TWO: THE BASCAR DISASTER

This is why I hate going to parties, events or doing anything unrelated to homework or invented way after fun.

That's because I ruin everything. Every single thing. Somehow, fashion's so repulsed by me that if someone placed a table full of clothes a hundred meters away from me, I can bet I'd be the one to trip over it.

The Bascar was large, whatever that is. And as I made my way through the swiveling doors hurrying behind Tori cause she's the one who keeps in shape and takes gym class seriously. I'm just the one who hides by the corners, trying to blend into walls and probably figure out what they are made of, I ran into my first catastrophe of the day, running into someone so tall with thick wall-like chest. Before I could figure out a way to apologize, he sauntered off in a hurry and I watched him leave, wide-mouthed. Tori shot me a look and turned to stare at his receding figure.

" Do you know him?"

" What?" I gaped at her " know who?" She gave me 'the look'. Something that spans beside 'you don't know how stupid you sound right now' and ' what the hell are you saying?' In this case, look one fits perfectly.

" Lets go. You've kept us late as it already is" she said, pulling on my arm. I muffled a groan, knowing I had to do this in exchange for the times Tori's sat through my fact spilling-a-thon and then when I had to do that impromptu karaoke practice at her place for a talent show. Daisy!

" Oh daisy this is it!" Tori squealed, squeezing down on my hand so hard I yelped. She stared at me, wide-eyed. " this is the moment. My moment!"

i tried to look happy " yay?"

" Yeah daisy! Yay!" She pulled me " come on! Lets go in" I took the deepest biggest gulp of my life cause believe it, I was gonna need it.

So, get this. Tori's head of the fashion and textiles club at school ( obviously) and after winning a fashion show competition downtown, some rich savvy businessman with nothing to do with money decided to pay their to the New York Bascar event, the 'next big thing' in New York with free bus rides and all. I'm sure you're wondering why the hell I'm here?

Well, Nikki Parks, Tori's vice decided that TODAY was the right time to CHOKE on a bowl of cereal and end up in an emergency room with maybe cereal-octomy being performed on her. Now, I'm stuck up being in the last place I'd ever pictured myself.

There are lights. Bright brimming bright lights. With people, talking everywhere I look and go. The chattering about nothing in particular literally turned my brain into talk pulp. Fashion weeks, collections, models, campaigns...

Help! Can't... can't breathe. Breathe daisy, breathe. Its just a fashion show, one that lasts approximately three hours and then its all done and then you can go home, cuddle into your bed and binge read the historical advent of genetics till you drool and get YOUR own DNA all over it. Deep breathes daisy, deep breathes.

" Are you ok?" Tori asked, taking pictures with her new iPhone. I mustered a smile and held out a shaky thumb. She stared at me for a moment, doubtful. Then she smiled " its beautiful isn't it?" She shot the entire place a look " I mean look at this. Look at all this luxury" she squealed " this is literally a dream come true!" She squealed and I squealed too. Only that mine sounded more like a squeak than an actual scream. Fashion. Yay!.

" What are you two freaks doing here?" Tori and I spun round to face the worst nightmares of my extremely dorky life.

Maddie Roberts.

She's the most popular girl at school and definitely the meanest snake in Gucci shoes worth the budget of a small world country and bags twice the amount. she's got this small gang that call themselves the fashion fairies or something and their motto? 'Hating dorks all over the world. Make the world a better place starting with daisy'. There's Megan, the tall lanky one who likes to chew on gums all day and has a brain the size of a baby diaper and then cherry who's slightly nuts and likes to take selfies. Believe me I would never want to do something stupid in front of her cause she's got this massive follower-ship on Instagram and basically ruins people's lives with literally one click of a finger. But Maddie's the one who's got the issue with me so I've got to deal with her 24/7/365. And believe me I'm not exaggerating. Ok, only a little bit considering the fact that I've only been here for like a month.

Apart from the obvious fact that she already HATES MY GUTS, I hate her lipstick. She just slobbers it on like she's on an avengers mission or something.

It's the summer holidays and just when I get some full fledged hope that I might be able to avoid seeing her for like an entire relieving, here she is, smirking and grinning devilishly at me like we're best buddies. Well the not-seeing-her part doesn't really help since we're practically neighbors.

" So, the Bascar huh?" She said, flipping her extremely bleached blonde hair back to smirk even wider at us. Tori rolled her eyes and I shrunk into my skin " what exactly are you doing here? Offering free clean-up service?" She shot me a condescending look " is that why your pants are green, dorka? Cause you had to wipe puke off with it?"

" Back off Maddie" Tori shot, glaring hard at her. Maddie let out a little cackle, patting her cool high end fashion fur coat with one flick of her perfectly manicured fingers.

" Oh, oh darling let the poor girl breath" she gushed, fanning herself " and my girl where did you get those pants? The store of where pants should never be bought?"

" I don't have..."

" What? Time?" She clicked her fingers against each other and sniggered " yeah I know. Your kind of work can be demanding."

" She's not cleaning Maddie so back off!" Tori yelled, shielding me. Maddie glared at her. Megan and cherry appeared behind her, ready for war.

" she's not cleaning?" She let out a gasp and held her lips " Oopses! Thought wrong then. Though why shouldn't I" she ran her eyes through me " nobody wears fashion contra-bands to a fashion show, not to talk of the Bascar. Who even let you in here? Or did you just sneak in?"

" I didn't" I muttered, head down " I..."

" Oh please!" She flicked her hair back " like I care. I'm just super worried about you being here cause look around you baby girl and..." she took a deep sniff " smell the fresh air."

" I can smell candy" cherry said, grinning. Maddie glared hotly at her and she stood up straighter. " what? It smells like candy in her..."

" Anyway, it smells like" she took an exaggerated sniff, closing her eyes " fashion. Fame. And is that... elegance." She flashed her eyes open " everything that you're not." I shuddered and she drew close, grabbing a lock of my hair in her hand " I mean, look at you. People like you wash my toilets back home. With their hands. And your clothes?" She scoffed " you're lucky they haven't thrown you out yet. Or have you arrested." She drew back, holding out her arms. Candy and Megan giggled right on cue " I mean babe, dressing like that's got to be illegal somewhere"

" I know right" Megan said, coming up in my face. I shuddered even backwards, shaking, trying to keep the rage in check. And the tears. But mostly the rage ( trying to macho-woman here)

" Geek" candy said, ripping my heart into like a million pieces. Tori pushed her back, glaring at all three of them and yelling something about them getting a life, not that I could hear her. Or them. Or anyone. Suddenly the world literally stops. the clock stops ticking. My heart stops beating and when it finally does, it beats with one simple four letter word.

G-E-E-K