CHAPTER FIVE
[5]

song: barracuda by heart

CHEERS BOOMED FROM THE CROWD, startling Daisy as she found herself not paying attention to the football field, but more zoning out and focusing on a piece of old gum stuck to the bleacher in front of her.

She looks up to see everyone around her standing up and clapping excitedly, so she stands up too. Even though she was at a higher spot on the bleachers than the people in front of her, she found it impossible to see what was happening, as she was only five foot four.

"What happened?" Daisy leans towards Jen, clapping along with the crowd.

"We just won." Jen responds, before continuing to cheer.

Daisy nods and takes a deep breath, knowing that once the game was over, Tommy wanted to see her. 'It would just be like any other conversation they've ever had.' She kept telling herself.

"Come on." Jen grabs onto Daisy's arm and pulls her off the bleachers, following the rest of the crowd who made their way to the football field to congratulate the players.

"I'll catch up with you guys in a second, I need to find my brother." Josette says awkwardly.

Jen and Daisy nod, before continuing to follow the moving crowd. You could feel the adrenaline from the stands flowing right around to the field. Daisy found her eyes racing around as Jen pulled her along, looking for any comfort of stillness as her peers excitedly wrestled with each other over the win of the game.

Daisy met eyes with Tommy, who was talking to a group of his friends. Her breath hitched at the sight of him, and the two kept eye contact even as people continually passed in between their line of sight.

Tommy says something to his friends before walking past them and joining Jen and Daisy. "I didn't think you guys would come." Tommy said, pleased.

"Yeah, it was fun." Jen nods happily. She looks around before speaking again. "I'm gonna go find Josette." She gives Daisy a knowing smile with a pat on the back, then walking away before Daisy could protest.

"What's up, Hendrix?" Tommy says, a smile tugging on his lips.

Daisy could crumble over at the tone of his voice. He was so charming, he was like one of those fictional characters from a shitty rom-com. There was no way he was real.

Daisy sighed. "Oh, you know." She shrugged. "Just showing my school spirit." She spoke sarcastically.

Tommy laughed. "Oh yeah?"

"Totally." Daisy nodded with a smile. "I'm not a cheerleader anymore so I have to do it somehow."

He laughed again, then it faded. "That's a shame."

She narrowed her eyebrows at him. "What is?"

"You always looked pretty cute in your uniform." He nodded. Daisy felt her heart skip a beat, and she tried to cover up her blushing with a sarcastic scoff. "Are you going to Andy's after the game? Everyone's going."

Daisy nodded quickly. "Yeah— sure."

Tommy smiled. "Good." He spoke. "My grandparents are here so I gotta go see them, I'll catch up with you later Hendrix." He nods, sending her a quick wave before running off to meet up with his family.

Daisy stood there flustered, her heart pounding from the simplest of compliments. She clenched her jaw and looked around for Jen, trying to keep a cool nature.

Instead, she was met with the burning gaze of Carol, who stood directly behind her. "What are you doing?" She asks, narrowing her eyes at her.

Daisy was taken back for a second. "What do you mean?"

"Are you trying to get back at me for kicking you off the team?" Carol asks, her perfectly dark skin practically glowing under the field lights.

"You didn't kick me off, I quit." Daisy responded confusedly.

Carol scoffs. "Whatever." She took a step closer to Daisy. "Just a word for advice— from girl to girl— stay away from him if you know what's good for you."

Daisy remained unfazed, also taking a step closer to her. "From girl to girl." She mocks. "The mean girl character always dies first in horror movies."

Carol barely let Daisy finish her sentence. "Are you threatening me?!" She asks, widening her eyes. Daisy shrugged lazily, earning a disgusted scoff from Carol before frustratedly walked away, her curly hair bouncing as she walked.

"What just happened?" Josette asks, walking towards Daisy, with Jen and Kai beside her.

"Carol is obsessed with Daisy because Tommy is obsessed with Daisy, and Carol and Tommy dated for a while, but now—" Jen talked quickly, but stopped after Daisy shook her head at her.

Kai scoffed, and everyone turned to glance at him. Daisy's gaze lingered on him a bit longer than everyone else's, but it shifted to his family that walked towards them.

Josette turned around to face them. "Oh." She smiled, glancing back behind her at Daisy and Jen. "Uh— this is my mom and dad." She gestures to her family, that looked more like a class going on a field trip to a football game.

"We met Daisy the day we moved in." Diana, Kai and Josette's mom, spoke. She sent Daisy a kind smile. "How are you?"

"Good." Daisy responds. She always found it difficult to talk to adults, but it was much easier without her mother's overbearing composure clouding every bit of conversation she had.

"And this is Jen Chang." Josette says, gesturing towards Jen. "She was the girl who gave me the tour."

Joshua Parker nodded, holding his hand out to shake Jen's. "Nice to meet you." He says.

"These are my siblings." Josette says, as a young blonde curl with tight curls clung onto her leg. "This is Olivia." She pat the blonde girl on her head gently, then did the same to the rest of her siblings as she said their names. "Lucas, Joey, Maya, Grace, and Todd."

As Daisy smiled at the kids, she watched as Joshua tried to create a bit of distance between them and Kai. Kai rolled his eyes lazily before stepping to the side a bit and shoving his hands in his jacket pockets.

Daisy eyed Kai warily, but he just kept a bored expression as he looked around the field. "We better get going, Josette." Joshua nods towards his eldest daughter.

"I think I'm actually gonna go to a diner with—" Josette begins.

"No, it's time to go home." Joshua interrupts her.

Josette's shoulders slump. "Okay." She says quietly, she turns back to Jen and Daisy. "I'll see you guys on Monday." She sends them a soft smile before turning to follow her family off of the field, Kai walking a good distance behind them.

—

The door to Andy's dinged as Jen and Daisy walked in together. The diner was full. She looked around at the busy tables. A teenaged couple eating side by side, sharing a single milkshake. A group of cheerleaders collapsing with helpless giggles as they conversed with some of the football players that were now out of uniform.

"Hendrix!" Tommy shouts.

Jen and Daisy both turn their heads to see Tommy waving at them from a booth not far form the door. He was sat their with a few of his friends and their girlfriends, who Daisy wasn't very familiar with. She knew sitting with them would make her feel painfully out of place, but she wanted to be with Tommy.

She smiled awkwardly at him as her and Jen walked over to the booth, sitting down as people scoot over to make room. "Hendrix, what do you think is the best sci-fi movie ever made?" Mark, one of Tommy's friends asks as soon as she sits down.

Daisy thinks for a second, not having an answer prepared for the conversation she just walked in on. "Um..." She thinks. "Back To The Future was pretty good." She shrugs.

"Oh, I love that movie." Tommy says.

Daisy smiled excitedly at him. "It's one of my all time favorites." She perks up a bit.

"Wrong answer." Mark says, continuing the conversation amongst the table.

Daisy and Tommy's smiles linger on each other for a second before turning to tune in to what everyone else was saying. They probably sat there for an hour or two. Daisy and Jen didn't do much talking, more observing and giggling amongst themselves.

Daisy, as much as she hated to admit it, did like the feeling of hanging out with the 'cool kids.' She always liked to view her self as better than them, more advanced, more unique and much smarter— but she wanted to fit in just as much as everyone else.

"I better get going. I have work tomorrow, and it's late." Tommy speaks up, Daisy turns to face him. "You need a ride Hendrix? Your house is on the way to mine."

Daisy shakes her head. "That's okay, Jen drove—"

"Yes, she does need a ride. Thank you." Jen interrupts, smiling at Tommy widely. She then proceeds to push Daisy out of the booth herself. Tommy laughs a bit as he stands up and puts his varsity jacket on.

Daisy gives Jen a look of, 'will you be okay alone?'

"I'll be fine." Jen whispers, urging her to go on.

Daisy wished she would've said something else. Being around Tommy in a group setting was fine, but sitting in a five minute car ride with him, completely alone, made Daisy feel a bit sick to her stomach.

The two walked out together, their height difference an exact foot. Jen watched proudly through the diner window as Daisy got in Tommy's car and they drove off.

"I saw Back to The Future opening night with my sister." She spoke first, trying to start conversation. "The clock tower scene is literally so cool."

"The clock tower scene?" He said confusedly.

Daisy smiled awkwardly. "The clock tower scene? At the end..." She trailed off as she could tell Tommy wasn't following by his expression.

He glanced at her with a cheeky expression before turning back to the road. "I've never actually seen it, I just wanted to impress you." Tommy spoke.

"Oh." Daisy said. She didn't know if she was disappointed or flattered by the effort. She glanced out the window at the dark pine trees that lined the road they drove on, the moon peaking over them as the source of light. "You played well tonight." Daisy says. She didn't know the difference between playing well, or playing bad, it all just looked like a bunch of boys running into each other— but she just wanted to break up the awkward silence.

"Thanks." Tommy says. "It's been a while since I played running back. But I think with my experience as quarterback last year I can run the plays much better next Friday. There was a lot of shitty calls tonight but I'm glad we won."

Daisy nodded, completely clueless as to what he was saying. "Yeah." She spoke. Tommy glanced at her and back to the road, smiling. "What?" Daisy asked awkwardly.

"You're just cute." Tommy says, focusing his gaze back onto the road as he turned into Daisy's neighborhood.

She shook her head quickly. "No." Daisy muttered, unsure how to accept a compliment.

"No?" Tommy scoffed. "Are you kidding?"

Daisy blushed, looking away, and Tommy pulled into her driveway. He put the car in park and Daisy hesitantly turned to face him.

"Thanks for the ride." She nodded quickly, swallowing.

Tommy smiled. "I liked hanging out with you tonight." He spoke quieter now.

"It was fun." Daisy nodded again.

Tommy examines her face for a second, his smile fading, but not in a bad way. Daisy felt him lean closer, and she could almost choke from nervousness.

She subconsciously leaned towards him too, and she felt his hand touch her cheek first before he gently connected their lips. Daisy was completely unprepared. You would think that after all the hours she'd spent with Tommy— watching him talk with his friends and family— that she would know all there was to know about his lips. But she hadn't imagined how warm they would feel pressed up against her own.

But then he pulled away, and it was only that, a kiss. Nothing special, nothing dramatic. Just a kiss.

Daisy hadn't had an actual relationship before, only a few casual hookups— but nothing serious— with something she felt serious about. Was this how it was supposed to be? Just a kiss?

Tommy smiled first, "I'll call you tomorrow." He spoke.

She returned his smile, blushing. "Bye, Tommy." Daisy said, before slipping out of his car and shutting the door behind him.

She stood in her driveway and waved as he drove off, waiting for his car lights to disappear from her view before covering her face with her hands and smiling into them.

As she lifted her head back up, the world she was just in, with Tommy, faded, and she was sucked back into reality. The rest of her senses flowed back into her body and she heard someone near her.

Her head turned over to the Parker's house, to see Kai sat on the hood of his car, sunglasses now perched on top of his head, a cigarette still placed in between his lips. He was looking at her with a smug look on his face.

"What the fuck are you doing?" She snaps at him.

"Smoking. On my car." He responds blatantly.

"Are you watching me?" Daisy says. "Did you just sit there and watch that?"

Kai looks around, like it wasn't that big of a deal. "Yes." He responds.

Her eyes widen a little bit. "You're a perv."

"If you didn't want me to watch you should've gone into your bedroom and done it." He shrugs, then turns to her with a smile and eyebrows raised. "Oh wait— make sure you close the blinds though."

Daisy felt her blood boil. "What the hell is wrong with you?" Daisy narrows her eyes at him. "Your sister is so—"

"— Normal? Nice? Smart?" Kai finishes her sentence for him. "I get that a lot."

Daisy's shoulders fell. She felt like she was acting like her mother, she know what it felt like to be constantly compared to your siblings. But that didn't give him an excuse to be a creep. "Just—" She inhaled sharply as she thought. "Stay away from me."

Kai blow out a puff of smoke and put his hands up in defense, like he'd done nothing wrong. Daisy stormed back inside, feeling just as frustrated as she did from their conversation at the football game.

She makes her way up to her bedroom, shutting her blinds immediately.