Archive of Our Own ^beta

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Hey guys! The story doesn’t actually begin until the next chapter this is just me introducing myself! My name is [CAN’T TELL YA. SORRY!] And this story is actually a reboot from a collection of one shots that has been done before. the only difference is this one will have an ongoing story! (I’m gonna have a lot fun with that! XD) Before we start I just wanna say this is my first ever fanfic so please don’t mind some spelling mistakes here and there and let me know what you wanna see me write about next!

There’s also a few more things you should know!
1: this story will be told from Daphne’s POV
2: there’s gonna be a few Needle Drops in the story that fit with the scenes. ( like what James Gunn does with his movies)
3: there will be some angst so if you hate crying I suggest you click off. XD
4: There’s also some cursing but not too much! (This isn’t The Sopranos)

So sit back grab some popcorn and a soda and get ready to read a story by a huge fan fleshing out a couple that the actual maker refuses to do!

Enjoy!

Update: To mix things up for some chapters it‘ll also be told in Nate’s POV.

It might be confusing I know but please bare with me!

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My Name is Daphne Lindt (the name comes from a Thymelaeaceae shrub! Just a little plant knowledge for ya!) and I’m your average middle school girl! I eat breakfast, I go to school, i hang out with my friends, (All… one of them… but we’ll get to that later!) I go to shopping malls all of that! But ever since I was born I’ve had one very big obsession.

Books.

I’ve loved books for my entire life! I can’t even go to sleep without reading a chapter of them. Every page I turn to is a mystery and adventure just waiting for me! Sometimes I just ramble on for hours and hours about Shadows and Bones! Hell I just ramble on about everything I read in general!

I’m probably doing so right now heh heh…. Anyways I’d like to think of myself as a good person to be around. I’m kind, I’ve made honor roll several times, I love a good joke! (I got SUM math puns that’ll knock your socks off!) and I’m that type of girl who likes to keep in tune with her emotions!

“ Sweetie breakfast is almost done!” That’s my mom calling me I gotta get ready for school!

I quickly rush to the bathroom for a quick shower and to put on my clothes and my hair bun! “I can’t wait to see what we learn today!” I happily say in the mirror. “The Educational world is my oyster!”

I arrive in the kitchen where my breakfast waits for me. I sit at the table where I see that mom made bacon and waffles!

“So Daphne what’s going on at the school?” Mom asks me while she packs my lunch. (Her selections are the best!)

“Well you know the usual! Exams, Book Reports, I heard there’s a Spring Formal in a couple of weeks!” I say while I begin eating my waffles.

“Ooh! Spring Formal? Have you asked someone?” Says Mom excitedly while she finishes packing.

“Well…” I reply nervously. “I’ve haven’t… and to be honest I don’t plan on going..”

Mom looks at me concerned “aww what’s wrong sweetie? Why are you so nervous?”

I reply to mom still looking at her nervously.. “you know me mom.. I’m not really the “party type”, I always freeze up when I’m at big and loud events”

Mom says to me “we’ll you don’t have to go if you don’t want to. But one day you gotta get out of your comfort zone ya know?”

“Yeah I know that but I’m afraid if I show everyone my true self they’ll just make fun of me..” I say looking anxious about coming out of my shell. I finish eating my breakfast and grab my lunch from Mom.

“Well when the day comes I’ll support you all the way” says Mom as she gives me a quick hug.

“I gotta get my backpack and get to the bus stop!” I say as go up to my room and get my backpack. “See you after school!”

I grab my backpack and rush out the door.

I slow down a bit as I walk to the bus stop to appreciate the neighborhood!

Bakar - Hell N Back

I sniff in the fresh air of Rackleff street! Ahhh…. I love this neighborhood! From its warm green trees to it’s thriving community! And (almost) everyone in the neighborhood is so nice!

I practically know all the people here!

There’s Mr Stewart who’s mowing the lawn

There’s Mrs Shannon’s dog chasing a squirrel

And there’s Mr Luciano trying to convince his wife that the gnomes in the garden are haunted!

(I was in Girl Scouts for the fall when I was 7. That’s how I know these people.)
I arrive at the Bus stop!
“Daphne! How’s it going!” I turn around to see who said that and I find Gina Hemphill-Toms! My BSFF!
(Best Smart Friend Forever!)

Gina and I met at kindergarten and we’ve been best buds ever since! We both have a lot in common! We both love school work and books and we both strive to succeed we also both thirst for knowledge! I’m so happy I can call her my BSFF! There’s just one Teeny tiny flaw.

“Hey Gina! Ready for another fantastic day?” I say happily as i wait for the bus stop!

“Yup! I already got my homework ready from last night AND I got a list of insults to whip out at that pinhead” Gina says as she pulls out a long list of insults directed at a boy named Nate Wright.

Who is Nate Wright you ask? Well let’s just say he’s someone who Gina is not fond of at all. They’ve been in a blood feud for what feels like decades! It gets annoying at first but when your friends with Gina as long as I have been, you get used to it after a while.

“Don’t you think your going to hard on this Nate guy?” I ask curiously

Gina turns around and says “Heck no! He’s the most obnoxious most annoying most idiotic most bare headed slime-for-brains person you could ever meet! He’s the bane of my existence he’s that splinter who just won’t go away! He’s that taste when you drink orange juice after brushing your teeth!”

“I have a feeling you don’t like him that much” I say rolling my eyes sarcastically.

Gina puts her list of zingers in her backpack and says “look Daphne if you were in my shoes you’d know how obnoxious he is! Remember that big noise that shook the school that practically sounded like a earthquake the other week? That was his locker! Who knows what kind of stuff he has in there! It was like a Avalanche!”

Yup. Thats flaw I was talking about. while I ramble on for hours about books she rambles on for hours about how Nate is the scum of the universe. Why does she hate him so much? I wouldn’t know but i can tell you Gina would explain that really well. she’s still rambling on as I’m thinking this right now.

Well let's not focus on that now! The bus is here. Me and Gina get on the bus ready to tackle the day ahead.

As we sit on the bus I pull out one of the new books I got from book store.

The Book is called Smile. And I kinda love it so far I know it’s never happened to me but the characters are so charming in it I can’t help but read it. And so I read I did until I hear the bus door open.

And judging Gina’s pleasant smile Turing into a angry frown you can probably guess who it is… (it rhymes with Gate Bright)

Gina instantly glares at Nate and says to him.. “Pinhead”

Nate glares back at Gina and says “Teachers pet”

And this happens everyday with the usual hiss or the usual muttering of “How I hate him” from Gina.

To be honest sometimes I think her rivalry with Nate is more important than her friendship with me. But that’s just my anxious self talking to me again. Honestly I don’t know why I’m always this anxious and shy. Maybe I was born with it maybe something happened to me I don’t know.. I just wish I was just as confident as any other person in the school instead of spending all my free time in the public being quiet and not talking to anyone but Gina. But when I’m alone it gives me the chance to express myself to be free and full of life and be the most Daphne as I can be!

Even though if it has some minor flaws, when it comes to my life, I wouldn’t have it any other way…

Chapter Text

You’d think I probably sound like a broken record for what I’m about to say but I’m gonna say it again just for good measure.

School sucks.

Why do I hate school so much? Basically the reason any other kid does. Nagging teachers, stress inducing homework and the pain in the butt jerks who like to shove you in the locker any chance they get. (cough cough RANDY. cough) and honestly I don’t get why adults like it so much. why waste our entire day coming to school while we can already look up everything we need to know on our phones?

And most of the classes stink as well! Like math, (how do they expect us to remember all of those equations?)

Science, (total snooze fest. Nothing exciting happens there i mean chad is a cool dude and all but him craving lunch the whole time is probably not gonna get me to art school.)

And don’t even get me STARTED on Social Studies! (Anywhere I have to spend 50 minutes with that witch is practically the worst place ever.)

But you want to know the worst thing about school? It's that I have to share every single class with that annoying, stuck-up, needle-nosed, obnoxious teacher's pet! You probably know who I'm talking about but in case you don't let me spell it out for you…

Godawful
Inferior
Never ending smug
Asshole.

I could list of millions, no BILLIONS of reasons why I hate her so much! That annoying laugh every time Mrs Godfrey makes a painfully unfunny school joke. (She may think it’s hip and cool but it’s the equivalent to a Facebook mom trying to be funny. Spoiler alert: ITS NOT.)

That smug grin every single time I fail a test. (It’s not my fault I haven’t gotten a lot of hints to work with. I blame the school system!)

And worst of all she always keeps on talking crap on me! Like everything I do she’s like a vulture waiting to find something to snitch on me about and send me to detention! I hate her with every fiber with my body! I’d rather go on a dinner date with Kim Cressly then spend one more minute in class with her! THATS HOW MUCH I HATE HER.

But as much as I hate her there’s something weird about Gina that I just don’t understand normally I would just ignore it but it just doesn’t sit right with me.

Take this morning for example. I just finished a super hard pop quiz. Mrs Godfrey hands me my paper and take a guess of what I got.

“A D-.. yippe…” I mutter unenthusiastically knowing I’m never gonna hear the end of it from Needlenose.

“So here we are again Pinhead. Another grade down the drain.” Gina smugly says while she gets her test back and guess what SHE got?

Another A +. Whoop de freaking doo.

“What? It’s not my fault this school doesn’t see my unbridled truths the same way!” I defensively snapped back at Gina.

“Well it’s obvious that they’re not. They actually have a brain.” Gina smugly replies. Oh, how I hate her.

Well no time to dwindle on that now it’s almost art class. My favorite subject because i can actually draw Ultra Nate comics and get away with it! I nervously wait for the bell to ring but then…

“Class before we go I need a volunteer to help me set out invitations to the spring formal after school” Mrs Godfrey says

And then Gina immediately shouts “ME! i’ll do it!!”

Mrs Godfrey instantly says “ahh Gina! I can always count on you! Meet me back here after school!” (No surprise there.)

Something weird is going on. Gina never asks to help with anything during dances.

And in art class it just got weirder. While I was making my Ultra Nate comic, (word on the street is that his new adventure is a climatic showdown against the evil vile incredibly bossy Mrs Godzilla.) Gina was gearing out all the watercolor paintbrushes and for some reason she was looking at chad the entire time while doing it.

Weird.

And In P.E when we were playing dodgeball (it was a free for all) Gina threw dodgeballs at everyone (Especially Me.) EXCEPT Chad. Every time it looks like she had the perfect shot against him she’d throw the ball at the other direction saying something like..

“Oh no! I guess I’m not that good at dodgeball aren’t i”

Yeah I ain’t buying that for a second. Me or my bruised arm.

And when Chad throws the ball at Gina she just does nothing she just spreads out her arms like she wants the ball to hit her.

That’s when I put two and two together!

She’s been acting super weird because she wants to get close to chad so she can ask him to the dance! Of course!

Gina may be (too) good at many things! Unfortunately hiding a crush isn’t one of them.

And I want all of this to stop because it’s totally messing with my mojo. Usually I’m a whiz at completing comics before class ends but because I was distracted by Gina gawking over chad the entire time she made me mess up my 1,285th day streak! (That’s 3 years worth of drawings. THANKS NEEDLENOSE.)

As much as it pains me to say it, I gotta help her NOT because I want to because I gotta get that distraction out of my hair.

So after school ends as Gina is passing out the invitations I walk up to her..

“I figured out why you’ve been acting weird today!” I say as Gina turns around surprised. “where’d you come from you pin brain?”
She reply’s angrily. (Pin brain. That’s a new one!)

“You have a crush on Chad and want to ask him to the spring formal but deep down you realize your not good enough for him. It’s like Beauty and the Beast!” I explain “Let’s be clear your the beast.” I add in just so I can see Gina’s reaction.

“I hate you so much.” She furiously mutters. Yep. Priceless!

She then sighs and says “yes it’s true I do have a crush on chad. And MAYBE I really wanna ask him to the ball” she reluctantly admits.

“Well under any other circumstances I would never do this but what if I could help?” I suggest.

“Stop teasing! This is obviously just some twisted way of mocking me” she says crossing her arms

“No I’m serious! If I can help you get that date than maybe you could focus less ripping on me and focus more on chad! It’s a win win for both of us!” I reply.

Gina reluctantly sighs “Alright fine. if your serious and can really help me make this happen that would mean a lot…”

“Really?” I ask curiously and kinda shocked.

“Yes.. if you can do this then I’ll have JUST A TEENY OUNCE. Of respect for you…”

“Okay! What do I gotta do?…”

Gina thinks for a moment… this can’t be good…

She finally thinks about it and then snaps her fingers and says

“I’d like to propose a trade…”

“A Trade? What kind?” I ask as I get even more curious

“Chad is your lab partner. Daphne is mine. What if we both switch lab partners? I take Chad you take Daphne.” She explains

“What?!” I exclaim “No way! Daphne barely talks to anyone but you! How am I gonna deal with all those awkward silences?”

Gina rolls her eyes and says “I’m sure you’ll find a good compromi-“

And then I cut her off and say “I hate awkward silences” can you blame me? It’s just so stress inducing!

Gina Grumbles and says “look I really don’t ask much from you. hell, I don’t even ask at all! I’m just saying do this one thing for my sake?”

I reluctantly sigh and say “okay fine… shake on it?”

Me and Gina hesitantly hold out our hands and then shake them. Suddenly my hand starts to hurt a bit that’s when I notice Gina gripping my hand tight. She whispers “Tell anyone what happened here and I’ll make sure your next comic will be your obituary.”

She lets go of my hand and I can still hear some of the bones popping. Who knew she had a grip that strong.

Well I made a deal with my worst enemy to partner up with a total random student just so she can get with one of my friends.

This is gonna be totally awkward to tell in my autobiography.

Chapter Text

DAPHNE’S POV

The bell rings for science and I walk to my table anticipating to talk to Gina about the new book I got from the library before class started. It’s about a knight and an elf bandit and I’m getting sucked into it! And I especially LOVE the illustrations it’s like it came out of a Painting it’s just so jaw-dropping! and so innovative! So…

Whoops I rambled on again, didn’t I?..

Where was I? Oh right! I sat down at my table waiting for Gina but then for some strange reason, That Nate kid walked up instead.

“Hey, Daphne!” Nate says as he sits in the other chair

“Um.. that’s Gina’s seat”

“ Gina And I are trading places so she can be with Chad.”

That makes more sense. To be honest I can’t say I didn’t see it coming. Gina’s had eyes on Chad ever since he came to this school. It was only a matter of time. I’m just

“So do I have to work with you” I ask.

“Even better! You GET to work with me” he clarifies’s

“But do I have to?” I ask worryingly

No offense to Nate But according to Gina He’s not exactly the sharpest Tungsten needle in the shed. Last Winter before Christmas Vacation we had this big test and they posted the results on the school bulletin board and Nate got a -2 on his score. (I don’t think that's mathematically possible.) And the bigger question is are we even allowed to switch partners?

I say to Nate “Um… I don’t think we can randomly switch partners”

“Relax Daphne! Mr Galvin doesn’t care if we switch! He just wants us to get some quality work finished!” He explains

“I guess you're right..” I admit “Shall we get started?”

“Hold up. Gotta finish this Worlde.” He says as he pulls out a phone.

*Sigh…* This is probably gonna end badly isn’t it?

NATE’S POV

Come on… I know this last letter…. Aw, man! The phone died! Well since I can’t talk to Chad and I Don’t have enough materials to make a comic I might as well *shudder* do some work… if you're new here, it’s no secret that I don’t do well working with other people… the last time I worked with someone it didn’t go so well. But on the bright side, in the end it did cause Needlenose to go to detention! (Thank you, Ben Franklin!) so as you can tell I’m not psyched to do this…

“Hey, Daphne! I’m ready to do my half!”

“Really? I didn’t expect you to actually wanna work on it.” She says as she hands me my page.

“Is that a compliment or an insult?”

“It’s a mix of both.” She says as she rolls her eyes. “Okay! go for it.”

I grab a pencil and get to work. Just wait until Daphne sees my genius in action! This is my chance to show I’m way smarter than everyone says I am! Im such a whizz at this, I don’t even look at the question! I just trust my gut like I always do! Aaand… Done!

“Here Daphne! I’m done with my part!” I hand Daphne the paper she takes a look at it and then after a while, she says “Umm.. wow.”

“A good wow or a bad wow?”

“A stunned wow.” She replies.

Yes! Stunned wow! Nailed it!

“Umm, Nate? I’m gonna make some mini changes on the worksheet.” Daphne says as she picks up an eraser and starts erasing some things. And then I notice she’s erasing more stuff but for some reason, she’s doing it way more aggressively. Eventually, she finishes erasing and to my surprise, everything from the paper is gone!

“What the heck Daphne? Why are you erasing all my work?”

“Sorry, Nate. I really wanna get a good grade and all your answers were wrong.” She says

“Define wrong.”

“You described Argon as a 2012 movie starring Ben Affleck. That’s basically wrong.” She explains. As she begins to rewrite the paper.

I honestly don’t know what I’m doing wrong. Those questions were practically impossible! It’s not my fault I don’t know anything about science.

Okay... MAYBE I know a little bit about science. I had to do a lot of studying that one time in detention after I accidentally destroyed the school's trophies. (Let’s just say playing indoor soccer was not one of my best moments) one of the main subjects I had to study was science.

And what I remembered for it was a total snooze-fest. Whatever happened to the good old days of science when we made slime and made Mentos and Coke volcanoes? Those were the best times when school was actually FUN. Sadly those days have drifted away.

And to be honest... I don’t WANT to fail school! I wanna get into art college one day! But for some reason, every time I do work like this, my mind gets fuzzy and it’s really hard to understand anything that’s on the paper. and for that I just randomly choose the answers for sometimes my mind is forced to think nothing but my comics! (Plus the teachers really stink.)

If only there was a way I could think of my interests WHILE focusing on the work at the same time…

Wait… THATS IT!!

“Here Daphne. Let me do that.” I say “We’re lab partners! I should do half the work!”

“Oh I really don’t mind doing it at all.. in fact, it might be better if I.. um.. it’s just..” she stutters clearly hesitant “Well your reputation precedes you..”

“That’s what everyone says! I always live up to people's expectations!”

“That’s what I’m afraid of..” she says

“Come on Daphne. I know what I’m doing this time!”

“Okay.. if you say so…” she says nervously

Okay Nate it’s time to get your brain game on… this question is about force so all I gotta do is think about the answer in the most Ultra Nate way possible...

There’s a bomb planted in the middle of a city and only Ultra Nate can throw it far enough to save the city. a major football star has already tried, but it only went from half the block. so Ultra Nate picks up the bomb and chucks it with all of his awesome strength… and throws it into space!

OH MY GOD, I FIGURED IT OUT!!

DAPHNE’S POV

Oh no this is really bad… I can already tell that he’s gonna get all the answers wrong again… I’m so nervous.. the school board will accept half credit, right? It won’t go to my permanent record for the rest of my life, right? RIGHT?!

“Okay, Daphne! I rewrote my half of the worksheet!” He hands me the worksheet and I can’t almost bare to look.. but I must so I take a peek and I am SHOCKED. Not in a bad way.. a good way actually!

“Hey! You got everything correct!” I say in surprise.

“Yep! It was a piece of cake!”

“But if you can do work this good.. why do you always act like such a.. a…”

”A total legend?” He finishes while smirking with confidence

“Yeah let’s go with that…” I say playfully while rolling my eyes “The question is why? even I know you hate school work like this.”

“Well, I didn’t wanna fail and go to summer school that’s all...” Nate says while looking away and crossing his arms.

“So Um… Well, we got a few minutes before class ends.” I say awkwardly

“That's cool...” Nate replies

We both sat in silence awkwardly...

Come on Daphne this is your chance to make a new friend! Don’t screw this up like you always do!

“So… read any good books lately?”

Yup. Blew it..

“Well… Actually, I have been reading some comic books lately that are pretty good!”

Or maybe not…

“I really like Moon Knight! He’s so cool and mythical and he always kicks the criminals' asses like Wha-pow! And the art is so stunning as well! it's like one of the most beautifully drawn comics you’ve ever seen! And..”

I listen to him chatter about his other favorite comic books! And to be honest it’s nice to see someone else just as obsessed with books as me! Usually when I try to start discussions about books everyone just loses interest and walks away but with Nate it’s different... and yet for some reason, easy…

“And that’s why I think Daredevil could totally beat Hawkeye in a fight” Nate finishes

“You seem to know a lot about superheroes!”

“I may not be book smart but I sure am comic smart!” Nate gloats

“I can tell! You must have grown up with a lot of them!”

“Sure did! I loved them so much one time I tried sending new characters to Marvel and DC! Still waiting for them to send me back a letter!”

I laugh and say “You are quite the unpredictable man Nate Wright” with another playful eyeroll

“It’s a gift from the heavens,” Nate says while smugly smiling

Suddenly the bell rings

“Oh.. well I guess I gotta go..” I say sadly. To be honest I was really enjoying his company.

“ Maybe I’ll see you around?” Nate says

“That would be… quite nice…”

I walk out of the classroom thinking to myself: This is who Gina’s been complaining about this whole time?! He's actually a really nice guy who likes books just like me! And he's not an idiot! He just has to apply himself! He might be the first friend I've ever made since kindergarten. That wraps up the total of friends to a whopping 2! (it's not much but hey! I'll take it.) I then notice Gina walking next to me.

“Hey, Daphne! Wanna be lab partners again?” Gina suggests.

“I thought you wanted to work with Chad.”

“I mean I do but I just don't think it's fair for you to get stuck with Nate.” she says

“Oh, that's alright. I actually don't mind working with Nate. We’re actually a pretty good team.”

NATE’S POV
As I walked out of the classroom I overheard everything Daphne said. Everything she said about me and her being a pretty good team.

at first, it felt kinda strange. To be honest I thought every girl in school except for Dee Dee hated me. Like for example in the 6th grade Valentine's Day Dance no one would dance with me. They would just blow me off for just for being there. And don't tell anyone this but that kinda hurted me deep down inside. And for a girl to actually enjoy my company was kind of bizarre but for some reason feels nice. Plus I also proved I can actually pass a test if I use my own imaginative (and awesome) method. (I’m not gonna mention that part out loud obviously.)

So I guess… Science isn't that totally crappy after all…

Chapter Text

DAPHNE’S POV

It’s officially been 2 weeks since I got partnered up with Nate. And to be honest I like him as a partner better than Gina (don’t tell her I said that please..) I really like his vibe and ever since then, he’s been getting better grades! (Except for social studies obviously) and I get a little sad every time science ends.. there’s just one problem though. I have NO idea how to approach him outside of science.

Like what do I do? Just go up to him and say “Hey Nate! Wanna go to the library sometime and obsess over books together?” That just sounds totally weird!

What in the Harper Lee do I say to him?! WHAT DO I EVEN DO?!! Will he think I’m a weirdo? Is he gonna think I’m some obsessed super fan?! This might be my one shot to know for sure what he thinks of me! I can’t screw this up! I JUST CAN'T!!

*Sigh* Calm down Daphne you have plenty of time. Nate wouldn’t care! He’s probably on his way to his locker not having a care in the world! I can do this! All I gotta do is go up and get to know him better! He probably wouldn’t care about whatever we do. Right?

NATES POV

There’s been something totally bugging me lately… me.

Like I’m not one to question myself because look at me! (I’m totally the coolest dude in the world!) But for some reason, I’m actually looking forward to going to science? (You’d think that’s something I would never say even if it would stop a robot apocalypse)

Sure Mr Galvin still sucks, and the work is still a total pain in the ass But there’s one person there that makes everything less crappy.

Daphne.

Now I know what you’re gonna say while reading this: “Out of everything else at school, why is it that Daphne makes things less bad for you” Well it’s kinda hard to explain but I feel like she just… gets me ya know? She may be the only one in the school who actually LIKES when I talk about my interests and love for comic books! I really should show her my drawings sometime…

And I don’t know how she does it but thanks to her I don’t have the worst grades in school anymore! She’s been tutoring me during science! And I studied. WILLFULLY STUDIED. I wanted to hate it at first but for some reason, I don't. Weird right? Plus she’s pretty cute when she talks about her favorite novel authors…

And the best part about her is, she doesn’t even care that I’m a total screw up… like she tries hard to make me a better person and yet still likes being around me for well… me…

Why am I talking about her so much? like every time I come to school, I’m deep down always excited to see her...

It’s almost like I kinda…. Have a crush on her…

You're probably also thinking: “Didn’t you wanna date Jenny since Kindergarten? “ I did but after Years of trying to get her to go out with me I realized that she’ll always hate my guts and will always be happy with Artur so I gave up and let her go…

I just want this to not be another “every girl I meet” situation. Every time I get my hopes up of a girl actually liking me it's always too good to be true. I just don't want my heart to get stomped on again like it did last time and I Especially don't want to make it look like I'm desperate like I did with Jenny. (I once read a crappy poem to her on the intercom… GOD what was I thinking?!) but enough about my Hallmark backstory. I gotta get to lunch!!

DAPHNES POV

Ahh Lunch! My 2nd favorite time of day! (#1 is Free time because I can go to the library!) I sit down at the table all alone. Usually, Gina would eat lunch with me but she’s trying to convince Chad to go to the dance with her...

So I begin to take my lunch out but then…

“Wassup Daphne.”

Oh no… It's Craig... who is he you ask? I kinda feel uncomfortable talking about it…

“Anybody sitting here?” He asks

Gotta think of a good excuse…

“Umm… Actually, I was uh... Saving this seat!”

“Really? With Who?”

“With.. uhh” I begin Sweating nervously as I look around the room I gotta think fast! And then I see him! He’s the perfect excuse!

NATE’S POV
I walk inside the Cafeteria trying to find things to say to Daphne! I can’t screw this up!

“Hey, Daphne! Fancy seeing you here!” No that’s too direct.. “ Dearest Daphne!” No that sounds totally lame! “Sup Daphne. I was just chilling around at the school and then I-“ RAAGH!! Why is this so hard?! I just wish she could approach me so I don’t look like a total lost cause…

“NATE!!” I hear Daphne shout my name. Maybe this won’t end so badly! I sit next to Daphne but for some reason, some random 7th grader with a purple shirt is standing right next to us.

“Uhh Sorry Craig.. me and Nate already made plans to eat lunch together..” Daphne says clearly sounding anxious

“Oh. Well, can we talk after school?” Craig says to her

“Ummm.. No.. you see me and Nate have a uhhhhh… Science project!”

“We do?” I add

She nudges my arm and then I say… “Y-Yeah! We do!”

“It’s a project about uhh… Gravity! We both wanna calculate how it works.. so umm.. sorry.” She says smiling nervously

Craig then chuckles and says to Daphne “You with HIM?! The Dumbest kid in middle school?”

“Hey I’m not that dumb! I’ve been passing almost every science test these past 2 weeks!”

Craig laughs like a maniac and says “Yeah right! That was a pretty good joke! I needed that!” I then give him a “Don’t make me kick your ass” Kind of glare. Daphne worryingly puts her hand on my shoulder to hold me back

“Well have fun totally Botching the project with him around! It would go so much better if it was with me!” Craig says to Daphne as he walks away..

“Phew thanks for that Nate” Daphne says

“You don’t like Craig huh?”

“Well I mean uh it’s just that… I.. it’s complicated… I just wouldn’t wanna eat lunch with him..”

“That's fine! You should only eat lunch with people you REALLY like!

“Exactly!”

We begin to eat lunch and I expected her to move back to Gina after me saying that… I mean Gina is someone she likes after all… (I don’t know WHY she does but still.) but for some reason, she doesn’t. Does that mean she likes me? Is she sitting with me out of pity? I don’t understand why I’m so stressed with her liking me! How do I even know for sure if I really like her?

“Let’s see…Yes! I got Cheez Doodles! today!” She says as she gets out a bag from her lunch box

Yup. That did it!

DAPHNES POV

I Began to eat with Nate and I realized this is the perfect chance to get to know him better! We always talk to each other about how much we love books! I’m wondering if we have other things in common!

“So what do you like to do for fun?”

“Well in my spare time I just like to hang around and draw comics!” He says “I have this short comic of some guys I made up!” He hands me the comic and I try to hold in a laugh. I don’t know why but his sense of humor is just really funny! It’s called Kit and Kaboodle and it’s honestly right up my humor alley! I can’t help but burst out laughing!

“This is hilarious! My sides are hurting just reading this!”

“Thanks! I came up with it during my dream a few weeks ago! It was after the dream that zebra ninjas held up a bank so they could take it to a talking Lego version of Ryan Gosling! Or was it my dream where Deadpool totally gets decked in the face by hulk? I really can’t remember.

I chuckle and say “I can tell you have a pretty active imagination!”

“I also really love some 2000s rock music! It just has that feel and vibe that’s totally my style!”

“No way! I ADORE that kind of music! My favorite band is Radiohead!” I excitedly state

“And when I’m bored I always grab me a pack of Cheez Doodles! Too bad I got stuck with my dad’s awful lunch.”

I pull out another bag of Cheez Doodles and give it to Nate. “Well I was gonna save this for Gina but she’s at the other table with Chad so you can have it!”

“Aw sweet! Thanks, Daphne!”

I began to eat my Cheez Doodles but then I saw the funniest thing!

“Hey Daphne look! I’m Hugh Jackman!” Nate says as he holds 3 Cheez Doodles between his fingers and then raised them up like claws!

I took a look and for some reason, I knew EXACTLY what role he was talking about, and like I said, I couldn't help but giggle! He then eats one Doodle and uses the other 2 to form a mustache! And said to me in a fancy British voice “It’s me! President Doodle!” And I laughed harder than I ever did Before!

I then remembered this cool trick I used to do in 3rd grade with a Cheez Doodle so then I put one on my nose and made a Duck Lips face while balancing the chip. I look and see Nate snickering while he’s still doing the Cheez Doodle mustache thing! He really loves it!

But that wasn’t all! (Get ready for the best part!) I throw the chip off my nose and catch it in my mouth!

We both have a good laugh and while I’m laughing I feel something strange and yet so right.. a feeling that usually happens whenever I’m around with Nate. a feeling that I can feel safe showing off my weird side whenever I’m with him.. a feeling that I can actually be.. myself around someone.. just like me..

We both finish laughing and then Nate asks me a question:

“Hey so umm… I have a Basketball game tomorrow.. I was wondering if you would come…”

“Oh well Um… I’m not s-sure.. I uh.. don’t do well with major sports events..”

“It’s alright! I’ll be at the court the whole game! Just focus on me and it’ll all be fine..” he explains

“Okay.. if you say so…”

“Plus this’ll be perfect for the uh.. gravity project! Because we are lab partners right?” He then smiles nervously

“Yeah! Heh heh.. this is for research!” I smile nervously at him back! Come on Daphne stop looking like an idiot! He probably thinks I’m the lamest girl ever right now!

NATE’S POV

Come on Nate your totally blowing this! The basketball game might be your only shot to impress the coolest girl ever! You can’t screw this up! YOU JUST CANT!!

DAPHNES POV

Suddenly the bell rings for the next class

“So I’ll see you at the game?” Nate asks

“Sure! It’s a date!” I say as I walk to the hallways.

“It’s a date?” Really Daphne? I don’t know why I said that! Was it heat of the moment? Do I actually mean it? I DONT KNOW!! I mean I don’t want it to be a date but then again.. I kinda do? I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO FEEL ANYMORE!! I know I said I’m usually very in tune with my emotions but lately with Nate I’ve been feeling a lot of them at the same time and I don’t know what to do! Does Nate feel differently about me after that? Does he think I’m a creep? Does he hate me? WHAT IS HAPPENING TO ME?!

NATE’S POV

It’s a date…

ITS. A. DATE!

YES!!!!!

Chapter Text

NATE’S POV

Okay, Nate.. Big game today.. This could be your one chance to impress the girl of your dreams. All I gotta do is win it for our team, I flex my totally real muscles, she swoons, I tell her I wanna go out, she says yes, happily ever after! it’s all so simple. COME ON NATE GET IN THE ZONE!!

“You okay Nate? You seem a little bit stressed.” Daphne says to me as we walk to the Basketball center

“Uh.. No! I'm totally fine! I’m just uh.. getting in focus for our team’s playoffs!”

“I’m really excited to see you play! But I’m also kinda nervous.. I’ve gone to a basketball game before.. but uh… it didn’t.. end.. well”

I notice her voice seemed anxious and kind of sad so I give her a comforting look and say:

“It’s okay.. like we discussed yesterday.. don’t focus on the noises and the stress. Just focus on me and it’ll all be alright.”

“*sigh* alright.. I trust you.”

“Plus you're gonna be able to see yours truly in action!”

“I heard of your team on the school news!” She says “Didn’t your team totally get crushed in the finals 20-5?”

Hearing that I could practically feel my hopes of winning being shattered “Yeah.. they sure did..”

She pats my shoulder and says “I'm sure tonight will be less embarrassing

We arrive at the center and I’m gonna be real with you I am SHAKING internally if I mess this up she’ll think I’m a total chump!
I gotta show her I’m the coolest guy in the world! I gotta give it 102% of my all tonight!

“The game will be starting in a few minutes I gotta go meet up with the team!

“I’ll be waiting from the bleachers. Good luck!” Daphne says as she gives a thumbs up for support

I enter my Team’s locker where I meet up with Francis and Teddy and the rest of the team.

“Nate! Where were you? The game’s about to start!” Francis says with his never-ending lecturing tone

“ I uh.. had to make a quick stop.”

“ Oh really? Where?” Teddy says with his eyebrows raised

“Well, I uh… I went.. to get a drink! You gotta stay hydrated to kick some ass!” I chuckle nervously

“Uh-huh. Sure buddy. Or you just went to get that Daphne girl you've been talking about for weeks.” Francis says

I let out a defeated sigh “Alright fine you got me. I just wanna be cool so I can impress her”

“Dude I'm gonna be honest, when it comes to you it's impossible to be cool.” Teddy says to me as he and Francis laugh hysterically as I roll my eyes

Francis sighs and says “Fine dude. If it really means that much to you we’ll try our best not to make you look like a total loser.”

“Really? You’d do that for me?”

“Yeah bro! that’s what friends are for.” Teddy says

“Thanks, guys!”

“You totally owe us for this” Francis says

“Of course I do.” I say as I once again roll my eyes

 That’s the thing with friends like mine! Sure sometimes they sometimes treat me like the butt of the joke, but when push comes to shove, they always come through for me! That alone gets them my “Nate Seal of Awesomeness!” (Patent Pending)

DAPHNE’S POV

I sit down at the bleachers waiting for Nate. And as I do, I begin to reflect on the last time I went to a major sports game. All the bad memories begin to rush back into my head. I keep thinking to myself “It’s all gonna be different. It won’t end badly like it did last time. Right? RIGHT?!”

I then hear the announcer on the intercom

“Give it up for the P.S:38 WildBobcats!”

Everyone starts cheering and That’s when I see Nate come out of the locker and onto the basketball court and suddenly something odd happens.. When I looked at him, I felt like all my problems melted away and all my eyes were capable of doing was looking at was him..

And the weirdest part is I've been feeling this strange feeling for a while now. Ever since I got partnered up with him 2 weeks ago.. When we first bonded over our love for books, for the first time in my life, I can actually talk to someone who's a little bit weird. Kinda like me.

Gina’s a really good friend and all but deep down for some personal reason I always thought we were really different from each other. She's a cool and snarky girl who isn't afraid to take risks and won't let anyone push her down. Meanwhile, I always feel like the girl who's just in Gina’s shadow. While she accomplishes these big hurdles I'm the girl who's always in the library. sometimes I wonder.. Does she actually care for me at all?

No! That’s your anxious self talking again Daphne. You promised yourself not to listen to that anymore…

Still, it's different with Nate with him I can do something I've always wanted to do.. Share my interests and actually have fun with someone just like me. But lately, things have changed. Take science for example it was almost time for the bell to ring, and Nate was doing what he usually does: obsessing over the new issues of Batman And Superman. Something strange happened I was looking at him with my hand underneath my head looking softly at him. It's kinda hard to explain but I think some sort of romantic song played in my head while looking at him with hints of sparkles in my eyes.

And for some reason, I feel the same way here. It feels so bizarre and new and yet.. Comforting and right. I didn't even know it was possible to block out an entire sports game for just one boy but here we are.. I mean look at him playing! I couldn't care less that he just accidentally dribbled the ball on his leg. I'm trying to search for the word for what I'm feeling right now.. And while I was doing that I realized the second quarter already started.

NATE’S POV

Come on Nate get your head in the game! I'm playing TERRIBLY So far!
Im trying so hard to impress Daphne that I keep messing up every single shot! I’ve never worried this much about basketball and trying to impress someone! So out of all of the times why am I worried about it now?! She must think I’m the world’s biggest loser…

DAPHNES POV

I continue to look at him as the basketball game goes on. Look at him go.. he doesn’t need to try this hard and yet he is.. and it’s kinda cute! It’s almost like he’s trying to impress someone.. looking at him play just makes me feel all these emotions..

What’s happened to me lately? I thought I was a girl who could keep in tune with her feelings but lately, they’ve been going all over the place.. I’ve been feeling things in my daily life that I haven’t been doing in my entire Lifetime!

Like usually when Gina is complaining about Nate I just feel Indifferent and do the occasional eye roll. But ever since me and Nate got partnered up, I've felt kinda.. Uncomfortable with it.. I almost feel.. Kind of hurt about it..

When I see him I always feel this kind of connection between us.. That I can talk about my unhealthy obsession with books without being judged or be seen as some kinda creep.. That I can talk about my daily life without being judged as some book obsessed nerd... all my life I felt like all I was ever good at doing was being an outcast.. but with Nate.. I don’t feel that anymore..

I really wanna spend more time with him.. I wanna hang out and spend the day together… I’ve kinda been thinking about holding his hand lately… and the more I thought about it… one day I wanna go to a movie with him sitting next to me…

Wait.. do I.. have a crush on him?

That can’t be! We’re just 6th Graders! You can’t find your “True Love” in the 6th grade! No matter what my favorite Romance novels say!

It's stupid! Insane! Completely immature!

But then again… it feels… Right.

It actually explains everything I've been feeling these past couple of weeks.. it’s why I feel I could just block out the stress and worries in the world just to see him.. it’s why I feel like doing a little mental cheer every time I’m with him in science it also explains the feeling I felt when I ate lunch with him yesterday it’s also why I feel kind of hurt every time Gina complains about Nate now…

It’s an unpredictable feeling and yet.. it helps me feel like the most Daphne I’ve ever felt in such a long time...

And when I see Nate throw the ball and it bounces off the hoop, I swear I could feel hearts floating around my head…

I really like this feeling.. I think I could totally get used to this…

The Game ends and we walk out of the center I notice that Nate feels somewhat down. Their team won 20-18. So why does he feel so sad?

“Congratulations Nate! You won!”

“I played horribly though..”

“But you won!” I remind him

“Every time I had the ball I missed the hoop”

“But you won!”

“All the points were scored by literally everyone else..”

“But you won!”

“One of my misses hit a nun in the 2nd row of the bleachers.”

“OK that one wasn’t GREAT.. but In the end, you still won!”

“ *sigh* I know. It’s just… if everyone on my team can look like the best compared to me, did they even need me in the first place?…”

Noticing his self-doubting frown, (I’ve been there.) I put my hands on Nate’s shoulders and as I blush, I say: “Don’t think that! You gave it your all back there! Don’t ever forget that..”

I could tell Nate was blushing too as he said “I-I won’t.. thanks Daph..” and as we parted ways to go back home, I began to realize: Was Nate this worried about doing his best for me? Does he feel the same way about me that I do for him? If so, how do I tell him that I like-like him back? This is all so nerve-racking…

Suddenly I got a text message from Mom. She says that Dad is returning from Nevada tomorrow! We’ve been apart for 4 Years.. I can’t wait to tell him about everything that’s happened since he’s been gone! We’ll laugh and sing together and be the best Father-Daughter pair anyone can ever ask for! I happily walk home excited for the day ahead!

NATE’S POV

I video chat Dee Dee on my phone telling her everything that happened

“And even though I played totally crappy Daphne acted like I was the next Stephen Curry!”

“Why are you so bummed about that? It’s sweet!” Dee-Dee says

“Yeah but why would she do that? Is it out of pity? an inside joke? or a-“

“Because she's a nice person Nate! And she likes you! You’re overthinking this! You gotta get out of your head!”

“Get out of my head? But I'm so comfortable there!”

“I Hadn't noticed.” she says as she rolls her eyes

“I know she “likes” me, but how can I know for sure that she “like-like’s” me?

“Well, the Spring Formal is in a few days! Maybe you could ask her! You know, to get to know her better”

“Really?”

“Yeah! Don't make it a spectacle! Relax and keep it simple!”

Dee-Dee telling me to not make it flashy and grand? I Must be in another dimension.

“Thanks Dee-Dee! I don't know what I would do without you!”

“They don't call me a professional Wingwoman for nothing! Good luck Nate!”

Just to clarify no one has ever called her that before. She hangs up and I gain a sense of confidence! It’s settled!, I'm gonna ask Daphne to the Spring Dance!

Chapter Text

I help Mom set up the banner that says “Welcome Back Dad” I can’t wait to see him again!! It’s been 4 years since he left to go to Nevada He got a promotion at his job and he said he’ll be staying there for a while.. I never really got to know him that well before he went.. but now he’s back! And I can’t wait to tell him what I’ve been up to these past few years!

“You think Dad is gonna like the drawing I made with me and him?” I ask Mom as I hold up a drawing of me and my dad high-fiving that says World’s greatest dad.

“I bet he’s gonna love Whatever you make for him”

“It’s just it’s been so long since I last saw him.. I really wanna make a good impression!”

“Don’t worry about making a good impression. Just be yourself like you’ve been doing these past couple of weeks.”

“Thanks, Mom.. Do we need any more cups from the closet?”

“I’ll go get them!” Mom says as she heads to the pantry. Suddenly the big moment happened…

KNOCK KNOCK

Oh my Gosh, it’s him! I can’t wait to tell him every single book I’ve read ever since he’s been gone! (Trust me it’s gonna be a really talk!) what do I do? What do I say? Do I sing that one 70s theme song? FOCUS DAPHNE!! I just gotta wing it and see where it goes from there!

I owe a lot to my dad! He’s the reason I’m so obsessed with books he was the one who gave me the very first book I’ve ever read and seeing him again after so long just makes me feel like a part of me has been reconnected!

I quickly rush to the door and I see him with his blue jeans and his Checkerboard shirt And his hat that says Power.

“DAD!!!” I rush to hug him tightly but strangely he just gives me a grumble He’s probably just tired from the trip home!

He walks to sit on the Living room couch. I sit with him as I try to start a conversation with him

“So.. I’m glad you're back after all this time..”

“Yeah, sure. Whatever”

“I’ve uh.. read 2,175 books since you were gone, Dad..”

“Cool..”

This is getting awkward... what can I say to get his attention...?

I uh.. m-made honor roll…

“Wait Really?!”

“Y-yeah.. last-“

He picks me up and immediately says “I knew you were the perfect daughter!”

“R-really?”

“Of course! My girl is going places! You’re the best daughter ever Dawn!”

“It’s uh.. Daphne..” I correct him

“Yeah yeah whatever..”

Dad puts me down and I say “Well Dad close your eyes because we got a big surprise for you in the Kitchen..”

I lead Dad into the kitchen and I inform to Mom quietly: “It's Dad... He's here! Get ready..”

Mom nods as we get into our positions. Dad arrives at the kitchen

“Okay, you can open your eyes now..”

Dad opens his eyes as we shout:

“SUPRISE!!!” as balloons fall down from the ceiling! (that alone took a few hours to perfectly time.)

By now we would have expected a hug or at least a “wow!” but after all the balloons came down from the ceiling, (that’s gonna be a pain to clean up later) Dad just did nothing but walk to the refrigerator and see if they got any drinks.

“Yeah, thanks for that. Where’s the remote? I wanna watch the football game..” Dad says as he grabs a bottle of beer from the fridge and walks to the Living Room.

“I’m starting to think that Dad doesn’t appreciate the things We’re trying to do for him. All he cared about was me getting good grades” I say sadly to Mom

My mom looks worryingly at me and says “It’s okay Daphne. I’ll go talk to him..”

“Okay.. I’m just worried that after all this time.. does he still care about me?”

Mom sighs and says “I’m sure he does... maybe he just has something on his mind.. don’t worry I’m gonna get this all sorted out..”

She goes to the living room to talk to Dad. I'm really worried to see how this all happens so I go next to the Living room door and overhear the conversation.

“Josh. What is the matter with you? We’re trying to show that we’re glad that you're back after so much time has passed. Could you at least be a little grateful to see us?” I see Mom talk angrily to Dad while he sits on the couch lazily watching Football.

“Get off my back woman. I was on the road for 3 days. I should have the pleasure to sit down and watch something.”

“We’ve been waiting for you for 4 YEARS. Your daughter spent the entire day at school trying to make this returning party as perfect as it can be!”

“So?” that one word kinda hurted me deep down inside...

Mom began to get very mad. (She usually NEVER gets like this.) and said “ “so..” she was the one who missed you most you should at least compliment her and tell her you miss her or SOMETHING!”

“I did. I complimented her on her grades!”

“THATS NOT ENOUGH! You always think about her grades more than her!”

“We’ve been over this! Her grades could get her a lot of jobs so she can make more money for us!”

“Is that what you see our little girl as? A money-making machine?”

“So what if I do?!” Dad stands up and walks back towards the Kitchen I step back as he enters.

Mom follows him and angrily says “What are you doing now?!”

“Getting another beer, What does it look like Bitch?!”

“Don’t you dare say that in front of our daughter! Why haven't you talked about what happened these past 4 years since you left?! You haven't even explained why you decided to come back! did you get fired? Did you quit?”

“I don't owe you any explanation.” Dad says as he grabs another bottle of beer

“It's been almost half a decade! We kinda wanna know!”

“Oh, you wanna KNOW?! Well, guess what?! I never even got a promotion! And I never even Had a job in the first place!! I just said all of that to get away from you and to not deal with divorce papers!!” I felt a genuine gut piercing to the heart hearing that sentence.

“So you're telling me you lied about achieving something special… something that could have made our lives better… just to use it as it an excuse to walk out on us?!”

“When you say it like that it actually sounds bad.”

“How could you do this to us?! We’re your family! How could you just abandon us like that?”

“ so I instantly get custody of Dave or whatever her name is if you died by a tragic accident or something.. And clearly that backfired because you’re still here!”

Mom gasps “b-but why?!”

“Isn't it obvious? She can work. Endlessly if she has to! until she's old enough to get a job! Once she's old enough she’ll be bringing home some money so I can indulge myself some more! Don’t you see? We can live the high life! She even said that she made the honor roll!”

I interrupt Dad.. “Uh… actually.. you never letted me finished.. That was last year D-Dad.. I g-got 4 a’s and 3 b’s…”

“Damn it Daphne!! Your never gonna be someone if you don’t have utter perfection!! Go to your room and GET TO WORK!”

I felt my body quiver, feeling really terrified as his booming voice trembles over me

“Don’t you talk to her like that!” Mom snaps “She’s your daughter!!” Dad’s eye twitched and he finally screamed at the top of his lungs:

“WELL MAYBE I NEVER WANTED TO EVEN HAVE A DAUGHTER!!!” His sentence echos from across the room as i clasp my mouth in shock while tears begin to form in my eyes

Dad with not a single care in his conscious continues “I told you the night it happened to pick plan b! but you said “let destiny decide” Well destiny made a horrible decision because you gave birth to this failure!” I felt like the most worthless person in the world right there and then.

the room went silent after that sentence… I… I thought about doing nothing more then crying… blaming and questioning myself if it was my fault that my own dad would say those things about me…

Finally… Mom did nothing but give my dead a horrified and kinda furious look. She quietly but angrily said: “GET. THE. HELL. OUT.”

“Oh hell no!! I’m the man of this house again, so you follow what I say, Woman!”

“You can’t tell me what to do!”

“Oh, I can’t tell you what to do huh?! Well, how about this!!” The most horrific thing happened next as he grabbed his beer bottle and threw it next to mom. The bottle shattered as Mom froze in terror. I tried to muster up a sentence trying to tell my dad to leave her alone, but then he settled his eyes on me and said, “ Come here Daisy...”

I run and hide in one of the bathrooms with the lights off and as I try to keep quiet but Dad just kept on shouting “Where are you?! I’m your father! I know what’s right for you!” I could practically hear glass shatter... I decide to call the police. I get out my phone and turn it to silent mode. I dial up the number and they pick up…

“9-1-1 What's your Emergency?”

“H-hello.. I'm… I-its. V-very urgent... P-please…”

“Don't worry.. We’ll be there ASAP.” they hang up

As I hide in the Bathroom I begin to reflect on everything that's happened before Dad walked out on us.. He used to buy me a lot of books and when I was a toddler we used to sing songs together.. But then I remember him always trying to get me to focus more on my education than being an actual kid… not to mention he completely confessed to abandoned me… and he seemed like he didn't even care… was he always a scumbag and I was too blinded by the good memories to actually see it? Was I nothing but just some… item?
I can't dwindle on that now... I have to get as far away from him as possible… at least until the police arrive…

I open the front door but then I'm grabbed in the hair by Dad. My glasses flew off of me and my lens cracked on the floor… I breathe heavily in genuine fear… reliving another painful incident a while back… it felt even worse here… he whispers in my ear “I’m finished being nice to you piece of shit... as long as your in MY custody… your gonna follow MY rules… and if you don’t, I’m gonna…”

I hear sirens blair and red and blue lights flash the night sky. The police arrives and sees the chaotic scene. “Dear god… Joshua Lindt, you are under arrest for Child abuse…” they grabbed Dad and putted him in handcuffs and took him to the police car. He struggled as they put him in.. The last thing I remember him saying before they drove off with him was just this: “You will never be good enough...”

Mom walked up to the front door checking if I was unharmed. She immediately pulled me into a tight hug.

“Oh my god thank goodness my little baby is alive! Are you okay? Did he hurt you anywhere? What happened?!” This was different from her usual hugs… this time it felt like more… a hug that was afraid that it was going to lose me forever…

“I-i..” I was in a loss for words about everything that happened. that all I could say was: “I uh.. Think I need to go to bed…” I walk back silently to my room still shaken from everything that have just occurred..

Radiohead – No Surprises

I close the door to my room trying to deny everything that just happened

“Maybe this was all a bad dream. When I wake up everything will be b-back to normal right?..”

I take a look at my familiar surroundings and I feel like I have shaky hand I begin to think if anything with my dad was genuine love or just another ploy to get me to stress more.. Did he actually care about me or was that another trick?.. I begin to remember everything that happened to me tonight when he called me a failure, when he walked out on me, when he tried to kill me… I realized that my whole love for that has been a lie this whole time.. He never cared about me at all..

I then begin to wonder if Anyone cares for me at all? Are they all just using me for their personal gain? Will I really be remembered as the outcast from middle school?.. I mean look at me! I'm not confident, I'm not funny, people find me irritating, I never feel like I'm living up to my potential.. I felt like it would be better if I never existed at all…

And for the rest of the night I replay those exact moments in my head.. I eventually just stopped denying that this was all a bad dream while I began to break down in tears.. I spent my entire life pretending everything was fine… actually believing in some false hope that I was actually good enough… but after tonight… I just couldn't spend another second lying to myself… because I just can't take it anymore…

I guess Dad was right about one thing.. I’ll always be a failure…

Chapter Text

NATES POV

Alright Nate, Today’s the day you ask out your awesome crush to the Spring Formal… maybe I should make it smooth and say “You know what you get when you put our names together? Date.” No that’s just dumb I’ll just wing it as I go along that’s what I do best!

Now all I gotta do is hope that Daphne finally comes to school today… she hasn’t come here ever since the day after my Basketball game. Maybe she’s sick or went on vacation. I honestly don’t know… What I do know is I miss her a lot… Without her, it feels like What it was like before I got paired up with her… a little empty inside.

Suddenly I hear footsteps and I see Daphne walking down the hallway by herself. I happily say to her:

“DAPHNE! You’re back! Where were you? Nobody has seen you in a few days.”

I could tell Daphne was nervous because she replied: “I uh.. w-went on vacation to a water park hotel!”

“Could.. you tell me how it was?..”

“I would but Um I uh.. gotta.. work on a p-personal assignment… W-We’ll talk later!” She puts her backpack in the locker and walks off quickly. That was odd… oh well. I’ll let her finish on her assignment and then we can meet up during Science!

But then when I went to science later the same thing happened...

“Hey, Daphne! I saved you a seat! I got this cool idea for this project!”

“Um… wow… t-that’s great… but unfortunately I Um… am making a separate p-project that isn’t f-for science…”

“I just gotta ask Daph. Are you okay? You’ve been distant to me ever since you got here.”

“Of course I’m fine! I’ve never been more fine in my life! Can’t talk.. gotta get to work!”

Something’s not right here… she’s been gone for a couple of days and when she finally returns she’s been distancing herself… and it's not just me… at lunch I noticed she sat by herself nervously eating lunch trying to be as happy as possible.

I didn't want to bother her because it might have made things worse so I sat with my friends instead.

“And then she just walked away without any explanation,” I say to my friends as I eat my bag of Cheez-Doodles.

“Have you tried asking her what's wrong?” Dee-Dee asks

“That's what I'm trying to do but I'm afraid I'm just gonna make things more complicated.”

“Well you seem to really care about her a lot, if anyone could cheer her up it’s you,” Teddy says

“But how? I don’t wanna say the wrong thing to her…”

“My advice is don’t overthink it, dude. You tend to do that a lot.” Francis states

“I Don’t overthink things that much! Right..?”

“Look Nate, just show her how much you really mean to her… they do say “Action speaks louder than words”. Dee-dee explains

“Well, what could I do for her to show I care?”

“It doesn't have to be perfect. Just give her the most “Nate” gift possible.”

“Okay.. I’ll try…”

And through the rest of the day, I thought over what I wanted to give to Daphne to show that I care for her a lot. And then… I figured it out! All throughout the day I work on the gift. And when I added the finishing touches it looked like a masterpiece! I put the gift in my pocket and after school I walked down the hallway to try and find Daphne. Suddenly to my surprise, I heard a Slightly Familiar voice.

“Well if it isn't the world’s biggest idiot Nate Wrong.” Oh great… it’s that Craig guy from Lunch the other day.

“That insult wasn't even clever.” I roll my eyes back at him

“What does she even see in you anyways?” He asks smugly

“Who sees what in me?”

“Don’t act way more dumb than you usually are! I’m talking about Daphne! What do you have that I don’t?”

“What are you even talking about? ”

“ I mean look at you! You’re an idiot, you have stupid hair, girls basically find you repulsive, and you’re basically the human counterpart of a hemorrhoid!”

“Coming from a guy whose hair looks like it's from a crappy Fox sitcom?” I snap back at him

“ I was way more of a better guy than you are! We totally were great together”

“Were”? Daphne used to date this jerk?

“Oh yeah? well if you were so great together then why would she not want to sit with you?”

“Well um… we broke up… But it was totally a mutual one!” he stutters smiling nervously

Yeah sure. TOTALLY Mutual.

We then notice a crowd in the hallways forming while me and Craig are in the center of all of it.

“Oh look! Looks like everyone is gonna watch me kick your ass!” he says as he begins to crack his knuckles

“I’m not fighting anyone Craig.”

“Why? because you’re scared you’ll lose?”

“Back off Craig! !”

“You Back off! She doesn't even like you! The only reason she keeps you around is because you two are lab partners!”

“That's not true! !” I angrily say to him as he begins to push me

“What's wrong Idiot? Not coming up with any witty comebacks anymore?”

“LEAVE ME ALONE!” I shout as he pushes me even harder…

DAPHNE’S POV

I walk through the hallway still a little bit Um… “Shaken Up” From what happened a few days ago… I’ve been distancing myself from everyone all day… I really want to let it all out to someone who cares enough… but lately I’ve been thinking if anyone does even care. And even if i did tell someone all about what happened, it would Lead to me being vulnerable… I... I just can't do it… it’ll break me… and for that, I think pushing everyone away would be easier than actually telling them… Suddenly I see a bunch of people clamoring and yelling.

I push through the crowd to see what’s going on and then I finally made it through the clusters of kids yelling and gasp in shock to see Craig pushing Nate on the ground! I rush in to try and stop the chaos!

“Craig! What are you doing?!”

“Taking care of this loser what does it look like?”

“Get away from him!” I say as I help Nate up from the ground

“I did all of this for you! I want you back!” Craig pleads

“I-I’m sorry Craig… it just didn’t work out…”

“Why be with some dork like him when you could be with someone more cooler and more popular like me?! Come on, we’re getting out Of this hot mess!” He says as he drags me by the arm. I then slap his arm and he suddenly lets go

“Ow! What was that for?!” Craig shouts as he rubs his arm in pain…

“No Craig… just… just no…” I struggle to get my words out in front of Craig and everyone else

“Why?! Why won’t you take me back?! Look at me!! I’m hot, I’m funny, I’m way more popular than these butt for brains! What other reason could there possibly be?!” He snaps at me as I struggle to find the words I’m searching for…

“It’s just… b-because…” I stutter sounding like a broken vinyl record

“Well I’m waiting !” Craig angrily says and as the crowd starts to yell louder and the scene gets more intense I start to get anxious and breathe heavily. All the stress and the yelling eventually gets to me and at that point, I was getting too overwhelmed. I finally angrily shout:

“BECAUSE I JUST CAN’T DO THIS ANYMORE CRAIG!!!” I scream at the top of my lungs while tears began to form “When we got together I thought it would give me a chance to actually be with someone who actually cares about me! But you’re just like everyone else! You never thought I was worth anything. All this time, I had to pretend to be what you wanted me to be. Well not anymore! Just grow up and face the facts! We’re never getting back with each other…”

I then notice Gina running towards me and she says “Daph! Please calm down… I hate to see you like this…” at that moment I letted my emotions completely go out of control. I wanted to take back what I said to her next but by the time I was about to it was too late…

“Oh what do YOU care?! All my years of hanging out with you you’ve never cared about my well-being! You just care about you’re grades and all of you’re rivalries! Every time I’m with you I feel like I'm stuck in you’re shadow… all I ever feel like is a burden to you..”

Gina stutters and says “T-That's not true Daph… I'm your friend…”

I could tell the next thing I said was the part that hurt me the most… “*Sniff* “friend” Yeah right… sometimes I think if we were ever really friends to begin with…” Gina gasps as the crowd goes silent… what kind of failure was I to let out my emotions like that in front of everyone? What kind of joke was I? I run off away from the crowd without looking back with tears in my eyes…

NATE’S POV

I notice Daphne running off as the crowd begins to walk off I just stood there in disbelief and so does Craig as he says.

“Well done dork. You pushed her away… I was right about you… you are nothing but trouble.”

He walks away as those words stick with me. I then notice Gina Saying to herself “D-did she really mean all of that? Surely s-she didn’t… if she really did mean all of those words… then I think I just lost my only friend…”

I couldn’t bring myself to actually admit it out loud but to tell you the truth… I actually felt “sorry” for her. Who would have thought? Feeling remorse for my sworn enemy… I walk up to Gina and say “I’ll go talk to her Gina…” She then unexpectedly hugs me and says
“Good luck Nate.” The first time she’s actually called me by my actual name. She lets go and I head off searching for Daphne.

And I know exactly where she’s headed. To be honest I can’t blame her for lashing out... She's facing the same problem I faced… For my whole life, I felt like the world was against me. Like I can never seem to get a win. Sure, I have my lucky moments but sometimes I think those were coincidental. Like little screw-ups the universe made those days… I felt like no one besides my friends cared about me… that was until I met her. Ever since we got partnered up I’ve felt things I haven’t before. I thought to myself what kinda dweeb would feel these things when he falls in love.

But day after day of thinking these thoughts and feeling these feelings I’ve never had before... (I study for science. WILLFULLY STUDY! sorry I keep bringing that up but it’s unbelievable for me. You can thank her for that!) having these feelings about her makes me feel like I could be a better person ya know? Who cares if that sounds sappy? It's the truth… if a guy really likes a girl, he should be able to say what he truly feels don't you think? I think so… I’m really happy Daphne came into my life… and if there’s anything I could do to show her I care… wait… the gift!

I arrive at the library I take a really deep breath as I go and prepare myself to comfort and well… ask her the big ol question.

DAPHNE’S POV

I cry silently on one of the beanbags of the library… why did I have to say those things out loud to everyone… they probaly think I’m a nothing but a failure… I feel horrible about myself about being too vulnerable in front of the entire school… and the worst part is that my closest friend probably hates me… I was right about everything I thought about that night… it would be better if I never existed…

I then hear someone walking in. It was Nate. I don't know why he would come for me. It's not like I'm worth it… but I especially didn't wanna look vulnerable to him. So I try my best to look as normal as possible for him.

“Oh h-hey! Nate! how’s it been?”

“Daphne. I’ve been meaning to ask you this all day. Are you okay?” He says as he gets a beanbag out and sits next to me

“I thought we went over this Nate! Everything is going p-peachy keen…” I say nervously smiling and chuckling

“Daph. I could tell something is wrong… you’ve been pushing away from everyone all day…”

“Well Um.. it’s just.. uh.. I don’t know what you’re talking about…”

“Daph, you’ve helped me so much over these past few weeks… now it’s my turn to help you…”

My nervous smile turns into a sad frown as I say to Nate: “Why? I’m not worth it…”

Nate moves close to me and says “Daphne. You mean a lot to me… you’ve helped me become a better person and to be less of a well, egomaniac... You’ve done so much for me… let me do the exact same for you…”

Once again I could feel tears forming in my eyes. I remember everything I’ve been through these past few years… including the recent memories… I then felt my hands shaking and the next thing you know, I broke down in tears while Nate began to hug me tightly…

“It’s okay Daph… I’m here…” Nate says calmly as he continue hugging me…

“F-for all my life I felt like I had to pretend that everything was fine… but recently I’ve felt like I just can’t keep up this shtick anymore… I-I feel like a burden to e-everyone around me… *sniff* and sometimes i... I wonder why anybody even bothers being around me at all…” I sob feeling emotional but… kinda relieved after all this time… I could actually vent to someone… and feel vulnerable without being seen as someone who was weak after all…

“You know… I used to feel the same way…” Nate sadly said

“I always get made fun of, I’m not that good at any sports, and sometimes i think one day my friends will just abandon me… I used being macho and look like this rebellious jerk as a deflection to what I actually feel on the inside… alone. That is until I met you…” he says as he smiled warmly at me

The Cure – Trust

I wiped the tears away from my eyes as I couldn’t believe what I was hearing… “w-what?”

“ Being with you makes me feel like I could be myself around you. and I could talk about my unhealthy obsession with comic books without being judged for being “weird” or “a total comic geek.” You helped me discover things about myself that I had no clue existed until a few weeks ago… And… as time went by I… realized something…”

“W-what was it?” I ask curiously

I see him pull a piece of paper out of his pocket. He gave the paper to me and I then noticed it was another picture by him… it looked like he drew me being carried by a muscular superhero version of him… up in the sky with fireworks surrounding us… and a little note that said on the bottom “I’ll always come to your rescue.” And it was so sweet. I felt like I could cry all over again…

“I… like you… Daph…”

“A-as a friend?”

“N-no… as in… like-like you…”

“R-really?” I say as I begin to blush with my eyes sparkling

“Y-yeah… you’re really cool I love spending time with you. you’re also really funny and really smart… and I also think you’re pretty cute… I was really worried you would say no because I thought to myself “What are the chances that the coolest girl in the world would go out with some pinhead like me?…” Nate says as he begins to blush

I could practically feel my face turning red at that moment. I took a deep breath and said: “Well… you won’t have to worry about that anymore because… I like-like you too…”

“Y-You do?…”

“All those things you see in me… I see in you as well… plus I think you have this certain roguish charm that I’ve grown to appreciate…”

“Yes! I knew I had it in me!” He happily gloats while I giggle in amusement

“So um… does this mean we’re officially “going out?” I ask

“I guess so…” Nate says as he begins to nervously asks “so um… maybe we could have our first date during the spring formal tomorrow… I mean it's perfectly fine if you don't go it's just I've been meaning to ask you for a few days now but it's okay with me if-” Look at him trying to ask me… He’s just the most adorable guy ever…

I then say to him excitedly “Yeah sure!”

“Wait Really? C-cool! Get ready to be blown away with my dance moves!” he says excitedly

“Okay! It's a date!” I give him a peck on the cheek and at that moment there was a lot of red on his face.

“S-so should we walk home together…?”

“Y-Yeah… I'd like that…”

We both stand up from the beanbags and we both nervously reach out our hands until they grab each other… we then begin to leave the library and as I lean my head on Nate’s shoulder we both blush at each other and we both sigh happily… i’ve never thought I could experience happiness with someone as weird as me but here we are… I finally have someone I can truly be myself with… someone I can vent with… someone I can actually be happy with… I couldn't be any more lucky to call Nate my boyfriend…

For the first time in my life, I actually feel true happiness…

Chapter Text

DAPHNES POV

I take a good look in the mirror to make sure I look good with my Spring Formal dress on… I wouldn’t expect any of this to happen 2 weeks ago… but here we are… life is strange like that… I’m not gonna lie, I felt a little bit nervous going to my first dance… but after some thinking, I realized maybe some other people out there WOULD like me for me… I just have to give myself a push to meet them.

And I’ll be spending it with the guy I care about the most… I think being partnered up with Nate was the best thing to ever happen to me…

This dress looks almost perfect… there’s only one thing that could make this better. I take off my hair ring and let down my hair… I feel like one of those girls going to prom in one of my favorite romance novels! Suddenly I hear the door knocking. It must be Nate!

I can’t wait to see what he thinks about my dress! I hope he really likes it…

NATE’S POV

I knock on the door while slightly bouncing my leg (I usually do that whenever I'm excited.) anticipating for it to open. It finally does and I'm greeted by an adult with a purple shirt and red hair.

“You must be Daphne’s mom!”

“That's right! And you must be that Nate guy!”

“The one and only!”

“Daphne’s told me so much about you!”

“Did she tell you about my irresistible charms?” I say smugly while I rub my hair back

“I haven’t written all of them down.” She says rolling her eyes

“I’m here to pick her up for the Spring formal! Is she ready to go?”

“Sweetie! That Nate kid is here!”

“Coming Mom!” I hear Daphne say as I see her walk down the stairs.

You Are The Cutest - The Babyshakers

I see her in her spring formal dress and it looks beautiful… I then noticed that her hair was down and had a little flower on her gorgeous wavy hair… and it’s probably the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen… she shyly walked up to me and blushed as she says

“So… how do do I look?”

I struggle to describe how pretty and cute she looks so as you can imagine I did a lot of stuttering as I feel sparkles in my eyes and hearts floating over my head.

“Wow… Um… you look uh.. well it’s just that you look really Um w-wow what I’m trying to say is well..”

“You look really good as well” she says as she gives me a peck on the cheek and I felt like i could have died in happiness right there.

“Have fun at the Spring Formal you two!” Daphnes mom cheerfully waves goodbye to us

“We Will!” Daphne says back

”And don't worry Daphne's Mom!” I exclaim “She's safe with the definition of hunkiness!” I strike a cool pose you'd see on those 90s action movie posters.

“You are a VERY unusual man…” Daphne’s mom states judgingly. (no doubt being jealous of my unbeatable acclaimable presence. Is acclaimable even a word? Might have to look it up later.)

We begin to walk to the Spring Dance while we hold each other’s hands. As we walk we do our usual chit chat about our favorite characters from books, give each other the occasional compliments and we even came up with Cute Pet Names for each other. (I came up with bookworm and she calls me Doodlebug! Not to sound like a cheesy doofus but it’s just an adorable nickname!) and overall we just have a fun time in each other’s company!

DAPHNE’S POV

Me and Nate arrive at the School gym for the dance. Before we went in, For some reason, I start to feel nervous again, probably because this is my first time going to a school dance and interacting with a bunch of kids who some of them don’t even go to P.S. 38. I’ve been getting better with opening up with my feelings but deep down I still feel like a haunted house. I may look good on the outside but the more I let people in, the sooner they’ll see what I'm actually like… I nervously begin to breathe heavily Nate notices me and worryingly says

“You okay Daphne?”

“Yeah I am… it’s just uh… I’m… pretty nervous and afraid people will judge us…” I begin to mutter (I tend to do that when I get nervous it’s basically all I’d ever do before I met Nate) but then Nate gives me an comforting smile and says “it’s okay Daph… you’ve got nothing to worry about. Just be you’re fun, wild, adorable self!” He says as he boops me on the nose, I try to hide a “totally head over heels” squeal and say

“Okay… I’ll try.”

We both walk hand in hand into the school dance and the scene was packed. Everyone from school was there. For example, There was those Teddy and Francis guys Gina also complains about in a competition to see who could drink the most soda’s during the whole night,
There’s also a band of kids challenging the Jefferson kids “West Side Story” style, and then I notice an unfamiliar girl. She goes to our school and yet I haven’t seen her before.

This is it Daphne. You’re chance to socialize who could be a potential friend. You’ve read the guide book of how to meet new friends just for this and now it’s gonna pay off!

The very first thing I say to her could set in stone what she thinks about me. I bravely step up, take a breath and say:

“Um… hi!”

I’m not that good of a conversation starter…

“Hallo! Is you here in the dance all alone?” She says as her voice clearly shows her foreign accent

“Well Um… actually I’m here with my b-boyfriend…” I say blushing as I mention Nate while twiddling my fingers

“No way! I also here with someone also as well!”

“Really? Who?”

“Hey Anne! Im gonna go make curse words with the Cupcake letters. wanna come with?” I turn my head and notice it was none other than Randy Bentacourt.

“Randy? Really?”

“You got a problem with that nerd?”

“No no! It’s perfectly fine! Im just Um… Surprised! To say the least.”

“Why so surprised? Who wouldn’t want these guns.” He gloats as he flexes.

Unamused, I turn to Anne and say “this is really the guy you picked?” Look, I know Nate can have the case of Ego-itis, but Randy’s is a whole other level.

Anne then gasps and says “Hey waits a minute… aren’t you friend of girl Randy get angry about?”

I instantly realize she’s talking about Gina. my stomach starts to drop. I haven’t gotten the chance to apologize to her since I lashed out at her during the argument yesterday. I couldn’t control my emotions and said that me and her were never friends in the first place… (okay I didn’t say it that way but It felt like I might as well have…) I feel like the crummiest person in the northern hemisphere…

“Well Um, I am… it’s just Uh…”

“Because she over there slouching on drinking table looking sad.”

“Oh Um.. thanks!”

“We don’t need to be here! Come on Anne! Let’s go write those swears!”

As they walk away I walk myself over to Gina to apologize for what I said the other day. But as soon as I was about to say something I sighed and turned back around before Gina noticed me. I can’t face her after everything that’s happened… she must totally hate me…

“What’s wrong Daph?” Nate says as he sees me on the brink of tears

“It’s Um... I-it’s Gina… I..” Nate immediately knows what I meant and said “ I know… and it’s not your-”

“Yes, it is… I was the one who said those things to her… we’ve been friends for years and I’m afraid I squandered all of that up. And I just want this wave of guilt to leave me…”

“Honestly… I can relate to your problem…” My eyes widen as I hear the phrase “W-What do you mean?”

“One time me and my best bud Francis got into a big fight. And… I screwed up. I said something really hurtful and it drove him away... and the worst part was I couldn't take it back… I felt like a mega jerk that day. But eventually, I had the courage to talk it out and apologize to him.”

I sigh and say “I really want to apologize to her… I'm just afraid she hates me now… I feel pressured and stressed to do all this and I feel like I'm breaking down internally just thinking about it.”

Nate puts my hand on my shoulder and says to me “Why don't we go on the dance floor and have some fun. This is supposed to be your night. and no way in hell am I gonna let my girlfriend be sad at the spring dance!”

“That’d… that’d be nice…”

And so we go to the dance floor and dance to some songs and I’ll admit, it’s probably the most fun I’ve ever had in my years of existing! I never knew that dancing could be so invigorating. And doing it with Nate made it even more wonderful! (He tried to do a breakdance but it was so cringy I just can’t help but love it! It’s so him!) I also had the chance to meet some new people as well! And they seemed to really like my personality! I even showed them my cheez doodle trick I showed Nate a a few days back and they loved it just as much as Nate did! I feel like This night is perfect. It almost makes me forget about everything that’s happened these past few days! (Almost…)

NATE’S POV

What are my experiences during school dances like the spring one? I won’t lie to you, they totally suck. The reason I hate them so much is because they’re all a reminder of how “everyone else can find love and have someone except Nate. HE doesn’t get to have anybody because the universe hates him.”

So it’s no surprise when I say this is the happiest I’ve ever been at a school dance. Not only have I found someone who actually enjoys my dancing, (I’ve been doing my signature breakdance since 2nd grade and everyone seemed to call it the Pearl Harbor of breakdancing.) but it also feels like God finally threw me a bone for once. (If we’re pals now God, I’m praying that Mrs Godfrey gets fired next year. Just a little favor between buds?)

“BRB Daph! I’m gonna go get us some soda!” I say as I walk to the drink stand.

As I arrive I hear a familiar and angry voice that said “Hey Ass face.” I turned around and saw it was Daphne’s ex-boyfriend, Craig. UGGH!!! That guy again?! Why can’t he just leave me alone?

“Oh hey, Craig! Didn’t get rid of the chainsaw haircut I see!” I joke at him

“We never seemed to finish out little Disagreement from yesterday…” he says as he cracks his knuckles

“Buzz off Craig. We’ve been over this. I’m not in the mood to fight you..” I say as I try to walk away

But Craig grabs me by my prom tie and says “Don’t you try to weasel out of this like you did yesterday your face would have needed plastic surgery sooner if your little “Girlfriend didn’t step in causing a soap opera scene.”

And that started to piss me off and I angrily snap “Leave Daphne out of this!”

Just then a crowd starts forming around me and Craig. and compared to yesterday, it was like an NBA basketball game. (there are more people here to see me get my butt handed to me by a 7th grader.)

“Last chance pimple nose. Either you stay away from Daphne, or I kick your ass.”

“Spoken like a true Disney channel bully. Just add a locker shoving and you get a free coupon for a sandwich!” I nervously comeback

He grabs my prom tie and raises his fist ready to punch me. and right before I was prepared to meet Charles Schulz or whatever heaven I’m going to, Daphne runs over to the scene right before it happens and Craig Let’s go.

“Craig! What are you doing?! That's my boyfriend!”

Everybody gasps at the news. I hear random people clamor as I hear comments about it such as “Really ? Him?” and “She could have done so much better.” see why I don’t enjoy going to school dances?

The crowd goes silent after a while and suddenly we all heard some claps coming from Craig as he begins to chuckle

“You know… I’m actually surprised.” Craig finally says

“Surprised? For what?” Daphne Asks

“That someone has standards that are LOW enough for them to be dating the biggest loser at school. And after seeing everything tonight, you two losers deserve each other. I don’t need you. Honestly a tv would have been a better Girlfriend than you. At least it’s less of a book nerd and isn’t scared of everything all of the time.”

The longer he continued insulting Daph the angrier I felt. I ball my fist up in rage just about a step away from kicking his ass. You can talk crappy of me all you want. I’m USED to it at this point. but cold day in hell before I let ANYONE hurt my friends!

I then notice he fills up a cup of cola and says “consider this a parting gift from me.” As he purposely spills it on Daphnes dress. He then laughs like he saw a bird get electrocuted on a wire. I see Daphne looking sad as she looks at her wetted dress. And the last thing I remember immediately after the moment that happened I did nothing but give Craig a death stare and said:

“FUCK. YOU!!!” I immediately tackle Craig as me and him go at it in which I feel like was a big fight cloud. Everything was happening so fast and I didn’t really remember what everyone was saying (all I heard was Randy Cheering on the chaos.) All I cared about was hurting Craig the same way he hurt Daphne.

Pretty soon Principal Nicholas showed up and as you could imagine he was pretty (What’s the word?) Shouty. “WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON HERE?!” He yells as I could tell he was about to leave for night. Remember the thing I said earlier about God throwing me a bone? Well, I’m pretty sure he heard that and decided to double down on being a douche.

DAPHNE’S POV

I wait outside the school building as I see Nate walk out with a saddened look on his face. “Nate! Are you okay? Did Craig hurt you anywhere major?”

Nate dusts the dirt from his ruined suit with his hands “Yeah I’m okay Daph. I got detention for a month. No biggie. The bigger question is are you?”

“I am… the biggest question is why would you do all this? You could have easily ignored Craig and let him have his way.”

“Well… I saw him pour that soda on your dress… and I saw you sad about it and like I said I wasn’t gonna let you be sad on what’s supposed to be a fun night… and seeing someone make you feel sad on purpose just made me… kinda lose it… I’m sorry I ruined your special night Daph…”

“Are you crazy? I had a good time. I met some new friends, got to show them my interests and the best part is I got to spend it with the boy I care about the most..”

“Yeah, but I felt like I ruined the most important part of tonight before it happened…”

“What important part?”

Nate then starts to get nervous while he blushes and says “Well Um… you know at prom… near the end of the night…when couples… dance…slowly…to like a romantic song?”

I instantly understand what he’s talking about and I chuckle as I give him my signature affectionate eye roll. “You wanna Slow Dance with me don’t you? is that why you’ve been a blushing mess when you saw the couples dancing all night? ”

He nervously nods while his face begins to be covered with red “It’s just well… I uh… n-never slow danced with anybody before… and it's perfectly fine I-if you don't wanna it's just, I kinda was planning on asking ya before the fight happened again I'm really really sorry for that… and it's just that I really…” While he was talking, I got my phone out of my pocket and started playing a romantic song.

Reality - Richard Sanderson

I grab Nate’s hands softly as I begin to blush as hard as a stop sign as I say “M-may I have this dance?”

Nate silently nods while blushing as we begin moving slowly but gently to the song… we both felt nervous dancing at first because I can tell neither of us had done this before but eventually, everything clicked. We both felt comfortable dancing while holding each other’s hand. I dont really know how to describe it all but it all felt... Right.

Eventually, I placed both my hands on Nate’s shoulders and as we continue dancing, I gazed at his beautiful green eyes… it felt like I was getting lost in a beautiful story and to be honest, I don't think I want to be found.

And I think he felt the same about my Sapphire eyes because his face was nothing but red when he said “y-your eyes… they look… r-really pretty… was that cheesy?… because I didn't wanna sound lame in front of you…”

I chuckle and say “it wasn't cheesy at All… I um… feel the same about your eyes as well…”

“Can I Be real with you Daph? I was really nervous about tonight going smoothy… I felt like the coolest girl deserved the greatest time of her life…”

“Oh…Well… um… I'm not that cool and confident like the other kids… I'm kind of a weird girl…”

“And that's exactly what makes you cool Daph. You’re not afraid to speak your mind around me… And you care so much about me even though there’s a good chance I’m whats keeping detention going. problem is um… I’m kinda not that big of an expert of being… the coolest guy around you… I freeze up like an ice cube.”

I continue to look at him affectionately “Aww Doodlebug, you don’t have to try so hard to impress me… just hanging out with you and expressing myself around you always makes my day…”

I begin to lean closer to Nate as I finish my sentence… “And I wouldn't change anything about this moment…” and at that moment, I felt like every single one of my problems just melted away. and as we continued to dance, it felt like Nate was my entire world in those short yet perfect moments…

I then finally decided for once in my life to be brave as I fully leaned in….

…and gave Nate a soft and warm kiss on the lips… and it felt magical…

That was my first actual kiss… and it felt like the perfect type of first kiss as well… the type that belongs in a romance novel…

As the song ended, Our lips broke away from the kiss as we were both surprised and were both blushing messes of what just happened

I struggle to form a sentence to Nate.“W-wow… t-that was uh… that felt um… really nice… I-im really sorry.. it's just um.. I’ve been thinking of k-kissing you for a while now… and um it’s t-totally fine if you d-don’t-”

He stops my stuttering by giving me a kiss on the forehead. He then says “Don’t worry… i liked it too…”

I then hear a familiar voice yelling “DAPHNE! Thank god you’re okay!!”

It was Gina running towards me. I noticed she began to form tears in her eyes. I have no idea what to say to her after everything that’s happened between us. Nate puts his hand on my shoulder and and smiles supportively and says “You can do this Daph.”

I walk towards Gina while breathing anxiously… after a while of silence I finally begin to muster up words

“I uh… I’m-“

“I’M SORRY!!” She bursts out while she hugs me surprisingly “you were right about everything.. I’ve been a horrible friend to you… I was so focused on everything else that I forgot about the one person I truly care about in this god forsaken excuse of a world… “

I start to tear up as well… “I t-thought all this time you’d see me as a burden… I was a-afraid… that you would go on and do all these extraordinary things in the future like cure cancer or be the first girl on mars or find out The compatibility of the arithmetical axioms.... and i would only be remembered as some shy and anxious nerd you used to hang out with…”

“You were NEVER a Burden… so what do you say… can we be BSFF’s again…?”

I tearfully hug Gina back and just say “BSFF’s forever…”

As me and Gina hug, Gina Notices Nate giving a thumbs up to me Gina sighs and walks over to Nate and says

“So… you and her are a thing huh?”

“Yep… surprise!…” Nate nervously jokes

Gina sighs and hesitantly explains “Look… when I first met you… I thought you were the dumbest most annoying most idiotic person alive… and what you did back there might be one of the most dumbest things you’ve ever done… but judging the context of it and everything that’s happened over these past couple of weeks… I can tell that you make her happy… and that you care about her a lot..
You may be a doofus on the outside but on the inside… I can tell you want nothing but the best for yourself and her… So… i hereby give you my blessing to be with her….”

“YES!! Thank you thank you thank you!! You won’t regret it!”

“I probably will.” Gina says as her and Nate shake hands “I’ll uh… let you guys enjoy the rest of your date…”

“Actually we’re just about done! Nate was just about to walk me home. Talk to your tomorrow Gina!” I say as I me and Nate begin to hold hands as we walk back to my house… this night felt really magical… I met new friends, had a really good time, (and not that I’ll mention it to Nate but something about someone finally stand up to Craig was therapeutic!) and when we danced it felt like a dream…

It really was the best Date I’ve ever had…

GINA’S POV

I begin to form a smile as I see both of them walking home together. You know what? Maybe that Pinhead isn’t so bad after all…

EPILOUGE - DAPHNES POV

On Monday as the final school bell rang while I was walking to my locker, I noticed a piece of paper that was tape that said “I left you a little surprise on the back. - Your cool boyfriend, Nate <3” I turned the paper around as I found that he left a little romantic poem. And I’ll tell you, it was the sweeter than the picture he drew for me the other day… and it said this:

"There was a girl I hadn't met.
I hadn't fallen for her yet.
But as I grew to know her well,
The truth my heart began to tell.
"A poem I will write", I thought,
But all my efforts came to naught.
Fo though I've tried so many times,
Her name won't fit into my rhymes.
She doesn't rhyme with moonlit nights.
She doesn't rhyme with soaring heights.
She doesn't rhyme with sand or sea...
But that's okay.
She rhymes with me."

Culture Abuse – So Busted

I felt my hands shaking as I finished reading the Poem. And I felt tears forming… and they weren't sad ones either… they were actually awestruck and joyful tears… I held the poem closely as I had a giddy smile on my face… and just like the basketball game, I felt like I had hearts floating around me… I never thought I could feel all of these emotions rushing through my head all at once and actually enjoy it… it feels natural and warm… I feel like I could have died of happiness right then and there…

Who would have thought my boring and predictable life would be turned upside down and made better by a stimming, spikey-haired, doodlebug like him… he’s made me the happiest I've ever been in a long time…

And when it comes to him, I wouldn't have it any other way…