggling for composure. Meeting Austin after class wasn't what Daisy had in mind.

Austin did expect her to be angry. But not broken and defeated like she looks.

As he comes closer, he can feel his heart thudding inside his chest. His palms are sweaty.

"Here's your Journal," Austin says.

He expected her to come at him in a rage, maybe punch or slap him in the face.

But she does none of that.
Instead, she silently takes the journal from his hands, with her head held down, looking at the ground, totally taking Austin by surprise.
And when she looks up, Austin freezes.
There's tears in her eyes.

Daisy's crying.

Two drops of tears roll down her cheeks. To Austin, they seem like two drops of mystery. He never imagined in his wildest dreams that Daisy would ever cry, in front of him, over an inanimate object.

The guilt comes rushing back to Austin like a tidal wave. He feels like a criminal.

"I- I'm sorry..", says Austin.

"It's okay", she murmurs. Then she hugs her journal, kisses it a couple of times.

"I- I read the whole thing. I hope you don't mind?"

She stays silent for a while, still looking at the ground.
Then she looks up and stares right into his eyes. Her tears are drying up.

Austin feels extremely awkward while she keeps looking him in the eye.

"I.. I know you've gone through a lot. And you know what? I'm the same. My life's hasn't been too easy either", Austin says.

"Oh", she says softly.

"Wanna talk about it?"

"About what?"

"Your life.. my life. If you aren't busy take a walk with me. You can talk to me about anything and I won't tell a soul."

Daisy sighs. "Alright. But I feel like I need a shot of caffeine first."

"Sure! Wanna go to Starbucks?"

"Ah yeah. Sounds good."

"Alright. Come with me. My car's parked by the entrance. Petra's probably waiting for me."

"Um... Actually, I'd prefer to walk, if that's okay with you."

Austin considers for a moment. Daisy walks a lot and she never drives her cars. She always walks back home. In that case, Austin will have to let Petra know over phone to return home. He wants to walk home with Daisy.

Austin lets out a short sigh. Petra might not like this.

"Alright. We'll walk."

Daisy smiles. Austin feels like she's got the most beautiful smile in the world.

They walk all the way over to Starbucks. On their way they talk about a lot of stuff- their hobbies, interests, music, video games, fashion etc. After walking for about an hour, they reach their destination.

Daisy orders one tall, non-fat latte with caramel drizzle. Austin doesn't order any drink.

They sit in silence for awhile, while Daisy sips on her drink.

Austin breaks the silence first.

"I feel really sorry for you. For everything that's happened to you."

Daisy doesn't say anything.

"You know, my parents died in a car crash when I was eight. My dad was driving, and he crashed his car right into an oak tree."

"What do you mean by that? Wasn't it an accident?"

"Honestly, I'm not so sure. My instinct tells me it was intentional. My dad wasn't a drinker and... It's just- something doesn't feel right. He was the last person anyone would expect to die in a car crash to be honest."

"Okay so.. he deliberately did this?"

"I think so."

"But why?"

"I don't know. I haven't been able to solve this puzzle to this day. But I do have some guesses."

"Yeah?"

"Their relationship - it wasn't too stable, if I'm being completely honest. They'd quarrel a lot, fight, argue. And I'd hear my mom crying at times, in the middle of the night. If I ever asked her why she'd been crying, she'd tell me I heard wrong She'd tell me not to worry too much about her. And I always believed her, I believed everything she said. So then I'd think that I must've been mistaken. But now I know, I never heard wrong. I think my dad abused her, probably both mentally and physically. And I fear, he might've been mentally ill. So his life ended in a suicidal attempt to kill himself and his wife."

"I'm sorry to hear that", Daisy said.

"It's okay.. honestly, it's nothing compared to what you've been through. It's just.. Unbelievable! How did you-- like- I mean, I don't understand-"

"I don't really feel like talking about it", Daisy stops him mid sentence.
She finishes her coffee, and stands up.

"Thank you for your time. But I really need to go now, gotta work out."

She doesn't wait for a reply. She pays for her coffee, and walks straight out the door.

Austin was actually stunned. He did not expect her to leave like that.

"God. She's weird", he says to himself.

He takes out his phone. Five missed calls. All from Petra.

He takes a deep breath and dials Petra's number. Petra picks up her phone after a few rings.

"Hey, Petra. Sorry I didn't call you back. My phone was in silent."

"WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU?"

"I-I- Calm down please!! I'm--I'm at Starbucks."

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING THERE?!"

"I-- uh--," Austin feels a drop of sweat on his brow. Sometimes, you learn things the moment they come out of your mouth, like the information was hiding there, safe from your brain.

"I went on a date with Daisy", Austin says.

"A date with WHOM?!" Petra's literally screaming on her phone.

"Yeah, I know, I know. I'll tell you the whole story once I get back home. Now come pick me up."

Austin hears a click as Petra hangs up.
She's pissed but intrigued as hell at the same time. And Austin knows that.