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Chapter Text

With shaking hands, Daisy-Mae Denton walked into the Clear Creek High School Public Library.

What was usually a quaint, quiet space to read or sketch over her summer break was filled with the hustle and bustle of other students now that their first day had ended. The crisp smell of comfort and old paper swallowed entirely by the pungent scent of bodies, bodies, and more bodies.

Plenty of her fellow classmates had flooded the space, taking up the sage green couches she loved to curl up on as friend groups caught up, sitting on the floor between the endless rows of shelving while she tried to weave through to the non-fiction section, picking things up from their assigned spots and setting them down elsewhere just as she turned the corner down another row of books.

The history assignment she clutched should have been the main source of her anxiety, because a multi-page essay handed out on the first day was never a good sign, but in reality, that was the one thing keeping her together as she passed the others her age, keeping her eyes trained on her brown penny loafers for as long as it took to reach the 970s.

If 900 is History and Geography… And 970 is North American History… That makes United States History-

“Maisie! Duck!”

Just as her fingers reached out to trace the 973 call number at the spine of the first US history book, she processed the words and crouched as quickly as she could. A football spiraled right through the area where her head used to be in a perfect arc from one side of the long, four-tiered shelf to the other. Her heart began to painfully pound as the junior who threw it rushed past her, clad in his blue and silver varsity jacket.

Rory Jenkins. They’d been in the same classes together since elementary school.

Shoulders brushing in the narrow space when Daisy straightened herself upright once more, Rory hurried over to his receiver, who was laughing, “Nice one!”

Cheeks heating, Daisy gripped the paper in her hands tighter, hardly able to register what he’d said with all of the blood rushing to her ears.

He’s laughing at you.

The 973s filled her vision, allowing her to confirm her memory of the Dewey Decimal System as the first title about US history popped up. A book about World War Two; Way too late in the timeline. Mrs. Gruben had barely gotten through her introduction to the course and its extensive quarterly essay project before touching briefly on the settling of the first colony at Jamestown right as the bell rang.

Eyes flicking down the line until she found a title related to colonial times, Rory’s laughter filled her ears again. Her awkward duck couldn’t have been that funny. Neither was his mash-up of her first name.

When she turned to correct him, he and his friend were already at the opposite end of the long shelving, backs turned to her as their shoulders shook. One of the librarians at the help desk held a finger to her lips, shushing them as they walked by.

Though she wasn’t able to shake her feelings of unease, grabbing the first book that looked helpful did get Daisy back on track. She was here to get a jumpstart on her work after all.

Please use three primary sources, five secondary sources, and this YouTube documentary to construct your thesis, the student read from the sheet in her hand. Having the freedom to choose what documents and books to use was reassuring, she had no problem scouring the shelves for whatever she needed, and the original Jamestown site was only about an hour's drive away from her hometown of Chester, Virginia. Gathering the necessary sources would be no problem.

It was the printed-out YouTube link that scared her the most.

Neatly placing the assignment instructions on the book's cover and tucking it between her arm and hip, Daisy kept browsing, picking out any title that caught her eye. Checking out books on a desired topic was a snap, especially with such a nice, full library on Clear Creek’s campus; Her almost perfect memory of the building’s layout from a lifetime of visits with her Nana made it even easier.

Holding all the information she could between the lines of the texts as she stacked them up was reassuring. Everything she should need was filled into the bent, yellowing pages, perfectly spelled out for her and her needs. Far better than some silly online documentary she’d have to keep pausing and rewinding over and over again as she wrote down the facts she’d need in her notebook.

By the time she’d found an empty table and set her impressive stack down, most of the other students had trickled out. Silently, she thanked God she didn’t have to ask someone if she could take the seat next to them, that was always so embarrassing. Her watch read 3:30. Had she really been lost among the shelves for half an hour? Nana would be proud.

Besides, she wouldn’t be expected to be home until her Grandad returned from his art studio around 5… If she were there any sooner her older brother, Jay-Jay, would certainly pester her to help him whip up whatever recipe suited his wild whims. Cooking was his thing, certainly not hers, though she was always happy to partake in his impressive dishes.

So, for the time being, she grabbed her spiraled history notebook from the beige messenger bag leaning on the leg of the plastic chair she sat in, and opened the cover to the first book, Jamestown: A Legacy, and dove back in time.

At least, she tried to, but the keyboard of the computer in front of her was annoyingly large. When she allowed the book to fall completely open, the cover hit one of the keys and the bright blue screen flicked on, reflecting off the lens of her bronze-lined glasses.

Daisy wasn’t a technophobe, as her best friend Makana Aukai liked to call her, but she wasn’t all that fond of the way the computers had overtaken her beloved library over the years. Less space for her note-taking, and more space for a blindingly bright monitor in her face while she was trying to learn. The greatest civilizations in history had gotten along just fine without the internet, all the way from Mesopotamia to Ancient Egypt to the modern United States, so why couldn’t she?

Besides, it seemed like the models changed every year. No one had the time to keep learning how to use these new devices for information when the encyclopedia and reference books worked perfectly fine. Or they did when given the proper space to use them.

Her eyes flicked back to the assignment sheet. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to check out the documentary early now that the computer was awake. It’s not like she had a computer of her own to watch it on at home.

Slowly taking her index fingers to the keys, she typed out her student ID into the first box labeled username. White polish on her nails stood out starkly against the black of the keys.

Password was the stumper. Having set this account up two years ago at the beginning of her freshman year, she had no clue what she’d chosen to protect her account.

She typed out password, as that seemed the most logical choice. It’d be impossible to forget the word if it was right there on the screen. The box wiggled after she pressed the enter key.

A small pop-up filled her vision asking What street did you live on growing up?

Letter by letter she squeezed out Hilltop Avenue.

An image of the large white colonial her grandparents owned filled her vision, picturing the expansive green lawn and gorgeous forest surrounding it. The street Jay-Jay taught her to ride a bike on, the large open spaces they’d build leaf piles in when fall came.

Once that answer was accepted, another question appeared. What was the name of your first pet?

That was an easy one, Poppy.

Daisy’s aging calico was her first and only pet, given to her by her grandparents on her tenth birthday. Originally, Poppy had been a way for Daisy to learn about the responsibility of learning to care for another living being, but the other members of her family were just as obsessed with the cat as she was. Poppy’s toys littered their carpet, her food taking up a whole shelf in the fridge, and her fur clung to their clothing as tightly as their little cuddle bug did when everyone gathered in the study in the evenings to read together.

Also accepted, she was then prompted to change her password, once and for all picking password before she was brought to the desktop - An image of the front of her high school during the wintertime, snow blanketing the gorgeous brick buildings. Now, she had to get to YouTube, which she believed was easier said than done.

None of the icons on the left side of the screen looked like the company logo on the videos she’d seen Makana pull up. Awesome.

Internet Explorer looked promising, so she maneuvered the mouse in that direction and clicked on the blue and yellow icon, waiting to see what would happen. A small outline appeared around the picture, but beyond that, nothing, so she clicked it again. Once more, nothing.

So stupid, she thought to herself clicking on it over and over until something changed. Piece of junk!

A few moments later a larger box appeared in the middle of the screen, the pointer of the mouse icon turning into a spinning wheel for a few seconds before the Google search bar appeared on a white background. Now, this Daisy knew how to do. Whatever she put in the smaller bar under the logo would pull up just what she was looking for.

YouTube, her fingers managed, enter.

This time, an unfamiliar image pulled up in the box, and this was usually where Makana shone, picking out something to show her friend to try and “cure” her “internet aversion.” So far nothing she’d picked had made Daisy want to explore the platform any further, but now that she knew it housed history documentaries too, that might pique her interest far more than the poor excuse for sketch comedy Kana always pulled up.

The search bar was a little tougher to find this time, at the top of the tab instead of in the middle, and Daisy pulled the essay instruction sheet out and began to slowly copy the link Mrs. Gruben had added in. One by one, she read the letter out on the paper and meticulously searched for it on the keyboard. Why the letters weren’t in alphabetical order was beyond her, and it probably took her five minutes to struggle out every single letter, but eventually, she was confident enough to hit enter one more time and wait for the video to pull itself up.

Nightmare In Jamestown sounded awfully intriguing, especially given the sordid actions of the settlers against the Indigenous people who had called the land home long before their boats arrived, but that title didn’t show up on her screen.

Check Yes, Juliet - Kendall K popped up instead, causing her eyes to flicker up to the bar where she’d painstakingly typed out the long link. Apparently, she’d gotten something wrong and it had taken her to the wrong video.

Just as she was about to click away and try again, the small black box changed. In its place, a blond boy who looked about her age filled the screen. Beanie and flannel-clad, he sat on his bed, presumably in his bedroom with a brown guitar laid across his lap. Carefully, he adjusted the black and silver lightning bolt strap across his shoulders and cleared his throat.

“Hey, this is Kendall…” He appeared uncomfortable speaking to the camera, eyes flickering upward from the strings like he was looking right at Daisy.

Her chest tightened.

A few more seconds passed and Kendall cleared his throat, taking the pick clasped between his fingers to the strings and strumming out a quick chord. When he smiled, sheepish, two dimples cut into his cheeks. “My friends dared me to try this out - Here goes nothing.”

The video was loud, probably far louder than it should have been playing in a library, but she had no idea how to turn it down. However, the moment he began to sing the words, fingers flying across the fretboard like it was nothing, she wanted to make it even louder.

Kendall’s voice was beyond captivating, siren-like, she’d argue, and she found herself enthralled before he even hit the chorus. It was clear, yet sultry… Smooth, with a gruff edge. Daisy had never heard anything like it.

He kept looking in different directions as he sang, changing it up when he needed to take in more air or switch his strumming pace, but near the end, he looked back at the camera again and she swore he could see her on the other side of the screen, piercing swirls of green and flecks of yellow coming through even with the poor video quality. It didn’t help that he was singing what sounded like a love song…

Cute… She caught herself thinking, propping her chin in her hand as she leaned into the screen, as if it would give her a better view of him. The wall behind him boasted a handful of posters for people she’d never seen before and a bunch of pictures that were too small to make out. A few medals were tacked up by his headboard, and what looked like a hockey stick was propped up by the wooden frame.

Daisy couldn’t look away, attempting to decipher every pixel of the video she could to learn more about this boy with the beautiful voice. Which was, as she came to realize once he sang out a final, “Forever we’ll be, you and me…” completely irrational. Kendall had made this video to show off his musical prowess, not to be studied by some stranger.

Despite this, she quickly gripped the mouse and shook it over the video until the bar at the bottom appeared and she hit the two bars sitting next to each other. Slowly, she followed along the red line indicating the watch time and grabbed the circle at the end, pulling it back to the beginning and starting the video again. Makana did that at all the funny parts of her favorite videos to see them play over and over.

“Hey, this is Kendall…”

Watching the video again felt like the first time, though this time, she closed her eyes and focused on the lyrics, trying to remember all the parts of his face. And maybe, she imagined he was singing to her for a few seconds, before feeling her cheeks heat and shaking the thought out of her head. He certainly didn’t deserve to be ogled over as much as he deserved to be picked apart based on his bedroom.

But, the sweep of his blond hair into his eyes when he looked down at the strings had her head spinning. She couldn’t help her mind from wandering just slightly.

Besides, seeing him on the screen allowed her to skip the fear of meeting someone new and potentially embarrassing or humiliating herself like she normally did. Getting thrust into social situations against her will was at the top of the list of things Daisy hated, but at least this way, she could watch the video and admire Kendall’s talent judgment-free. It was halfway social, especially if she kept pretending the song was meant for her.

Though… I bet he’s sweet when the camera’s off too…

Daisy pulled at the neck of her brown sweater. The library was never this warm. Had someone turned the thermostat by the bathroom earlier as a prank?

When the song ended, she rewound it. Then again. The stack of history books towering beside her all but forgotten.

“Ms. Denton?” Someone behind her asked, and the girl practically jumped out of her skin. She didn’t even pause the video as she turned in the chair, looking at the older woman behind her. Ms. Peabody, one of Nana's friends, who was also the head of the library, stood over her. “Would you mind putting some headphones in if you’re going to watch something?”

The heat creeping up her face from embarrassment quickly turned into the fires of shame. “O-oh. Of course. Sorry… Sorry.”

Scrambling, her hands were trembling at the unexpected interaction before they stabilized themselves on the plastic mouse. Daisy paused the video as quickly as she could.

Headphones. Why didn’t you think of that? Ms. Peabody’s going to complain to Nana next time they see each other.

“Thank you, dear,” The older woman smiled, flipping one side of her cardigan over the other before she turned to walk away. A second later, she turned back. “Is that a friend of yours?”

Eyes widening, Daisy turned from Ms. Peabody’s intense gaze, only to find her line of sight locking with Kendall’s on the screen. Now she was back to flushing with embarrassment, dropping her view to her shaking hands. “No. I just… found this. I’ll turn it off. Sorry.”

“No? What a shame. He’s very handsome.”

Daisy was about to combust in her seat, heart leaping up and down her throat like the drop dower at the Chesterfield County Fair. Brain freezing, she was unable to come up with anything to say before Ms. Peabody smiled, crow's feet by her eyes crinkling before she headed back over in the direction of the help desk.

He was handsome. So handsome Daisy couldn’t breathe. What did that say about her?

This poor stranger, she chastised herself, about to click off the video, gather her books, and head home, before she noticed a section at the bottom of the video labeled Add a comment.

It didn’t appear as though anyone else had, which was shocking to her, considering his undisputable talent. No one had anything to say about the ease at which he played the guitar or his unique tone of voice? Not even one comment about his choice of song or how cute he looked in that beanie?

No… That last one wasn’t as relevant, but the thought swirled in Daisy’s mind regardless.

What a shame, I suppose I should change that.

Lacing her fingers together, Daisy turned her palms outward, cracking them with eight satisfying pops. Swallowing thickly, she placed her index fingers on the keys and slowly began to piece her thoughts together.

Chapter Text

Kendall Knight usually found the Mountain Aire High School hockey arena a place of comfort. Coach Finnstock had given him the keys to the facility after he’d been unanimously voted captain of the team, and there was rarely a time when Kendall wasn’t spotted inside shooting across the ice on his skates.

He’d led the school hockey team to the state championships last year - youngest captain in the school’s history at age sixteen - through hard work, determination, and hours and hours of practice on the ice. It wasn’t a position just handed over to any sophomore; It was a spot he’d been vying for his entire freshman year and had rightfully earned through his impressive physical prowess and natural leadership skills.

The home of the fighting Albatross was supposed to be packed this time of day, from his teammates warming up for practice, coaches and managers noisily discussing which warm-ups to start with, classmates filling the stands to catch a glimpse of the finest athletes MAHS had to offer, but for now, it was quiet. Kendall was the only one around.

Finnstock had sent out an email earlier stating he’d gone home sick in the middle of the day, so practice was canceled for the afternoon.

The team already had a hard workout that morning, one that left his best friends practically crawling into first-period pre-calc, so Kendall supposed, for the first day of school, things could be a lot worse.

As he slowly made his way to the metal stands overlooking the playing field, the blonde shook his head to no one in particular. James, Logan, and Carlos are always trying to get out of practice.

Though he loved his three best friends, he could tell hockey was only a fun pastime for them. It wasn’t their passion, their purpose. At least, not like it was for him.

James Diamond, from the ripe age of five years old, has been shooting for the stars… Of the Hollywood Walk of Fame. There was hardly a moment where he wasn’t rattling off about some daydream he had about starring in the world's biggest and most popular movie musical alongside whoever he deemed the hottest celebrity at the time. One of the centers on the team, such a showboating position certainly fit well for him and his fantastical ego.

Logan Mitchell, resident sports statistician, and all-around know-it-all knew he wanted to be a doctor from the moment he learned the meaning of the word. His brain absorbed information like a sponge, and his friends often relied on him for help with their schoolwork. He and Kendall often worked on game strategies to determine which plays would run best against their opponents. While this was his unofficial team role, on the ice, Logan was an impressive right-winger and quite the speed demon.

Carlos Garcia, like most other teens their age, was still trying to figure out his life’s passion. Often found volunteering at local animal shelters or his church, his calling seemed to be helping just about anyone he could out of the pure kindness of his heart. He was probably one of the most loyal people the three of them knew, which translated well to his role on the team. Though he would never admit it if asked, Carlos was one of the best goalies, Kendall would gladly argue, in all of Minnesota. Maybe even in the entire Midwest.

And while Kendall loved that they had goals of their own, just like he did, it often led to distractions when it came to game time.

He couldn’t afford distractions, not if he wanted to make the Minnesota Wild starting lineup right out of college.

Air from the massive AC units cooling the space nipped at the pieces of bare skin poking out from his heavy flannel and jeans; Kendall preferred to be a bit colder than was comfortable. It reminded him of the adrenaline rush of flying down the ice, the roar of a jam-packed arena. Duluth, Minnesota often had the perfect weather for that feeling to hang around permanently, so that even if he was nowhere near the arena, simply stepping outside and taking a breath of the fresh air helped emulate those sensations.

Besides, the team had worked hard these last few weeks, getting prepared for the upcoming season and going over the drills each member would help run for freshman tryouts. Depending on when Coach was feeling better, that was supposed to happen at the end of the week.

A few fresh-faced fourteen-year-olds had already run up to Kendall and his friends in the hallway during passing period, chattering about this and that as they tried to get in with one of the team’s most popular members.

With a sigh, Kendall maneuvered his way down onto the freezing metal bench, so thoroughly chilled he felt it prickle through the rough material of his pants. Dusty Vans kicked up on the row in front of him, he surveyed the expanse of ice in front of him. A place that, for the last two years, had nearly been more important to him than his own home.

Of course, his mother, and secretly, his little sister, would kill him if they knew he thought that, but considering everything that had happened over the last few weeks, he suspected they might give him a pass just this once.

It wasn’t anyone else’s fault but his own. Not really. Everybody knew that hockey is a full-contact sport and that accidental injuries are more than common. If Kendall hadn’t stayed up so late filming that stupid YouTube video the other three had convinced him to make, he wouldn’t have been so tired at practice the next day.

James, Carlos, and Logan had caught Kendall singing “Check Yes, Juliet” in the locker room, thinking he was all alone.

Singing was more of James’ thing, he and his current musical theater kick were killing the rest of their friends, but all four of the boys had accidentally been put in choir together their freshman year. From his year of singing practice, Kendall wasn’t terrible, but he certainly didn’t think possessed the same star quality the tall, brown-haired wannabe seemed to be filled to the brim with.

So, when James asked, “Why not pick up that old guitar in your room and film a cover?” Kendall nearly laughed in his face.

He would’ve seen senior Armando King sneak up on his right side to steal the puck.

In theory, the play would have been amazing, the check, perfectly legal. King’s torso slammed into his, leaving him scrambling to keep control of the puck, and since Kendall was running on fumes, his usual lightning-sharp reflexes weren’t there to stabilize him from such an intense hit.

What had transpired after that happened so fast, if someone sat down next to him right now and asked him to explain, Kendall wouldn’t have been able to give them a straight answer. All he knew was that he was flying down the ice one moment and in the blink of an eye, he was falling face-first, screaming out in pain as his right knee twisted, popped, and gave out below him.

His vision had gone stark white, agony nearly blinding him as his padded hands reached down, attempting to clutch the area to relieve even a sliver of the feeling to no avail. Had he not fallen directly onto it, now writhing around in an attempt to relieve the pressure he felt building up in the area, the tear in his ACL might not have been so bad.

The hospital visit with his mother had been nearly worse than the initial injury itself. The nurses had pumped Kendall full of the maximum dosage of morphine a teenager of his size was allowed and slapped a bulky, black brace over his knee to hold it in place. A pair of crutches had been shoved into his hands faster than he could ask why he’d need them.

So loopy on the painkillers, he barely remembered much of the visit, other than the faint echoes of Jennifer Knight’s worried voice, pleading with the ER doctor to tell her that her son would be okay.

The black-haired woman placed a hand on her shoulder, a comforting gaze flitting back and forth between Kendall and his mother as she referred them to an orthopedic surgeon.

Her words almost send another wave of shock through Kendall’s body.

Surgeon meant surgery. Surgery meant a long healing period. A long healing period meant no hockey.

No hockey. No college scholarship. No first-round draft pick for the NHL. No contract with the Minnesota Wild.

No way out of the shithole that was Duluth, Minnesota. For him or his family. All because he let himself get sidetracked and make that ridiculous video.

How stupid he’d been to lose sight of his goal for even just one evening.

Now, it left him sitting on the sidelines, eyesight tracing the red and blue lines forged into the ice as he ran over the last few practices in his head. Coach still expected him to show up to support the other members of the team, and Kendall did because that’s the kind of guy he was. Even in the face of his world crumbling down around him, he wouldn’t let any of them see anything but the inspiring and confident captain they knew him to be.

Sitting on the sidelines felt like even more of a punishment than his injury, but there was nothing more he could do at that moment besides show up for his team - Even on days they weren’t playing. Just being in the arena was close enough to playing for now, because he knew it would be a good, long while before he would be allowed on the ice again.

Backpack under his legs, Kendall shifted to grab the blue JanSport, unzipping the large pocket that held his binders and notebooks for assignments and whatnot. From the classes he attended today, it didn’t look like this academic year would be any challenge.

When he signed up for courses last year, he’d picked all on-level classes in hopes of skating by with as many A’s as he could and using his athletics as a shoo-in for a good scholarship; Logan, though picking nearly all AP’s for himself, had advised him that that was the best plan for his desired career path. But now, as Kendall looked over all his syllabi, a little voice in the back of his head worried an all-on-level year minus his spot on the hockey team might ruin any chance he had at getting into a good sports school.

That is, of course, if his mother ever let him near a pair of ice skates ever again.

Buzz buzz

Kendall’s phone chime went off in his back pocket and his hand froze as it slid out of his flannel sleeve to retrieve it.

Incoming call: Mama K

Instantly, the boy rolled his eyes. To say she’d grown overprotective over him in the last few weeks would be the understatement of the century. He was almost happy school had started up again just so he could get out of the house and escape her incessant doting upon him and his injury.

Just thinking about it drew his attention to the dull ache in his knee he’d been trying to avoid acknowledging all day.

Pressing accept, he took a deep breath out, watching it condensate in the cold air. “Hello?”

“Hi Honey, I just saw the email from Coach about the cancellation. Did you see it before you had to trek all the way to the arena?”

“Yeah,” He lied, feeling slightly bad about it. The doctor said he wasn’t supposed to use his crutches for long distances and the MAHS arena was about as far from his sixth-period class as could be. “I’m in the library now going over some homework.”

On the other line, he could hear a bell ding a few times and someone yelled, “Order up!”

Blueberry Hill, Duluth’s most popular 50’s-themed diner, had served as her employer for nearly a decade. Just closing his eyes, Kendall could envision the pale blue dress she wore to work nearly every day and smell the delicious pancake stack he and his little sister, Katie, always ordered.

“My boss won’t let me out early to come get you. Can you wait until five for me to pick you up like we planned or can you catch a ride from someone else?”

That was another terrible thing about his injury; Kendall, despite just getting his driver's license, no longer had the freedom to drive himself to and from places anymore. Just another shitty thing to pile onto his already miserable circumstance.

Pulling the phone away from his ear, Kendall clocked the three o’clock time at the top of the screen and sighed. “I’ll wait. Thanks, Mom.”

The last thing he wanted to do was make his limitation someone else’s problem.

“No problem, baby. I’ll meet you outside the library then.” The sound of a ceramic plate shattering across the tiled floor rang out behind her. “Gotta go! Love you!”

“You too,” Her son grumbled, though he meant it with as much sincerity as he could muster. All she had done for him since the injury, and frankly, his entire life, was beyond appreciated, but his sixteen-year-old brain refused to let him communicate as such.

When he hung up the call, the picture on his lock screen, obscured by too many cracks in the glass to count, caught his eye. One, because of the shining silver cup, he and his three closest friends clutched in their gloved hands; Winning the Minnesota State High School hockey championships had earned them a faux Stanley Cup to keep in the MAHS display case. And two, the dazzling ear-to-ear grin he had on his face as he shared the victory with Carlos, James, and Logan.

Kendall couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt happy enough to smile like that. If only the boy in the photo knew what would come in just a few more months, he would have savored his time on the team as much as possible.

Hockey was something he’d taken for granted his entire life and he hated that it had taken something so drastic to get him to realize that.

Screen going black, he sighed, and now, his sad reflection was the only thing taking up his field of vision… Until his phone buzzed again, a notification from the YouTube app popping up on his screen.

One new comment - Check it out now!

A bushy brow instinctively quirked up. One new comment? I posted that video ages ago…

As much as he despised the recording now, he was trapped at school for another few hours. It was either look at the comment now and sulk about it or look at the comment later and sulk about it.

Biting the bullet now would at least let him do it in the peace of the hockey arena.

When he clicked on the pop-up on his lock screen, the app opened, and he was immediately assaulted with the sound of his voice flooding through his phone’s small speakers. “Hey, this is Kendall…”

“Shut up,” The boy muttered, cringing at how horrible the microphone quality on his mom’s old camera was as he quickly hit the mute button. How could anyone find this shit enjoyable when it sounds like it was filmed underwater?

Scrolling down to the comment section with his thumb, Kendall almost dropped his phone onto the hard metal flooring when he saw the sheer size of the essay someone had dropped below the video.

Probably some asshole with way too much time on their hands…

But, out of pure curiosity, he let himself begin to read.

Kendall K -

I accidentally stumbled across this video while looking for a history documentary. While it certainly wasn’t what I was expecting in the slightest, I wish to inform you that after multiple times rewatching this stunning work of art, I can safely say this is the best song I’ve ever heard. It was appalling to me that no one else had taken the time to send you a comment saying the same.

Based on the lyrics you’ve carefully constructed for this song, I assume that you, like I, are a fan of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. The modern twist you have given such an old tale is such a fresh perspective. It nearly holds a candle to the source material! I am intrigued by your choice to give Romeo and Juliet in your song a happy ending - One that is such a stark contrast to that of the original play. What inspired this when you were writing? I always thought their tragedy ended so tragically, so I adore that in one version of the story they “forever will be.”

Additionally, you have a beautiful singing voice. It blends very well with the guitar, which you seem to be a master of as well. Are you self-taught? If so, that only adds to my astonishment of you and your craft. If not, your talent is still impressive nonetheless.

Thank you for sharing your work with the world. I eagerly await your next masterpiece.

With appreciation,

Daisy-Mae Denton

Kendall blinked at his screen, eyes jumping back to the top of the comment before reading the entire thing again.

Was this some kind of joke?

Every single person his age with access to the radio or the internet knew the song “Check Yes, Juliet.” That knowledge, mixed with the commenter's interesting choice of words and phrasing, sent some mixed signals surging through the teen’s brain.

Someone’s grandma being the only person to comment on his video was simply embarrassing… But at the time, their words had been filled with so many compliments, that Kendall couldn’t deny the small boost it sent to his ego.

Regardless, he didn’t plan on picking up his guitar and filming another video ever again - Lest he curse himself into something worse. Like a broken neck.

Whether it was boredom or kindness that sent his fingers flying to the keyboard to reply, he didn’t know.

Thx 4 the kind words Daisy-Mae, but the song isn’t mine + you’d probably like the original even better. Pls don’t expect anything else on this channel. I’ll be a one-hit wonder.

Hitting send on that message was nice; A sweet sign-off from his channel from a heartwarming interaction with someone who may well be halfway across the globe.

And with that, Kendall locked his phone and placed it back in his pocket, zipping up his backpack with the other hand. Enough time had been spent in the arena for the day, tips of his fingers and toes starting to sting from the cold without all his gear and padding. Besides, it would take him quite some time to reach the library on his crutches, so if he started now, he’d be able to hide the journey from his mother better when she picked him up.

The sound of the rubber tips of the crutches ends on the metal stands was unpleasant, echoing in the large, empty space around him, but Kendall did his best to ignore the sound by humming the chorus of “Check Yes, Juliet.”

Damn it, now that song is stuck in my head again…

When he made it to the doors, he maneuvered through them the best he could without assistance - refusing to push the button to open them automatically - and swirled around to lock the doors when he finally made it outside.

His phone buzzed again, and thinking it was a message from one of his friends, Kendall didn’t think twice about opening the notification without paying much attention.

YouTube popped up again, displaying a new reply to his comment.

I do not believe I need to hear the original song to know I like your version better, Kendall K.

It’s disappointing to hear you are choosing not to make any more videos. You have a gift.

Please reconsider,

Daisy-Mae Denton

Chapter Text

“Ugh! Mr. Harris’ chem lab assignment next week is so stupid!”

From the moment Daisy-Mae opened the red door of Makana’s Toyota Camry and slid into the passenger seat, the complaining began. Though there had been plenty of time for her to say something about it as the two left the main doors of Clear Creek High School, Kana was too busy waving goodbye to everyone and anyone, while leading her best friend to her assigned parking spot.

“For starters, we have to wear long pants and close-toed shoes - Yuck! - and he said we’re going to have to wear these shitty plastic goggles that, like, every single student in the history of the school has ever touched. And they’re totally going to leave a mark on my face too, so I’ll be heading to English looking like some alien creature was sucking on my face…”

It was quite hard for Daisy to listen to her friend’s ailments over the blaring pop music that started up from the stereo, so she reached to turn it down, missing the last few words of Kana’s statement. Brown backpack settling at her feet, Daisy shifted her long legs to the side to try and find a bit more room while she settled her sketchbook on her lap.

In the driver’s seat, her friend spoke with so much animation, her long, wavy black hair flying this way and that, hands gesticulating wildly, tone bobbing up and down to emphasize different words… Sometimes it was exhausting listening to her speak, from Daisy’s introverted perspective, but there was no one else on Earth she’d rather spend her time with than her best friend - Especially after a long, long first week of school had finally come to a close.

As per the routine the two of them had built last semester when Kana had gotten her driver’s license and brand new car on her 16th birthday, they’d brave the long line of cars to get out of the one exit to the school parking lot together and then head down the main road to their favorite donut shop to reward themselves for surviving that week.

Kana had put the car in reverse and hit the gas pedal before Daisy could even get her seatbelt on, attempting to cut in front of a few other people to try and get a spot farther up in the line. Even though Chester was a midsize city with a healthy population, Clear Creek was the only high school on their side of town, making it one of the biggest in the county.

Clicking her seatbelt in once, then undoing it and clicking it again, Daisy tugged on the rough material to make sure it was stable before she addressed her friend’s concerns. “Bring a change of clothes?”

“Oh!” Kana brought her palms down onto the steering wheel with a bang! Brown eyes growing wide despite the sun shining directly into them, she grinned. “That’s brilliant! Why didn’t I think of that… But, I still hate Harris for trying to cramp my style!”

A very distinct style at that… Daisy thought to herself, gaze flickering from the black truck’s brake lights ahead of them to her friend.

Having moved to Chester, Virginia with her family from Kapa’a, Hawaii, a few years ago, most of her wardrobe conflicted with that of most other people they went to school with. Kana favored loose, airy clothing that made it look like she was ready to hit the beach at any given moment. Typically, minimalistic in color, sticking to earth tones, she rocked it as though it were the clothing featured on the cover of the teen magazines she was always sticking into Daisy’s backpack.

Long ago, she said the clothing reminded her of home too much to let go and blend in with the rest of her peers, even in the cold of the winter. It was then she’d make her way over to Daisy’s and borrow from her “grandma-esque” wardrobe, packed full of warm sweaters and cardigans to layer on top.

“It’s just to keep you safe,” Daisy added, picking at the faded cover of the sketchbook in her lap. “And only for one period.”

The sigh that rolled out of Kana as they finally made it to the stop light at the parking lot exit made it seem like the lab situation was the end of the world. “Maybe I’m just worried about the actual chemical mixing part - How can that be safe for a bunch of people who have never encountered ‘sucrose’ and ‘sodium bicarbonate’ or whatever.”

Daisy couldn’t contain the chuckle that passed her lips, “You mean sugar and baking soda?”

“See! This is why I wish you were in my class, Daisy! Your counselor was so wrong to put you in environmental science instead.”

Thinking back to course selection at the end of last semester, the girl shuddered as she recalled her solo meeting with her guidance counselor. It had taken a lot of courage and worrying about the conversation for a week straight for her to ask to edit the schedule he’d come up with for her junior year.

“Fighting for that course was hard.”

As the car turned, Kana took her hand from the wheel and placed it on Daisy’s shoulder. “I know, girl, and the way you connect with and understand nature is almost straight-up magical. Are you blowing all the seniors away yet?”

Simply shaking her head as she stared out the window, watching as the small town center their high school was in slowly began to fade into farmland, Daisy figured that was enough of a response.

Kana knew how hard it was for Daisy to connect with others, the intense anxiety and panic she felt when having to interact with people.

It wasn’t anything Daisy ever really shared with anyone, besides her therapist, but they’d met each other while the Southerner had been in the middle of a panic attack in Clear Creek’s second-floor bathroom.

Completely overcome by her emotions on the first day of her freshman year, she had run out of her math class when the teacher suggested Daisy start them off with an icebreaker game. It just so happened that Kana slipped out of her class at the same time, and they’d ended up in the same place.

And she stayed, sitting next to Daisy as the other girl crumpled to the floor, clutching at her chest because she could barely breathe.

“It’s alright, you’re going to make it through this, even if it’s scary,” Kana assured her, voice perfectly calm and soothing. She didn’t look at the girl directly, touch her, or do anything to heighten her anxiety, simply saying, “Let’s breathe together, okay? In… and out… In… and out…”

Though it took more than a few rounds, Kana’s technique had eventually worked, and for the first time in her life, Daisy had someone she was comfortable around who wasn’t a member of her family.

When she was finally grounded again, Daisy used the sleeves of her navy blue sweater to dry away the tears streaming down her face, throat still choking up as she asked, “...How?”

“My girlfriend’s sister has anxiety attacks, too. She says it can feel impossible to get through them alone sometimes.”

Since then, the two were nearly inseparable.

As Daisy recalled the distant memory, she hadn’t even noticed Kana pull into the parking lot of the donut place, until the car had completely stopped and she was stepping out of the vehicle. Scrambling to follow, the crisp fall air hit her face, causing her blonde curls to blow off her shoulders as she gathered her backpack and books, following behind her friend.

Donut “shop” might not have been the right word, as Hole-y Roller was just a house the owner, Mrs. Matthews, had gutted and turned into a business on the first floor and abode on the second, but it was one of Kana and Daisy’s favorite spaces in all of Chester. No matter what time of day they went, the treats were always fresh, the coffee was always hot, and the atmosphere was just bright enough for Kana and chill enough for Daisy; Everything about the place was perfect…

Except for the name. But Daisy was willing to look past the slight act of sacrilege as long as she remembered to ask for forgiveness and cleansing in her nightly prayers. She figured even God would be able to look past the name of the joint if He were able to sink his teeth into one of Mrs. Matthew’s mouth-watering creations.

Hole-y Roller had the potential to be quite busy with donuts so good they attracted a line halfway around the block in the mornings, but the afternoons, as the girls had found after much trial and error, were far less busy. Regardless, Kana looked over her shoulder on the way in - silently asking Daisy if she was comfortable.

The background chatter among patrons was moderate, there were plenty of open tables, and she didn’t see anyone they knew from school.

When the other girl nodded, Kana’s smile lit up as bright as the neon sign out front and she gently grabbed Daisy’s hand to lead them to their usual table in the corner. “What new flavor should I try today?”

Falling into one side of the squeaky blue vinyl booth, Daisy put her bag up against the wall and her book in front of her. “I saw a poster in the window for a pineapple upside-down donut.”

“Ooh, yummy! We’ll see if Mrs. M could find the best fruit in the mainland then… Do you want your usual?”

Daisy nodded, bangs falling into her eyes and over the lens of her glasses before she quickly brushed them away. “Yes, please.”

At times, she worried that Kana would think her childish for ordering in her place, but their first week of school had been so long, that Daisy’s social battery was nearly zero. There was no time to worry about such things, especially when Kana had assured her a million times she didn’t mind and when a sugar rush was on the line.

“Coming right up!” Kana beamed, hopping out of the other side of the booth and falling into line among the other customers.

In the meantime, Daisy grabbed one of her pencils out of her bag and popped her sketchbook open, so she had something to do while Kana was ordering. The last thing she needed was for someone to think she was a loser for sitting at a table all alone; Drawing in the meantime would help take her mind off of it.

Flipping to the double-page spread of the Chesterfield State Forest instantly transported Daisy to her seat in history class next to the window. She’d spent much of Mrs. Gruben’s lecture today perfecting the rough outline of the sketch and only needed to draw in a few more trees on the right side before she went in for a second layer with color.

While she’d originally thought oil pastels would fit the scene best, as she examined her drawing now, she figured watercolors might be better for blending the layers of the forest with her favorite greens, browns, and blacks; If she didn’t overload the paper with water like she had last time, the painting would come out perfectly.

The next time she visited the art studio with her grandfather, she’d get his opinion and go from there.

When am I free next? Nana and I are going to the library tomorrow, church and assisting Jay-Jay with dinner on Sunday… After school on Monday? If I can figure out the pre-calc assignment-

“Whatcha workin’ on?” Kana asked, startling Daisy so much she accidentally knocked her book off of the white granite table top. “Shit! Sorry, Daisy…”

As the girl tried to calm her now pounding heart, Kana quickly set the small red basket containing one pineapple upside-down donut and one maple bar and the cardboard tray with two piping hot coffees down on the table. In a flash, she bent down to pick up her friend’s sketchbook, before freezing halfway down, eyes narrowing as she scrutinized one of the pages the book had fallen open to.

Laid out in black and white, a boy she’d never seen before stared back at her.

“Who’s this?” She asked, gently reaching for the book as she stood back up and slid into the booth, holding the page open. “Why does he look like he belongs in some sort of boyband?”

Donut all but forgotten, Kana made a big show of holding the page right up to her face, then pulling it back and placing the drawing in the path of the sunlight pouring in through the window beside her, turning the book to the right and the left, examining the drawing from every possible angle she could before Daisy worked up the courage to pull it out of her hands.

“Nothing. No one,” She spat, feeling the back of her neck grow hot and itchy under her turtleneck.

The discovery of Kendall K’s YouTube video earlier in the week hadn’t left Daisy’s head since she’d been caught watching it in the Clear Creek library. Since she didn’t own a phone or computer of her own and she was too embarrassed to go back to the scene of the crime, she hadn’t been able to watch the video again. Despite that, “Check Yes, Juliet” had been stuck in her head for days, and she couldn’t get his face out of her mind, so she’d taken every single detail she could remember from watching the video over and over, and had drawn him as best she could.

Kana blinked, wisps of steam from her coffee swirling up the jaw she’d dropped. “No one my ass, Daisy-Mae! You’re blushing! Did you meet someone in class this week? I’ve never seen this guy before…”

Hoping it would stall the conversation for at least a few more seconds, Daisy reached for her donut and stuffed about half of it in her mouth, making a big display of chewing very, very slowly, while pushing the tray over toward her friend.

“I’m going on a hunger strike until you spill, so tell me now or you’re going to kill me! At least tell me his name so I can see if anyone we know follows him-”

“They won’t,” Daisy mumbled, though it was very hard to decipher with her cheeks stuffed full of perfectly sweet, fried dough. “At least… I don’t think he’s from here.”

Bringing her hands to her mouth, Kana let out an exasperated, muffled scream. “Then how’d you meet him?!”

“I didn’t!” Daisy fought back, finally washing everything down with a sip of her coffee. Kana had put extra cream and sugar in there, just the way her best friend liked it. “I… found him… on the internet.”

The girl across the booth let out a laugh so boisterous, that it turned the heads of people around them as she nearly doubled over in her seat. “Oh, good one, Daisy! Like I believe you, my sweet technophobe, managed to navigate the world wide web.”

Running a finger inside the neck of her turtleneck, Daisy pulled it to the side to give her flushed skin a taste of fresh air. “Really, Kana. On YouTube. He’s a singer.”

That pulled her friend out of her laughing fit, eyes snapping to meet Daisy’s as a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. In a heartbeat, her smartphone was pulled from her pocket, unlocked, and slid across the table. The YouTube app was open with the search bar ready to be typed in.“Pull it up then! I need to see this video to… understand your artistic representation?”

Clearly a lie, Kana was just nosy, but Daisy was so desperate to hear Kendall’s song again, that she punched in the title of the video that was practically burned into her memory as she explained, “I was looking for a history documentary, but I must’ve typed the link in wrong. Brought this video up instead and-”

Using the pad of her thumb, Daisy touched the first video that popped up, her brain going haywire when the thumbnail picture of Kendall popped up next to it.

“Hey, this is Kendall…”

Kana snatched the phone from Daisy’s hands, making the video full screen and placing it down on the white table between them. It was hard to miss the way she turned her phone to almost full volume.

For the next three minutes, both girls were entranced, one taking in the music and vocals for the first time, while the other searched the frame for any new crumb of information she could pull about the boy she’d had trapped inside her daydreams for the last few days. Maybe she could calculate the angle of his jawline when his head turned or determine which shade of green fit his eyes perfectly.

A few beats passed before Daisy spotted something, a logo on his beanie that looked like a forest landscape. Not one she recognized at all, but now she’d been on the lookout for anything similar; Anything that gave her more clues into the life of this boy.

“You think he’s cute?” Kana interrupted him just as he got to the second verse, and Daisy almost shushed her.

“Don’t you?”

Not denial, perse, but not confirmation.

“I’ve only got eyes for Mai,” her friend shared solemnly, before smacking her hand down on the table. “Wait! Did you check and see if he has a MySpace?”

Daisy cocked her head to the side and Kana continued, “That answers my question… Just give me a moment.”

When she took the phone off the table before the song had ended, Daisy mourned for a split second. The sound of relentless typing pinged out of Kana’s phone for what felt like ages, as different colors lit up her face.

Whatever she was doing, clearly wasn’t important enough to show her friend, so Daisy assumed the search had come up empty and took another bite of her donut. Then, she pulled her sketchbook from the table and placed it in her backpack. That thing was a weapon now, blasting her in the chest with the ray of embarrassment, so away it would go until Daisy felt another creative spark that needed to be unleashed over the creamy beige paper.

“Daisy! I forgot to tell you - You look so pretty today!” Kana called, and the other girl whipped her head her way only to be blinded by a bright, white flash. “Thanks!”

“What was that for?” Daisy might not have been as technologically advanced as her peers, but she sure did know what the flash of a camera meant. “You don’t need to torture me with a picture right now…”

“It’s for your MySpace page.”

“My what?”

“So you can message Kendall K.”

“Message?” The sound of typing erupted from the phone speakers once more, and Daisy’s chest constricted. “Put your phone down.”

Click, click, click.

“I’m serious, Kana, please.”

Click, click, click.

“I’m worried.”

Instantly, the sound stopped. Kana put her phone down on the table. “There is nothing to be worried about, Daisy. I wouldn’t do anything if I knew it was bad for you.”

“Right. I know,” Daisy breathed. Her palms were growing sweaty from where she had them tucked in the long sleeves of her top. “It’s hard for me to be out of the loop though.”

With a nudge, Kana pushed her phone screen Daisy’s way, “So, let me fill you in then. oopsydaisy just sent her first message to kendallk.”