"Do you think that Zakhrov boy is a part of the Russian mob?" asked Emily Clarke.
Daisy Eddington shook her head, her long blonde ponytail bouncing from side to side.
"How am I supposed to know Emily?" she asked.
Emily tucked her brown hair behind her ear. "I think he is. And I'm going to get Mommy to investigate him. Get me his school ID, will you?" she told Daisy.
"Why me?" asked Daisy.
"Because you sit next to the twerp," said Emily.
"E-Emily I don't think I can do that. What if he really is Mafia and orders a hit on me?" asked Daisy.
"He's not going to be able to do that you useless bimbo!" snapped Emily.
Daisy screamed and cowered behind Emily as a loud, menacing rumble echoed through the parking lot.
"Daisy! Get off me!" shouted Emily, struggling to maintain balance as Daisy clung to her for dear life.
"He's here!" shrieked Daisy as a black BMW M5 pulled into the parking lot.
It turned slowly, like a predator encircling its prey, and reversed into a parking spot just a few feet from where Emily and Daisy stood.
"D-Daisy you're hurting me!" said Emily wincing as Daisy's long fingernails dug into her sleeve.
The tinted window of the BMW rolled down to reveal the object of their discussion, Aaron Zakhrov.
"Is something the matter Ms. Eddington and Ms Clarke?" he asked.
"What? Are you going to try and ram into us as well?" snarled Emily.
"Would you perhaps happen to have a baseball bat to vandalize my car?" countered Aaron.
"W-What? Of course not, why would I do that?" demanded Emily.
"Well then ask Ms. Waziri, she brought a bat, so I had to improvise," snapped Aaron.
Daisy poked her head out from behind Emily. "I-Is that what happened?" she asked.
"Yes, that is what happened, which is why I'm here and Ms. Waziri is not." said Aaron, as he and Ivan got out of the car.
"Don't worry girls, Aaron's quite the gentleman," chuckled Ivan, ruffling Aaron's hair.
"Later, Dad," said Aaron, and left for the main entrance without another glance at the girls.
Ivan chuckled as Aaron left. "I take it that you two are his classmates?" he asked.
Daisy blushed and nodded, while Emily's lips curled unpleasantly.
"Come along Daisy, we'll be late for class," she said, pulling Daisy behind her.
Daisy gave Ivan an apologetic wave as she was dragged away.
Ivan shrugged, and got back in the car to drive to MIT.
Emily glared at Mamba's empty seat, and then back at Aaron, who was sitting near the middle of the classroom, hidden behind a black plastic behemoth of a laptop. Her hands shook as she recalled the fallout of the "incident" between Aaron and Mamba.
"You're going down Zakhrov, one way or another," she silently vowed to herself.
Aaron stared at his laptop screen thoughtfully, replaying an earlier conversation he had with Father Abel about safe outlets.
"U-um Aaron?" said a timid voice next to him. He looked up from the tutorial program code to see Daisy Eddington standing next to his seat.
"What is it Ms. Eddington?" he asked her.
Daisy fidgeted nervously with the hem of her uniform skirt.
"I-I'm sorry I thought you were part of the Russian mob," she whispered.
"And why would you make that assumption?" asked Aaron raising an eyebrow.
"U-um well, Mamba left school right after that incident with you for medical reasons, and you didn't get any punishment, so everyone thinks it is because you have mob connections, and are forcing Father Joseph to keep you," mumbled Daisy, realizing how silly it sounded.
"Ms. Eddington, does Father Joseph strike you as someone who would be intimidated by a 13-year-old member of organized crime?" asked Aaron.
Daisy stared at him for a few seconds and then burst into a fit of giggles.
"No, I suppose not," she said. "Wait, are you only 13?" she asked him as the full extent of what Aaron said crystallized.
"Yes, I am," said Aaron.
"I see. W-well sorry again," said Daisy, mortified that she was so scared of someone two years her junior.
Aaron gave her a nonchalant wave as she returned to her desk.
----
"Do you have a girlfriend Aaron?" asked Daisy a few days before their midterm tests.
"I asked a girl out on a date before school started, but she said I was too young," said Aaron as he copied down a circuit diagram.
"I see," said Daisy, returning to her own assignment, a blush creeping into her cheeks.
They worked in silence until the bell rang, signaling the end of day.
Emily cornered Daisy as she exited the library. "Well? You've been getting closer to him for the better part of the semester. What have you found out?" she demanded.
"I-I don't know what you mean," said Daisy somewhat taken aback by Emily's sudden demand.
Emily rolled her eyes. "Have you found any dirt on him, Daisy? Anything that I can use on him?" she asked slowly, as if talking to a child.
"No I haven't, and I suggest you drop it, Emily. You know what happened now," replied Daisy.
Emily seized Daisy by her tie and pulled her close.
"Listen up you dumb bimbo. The only reason I let you associate with that piece of trash is so that you can come up with something I can use against him. Now either do that, or your life is over. You got that?" she whispered.
Daisy looked away, her eyes starting to leak tears. "Y-Yes Emily," she whimpered.
Emily released her and sauntered off.
Vision blurring, Daisy ran for the guidance counselor's office.
----
"Shh. It's all right. You did the right thing to come to me," said Father Abel gently stroking Daisy's head as she sobbed into his black cassock.
"I don't know what to do, Father. I cannot refuse Emily." sniffled Daisy.
Father Abel sighed.
"All right Daisy, here is what you can do. Continue to be friends with Aaron, and whenever Emily asks you for dirt on him, just tell her honestly what you observe. I'm sure Aaron has nothing that Emily will be able to use against him, but I will keep a close eye on everything and step in to protect you both. All right?" he told her.
Daisy dried her tears and stood up. "Thank you for listening Father," she said.
After she had left, Father Abel held his head in his hands.
With a sigh he dialed Ivan's number.
----
"Using global variables like that will give you a lot of trouble. It would be much more readable for you to use getter and setter functions inside the class," said Aaron as he pointed to a section of code Daisy was working on.
"Thanks, Aaron," said Daisy blushing as she corrected her mistake.
Later that day, Emily cornered her near the lockers. "Well?" Emily demanded, her arms crossed. "What dirt do you have on him?"
Daisy hesitated, clutching her books tightly. "He... he doesn't really talk to anyone else. Just me. His dad works at MIT, and his mom teaches English at the public school."
Emily's scowl deepened. "That's it? Ugh, you're useless. Keep digging," she snapped before storming off.
As the midterms loomed closer, Daisy found herself spending more time with Aaron, not because of Emily's demands, but because she genuinely enjoyed his company.
----
"Aaron! I can't believe I scored so high in computer science!" squealed Daisy.
"It was quite an improvement," said Aaron, his voice muffled as Daisy almost smothered him.
Daisy released him with a blush. "Let's celebrate! Where would you like to go?" she asked him, hanging on his arm.
"The school outfitters, I seem to need new uniforms," said Aaron.
"Oh," said Daisy, taken aback and about to disengage from his arm, but he pulled her closer.
"Your blouse has ripped, come along," he whispered in her ear.
Daisy looked down in surprise, and sure enough, a button on her blouse had ripped. Her cheeks burned.
"OK," she said nervously, hiding behind Aaron as they walked down the corridor to the school outfitter's shop.
"Ah! Welcome, Mr. Zakhrov," greeted Sophia as Aaron and Daisy entered the uniform shop.
"U-um I need help," mumbled Daisy, stepping forward, showing Sophia her ripped blouse.
"Come along Ms. Eddington, Aaron was right to bring you straight here," said Sophia placing a comforting arm on Daisy.
"T-Thanks Aaron," said Daisy before she was led away by Sophia.
----
"Looks like you'll need a new bra," remarked Sophia as she observed the marks Daisy's bra strap had made in her soft white skin.
"Again?" sighed Daisy, before she let out a squeal of pain as Sophia massaged the impressions her bra had made in her skin.
"You know. If you feel like you're going through bras too quickly, you might want to consider an over-bust corset instead," said Sophia as she stitched new buttons on Daisy's blouse.
"Do people still wear corsets like that?" asked Daisy.
"Sure they do. All right, here is your altered blouse," said Sophia and helped Daisy back into her blouse.
----
"Were you able to fix Ms. Eddington's predicament Ms. Sophia?" asked Aaron as Sophia returned with Daisy in tow.
"Temporarily at least. Unfortunately, Ms. Eddington requires new undergarments as well," said Sophia as Daisy grew red with embarrassment.
"Well, I'm sure Emily would be able to assist you with that," said Aaron.
Hearing Emily's name, Daisy almost fell at Aaron's feet. "No! No! Please, I can't face her like this!" she wailed, tears spilling from her blue eyes.
"All right, I might have a solution," said Aaron, his eyes shining with resolve. He pulled out his phone and dialed Kate's number.
"Ms. Kate, my friend has a bit of a predicament, I cannot go into details over the phone, but can you come and pick us up?" he spoke into the receiver.
"Aaron is that you? My goodness your voice has changed quite a bit. All right I'll be there in 20 minutes," replied Kate's voice before the call cut off.
"Who is Ms. Kate?" asked Daisy curiously.
"She's Father Abel's classmate from college," replied Aaron.
20 minutes later, Kate pulled up in front of the school entrance in an Uber.
"Ms. Kate, this is Ms. Daisy Eddington, I shall let her explain her predicament." said Aaron.
"I-I need a new bra," whispered Daisy in Kate's ear.
Kate fought down a giggle. "Well, no need to be so nervous dear," she said, moving further into the Uber. However, Daisy still clung onto Aaron. "Can you come as well Aaron? I don't feel comfortable," said Daisy, blushing crimson.
"Very well," sighed Aaron and climbed into the Uber with Daisy.
----
Aaron gave Kate a questioning look as they entered Summer's Shoe Shop.
"What I'm about to show you is not meant to be public information. You both need to keep it a secret. OK?" said Kate in a business-like tone.
"Yes, Ms. Kate," replied Aaron.
Kate unlocked a red door at the back of the shop, and beckoned them inside.
"Wow," gasped Daisy as they entered the room. It was another section of the shop, but instead of shoes and boots, various pieces of lingerie and other strange clothing in exotic materials lined the walls.
"Come along Ms. Eddington, let's get you fitted," said Kate and steered Daisy into a fitting room behind a thick red curtain.
Aaron, left with nothing to do, decided to explore the various items in the shop.
He found himself being drawn towards a black leather over-bust corset.
It looked beautiful on the plastic mannequin, with its soft supple leather, steel front fastenings and sweetheart neckline.
His thoughts inexplicably turned to Daisy as he ran his fingers over the corset's smooth leather.