I’m now sitting in front of the computer in my room with a thick smear of hot sauce right underneath my nose. Instead of making me eat huge amounts of hot sauce so I would end up occupying the only bathroom in our unit for hours, my parents decided to get creative about it and keep the sauce usage to a minimum. Wouldn’t want to run out of another torture device-I mean, flavorful condiment, so soon. They also decided to torture me by watching new episodes of Doctor Who in the living room without me, so I can just barely hear what's going on, yet miss out on everything.

I want to inform my teachers about the 'horrible mistake' as soon as possible, so while I'm breathing in fumes and losing all coloration in my upper lip I'm typing as fast as I can, composing an email to my teachers telling them about the error made regarding my grades. Shame on them. I finish writing, look it over, and hit send, relaxing knowing a major problem’s out of the way. Tipping back in my chair, I lean a bit too far and feel the chair legs slip out from underneath me.

“WoaHHHH-thud” Ouch.

“Shit, that hurts.” I roll over onto my stomach and prop my arms up underneath me, but a weak spell suddenly comes over me and I collapse, hitting my head on the floor. Feeling a huge wave of dizziness coming, I lie on the floor and try to stay conscious as everything fades into oblivion.

When I come to, I feel a cold, hard surface against my back. Snapping my eyes open, I stare into the eyes of the one person I don’t want seeing me like this.

“Hello sweetie, are you finally waking up?” Daisy grins at me like only a demon can and leans in closer so I can smell her swee-I mean rancid, really rancid, horrible breath.

“Fuck off, Daisy. Wait, no, first tell me why you’re here, then you can get out of my room.”

“I wouldn’t say ‘fuck off’ to the person who just saved your ass.”

“What are you talking about? Just answer the question.”

She leans back on her feet, and gives me a look. “I’m talking about you passing out, of course. Your parents invited me over for after-dinner snacks, and when I stopped by I found you passed out on the floor and your parents nowhere near. I've been waiting for you to wake up for over an hour. You can thank me after you tell be where you guys keep your peanut butter.”

Wait. How did I pass out? And for an hour? I had been breathing in hot sauce fumes for a couple minutes, then fell over, but that doesn’t cause a complete black out. Maybe I hit my head a little harder than I remember? No, then I would be seeing spots and crawling over to where we keep the Tylenol. Feeling that there’s still hot sauce on my upper lip, I quickly wipe it off.

“You missed a spot”

“Can it, Daisy. Did my parents say anything about going out?” Wait. Did they…no, they wouldn’t.

“Well, they did hint that if things were going well between us they would give us some space,” she admits. Dammit. They did. Stupid ship. “But I don’t think they would’ve left before I got here. Maybe something came up?”

“I dunno. But I think …” A faint buzzing starts in my head, and just as I begin to get an image…

“What? What is it?” And…it’s gone. Fuck. Great going, Daisy.

“I don’t remember now. Looking at your stupid face has lowered my short-term memory capabilities.”

She pouts, then leans over me again. “Well then, maybe I could become your own personal Silence.” Damn. This girl really knows how much I love Doctor Who.

“Stooopppp. But seriously, what’s even happening? My parents are gone, I passed out, and you’re annoying me, which I guess is normal.”

“Oh come on, I’m not that annoying.” She looks hard at me, her smile faltering for a second after seeing how shaken I really am, then says, “I honestly don’t know what happened to you or your parents, if that makes you feel any better.”

I feel better already. Not. I wonder if she really thinks that reassuring me she’s not hiding anything will make me feel better than the complete helplessness that’s currently overwhelming me.

“Should we look for your parents?” I look up at her as she rises, then nod my head, feeling too weak to go against her and too concerned about where my parents are. Grabbing hold of her outstretched hand, I haul myself up and look for my phone to call my MIA parents.