"Hey," she says, her light brown hair catching the sun perfectly, "I didn't know you volunteered here."

"Yea," I say, folding up the fresh pool towels, "my grandpa used to stay here after my parents died."

"Right," Daisy says, knitting her eyebrows together, "sorry…touchy subject?"

"Not really, "I say, shrugging. "It's just part of the bio."

Daisy smiles. "After high school hell, your own story will be in that bio, instead of your parents'."

"I'd like to think so," I say, smiling back.

She grabs a basket full of towels and we bring them over to the pool deck. "So what do you want to do with your life, after high school of course?"

I put the basket inside the cupboard and lean back on it. "I'm undecided. I know, I know, college and uni is in four years and I probably should decide on something, but I don't think I'm good at anything."

Daisy rolls her eyes. "Come on, I totally saw you playing piano that one time in the music wing."

I shake my head. "Yea, but what am I supposed to do with a piano skill?"

Daisy shrugs. "I'm not an expert on anything but mixing drinks," she laughs, "but I definitely think you could be in a band. Plus, this is Bridgeport for crying out loud! Most of my friends were born like kings, but some just have to take the crown. Don't waste your talent man!"

I smirk. "I've heard you were quite the virtuoso in your middle school days."

"That I was," she says, nodding and smiling.

"What did you play?" I ask, as we walk back inside. Our shifts are over, but I want to keep the conversation going, and she doesn't seem to protest.

She smiles in wonder, "I could play anything, and everything. Piano, bass, guitar, drums, I'd mastered them all."

"But I take it the music industry isn't your thing?"

She shrugs. "I don't know I kind of just want to be a master at mixology. It sounds lame, mixing drinks at bars and pubs and whatever, but you can get paid some serious cash. And it'd mean I could work at a party, every night, and get paid for it! Do you know how awesome that would be?"

I smile at her enthusiasm. "It sounds like a dream."

A devilish smile is set on her lips. "Perhaps, but it's an attainable one. I am, after all, a master of the skill itself. I just need to get myself out there."

"Remind me to ask you for a skill booster before tomorrow's exams," I say, flipping the curls out of my face.

She laughs the sound light and airy. "Remind me to invite you to my next rager, which will probably be right after exams."

We're both laughing, and getting popsicles from the fridge. I'm thinking that maybe this can turn out to be something beautiful and wonderful and real, when there's a loud honking outside the door.

"DAISY, BABE WE HAVE TO MEET KATE AT THE LIBRARY OR WE'RE GOING TO FAIL!" I hear Matilda screaming.

Daisy rolls her eyes. "I'll be out in a minute!"

I grin at her, then hand her an extra Popsicle. She salutes me with it, then grabs her jacket and runs out the door. "It was awesome talking to you!"

"You too," I say, as the door clicks shut and I recline into the comfy beanbag chair, eating my Popsicle while the summer sun blazes on.