Episode Five,

A lonely World.

When Daisy steps inside her house, she knows she is in great trouble. Her parents were both waiting for her at the dinner table their faces solemn. Daisy stopped in her tracks confused by the tension that could be felt in the air. Satrina walked towards her; arms folded. She looked at Daisy up and down, making her aware of the mud all over her shoes and dress.

She shuffled her feet nervously and tried to hide the leatherback book from her mother's sight. Her parents truly despised Daisy's obsession with Death, and even though she owned many things related to it, her parents always frowned when they looked at it. That is why they had even stopped coming inside her room, choosing to call her outside when they needed to talk to her.

“Is something wrong?” Daisy asked in a weak tone.

“You tell me?” Satrina replied raising her thin eyebrows in question.

“Uumm…,” Daisy glanced at her father who had sat at the dining table with a frown.

“Where have you been all day?” Satrina demanded.

“School. They were doing track practice so I stayed to watch it,” Daisy bit her lip hoping her lie would work.

She scoffed when she heard Daisy’s explanation.

“Do you really think I will believe that?”

Daisy frowned at her tone. The failure from earlier had already dampened her mood quite a lot. And now, Satrina acting this way fueled her anger even more.

“Why, do you even care? It's not like you've ever shown interest in what I do or don't do,” she blurted.

Satrina opened her mouth to shout back when her dad cut her off midway

“Enough!” he demanded in a loud voice, making them both stop and look at him, “Your school called and they said you weren't there yesterday or today which means that you have been lying to us. Am giving you one more chance to tell your mother and me, where the hell have you been?”

Daisy hung her head low and she realized her lie had been caught. She sighed and tried to make sense of the situation. “How can I make it right?” Daisy wondered but at that moment her book fell on the floor with a loud thud. Both her parents looked down towards it. When Satrina saw the title, she sighed and sank into a chair nearby, defeated.

“I can't deal with this anymore,” she announced.

Jack came to stand in front of Daisy. He picked up the book and opened it reading the notes and markings Daisy had made all through it.

“It's just a stupid book. I'm referencing to write a play for Halloween. It's nothing serious,” she tried to explain.

“I don't know honey,” Satrina started, “I know we didn't give you as much attention as we were supposed to when you were young. But don't you think you're too old to continue with these childhood fantasies?”

Offended, Daisy felt her anger rise. She grabbed the book out of her dad's hands and started to walk away. Satrina tried to stop her but Jack touched her shoulder.

“Let her go for now,” he told his wife who nodded.

Daisy slammed her bedroom door shut and made her way to the bed. She threw the book which landed softly on the bed. She ignored the half bend pages and fell face first into our pillows arm stretched sideways. She sighed trying to hold back the tears she could feel building up. The things that Satrina had said about childhood fantasies came back to Daisy. She rolled on her back staring at the ceiling above.

She felt the first tear roll sideways down her cheek when she quickly wiped away. This wasn't the first time she had been misunderstood by her parents. Not even misunderstood. It felt like they didn't even try to listen to her properly, always concluding halfway through her explanation. It had happened a lot before when she was a kid. However, she stopped after a particular incident.

When she was 10. Her parents were called to her elementary school. The teacher had complained to them that Daisy’s odd behaviors and stories had started to scare the other children. After that, her parents had encouraged her to share her true experiences that they thought were stories, unsettled by the things she told them, they had decided to take her to a child psychologist.

Daisy had believed them thinking they were finally starting to believe her, but it was all a facade. They had entertained her just to label her as mentally ill. That was when Daisy had realized not to bring up any more of the things that had happened to her. Since then, she has kept her secrets to herself. She had stopped telling them about anything and it seemed like it was enough. Other than a few glares at her posters whenever her mother opened her door, she had left Daisy alone .

“Huh, they found out again,” Daisy thought dejected.

Finding Daisy covered in mud and returning home late at night with a creepy book, had pushed Satrina's limits. The look of disbelief and fear in her mother's eyes, as if Daisy was a lunatic had hurt her more than anything she had said.

For what, she realized, she had spent years trying to run after her memories, trying to prove them real. But there was no way to do that. So she continued to cry because that felt like the only thing she could do at the moment. It seemed like hours had passed and Daisy was still lying in her bed sleepless, her head pounded with pain. The constant crying and worrying had not helped.

Not able to bear the pain anymore, she got up to find some ibuprofen for headache. Not able to find any she sighed before venturing out of her room. First, she had to assert her parents had gone to bed and then she went outside. After finding the medicine and a cold glass of water, Daisy started to go back to her room. But on her way, she passed her parents’ bedroom she heard them arguing. She halted in her steps immediately and tried to listen in by going closer to their shut door.

“But do you think sending her away would be the right decision?” her father's voice asked. He sounded apprehensive and Daisy frowned in confusion.

“What were they talking about?” She thought.

“Yes. I really think so. She's been too isolated here. Since she got injured, she doesn't even have one activity she could partake and that's why she's going back to being obsessed with ghosts. We need to change her environment,” Satrina said.

That's when it clicked to Daisy that her parents were actually talking about her.

“They're sending me away,” She thought shocked.

“That does sound like a good idea,” Jack agreed.

Daisy panicked as she witnessed her parents deciding to send her away.

“How can they do that? I won't let them,” the voice inside Daisy decided.

“But I think we should take her to Dr. Nathan again. He's a known psychologist and could help us,” Jack suddenly said.

Daisy’s eyes widened as she realized that her old fears were coming true. Going to the psychologist was the worst thing for Daisy. The way they smiled and nodded as if they understood you completely only to declare you sick made Daisy feel nauseous. Having heard enough Daisy went back to her room.

She tried to fall asleep but the conversation she had overheard between her parents kept her awake all night. She tossed and turned for hours trying to find a way to get out of this mess. She wasn't particularly attached to the town or her school for the matter of fact, but it still made her anxious to think of moving away, especially in the last year of high school. She couldn't deal with new preppy students or teachers at this point.

Having made the decision, when it was time for breakfast Daisy gradually made her way downstairs, her parents were already waiting for her prepared to break the news to her. She ignored them and sat down at the breakfast table half-heartedly filling a bowl with cereal and milk. After taking a few bites she couldn't bear the silence any longer.

“ What?” she demanded of her parents who quickly sat up straighter.

It was her dad who started, “Daisy, I hope you know we love you.”

She scoffed at that making him clear his throat. Satrina glared at Daisy and started to talk.

“Listen, honey, we know you're at that age where you think adults don't understand you or your problems, but it still doesn't justify your behavior sneaking out of school and skipping classes, only to hang out at weird areas till late at night.”

When she saw Daisy trying to speak she lifted her finger in warning. Daisy quickly shut her mouth again. Her shoulders dropping in defeat.

“Because of dad’s and my busy schedule, we can't keep an eye on you a lot. So we've decided that the best thing and the safest option for you would be to transfer to a boarding school.”

Daisy whipped her head towards her mother shocked. She thought that they would ask her to change her school or shift to a nearby town, but a boarding school, that was too far.

“I know it seems sudden but your dad knows the dean, and we will visit you as often as we can,” Satrina assured her,

“Yeah, the school has a really good sports program as well. So when you're better you can do what you like.” Jack added a little awkwardly.

Daisy felt like laughing at how her parents were trying to sell this school to her as if she was desperate for a change.

“No, I'm not, but…” the realization hit Daisy like a softball; She wasn't desperate, but her parents were. They really wanted her to agree. She could see that by the expectant look in their eyes. “They don't want me here,” she thought.

Daisy blinked a few times and swallowed hard to clear her voice before speaking, “Okay, I'll go to boarding school,” she declared. She immediately saw the relief and happiness wash over her parents’ eyes, and that was when she realized how truly alone she was in the world.