Dayton: The Junior Guardian Chronicles: Episode 29

Hayden was mid laugh, still riding her own “expired lip gloss” joke, when Dayton’s phone started buzzing like it was possessed. 

Not a text buzz. Not a polite little brrp. A full on, vibrating in her pocket, someone is FaceTiming you right now insistence. 

Dayton glanced down, then reflexively brought her hand a little closer to her chest so Mr. Rhys wouldn’t get jostled by the hallway current. With her free hand, she fished her phone out. 

The screen lit up with SARA and the big green accept button. 

Dayton’s thumb hovered for half a beat. 

Then she answered. 

Sara Reeves’ face popped onto the screen, close enough that you could see the shine in her eyes, like she’d been staring at the call screen waiting for it to connect. Ellie Montgomery-Ward was wedged into the frame beside her, leaning in like she’d been invited to the drama and brought snacks. 

Behind them, out of focus, there was motion and noise. Someone laughing. A voice that sounded like Mallory saying, “Kayla, stop, you’re literally doing too much,” and Kayla snapping back, “I’m not, I’m being efficient.” 

And further back, Dayton caught a glimpse of Jordy’s head and Chloe’s blonde hair, but they weren’t in the frame. Just a blur of presence. 

Sara didn’t waste time pretending she was casual. 

“Baby Shark,” she said immediately, voice tight. “Talk to me.” 

Dayton’s expression softened in a way it only ever did for Sara. “I’m okay.” 

“That’s not an answer,” Sara shot back, and her eyes flicked down, scanning Dayton like she could see through the screen and check for bruises. “Chloe had a private feed. I saw the raid. I saw the officers. Like… the guns, Dayton. Are you okay okay?” 

Ellie made a face, then lifted a hand and gave Dayton a two-finger salute. “Hi, Day. You look… very un-arrested. Congrats.” 

“Sara,” Dayton said, a little exasperated, “I’m fine.” 

Sara’s stare didn’t move. “Mentally.” 

That word landed heavier than the rest of the hallway noise. 

Dayton swallowed. Hayden, standing close enough to hear, didn’t interrupt this time. She just shifted her weight and leaned in, shoulder brushing Dayton’s, a quiet little I’m here. 

Dayton exhaled. “I’m… processing.” 

Sara’s mouth tightened. “Okay. And him. Is he okay?” 

Dayton lifted her hand slightly so the camera could catch Mr. Rhys. 

The effect was immediate. 

Sara’s face softened into something almost maternal, but there was fear underneath it. Ellie’s brows lifted, more curious than shocked, like she was looking at a rare collectible she’d only heard about. 

Mr. Rhys stared at the phone as if it were a portal to another universe. He knew Sara Reeves. Not personally obviously, He’d heard students talk about her streams, the way they talked about weather: constant, unavoidable, everywhere. However, more than that if he was being honest with himself he watched her streams. It was a guilty pleasure to unwind. They were silly, mentally relaxing and she also worked in segments of genuine good advice for guardians and littles. 

But Ellie Montgomery-Ward being there? 

His brain snagged on the hyphenated last name like it was a hook. 

Montgomery-Ward. 

Shipping. Ports. East Coast freight. Gulf routes. Even Canadian Atlantic terminals. A family that didn’t just have money, but had infrastructure. The kind of power that didn’t trend for a day and disappear. The kind that moved in steel and contracts and entire coastlines with a hint something more under the table. He had heard the rumors and talk. He had no idea if they were true but he never wanted to find out either. 

Ellie leaned closer to the camera, squinting at him like he was a new filter. “No way,” she said. “That’s literally Mr. Rhys. He looks just like Dayton said only smaller now.” 

Mr. Rhys felt a cold prickle go down his spine. “Montgomery-Ward,” he blurted before he could stop himself. 

Ellie blinked. As people didnt use her name like that. Then grinned like she’d just found a fun button to push. “In the flesh. Or… in the Wi-Fi.” 

Sara shot Ellie a look. “Ellie.” 

“What?” Ellie said, totally unbothered. “I’m not being mean. I’m being… observational.” 

Mr. Rhys’s mouth went dry. He stared at the screen, trying to recalibrate. “You… know Dayton?” 

Ellie’s grin widened. “Yeah.” 

Mr. Rhys looked up at Dayton’s face, then back to Ellie, like his mind refused to accept the math. “Why.” 

Dayton’s eyes narrowed. “Because people exist outside your classroom, Mr. Rhys.” 

Hayden bit her lip hard, clearly fighting a laugh. 

Sara leaned in, voice gentler now. “Ezra,” she said, using his first name like she had permission to, like the world had already shifted. However, he wasn’t he teacher. He was just a person, a little to her. She only knew what Dayton had told her. “Are you… okay?” 

Hearing his name out loud, from Sara Reeves, on a video call in a hallway full of kids who could crush him without noticing, made something in his chest lurch. 

“I…” He tried. The words tangled. “No.” 

Sara’s expression softened even more. “Okay. That’s honest.” 

Ellie’s tone stayed light, but her eyes sharpened in a way that suggested she did, in fact, possess concern underneath the jokes. “You’re not, like, bleeding or anything, right? Because I’m pretty sure Dayton would lose it and start biting people.” 

Dayton snorted. “I would not.” 

Hayden leaned in. “She would.” 

Dayton shot her a look. Hayden smiled innocently. 

Sara took a breath, steadying herself. “Dayton, I’m proud of you even if Chloe and I didn’t agree with your choice,” she said, and the pride sounded real, but it was threaded with worry. “But I need you to tell me something straight. Are you okay owning him?” 

Dayton’s grip tightened a fraction, not squeezing, just anchoring Mr. Rhys so he didn’t sway as a group of eighth graders thundered past. Her eyes stayed on Sara’s face. 

“I chose this,” Dayton said quietly. “I told you and Chloe I could even when you said I shouldn’t. I can do this.” 

Sara nodded slowly, like that was the exact answer she feared and respected at the same time. “Okay.” 

Mr. Rhys heard it again, that word owning, and his stomach turned. 

Ellie, sensing the mood dip, decided to kick it back up with her usual brand of fun. “Also,” she said, grinning, “I’m sorry but this is kind of iconic. Mr. Rhys finally has to look up at Dayton.” 

“Sara,” Dayton said instantly. 

“I’m sorry,” Ellie said, not sorry at all. “Too soon?” 

Sara gave Ellie a warning look that only kind of worked. “Ellie.” 

Ellie held up her hands. “Okay, okay. Concern. I have concern. I’m concerned. He’s no Jordy though.” 

Hayden leaned closer to Dayton’s phone and stage whispered, “This is why she runs shipping. No one can stop her.” 

Mr. Rhys’s eyes flicked back to Ellie. The fact that she was in Dayton’s circle, joking like this was a normal day, made him feel like he’d stepped into a room where everyone else had already read the script. 

Dayton’s gaze shifted. Something in her expression brightened, sharp and mischievous, like an idea had just struck. 

“Sara,” Dayton said. “Put Chloe on.” 

Sara blinked. “Right now?” 

“Yeah,” Dayton said, and her mouth twitched. “Ezra doesn’t believe me.” 

Mr. Rhys stiffened. “That isn’t what I said.” 

“It’s what you meant,” Dayton replied, sweet as poison. 

Sara looked off screen. “Chloeee,” she called. 

In the background, Jordy’s voice drifted faintly, annoyed. “Why are you yelling, she’s literally right here.” 

Then Chloe Gracewood stepped into the frame. 

Even through a phone screen, she had presence. Not loud. Not showy. Just… inevitable. Like people were designed to notice her. 

She leaned in beside Sara with a small, bright smile. “Hey.” 

Dayton lifted her chin, triumphant. “Hi.” 

Chloe’s gaze dropped to Dayton’s hand, then to Mr. Rhys. Her smile didn’t change, but her eyes sharpened with quick understanding. 

“Mr. Rhys,” Chloe said pleasantly, as if she were greeting him at a fundraiser instead of over a video call  with him in daytons hand in a Roosevelt hallway. “So you’re the new addition to the group.” 

Mr. Rhys felt his pulse slam against his ribs. 

He knew that name. Everybody knew that name. Even if you didn’t follow the corporate drama, even if you didn’t care about music labels, technology, or philanthropy or whatever else the Gracewoods touched, you knew who they were… gravity. 

He tried to sit up straighter in Dayton’s palm, which was humiliating because Dayton’s palm was not, in fact, a chair. 

“Miss Gracewood,” he managed, voice suddenly thin. “I… didn’t realize you and Dayton…” 

Chloe’s smile widened a fraction. “Know each other?” 

Dayton’s eyes glittered. “He told me I was lying.” 

“I did not,” Mr. Rhys protested. 

Hayden, helpful like a match near gasoline, murmured, “He kind of did.” 

Chloe’s gaze returned to Mr. Rhys, calm and unbothered, the way rich kids got when they’d never had to rush for anything in their lives. 

“Dayton doesn’t normally lie about her connections,” Chloe said simply. “Or her skills.” 

Mr. Rhys’s throat tightened. 

Chloe tilted her head, still smiling. “Also, you’re in her hand right now, so I’d recommend choosing your next few sentences with… care. But just some free advice.” 

Ellie, from the side, coughed like she was choking on laughter. “Chloe, that was so scary. Say it again.” 

“Stop,” Sara hissed at Ellie, but she was smiling despite herself. 

Dayton’s lips pressed together, fighting a grin. She looked down at Mr. Rhys, and her voice dropped to just him. 

“See?” 

Mr. Rhys stared at the screen, at Chloe’s calm certainty, at Sara’s worried eyes, at Ellie’s amused face. The whole thing felt unreal, like he’d slipped into an alternate version of life. where the popular girls included shipping dynasties and music empires and his own student guardian, and he was the smallest piece on the board. 

Chloe gave Dayton a little nod, softening. “You okay, Dayton? I’ve seen the body cam footage. Private feed. It looked intense. I didn’t know till it happened.” 

Dayton hesitated for half a heartbeat, then nodded back. “Yeah. I’m okay.” 

Sara leaned closer, voice quiet but firm. “Text me after class. Real check-in. No ‘I’m fine’ shortcuts.” 

Dayton rolled her eyes. “Okay.” 

Ellie leaned in again, playful but warm. “And tell Hayden to stop acting like she’s not obsessed with being part of this.” 

Hayden scoffed. “I’m not obsessed.” 

Ellie’s grin went wolfish. “You’re literally vibrating.” 

Hayden laughed, and Dayton laughed, and for a second the call felt like a bubble around them in the hallway, a pocket of home. 

Mr. Rhys didn’t laugh. 

He just stared at the screen as Chloe lifted a hand in a casual wave and stepped out of frame again, like she’d dropped by a video call the way other kids dropped by a locker. 

Royalty, he thought, and the word felt absurd and accurate at the same time. 

Sara’s eyes found Mr. Rhys once more, gentle but serious. “We’ll talk later too, okay? You’re not… alone in this.” 

Mr. Rhys couldn’t answer. His throat was tight with the weight of everything he’d lost, and the strange, terrifying fact that Dayton’s world had room for people like Ellie Montgomery-Ward, Sara Reeves and Chloe Gracewood, and now, apparently, room for him. 

Dayton lowered the phone slightly, starting to move again with Hayden at her side, the hallway tide pulling them forward. 

The call stayed on. 

So did the reality. 

And Mr. Rhys, sitting in the center of Dayton Harris’ palm like a fact nobody could unsee, felt the last thin strand of denial inside him finally go slack. 

The call ended with a soft little click, and suddenly the hallway was just… the hallway again. 

No glowing screen. No familiar voices in Dayton’s palm. Just lockers, sneakers, laughter, and the dull roar of Roosevelt moving like a living thing. 

Dayton slid her phone back into her pocket like she hadn’t just casually FaceTimed half the unofficial social power grid of New York. 

Mr. Rhys did not recover nearly as smoothly. 

He stared at the spot where the screen had been, his face pale in a way that looked almost comical at four inches tall. His hands flexed, then clenched, then flexed again like his body couldn’t decide what to do with the adrenaline. 

“You,” he said, voice tight, “you just… you just spoke to Chloe Gracewood like it was nothing.” 

Dayton blinked innocently. “Yeah, And Ellie Montgomery-Ward. She’s Sara’s best friend. I’ve known Ellie forever. Since like diapers or something. As if you see one you see the other. Married couples are together less time than Sara and Ellie.” 

“And Sara Reeves,” Mr. Rhys snapped, like he couldn’t believe he had to say it out loud. “Sara Reeves. Sarandipity. You weren’t lying or tricking me. She was right there.” 

Dayton’s mouth twitched. She lifted her hand slightly, bringing him closer to her face as they continued down the hall, Hayden walking beside her with a grin like she was watching a live episode of something. 

Mr. Rhys was breathing faster now, eyes darting, like the hallway had somehow become more dangerous because he’d just glimpsed the world above it. 

“Do you have any idea,” he hissed, “what kind of… what kind of access that is? What kind of…” 

“What kind of influence,” Hayden supplied, delighted. 

Mr. Rhys shot her a look that would’ve wilted a plant if he were still full sized. 

Dayton’s smile widened, finally giving up on pretending she wasn’t enjoying this. “Ezra,” she said, sweetly, “are you… freaking out?” 

“I am not,” he started, then his voice cracked on the lie. “I am recalibrating.” 

Hayden laughed. “He’s buffering.” 

Mr. Rhys’s cheeks went hot. “I’m not buffering.” 

Dayton tilted her head, eyes bright with mischief. “So,” she said, “you’re telling me you recognized Sara Reeves instantly.” 

Mr. Rhys froze. 

Dayton’s grin turned feral. “Oh my God.” 

Hayden’s smile went huge. “No way.” 

Mr. Rhys tried to recover, dignity scrambling back into place like a cat on slick tile. “She is… a public figure.” 

Dayton nodded very seriously. “Totally. A public figure whose streams you definitely never watch.” 

“Merely for educational curiosity. I do not normally watch her streams.” Ezra said in a tone that even he didn’t believe was truthful.  

Hayden leaned in, fake whispering, “He so watches her streams.” 

Mr. Rhys’s voice went sharper. “I do not.” 

Dayton’s eyes narrowed, playful and victorious. “You said her streamer name like it was your own mother’s name.” 

Mr. Rhys opened his mouth, then closed it, then opened it again. Nothing came out except a frustrated exhale. 

Dayton giggled, actually giggled, and it made him feel both irritated and weirdly… unsettled, because she was laughing while holding him like a phone charm. 

“Okay,” Dayton said, drawing the word out. “So you’re a super fan.” 

“I am not a…” 

“You’re a super fan,” she repeated, and her tone made it a fact, not an insult. 

Hayden bumped Dayton’s shoulder. “That’s so embarrassing for you.” 

Mr. Rhys glared at Hayden. “You are enjoying this far too much.” 

Hayden beamed. “Correct.” 

Dayton’s thumb brushed lightly against his shoulder, not mocking now, just steady. “Relax,” she said, and her voice softened, like she knew exactly where the panic was coming from. “It’s not a big deal.” 

“It is,” Mr. Rhys said immediately, then quieter, “It is a big deal.” 

Dayton’s expression softened again, just slightly. “Okay,” she said. “It feels like a big deal.” 

Mr. Rhys swallowed. His eyes darted up at the sea of students again, then back to Dayton, as if he couldn’t decide which reality was more terrifying. 

Dayton’s smile returned, smaller now. “But yeah,” she added, like she couldn’t resist one last twist of the knife, “you’re a super fan.” 

Mr. Rhys made a strangled sound. “Stop saying it like that. I just watch her streams to unwind. Her tips on the arkfall raid were particularly helpful.” 

Hayden snorted. 

Dayton laughed again, then lifted her chin toward him, almost conspiratorial. “You’ll meet her in person soon enough,” she said, like she was talking about a field trip. 

Mr. Rhys went still. “What.” 

Dayton’s eyes glittered. “Sara.” 

“Why would I meet Sara Reeves in person,” he said, voice rising, “I am in your hand.” 

Dayton shrugged like it was obvious. “Because she’s my sister and she checks in. And because you’re my little now.” She said it matter of factly, like weather. “So… you’ll meet her. We go on vacations together and spend holidays together. I go to her house just to hang out. She stops by mine. She picks me up and stuff sometimes.” 

Mr. Rhys stared at her, stunned, like his brain had hit a wall and was trying to climb it anyway.  

Hayden leaned in, grinning like she couldn’t help herself. “Imagine being a grown man and your life is just getting humbled by teenage influencers.” 

Mr. Rhys shut his eyes for one second, as if the darkness might reset him. 

It didn’t. 

Dayton kept walking, hand steady, voice light again. “Don’t worry,” she added, almost kindly. “You can ask her to sign your phone case.” 

Mr. Rhys’s eyes snapped open. “I will not.” 

Hayden burst out laughing so hard she had to grab Dayton’s sleeve to steady herself. Dayton laughed too, bright and sharp. It felt good to laugh after everything. After the guns, the officers, the SEA, the stress.  

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