Work Text:
Dream job
Daisy worked hard to get where she is today.
Ever since Daisy was a kid she always wanted to be a scientist, she was told by her parents that maybe she should be a teacher instead or a care worker because that's what job’s girl’s should have because being a scientist in their words was “a boy's job”. And of course any young child that's told by their parents that they shouldn't do something because it's not meant for them, decided that she didn't want to be a scientist because she didn't want to be seen as weird for wanting a boy’s job.
It was when she started year 6 that she started to think differently.
One day, she and her friends were sitting on the back oval in school and they were talking about what they wanted to be when they grow up. A lot of her friends said they want to be a teacher, a nurse, a vet etc. until one of her friends said
“I wanna be a scientist!”. Daisy had looked at her with a confused look and said “but you can’t be a scientist, you're a girl.”
Her friend Lucy looked at her quizzically “who told you that? Girls can be scientists, dummy.”
Daisy had looked so confused, ‘had her parents lied to her’ she thought. “My parents.” she whispered. Lucy looked at her with soft eyes
“ well your parents are bit silly”
“Yeah I guess they are,” she laughed. From that point onwards Daisy promised herself that she was gonna prove her parents wrong and be the best scientist known to man.
At the start of high school Daisy and Lucy had promised to each other to become scientists together.
They worked together and worked really hard but there was always people telling them they can't be scientists because “girls are dumb” and “only boys can have that type of job” or “you should stay in the kitchen were you belong” whenever people said that to them, they would always walk laughing or just straight up laugh in their faces.
It always made Daisy second guess herself and think ‘am i really smart enough for this’. Whenever she had voiced her anxieties to her best friend. Lucy would take Daisy’s hand and say,
“you are smart enough. Don’t listen to them they’re stupid anyways, who gives a shit what they say anyways”. Daisy would then smile at Lucy and say “thank you Lucy you’re the best”.
It happened in october, what happened had shattered Daisy’s heart.
Lucy died.
Lucy had gotten into a car accident and was the only one who had died.
They were in year 10 by this stage, and they were going to take their science test that day they had studied and studied but i guess that doesn’t matter much now huh.
When Daisy had found out she cried and cried. She had just lost her best friend. What the hell is she gonna do now?
Daisy hadn’t gone to school that day or for the rest of the week. She felt horrible, she felt like she had a box of weights on her chest and she couldn’t move, she didn't leave her bed for a week. Lucy and her hadn’t gotten into any fights or anything, she just wished she could have done things differently, there were so many unsaid things that Daisy wished had been said.
Daisy had given up on the thought of being a scientist. She didn’t have her best friend anymore, she didn't think she could do it anymore. Being a scientist was Lucy and her thing, how could she be a scientist if her best friend was dead.
Daisy had gone to the funeral. She cried, she mourned, she gave her condolences to Lucy’s family, they hugged and cried. She had gone home feeling worse than she felt when she found out Lucy had passed.
Daisy had to go back to school the next day. People looked at her with pity everywhere she turned and it pissed her off. She didn’t take notes in class anymore. She did the bare minimum of work and still passed every test even though she was trying her hardest to not pass.
One day, Daisy had been wandering the shops when she had bumped into a friend of hers from primary school.
Rebecca looked at her “oh my god, Daisy is that you. Holy crap i haven’t seen you in forever” Rebecca had gone to hug her, Daisy hugged back.
“Hi Rebecca, how are you?” Daisy said.
“I'm good, thanks for asking. I uh… I heard what happened, how are you feeling Daisy?” Rebecca asked.
Daisy just stared at her, trying her hardest not to cry.
She swallowed “I'm okay i guess as good as anybody can be in this type of situation.” Daisy said, her voice cracking.
Rebecca and Daisy had gone and sat down. They talked for a while.
“So you still want to be a scientist like you said back in primary?” Rebecca asked, laughing quietly.
Daisy contemplated on telling her. She decided just to tell her “yeah i used to. Lucy and I made a promise to work together and be scientists,” Daisy said, laughing softly at the memory. “But y’know”
Rebecca looked at her confused “so you still want to be a scientist but because Lucy’s gone you don't think you can anymore?” Daisy nodded “that’s stupid no offense but it is you can still be a scientist” Daisy just stared. “Why don’t you become a scientist in Lucy’s name or something?”
Daisy thought about it. That sounded like an actual good idea. She could still be a scientist with Lucy just not physically. Daisy decided she was gonna be a scientist for Lucy and for herself of course.
Daisy graduated high school with a high atar and good grades. She had gotten into a good university and she took all the science courses she could. She had gotten an internship in a building where beginner scientists start off (most of the time just working there as an intern).
She was the only woman there and it caught her really off guard. She thought she would see some other girl interns but there were none and there was only like 1 or 2 women working there. While Daisy had been an intern all she learnt was what type of coffees these old men liked. By the end of her internship, she had barely learnt anything and the things she did learn were from the women who worked there, who had felt bad for her because they remember being her the first time they interned there.
She had gotten her degree in science. She registered herself in a fair few science jobs. She had gotten into one but soon quit after cause they treated her like dog shit. She got into the others as well but again she quit cause they treated her like she was less than them
Daisy finally had gotten a good job, where the people didn't treat her less then. She worked there for years and had been promoted to be lead scientist.
She walked over and put the flowers down at the gravestone. She knelt down and looked at the gravestone [Lucy Dodson].
Daisy smiled “I did it lucy. I did it. I hope you're proud of me Luc’ wherever you are.” Daisy stood up, she turned to walk away, she looked back, she smiled, she turned around and walked away.
The end