Note this takes place concurrently with Evan’s World/Whispers of a former life during the fall of 2021
The halls of Roosevelt Middle School thrummed with the familiar symphony of adolescent chaos, metal lockers slamming shut with reverberating clangs, sneakers squeaking against freshly waxed linoleum, and the overlapping chatter of hundreds of teenagers riding the sugar high of cafeteria breakfast pizza and rebellion. The air hung thick with the competing scents of sausage grease and industrial strength lemon cleaner, creating that distinctly institutional atmosphere that somehow felt both suffocating and energizing.
Most students navigated this sensory assault with practiced indifference, heads buried in phones, AirPods blocking out the world. But Dayton Harris moved through the corridors like she owned them, which, in many ways, she did.
Her designer backpack, a sleek black Herschel that cost more than some kids’ entire school wardrobes, hung perfectly positioned on her right shoulder. Each step of her limited edition Adidas carried purpose, confidence radiating from her posture like heat from summer pavement. Her blonde hair, styled in a way that caught the fluorescent lights, swayed with each deliberate stride. She didn’t weave around other students; they instinctively parted for her, creating invisible pathways through the crowd.
“Carson’s already posted up outside his classroom like some kind of tardy patrol officer,” Hayden muttered, adjusting her oversized hoodie. Despite the expensive label, she wore it like armor, hood up, hands buried in the front pocket, one earbud pressed into her ear. “I swear that man thinks catching late kids is his divine calling.”
“We’re not late,” Dayton replied without breaking stride, her voice carrying that particular brand of certainty that came from never being wrong about social logistics.
“You’re not early either,” Hayden shot back, a smirk tugging at the corner of her mouth.
Hannah glanced up from her Moleskine sketchbook, where she’d been doodling intricate patterns in the margins. A strand of honey brown hair had escaped her perfectly straight hair, and she brushed it away with paint stained fingers. “He’s probably still salty about that ‘math is mental torture’ graffiti someone tagged in the boys’ bathroom last week.”
Dayton’s smile came slow and dangerous. “Wasn’t us.”
“True,” Hayden nodded sagely. “We have way better handwriting. And artistic vision.”
They rounded the corner where a cluster of seventh graders had colonized the floor space, legs crossed, faces bathed in the blue glow of videos and whispered gossip about who was dating whom. Dayton’s locker opened with a satisfying metallic clang that seemed to echo her mood perfectly.
“Nicole still at the dentist?” Hayden asked, leaning against her own locker without bothering to open it.
“Wisdom teeth consultation,” Dayton confirmed, pulling out a three-ring binder covered in a carefully curated collection of stickers, half Pinterest worthy aesthetics, half inside jokes from summers in California with her close friend Chrissy. “She said she’d be back before gym, assuming they don’t put her under or whatever.”
“She’s going to be so annoyed if she misses science group work again,” Hannah added, closing her sketchbook with a soft thud. “She already doesn’t trust anyone else with the Bunsen burners after Clara nearly torched her eyebrows off.”
Dayton laughed under her breath. “Smart girl. Clara’s lucky she still has eyebrows.”
This was the easy part, the familiar rhythm of friendship, the predictable social choreography that Dayton had mastered years ago. Here, in these hallways, among these people, she was untouchable. Student council president, check. Honor roll, check, Guardian certification with top marks, check, check. Everything perfectly controlled, perfectly planned.
Except for one glaring omission that gnawed at her like a splinter under perfectly manicured nails.
She’d graduated from Guardian Training over the summer. Top of her class. Her evaluation packet had used words like “exceptional leadership potential” and “natural caretaking instincts.” The certificate hung in her bedroom, professionally framed next to her academic awards.
But she still didn’t have a Little.
Three months of waiting. Three months of watching other certified Guardians get with their little companions while she remained…littleless. Every time someone mentioned career paths or future plans, that absence sat in her chest like a stone.
Not yet, she told herself, But soon she thought amongst the hallway that was still annoyingly loud, the kind of loud that blurred into a steady roar, lockers slamming, sneakers squeaking, and the chatter of kids comparing test scores and Shards. Dayton stood in front of her locker, staring at nothing. Her binder hung loose in one hand, the other resting on the open door. Her reflection stared back faintly from the metal, eyes unfocused.
She didn’t even realize Hannah was talking to her until a hand waved across her vision.
“Earth to Dayton,” Hannah sing songed, grinning. “You good? You’re doing that thing where you zone out like you’re solving world hunger.”
Dayton blinked, snapping back. “What? Yeah. Sorry. Distracted.”
Hayden raised an eyebrow, leaning against her locker with that lazy slouch she’d perfected. “Distracted? You? The girl who alphabetizes her pens?”
“I do not alphabetize my pens.”
“You so do,” Hannah said, smirking. “Blue, black, red, green, in neurotic harmony.”
Dayton shut her locker a little too fast, the clang echoing. “I was just… thinking.”
Hayden nudged her. “About what? Your GPA? Whether the world’s ready for another Guardian of the Year acceptance speech?”
Dayton forced a small laugh, but her face didn’t quite match the sound. “Please. Like that’s even a real award.”
Hannah tilted her head. “You’ve been weird lately. Like, staring into the void weird.”
“I’m fine,” Dayton said, shifting the strap of her bag higher on her shoulder. She spotted Suzy Johnson walking down the hall in a blindingly pink sweater that looked like it was made out of bubble gum and regret. Perfect diversion. “Anyway, I swear Suzy Johnson shouldn’t be allowed to dress herself.”
Hayden snorted. “She looks like a Pepto Bismol commercial.”
“More like if Pepto Bismol and a raccoon had a baby,” Hannah added, giggling.
“Tragic,” Dayton said with a half smile, grateful for the subject change. “Someone should stage an intervention before she shows up to class dressed like a highlighter again.”
The three of them laughed, that easy rhythm of friendship returning for a moment.
But when Hannah turned to fish a pencil from her bag, Hayden caught the flicker in Dayton’s eyes, the way her gaze drifted down the hall toward the cluster of seventh graders still buzzing about the new Littles some of their families had bought.
Dayton’s smile faltered for just a breath.
Hayden nudged her again, quieter this time. “You sure you’re okay? You’ve been… off.”
Dayton’s voice was steady, but her jaw tightened. “I said I’m fine.”
Hayden and Hannah both thought better of pressing any further. Especially with Nicole not around Dayton if she got annoyed would be unbearable.
“exceptional leadership potential” and “natural caretaking instincts.”
me waiting for the Lethal comment of the day:
Bro me too his reaction is going to fun to watch
I hope I didn’t disapoint
lol
Oh dear god …..okay let’s see some more development
Glad you’re back dude can’t wait to see what happens next
Yeah, its a fun series of events.
Hell yeah, a Dayton update. My favorite character is back in the spotlight where she belongs.
I knew you were gonna be happy about hte dayton series.
0) Dayton? But if it’s this story… that can only mean she’s gonna get a Little
1) “She didn’t weave around other students; they instinctively parted for her, creating invisible pathways through the crowd.” Figures she wouldn’t have manners
2) “half Pinterest-worthy aesthetics, half inside jokes from summers in California with her close friend Chrissy” Chrissy deserves so much better
3) “She already doesn’t trust anyone else with the Bunsen burners after Clara nearly torched her eyebrows off.” Damn, I remember the safety procedures schools have with those/
4) “Her evaluation packet had used words like “exceptional leadership potential” and “natural caretaking instincts.” That doesn’t sound like Dayton. Did she bribe the evaluator? Did AI evaluate her?
5) “But she still didn’t have a Little.” We should keep it that way
6) “Three months of waiting. Three months of watching other certified Guardians get with their little companions while she remained…littleless” good she deserves to stay that way.
7) “I do not alphabetise my pens.” “You so do, Blue, black, red, green, in neurotic harmony.” That’s not alphabetical order
8) “Please. Like that’s even a real award.” I wouldn’t be surprised if it became one, maybe not through Genritech but I could see companies doing it.
9) “Anyway, I swear Suzy Johnson shouldn’t be allowed to dress herself.” Dayton is using bullying another student as a distraction is very in character
10) “You sure you’re okay? You’ve been… off.” “I said I’m fine.” Dayton’s better than she deserves to be.
11) “Hayden and Hannah both thought better of pressing any further. Especially with Nicole not around Dayton if she got annoyed would be unbearable.” She’s not better with Nicole around
7) 🤣
0) You never know it could be a tale in which she really wants one and then never gets one. The lethal edit.
1) Although she wasnt asking them to move or requiring it of them. They parted themselves for her. So its really not her.
2) Dayton could be a good person when it comes to non-little related activities and events. Chrissy does have some Dayton like beliefs just executed with a different light becuase of how she was introduced.
3) Kids gonna kid. Any accident you can walk away from as they say.
4) Well you have to remember they evaluated Dayton as she was in class and how she demonstrated the abilities for the instructors and such. So they can only judge her based on the current dayton not the entirety of Dayton’s whole life. So the evaluation is truly unbiased as no one knew her outside of her training which is the way its intended.
5) In a perfect lethal run world Dayton would be forever littleless.
6) I thought you would enjoy her feelings over this.
7)When Hannah accuses Dayton of alphabetizing her pens, she doesn’t mean Dayton literally arranges them by the first letter of the color such as B, B, R, G. She’s using alphabetize as shorthand for over organized.
So when Hannah then lists the orderL blue, black, red, green, in neurotic harmony. She’s teasing Dayton for lining them up in a precise, deliberate pattern, not for following the alphabet. It’s that middle school way of exaggerating
8) I could see that as well. It wouldnt surprise me if some organizaiton did it. People like a good ceremony where they can pat others on the back
9) She’s not really bullying as she’s not saying it to Suzy herself or belittling Suzy Johnson the character beyond her group of friends. She’s more gossiping with her friends in a catty way, like girls tend to do. Especially with each other.
10) i like how you have a level of hatred towards Dayton like she kicked your dog.
11) Canonically Nicole can calm her down. A Dayton whisperer if you will.
0) I’d like that
1) It stinks of past experience.
2) Maybe, but based on how she treats Suzy I have doubts
4) So just the playing nice she did while she know she was being watched/evaluated, not the real her.
5) In my perfect world, Dayton IS a Little
7) Hoisted by my over literal reading comprehension… again
9) It could be cultural, But I was always taught talking shit about people behind their back is bullying, just as bad as saying it too their face, but more cowardly.
10) She was cruel to Jordan, it’s close enough.
11) poor Nicole
There something on the floor what is that ?
I think it’s just litter.
Lethal is correct its just random paper that has fallen on the ground as its a school hallway.