Infinite's Ruby: Thank you for both reviews! As for the sleepover... you're going to have to read this chapter to find out! Glad you're liking it so far!

aiai3668: Thanks for reviewing!

Thanks to breath20k for favouriting!

Excitement could be felt at every corner of the school building that Friday. It was the day before Halloween, and all of the middle schoolers were permitted to dress up for the occasion. Some costumes were scary, others bland. Some were homemade, others bought. Either way, the seventh and eighth graders were really enjoying their day.

Well, everyone except for Daisy. Daisy had woken up late and had been forced to go as a makeup-less Goth, and her costume didn't have the same effect as Peach's. That was without mentioning the fact that the sleepover with Toadette was taking place that very night.

Everything and everybody was annoying her. It was bad enough that she had to pretend to have forgiven Peach and agree to go to the sleepover - just so she wouldn't get suspicious - but when Luigi had started ranting about Waluigi getting one point above him in a history test and how he had kept mocking him about it, it was the last straw for Daisy. She ended up snapping at Luigi, and tried not to feel guilty when his stricken face kept popping up in her mind all day.

She couldn't even tolerate Mario. He seemed to have picked up on her bad mood, but his weak attempts at humour were cheesy at best and irritating at worst. After a while she asked him for some time alone. She didn't bother searching for his reaction this time.

She smirked ruefully as she walked into her last class, English. She wasn't going to let Peach get away with this. Peach had betrayed her in favour of a bully; Peach would pay.

That night, Peach began to prepare for the sleepover. She took some popcorn from the cupboard, and emptied some bags of candy into a bowl. She picked out a few movies - she'd let the other two girls choose. After some deliberation, she brought down her makeup and nail polish. Daisy had only recently developed an interest in makeup, and she hoped her cousin would cooperate.

As she waited for the others to come, she put on her headphones and listened to some music from her phone. She really hoped that Daisy was happy about this. She'd been friendly to her all day, and didn't talk about the sleepover. Perhaps that was a sign that Daisy was willing to give Toadette a chance? Or it could mean she was up to something. It was hard to tell what her motives were sometimes.

She still felt a nagging feeling that what she had done was wrong. She should have figured out a better way of being considerate towards both Toadette and Daisy, a better way of helping them leave the past behind and get on and even become friends. Was the sleepover being too forceful towards her fiery-tempered cousin?

Well, it was too late to turn back now.

She heard the doorbell ring, and she headed towards the front door. She opened up, and there stood Daisy, a bag in her hand and a huge grin on her face. A false grin. Peach swallowed, and took a deep breath.

"Hi, Daisy," she smiled, trying to ignore the feelings of uncertainty building up inside her.

"Hi Peach!" said Daisy, brightly. By now, Peach was highly suspicious.

"Oh. Um... Daisy, I... I know you're probably upset about this, but... I'd really appreciate it if you didn't do anything... funny."

Daisy put a hand to her chest. "Moi? Never!"

"Please, Daisy," Peach pleaded.

Daisy flashed a seemingly genuine smile. "Don't worry. I'll try my best to get on with Toadette. I promise."

Peach nodded and decided to trust her. Though, Daisy's hands were behind her back; for all she knew, she could have been crossing her fingers as she said it.

"Okay. But I mean it, Daisy - there will be consequences. Of course, I don't expect you to get on with her right away," she said, shifting her weight from one foot to another, "but that doesn't mean you should be rude."

Daisy scowled. "I'll change my mind if you start acting preachy." She smiled again. "So, tell me. What are we doing?"

"The same thing we always do. Watching movies, eating candy, maybe do some makeovers too."

Daisy groaned. "Makeovers?"

Peach gave her a stern look.

"I know. I promised. I won't mess this up, Peach. Okay?"

"... Okay." The doorbell rang again. "That should be Toadette. I'll get it."

Daisy followed the blonde into the hallway, and Peach opened the door.

"Toadette!" Peach smiled, trying to make her feel welcome - she still wasn't sure about Daisy's promises. "Come in!"

An overwhelmed Toadette said hello back, stepped inside and shut the door behind her, gazing in awe at the high ceiling, the expensive furniture, the size of Peach's mansion. When she finally noticed Daisy, she took a step back in fear. Despite the tiny smile she wore on her face, the look in Daisy's eyes was hard, like it would turn her to stone.

"H-hi, Daisy," she stuttered, feeling her face heat up.

"Hi, Toadette," Daisy replied, her smile widening, but her gaze hardening some more. "How are you?"

"I-I'm fine," she mumbled, following Peach into the sitting room. Her small eyes bulged from her face as she looked around her. Her sitting room at home was cramped, with barely enough room on the couch for Toadette and her family to sit on, and their TV had been bought in the early 2000s and constantly malfunctioned. But this... this was beautiful. A bay window overlooked the night sky, with its full moon and twinkling stars. A flat-screen television set was perched on a mahogany stand, much larger than the one she owned at home. She could fit three whole families on the soft leather sofas Peach owned, and the wallpaper was a pretty shade of rose-pink, not vomit-green like what they had at home.

Toadette would kill for a place like this.

"So..." Peach said, arranging some DVDs in front of the girls. "I have some movies here. I'll go and get the candy and popcorn while you choose."

Peach walked into the kitchen. She was trying hard to be optimistic; maybe Toadette and Daisy would get on in her absence. However, as she carried some of the popcorn bags into the sitting room, she heard a rather heated conversation.

"No, Toadette, this movie's for babies. It's okay to have bad taste, but I am not sitting through this. How about this one? It's less stupid."

"A horror movie? N-no way!"

"It is Halloween, in case you haven't noticed."

"I don't care! I watched a horror movie once, a-and I couldn't sleep for weeks!"

"Aww, isn't that sweet? Please tell me you were a small kid when that happened."

Peach coughed at the sitting room doorway, causing the girls to turn towards her.

"We're watching that one," she said, pointing to the DVD in the centre.

"But-"

"Case closed!" Peach said firmly, glaring at Daisy. The movie was an animated comedy, and soon all three teenagers were quietly watching it without any trouble. But when the movie began to get boring, Daisy started to play up again - she wasn't done with tormenting Toadette yet. She sucked one of the sweets for a few seconds, then placed it back into the bowl they shared. The others didn't notice the first time; when she did it again, they gave her weird looks, but said nothing, resolving not to touch the sweets for the remainder of the film. But by the third time, Peach openly scowled at her cousin.

"Don't you want a gummy bear, Toadette?" asked Daisy sweetly, ignoring Peach.

"Umm... No, thanks!"

"Daisy," Peach said in a low voice. "Stop."

You promised, Peach's eyes seemed to say. Daisy sighed loudly, but stopped. But, she still wasn't done. Everything she'd done so far was petty; she would figure out a proper way of getting revenge later on tonight, when the opportunity arose.

Thankfully for the others, the movie continued with no further problems, though the ending was corny and implausible. Peach stood up from the sofa, and arranged the makeup, hairbrushes and hair bobbles on the carpet. She instructed all of them to sit in a line, with Peach at the front, Toadette in the middle and Daisy at the back. Daisy almost laughed; wasn't Peach supposed to be the smarter cousin? Did Peach really expect her to do a good job with Toadette's hair?

Suddenly, an idea struck her. She felt nervous; it was an evil idea. Should she go ahead with it?

Why not? It would serve her right.

"Uhh, Peach?" she said. "I'll just go to the bathroom first. I'll be back in a sec!"

Peach nodded, and as Daisy made her way out, she turned to Toadette.

"I'm so sorry about Daisy, Toadette," she said, blushing slightly. She understood why Daisy was acting that way, but at the same time, she wasn't about to condone it.

"It's okay," Toadette swallowed. "I deserve it."

"You don't," said Peach. "I'm not going to lie - you really hurt Daisy last year. But you were still brave enough to stand up for her in Mr Toadsworth's office - she told me about that - and you were especially brave in apologising for what you did." She smiled slightly. "You're more good than bad, Toadette, even if you don't believe it."

Toadette gaped at her. That was the nicest thing anyone had ever said to her, excluding family members - maybe even including them. But was she really as brave as Peach was making out? She'd been a coward in staying with Mimi, joining in with her bullying and doing little to stop it, and when she did stick up for Daisy, it was too late. The principal hadn't even believed her.

Before she had a chance to disagree with Peach, Daisy arrived, hands in pockets and a smile on her face. "I'm back! So? Can we get started?"

"Yeah," Peach replied, sitting on the carpet. When all three girls had seated themselves into a straight line, Daisy asked Toadette what she would like; she asked for a French braid. Daisy didn't even know what kind of a hairstyle that was - but that didn't matter. What she was about to do was a lot more drastic than a simple braid, that was for sure.

She reached a hand into her left pocket, and put her fingers into the handles of the small pair of scissors she'd taken from the bathroom cupboard. Her heart began to race; this was so awful, so terrible, and she hoped she would never do something like this again.

But her desire to get revenge overshadowed her guilt. Let's see how she likes being ugly.

Ignoring her conscience, she grabbed Toadette's hair and snipped across it.

Meanwhile, Peach's breath hitched in her throat, unable to believe her ears. Was it just her, or did that sound suspiciously like a pair of scissors? But surely Daisy didn't hate Toadette that much?

She was almost afraid to turn around, but did so anyway. One look at Toadette's hair and her shocked, wide mouthed expression confirmed her worst fears.

"D-Daisy..." Peach uttered. "What... what did you do?"

Toadette, finally realising just what had happened, began to hyperventilate.

"Daisy..." Peach repeated, an unfamiliar feeling of pure rage rising inside her. "Daisy!"

Daisy batted her eyelids. "You didn't say scissors were banned."

Peach waved a hand in Toadette's direction. "Have you looked at her hair, Daisy?"

"Does it look like I care?" Daisy scoffed. "So she can call me fat, and pig, and elephant, and it's fine just because she said sorry? Seriously, are you kidding me?"

"It's going to take so long for her hair to grow back," said Peach, raising her voice. "Did you think of that?"

"I did. And it'll take just as long for her hair to grow back," she pointed at herself, "as it did for me to get this body! So we're quits." She put her face closer to Peach's. "So don't you dare tell me that I'm being unfair."

"You are being unfair," Peach growled. At that point, Toadette had begun to cry quite loudly. "She apologised."

Daisy sneered and shook her head. "I told you, I don't care. Is "sorry" going to fix everything that happened last year? And you're being unfair, because you're the one who invited Toadette here without even talking to me first!"

Peach lowered her gaze, then raised it again, mentally counting to ten.

"Daisy? I need you to leave."

"With pleasure!" Daisy scowled viciously, and stalked off - then returned and peeked in.

"Oh, and Peach? I'm not going trick-or-treating with you tomorrow. Just to let you know."

"I wasn't going to ask you!"

Daisy stormed out, her footsteps pounding against the tiled floor, and slammed the door behind her, the sound reverberating through the house. Toadette was rubbing her eyes, and Peach gave her a sympathetic pat on the shoulder, saying nothing. At that moment, Peach's mother arrived in the sitting room, frowning at her daughter.

"Peach, you really shouldn't speak so loudly. You must use your indoor voice when you're inside- Oh. I didn't know you'd invited someone here."

Peach gave her an uneasy smile. "Hello, Mama. Mama, this is Toadette. She's someone I know from school."

"Hello, Toadette," said Mrs Toadstool, eyeing the girl's casual appearance in blatant disapproval. Peach tried not to pull a face - she wished her mother wasn't so snobby. Then, when she noticed her tear-stained face, "What happened?"

Peach's tone turned more sober. "It was Daisy. She and Toadette, they... didn't get on last year, so she... cut her hair."

Mrs Toadstool gasped, covering her mouth with her hand. When she got over the shock, she sniffed and said, "I shouldn't be so surprised. It's just the kind of thing she would do. I was never fond of your cousin - I always thought my sister and especially Rick spoiled her too much. You're better off without her."

Oddly, Peach felt indignant. "She's not that bad, Mama."

"Don't be silly, Peach. You've been stuck together for too long, it's about time you made new friends."

"But-"

"No buts." Her eyes flicked over to Toadette. "You can't keep your hair like that, Toadette. Luckily, I used to work as a hairdresser, so I should be able to sort it out."

Toadette threw her a look. She didn't know whether to feel insulted, or grateful.

Peach handed Daisy's scissors to her mother, and Mrs Toadstool led Toadette and her daughter into the kitchen. Toadette sat on a chair, while Peach's mother stood behind her. She snipped at her hair, tilting her head occasionally. She left the room when she was finished, and returned with a mirror. When Toadette peeked at her reflection, her eyes welled up with tears once more.

"It's the best I could do," Mrs Toadstool said apologetically. "It's a very long time since I cut anyone's hair apart from Peach's, and Daisy had cut off a lot."

"Oh no, it's - it's nice. Th-thanks," Toadette choked out, trying to sound thankful even as fresh tears rolled down her cheeks.

Peach could understand why Toadette was still upset. It wasn't that Mama hadn't done a good job - the pixie cut simply didn't suit the girl's round face.

Toadette buried her face in her hands, giving up all attempts at acting pleased. Her hair was now only slightly longer than Toad's. If she wasn't careful, people might mistake her for a boy.

But, she deserved it.

The three females were quiet for a long time, with a few sobs breaking the silence from time to time. No words could describe what had taken place that night. Peach had invited Toadette to her mansion at the intent of patching things up with her and Daisy. Instead, Toadette had received terrible treatment from Daisy, Daisy was furious at both of them and Peach had a desire to cry just like the reformed bully.

Eventually, Toadette requested that she didn't stay the night and went home; she proceeded to ring her mother. Mrs Toadstool then suggested that they watch some television before Mrs Mushroom arrived. Neither felt like obeying Peach's mother; nevertheless, they headed into the sitting room and idly flicked through the channels, their minds elsewhere.

Daisy rang the doorbell of her house so forcefully that she thought the button would get stuck if she didn't stop. It was one of those times when she felt like screaming, or punching someone, or anything just to relieve her anger. She hated Toadette. She hated Peach. She hated bullies who thought they could steal her best friend just because she'd said sorry. She hated cousins who betrayed her because they were too soft-hearted to remember the past. But most of all...

She hated herself.

She hated that she lost control so easily once fury overtook her. She hated her lazy, gluttonous seventh grade self, who had let people taunt her when she could have nipped it in the bud, before it got out of hand. She hated having to face her parents after doing such an awful thing.

Her father opened the door after a bit, his smile wide, which faded once he saw Daisy's expression. "What happened?" he asked. "Are you okay? Why are you back so early?"

Daisy barely muttered a greeting before pushing past him and running up to her room.

"Daisy?" Mr Rose called. "Daisy! Come down!"

She didn't reply.

He scratched his head in confusion. Something was clearly wrong, but he was sure that she would tell him in her own time.

Half an hour later, his phone rang in his pocket and he took it out. It was Peach's mother; maybe she would offer an explanation.

Fifteen minutes later, his rage matched his daughter's, lying on her bed upstairs.

Daisy was met with cold stares when she walked into the dining room the next morning. She felt less anger now, and more remorse; but it was too late to reverse last night.

She suspected that her mother and father had found out. Even nine-year-old Azalea, her sister who was usually oblivious to family happenings, was peering over her cereal bowl, waiting for something to blow up.

Daisy toasted some bread, and sat at the table. For a long time, nobody spoke.

Then her father lost his temper.

"How dare you?" he said quietly, his warm blue eyes looking less friendly and more menacing. "How dare you do that to anyone!" he shouted, making both Daisy and Azalea jump. "I have never been so embarrassed in my life. Peach's mom told me everything! Thought you'd get away with it, huh?"

"I-"

"Well you thought wrong! You're grounded, grounded for one whole month, got it? One whole month! Apart from going to school and coming home, you are banned from leaving the house! We'll take your phone away! We'll make you study each and every night for a whole month! Why did you do it, why?"

"I don't know..." Daisy faltered. This outburst was scary, and this was coming from the girl who had witnessed many of them.

"Answer me! Why did you do it?"

"I don't know."

"Why. Did. You. Do it? Come on Daisy, why did you do it?"

Daisy looked down and bit her lip. Suddenly, she was tired of being the villain. It was time to show her family what her motives were.

"I'll tell you why I did it," she said, trembling. "Ever wonder why I took up sport for no apparent reason? Ever wonder why I'm not fat anymore?"

Both her parents blinked. They had wondered about it, they still did, but when they'd asked Daisy at the time, she had made an excuse about needing to get fit. It never occurred to them that she might have been unhappy with her body. Daisy had always been a tomboy - she never seemed to care about her appearance.

"Daisy," Mrs Rose said softly, "you weren't ugly. Don't say that."

"I was ugly," Daisy murmured. "I even got bullied for it. And you want to guess who did it?" Her voice gradually rose. "Mimi, and Pauline - you wouldn't know them - and - wait for it - Toadette! Toadette who's such a saint, right? They called me names every single day! Oh, and remember that night I came home early from Toadette's party? That wasn't because I felt sick - Mimi got her friends to take pictures of me, print them off and put them on the basement walls for everyone to see. Everyone, except for Peach and Luigi, laughed." Tears began to form in her eyes at the memory. "How do you think I felt? How do you think I fricking felt, having over a hundred people laughing at me? And everyone expects me to be nice to them?"

Her parents stared at her, their faces frozen with shock, but their eyes reflecting the pain they felt, at not having seen this sooner, at not having helped their daughter.

"But... why didn't you say anything?"

"I did!" Daisy shouted. "I told the principal, but he said - he said that without proof he couldn't do anything."

Mr Rose's temper returned. "I'm going in on Monday. I'll give old Toadsworth a piece of my mind."

Daisy's eyes widened in panic. "No Daddy, don't do that! It's all blown over - you're going to make everything worse!"

"I swear on my life, I'll be there first thing on Monday morning," he continued, ignoring Daisy. "And I'll be ringing that girl's mother too!"

"Please Daddy, Toadette wasn't really involved! I mean, she was, but the others did much worse! Please, don't tell Mr Toadsworth!"

"Your father is right, Daisy," Mrs Rose said. "We can't let them get away with this. We're still going to punish you for what you did to Toadette, but at least we know there was a valid reason."

Daisy gawped at her mother, momentarily stunned. She had always loved Daddy a little more than Mommy, and was surprised to hear her mother sticking up for her.

But she was still very worried about Monday. For once, she wished her father wasn't so loyal to his family. And arguing further wouldn't help - she knew from experience that his fury would only fizzle down when he got his way.

She groaned silently and tried her best to force down her toast, which tasted as dry as dust.

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