Colourful Flowers

Chapter 1

    Jai watched her leave the assembly, her red t-shirt slowly getting lost in the crowd. Great, he thought, now I'm going to seem like a stalker. He waited fifteen seconds, then slid out the door, filing in with the rest of the crowd.

   When he reached the alcove, he took a quick glance down the hall to make sure no one was looking, and a glance down the alcove into the greenhouse to make sure she was there. She was. Jai wiped his sweaty palms on his jeans, and leaped down the three stairs that sat at the beginning of the miniature hallway.

    "Now when we come back tomorrow we're going to have to transplant these snapdragons." Jai heard Mrs. Oni tell her. He entered the room and saw Oni bustling about, trying to find plants that needed special care, he supposed. She was standing behind the educational assistant, slowly opening and closing a snapdragon blossom, making the flower look like an actual dragon. Ms. Gonan, the other EA who helped in the greenhouse, stood watching her with a slight smile. Jai cleared his throat quietly.

    Mrs. Oni looked up. " Oh hello! Your name is Jai right? Have you come to see about joining greenhouse club?" He nodded yes then averted his eyes. Mrs Oni didn't seem to notice.

    But she did. She smiled, and laughed slightly. He smiled back and felt a little bit relieved. 

    Mrs. Oni asked, "Do you know each other?"

    "Yeah," she said before Jai got a chance to reply. "We share advanced math and english." Jai felt himself blush.

    "Did she drag you in here?" Ms. Gonan targeted at Jai.

    "No no." He muttered, just loud enough for them to hear. "I came by myself. I'm very interested in plants." Somewhat true, he thought.

     Just then, the bell signaling the end of school rang. Mrs. Oni waved to Jai and the girl. "So I'll see you both here tomorrow then. Bye!"

    She waved back, then signaled for Jai to follow her out the door. 

    "That was quick." marveled Jai. "I thought I was going to have to pass a test or something to get in."

    She laughed. "No. Mrs. Oni and Ms. Gonan are pretty quick to recruit. We really haven't had many people working in the greenhouse lately. In fact, the past few weeks it's really just been me in there."

    "Really?" 

    "Yup. It's not that bad though. Just means you have to work quicker. Besides, I like to sing while I work."

    "Oh I-"

    "Nah, don't worry about it. I'll enjoy finally working with someone. And don't think you're gonna stop me from singing. Unless you don't want me to."

    "No, I don't mind." Jai smiled slightly at the thought of hearing her sing. He thought her talking was beautiful. What would she sound like when she sang?

    "Uh Jai?" she asked when they reached the end of the alcove. "You were in this morning's math class right?"

    "Yeah, why?"

    She blushed a little, as if embarrassed. "Well, I had piano lessons this morning, so I didn't really have time to take down the entire note. Do you think you could e-mail it to me so I can copy it?"

    Jai was astounded. "Sure. But I don't have your e-mail."

    She pulled the pen off the chain from around her neck. She wrote something down on a scrap piece of paper from inside her pocket.

    "Thanks." 

    "No problem. Umm, I'll see you tomorrow, kay?"

    "Yup. Bye."

    She walked into the hallway and was gone in the throng of students heading for the buses. Jai looked down at the piece of paper.

    colourflower@outlook.com = Ayaka Smith's email :-)

   Jai stared at the piece of paper all the way home, a bird flying in his chest.