[color=silver][indent][indent][right][sub]TIMESTAMP: Day 2, Afternoon. After the events of Chap. 2
ft. The Navarro Sisters – [color=9b42a2]Dalisay “Daisy” Navarro[/color] & [color=428DA2]Nadine “Nadie” Navarro[/color][/sub][/right][/indent][/indent]
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The flight from Manila International Airport to Boston Logan was neither a cheap nor a short flight. Stuck in a metal can over 30,000 feet in the air for well over 24 hours was nobody’s idea of a good time, least of all for Dalisay Navarro.

What should have been a good summer after completing a grueling year of the Intarmed programme with the University of Philippines Manila, Daisy didn’t expect to be woken up in the middle of her first week of summer vacation at 10:30am (pretty annoying when you adapt to the night owl schedule college students tend to fall back on) from her sobbing mother.

[i][abbr=“Your father is dying. They finally killed him!”][color=5142a2]“Ang iyong ama ay namamatay. Pinatay nila siya!”[/color][/abbr][/i]

Reymond Guilalas was a notorious over-worker. After arriving in Edenridge with his wife back in the early 00’s, Reymond set out to provide for his family by any means necessary. He put his medical biology degree to good use, offering himself to Edenridge National Lab to help make ends meet for his young family. Daisy barely remembered a time where he [i]wasn’t[/i] working, often returning home well into the night and leaving early in the morning to head right back to work. It was almost like her father was a stranger.

And now, for his near two decades of service? A stroke induced by the stress he had been dealing with at work. Mother had been a [i]tad[/i] dramatic in the way she’d called Daisy that night to share the news, but it had been enough to shake her awake.

She could have lost her father.

[b]“Hellooo, space cadet? We’ve arrived!”[/b]

The impatient voice of the Uber driver tore Daisy out of her thoughts. No longer was she in the tin can in the sky, but a tin can on the road in front of the apartment complex she had once grown up in. She looked from the old brick building to the driver’s face staring her down from his rear view mirror. He had been waiting a while, yikes. [color=9b42a2]“Shit- sorry, I’ll get out now.”[/color] Her voice barely audible over the sound of frantic scrambling to grab her travel cardigan and carry-on backpack on her way out of the car. The Uber driver didn’t even leave the car as he opened the boot from inside, allowing Daisy to grab her luggage from inside. [color=9b42a2]“Thanks!”[/color] She shouted as she shut the boot, only receiving a single hand raise in acknowledgement before the Honda Civic pulled out of the street.

Inside the brick building of Pleasantview Apartments, on the fourth floor, in room 410, Nadine Navarro, the older sister of Daisy, was cooking up a storm. She hadn’t had a reason to go this hard since before their mother decided to move to the Philippines and take Daisy with her. She wanted to welcome her sister with the smell of home and to ease her worry of their dad’s health. He was fine, just tired and old. Papa Guilalas was currently sleeping in his room, finally on leave from work, which was something Nadie would be more forceful about when he fully recovered. He absolutely had to use his vacation and sick days. No job was worth dying for.

Champorado (sweet rice porridge) for breakfast done, sitting on low heat, and bulalo for lunch, which was already in the process of being prepared since it takes an awful amount of patience to make. As the beef sat and boiled, she cut the green onions and hummed to herself the ending song of Angel Beats, Ichiban no Takaramono. The cut cobs, the onions, the cabbage, the bok choy were all in their own bowls scattered on the counter. She didn’t want to play music on the speakers because she didn’t want to disturb her father nor did she want to wear her headphones so she could catch her sister’s arrival. As much as she loved to jam, she got easily distracted. The only times she could hyper focus was when she was gaming but when she did anything else? She had to make sure that the only thing grabbing her attention was the task at hand. Right now that task would be cooking.

While she cooked, she thought back to the days gone by, her highschool days, where things seemed so much more simpler. Nadie had her gaming group, the Smile Gremlin squad, she had her studies — and ongoing academic rivalry with Ross Takahashi — and she had her family. Now that she was older, her life consisted of not pursuing any of her dreams but instead taking care of her father and helping run the business her mother left behind. In comparison to Daisy, who was able to go to college and focus on herself, Nadine chose to put her life on hold, for the family. She was twenty two and the expectations that the town had of her, as the valedictorian of the class of 2018, were not being met. Her year was full of brilliant people, like Han-Na Kang, Reagan Ramsey, and Seo-Jun Choi. And as much as she hated to admit it, Ross too, so her being picked as the valedictorian was a long fought battle but she did it and she did it with pride. Her greatest achievement was being the one to speak during graduation, when there were much louder voices than her’s in her year, like Maxine James (rest in peace), Aleyda Gonzalez, and Bronagh Milligan. Bigger personalities. Regardless of how remarkably strong her class was either with big brains, big attitudes, or big butts, this was her time to shine and instill hope in her peers, igniting a fire in their souls. She did that for everyone but herself.

From there, there was a gradual fall of the Navarro family where her mother and father would bicker more and more each day. Nadine only spent a year at Ivy League until she was pulled back home and asked if she wanted to stay or go. Turns out a kid shooting up her highschool would be the catalyst to her family, her mother finally deciding she no longer wanted any part of Edenrdige. Daisy was seventeen at the time and had no choice but to go. Nadine however was not and decided to stay in America, with her dad. Her relationship with her mother had been bumpy ever since because not only did Nadine decide to put her future on pause, taking a break from school, to be there for her dad, who was awful at taking care of himself when he wasn’t at work, but she chose him over her mother. This was her choice. Her burden to bear. She hadn’t been back to school since.

Perking up at the sound of buzzing, Nadine placed the knife down on the cutting board and ambled her way to the intercom system. She pressed a button to verify the visitor, [color=428DA2]“Hello? Daisy, is that you?”[/color]

[color=9b42a2]“Nadie! Hi! Yes, it’s me, hi again!”[/color] Daisy’s voice buzzed through the intercom. When she heard the familiar hum of the main door opening, Daisy began the process of heaving her luggage through the front doors of Pleasantview apartments and up to the third floor where her old childhood apartment waited.

By the time Daisy crossed the threshold between the hallway and through the front door of her apartment, she was feeling the exhaustion. From the flight to the Uber that hurt her wallet, she was ready to nap. Except, Daisy knew her nose, and she knew her sister. The smell of various veg as well as the sweet smell of chocolate and cinnamon invigorated her tired body. She would last just long enough to devour her sweet sister’s handiwork before crashing, Daisy decided.

[color=9b42a2]“Boy am I glad to see you,”[/color] Daisy dropped her luggage by the door to approach her sister and engulf her in a warm hug. [color=9b42a2]“You wouldn’t believe what I was made to eat on the flight. The torture! Please tell me my nose and eyes aren’t hallucinating and we have [i]good[/i] food here.”[/color] Daisy sniffled dramatically.

[color=428DA2]“You know me,”[/color] Nadie winked at her sister. Instinctively, she grabbed Daisy’s luggage and carried it to her room that hadn’t been touched since half of the family left for the Philippines. Dad didn’t have the heart to change anything, not even for an office or a workspace. The only thing that changed in the apartment really was Nadie’s gaming rig. [color=428DA2]“Champorado is already ready. You can have some before your nap, and then by the time you wake up the bulalo will be done. Just preparing everything right now.”[/color] Pushing Daisy’s old room door open, she continued, [color=428DA2]“I was thinking of making cinnamon buns too. I don’t have anything scheduled till my stream tonight so I have time to kill.”[/color] Back in the kitchen, her anime playlist switched to the opening for Ouran Highschool Host Club, Sakura Kiss.

When she placed Daisy’s bags down on the firmly made bed, she snapped her finger, [color=428DA2]“Oh that reminds me.”[/color] Nadine turned to her sister and gave a small, exhausted smile. There were bags under her eyes which meant that the once upon a Valedictorian hadn’t gotten good sleep for who knows how long. Gaming never really impacted her sleep schedule. Daisy would know if anything was keeping her sister up, it was her restless mind. [color=428DA2]“Adam’s here. Your… Fred? Is that right? You’re Daphne, Roddy is Shaggy, Kylee is Velma…??”[/color] It’s been awhile since the Scoobies were a group of four. There wasn’t a reason to mention them until now with her sister being here. It was unfortunate that Roddy had left though. If only Daisy had come a month earlier.  [color=428DA2]“He works at Beau’s cafe. He wasn’t in today so it’s probably his day off. He’s been here for like a month I think. You should see if he and Kylee are free tonight. Kylee probably could use some normalcy after the events that happened this morning.”[/color]

[color=9b42a2]“You’re the best, Nadie,”[/color] Daisy hummed along to the song, vibing to her favourite anime track as she inspected Nadine’s cooking. As always, it was delicious and her mouth was drooling from anticipation. Surely that nap could wait, right? A heavy blink was enough to remind her that no, being awake for over 24 hours running on caffeine was not a ‘normal’ thing to do. Unless you were a college student. Or a gamer. Or NEET. [color=9b42a2]“An angel gracing us from the heavens to soothe our gentle heart- no, stomach in this case, shit.”[/color] There was something about home that brought out Daisy’s dramatic flair, the theatre kid in her ready to make everything into a show for the laughs.

[color=9b42a2]“Adam? You mean THE Adam Callahan? Mr Poof one day like me?”[/color] Daisy blinked in surprise. Granted, Daisy was whisked away barely a month after the senior year tragedy after Mrs Navarro caused a huge stink about the lack of safety procedures put in place by the school. About not ‘dealing with that Decker kid sooner’. But, if there even was a silver lining in this fucked up scenario, at least Daisy had gotten the chance to say goodbye to Roddy and Kylee. Adam never did. [color=9b42a2]“Something’s in the air for all us Scooby gang to reunite like this. Maybe that explains why I’ve been seeing a lot of activity in the ex drama chat. Something about that Cleary girl from my year confessing on Dawn Patrol that she was the one seeing David? Devi and Pres were live text-reacting to it. They lost their minds.”[/color] Kylee always had an inkling for a good story. If something was going down, Kye was sure to follow with her detective logic, like the perfect incarnation of Velma.

[color=428DA2]“Yeah, the Adam Callahan, though I don’t know the details. Never been tight with him like you were.”[/color] Walking away from Daisy’s bed, Nadine rested her hand on her sister’s shoulder, giving it a tight squeeze, [color=428DA2]“I’m glad to have you back. I just hope you don’t regret your decision,”[/color] the older sister frowned at the thought that Daisy escaped and was returning to hell, for the sake of family. Nadie was given the option but she couldn’t leave her dad like that. She loved him too much and if it weren’t for her, he would’ve had a stroke sooner. [color=428DA2]“Maybe you coming back is just what this town needs, seeing how ghosts are coming out of their graves to haunt us. First Allison, now David. I can’t help but think this is only going to get worse… but I’m sure Kylee is trying to find who has Decker’s journal. You should help her and not worry so much about dad and the cleaning business. I got it. Enjoy being back, be with your friends, and,”[/color] she paused and playfully booped her sister’s nose,  [color=428DA2]“solve this fucked up mystery.”[/color]

Daisy pulled her sister into a warm hug, leaning against Nadine’s shoulder to provide her with the same level of comfort that Nadie gives her. [color=9b42a2]“I didn’t want you to handle it alone.”[/color] Nadine was always like that - the level headed one in the family that just got on with life. She was the smart one, the one with so much promise, yet their mom never seemed to accept that Nadine simply had a mind of her own. No matter what, the two women were always on opposite ends and Daisy always felt the pinprick of guilt in the pit of her stomach when she’d remember the times she’d try to be the bridge between them. Usually to no avail.

[color=9b42a2]“I’ll help Kye, definitely. But I’m also here for you, don’t forget that, okay? I’m all grown up now, I can help.”[/color] Daisy then pulled away from the hug before it got too emotional. She would blabber too much and Daisy was not prepared to embarrass herself in the first 10 minutes of the reunion with her sister. It was clear in the last two years it wasn’t just Daisy that had changed, but the whole town seemed to have progressed without her. With Adam back, wild Gossip Girl like secrets being spilled, mousy cheerleaders owning up to their crazy romances and a polyamorous [i]sextet[/i] including her sex fiend football teammate, Daisy had a lot to catch up on with Nadie and Kylee.

[color=9b42a2]“Now, what’s this about some letters? Apparently nobody thought to send them over to the Philippines so I only have Preston’s version of events to go off of.”[/color]

[color=428DA2]“The short version is that someone has Charlie Decker’s journal and that boy was as sad as they come. Seeing things he probably shouldn’t. It only just started happening last month. Dear David was a red herring. Jamie O’Hara liked the impact of the Allison incident so she decided to force Cece’s hand and try to clean her brother’s name.”[/color] With furrowed eyebrows, strained at the nonsense this town was, Nadie played with her hair, reliving the day when the first set flooded everyone’s mailboxes. She continued, [color=428DA2]“The first batch of letters revealed perfect Allison had a drug problem and was scared to graduate, knowing damn well her best years were over. Similar to how David drank his failures away and it got him killed. She died in her best friend’s arms. Oh, and no one talks about the fact that Allison was screwing her best friend’s lover but maybe it’s because he’s the Kingsnake. Iunno. Anyways, whoever has Charlie’s journal hasn’t made a second strike yet but it’s still out there and I have this gut feeling this is only the beginning.”[/color]

[color=9b42a2]“Did I step into an episode of Jerry Springer? I swear not everyone had a terrible secret like this. Seriously, hooking up with your best friend’s man. Disloyalty right there when you remember how much Vivia worshiped Allison.”[/color] The girls were never far from each other, as to be expected from close best friends. Even Daisy was never too far from Preston or Kylee and Roddy when she was still attending Edenridge High. Daisy clicked her tongue in disappointment. Messy mess all around. [color=9b42a2]“What about you Nadie, got a deep dark secret you want off your chest? Before we get a letter in the mailbox about you next?”[/color] Daisy nudged her sister's side playfully, hoping to keep things light. Nadie was good, she looked well. Daisy only hoped she was [i]feeling[/i] it too.

[color=428DA2]“God, I wish,”[/color] Nadine half joked. Her life was dull and like clockwork. The only interesting thing she had going for her in school was her feud with Ross. [color=428DA2]“You should unpack and rest,”[/color] the older girl dismissively responded, rolling her eyes at Daisy’s playful antics. Gesturing to the luggage waiting on the bed, Nadie concluded, marking the end of their first interaction, [color=428DA2]“I need to finish cooking anyways.”[/color] Pulling her sister once more in a tight embrace, Nadie kissed Daisy’s cheek and smiled, [color=428DA2]“it’s good to have you back, sis.”[/color] It was clear Nadie wasn’t one to talk openly about herself. You had to catch her at a good moment. Daisy returning home and coming from the airport wasn’t one of those moments.

Daisy hugged her sister back, enjoying this moment of sisterhood after missing it for three long years. [color=9b42a2]“Fine then, keep your secrets. I’ll take bribery in food.”[/color] Finally pulling away, Daisy looked at her luggage with disdain, as though a simple look would unpack everything for her (it didn’t). She wanted to push some more, playfully banter with Nadie and just have one night of peace before-

[color=5142a2]*Ping*.[/color]

Daisy looked at her phone, seeing three messages from her mom still back in the Philippines. Likely having guessed that Daisy had arrived from the airport by now. She swiped the message away, ignoring that growing knaw of anxiety building up from the reminder of the reason she was here in the first place - her father. Who was still recovering away in the next room over.

[color=9b42a2]“I gotta text Ky and get this scoop about Adam anyway.”[/color] Daisy said, ushering Nadine out of her room so she could finally distract herself with salacious texts and boring unpacking.[/indent][/indent][/color]