Word count: 2151. Rating: all-ages
Summary: before Daisy Hart became Wild Heart, she was just a strawberry blonde in high school. And the Ginger Royals recruit from all red-heads…
Content notes: mild-ish verbal abuse from a parent, fatphobia, alcohol, implied underage drinking, realistic depiction of drowning (everybody’s okay), possible implied violence
Note: the gang’s name alternates freely between Ginger Queens, Ginger Kings, and Ginger Royals
Daisy wiped the water out of her eyes and pushed herself out of the pool.
“Hey Daisy, can we talk after we change?”
She glanced up – it was Lily Mills, who was the fastest swimmer in the class, had red hair that glowed like fire unlike Daisy’s pale strawberry blonde, and was a senior.
“S-sure!” Daisy was a sophomore and she’d taken swim and water safety instead of basic PE because she had thought she was already a good swimmer. Turns out she was only okay – too buoyant after a puberty boost that had turned her from round to curvy, undisciplined, and out of condition. And then she had almost no friends – her best friend ever had moved away last year after middle school, her second best friend had found cooler people to hang out with, and her other friends had so many others that Daisy was lost in the crowd. Which lately was kind of okay, because once she hit puberty her dad had changed from ignoring her to yelling at her. She looked too much like her mom, he said. Why didn’t he take care of herself? She was fat and stupid. And it was harder than ever to act like everything was okay, and school was harder, and she was just hanging on. So it would’ve been nice to have one class that she could ace.
But Lily was gorgeous, and thin, and wanted to talk to her. Daisy showered and changed quickly, but Lily was already waiting by the locker door when she was done.
“Hi.”
“Hey. That was fast.” Lily pushed open the door and Daisy trailed after. “That’s your natural hair color, right?”
“Um, yeah.”
“Cool.” The hall was fairly quiet – swim ended early to give everyone time. The bell wouldn’t ring for another five or so minutes and there were just a couple of people loitering in the corners. “Like, I know you don’t have a ton of friends. I could help fix that?”
Daisy blinked, her hands tight on her backpack straps. “What?”
Lily leaned back against a display case. “Have you heard of the Ginger Queens?”
Her heart sank. “Yeah?” She forced her arms down, trying to look relaxed.
“There’s going to be a party on Friday at the lake. Redheads only, y’know. You should come.”
“Um. I’ll think about it…”
“It’ll be low-key, promise. No pressure. Just come hang out.”
“Yeah.” Daisy fiddled with her sleeve. “Just, I have a lot of homework and I gotta… do stuff.”
“Okay, I understand. I hope to see you there though.”
Daisy trudged toward her next class, her damp hair cold on her neck. Her dad was a Ginger Royal. Not an important one, not by any measure, but he would boast when he came home with a full wallet and stinking of beer and cigarette smoke.
Her dad was home when she got there, slouched in his recliner watching the news.
“Um, dad?”
“What?” he snapped.
“I got invited to a party on Friday.” He looked sidelong at her. “Um. A Ginger Kings party.”
He grunted. “You gonna go?”
“Can I?” The news was showing a car chase, the red-haired driver grinning wildly as helicopters tried to keep up.
He shrugged. “‘S how I joined. You need something for it?”
She shook her head. “It’s at the lake. So normal clothes will be okay, yeah?”
“Probably yeah. Should be swimming.”
She nodded and he turned back to the tv. She took a deep breath. “Um, dad? Do you like it? Being in the gang?”
He snorted and ran a hand through his thinning and fading hair. “It’s better than working a cash register or some bullshit like that. Better than working till your back and knees give out like my dad. The Gingers’ll make sure you always got something to eat, somewhere to live.” He snorted again, it sounding half like a sigh. “Yeah, I like it well enough.” He switched to another news station. “You gonna go start dinner or what?”
“Yeah…”
She decided to go. At nothing else it meant she didn’t have to cook. When she told Lily, she promised to pick her up.
Her dad wasn’t home yet when Lily pulled up – Daisy had made sure there was a sandwich in the fridge for him, just in case. And she’d shoved her bathing suit and a towel in her backpack.
Lily’s care was nice – a couple years old, but spotless. And with five red-haired teens crammed in the back seat. “Come on Daisy! I saved shotgun for you!” Lily shouted through the window.
She climbed in, dropping her bag at her feet. “You didn’t have to do that.”
Lily shrugged and pulled away from the curb. “It’s no biggie. These dorks are relatives.”
The boy in the middle protested. “I’m not!”
“Relatives and my cousin’s dorky boyfriend.”
“You’re a dork,” he muttered.
The party was easy to find – a live band playing folk music, bonfires going even though it’d be light still for hours, and at least a hundred red heads. The shores of Shard Lake were covered with the rockfall debris that gave it its name, but this section had been made comfortable for picnics and such with landscaping and paved areas for tables here and there. A couple of boats were visible on the lake near the islands and the top of the cliff was abloom.
Lily looked glamorous in the sunlight, with her hair and nails done. Daisy felt better about her decision to dress up a bit – a good dress, painted nails.
“You look nice,” Lily said, then grabbed her hand. “Come on, before the dorks get all the good stuff.”
“Whoa…” Lily’s relatives ran toward the buffet – several tables full of sandwiches, snacks, meat, and every potluck dish imaginable, plus another table of desserts. Nearby someone was pouring drinks, including a variety of sodas.
Glancing around while she ate, Daisy started to realize how many people were in green, gold, or orange – Ginger Royal colors – and how many teens were there.
“Holy shit,” Lily breathed. “That’s RQ!” Rayne Queensberry – the gang leader – was making a plate for a little girl holding on to her pant leg. Despite that RQ seemed like a queen visiting her subjects – fashionable, elegant, with a long braid wrapped in gold ribbons, and trailed by handsome, dangerous-looking men.
“Wow, she’s gorgeous,” Daisy whispered. Lily nodded. They weren’t the only ones staring, or pretending not to be looking.
Food eaten, and celebrities having moved on, Lily pulled her toward the band where a bunch of teens were dancing. “I don’t…” Daisy protested.
“Relax!” Lily brightened. “How about I get you a beer?”
“Lily! I’m-“
She scoffed. “You think anybody cares? Trust me, I’ve been coming to these since I was twelve.”
“No!”
“Something tastier then?”
“No!” Daisy huffed. “I’m fine.”
“Fine. Just come dance then!” And Lily pulled her onto the dance floor.
Dancing was surprisingly easy. Almost nobody had paired off, just clustered into loose clumps that sashayed, stomped, and swayed to the sound of the fiddles, drums, and pipes. Teens drifted from clump to clump shouting bits of conversation over the music and the bonfire nearby cast them in golden light.
Daisy’s foot slipped and a boy next to her caught her. “You okay?”
She nodded, realizing suddenly how out of breath she was. “I think I need a break.” She turned to find Lily but she’d drifted away into the stream of bodies.
“Me too! Come on!”
They picked up drinks – Daisy water, him a cider, and browsed at the buffet as they chatted. His name was Bran, he was 17, and he’d been in the Ginger Royals for two years almost. He was in a gold pullover with a handmade red-headed king pin. The conversation drifted – to school, to the gang, to the party.
“The weather’s so nice. I meant to go for a swim today,” Bran said.
“Is it okay?”
He waved toward the water and the lifeguard stand. “They paid for lifeguards and everything.”
She smiled. “I was getting warm anyway.” They ducked into the changing rooms behind the lifeguard station and hers wasn’t the only bag that ended up tucked under it. She frowned a bit at the lifeguard leaning on his arm, a drink next to him, but Bran was running toward the water full of adults and teens.
The water was cool but not cold. Sand had been dumped to protect swimmers’ feet, but here and there rocks smoothed by years of footsteps and currents poked through. Like the dancing, the groups in the water were formless and aimless – splashing, talking, floating, as each felt inclined. There was a platform tethered a ways out and after a while Daisy pulled herself onto it, lazily kicking her feet in the water. She frowned at the lounging lifeguard again, then looked around for anyone she knew.
It took a second to realize what she was seeing, but as the boy’s head went under she kicked off. There wasn’t anything to use nearby and she was by his side in seconds. He was bigger than she was, flapping in the water uselessly, but she got an arm around him and his head above water.
“Hey! Get the lifeguard!” She shouted toward the nearest group of adults. The turned. One of them was one of the men that had been with RQ. He gestured two of them towards her and headed to shore himself.
“You okay?” The women asked as she took some of the boy’s weight, the other treading water between them. The boy was thrashing now – he’d already hit her several times – and his breath stank of beer.
“I’m fine. I’m a strong swimmer,” Daisy said. She was getting tired, but she’d be okay for a while and she didn’t want to risk him breathing in more water.
“Okay! Let’s head in! Kit will take over if you need it, okay?”
“Okay!”
Daisy sat panting as the boy got checked over. The man that had directed them had disappeared with the lifeguard after two replacements had shown up. There had been a bit of shouting then they cleared the water.
The woman that had helped her brought over a towel. “You okay?”
“Yeah, I think so. Tired.” She wrapped the towel around her and leaned against her knees. “Is he going to be okay?”
“Well, once he’s no longer grounded maybe.” She smiled gently. “They’ll take him to the doctor to be sure, but he sounds okay, thanks to you.”
“What about the life guard?”
She sighed. “Drunk. Malachi is yelling at him.”
Daisy knew the Ginger Royals weren’t particularly forgiving. “Will he be in trouble?”
“I doubt he’ll be hired again,” she said with a shrug. “Can I get you anything?”
Daisy shook her head and got up. “I’ll get a snack, if there’s anything left.”
“Don’t worry about that. There should be enough food for two armies.”
The food was starting to look picked over, but there was definitely a good selection left, and plenty of soda. Daisy plopped herself at a picnic table. The sun was beginning to set and the bonfires had been built up again to throw dancing shadows everywhere.
Lily found her after a while. “You okay? I heard what happened.”
“Yeah, I’m fine.” She forced a smile. “Good thing we did rescues last month in class, huh?”
“Yeah. Still, that was really brave.”
She shrugged. “I guess. I didn’t feel brave.”
Lily sat down. “You sure you’re okay? The party’s going to keep going for a while, but I can take you home now if you want.”
“Yeah, if you don’t mind. I’m tired, y’know?”
Lily insisted she didn’t mind. Her relatives (and her cousin’s boyfriend) wanted to stay longer, so it was just the two of them in the car. Lily drove carefully, a bit more so than when they’d come.
“I’m supposed to encourage you to join now, but you don’t have to. People just come to the parties sometimes and never join, or join a lot later.”
“Do you get, like, credit for it?” Daisy asked.
Lily shrugged. “It helps. I’m too young to do much besides errands.”
Daisy watched the sunset through the trees they passed for a moment. “My dad’s a Ginger Royal, did you know?” Lily shook her head. “He’s… kind of a jerk.”
“What about your mom?”
“She left years ago.”
“Oh. I’m sorry.”
They were turning into Daisy’s neighborhood.
She pulled her bag into her lap, before sighing. “I don’t think I want to join, Lily.”
“Okay. I mean, let me know if you change your mind, but we can still hang out and stuff.” She parked next to the curb. “I hope you had fun tonight anyway, despite the, uh, y’know.”
She made herself smile. “I did. Thanks for inviting me.”
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