─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───

"Oi, Malakai, try this on!" Daisy exclaimed, holding a pink bucket hat in her hands.

The five were searching through Darren's closet, trying to find something for Malakai and Cash to wear to the ball. While Darren and Daisy looked for pieces to make Malakai look more flamboyant, Amerie was helping Quinni clip on her overshirt.

Bee gently pulled Cash over to the door. "What happened?" she asked, reaching over and caressing his bruised eye with her thumb. Cash cleared his throat. "Just Chook again."

Unbeknownst to them, Darren had glanced over and was now observing their interaction. He wondered what could have caused the two to form such a hidden bond.

"Why?" Bee questioned, tilting her head with concern and crossing her arms.

"Mitzy put me in charge of this stupid bag of stolen goods, and ironically, someone stole it from where we hid it," Cash rambled. He saw the despair in her face, and his eyes grew wide. "Hey, I'm so sorry for bringing him up."

"No, it's fine," Bee shook her head. "It's over now. I don't care what he does."

"You sure?"

"Yeah." Bee nodded, absolutely lying. "Let's go find something to cover your eye." They went back over to everyone else, who were pouring shots and dancing together. Phoebe clapped and cheered as Amerie and Malakai did a strange dance.

"Yessss!" she cheered them on.

Once they finished getting ready, they all took the little white pill Cash had brought, except for Quinni. Before they left, she asked them for a picture on her digital camera, and the seven made their way out of Darren's house.

"This jinger's not going to give me pink eye, is it?" Cash asked anxiously, but no one replied.

"Did I mention how incredible you look?" Malakai asked as they stepped out of the house, his eyes glancing up and down her body.

The girl had changed into a hot pink cropped cami, littered with silver sequins. In her hair was a matching scrunchie and silver clips. She wore a skirt so short that one wrong move would be dangerous, so she threw on spandex shorts underneath for safety.

The second the compliment left his mouth, he grabbed her hands to stop her from covering her face. "Nice try." he said. Bee shook her head with a wide smile. "There's the beautiful smile I was hoping to see," Malakai grinned.

"You are such a flirt, Malakai," Amerie laughed from behind them. "You know we can all hear you, right?" Malakai blushed, making them all chuckle. "Don't worry about it, we can't blame you for being obsessed with her," Darren joked.

"Darren, you flatter me," Phoebe replied in a posh voice as she moved over to them.

"Come on!" Amerie squealed excitedly, snaking her arms around Daisy and Malakai.

∙ ~εïз~ ∙

"I'm so sorry, sorry," Amerie apologized as they pushed through the queue, making their way over to their classmates. She and Daisy had been attached to each other ever since they left Darren's house.

Harper turned around, spotting a familiar pair of boots on Amerie's legs. She scoffed. "Nice shoes." Amerie panicked at all the eyes suddenly on her and dropped Daisy's hand. "Oh, thanks. They're the only thing of yours I didn't burn."

Daisy was surprised by the action, her eyes burning into the side of Amerie's face, but the girl never looked back. Daisy scoffed and moved behind Phoebe.

"Oh, look at you," Dusty grinned at Malakai's outfit.

"Acting like you've never seen a Blackfulla before, aye?" They did a quick handshake before Malakai began to dance. Daisy chuckled at his playfulness and noticed the disgusted look Malakai was getting from Spider.

Malakai caught it too. "Go on, then, take a picture. I'm a lovely ting, aren't I?" he grinned. "Don't go projecting your shit because you feel inadequate."

"Inadequate?" Spider sneered, inching closer to him. "Big word for a little bloke."

"Now you've got to be really stupid if you think 'inadequate' is a big word," Daisy laughed, defending her friend.

"Honestly, just give it a rest, Spencer," Phoebe rolled her eyes. Ant pushed his way past Harper and Dusty to reach her. "Hey. I was worried when you didn't come home last night."

"I went home— Daisy's house," Phoebe replied in a monotone voice, eyes on the ground.

"Right... well, um, Mum made your favorite— spaghetti and meatballs. Luca tried to eat it all, but I told him to leave some for you in case you came back today," Ant continued.

Phoebe nearly smiled at the mention of Anthony's little brother and her favorite meal. Nearly. "No need, you can tell him to have it." She said.

The interaction grew awkward. Everyone felt the tension as Ant practically begged while Phoebe remained cold. It was sad to see the contrast."Excuse me," She spoke, taking Daisy's hand and nudging her way over to Missy.

"Give her some time, bro," Dusty patted his friend's shoulder. "She'll come around, she always does."

"Ahhh!" Missy squealed when she saw the girls. "You look so hot. I see you went with the pink!" "Yes, thanks for helping me choose," Bee grinned. "You look incredible."

"Thanks, Bee!" Missy smiled, turning to Daisy. "Looking beautiful as always, Flower." Daisy playfully pushed her arm. "Shut up."

"Where'd you get the skirt from? It's killer," Missy asked as they entered the hall.

"My little sister's into designing, and she actually made it herself," Daisy smiled with pride.

They were hit by the luminous lights and blasting music. The place reeked of sweat and alcohol. The music was too loud for Missy and Daisy to hear each other, so they moved closer to another.

Missy gasped. "You're kidding!"

"Nope."

"Wait, Lily or Poppy?" Missy asked. They had a fling during Year 9, so Missy knew Daisy's family well. "Guess," Daisy teased with a smile.

"I want to say... Poppy?" Missy said.

"Yeah! She's obsessed with fashion films now. Mum bought her a sewing kit, so she begged to make my Mardi Gras outfit," Daisy explained. "As long as I tag her on Insta."

"Solid deal," Missy hummed. "Sasha and I are planning to do some lines of Ket in the toilets. Want to come?"

"Hell yeah!" Daisy grinned.

"I'll catch up," Phoebe shouted to them. They nodded in reply as Phoebe found something else to do. Phoebe danced her way through the crowd, chatting with a few people she recognized from school. Eventually, she found herself wanting to talk to Malakai.

When she found him, he was chatting and laughing with Amerie. "Everything okay?" Malakai asked her, grinning as she approached.

"Really good," Phoebe smiled.

"Good on you for not falling back into those three's trap," Amerie said, taking Phoebe's hand.

"Thanks. It was hard," Phoebe sighed. "Mentioning Luca and spaghetti was tempting."

"I have a little brother, and I'm sure my mom can easily make spaghetti," Amerie replied. "Or Taco Tuesdays if that's more your thing."

"Thanks, Amerie. That's really sweet," Bee smiled gratefully. "Of course," Amerie nodded. "Hey... have you seen Daisy anywhere?"

"Last I heard, she was in the bathroom with Missy and Sasha," Phoebe shrugged as Malakai snaked his arm around her waist. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah," Amerie nodded. "I'll be back." She waved and stepped away to find Daisy.

"Where did you get this from?" Phoebe asked, gently touching Malakai's new necklace.

"Missy gave it to me. Isn't it proper deadly?" Malakai asked loudly, grinning. "Yeah, it's killer," Phoebe agreed.

Malakai's eyes scanned the area with excitement. "This is too dardy!"

"The drugs have kicked in, haven't they?" Phoebe teased.

"I wouldn't know. I've never taken drugs before," Malakai shrugged.

"Yeah, I can tell," Phoebe nodded, placing her arms around his neck.

∙ ~εïз~ ∙

Amerie was still walking around, trying to locate the Santos girl. When she finally spotted her, she was laughing and grinning, her body rubbing up against Missy's as the two danced and grinded on one another.

Amerie's face fell, and as much as it hurt, she couldn't tear her eyes off them. Daisy looked so much happier than she did before. Daisy's gaze landed on Amerie, her smile faltering for a second. She whispered into Missy's ear before staggering over to Amerie.

"I'm really sorry about before," Amerie told her.

"Look, Amerie, I think you're adorable. You really are," Daisy said through hiccups. "But you're not ready. And that's fine. We can— we can just be friends again."

"But I don't want to be just friends," Amerie shook her head. Daisy laughed in her face. "Well, you clearly don't want to be seen with me."

"So you're gonna spend all your time with Missy?" Amerie frowned.

"Yeah, because she's not embarrassed to be around me!" Daisy exclaimed. "I mean, you dropped my fucking hand!"

"And I'm really sorry about that!" Amerie yelled back. "I just— everyone was watching, and I got really nervous."

"And there's nothing wrong with being scared. I'm not going to force you to come out," Daisy told her. "But I just... I don't want to be your little secret either."

"You're so much more than that."

"Amerie, I'm not mad at you. This isn't awkward. We don't have to ignore each other in school," Daisy reassured her. "You need time—"

"No, Daisy—"

"Am," Daisy said softly. "It's okay."

"Daisy!" Sasha yelled from behind, clearly high on the ketamine they had previously taken. "Come dance!"

Daisy turned back to the two girls and sent them a smile. "I'll see you later." She pivoted on her feet and made her way back to Missy, who welcomed her with open arms.

Amerie bit her lip, trying to prevent the tears welling up in her eyes from falling. She sighed, stepping back and going to find her other friends.

∙ ~εïз~ ∙

"Ladies and gentle-thems, welcome to the Slayball!" They announcer spoke from the stage. They managed to grab everyone's attention, and the crowd turned to look at them. "If you're a baddie with a body beyond the binary, then make your way to the stage and show us what we want to see. Next category: Virgin Vogue, bringing in an all-white look. DJ, pump the beat."

The music began to play, and Phoebe wasn't sure how or when Darren made their way to the stage. She began to scream out in shock as everyone from their class gathered around the front of the stage to watch them.

They all cheered for their friend as Darren incredibly began to dance their way down the stage.

"Phoebe!" a voice yelled out. "Sorry, excuse me. Phoebe?" The girl turned around in confusion to see the bleach-blonde girl standing in front of her. "Harper?" She asked.

"Phoebe, I know this isn't a good time," Harper panted, pulling the girl away from their group. She was noticeably out of breath, like she had run over to find Phoebe.

It wasn't a good time. Phoebe's eyes kept darting between Darren dancing on the stage and Harper in front of her. "What's up?" She sighed.

"I think Mitzy's here," Harper stated.

Now she had Phoebe's full attention. Fear overwhelmed her body as she stared into Harper's face. "What?"

"I mean, I s-saw one of his friends by the toilet, and I came here to tell you," Harper explained. "I don't know for sure if he's here, but I thought I should at least warn you, so—"

Phoebe was confused. "Wait... how do you know his friends?" Harper's face fell, and her eyes became distant. "Harper? Did something happen?" She questioned.

And so Harper began to speak, and Phoebe wished at that moment she hadn't had so much to drink and hadn't popped that MDMA pill. As Harper explained some story to her, Phoebe wore a confused expression on her face.

Phoebe began to sweat, feeling her heart pounding in her chest. "Harper, slow down. I don't— I don't understand. Fuck! I should not have taken that pill."

"I'm trying to say—" Harper began again, and Phoebe tried her hardest to lip-read, but the crowd drowned out Harper's voice. "—I know about the baby," Harper finished.

For Phoebe, everyone in the room had slowly begun to disappear, and for a moment there, Harper and she were the only two in the large room. Now, the bright light was shining onto Harper as if she were in an interrogation. Phoebe blinked slowly, unsure of what to say.

Eventually, she was brought back into reality by Harper shouting her name. "Phoebe! If you see Mitchell, you need to leave immediately."

"What?"

"I'm scared he's going to do something to get you," Harper explained, thinking back to what Mitchell Riley had said to her in Chook's car that night of the music festival.

Phoebe's eyes widened, and she pushed past Harper, manoeuvring through the crowd and striving to find the women's toilet.

"Phoebe!"

(new post!)

daisyyysantos

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🤍 💬 📥
👥 poppyseeds.santos, beelaine

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daisyyysantos 5m  hi everyone my little suster made the skirt plz follow her. also look at my best friend bee usbt she so cute

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⎯ ❃ jania speaks!
this chapter and especially amerie and daisy are inspired by 'wanna be yours' by artic monkeys, 'save your tears' by the weeknd and 'all too well' by taylor swift!!!