reflection ● jason grace

biographies

Her friends, she writes, are natural disasters waiting to happen.

Michael is an earthquake; they live in California, and Daria trusts Michael like she trusts the tectonic plates to shift tens of thousands of times a year. He is there now, just as she knows he always will be; a constant among a world of charge. And for Daria, for the relationship they share in quiet undertones and deeper meanings, that is enough.

Reyna is a wildfire. Daria smells the smoke before she sees the blaze. Scarlett flames and destruction should not be so persuasive, but Daria doesn't mind the warmth. Reyna means what she says and she says what she means, no matter how many people she hurts on the way down. Daria doesn't know when that became so enticing.

Dakota does not get angry like the rest of them; Dakota is not as harsh or as quick to snap. But, before it becomes a blizzard, ice is just a soft, gentle snow. Dakota is classified as a natural disaster in the same way a tomato is supposed to be a fruit. And so, when it hails, Daria is sure that she is safe in the gale.

Clara is the opposite. She is a sandstorm, always has been and always will be. Even when they are both at their lowest, Daria can count on her dry wit flurrying around the two of them. Daria likes it that way; the two of them. Clara makes Daria stop and wonder and question. Sand is glass after all, and Clara is just as sharp as the desert floor.

Nathan is a hurricane; Daria knows when he will land well in advance, but the thing about Nathan is that he doesn't seem that dangerous until he hits the earth. The eye of the hurricane has a different meaning to the two of them. In secret comforts and righteousness, she knows Nathan is who she could've been. She knows they are not as different as everyone makes them out to be.

Jason, funnily enough, is not a storm but a landslide. He is passionate with a force that is suffocating and awful and Daria loves him for it (provided that she is not the one struggling to breathe). With him, he carries hope and uncertainty and kindness, rushing down to greet the rest of them with bright eyes. Daria knows she will always be there, waiting.