April 2nd, 2026

I wake up at about 6:20 AM. My mom's out for work early, and my dad's on one of his usual business trips, so I make my own breakfast: a generic dish of ham, eggs, and bread. I take my daily estradiol pills, as I have androgen insensitivity syndrome and need them to ensure my body stays feminine due to the fact that I got the standard surgery for it when I was 14. I then drive to school, fight for parking, and sit through my classes. Like always, it's a joy when the lunch bell rings.

After turning down a bout of overpriced club event promotion, my friends and I engage in small talk while scrolling through logged out Internet feeds. 

"You heard about the Digital Circus movie?" Blossom asks me. 

I close my e-book edition of The Great Gatsby.

"A movie?" I ask, stunned. "Really?"

"Yeah." Blossom says, "I've heard rumours it's coming out in theatres this June. Two weeks before it drops on YouTube, apparently."

"Wow," I reply. "Getting tickets if it's true?"

Blossom smirks.

"Duh," she responds.

Glen shifts his ochre-toned hand away from his laptop keyboard.

"A lot of Internet people are going crazy over this," Glen dryly states. "They're so spoiler-phobic, they might actually touch grass for once."

"Grass? Like, real grass?" Blossom grins. "Boy, we really need to beat them and prove Jared wrong about us."

"Hey," I tell them, "I got an idea. What if we go to the park near the University of Waterloo?"

Glen turns to me.

"I'm pretty sure the open house already happened," he states. "No point in going that far to a damn city park."

"Well...we could sneak a view of some of the buildings," I explain. "I'm going on a campus tour on Sunday anyways. Maybe I could sneak you guys into some extra spots!"

Blossom looks up the University of Waterloo website for tours. Her gaze appears dismayed.

"There's nothing available right now," Blossom sighs. "But hey, I'm sure the tour guide wouldn't mind an extra two people! Even if neither of us are going to Waterloo..."

She and I then glare at Glen.

"So," I tell Glen, "two against three? You don't have to go if you don't wanna."

"Fine," Glen says. "I'm coming with you two. I couldn't stay the entire open house for U of T when I went with my boyfriend because he had a family emergency last-minute and I was carpooling with him."

"That's great!" I respond. "It's at 2:30, so hopefully we can all make it."

We return to our regular doomscrolling afterwards.

April 5th, 2026

Right now, our tour guide for Waterloo is taking us through the physics department. We're in the study area, a fast food diner-like hall without the fast food. Across from us is a sleek water refill station.

"Got any questions?" the guide asks us.

"Not really," I respond. "I've already been to the open house."

"Wonderful!" he exclaims. "We're going to the lecture hall next."

After visiting the lecture hall, the guide decides to show us a few miscellaneous rooms due to the fact that we have extra time. Among these include the washrooms, the outside of the professor lounges, and a few doors he isn't sure about. A messily decorated blue door piques my interest.

"Where does that go?" I ask the tour guide.

The tour guide makes a tongue click.

"Eeehhhh..." he hesitates, "nowhere good."

Blossom raises her pale hand.

"Oooooooh," Blossom points to what appears to be a mainframe in the room, "those solar panels look cool!"

"Yeah, they're also made by a total psycho," the tour guide says. "Anyways...you guys are going to Waterloo next year, right?"

"Just me," I correct him.

The tour guide takes out a few passes from his pockets. Mixed in with three legitimate looking visitor tickets are orange striped and rather shoddy papers.

"Maybe I could change your friends' minds for next year," he muses to me. "I have some extra passes to get you three into the party that's happening at the dorm tonight. Wanna go?"

Glen stares at both me and Blossom.

"Do you really think we're getting out of there sober?" he asks us.

"We're not going to get drugged," I reassure him. "Also, I think it'll be fun to experience a bit of university life before September."

Sure enough, a few hours later - we're in.

Later That Night

I've been partying for a while. God, Glen was right about it being tiring. The crowds are way too heavy, the music is comprised of mid-tier TikTok songs that can't bother to even attempt a bridge or realistic instruments, and the amount of alcohol nearby is enough to make the vicinity have the odor of a chemistry lab. Glen and Blossom eventually grow tired too, so we decide to sneak back into the physics building after hours with the help of our tour guide.

While our tour guide is away, I start to become nauseous. Somehow, though, I don't want to throw up either - if only because I have little in my system to throw up besides the half full glass of root beer I drank earlier. Or was it laced with something? I don't remember.

My friends are busy admiring the mysterious lab that the tour guide wanted to keep off limits for us, but I can't partake in their joy. Just as I'm about to call for help, I pass out.

(Tumblr version: https://www.tumblr.com/talesfromasnarkylisa/823160502826958848/the-daisy-theory-chapter-2?source=share)