late fictober again except less fantastical and more miserable (day 4)
Daisy’s eyes drifted to the unusually empty seat next to her as she promptly settled into her own chair, dropping her lunch box on the table with a brief thud. It was time for pasta- what a day to be alive.
“Hey, Daisy!” Ayasha chimed from across the table. “Is August okay? He wasn’t here during biology, either.”
Daisy opened her lunch box, a maroon chunk of metal, often filled to the brim with carbs and disappointment. But today - at last - there was spaghetti.
“Yeah, he’s just sick-ish. Not the worst reason to stay home - not for him, anyway.”
Daisy glanced back at Ayasha, whose hair was tied into two messy black buns. She was pretty trustworthy, and everyone was familiar with August’s episodes either way. But, just in case, Daisy decided to mention one of his ridiculous shenanigans instead. Any opportunity to expose him for stupidity was a worthy one.
“Well, the moron thought it would be a good idea to do a flip into the shallow end of the pool,” she began, fully monotone as her listener drew in a sharp breath. “Luckily, his skull didn’t decide to have a violent make-out session with the concrete, but his arm-”
Daisy’s green eyes snapped to the student beside Ayasha. The interrupter, Gianna, had momentarily looked up from her phone to make the unexpected outburst.
“Mason had the funniest thing happen in his second sight today.”
A gaze flitted back and forth between Daisy and Gianna, and Ayasha bit the inside of her cheek before speaking. “You sort of started talking in the midd-”
“Oh! Sorry. It’s... y’know, a third eye thing, so you wouldn’t get it,” she slowly spoke, as if talking to a toddler.
A dead stare was locked on Gianna for five seconds.
“I was telling a story,” Daisy clarified, hands face-down on the table. “Can I finish, before you discuss Mason’s probably-empty brain space?”
Color drained from Ayasha’s soft face while Gianna snarled with contempt. The more frustrating of the two scooted back in her chair. “Listen, I know you didn’t ask to be like this, but can you not make everything about you? And don’t insult Mason just because you have a childish grudge.”
“A grudge?” Daisy repeated, voice rising above it’s steady level, “A grudge? He assaulted my best friend. And no, I’m sorry that I’d rather not constantly discuss the one basic human activity I am physically incapable of participating in.”
She grabbed her lunch box, scraping it across the table as she stood up. Her chair dragged against the ground with a horrible screech as she pushed it aside, walking swiftly away. Maybe she had a short temper, maybe she was overreacting. But Gianna wasn’t worth her time or energy.
Tripp, she determined, making her way to the front lawn of campus, was much funnier, anyway.