Here we go.
The Girl Who Lived Chapter Two: The Letter to No One
The main Social Services building was in London. After retrieving her things, Daisy was driven there to stay the night or possibly longer. She saw upon arrival that it was an old gray schoolhouse. In the office Ms. Varnin introduced her to one of the "nannies" that would help her.
"Hallo, Daisy, me name's Hannah. You'll be sleepin' in Room Two with little Nellie," said the plump, late middle aged woman. She was in a green uniform and wore her graying red hair in a tight bun like Ms. Varnin. Daisy instantly took to her warm, motherly aura.
"Okay," Daisy replied, with a small smile.
"Come on now, I'll introduce ya." Hannah led Daisy down a dark hallway. On the walls were pictures of old headmasters. Hannah noticed Daisy gazing at the walls as they walked.
"When we bough' this building, the school's 'eadmaster begged us not to change it up too much. There's still blackboards in the rooms, and we even named the 'ole place after the school: Grandrose Academy Social Services of London, Main Office," she said grandly.
"Oh, cool!" Daisy said, sincerely.
"Here we are," said Hannah as she knocked on the door. "Nellie, are you awake? There's someone here to meet you." There was a loud scrambling from inside the room. Hannah opened the door to a room with two beds. One was filled with a very small girl pretending to be asleep.
"Nellie!" Hannah exclaimed crossly, "I know you're awake." Daisy was puzzled. Being awake was okay in her book.
"Ah, darnit," said Nellie, sitting up.
"Wha' were you doin' out of bed? You're still recoverin'." Hannah scolded.
Nellie must have been sick, Daisy reasoned. Her appearance would support that. She was very pale, and had dark circles under her eyes. She wore a long nightdress, though it was not quite time for bed yet. Framing her face were tangles of thin blond hair.
"Now settle down, and get some rest," Hannah instructed.
"Yes, Miss Hannah," said the tiny girl, lying back.
"She's just gotten over 'orrible measles. Poor girl, it nearly killed her, she's so bitty. You wouldn't guess it, but she's nearly ten."
"Whoa," said Daisy.
"Yes, well get yourself settled in. You've just missed dinner, but," Hannah said lowering her voice, "I'm sure you could raid the kitchens after lights out."
"Thank you," Daisy said. The nanny left and shut the door behind, leaving Daisy inside.
"Hi, um, I'm Daisy," she said, sitting down on the empty bed and feeling extremely awkward. Nellie didn't seem to perceive Daisy's discomfort though, because she bounded along relentlessly.
"Hi. Nellie!" she squeaked, "I'm so glad to see you. They haven't let me see anyone in ages. Not that I'm contagious anymore, of course. It's just I need my rest, but I guess they ran out of beds so tonight we're rooming together. Oh yes, I didn't tell you. I had measles really bad, but I guess you knew that, as Miss Hannah kindly told you already when she thought I wasn't listening. I hate it when grown ups do that. You know, talk like you're not there. 'She's so bitty, it almost killed her,'" Nellie mimicked. She had said all of this very fast, and Daisy paused before she got the bit of humor at the end, and then shared a laugh with Nellie.
"You're not that small, there was a kid my sixth form shorter than you," Daisy assured, perhaps exaggerating.
"Really?" Nellie asked grinning, and catching her breath in pausing to do so.
"Yup," Daisy replied. "And I'm not exactly in the clouds either. We'll grow."
"Do you like my board? I guess its half yours now, if you're staying here," Nellie said gesturing to the blackboard on the wall to her right. "All the kids have them. It's wicked!"
"Wicked!" Daisy replied.
"So, how'd you end up here?" Nellie asked curiously. "I've been here forever, as long as I can remember, they can't "locate" my parents."
"Oh, sorry." Daisy said with a sympathetic smile. "Mine were, um, they died."
"Oh gosh," Nellie said guiltily. "That was a stupid thing to ask. I'm sorry."
"It's okay," Daisy assured. There was a long pause.
"Well, I'm supposed to be resting. That dresser is yours," Nellie directed, pointing to a small green dresser. "I guess you can put your stuff in it."
"Alright," agreed Daisy. "I'll just let you rest now."
"Okay," replied Nellie lying down and rolling on her side facing her board and away from Daisy.
Daisy checked the clock on the wall, 7:30. She decided to get her stuff and get settled. She got up, snuck out of the room, and walked down the hall to the main office where her bags should be.
Right before turning the last corner to the office, Daisy heard her name mentioned.
"Do you think this new one, Daisy, I think, will find a home as quickly as you've implied?" said a woman's voice that Daisy didn't recognize.
"No, probably not. There just aren't enough foster homes these days, and not many people are willing to take a strange teenager into their home. She'll be spending a lot of time here, most likely," said Ms. Varnin's voice.
"Oh, great," Daisy thought dispiritedly. It wasn't that the people didn't seem friendly, but the place didn't seem very homey. Probably no place would ever be the same kind of home to her. She walked into the door to a surprised Ms. Varnin and another nanny.
"I'm just here to get my bags," she said as if she hadn't heard anything.
"Oh, of course Daisy," said Ms. Varnin. "I'll help you."
When they got back to Room Two with Daisy's three bags, they opened the door quietly. Nellie's breathing was steady, so she was actually sleeping. Ms. Varnin set down one of Daisy's bags.
"Lights out is at nine, breakfast is served at seven forty-five, but morning recess starts at seven. Lunch is at noon, dinner is at 6:15. Bathrooms are down the hall to your left, you are allowed one shower every other day, and required to shower at least twice a week. There aren't any lessons during the summer holiday, but they will start in September. Do you have any questions?"
"No," Daisy replied.
"Good, then I will see you tomorrow. Goodnight," and with that Ms. Varnin turned and strode down the hall.
Daisy's three bags contained everything she had decided to keep from her house. Ms. Varnin said that her house would be sold, her parents things would be put in storage, and that Daisy would get a large sum of money when she was eighteen.
One of Daisy's bags was a large gray suitcase. It held her clothes and her lucky blue blanket. She emptied the clothes into the first two dresser drawers and spread her blanket on the bed. Her next bag was a green denim duffel bag. It held her school things, toiletries, makeup, hair accessories, soccer equipment, and other things she didn't want to part with. She assigned the remaining drawers to those things. Her smallest bag was her backpack; it contained Daisy's most important things. The scrapbook that Sirius had given to her was shoved in there too, as Daisy hadn't gotten a chance to look at it any further. She felt exhausted though, and just wanted to sleep. Checking to see that Nellie was still sleeping, Daisy changed into her pajamas, switched off the light, and crawled into bed.
Daisy woke up suddenly that night. In the dim light, she could see the clock on the wall. It was 1:37 AM. She sat up and rubbed her eyes, something told her she wouldn't be going back to sleep very soon. Nellie was snoring, but Daisy heard no activity from the kids in other rooms.
She realized why she had woken so abruptly. She'd had The Dream again. The Dream was of a baby boy. Messy back hair sprouted from the top of his head and his eyes were sparkling green. It was an obscure thought, but Daisy always thought that his eyes were strikingly similar to her own unique green eyes. The baby also had a strange cut, a jagged slash on his forehead. He looked scared and he would scream and scream and never stop. Daisy always woke up feeling shaken and confused. She'd had this dream for all of her life. Her parents told her forget about it, so Daisy learned to hide The Dream from them, though it still came to her often. It did occur less as she got older. In fact, the last time she had had it was the night of the accident.
Daisy got up from her bed and switched on the lamp beside it. She went to her dresser, pulled her ginger hair into a loose bun, and looked into the mirror. She was small for her age, a round 5 feet, and had always been a bit self conscious about it.
In the past, she had only one friend, Lavender Brown. Lavender was from the East side. Daisy thought she was terrific, but the other kids looked down on her and Daisy by association, because they were prejudice to Creepies, as those from the East side were called.
Lavender didn't care or even try to fit in. She was mysterious, never making any sense and speaking in gibberish. She was constantly in trouble. But three years ago, Lavender went to boarding school and never looked back, even to Daisy. When she came home for summer holiday, she was distant and didn't try to get in touch with Daisy. After a year in school without Lavender, Daisy had no friends. Cliques had been formed, and no one wanted anything to do with the Creepie's friend. Daisy never felt like she belonged.
Daisy's mind wandered back to the mirror and she admired her green eyes. Once again, she had forgotten about her contacts and left them in while sleeping, resulting in uncomfortable dryness. Daisy began wearing glasses at nine when in the third form. Adults regularly commented that glasses made her look intelligent, but they hid her pretty eyes. Daisy hated them from the start and begged her parents for contacts. Finally, the summer before she started Upper School, her parents caved and let her get them. Daisy was so excited she called Lavender just to tell someone, but when Mrs. Brown answered the phone, she heard a voice in the background.
"Tell her I'm not home." Daisy hung up when she heard that, a heavy damper on her spirit.
Not everyone ignored her though. She was smart, and all her teachers liked her. She was great with logic, story problems, and she had a good memory, too. History was her favorite subject.
Daisy noticed her shoes on the floor. They were high-tops, glittered green to match her eyes. She had found them in a birthday package in her parents' closet when she came home from the hospital after the accident. There had been a card on it, she thought vaguely.
She grabbed her backpack and dumped its contents on the bed. She rifted through it momentarily before picking out the card. It said, "To our wonderful little girl with glittering eyes on her fifteenth birthday. Lots of love, Mum & Dad." Daisy's birthday wasn't for another week or so, but her parents had always prepared extremely early for things like birthdays.
There was also a picture on the bed showing her parents with her in the park when she was three or four. She was seated on her father's shoulders and her mother was looking at them happily. On the back of the photo, someone had scrawled: "John, Lizzy, and Daisy. June 27, 1984."
Daisy's soccer team picture lay on the bed as well. She had started soccer when she was four years old and played for the Godric Gargoyles ever since, always number 35. She played forward and had the league record for goals scored of the younger girls' teams. But when she was thirteen, she had to try out for the team. She made it, but Courtney Jackson's dad was coach. Courtney Jackson was the nastiest and most popular girl in Daisy's form. She and her family were notorious for being unforgiving to residents of the East side and their associates. So Daisy sat on the bench most of the summer while Courtney and her friends played a 2-12 season.
Playing soccer was the only thing that allowed Daisy to let go and forget about being lonely. The short time she had spent on the field that summer and all the summers before were what she lived for. It all seemed trivial now, her current situation withstanding, but she couldn't help wondering if there would be a place for her on a soccer team wherever she ended up. Would she make any friends, or would history repeat itself?
A note from her crush, Chase Madison, lay on her pillow. Daisy had liked Chase since she was nine years old. He was the vision of cool and had never been outwardly mean to Daisy, unlike some of his friends. It was sad to think she'd never see him again. At the end of ninth form, he'd passed her a note during History, probably the only History class where she wasn't paying attention.
Hey, how's it going? Are you coming to my party Friday? It's at seven.
She went, of course, and it was a blast. Chase even asked her to dance. "Finally," she thought, "I'm a normal teenager with friends, and maybe a boyfriend!" When her parents picked her up she was delighted, but the next thing she knew was waking up in the hospital. The car had been hit, and her parents were dead. Misery.
Daisy felt tears streaming down her cheeks. She had never felt so alone as she did now, even at the funeral. Everyone she'd ever cared about was gone. She knew she didn't want the rest of her life to be this way.
She remembered something her mother had once told her. If life isn't how you want it to be, then change it.
When Daisy asked how to do that, her mother replied: Write down exactly what you want, like a letter to no one, and then do what you can to get it.
Daisy found a pen and notebook. She sat down on her bed and wrote:
Dear No One,
How has life been for you? Mine has been absolutely dreadful
lately, thanks. My parents died and it looks like I'm going to be
stuck in an orphanage for a while. I must say that I don't like the
way things are going. I think I need a new life. What do you think?
Well, I'll work up to that, but right now I'm afraid I need some
rest as it's 2 o'clock in the morning.
Sincerely,
Daisy Peterson
Daisy signed her letter with sardonic flare and ripped the page from her notebook. She folded the sheet of paper into a paper airplane and went to the window. It opened easily, and Daisy noticed there was no screen. Cheap, she thought. All the easier for her.
She pitched the paper out the window and watched it catch in the breeze and float away. Feeling better already, Daisy went back to her bed.
As she sat down, she felt something beneath her. She jumped up and looked to see what it was. It was the scrapbook from Sirius. She opened it up again, and gasped. The pictures were moving. And there was her locket mother and the baby boy from The Dream, sitting with a baby Daisy, smiling and waving.
She shut the book quickly, knowing it couldn't be real. She threw it on the floor angrily. Moving pictures were foolish; this all must be a dream. She shoved the rest of her belongings back into the dresser and climbed back into bed. She switched off the light again, huffily. The thought of the pictures moving made her mad, but she didn't know why. Probably because I'm tired, she thought. No, no, probably because I'm dreaming.
Daisy awoke to the sound of Nellie.
"Daisy, Daisy! Wake up," she yelled. Daisy stirred groggily.
"This is wicked," Nellie said. "What is this? Where'd you get it?"
Daisy's eyes cracked open. Nellie was peering at the waving figures in the photos of Daisy's scrapbook.
"Hey!" Daisy said angrily. "That's mine. Why'd you take it?"
"You just left it there on the floor," Nellie countered.
"That doesn't mean you can just take my stuff," Daisy snapped. Well, this ruled out the dream theory.
"Yeah, yeah," Nellie said devilishly. "You live at Grandrose now. Nothing is sacred. Now, where did you get this anyway?"
"This guy gave it to me yesterday," Daisy said, still peeved.
"Are these, like, computer chip pictures?" Nellie asked enthusiastically.
"Er," Daisy said. "Something like that," she lied, hoping she was right.
"We've got to show the other kids!" Nellie exclaimed.
"But," Daisy said, looking for an excuse not to, "don't you have to stay in bed?"
"Oh, who cares about that? This is sooo cool," Nellie argued, and hopped out of bed.
"But, but, this is really weird. I think those are pictures of my real mum. And you really shouldn't go, Hannah will get mad."
"I can deal with Hannah, she's a softie," Nellie said. She was pulling on an oversized sweatshirt. "Go on, get dressed. The other kids will be outside in the courtyard until breakfast. We've got fifteen minutes, let's hurry." She waited as Daisy pulled jeans and a T-shirt over her pajamas, then grabbed her and pulled her out the door, carrying the scrapbook in her free hand.
They walked down the long portrait laden hallway in nervous silence. To get outside they had to pass by the office. It had two windows in front of the desk on the hall towards the outside door. Daisy and Nellie came to the corner before the office and peeked around. Hannah was sitting at the desk. Daisy looked at Nellie in an I-told-you-so way.
"Listen," said Nellie, taking control. "You're gonna go talk to her, pretend you're alone. I'm just gonna crawl right below her eyesight."
"Okay," Daisy said skeptically, "I'll try." She strode out from the corner into Hannah's view and went through the door to the office.
"Hallo there, Daisy. It's nice to see you up early," she said
"Thanks. How are you?" Daisy asked.
"Oh, same as always, a little stiff, but overall fine," she replied. "Have you seen Nellie today?"
"Ah," Daisy mumbled, not sure what to say. She glanced at the floor to see Nellie crawling along, "yes."
"Well, you can go outside and play with the other children if you want to," she said, gesturing to the small door. "Breakfast is in about twelve minutes,"
"Thanks," Daisy said again, and went to the door, opening it for Nellie and herself.
Outside there was a small courtyard surrounded by a brick wall about four feet tall on two sides and the building on the other two sides. The ground was covered in grass, with a large elm tree in the center. Nellie rose from her knees. She was squinting and blinking wildly. Her eyes obviously hadn't seen sunlight for weeks.
"Yes!" she cheered.
A group of kids, most considerably younger than Daisy, were gathered around the tree. The others were all wearing T-shirts and shorts, so Nellie looked a little out of place. Daisy noticed as they walked up to the mob that all the children were looking and pointing upward at the tree.
"Hey, Nellie," said a boy who looked about ten. "Did Miss Hannah let you out, finally?"
"No," Nellie said, giggling.
"Nice," he said, impressed. "Look, do you see that owl? It's got something. We can't get it to come down, though."
Some of the smaller children were calling, "Here, Birdie. Come on!"
Daisy looked up at the tree and spotted the brown owl sitting on a branch. Suddenly it took off and flew right at her.
"Cool!" said one of the boys.
"Wicked!" said another.
"What's it got?" asked a little girl.
"It's a letter," replied Daisy, as the owl dropped a parchment envelope at her feet and settled on her shoulder.
A/N: Lots of good background and such. Isn't Nellie obnoxious! Well, you'll just have to read to see what happens next. Please Review.
The Girl Who Lived Chapter Two: The Letter to No One
The main Social Services building was in London. After retrieving her things, Daisy was driven there to stay the night or possibly longer. She saw upon arrival that it was an old gray schoolhouse. In the office Ms. Varnin introduced her to one of the "nannies" that would help her.
"Hallo, Daisy, me name's Hannah. You'll be sleepin' in Room Two with little Nellie," said the plump, late middle aged woman. She was in a green uniform and wore her graying red hair in a tight bun like Ms. Varnin. Daisy instantly took to her warm, motherly aura.
"Okay," Daisy replied, with a small smile.
"Come on now, I'll introduce ya." Hannah led Daisy down a dark hallway. On the walls were pictures of old headmasters. Hannah noticed Daisy gazing at the walls as they walked.
"When we bough' this building, the school's 'eadmaster begged us not to change it up too much. There's still blackboards in the rooms, and we even named the 'ole place after the school: Grandrose Academy Social Services of London, Main Office," she said grandly.
"Oh, cool!" Daisy said, sincerely.
"Here we are," said Hannah as she knocked on the door. "Nellie, are you awake? There's someone here to meet you." There was a loud scrambling from inside the room. Hannah opened the door to a room with two beds. One was filled with a very small girl pretending to be asleep.
"Nellie!" Hannah exclaimed crossly, "I know you're awake." Daisy was puzzled. Being awake was okay in her book.
"Ah, darnit," said Nellie, sitting up.
"Wha' were you doin' out of bed? You're still recoverin'." Hannah scolded.
Nellie must have been sick, Daisy reasoned. Her appearance would support that. She was very pale, and had dark circles under her eyes. She wore a long nightdress, though it was not quite time for bed yet. Framing her face were tangles of thin blond hair.
"Now settle down, and get some rest," Hannah instructed.
"Yes, Miss Hannah," said the tiny girl, lying back.
"She's just gotten over 'orrible measles. Poor girl, it nearly killed her, she's so bitty. You wouldn't guess it, but she's nearly ten."
"Whoa," said Daisy.
"Yes, well get yourself settled in. You've just missed dinner, but," Hannah said lowering her voice, "I'm sure you could raid the kitchens after lights out."
"Thank you," Daisy said. The nanny left and shut the door behind, leaving Daisy inside.
"Hi, um, I'm Daisy," she said, sitting down on the empty bed and feeling extremely awkward. Nellie didn't seem to perceive Daisy's discomfort though, because she bounded along relentlessly.
"Hi. Nellie!" she squeaked, "I'm so glad to see you. They haven't let me see anyone in ages. Not that I'm contagious anymore, of course. It's just I need my rest, but I guess they ran out of beds so tonight we're rooming together. Oh yes, I didn't tell you. I had measles really bad, but I guess you knew that, as Miss Hannah kindly told you already when she thought I wasn't listening. I hate it when grown ups do that. You know, talk like you're not there. 'She's so bitty, it almost killed her,'" Nellie mimicked. She had said all of this very fast, and Daisy paused before she got the bit of humor at the end, and then shared a laugh with Nellie.
"You're not that small, there was a kid my sixth form shorter than you," Daisy assured, perhaps exaggerating.
"Really?" Nellie asked grinning, and catching her breath in pausing to do so.
"Yup," Daisy replied. "And I'm not exactly in the clouds either. We'll grow."
"Do you like my board? I guess its half yours now, if you're staying here," Nellie said gesturing to the blackboard on the wall to her right. "All the kids have them. It's wicked!"
"Wicked!" Daisy replied.
"So, how'd you end up here?" Nellie asked curiously. "I've been here forever, as long as I can remember, they can't "locate" my parents."
"Oh, sorry." Daisy said with a sympathetic smile. "Mine were, um, they died."
"Oh gosh," Nellie said guiltily. "That was a stupid thing to ask. I'm sorry."
"It's okay," Daisy assured. There was a long pause.
"Well, I'm supposed to be resting. That dresser is yours," Nellie directed, pointing to a small green dresser. "I guess you can put your stuff in it."
"Alright," agreed Daisy. "I'll just let you rest now."
"Okay," replied Nellie lying down and rolling on her side facing her board and away from Daisy.
Daisy checked the clock on the wall, 7:30. She decided to get her stuff and get settled. She got up, snuck out of the room, and walked down the hall to the main office where her bags should be.
Right before turning the last corner to the office, Daisy heard her name mentioned.
"Do you think this new one, Daisy, I think, will find a home as quickly as you've implied?" said a woman's voice that Daisy didn't recognize.
"No, probably not. There just aren't enough foster homes these days, and not many people are willing to take a strange teenager into their home. She'll be spending a lot of time here, most likely," said Ms. Varnin's voice.
"Oh, great," Daisy thought dispiritedly. It wasn't that the people didn't seem friendly, but the place didn't seem very homey. Probably no place would ever be the same kind of home to her. She walked into the door to a surprised Ms. Varnin and another nanny.
"I'm just here to get my bags," she said as if she hadn't heard anything.
"Oh, of course Daisy," said Ms. Varnin. "I'll help you."
When they got back to Room Two with Daisy's three bags, they opened the door quietly. Nellie's breathing was steady, so she was actually sleeping. Ms. Varnin set down one of Daisy's bags.
"Lights out is at nine, breakfast is served at seven forty-five, but morning recess starts at seven. Lunch is at noon, dinner is at 6:15. Bathrooms are down the hall to your left, you are allowed one shower every other day, and required to shower at least twice a week. There aren't any lessons during the summer holiday, but they will start in September. Do you have any questions?"
"No," Daisy replied.
"Good, then I will see you tomorrow. Goodnight," and with that Ms. Varnin turned and strode down the hall.
Daisy's three bags contained everything she had decided to keep from her house. Ms. Varnin said that her house would be sold, her parents things would be put in storage, and that Daisy would get a large sum of money when she was eighteen.
One of Daisy's bags was a large gray suitcase. It held her clothes and her lucky blue blanket. She emptied the clothes into the first two dresser drawers and spread her blanket on the bed. Her next bag was a green denim duffel bag. It held her school things, toiletries, makeup, hair accessories, soccer equipment, and other things she didn't want to part with. She assigned the remaining drawers to those things. Her smallest bag was her backpack; it contained Daisy's most important things. The scrapbook that Sirius had given to her was shoved in there too, as Daisy hadn't gotten a chance to look at it any further. She felt exhausted though, and just wanted to sleep. Checking to see that Nellie was still sleeping, Daisy changed into her pajamas, switched off the light, and crawled into bed.
Daisy woke up suddenly that night. In the dim light, she could see the clock on the wall. It was 1:37 AM. She sat up and rubbed her eyes, something told her she wouldn't be going back to sleep very soon. Nellie was snoring, but Daisy heard no activity from the kids in other rooms.
She realized why she had woken so abruptly. She'd had The Dream again. The Dream was of a baby boy. Messy back hair sprouted from the top of his head and his eyes were sparkling green. It was an obscure thought, but Daisy always thought that his eyes were strikingly similar to her own unique green eyes. The baby also had a strange cut, a jagged slash on his forehead. He looked scared and he would scream and scream and never stop. Daisy always woke up feeling shaken and confused. She'd had this dream for all of her life. Her parents told her forget about it, so Daisy learned to hide The Dream from them, though it still came to her often. It did occur less as she got older. In fact, the last time she had had it was the night of the accident.
Daisy got up from her bed and switched on the lamp beside it. She went to her dresser, pulled her ginger hair into a loose bun, and looked into the mirror. She was small for her age, a round 5 feet, and had always been a bit self conscious about it.
In the past, she had only one friend, Lavender Brown. Lavender was from the East side. Daisy thought she was terrific, but the other kids looked down on her and Daisy by association, because they were prejudice to Creepies, as those from the East side were called.
Lavender didn't care or even try to fit in. She was mysterious, never making any sense and speaking in gibberish. She was constantly in trouble. But three years ago, Lavender went to boarding school and never looked back, even to Daisy. When she came home for summer holiday, she was distant and didn't try to get in touch with Daisy. After a year in school without Lavender, Daisy had no friends. Cliques had been formed, and no one wanted anything to do with the Creepie's friend. Daisy never felt like she belonged.
Daisy's mind wandered back to the mirror and she admired her green eyes. Once again, she had forgotten about her contacts and left them in while sleeping, resulting in uncomfortable dryness. Daisy began wearing glasses at nine when in the third form. Adults regularly commented that glasses made her look intelligent, but they hid her pretty eyes. Daisy hated them from the start and begged her parents for contacts. Finally, the summer before she started Upper School, her parents caved and let her get them. Daisy was so excited she called Lavender just to tell someone, but when Mrs. Brown answered the phone, she heard a voice in the background.
"Tell her I'm not home." Daisy hung up when she heard that, a heavy damper on her spirit.
Not everyone ignored her though. She was smart, and all her teachers liked her. She was great with logic, story problems, and she had a good memory, too. History was her favorite subject.
Daisy noticed her shoes on the floor. They were high-tops, glittered green to match her eyes. She had found them in a birthday package in her parents' closet when she came home from the hospital after the accident. There had been a card on it, she thought vaguely.
She grabbed her backpack and dumped its contents on the bed. She rifted through it momentarily before picking out the card. It said, "To our wonderful little girl with glittering eyes on her fifteenth birthday. Lots of love, Mum & Dad." Daisy's birthday wasn't for another week or so, but her parents had always prepared extremely early for things like birthdays.
There was also a picture on the bed showing her parents with her in the park when she was three or four. She was seated on her father's shoulders and her mother was looking at them happily. On the back of the photo, someone had scrawled: "John, Lizzy, and Daisy. June 27, 1984."
Daisy's soccer team picture lay on the bed as well. She had started soccer when she was four years old and played for the Godric Gargoyles ever since, always number 35. She played forward and had the league record for goals scored of the younger girls' teams. But when she was thirteen, she had to try out for the team. She made it, but Courtney Jackson's dad was coach. Courtney Jackson was the nastiest and most popular girl in Daisy's form. She and her family were notorious for being unforgiving to residents of the East side and their associates. So Daisy sat on the bench most of the summer while Courtney and her friends played a 2-12 season.
Playing soccer was the only thing that allowed Daisy to let go and forget about being lonely. The short time she had spent on the field that summer and all the summers before were what she lived for. It all seemed trivial now, her current situation withstanding, but she couldn't help wondering if there would be a place for her on a soccer team wherever she ended up. Would she make any friends, or would history repeat itself?
A note from her crush, Chase Madison, lay on her pillow. Daisy had liked Chase since she was nine years old. He was the vision of cool and had never been outwardly mean to Daisy, unlike some of his friends. It was sad to think she'd never see him again. At the end of ninth form, he'd passed her a note during History, probably the only History class where she wasn't paying attention.
Hey, how's it going? Are you coming to my party Friday? It's at seven.
She went, of course, and it was a blast. Chase even asked her to dance. "Finally," she thought, "I'm a normal teenager with friends, and maybe a boyfriend!" When her parents picked her up she was delighted, but the next thing she knew was waking up in the hospital. The car had been hit, and her parents were dead. Misery.
Daisy felt tears streaming down her cheeks. She had never felt so alone as she did now, even at the funeral. Everyone she'd ever cared about was gone. She knew she didn't want the rest of her life to be this way.
She remembered something her mother had once told her. If life isn't how you want it to be, then change it.
When Daisy asked how to do that, her mother replied: Write down exactly what you want, like a letter to no one, and then do what you can to get it.
Daisy found a pen and notebook. She sat down on her bed and wrote:
Dear No One,
How has life been for you? Mine has been absolutely dreadful
lately, thanks. My parents died and it looks like I'm going to be
stuck in an orphanage for a while. I must say that I don't like the
way things are going. I think I need a new life. What do you think?
Well, I'll work up to that, but right now I'm afraid I need some
rest as it's 2 o'clock in the morning.
Sincerely,
Daisy Peterson
Daisy signed her letter with sardonic flare and ripped the page from her notebook. She folded the sheet of paper into a paper airplane and went to the window. It opened easily, and Daisy noticed there was no screen. Cheap, she thought. All the easier for her.
She pitched the paper out the window and watched it catch in the breeze and float away. Feeling better already, Daisy went back to her bed.
As she sat down, she felt something beneath her. She jumped up and looked to see what it was. It was the scrapbook from Sirius. She opened it up again, and gasped. The pictures were moving. And there was her locket mother and the baby boy from The Dream, sitting with a baby Daisy, smiling and waving.
She shut the book quickly, knowing it couldn't be real. She threw it on the floor angrily. Moving pictures were foolish; this all must be a dream. She shoved the rest of her belongings back into the dresser and climbed back into bed. She switched off the light again, huffily. The thought of the pictures moving made her mad, but she didn't know why. Probably because I'm tired, she thought. No, no, probably because I'm dreaming.
Daisy awoke to the sound of Nellie.
"Daisy, Daisy! Wake up," she yelled. Daisy stirred groggily.
"This is wicked," Nellie said. "What is this? Where'd you get it?"
Daisy's eyes cracked open. Nellie was peering at the waving figures in the photos of Daisy's scrapbook.
"Hey!" Daisy said angrily. "That's mine. Why'd you take it?"
"You just left it there on the floor," Nellie countered.
"That doesn't mean you can just take my stuff," Daisy snapped. Well, this ruled out the dream theory.
"Yeah, yeah," Nellie said devilishly. "You live at Grandrose now. Nothing is sacred. Now, where did you get this anyway?"
"This guy gave it to me yesterday," Daisy said, still peeved.
"Are these, like, computer chip pictures?" Nellie asked enthusiastically.
"Er," Daisy said. "Something like that," she lied, hoping she was right.
"We've got to show the other kids!" Nellie exclaimed.
"But," Daisy said, looking for an excuse not to, "don't you have to stay in bed?"
"Oh, who cares about that? This is sooo cool," Nellie argued, and hopped out of bed.
"But, but, this is really weird. I think those are pictures of my real mum. And you really shouldn't go, Hannah will get mad."
"I can deal with Hannah, she's a softie," Nellie said. She was pulling on an oversized sweatshirt. "Go on, get dressed. The other kids will be outside in the courtyard until breakfast. We've got fifteen minutes, let's hurry." She waited as Daisy pulled jeans and a T-shirt over her pajamas, then grabbed her and pulled her out the door, carrying the scrapbook in her free hand.
They walked down the long portrait laden hallway in nervous silence. To get outside they had to pass by the office. It had two windows in front of the desk on the hall towards the outside door. Daisy and Nellie came to the corner before the office and peeked around. Hannah was sitting at the desk. Daisy looked at Nellie in an I-told-you-so way.
"Listen," said Nellie, taking control. "You're gonna go talk to her, pretend you're alone. I'm just gonna crawl right below her eyesight."
"Okay," Daisy said skeptically, "I'll try." She strode out from the corner into Hannah's view and went through the door to the office.
"Hallo there, Daisy. It's nice to see you up early," she said
"Thanks. How are you?" Daisy asked.
"Oh, same as always, a little stiff, but overall fine," she replied. "Have you seen Nellie today?"
"Ah," Daisy mumbled, not sure what to say. She glanced at the floor to see Nellie crawling along, "yes."
"Well, you can go outside and play with the other children if you want to," she said, gesturing to the small door. "Breakfast is in about twelve minutes,"
"Thanks," Daisy said again, and went to the door, opening it for Nellie and herself.
Outside there was a small courtyard surrounded by a brick wall about four feet tall on two sides and the building on the other two sides. The ground was covered in grass, with a large elm tree in the center. Nellie rose from her knees. She was squinting and blinking wildly. Her eyes obviously hadn't seen sunlight for weeks.
"Yes!" she cheered.
A group of kids, most considerably younger than Daisy, were gathered around the tree. The others were all wearing T-shirts and shorts, so Nellie looked a little out of place. Daisy noticed as they walked up to the mob that all the children were looking and pointing upward at the tree.
"Hey, Nellie," said a boy who looked about ten. "Did Miss Hannah let you out, finally?"
"No," Nellie said, giggling.
"Nice," he said, impressed. "Look, do you see that owl? It's got something. We can't get it to come down, though."
Some of the smaller children were calling, "Here, Birdie. Come on!"
Daisy looked up at the tree and spotted the brown owl sitting on a branch. Suddenly it took off and flew right at her.
"Cool!" said one of the boys.
"Wicked!" said another.
"What's it got?" asked a little girl.
"It's a letter," replied Daisy, as the owl dropped a parchment envelope at her feet and settled on her shoulder.
A/N: Lots of good background and such. Isn't Nellie obnoxious! Well, you'll just have to read to see what happens next. Please Review.
