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gard3nias · 28 days

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04| Just like old times

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wc: 6.67k

date: 08/06/2024

mdi // masterlist // playlist

—Now playing: Girls Just Want To Have Fun by Cyndi Lauper✫

"Oh, my lord! I don't know what to wear Daphne!"

"Shit! Don't scream into the phone now" she guffawed.

Six in the morning and Cleo was already screaming out of frustration. They spent the past week hanging out and catching up on anything and everything without worrying about what the future awaits. Daphne was also frustrated but had other ways to show it—not by screaming on the phone.

"Girl at least you're only bothered about your outfit. I'm the one they'll be staring at," Daphne lamented, phone between her ear and shoulder as she opened the shirt in her hands to see if it was it. It wasn't. "Oh please. They'd be staring because you're the prettiest human out there that isn't in the rich kids' group," Daphne soughed at the reply insisting that Cleo herself told her that and she didn't carve it out from her ass.

"I'm being for real girl. They'll be staring for days, forever even. You're gorgeous," Cleo lovingly spoke while angrily trashing a shirt behind herself and digging further into her wardrobe. "Why are you saying all this just now? I don't want to have that many eyes on me, Cleo. Okay, I'll wear a mask then."

All this aside, Daphne was calm about her outfit. She'd finished creating it and laid it on the bed.

"Sometimes I wish our school had uniforms. It'd save me all this stress," Cleo screamed as her phone was away from her, "But I know I'd regret it right the following day."

A lace ruffled white tank top, low-rise jeans and a light cardigan because the weather outside didn't foretell a nice day. That was Daphne's outfit.

"I'm going in the shower Cleo so scream if you want me to hear you," she announced as she stripped out of her clothes and went in, "Don't worry. A little girl whose name starts with D and ends with E told me I'm already screaming!" the reply made Daphne burst into laughs loud enough to cover the water's sounds momentarily, "Please be more specific. My sister's name is Dayanne," she laughed while a few steps away from her house, Cleo was rolling her eyes.

"I think that if I go with a dress I don't have to bother about top and bottom matching. What do you think Daphne?!" she yelled, grabbing three dresses and placing them on the little empty spot on her bed for her to take some pictures and send them to Daphne.

Since the latter was in the shower, she couldn't check her phone yet and simply yelled back: "I'm just thinking now. What if you wear that yellow low-rise skirt you showed me the last time with the cool belt we bought the other day?" she suggested, closing her eyes as her hands combed through her hair.

Cleo gasped like her friend's advice was a blessing from above, "Oh. My. God. You're so right! Oh god Daphne. What would I do without you?" she smiled as she opened her drawers in search of it. Once she found it, she hurried in front of the mirror to see how it looked before gasping again. "Daphne! What shirt am I going to wear with it?!" she yelled, keeping the skirt aside and diving back into her wardrobe. Her room was a mess at this point. The respondent took time before replying as she was rinsing her face.

"I don't know. Send me pics," she responded, getting out of the shower and into her towel. "I already sent you some pics but those are dresses," Cleo replied, switching between two shirts to go with the skirt. Hurriedly, she wore the skirt and each shirt and after taking pics, she sent them to her friend, urging her to choose while she showered.

Firstly, Daphne wrapped her hair in a towel and got dressed before checking her messages which she did right when Cleo got out of the shower. "The second shirt," she typed before turning the blow dryer on. Cleo didn't speak further and focused on getting dressed—undergarments, skirt, shirt and socks. Unlike Daphne, she'd already washed her hair the previous day so she went straight to doing her make-up.

"Oh my god," she sighed, "What time is it?" Daphne squinted her eyes to check her phone as her hair was hitting her face nonstop, "Half past six Cleo!" she screamed and hurried up with styling her hair. Cleo was exhausted as she manually blew on her face to speed up her concealer application. Not helping with the tension, Daphne and Cleo's dads called from downstairs to remind them of the time. "Yeah Dad, I know!" she whined as her mascara wasn't feeling her and constantly messing up.

Daphne applied lipgloss to finish her make-up and hurried with putting on accessories and running downstairs, thanking the heavens she'd prepared her bag the previous night.

Cleo was prepping her school bag in the neighbouring house, ensuring she remembered everything in the process. Then she rushed downstairs.

"My dad said we'll get breakfast on the way because there's a high chance of traffic for obvious reasons," Daphne spoke, the call was still on. Nodding, Cleo kissed her dad goodbye and rushed out of the house to her neighbour.

Outside, Daphne's dad had already turned the car on and was waiting for the girls who came simultaneously, both hopping in the backseat. "Y'all forgot nothing right?" he asked for reassurance. They agreed and finally drove off, waving at Granny, Daphne's mom and the dogs.

—Now playing: Vivere Tutte Le Vite by Elisa, Carl Brave✫

Ten minutes to seven and they were on the road. As everyone had predicted, the road was crowded, not enough to cause a traffic jam but enough for Daphne to understand that things are like that here. The town feels the first day of school, not just the students or the parents driving them there. The girls weren't talking. No one was. The dad focused on the road, Cleo finished up her hairstyle because she couldn't go anywhere without her hair pins while Daphne did what she'd always do when on the road: observe.

There were cars in front and behind them and she could see that kids were in the back seats by their heads.

Earlier, she was complaining to Cleo about the attention she'd get for being a new student. The other time at El Grillo's Cuisine she understood the reason was her new face in town but this morning Cleo tried to mask it saying that she was very pretty, in fact, pretty enough to look stinkingly rich like the kids they talked about the other day. Funny. If that's what they'd think, then better not let them know the reason why she now lives here in the first place. She chuckled at the thought. No one noticed her though.

The sky wasn't bright that morning but covered in the grey clouds. She didn't have an umbrella on her but didn't bother much. She liked, in fact, loved the rain and, despite knowing that someone would drive them back home once classes were dismissed, she wouldn't hesitate to run under it as she rushed to the bus stop. The cold she'd get the next morning would sound like a mother scolding her child but, like the child she was, the warnings would come in from one ear and go out through the other one.

The air that blew through the car came from the passenger seat window that her father winded down just a little. Seatbelt across her body, legs crossed, left hand holding her bag and right one holding her face as she leaned towards the window. The beauty of the landscape in front of her wanted to make her fall asleep which is strange because she's not the type to be falling asleep in the morning before school—she's been up for close to two hours now.

From her left, Cleo rustled with her things as she was done with her look and, satisfied, she pulled out her phone and took a few selfies. Pictures! It rang in Daphne's head like a bell. She pulled out her phone and made a little video, focusing shortly on her legs to give an idea of where she was and then completely moved to the fields entertaining their eyes outside. Ahead, she could see a line of trees meaning they were close to the little colourful neighbourhood they passed the first day they came here and every other day they went into town.

Cars went and very few came. The collective destination was the schools, that peculiar neighbourhood she'd seen just once that resembled a big campus.

"Come close. Let's take a pic," Cleo gestured as they inched closer to each other and posed. The selfie was soon posted on Cleo's Instagram stories with Daphne's profile tagged in a corner, conflicted with wanting to let everyone know who her friend was but also to gatekeep her somehow.

The past weeks, they were so focused on spending time with each other that social media faded into the background—despite the amount of pictures Cleo took and posted only late at night before going to bed. Cleo hurried to the search box and typed in the username of her crush-yet-not-crush. "Look. Here's him," she called for Daphne's attention. Jungkook had a good amount of followers and posts which allowed Cleo to make her friend have a good idea of him. The latest post was from a few days ago, a selfie taken at the beach with a girl and a boy. Avyanna and Jimin, Cleo explained.

Daphne blinked a few times. When Cleo talked about their looks, she understood but not enough for her to believe that they indeed looked so surreal. She was going to the same school as them? Crazy. They seemed personally and patiently carved by God. His favourite works most likely.

Avyanna had long and straight dark hair. Her face was like that of a model, well-proportioned, with a well-defined jaw and eyes like that of a siren. The type of girls that come up when you type "Dark feminine makeup" on Pinterest. She had her chin on Jungkook's shoulder. Behind, a few steps away, was Jimin goofily posed with what seemed to be a freshly caught fish wiggling in the second slide. He was shirtless and just in shorts like Jungkook. Avyanna was in her bikini top and jean shorts. By the looks of their hair, it was windy.

Cleo scrolled down further. The first slide was a video. It was Avyanna focused on rolling a joint next to a dark-haired boy who wasn't Jungkook. "He's Taehyung, the other living example of beauty and brains," Cleo continued. For a few seconds, his face wasn't in the camera as he too was focused on making his cigarette. He fully came into view when he licked his cigarette closed. Daphne was stunned, to say the least.

He was heavenly, she thought. Too pretty to be real. He looked slightly cold, the kind of cold that you inch closer to because it has its peculiar warmth. The video went on but Daphne was focused on him and him only. Avyanna turned her cigarette on and passed him the lighter. He'd charmed Daphne. He was just turning on a cigarette but she found it very attractive. She quickly checked and memorised Jungkook's username hoping to find Taehyung from him later.

They continued scrolling and finally found the last person in the friend group: a blondie with silky and straight hair. It was a three-picture post of them sitting around a table covered in food. Lunch or dinner, they couldn't tell but they were having a meal together. Adrielle was her name. She too was drop-dead gorgeous. Her looks were the complete opposite of Avyanna's: doe eyes and soft features. The human definition of beauty and brains indeed.

Faces like these were astonishing, she thought. She's seen pretty people before—she's been told to be very pretty too—but not to this extent. What Cleo said earlier about her looks was very nice but now Daphne thought that she wasn't that pretty, pretty enough to look as rich as them because goddamn, they were very pretty, ethereal. The type of beauty that money empowers.

Daphne's been told a lot of times about her looks. It is what made her popular in the city. But because of the type of people she prefers, she didn't have friends—friends in the real meaning of the word: she considered a friend someone whose company she enjoys even without speaking or having to interact; a person who she just likes existing with. Her classmates in the city thought they were friends but Daphne was just being nice and polite for the sake of it.

Daphne's mom was worried because of it. She knew how pretty her daughter's looks and personality were so seeing every day on her own with no one she could call a friend, she was worried—especially because Daphne's always been like this. She hoped the natural pretty privilege thing would kick in at some point but it never did—or at least, it didn't bring Daphne the type of friends she can call as such.

Despite how contrasting her personality is with Cleo's, she's the only person, apart from Willow, who she can call a friend.

Naturally, Daphne opened her phone and checked her Instagram profile wondering if some pictures were too outdated and embarrassing or if she liked them enough. She barely had posts compared to Jungkook and they barely showed her face. They were mostly pictures of landscapes, the library, her outfits and books—if she happened to be in one, her face wouldn't fully be in the focus, maybe her hair, her cheek but never her full face. Her face was only on the three-slide highlight labelled "Moi". The first slide was a selfie taken on the bus on a sunny day; the second one was a full-body picture taken in front of a monument; the last one was a mirror selfie taken before going to her sister's graduation party.

Her profile picture showed not her face but only from her chin down to her chest, focusing on her necklace and her lacy top with hair surrounding her face. She had two other highlights: one for her travelling and one she recently created dedicated to her dogs.

After inspecting everything, she archived only one post, kept the rest up and turned her phone off only after reposting Cleo's story on hers.

—Now playing: Take On Me by A-ha✫

Around forty minutes later, they were in town. As promised, they quickly stopped to get breakfast, nothing special but croissants and chocolate milk.

It was half past seven when they drove past El Grillo's Cuisine, close to a quarter to eight when they parked next to the terminal. They got off just as others did. The parking space was slowly filling up. Toddlers, kids, middle schoolers and high schoolers were everywhere.

Once the car was closed, following her father and Cleo's lead, they started trekking up to the school. The gates were still closed, yet there was a huge crowd in front of them, so big that Daphne wondered where all these students came from. This town couldn't contain all of them, could it?

"Come on, Daph! Let's go!" Cleo spurred, a wave of tension overwhelmed the respondent who looked for her father as if asking for permission to scurry off with her friend but also calling for help. Reading through her eyes, he gave a thumbs-up, kissed her goodbye and assured her everything would be okay. Daphne smiled and nodded without knowing what she did it for. Was she sure of herself? Probably not.

Turning around and finding her hand in Cleo's, she sighed in relief and clung closer to her. At least she wasn't alone.

"They'll open soon now. We're just in time. The gates always open fifteen minutes to eight to allow students to settle in before their teachers come in. They only close five minutes after eight," Daphne nodded at the information although she didn't fully pay attention to the words. Her head spun left and right, looking at the people she would attend school with.

As explained, the gates automatically opened and the crowd shrank towards the opening and, once wide enough, they all started racing into the school. Fear, excitement and confusion settled within Daphne as her friend goaded her to run with her. "Come on!" she screamed in happiness.

The confusion on Daphne's face was quickly replaced by delight and she increased her speed to catch up with Cleo's pace. As they all ran into the school, the staff kept screaming, telling everyone not to run but clearly, their words were disregarded.

They ran in and up the stairs to their class. As predicted by Cleo, it was on the top floor but despite the breathlessness, they both kept running. "Number nine!" Cleo screamed calling for Daphne's attention who immediately looked up in search of the mentioned number.

Once they found it, they ran in. Only two people were already in. Cleo proceeded to the set of desks in the second-to-last line and they finally settled down.

"You see?" Cleo began, barely breathing, "We're deskmates and we're not front row which makes the run worth it," Daphne's eyes almost shot out of their sockets, "All this just for seats?" Cleo eagerly nodded, laughing at her friend's disbelief, "Seats that are most likely for the whole school year. Don't complain. You have the best seat and deskmate in class," she boasted, flicking at her hair. Daphne laughed, still in disbelief, and after properly keeping her bag, she finally sat down.

At the same time, five people ran into the class, heads spinning across the room hoping for seats to still be available in the last row but as they proceeded they noticed the new face. Some showed surprise, others just stared a bit while others quickly smiled.

Daphne immediately turned to Cleo mouthing that it was already starting but she replied with a shrug. There was nothing she could do about it anyway.

"Hey, Cleo," a couple of girls walked in and sat in the neighbouring set of desks. Cleo waved back and presented Daphne, "This is Daphne, my best friend," Daphne smiled and waved. Her heart warmed up at the presentation. "Hi, Daphne. I'm Michelle. This is Valerie." The first was a tall, tanned girl with amazing curly hair that fell down her back; she had a crop top and high-waisted pants with a cute school bag hanging by her arm. The second was a short red-haired girl with green eyes and freckles; she was very feminine and girly and you could tell from her cute dress, the little bows holding her hair, the cute makeup decorating her face and the adorable school bag she too had hanging by her arm. Her voice had a pleasing high-pitched tone too—like the nice, shy girl in class.

"Valerie is a smart ass," Cleo whispered as she turned around while the others settled down, "She's always been the class president since our first high school year. She's awesome and very polite". Daphne nodded, glancing in their direction. They were softly laughing with each other before they glanced back. Daphne quickly changed focus, convinced that sinking into the chair would be a great choice.

Soon, the fifteen minutes passed and were enough for all the desks to be occupied. Shortly after the bell rang, a young, tanned, curly-haired female teacher walked in, dazzlingly smiling at everyone, glad to have them back in class. Daphne unconsciously smiled back.

As the teacher walked to her desk, she checked everyone out, gasping if someone had a new haircut or a generally new look. Once behind her desk, she told everyone to sit back down. Her smile never faded away. As she brought her register out, some of the students from the first row started a conversation with her.

She was very kind—at least from what Daphne could tell. The bright smile fully morphed her face, from her lips to her eyes; she nodded to the students' words, gasped in amazement or laughed in amusement. Once she'd found what she was looking for, she seized moving, resting her chin in her palm and listening to the students' stories. Didn't stop them till they were done.

Yeah, she was the teacher everyone liked. The one that cracked the code and could understand teenagers.

Once the stories were told, she finally moved to more serious topics: "So... I hope you all had the best summer holidays anyone could wish for. Hope you all enjoyed yourself... and didn't forget to slip school duties in between," at her last words, everyone exclaimed claiming to have done just that with a funny sarcasm lacing their tone. Her accent and voice were very nice, nicer than the one of a hostess wishing a good flight on an aeroplane. Laughing and asking for silence, she finally started the roll call and, as she did so, Daphne tried her best not to turn around, left and right, to see who was answering the calls. Soon it was her turn and she froze as if she'd forgotten it would eventually happen.

A shy grin crossed her face as she lifted her hand to signal her presence. The teacher warmly beamed making her feel a bit better until her eyes dropped to the students on the left who swung their heads around hearing the new surname.

"So... Daphne, what a nice name. I'm Professor Shannon. Would you like to present yourself to the class? Say a thing or two... or nothing if you wish," the respondent nervously laughed and got up from her seat, "Erm, hi, I'm Daphne. I'm 17 years old. Erm, I like reading, dogs and flowers, any kind". Once she was done speaking, she smiled at the teacher looking for permission to sit back down without knowing that the teacher was still a bit curious: "Is there a reason you moved here?" the bright smile was still imprinted on her face.

Daphne leaned forward on the desk with the help of her arms, processing a sentence in her head. "We moved town. I used to live in the city but we moved here and now live in the same compound as my grandparents. I'm honestly grateful because the distance always prevents us from visiting so now I can catch up on all those missed opportunities," the teacher nodded, commenting on how important grandparents are and how one should treasure their love. With a quick signal, she allowed Daphne to settle back down as a class conversation about her comment started.

By the end of the hour, Daphne discovered that she taught english. The bell rang and the teacher greeted everyone and left. Immediately some boys gathered around Cleo and Daphne's desks. They were mainly there because of Cleo but could use the chance to greet and present themselves to Daphne.

"Hey, Cleo. How have you been doing?" the first one asked, sitting on her desk. Daphne almost flinched backwards at the act but seeing that Cleo didn't show any concern she guessed she was close with them which was proven when they all started high-fiving each other. Once they were done greeting Cleo, they moved to Daphne who was startled but tried to hide it under her smile. "Daphne, is it?" the same one from before asked, leaning his hand forward for a handshake, "Yeah. What about you?"

"Dominic but you can call me Nick," Daphne nodded, shaking hands with him. Almost all the boys managed to present themselves before a serious-looking teacher stormed in.

"Everyone, you may sit down," he sternly spoke. "He's Professor Keeley. A bitch I tell you. He gets off on our suffering," Daphne inspected the described teacher while leaning towards Cleo's whispering voice. "Is he like... the type to assign impossible tasks?" Daphne whispered back for more confirmation. Cleo nodded before they turned forward sensing that too much silence had settled down. They feared everyone heard them for a moment but silence was just the only thing Professor Keeley could work with. Unlike Professor Shannon, he didn't roll call but scanned the register with his eyes till they landed on a new surname.

"Rhodes?" he inquired, lifting his gaze, piercing eyes landing on Daphne once she raised her hand. Her voice was nowhere to be found. She hoped he wasn't going to ask questions about her because she didn't want to speak—besides he didn't look like the one who'd be interested for any reason at all.

The heavens heard her prayers. He simply looked her from her to toe—or at least what he could see from his position—and went on with his life. From Daphne's right, Cleo complained about his manners, thinking that it was inconsiderate of him to be so cold with a new student. Daphne was happy though, a happiness that faded away once she'd discovered he teaches physics. Physics was the only subject she couldn't ace—or at least to her liking. She struggled with it, and being taught by a teacher like the one in front of her scared her.

—Now playing: Blue Flame by Le Sserafim✫

The bell rang five minutes to ten, signalling break-time. Everyone stood up. Some dashed out of the classroom, others went over to a friend at the other end of the class while Mr Keeley was minding his business at the computer.

Daphne barely had the time to look at her surroundings before Cleo dragged her out of the class. "Let's go get something to eat," she spurred. The halls were crowded at best. Students leaned on windowsills, others were getting snacks at the vending machines, and others were walking to or from somewhere—never forget that some were making out in a corner.

"You down for snacks or do you want something better?" Cleo asked as they were going down the stairs. "I want some coffee right now," was Daphne's reply. Her friend Cleo smiled, emphasizing that going to the bar was the best option for a good coffee.

Shiny feather-white tiles as flooring and brown wainscoting covered the bottom half of the milk-white walls. Recessed lighting brightened the building. These were the hallways. On the bottom floor was the bar, by the entrance's right.

"Damn!" Daphne gasped. The line in front of them seemed never-ending especially because behind them more students arrived. "Don't worry. According to what it says here, the next class is IRC and our teacher understands if we come in late because of the line".

—Now playing: Bitter Sweet Symphony by The Verve✫

Ten minutes and classes would be over for the day but outside didn't seem like day. The dark clouds hovering around in the morning had called for backup and now fully covered the sky, making rumbling noises and quick flashes to lighten the mood.

Daphne was a set of desks away from sitting right next to the window and yet it didn't stop her from looking outside with her chin resting in her palm. On her iPad were notes—with doodles on the side—taken during a very boring philosophy class. Now, don't misunderstand her. She loves philosophy but the professor sitting behind the teacher's desk right now knew all the tricks on how to make everyone's head fall and land flat on their desk.

He had a monotone voice that Daphne suspected wouldn't change even if he was in front of a life-threatening situation. She wondered why he decided to start teaching right from the first day of school. Barely anyone had bought the book yet. He was the only one who had it—plus a handful of students.

Some rustling on her right called Daphne's attention back to class. Cleo was already putting some of her things in her bag, ready to fly out of the room once the bell rang. Two minutes before it rang, Daphne started doing the same, along with two-thirds of the class—her Descartes notes put aside for another moment.

The monotone voice of their teacher went on. He briefly looked up from his book, slurring his words at seeing almost everyone with empty desks but then proceeded without letting his sleepy eyes linger for too long.

The bell finally rang and everyone stormed out monotonously greeting the teacher who simply hummed, taking his glasses off and packing his belongings. As Daphne greeted him, she wondered how anyone could look so done with life freshly out of holidays.

The noise of students exiting the school prevented everyone from hearing the thunders rumbling outside and the downpour that had just begun. Ugh, summer rains.

Daphne and Cleo finally registered the weather once they saw some students racing out covering their heads with school bags which was useless because the strong breeze was blowing the raindrops on them regardless.

As expected, at the parking space was Daphne's father's car. He was inside, obviously, but gestured the girls to hurry up which they did, trying to not slip and fall.

—Now playing: Bamboleo by Red Velvet✫

Her classmates were nice and made her realize she was stressing over not—although most of it should go on Cleo.

She'd discovered that Nick plays in the school basketball team and is among the best. He knows Cleo because she plays volleyball and they meet in the school's gymnasium. He's very funny and outgoing. Doesn't ponder much on anything really and is the type of student who keeps the class alive and whose absence is felt strongly.

In the group is also James. He's like Nick's right-hand man. Their personalities match a lot and they're best of friends. He doesn't make as many jokes as Nick but the few he makes surely make you cry and torture your stomach.

They're both good-looking. Tall, nice hair, broad shoulders and fit builds. Nick was brown-haired while James was blondez, a blonde that he claims would wash off through the winter and come back only in summer.

The boys that greeted them on the first day of school were a handful but only these two stood out the most—and hung out with them during breaks. There was a third one but he was very tamed compared to the two best friends. His name was Asher. He too was tall, with broad shoulders and a nice build but he was shy—even shyer than Daphne. His academic performance was the best out of the three. Nick and James couldn't care less, they were all about having fun. No wonder Cleo's so close with them.

Daphne matched Asher's personality because they didn't participate with the same energy and would tell the others to go slow with the roasts they'd be doing to random people they'd pass by in the hallways.

From what Daphne understood after her first week of school, Cleo was popular because she was pretty and a good volleyball player. Cleo looked very kind and soft from her looks so it surprised Daphne hearing the burning roasts her friend could make sometimes. She'd laugh hard sometimes because of how crazy, out-of-line, outrageous and hilarious the jokes were.

She didn't talk with the girls other than greeting Valerie and Michelle every time she saw them in the morning. She found it hard to make the first move so the best you could do was smile hoping they'd reply—they wouldn't.

Jams and Nick brought out a part of Cleo that Daphne didn't know existed. In gym class whenever they happen to be in the same team, they go crazy on their opponents and, mind you, no one can hype them up as much as themselves. When they weren't on the same team, it seemed like the remaining teammates didn't exist and they'd play against each other. Daphne and Asher tried to catch up in the heat but it was hard. Asher tried the most. Daphne simply stayed back to laugh at them.

School days couldn't be boring with them in sight.

Despite it just being the first week of school, they had homework to do and some teachers had already programmed the dates for their tests. On Thursday, with Cleo's help, Daphne found when the town's library was and was planning on turning it into her second home.

They only went to school by themselves on Friday because the thunderstorms had moved towns for the moment. It was lovely, Daphne thought. At the time they'd take the bus, it was half-empty. Their personally-assigned seats at the back of the bus were always available. Cleo slept through the journey while Daphne read her book.

—Now playing: Single by The Neighbourhood✫

It was Saturday. Daphne's early bird instincts obliged her to be awake already. She's been so for close to two hours now she spent closed in her room without coming out if not to pee.

She read, updated her agenda, did the remaining homework, cuddled Luke to sleep, arranged her notes, browsed the internet. Everything till she was bored and exhausted. By half-past eight she was finally out of the room to put something under her teeth.

While the coffee brewed, Daphne indulged in an activity she wanted to do since Monday: look for the pretty and astonishing boy who caught her attention.

She typed Jungkook's username, happy she remembered it till today and hurried to the post where Taehyung was included only for disappointment to change her facial expression: Jungkook didn't tag him like she'd hoped. She scrolled further through the posts noticing that he didn't tag anyone on any post.

Clicking out of his posts, she almost did the same with his profile only to be stopped by the highlights. The first was named with an Earth emoji, the second with a two-person emoji, the third with a single-person emoji and the last with a basketball emoji. She proceeded to the second one deducting that the emoji stood for his friends.

She predicted right. The highlight contained a lot of pictures and happily for her, Taehyung was in most of them. Soon she found his profile and showed no hesitation in clicking on it.

He too had many followers but, unlike Jungkook, he didn't have many posts, almost as many as Daphne herself did—the same went with the highlights.

Without noticing, Daphne found herself scrolling through his highlights twirling a hair strand with her fingers. Damn if he was beautiful. She didn't see him all through the week because, from his recent story update, he was still at the beach with his pretty friends.

The smell of coffee quickly brought her back to Earth as she saved one of his posts in her collection too shy to hit the follow button. Laughed at herself for it. If she's too shy to hit a simple blue button, she won't be able to hit on him. She sighed in frustration and proceeded to prepare her latte.

Soon her phone buzzed and Cleo's contact appeared on the screen.

Cleo: get ready Cleo: we're going grocery shopping!!

—Now playing: Like That by Metro Boomin, Future, Kendrick Lamar✫

Music was playing in the car which was fully occupied. Five young people that were just coming back from their holidays.

One hand was on the steering wheel while the other was on the gear lever. As he controlled the lever, his muscles clenched under the tattoos covering it. A curly mullet hairstyle rested on his head. A lip piercing on the right as well as both his ears. His well-defined jaw clenched as he chewed on his gum. He had loose clothes on, from the shirt to the jeans. An all-black outfit matching the person sitting in the passenger seat. She had a black jean skirt on with a lacy black crop top that was momentarily covered by a light cardigan—black as well.

Hair as dark as his but longer and straighter. Lip liner enhanced her lip shape, eyeliner enhanced her eyes and mascara enhanced her lashes. Her jaw was clenching too as she chewed on her gum. Her eyes were focused on the phone in her hands. Legs crossed and hair combed by the breeze blowing through the window behind and next to her.

In the backseat were the last three people. Two blondies and a black-haired one. The first ones were having a conversation without minding about their surroundings. The dark-haired one was cooped up to the window breathing as much as he could to calm the motion sickness that wanted to settle within him. With headphones on, the music he had playing matched his mood.

They'd just driven past their school and were heading to Jimin's restaurant for dinner but the idea of food bothered his stomach further. Next to him, in the middle seat was Adrielle. Along with Jimin, she had the brightest clothes on. A sundress she'd bought just for that summer.

—Now playing: Atomic City by U2✫

"Mama!" Jimin screamed rushing into the restaurant and his mother's arms. The rest walked behind him, smiling at his joy. The woman welcomed all of them back and to have a seat as she got them their dinner.

Taehyung stretched out his body before setting. The stressful journey did his joints no justice. As he did so, his shirt slightly rode up revealing the line of his boxers but also enough skin for Avyanna to tickle. "No, absolutely," his amused stern voice spoke, a tired smile across his face. "See, you're finally smiling. It looked like you wanted to die before," she claimed, sitting next to Jungkook and kicking his legs shot for space. He stubbornly spread them again and forcefully held them like that, laughing at Avyanna's struggle.

"Kook!" Jimin exclaimed before attacking him with tickles. As the three had fun, Taehyung settled down beside Avyanna adjusting his jorts. On the other end of the table was Adrielle with arms and legs crossed smiling and looking at her friends like a mother. "Can y'all stop?" she laughed. Still, they'd just finished with Jungkook and moved to Avyanna who started rolling and tweaking on Jungkook's lap, kicking left and right to escape their grasp. Still, it was impossible because Jungkook was holding her arms while Jimin tortured her with the tickles.

"She's going to pee herself like that or have everlasting tensed abs. Stop y'all," Taehyung laughed. They didn't stop until Jimin's mom came and told them to eat.

When Avyanna sat back up, her hair was all messy, she could barely breathe and somehow felt like Jimin's hands were still tickling her. "This was torture. I almost cried," she panted, grabbing a glass of water, "Honestly wouldn't wish on my worst enemy—"

"And yet, the other day you wished for both sides of my pillow to be warm and they ended up being so. Fucking terrible experience!" Jimin exclaimed dramatically, "That's because you brought that disgusting fish too close to me. It was still alive Jimin!" everyone laughed at her because she sounded like someone who'd survived a close call.

"Okay, first: the fish wasn't disgusting else you wouldn't have eaten it. Second: I did the same to Adrielle but she didn't play some voodoo shit against me," the laughs increased. Jungkook almost choked on his bread making Taehyung laugh even harder.

"She didn't do shit because she was traumatized and her mind went into self-defence mode!"

"Okay, hey! Don't underestimate me. I could always do something. You never know when I could hit, Jimin. Be careful," Adrielle playfully warned, laughing at Jimin's disbelief displayed on his face. "Adrielle, my darling. Don't follow in her footsteps. Violence is never the answer," Jimin said.

"Never swing a live fish in someone's face Jimin! Dis.Gus.Ting!"

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