Daniel and Sara

Daniel and Sara is the friendship/romantic pairing of Sara Malvern and Daniel Leigh.

## Relationship Information

### Length

Close friends (early book-present)Crush (Sara’s side) (2 years prior to book-present)

Crush (Daniel’s side) (mid-book-present)

Possibly dating (end of book-present)

### Rivals

Raya and Daniel (Rayaniel)James and Sara (Jamara)

## Names

Saraniel (**Sara**/Da**niel**)

Dana (**Dan**iel/Sar**a**)

Leivern (Daniel **Lei**gh/Sara

## Daniel’s Opinion of Sara

At the start of the book, Daniel’s opinion of Sara was very similar to that of his friends and everyone else's in the school - that she was just Psycho Sara. Once they start to form a bond, Daniel becomes more fond of her, and eventaully develops romantic feelings for her.

## Sara’s Opinion of Daniel

Sara was always rather fond of Daniel, seeing as she had a crush on him since before their friendship started. Sara tells Daniel that she always thought of him as extraordinary. Her fondness of him becomes even stronger as the story goes on.

## Significant Moments

### **OCDaniel**

* Daniel is the only student Sara talks to (Chapters 1 and 10)
* Sara assures Daniel that his panic attack will pass (Chapter 3)
* Sara smiled at Daniel when he turned the lights on at the dance (Chapter 7)
* Daniel thinks Sara has a nice smile (Chapter 9)
* Sara tells Daniel to tell his mom that she’s his girlfriend (Chapter 9)
* Sara takes Daniel’s hand when she asked him if he’d help her (Chapter 9)
* Sara tells Daniel that he’s smart (Chapter 11)
* Sara tells Daniel that he has nice lips (Chapter 11)
* Daniel tells Sara that she’s pretty (Chapter 11)
* Daniel calms her down during her panic attack (Chapter 12)
* Daniel makes Sara a character alongside him in the book he’s writing (Chapter 12)
* When Sara held Daniel’s hand under the bed, it calmed him down (Chapter 13)
* Daniel tells her that he wants to help and stay with her when she had another panic attack (Chapter 14)
* Daniel thought of Sara's smile and sign saying "Football Sucks" while winning the football game (Chapter 14)
* Daniel wonders if he’s developing feelings for Sara (Chapters 15 and 22)
* Daniel thinks Sara looks beautiful when he goes to her house for dinner (Chapter 15)
* Daniel couldn’t stop thinking about Sara (Chapter 16)
* Sara said that Daniel looked cute when he was sweaty (Chapter 16)
* Sara helps Daniel through one of his “Zaps” (Chapter 17)
* Sara tells Daniel that he’s extraordinary (Chapters 19 and 20)
* Sara reveals that she had a crush on Daniel (Chapter 20)
* Daniel defends Sara when Steve calls her crazy (Chapter 22)
* What Daniel most remembers about winning the football game, is Sara watching it all with a smile (Chapter 22)
* Daniel was worried when Sara went missing (Chapter 23)
* Daniel finds Sara laying down in a field, lays down next to her, and the two of them lay there, holding hands (Chapter 23)
* Daniel tells Sara that she’s special (Chapter 25)
* Daniel thinks that it’d be cool to face an empty world with Sara (Chapter 26)
* Daniel leaves his friends at recess to go sit with Sara (Chapter 27)
* Sara asks Daniel out and he happily agrees (Chapter 27)
* Sara hugs Daniel (Chapter 27)
* Daniel says that the fact that they had each other meant everything to him (Chapter 27)

## Similarities and Differences

### **Similarities**

* They both struggle with an anxiety disorder
* They’re both 13
* They both hate football
* They both like Star Wars

### **Differences**

* Daniel is male, Sara is female
* Daniel has blond hair, Sara has black hair
* Daniel has blue eyes, Sara has green eyes
* Daniel has a big family (mom, dad, brother, sister), Sara only has her mom
* Daniel has a lot of popular friends, Sara only has Daniel
* Daniel has OCD, Sara has a multitude of mental illnesses

## Memorable Quotes

> We hurried upstairs, and Sara giggled quietly behind me. “Did she think we were going to make out or something?”
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> “I don’t know,” I said. “I guess.”
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> “You wish.”
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-*Sara Malvern and Daniel Leigh, OCDaniel*

> “I like that you use words like ‘frazzled.’ You’re very smart, Daniel Leigh. I guess that’s why you were in the Gifted Program.”
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-*Sara Malvern, OCDaniel*

> I felt her hand moving across my face. It was soft, barely touching sometimes and then finding my nose and cheeks and chin, and then soft again across my mouth. I felt it more than I had ever felt anything else.
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> “But it’s a great way to heighten sensations,” she said. “You have nice high cheekbones, like a royal or something. Pointed chin, larger nose, but not too big, and nice lips. Better than they look.”
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*-Daniel Leigh and Sara Malvern, OCDaniel*

> “Well,” she said. “Do I feel pretty?”
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> I quickly pulled away. “Uh . . . yeah. You have nice eyebrows.”
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> She opened her eyes, smirking. “Really? Eyebrows?”
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*-Sara Malvern and Daniel Leigh, OCDaniel*

> “I didn’t say I’d be the best partner.”
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> “For me, you might be.”
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-*Sara Malvern and Daniel Leigh, OCDaniel*

> She held my eyes as much as my hand, and I felt the panic passing. When she stared at me, I felt it. As before, it was like she was looking into me. I had never seen anyone with eyes like that.
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*-Daniel Leigh, OCDaniel*

> “No. I want to help.”
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> “You don’t want—”
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> “I do.”
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-*Daniel Leigh and Sara Malvern, OCDaniel*

> But a part of me also remembered that the person I had pictured right before taking the kick was Sara Malvern. And I thought about lying next to her in the field, eyes on the clouds. I thought about the hair that always blew across her face, reaching down past her lips. I thought of her fingers on my cheeks.
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*-Daniel Leigh, OCDaniel*

> I wanted to say “wow” too. Sara was there . . . sort of. She was wearing a blue dress with a white belt, and her hair was tied back with a white ribbon to match the belt. It looked like she might even have had makeup on. (...) Sara’s cheeks were just a bit red as she sat down to my right, not meeting my eyes. She really did look beautiful.
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*-Daniel Leigh, OCDaniel*

> I hadn't spoken to Sara since Sunday. I was thinking about her, though. I couldn't help it.
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*-Daniel Leigh, OCDaniel*

> “No problem. You look cute when you're sweaty.”
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*-Sara Malvern, OCDaniel*

> “You are stronger than your fear.” (...) “You can do this.”
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-*Sara Malvern, OCDaniel*

> “You have OCD, Daniel. But you're still extraordinary.”
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*-Sara Malvern, OCDaniel*

> “You know . . . I kind of had a crush on you,” she said.
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> “You did?”
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> “Yeah. A couple of years ago. I thought you were strange, but in the best kind of way.”
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*-Sara Malvern and Daniel Leigh, OCDaniel*

> I felt the heat in my cheeks and the back of my neck and was still wondering where that had come from. I knew everyone called her Psycho Sara. I even knew they were probably whispering about the fact that I was hanging out with her now. But I felt strangely protective of her. Like she had showed me who she really was, and now I was tasked with defending her. Not that she needed it.
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> Another thought suddenly occurred to me. Did I like Sara Malvern? It didn’t even make any sense. I liked Raya. Cool, normal, popular Raya Singh, who reminded me of what I wanted to be—normal too. Sara was the world I wanted to get away from. The crazy one where our minds didn’t work right and we chased murderers and I tried to figure out a girl who made no sense.
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> I wanted to just like Raya Singh and leave it there. But as I stared up at the stucco ceiling, it wasn’t Raya’s face I saw there.
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*-Daniel Leigh, OCDaniel*

> I remember ribbons and a trophy and my dad telling me he was proud, but most of all I remember Sara, standing against the tree with the sign and watching it all with a smile.
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*-Daniel Leigh, OCDaniel*

> They didn't believe me. That was obvious. And I didn't care, but I cared about Sara.
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*-Daniel Leigh, OCDaniel*

> I reached out and found her hand in the darkness. It was cold and clammy. Our shoulders were pressed together tightly, and there was just enough heat there to keep me from shivering. But she must have been very cold by now.
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> “We should go back,” I said quietly.
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> “Five minutes?”
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> I smiled. “Sure.”
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-*Daniel Leigh and Sara Malvern, OCDaniel*

> “And I'm here too. You're weird and moody and maybe a little crazy, but you're also the most interesting person I've ever met. Trust me, you are special. And from now on, maybe you should stop trying so hard to be alone.”
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*-Daniel Leigh, OCDaniel*

> “It’s good that you’re there for her. She needs someone. Take care of her.”
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> I glanced at him. “We’re not going out, you know.”
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> He smiled. “Yeah. That’s what they all say.”
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*-John Flannerty and Daniel Leigh, OCDaniel*

> As he approached the switch, he thought about the journey to get here. The creatures, the empty roads, the time he had spent with Sara. The feelings he had for her. The entire, difficult journey to fix his mistake. To find his destiny. To become the person he was meant to be.
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*-The Last Kid on Earth, OCDaniel*

> He reached out and took Sara’s hand.
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> “What do you think? Us against the world.”
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*-The Last Kid on Earth, OCDaniel*

> Sara squeezed Daniel’s hand and smiled, the croquet mallet still slung over her shoulder. “It can still be me and you,” she said. “We’ll take on the world. But first we have to bring it back.”
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> Daniel thought about that, and then nodded. “Together?”
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> “Together,” she agreed.
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*-The Last Kid on Earth, OCDaniel*

> “So would it be like . . . a date?” Sara asked.
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> “We would be going to see a therapist.”
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> “It could still count.”
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*-Sara Malvern and Daniel Leigh, OCDaniel*

> Sara grinned, and her eyes fogged up just a little. Without warning she hugged me tightly. I knew people were probably watching, but for once I didn't care.
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*-Daniel Leigh, OCDaniel*

> *You’re going to be all right.*
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> *I hope so.*
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> *Good night, OCDaniel.*
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> I laughed. She hated “Deranged Daniel” so much that she had made me a new name.
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> *Good night, Psycho Sara.*
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> I put the phone beside me and decided I was going to wait as long as I could. I had to try.
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> I read the text again and smiled. Something else occurred to me.
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> We were only crazy when we thought we were alone. Now there were two of us, and we were both perfectly normal in each other’s eyes. And to me, there in the dark, that meant everything.
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*-Sara Malvern and Daniel Leigh, OCDaniel*

## Songs that Go with the Pairing

*Perfect* by Ed Sheeran

*Lights Down Low* by MAX

*A Million Dreams* by Zif Zaifman, Hugh Jackman, and Michelle Williams

*You’re the Reason* by Victoria Justice

*Last of the Real Ones* by Fall Out Boy

*One Foot* by WALK THE MOON

*We Are Not Alone* by Karla Devito

*Faith* by Stevie Wonder ft. Ariana Grande

*Someday* by Milo Mannheim and Meg Donelly

*Rewrite the Stars* by Zac Efron and Zendaya

*Kid in Love* by Shawn Mendes

*Only Us* by Ben Platt and Laura Dreyfuss