#btr oc

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“For starters, we have to wear long pants and close-toed shoes - Yuck! - and he said we’re going to have to wear these shitty plastic goggles that, like, every single student in the history of the school has ever touched. And they’re totally going to leave a mark on my face too, so I’ll be heading to English looking like some alien creature was sucking on my face…”

It was quite hard for Daisy to listen to her friend’s ailments over the blaring pop music that started up from the stereo, so she reached to turn it down, missing the last few words of Kana’s statement. Brown backpack settling at her feet, Daisy shifted her long legs to the side to try and find a bit more room while she settled her sketchbook on her lap.

In the driver’s seat, her friend spoke with so much animation, her long, wavy black hair flying this way and that, hands gesticulating wildly, tone bobbing up and down to emphasize different words… Sometimes it was exhausting listening to her speak, from Daisy’s introverted perspective, but there was no one else on Earth she’d rather spend her time with than her best friend - Especially after a long, long first week of school had finally come to a close. 

As per the routine the two of them had built last semester when Kana had gotten her driver’s license and brand new car on her 16th birthday, they’d brave the long line of cars to get out of the one exit to the school parking lot together and then head down the main road to their favorite donut shop to reward themselves for surviving that week. 

Kana had put the car in reverse and hit the gas pedal before Daisy could even get her seatbelt on, attempting to cut in front of a few other people to try and get a spot farther up in the line. Even though Chester was a midsize city with a healthy population, Clear Creek was the only high school on their side of town, making it one of the biggest in the county. 

Clicking her seatbelt in once, then undoing it and clicking it again, Daisy tugged on the rough material to make sure it was stable before she addressed her friend’s concerns. “Bring a change of clothes?”

“Oh!” Kana brought her palms down onto the steering wheel with a bang! Brown eyes growing wide despite the sun shining directly into them, she grinned. “That’s brilliant! Why didn’t I think of that… But, I still hate Harris for trying to cramp my style!”

A very distinct style at that… Daisy thought to herself, gaze flickering from the black truck’s brake lights ahead of them to her friend. 

Having moved to Chester, Virginia with her family from Kapa’a, Hawaii, a few years ago, most of her wardrobe conflicted with that of most other people they went to school with. Kana favored loose, airy clothing that made it look like she was ready to hit the beach at any given moment. Typically, minimalistic in color, sticking to earth tones, she rocked it as though it were the clothing featured on the cover of the teen magazines she was always sticking into Daisy’s backpack. 

Long ago, she said the clothing reminded her of home too much to let go and blend in with the rest of her peers, even in the cold of the winter. It was then she’d make her way over to Daisy’s and borrow from her “grandma-esque” wardrobe, packed full of warm sweaters and cardigans to layer on top. 

“It’s just to keep you safe,” Daisy added, picking at the faded cover of the sketchbook in her lap. “And only for one period.”

The sigh that rolled out of Kana as they finally made it to the stop light at the parking lot exit made it seem like the lab situation was the end of the world. “Maybe I’m just worried about the actual chemical mixing part - How can that be safe for a bunch of people who have never encountered ‘sucrose’ and ‘sodium bicarbonate’ or whatever.”

Daisy couldn’t contain the chuckle that passed her lips, “You mean sugar and baking soda?” 

“See! This is why I wish you were in my class, Daisy! Your counselor was so wrong to put you in environmental science instead.”

Thinking back to course selection at the end of last semester, the girl shuddered as she recalled her solo meeting with her guidance counselor. It had taken a lot of courage and worrying about the conversation for a week straight for her to ask to edit the schedule he’d come up with for her junior year.

“Fighting for that course was hard.”

As the car turned, Kana took her hand from the wheel and placed it on Daisy’s shoulder. “I know, girl, and the way you connect with and understand nature is almost straight-up magical. Are you blowing all the seniors away yet?”

Simply shaking her head as she stared out the window, watching as the small town center their high school was in slowly began to fade into farmland, Daisy figured that was enough of a response. 

Kana knew how hard it was for Daisy to connect with others, the intense anxiety and panic she felt when having to interact with people. 

It wasn’t anything Daisy ever really shared with anyone, besides her therapist, but they’d met each other while the Southerner had been in the middle of a panic attack in Clear Creek’s second-floor bathroom.

Completely overcome by her emotions on the first day of her freshman year, she had run out of her math class when the teacher suggested Daisy start them off with an icebreaker game. It just so happened that Kana slipped out of her class at the same time, and they’d ended up in the same place. 

And she stayed, sitting next to Daisy as the other girl crumpled to the floor, clutching at her chest because she could barely breathe. 

“It’s alright, you’re going to make it through this, even if it’s scary,” Kana assured her, voice perfectly calm and soothing. She didn’t look at the girl directly, touch her, or do anything to heighten her anxiety, simply saying, “Let’s breathe together, okay? In… and out… In… and out…”

Though it took more than a few rounds, Kana’s technique had eventually worked, and for the first time in her life, Daisy had someone she was comfortable around who wasn’t a member of her family. 

When she was finally grounded again, Daisy used the sleeves of her navy blue sweater to dry away the tears streaming down her face, throat still choking up as she asked, “...How?”

“My girlfriend’s sister has anxiety attacks, too. She says it can feel impossible to get through them alone sometimes.”

Since then, the two were nearly inseparable. 

As Daisy recalled the distant memory, she hadn’t even noticed Kana pull into the parking lot of the donut place, until the car had completely stopped and she was stepping out of the vehicle. Scrambling to follow, the crisp fall air hit her face, causing her blonde curls to blow off her shoulders as she gathered her backpack and books, following behind her friend.

Donut “shop” might not have been the right word, as Hole-y Roller was just a house the owner, Mrs. Matthews, had gutted and turned into a business on the first floor and abode on the second, but it was one of Kana and Daisy’s favorite spaces in all of Chester. No matter what time of day they went, the treats were always fresh, the coffee was always hot, and the atmosphere was just bright enough for Kana and chill enough for Daisy; Everything about the place was perfect…

Except for the name. But Daisy was willing to look past the slight act of sacrilege as long as she remembered to ask for forgiveness and cleansing in her nightly prayers. She figured even God would be able to look past the name of the joint if He were able to sink his teeth into one of Mrs. Matthew’s mouth-watering creations. 

Hole-y Roller had the potential to be quite busy with donuts so good they attracted a line halfway around the block in the mornings, but the afternoons, as the girls had found after much trial and error, were far less busy. Regardless, Kana looked over her shoulder on the way in - silently asking Daisy if she was comfortable. 

The background chatter among patrons was moderate, there were plenty of open tables, and she didn’t see anyone they knew from school.

When the other girl nodded, Kana’s smile lit up as bright as the neon sign out front and she gently grabbed Daisy’s hand to lead them to their usual table in the corner. “What new flavor should I try today?”

Falling into one side of the squeaky blue vinyl booth, Daisy put her bag up against the wall and her book in front of her. “I saw a poster in the window for a pineapple upside-down donut.” 

“Ooh, yummy! We’ll see if Mrs. M could find the best fruit in the mainland then… Do you want your usual?”

Daisy nodded, bangs falling into her eyes and over the lens of her glasses before she quickly brushed them away. “Yes, please.”

At times, she worried that Kana would think her childish for ordering in her place, but their first week of school had been so long, that Daisy’s social battery was nearly zero. There was no time to worry about such things, especially when Kana had assured her a million times she didn’t mind and when a sugar rush was on the line. 

“Coming right up!” Kana beamed, hopping out of the other side of the booth and falling into line among the other customers. 

In the meantime, Daisy grabbed one of her pencils out of her bag and popped her sketchbook open, so she had something to do while Kana was ordering. The last thing she needed was for someone to think she was a loser for sitting at a table all alone; Drawing in the meantime would help take her mind off of it. 

Flipping to the double-page spread of the Chesterfield State Forest instantly transported Daisy to her seat in history class next to the window. She’d spent much of Mrs. Gruben’s lecture today perfecting the rough outline of the sketch and only needed to draw in a few more trees on the right side before she went in for a second layer with color. 

While she’d originally thought oil pastels would fit the scene best, as she examined her drawing now, she figured watercolors might be better for blending the layers of the forest with her favorite greens, browns, and blacks; If she didn’t overload the paper with water like she had last time, the painting would come out perfectly. 

The next time she visited the art studio with her grandfather, she’d get his opinion and go from there. 

When am I free next? Nana and I are going to the library tomorrow, church and assisting Jay-Jay with dinner on Sunday… After school on Monday? If I can figure out the pre-calc assignment-

“Whatcha workin’ on?” Kana asked, startling Daisy so much she accidentally knocked her book off of the white granite table top. “Shit! Sorry, Daisy…”

As the girl tried to calm her now pounding heart, Kana quickly set the small red basket containing one pineapple upside-down donut and one maple bar and the cardboard tray with two piping hot coffees down on the table. In a flash, she bent down to pick up her friend’s sketchbook, before freezing halfway down, eyes narrowing as she scrutinized one of the pages the book had fallen open to. 

Laid out in black and white, a boy she’d never seen before stared back at her.

“Who’s this?” She asked, gently reaching for the book as she stood back up and slid into the booth, holding the page open. “Why does he look like he belongs in some sort of boyband?”

Donut all but forgotten, Kana made a big show of holding the page right up to her face, then pulling it back and placing the drawing in the path of the sunlight pouring in through the window beside her, turning the book to the right and the left, examining the drawing from every possible angle she could before Daisy worked up the courage to pull it out of her hands.

“Nothing. No one,” She spat, feeling the back of her neck grow hot and itchy under her turtleneck. 

The discovery of Kendall K’s YouTube video earlier in the week hadn’t left Daisy’s head since she’d been caught watching it in the Clear Creek library. Since she didn’t own a phone or computer of her own and she was too embarrassed to go back to the scene of the crime, she hadn’t been able to watch the video again. Despite that, “Check Yes, Juliet” had been stuck in her head for days, and she couldn’t get his face out of her mind, so she’d taken every single detail she could remember from watching the video over and over, and had drawn him as best she could. 

Kana blinked, wisps of steam from her coffee swirling up the jaw she’d dropped. “No one my ass, Daisy-Mae! You’re blushing! Did you meet someone in class this week? I’ve never seen this guy before…”

Hoping it would stall the conversation for at least a few more seconds, Daisy reached for her donut and stuffed about half of it in her mouth, making a big display of chewing very, very slowly, while pushing the tray over toward her friend. 

“I’m going on a hunger strike until you spill, so tell me now or you’re going to kill me! At least tell me his name so I can see if anyone we know follows him-”

“They won’t,” Daisy mumbled, though it was very hard to decipher with her cheeks stuffed full of perfectly sweet, fried dough. “At least… I don’t think he’s from here.”

Bringing her hands to her mouth, Kana let out an exasperated, muffled scream. “Then how’d you meet him?!”

“I didn’t!” Daisy fought back, finally washing everything down with a sip of her coffee. Kana had put extra cream and sugar in there, just the way her best friend liked it. “I… found him… on the internet.”

The girl across the booth let out a laugh so boisterous, that it turned the heads of people around them as she nearly doubled over in her seat. “Oh, good one, Daisy! Like I believe you, my sweet technophobe, managed to navigate the world wide web.”

Running a finger inside the neck of her turtleneck, Daisy pulled it to the side to give her flushed skin a taste of fresh air. “Really, Kana. On YouTube. He’s a singer.”

That pulled her friend out of her laughing fit, eyes snapping to meet Daisy’s as a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. In a heartbeat, her smartphone was pulled from her pocket, unlocked, and slid across the table. The YouTube app was open with the search bar ready to be typed in.“Pull it up then! I need to see this video to… understand your artistic representation?”

Clearly a lie, Kana was just nosy, but Daisy was so desperate to hear Kendall’s song again, that she punched in the title of the video that was practically burned into her memory as she explained, “I was looking for a history documentary, but I must’ve typed the link in wrong. Brought this video up instead and-”

Using the pad of her thumb, Daisy touched the first video that popped up, her brain going haywire when the thumbnail picture of Kendall popped up next to it.

“Hey, this is Kendall…”

Kana snatched the phone from Daisy’s hands, making the video full screen and placing it down on the white table between them. It was hard to miss the way she turned her phone to almost full volume. 

For the next three minutes, both girls were entranced, one taking in the music and vocals for the first time, while the other searched the frame for any new crumb of information she could pull about the boy she’d had trapped inside her daydreams for the last few days. Maybe she could calculate the angle of his jawline when his head turned or determine which shade of green fit his eyes perfectly. 

A few beats passed before Daisy spotted something, a logo on his beanie that looked like a forest landscape. Not one she recognized at all, but now she’d been on the lookout for anything similar; Anything that gave her more clues into the life of this boy.

“You think he’s cute?” Kana interrupted him just as he got to the second verse, and Daisy almost shushed her. 

“Don’t you?”

Not denial, perse, but not confirmation.

“I’ve only got eyes for Mai,” her friend shared solemnly, before smacking her hand down on the table. “Wait! Did you check and see if he has a MySpace?”

Daisy cocked her head to the side and Kana continued, “That answers my question… Just give me a moment.”

When she took the phone off the table before the song had ended, Daisy mourned for a split second. The sound of relentless typing pinged out of Kana’s phone for what felt like ages, as different colors lit up her face. 

Whatever she was doing, clearly wasn’t important enough to show her friend, so Daisy assumed the search had come up empty and took another bite of her donut. Then, she pulled her sketchbook from the table and placed it in her backpack. That thing was a weapon now, blasting her in the chest with the ray of embarrassment, so away it would go until Daisy felt another creative spark that needed to be unleashed over the creamy beige paper. 

“Daisy! I forgot to tell you - You look so pretty today!” Kana called, and the other girl whipped her head her way only to be blinded by a bright, white flash. “Thanks!”

“What was that for?” Daisy might not have been as technologically advanced as her peers, but she sure did know what the flash of a camera meant. “You don’t need to torture me with a picture right now…”

“It’s for your MySpace page.”

“My what?”

“So you can message Kendall K.”

“Message?” The sound of typing erupted from the phone speakers once more, and Daisy’s chest constricted. “Put your phone down.” 

Click, click, click.

“I’m serious, Kana, please.”

Click, click, click.

“I’m worried.”

Instantly, the sound stopped. Kana put her phone down on the table. “There is nothing to be worried about, Daisy. I wouldn’t do anything if I knew it was bad for you.”

“Right. I know,” Daisy breathed. Her palms were growing sweaty from where she had them tucked in the long sleeves of her top. “It’s hard for me to be out of the loop though.” With a nudge, Kana pushed her phone screen Daisy’s way, “So, let me fill you in then. oopsydaisy just sent her first message to kendallk.”

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thanks for reading! i appreciate your support :)