Helena immediately rose to her best friend's defense, voice sharp with loyalty. "Hey, how can you say that to my bestie?"
"Shut up, you flat chest!" Rosy shot back, her laugh cruel and mocking. "Even my ex-boyfriend has bigger boobs than yours." She flicked her gaze up and down Helena with disdain. "You are thin like paper."
Angry glares rippled across the group; one girl's face twisted into a mask of raw outrage, brows furrowed so tightly they nearly touched.
Daisy, who prided herself on staying calm, felt her temper fraying at the edges.
*She insults everyone with her unpleasant, nasty words,* she thought, heart pounding. *I don't get angry easily, but this girl is making me lose my temper. I feel angry!*
She lifted her chin, voice steady despite the fire in her chest. "What do you mean by 'spare you'? Am I your slave? And I won't give my brother to you!" Then, with quiet steel, she added, "Just dream of it."
Rosy's face darkened, words trailing into stunned silence. "You..." Rage contorted her features, her eyes burning with fury as she glared around the circle.
In the charged pause, Julia's lips lifted into a genuine, happy smile. Helena's expression softened into open delight. Ava, the quiet girl with glasses and a cozy hood framing her face, beamed warmly, a small smile playing on her lips.
Rosy's fury reignited. "How could you laugh at me, you fatty!!!!!!" she shrieked, her voice cracking with humiliation, cheeks flushed scarlet.
One of the onlookers shrank back, eyes wide and trembling with fear.
Daisy placed a protective hand on Ava's arm. "Rosy, mind your words. She is my friend."
Ava's face brightened with quiet happiness, then her eyes sparkled with hopeful anticipation, gazing at Daisy with soft gratitude.
"Don't you dare talk like that to her," Daisy warned, her tone low and fierce.
Ava pressed a hand to her chest, utterly overwhelmed, a wave of emotion washing over her features.
Daisy's voice rose one final time. "Otherwise I won't spare you."
Rosy's composure snapped. "How dare you!!!" she cried, raising her hand in a swift arc, palm open and aimed straight for Daisy's cheek.
The slap never landed.
The door swung open with a decisive click. Raphael—Daisy's brother—strode into the room, his tall frame cutting through the tension like a blade.
Dark silky hair framed his sharp, handsome face, and his dark eyes held an intensity that silenced the air. The girl students erupted in excited cheers, whispers rippling like a wave.
Rosy froze mid-motion, hand hovering inches from Daisy's face, body rigid with shock.
Raphael's gaze locked onto Rosy, angry and unyielding, brows drawn together in clear disapproval.
Shame crashed over Rosy like cold water. Her shoulders slumped, head bowing as heat flooded her cheeks, the fight draining from her posture in an instant.
Then, without warning, her entire demeanor shifted. The hard lines of her face softened, replaced by a warm, almost tender smile. She turned to Daisy, voice gentle and sincere. "Hey, Daisy, I wanted to tell you that you are the nicest girl I ever met."
She took a small step closer. "How about we become best friends? I will always take care of you like my own sister." With that, Rosy opened her arms and pulled Daisy into a tight, affectionate hug, holding her as if they had been close for years.
Daisy stood frozen in the embrace, eyes huge with shock, body stiff with disbelief, her mind reeling. *She changes her colour so fast!!!!*
Still wrapped in the unexpected warmth, Daisy glanced over Rosy's shoulder toward her brother. "Brother..." she murmured softly, voice laced with bewilderment.
Rosy slowly released her, stepping back with a lingering smile, though the air around the group remained thick with stunned silence
----
A few moments later
The evening sky over Twilight Trails had already deepened to a bruised violet, streetlights flickering to life one by one along the narrow residential road. Daisy walked beside Raphael, her school bag swinging lightly against her hip, the faint scent of jasmine from a nearby garden mingling with the warm dust kicked up by passing scooters.
They had left the school gates together twenty minutes earlier, the usual chatter of classmates fading behind them until only the soft rhythm of their footsteps and the distant honk of traffic remained.
Raphael's long strides were deliberately slowed to match hers. He kept his hands in the pockets of his dark jacket, but his gaze never strayed far from her face.
"How was school today?" he asked, voice low enough that it felt private even on an open street.
Daisy gave a small shrug, eyes fixed on the cracked pavement ahead. "It was alright," she murmured. Her thoughts drifted; she chewed the inside of her cheek for a second before adding anything more.
He tilted his head slightly, studying her profile. "Are you sure?"
She nodded quickly—too quickly. "Yes, everything was okay. It's just… they become too much sometimes. Crazy about you."
A shy, awkward flush crept up her neck. She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and looked anywhere but at him, shoulders hunching inward as though she could fold herself smaller against the weight of her own words.
Raphael let out a long, thoughtful hum. "Hmmmmmm."
Daisy risked a sideways glance at him, then hurried on, trying to soften the admission. "Well, they are absolutely okay and really nice. Just…" She offered a small, sheepish smile, the corners of her eyes crinkling with embarrassed affection.
"Just?" he echoed, one dark brow lifting in faint amusement.
"…they are a bit crazy," she finished, the confession slipping out on a quiet laugh.
"I see."
"They were just crazy about vampires," she clarified, gesturing vaguely with one hand as if the word itself could explain everything.
Raphael's expression shifted. His eyes narrowed with sudden, piercing focus, locking onto her so completely that Daisy felt the air between them thicken. He slowed his pace even more until they were barely moving.
"And suddenly," she continued, voice dropping, "after the teacher told us about the scary tales of the vampires…"
She faltered, awkwardness returning in a rush. Her fingers twisted the strap of her bag; she stared hard at a peeling poster on the wall beside them.
Raphael said nothing, only watched her with that unnerving stillness.
Daisy swallowed, cheeks burning. She managed a tiny, bashful smile. "Now… they are into you."
The words hung there, half-teasing, half-vulnerable. Raphael's jaw tightened. His gaze turned serious—almost severe.
"Supernatural beings are indeed so attractive," Daisy whispered, the sentence escaping before she could catch it back. She immediately looked mortified.
A cold, unreadable glint entered his eyes. He stepped half a pace closer; the space between them shrank to almost nothing.
"Humans cannot control their feelings," she added, softer still, as though speaking the truth aloud might make it less dangerous.
"I don't want to know about anybody else," Raphael said, the words flat and final.
Before she could react, his hand found hers. Cool fingers closed gently around her wrist, then slid down until their palms met. With the lightest tug he drew her in front of him, stopping her completely in the middle of the quiet road. Headlights from a distant car swept over them and passed, leaving them once more in the soft orange glow of the nearest streetlamp.
He leaned in until their faces were dangerously close, breath brushing her cheek.
"Tell me about yourself," he murmured.
Daisy's eyes widened.
"Are you into vampires?" he asked, voice grave, expression unchanging.
Shock rippled across her features. Her free hand flew instinctively to her chest, pressing over her racing heart as though she could physically hold it still.
Raphael tilted his head nearer still, forehead nearly touching hers, dark hair falling forward to curtain them from the rest of the world.
Butterflies erupted in Daisy's stomach, wild and dizzying. She felt light-headed, every nerve suddenly awake and singing.
Her heart hammered so loudly she was sure he could hear it.
Right now… I am being into you…
The thought flashed through her mind, bright and reckless. She lifted her gaze to meet his—wide, innocent, shimmering with nervous hope, like a puppy looking up at someone who might decide to stay.
Raphael's stoic mask cracked. A faint warmth flickered behind his eyes; the corner of his mouth lifted in the smallest, most reluctant display of flattery.
He drew back just enough to really look at her, brow furrowing in quiet confusion.
Daisy's nerves coiled tighter. She cleared her throat—soft, awkward. "Ahem…"
"Me???" she whispered, voice trembling between disbelief and fragile delight.