ᴘᴇʀꜰᴇᴄᴛ ᴍᴇꜱꜱ • ʙɪʟʟʏ ʜᴀʀɢʀᴏᴠᴇ

Three

The next day, Daisy got up bright and early. So early, in fact, that her mother was still asleep. So she decided to make breakfast pancakes for her and Dustin (even though he sometimes didn't deserve for being a little twerp). Daisy took out the egg carton, milk and butter out of the fridge, and then reached for the flour, which was still outside from yesterday, and out of the top cupboard took out the salt, baking powder and sugar and proceeded with making pancakes.

Dustin woke up when his sister was almost done with the pancakes. He inhaled, smiling softly. He loved it when she made breakfast pancakes.

"Good morning, brat." she grinned, flipping the pancake up in the air. "Is mom still asleep?"

"Yeah." he replied, finding his place by the table, which was already laid out with two plates, with a fork and knife on either side and maple syrup in the middle of the table. She was yet to prepare freshly-squeezed orange juice. "What's got you in a good mood? It's only the second day of school."

Daisy shrugged, flipping the pancake from the pan straight into the plate next to her, wincing when it burnt the side of her finger in the process. "Well excuse me for getting up bright and early in a good mood! By the way, how'd it go at the arcade yesterday? Still the ultimate champ?"

Dustin frowned, shaking his head. "Some kid nicknamed Mad Max beat all our scores. No no, not just mine!" He pointed a finger at himself. "All four of us!"

"If he managed to beat all four of you, he must spend an awful lot of time playing." Daisy commented. "Why not make friends with them?"

"Haven't you heard what I just said?!" he exclaimed softly, being careful not to wake their mother up. "He beat our scores, Daisy! Mad Max is the enemy!"

Daisy chuckled and shook her head, proceeding with the pancake-making. The soft sound of bed slippers indicated Mrs Henderson was up.

"Breakfast pancakes, sweetie?" she asked after inhaling the beautiful aroma.

"Yep!" Daisy grinned. "They're still warm so we can all dig in!" She picked up the plate with the ready-made pancakes and placed it next to the maple syrup. Dustin immediately picked up two pancakes and the mother did the same, dousing them in maple syrup. Daisy smiled and also started her breakfast. "Hey, Ma. I know it's a school night, but would it be okay if I went rollerblading?"

"As long as you're not in too late, dear. I might pull an afternoon shift today." she smiled weakly, making Daisy feel slightly guilty. Being a single mother must have been tougher than she had expected. Mr and Mrs Henderson split up when she was eight and Dustin just four years old. They kept their divorce amicable, but both Daisy and Dustin didn't see much of him. He moved out of state and only called on birthdays, Thanksgivings and Christmases.

"It's only to Downtown and back, mom." Daisy smiled reassuringly. "I'd be back by the time it got dark."

"And I might be going to the arcade with the boys and Jane again." Dustin chimed in, talking and chewing at the same time. When he got a glare from both his sister and mother, he swallowed the food and mumbled an apology. After finishing breakfast, Mrs Henderson stood up and planted a small kiss on Daisy's forehead before making her way to the refrigerator.

"Hey, you mind coming to the store with me after school, Daisy, dear? We need groceries and food for Mews."

Daisy nodded, eating the last of her pancakes. "Yeah, of course. Just give me fine minutes to come back here and we can walk it together."

"I'd like that, love. Thank you." her mother replied.

*

Daisy hopped off of her bike and wheeled it up to the school car park, where Steve already was, leaning against the side of the car. When he spotted her, he rushed up to her.

"Daisy!" he yelled out. "Listen..." he continued in his normal voice when she caught up with him. "About what I said yesterday--"

"I'm over it."

"But--"

"Steve." she cut him off, putting a hand on his shoulder, smiling softly. "It's fine. I forgive you. Really."

"You never called last night. Got worried for a while." he told her as they made their way to the bike racks, where Daisy chained her bike securely. "Everything okay?"

"Uh-huh." she replied, grinning. "Just had some homework to finish before I did some chores. Mom had the late again." They entered the school and walked up to their lockers, which were just a few ones away from each other's. "Will you be playing basketball during last period today?"

"Yeah. Will you be there?" Steve closed his locker and Daisy nodded, smiling. "Great! I'll see you then!"

When he walked away, Daisy continued taking her books out of her locker, placing some in her bags and the others clutched in her other hand.

"Daisy!" At the sound of her name, she closed her locker and found Nancy there. "Listen... about the other day--"

"Water under the bridge, Nance." She still didn't know what got her in a good mood, probably the fact that it was a brand new day, and she got up too early to be bothered about anything else. "We should have lunch together today. You, me and Jonathan."

"I- Of course." Nancy smiled, still appearing confused at the sudden change in mood in her friend. They started walking together up the first floor. "Will you be going to Tommy's party this evening? Jonathan and I will be there. We'd love it if you were there too."

"Can't. I need to start studying for the French mock and I'm helping mom around the house." she replied. She wasn't lying, but she also didn't want to go to the party. "Maybe the next one."

"I'll see you at lunch then. And, Daisy..." She squeezed her friend's hand. "I really am sorry about what happened this summer. I didn't think it would turn out this way."

Daisy smiled weakly before they headed to their respective classes. All day, she couldn't help but find herself wondering why Billy Hargrove hadn't come up to her to talk. The day before, she saw him everywhere: on her way to other classes, during lunchtime, free period, on her way home... but not today. He didn't show up to any lessons they had together, and that got people talking. Some girls said they saw his car parked outside. Others were saying he slept with a teacher - who that teacher was nobody knew - or one of the mothers that attended dancing at city hall - again, the identity was never revealed.

This boy's been here barely a day and he was already the only topic of discussion Daisy thought to herself, rolling her eyes whenever his name popped up, but deep down, she really couldn't wait until she saw his handsome face once again.