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"dear daisy grey, 𝘪'𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘺. 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨?"

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"𝕀 think it's the librarian." Rory declared, hands on his hips to emphasize his speculation. He'd rolled up the thick sleeves of his fluffy brown sweater and the gesture just served to make him look like a rather sassy teddy bear. 

Daisy shook her head, scandalized. "What? Rory, absolutely not!" she admonished, snatching back the letter from his side of the table. They were in the dining hall, having breakfast, and Daisy had finally decided to share her beloved letter to the rest of the group. 

"What is he, twenty-five?" she added, thinking about what her father would say if he'd found out she'd received a love letter from the school librarian of all people. Besides, that was just plain against the rules anyway.

"Twenty-three, actually." Sylvester corrected from across the table. All eyes turned to him.

"What? I simply find that I get along with him quite well, actually. He's quite sensible."

"And he's kinda fine, don't you think?" Rory added, leaning forwards on his elbows and taking the carton of strawberry milk sitting in the middle of the table. He poured it into his very artificial looking rainbow cereal and added so much chocolate syrup on top that Daisy was surprised he hadn't gotten diabetes yet. 

"You think everyone is hot." Persephone pointed out, taking a bite of her apple. She'd taken care to choose the reddest one from the basket. 

Daisy took a bite of her own toast, before dusting off her hands to pick up her letter again. She'd read it so many times she had it memorized and was confident that she could recite any given part. Her stomach still got butterflies every time she thought about it because she had received a love letter. Someone in the school noticed her. And took the time to write her a letter filled with things they loved about her. 

"Well who do you think it is?" Rory asked her, now making a cereal-whipped cream-chocolate syrup sandwich with pancakes as the bread. Persephone gave him a weird look. 

"It's good!" he insisted, catching her expression. He licked the whipped cream off his finger and tried to make his overflowing "sandwich" stay upright. 

"I guess it could be someone from one of my classes? I don't know." Daisy said, trying to ignore the fact that his sandwich was now toppling over. She leaned her head back and stared up at the high domed ceiling of the dining hall. "Any ideas, Chai? You take calligraphy, could you analyze the handwriting or something?"

Chai, who currently had his head in his arms to block out the light and was still trying to sleep, lifted one arm to look up at her. "I don't think that's how it works." he mumbled drowsily. "Besides, the sender could've changed their handwriting purposely."

"Oh...good point." Daisy realized with a sinking feeling in her stomach. That would mean she couldn't compare the handwriting to others to find the mysterious sender, which was what she had been planning to do. Then again, maybe just maybe the writer didn't think that far through?

Chai went back to napping, hiding his face in the sleeve of his oversized jacket. 

"You should eat something." Daisy told him, ruffling his fluffy brown hair. "Or else you're going to start complaining about being hungry during philosophy again." It was a common event that had occurred multiple times in the past. Chai was sort of erratic, either he had absolutely no appetite and would forget to eat for long periods of time, or he was starving and would beg her for any sort of food. For that reason, she kept random snacks in her bag just in case.

"Can't" he replied, voice muffled.

"Why not?" 

"Stomach hurts. Downed three energy drinks last night, I think it was a bad idea."

"Ya think?" Persephone echoed dubiously, raising her eyebrows at him. Daisy agreed that it sounded very much like a bad idea without a doubt.

"Needed a kick to finish that philosophy essay." he insisted, not lifting his head.

Daisy patted his head sympathetically, but Sylvester gave him a condescending look- which he, still hiding his face in his sleeve, didn't see. 

"You should eat more too, Sylvie." she told her brother. "Don't you have that race today?" She knew he did. Just thinking about it made the worry and anxiety flutter up in her stomach, making it feel as if it were a roiling sea in there. Race car driving was the most popular sport at St. Grey's and almost the entire school went out to watch every race. It most definitely was not the safest sport though.

Sylvester, however, looked unconcerned. "I will be fine." he said, examining his reflection on the back of his spoon. He fixed a few stray pieces of his platinum hair into place. 

Rory straightened up, putting both hands down on the table. "Oh yeah, I forgot that was today!" he exclaimed, delighted. "I love watching a bunch of rich kids drive around in their fancy rich cars and try to run each other off the road!" 

The thing was, he was being one hundred percent serious too. 

For some reason, he took great delight in spectating on the event, which he claimed was "excitement to the max". Daisy, however, thought it was quite terrifying and often took to hiding her face in Chai's jacket when things got too intense.

Persephone snorted. "You sound really sadistic right now." she pointed out, tossing the core of her finished apple into the trashcan. It landed in perfectly and Daisy wondered how. Personally, things that she threw tended to fly way off target. 

Rory lifted one shoulder up and down, unbothered. "I'm just there to support my dear friend, of course. Right, Sylvie?" he added, throwing one arm around the other boy's shoulders.

Sylvester shrugged him off. "If you start screaming 'go Sylvie' again I will direct my car at you." he threatened contemptuously, smoothing down his shirt. 

Rory opened his mouth to reply, but was interrupted by the loud ringing sound of the bell, signaling for the day to begin. The first class of the day was about to start and breakfast was over. Rory stuffed the remaining bite of his ridiculous sandwich into his mouth and grabbed a chocolate chip muffin for the road. Chai lifted his head at last and halfheartedly stumbled upright out of his chair.

Daisy handed him his bag before he could forget it, and swung her own over her shoulder. "See you two later," she called to Rory and Persephone, who both went their separate ways for their first classes of the day. Rory gave her a salute back, and Persephone blew her a kiss. 

She turned back to Chai. "Ready?" she asked him, trying to hide a grin of amusement as he pushed his hair out of his eyes and took his bag from her, one hand still on the back of his chair for support. 

"Do I look ready?" he mumbled, shielding his eyes from the bright morning sun filtering through the large dining hall windows. Honestly, the guy was so pale he probably never liked to see any sun, not even through the windows.

Sylvester got up as well, picking up his bag and pushing in his chair neatly. "Ready or not, you do not want to be late, do you?" he reminded the other boy primly. He started off in the direction of their philosophy class without waiting for a response.

"Oh how terrible that would be." Chai muttered sarcastically, but he followed him anyway, speeding up his pace to catch up. Daisy walked beside him, and rifled through her bag to make sure her philosophy essay was still there. It would be a shame to realize she forgot it after all the time she'd spent on it. 

"I can carry your bag, if you'd like." Chai offered after a moment, holding out one hand. 

"That's okay." she told him, though she appreciated the offer. That was another reason she considered Chai one of her best friends- when it came to it, he was still quite the gentleman, despite his sometimes colorful language and whininess. 

"Have you both got your essays?" Sylvester asked, checking for his as well. His bag was organized neatly, with color coded folders and a pocket designated for pens so that they weren't always floating around in his bag. 

Chai dug around in his own- very messy- bag for a moment, before snapping his head up. "Shit." 

Sylvester raised his eyebrows.

"Be right back." And with that, he turned and dashed down the hall toward the dormitories, and Daisy didn't even have to ask why. 

She did, however, let out a laugh of amusement as she called after him, "Don't tell me you left your brain in your dorm too!" Just for the fun of it. Chai flipped her off, which made her mentally withdraw the thought that he was, after all, a gentleman. Never mind that, he was just an idiot who chose to be polite when he felt like it.

Sylvester shook his head condescendingly -basically everything he did was condescending, in Daisy's opinion- and deftly shut his bag with a snap. "Twenty bucks says he will be late." 

Daisy wasn't stupid enough to take that offer.

The philosophy classroom was always lit rather dimly, giving a mysterious air about it. The curtains let in little light, and the room was lined with bookshelves sporting thick, heavy books that had Daisy perpetually wondering if the shelves would give out from their weight. She handed in her paper and took a seat in one of the wooden desks among rows whilst Sylvester stayed up in the front, discussing some aspect of his paper with the professor.

Professor Rosedale was a young man in his twenties and with a certainly fortunate face. With a sharp jawline, high-set cheekbones, and full lips, even Daisy had always found him quite handsome, though she'd never say so. If word got round to her father, he'd be very disapproving, or as Rory would put it, "royally pissed". 

With nothing much else to do in the time before class started, she pulled out the letter again, which she'd painstakingly tucked away in the pocket of her bag, careful as not to wrinkle it. It made her feel a bit silly, but she let herself off. Never in her nineteen years had she ever experienced any sort of romance, and so her reaction, she thought, was justified. 

"How charming." 

Daisy jumped, and looked up to see Sylvester standing over her, reading the letter. "Shut it!" she told him, slapping his arm. "I'm just...trying to figure out who wrote it." Definitely not rereading it again, just in case there was even one word she'd missed whilst reading it the first fifty times. 

"Ah. Of course." he said, sounding not at all convinced. "So I did not see you grinning like an idiot over words on a paper."

"No, you didn't." 

"Father would not be happy about this. He would want you to focus on your studies, would he not?" he reminded severely.

It wasn't as if Daisy hadn't thought of that. It had been at the back of her mind ever since she'd gotten the letter, she'd just been brushing it away in an attempt to avoid the dark cloud that would dampen her high spirits. It was sort of like a fog kept at bay that was currently flooding back now that her brother's words had triggered them. She shook her head to it clear away.

"I just won't tell him." she insisted, tucking the letter safely back into her bag. 

Sylvester was silent, but she could see the slight disapproval in the way his lips were pressed into a thin line. She grabbed his wrist, suddenly worried.

"Listen, Sylvie, you won't tell, will you?" she asked him, widening her eyes up at him. "Promise me you won't tell father."

Sylvester looked down at her expressionlessly, and for one, horrifying moment, she was afraid he would tell her that he couldn't promise that and that he was in fact going to tell their father and that-

"I will not." he finally replied with a sigh. "And please refrain from calling me that."

"Thank you!" she exclaimed, relieved beyond measures. 

"Now if you would kindly let go of my arm?" 

"Oh, right." she dropped his wrist and took a seat behind her. Immediately, a girl with light brown hair done in two braids and an impressive amount of ribbons flitted over to his side, thrusting a paper in his face.

"Sylvie, could you check my paper, please?" she asked coyly, putting both hands on the side of his desk and leaning so close it had to be some violation of personal space. 

Sylvester leaned back as far as he could and looked up at her with disdain. "Marienne, what did I say about that ridiculous nickname?"

"Oh right yeah, sorry!" she said, even though Daisy knew she would just disregard it again the next time she saw him, as she- and anyone who called him that- always did. "But could you check it? Please? You're just so smart!" 

Sylvester looked her up and down. "I cannot tell if you are being serious or mocking me." but he took the paper nevertheless, and began reading over it. Marienne watched him with great interest, making herself at home practically sprawled across his desk. 

"Could you not?" he asked after a moment of trying to concentrate on her paper.

"What?" she blinked innocently, tilting her head. One of her braids brushed his lap.

"Stare at me like that." he explained, leaning back farther. "Would you like me to correct your paper or not?"

"Oh sorry. Didn't know I was distracting you." she said, grinning playfully as she removed herself from his desk only a little, arching her back dramatically even though there was no reason to. Daisy hid her smile of amusement at her brother's obvious discomfort.  

He winced at the girl's choice of words and read through her paper, occasionally pointing out some mistaken use of grammar or the other. She watched him and nodded along attentively, though Daisy was pretty sure she wasn't hearing half of what was coming out of his mouth because, to face it, grammar was just sort of boring- especially when explained by her brother. She'd had her fair share of tutoring by him at their father's request growing up and they were some of the dullest experiences of her life.

"Thank you, love," Marienne said when he was finally done lecturing. "You know, I just don't know what I'd do without you!" She put a hand to her forehead dramatically.

"How...flattering." 

Daisy grinned, unable to suppress her amusement at this point. 

"Mhmm. I have to go turn this in now, thanks a lot, Sylvie!" And with that, she finally got off his desk and skipped up to the front of the room to turn her paper in to Professor Rosedale. 

Sylvester straightened his desk and put both elbows down on it, rubbing his temples.

"She's cute, isn't she?" Daisy teased, entertained.

"She is exhausting." he replied, shaking his head in exasperation and actually looking a little stressed by the interaction.

"I think she's charming." she insisted truthfully, though she suspected that Sylvester hadn't picked up the obvious clues Marienne had been dropping for a long time now. Either that or he was intentionally ignoring them. If she were being honest, Daisy was pretty sure Sylvester had no romantic interest in anyone ever, which she thought was very boring indeed and frankly such a waste because Marienne was exceptionally pretty and very interesting. 

"Quiet down, everybody." Professor Rosedale ordered from the front of the room and the class went silent immediately.

"Thank you." he smiled in satisfaction. "Today, we'll explore one of the most enduring and debated topics in philosophy- the problem of free will. This issue has profound implications for our understanding of human agency, moral responsibility, and the nature of reality..."

The door was flung open suddenly, and in walked Chai, his essay in his hand and not the least bit out of breath or in a hurry. He shut the door behind himself and promptly stumbled across a potted plant, which wobbled dangerously. "Shit." he cursed, rubbing his knee and looking extremely offended at the plant. All eyes turned to him and a few snickers traveled around the room. 

He gave the professor a half-smile. "Sorry, professor, I forgot my essay." he explained, handing him the wrinkled paper.

Professor Rosedale, if anything, looked deeply amused and took the paper. "Go take a seat, Mr. Loveletter, and don't be late next time." was all he said, and Chai nodded, before wandering over and throwing himself down into the seat beside Daisy. 

"You're in no hurry." she observed as he immediately put his head down on his arm.

"Yeah. Hope I didn't miss too much." he responded, looking up at her. 

"Just the usual, Marienne harassing Sylvester." she told him with a grin, and he turned around to glance at Sylvester, who ignored him in favor of taking notes even though he could probably hear their conversation just fine. Marienne, who had take a seat beside him, kept leaning over to glance at his notes and comment things like, "Your handwriting's so pretty, Sylvie." which caused him to motion for her to be quiet so he could hear the professor's lecture. 

Daisy watched as Professor Rosedale talked on and on about free will, his hands gesturing animatedly. He clearly had a lot of passion for his subject. And pretty hands. Not that Daisy noticed specifically, of course. It was definitely just a neutral observation.

"So what do you think about the writing?" Chai asked her suddenly, and she turned to find him watching her attentively under his thick lashes. 

"The writing?" she echoed, not quite sure what he was talking about.

"On the letter. What do you think of it?"

Oh. Well that was an odd question. But one she was happy to answer. "I think it's amazing." she sighed dreamily, hugging her bag to her chest. "I never thought someone could think all those things about me." She relished the euphoric feeling she got every time the topic of the letter came up.

Chai continued gazing at her, a soft smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "I think it's very possible." he assured her, then added, almost imperceptibly, "It's nice to see you happy."

Surprised, Daisy glanced sideways at him. "Why you're in a sentimental mood, aren't you?" she teased, letting a grin flash across her face. "What inspired you to suddenly decide on being Mr. Nice Guy?" The question was a joke, but a part of her was actually quite touched.

He offered her a faint smile and looked away. 

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Afternoon classes had been cancelled due to the race, which would take place after lunchtime. Students filed out into the stadiums around the race track to spectate and cheer on their friends or just to support their favorite racer. Anyone who was a racer was generally considered somewhat of a legend at the school. 

As they finished up lunch and got ready to leave the dining hall, however, Daisy got the familiar sick feeling at the bottom of her stomach because, well, the sport was just not all that safe. And Sylvester, though she'd never say it to his face, was just built rather delicately- taller than her- but with a thin physique and sharp bone structure. 

"Good luck, Sylvie, I'll be cheering you on." Marienne had come to wish him well. She dug around in her purse and pulled out a hot pink marker and held it out to him with a sly grin across her pink-painted lips. "Sign my shirt?"

Sylvester raised his eyebrows, half surprise, half exasperation. "I am quite...honored, but that would be overly theatrical." he said carefully, and she pouted prettily.

"Aww. You're no fun, Sylvie!" 

"Please don't call me that." he reminded her pointlessly because she never did listen anyway. Marienne Keys was nothing if not persistent, and even Daisy had to admire her dedication and ever increasing effort despite it all. 

Rory leaned across the table conspiratorially and flashed a cheeky grin at her. "Y'know, if you ever decide he's just too uptight, I'm always here." he offered mischievously, a sparkle in his eyes. Daisy exchanged a look of amusement with Chai, who was sprawled in the seat beside hers, his bag dangling dangerously on the back of his chair as if one small movement would send it to the ground. Noticing this, she quickly reached up to straighten it.

Marienne shook her head, making her ribbon-tied braids swing back and forth with the motion. "I know you've hooked up with basically everyone in the entire school." she informed him primly. "I'm looking for something more exclusive." 

"Oh, you're in the right place then." Persephone commented from where she sat beside Rory, polishing her already perfect nails. She held them up to the light and inspected them intently. "Our boy Sylvie's so exclusive he's never even so much as looked at a girl's a-"

"Okay that's enough!" Daisy said quickly, not wanting to hear the end of that sentence at all.

Persephone continued on, ignoring her request. "Yeah, I once asked him to make out, just for fun, ya' know, and you know what this guy said? He said he had homework to do. Homework!" she sighed, shaking her head in exasperation and blowing on her nails.

"Hey! That's what he told me too!" Rory chimed in, stuffing a few chicken legs not-so-discreetly into his bag for the race. 

Daisy wished she hadn't been a part of this conversation as she most definitely did not need to know how two of her friends had asked her brother to make out. Marienne, however, looked delighted at this information because, in her mind, she was probably thinking he was even more exclusive than she'd thought. 

Sylvester closed his eyes briefly and pinched the bridge of his nose. 

Chai lifted his head. "Hey Sylvie, you'd make out with me if I asked, wouldn't you?" 

"No."

"Marienne, let's go. I want to get good seats." It was Lainey Heart, coming to drag Marienne away. She shot Persephone a glare for no apparent reason other than because she hated her. Persephone flipped her off in response, a shit-eating grin posed on her face. 

Marienne linked arms with Lainey and fluttered her fingers at Sylvester and blew him a kiss. "Bye-bye, Sylvie. Good luck with the race! I'll write your number on my cheek in lipstick!" she promised, as Sylvester looked downright affronted. 

Daisy grinned delightedly at the girl and made a heart with her fingers. "Love you, Marienne!" she called to the girl, who in turn, blew her a kiss as well.

"Do not do it." Sylvester warned apprehensively, picking up his helmet and brushing off his suit despite there being no visible dust on it at all. Even though he'd never admit it, Daisy could tell he was a bit on edge by the tension in his shoulders.

Daisy got up as well, dragging Chai up with her, and they all headed off toward the stadiums. 

She waited for the others to walk ahead, and slowed to walk beside her brother, reaching up to fix a wayward strand of his hair. "Sylvie, be careful, okay? If you have to do something to win, make sure you weigh in the risk first. Don't do something stupid just for a first place." she said, like she did before every race. "I don't care what you place, I just want you to be safe." 

"Father will." he countered darkly, lowering his voice. Daisy felt a sudden rush of exasperation for both her unrelenting father and her stupidly determined brother. 

"I don't care what father says," she insisted fiercely, grabbing onto his arm. "You listen to me, you are not going to throw away your own life to chase after father's approval." 

Sylvester pressed his lips together, and for a moment, she thought he would argue some more, but to her relief, he took a breath and only said,  "I am not going off to war. I will be fine." he cracked a rare, albeit a slightly strained, smile. 

"Ah, Sylvester, ready for the race?" A guy with curly black hair came up behind them and ruffled Sylvester's hair.

"Don't do that." he said, fixing it back into place. The guy just perched his shades up in his hair nonchalantly, unbothered by Sylvester's less than friendly attitude. He was exceptionally good looking, in Daisy's opinion, especially in his race suit. Then he noticed Daisy.

"Oh, you must be Daisy Grey." he commented, saying her name in a way that made her feel oddly special. "You're pretty."

"Aw, thank you!" she beamed, smoothing down her creamy yellow sundress and suddenly feeling very pretty indeed. Could he be her letter writer just maybe? She remembered seeing him talking with Sylvester sometimes, and know she knew he already knew her name too. 

"I'm Jetson." he told her, sticking out his hand because of course he was a gentleman too. She shook it enthusiastically, and he held on for a second longer than he had to before letting go. Then he ran a hand through his hair and flashed her an airy grin. "Well, me and Sylvester gotta go get ready now. Catch you later, Daisy Grey."

Daisy waved at him, a bright smile lingering on her face even after Sylvester had bid her farewell and the two boys had left. Could he really be the enigmatic sender of her letter? She stood there for a moment longer, before she came to her senses and realized she should probably go find a seat in the stadium. 

"Are you coming, Daisy?" Persephone called, waving her over.

"Oh, yeah, coming!" she took one last look in the direction they'd gone, before turning around and running over towards her waiting friends.

The race was about to start after all.

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author's note!!

hello loves, if u made it here, thanks for reading and hope u enjoyed!!

idk why i chose to make car racing the official sport of St. Grey's but probably just because in my personal opinion, it is the hottest sport haha. usually i say jocks aren't really my type but race car drivers...kinda want to write a race car driver romance now...

anyway, again, thank u so much for reading and i'll see u in the next chapter. love youu <3

xo,

strxwberry