As expected, that didn't stop him, because he texted back with: I'm already here

And checkmate, because I'd already gotten to school on the early bus and only texted him once I got there. I let out a smile knowing I'd sort of outwit him.

"You're looking smiley today," Logan remarked as I walked to my locker.

"I kind of have good news."

"Care to share?"

"Courtney related, but don't worry about it." He looked away. "How's everything going for you?" I asked, rocking back and forth on my heels.

"We're going to be...friends," he said. "Me and Holden." The Green family moved to prosecute the reporter who'd snuck into the house to steal confidential business information but happened upon the DNA test instead. The newspaper that initially published the article recanted the information. It didn't hurt that both the Greens and Vermonts were very influential board members of competing newspaper companies.

"I heard you two have quite a lot of beef," I replied.

"Yeah okay, probably not friends, but not enemies...hopefully." I laughed. He took in a deep breath. "I really hated him you know. He was living in blissful ignorance and his family was in one piece. Then he got everything that I wanted. It just felt unfair, like a cruel joke."

"I could tell," I nodded. "You asked me to steal his DNA." He chuckled.

"To quieten down the press, my parents have put a break on their divorce, but maybe it's just better they get it over and done with."

"I don't know. Maybe these things will just sort themselves out." I paused. "I mean, my parents got divorced so fast I didn't even know what was going on until it was over."

"And how do you feel about it now?"

"I don't even know," I laughed. "It's just something that's happened and my life's continued going."

"I also need to talk to you about the night at my party." That string of however many words was probably the last thing I wanted to hear that morning, and again, one of the multitude of things I pushed to the back of my mind.

"Yeah?" I replied nonchalantly despite my accelerating heart rate.

"I remember what happened now," he admitted. "A couple of blanks were also filled in by some people there." Fantastic, people saw us. "I'm -" he began to apologise.

"It's okay. Alcohol makes people to do weird things, and I will not take this personally. We're good." Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of Courtney getting to her locker.

He cleared his throat. "Yeah. Absolutely. I'm glad."

"I'm so sorry. I have something I really need to do. Can we talk later?" I asked.

"Anything I can help you with?"

"Nope. I think I can handle this all on my own. For once," I grinned, knowing that I'd had help by someone so many times this year. "I'll catch up with you later," I smiled.

I marched over to Courtney's locker, keeping my back straight, shoulders back and head held high. It didn't take long for my back to slump slightly when she still had her nose turned up, looking at me like filth. I took in a deep breath and fixed my posture again. "I told you. Get. Out. Of. My. Sight," she said, turning away from me.

"My mum wasn't having an affair with your dad," I declared.

"Oh yeah?" She scoffed. "And I'm supposed to believe your lying mouth?"

"I didn't expect you to. And I'm sorry," I said.

"Sorry?" She snapped her head back to glare at me. I took the photos out from my pocket and handed them to her.

"Check your facts next time." She opened and shut her mouth like a goldfish. "So, leave me and my mum alone. These aren't even the worst ones." Her eyes were wide, repeatedly flicking back and forth through the three images I'd photocopied. "I thought about doing this publicly after what you did to me, but then I thought about it. After all, it's not my fault that your dad is a cheater, or that you didn't have an ounce of sympathy in your bones. That's something that you'll have to deal with for a very long time. That's more than anything I could ever do to you."

I knew she wouldn't come after my mum for violating attorney-client privilege, because technically, she hadn't. I had. But also, that would mean admitting that these images existed. If her view of her father had been distorted when the news first came out, with these photos, whatever thoughts she had remaining had been thrown into the blender.

And I was sorry. Sorry that it had come to this. Because I couldn't imagine that kind of pain. But I couldn't sit back and take the accusations, for either me or my mum.

My hands and feet were still tingling from the adrenaline coursing through my veins. I let out a deep breath and kept my head high. Behind me, I heard Courtney slam her locker shut and her footsteps disappear down the corridor.

By the time I got back to my locker, Parker was leaning against it with his arms crossed. "You don't look pleased," I commented, trying to act natural despite what had happened yesterday. Be cool. Be cool. Be cool. My new mantra apparently. This is no big deal. He's kissed dozens of girls before.

"Well, you certain y have a pep in your step this morning," he remarked. "You spoke to Courtney?"

"Yep." I spun the combination to my locker before swinging the door open to block Parker from my view. He stepped to the side.

"Good. So should we talk about yesterday afternoon?"

"No," I said coyly, heat rising to my cheeks.

"That was my first kiss Sorenson."

"You're so full of it," I laughed, leaning back against my locker.

"I'm not kidding. Now that you've claimed me for yourself, I'm not letting you go." Was I about to go into ventricular tachycardia and die? The pounding of my heart was probably loud enough for everyone present on school grounds to hear. "Daisy, I want to take you on a date." I was definitely going to go into cardiac arrest and die. Before I had a chance to protest, mostly due to my impending death, he said, "Del Luna Theme Park at nine tomorrow morning," and stuck a sticky note to my forehead before walking away.

I took the note from my forehead. Del Luna Theme Park 9am Saturday (aka tomorrow). I'll sue you if you're not there tomorrow ;)

Well, I guess I had no other choice. I was going on my first proper date.

That is, if I managed to keep the palpitations in my chest from killing me before then.

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y'aallll, i kind of thought this was a wild chapter (but my threshold for 'wild' is very low so i wouldn't blame you if you disagreed)

as always, thank you so much for reading xoxo please let me know your thoughts!!!

predictions, comments????

love always,

daria xoxo