His Flower [DISCONTINUED]

3: Flowers

The next day, I made sure not to make the same mistake as yesterday and instead got to school early. Perhaps too early.

Walking into school was like walking through a ghost town. The hallways were silent, and the sound of my converse hitting the floor echoed with every step.

Alas, I reached my homeroom. I lightly pushed open the door and winced as it creaked. Hesitantly peeking into the classroom, I raised my eyebrows when I realized not even the teacher was here yet.

"Goodness, how early am I?" I muttered, glancing around the room for a clock. As I looked around, I froze. "Oh... hi," I greeted in surprise.

There was a petite and pretty blonde girl tucked away in the back corner of the classroom. I hadn't even noticed her.

"Hello," she timidly said back, averting her blue eyes.

I walked into the classroom and settled down in the seat in front of her. There was a heavy silence, and I couldn't take it. Eventually, I turned around to face her.

"Do you always come in this early?"

She looked surprised that I even addressed her. "Oh—I—yeah."

I hummed thoughtfully. "What's your name?"

"Lily."

"Cool. I'm—"

"Rose," she interrupted, then blushed. "Sorry. I only know because you're the New Girl."

"New Girl?" I crinkled my nose. "So this is one of those places."

"What place?" She quietly asked in curiosity.

"Those small towns where everyone knows everyone. And they fawn over the newcomers," I sighed knowingly. "I hate being labelled New Girl."

"Don't worry," she softly spoke, tucking a strand of her pin straight hair behind her ear. "They'll stop calling you that soon enough. At least your label won't stick, whereas I..."

She trailed off almost sadly.

"What's your label?" I couldn't help but ask in curiosity.

"Lonely Lily," she answered quietly.

I suddenly felt bad and wished I hadn't asked.

"Oh, well... that's not so bad," I offered, twisting a strand of my curly hair.

"It is, but thanks," she grimaced, tugging at her sleeves. In a desperate attempt to change the topic, Lily raised her head. "Hey, I just realized we're both named after flowers."

I suddenly perked up. "Yeah. Rose and Lily," I smiled. "It's like our friendship was destiny."

She slightly giggled and looked almost relieved, as though she'd been expecting me to run for the hills.

Flowers. What a coincidence.

I suddenly thought back to yesterday.

"No wonder he called me Flower!" I suddenly gasped in realization.

"What're you talking about?" Lily cast me a weird look.

I told her everything. How I'd crashed into Antonio and found out we attended the same school, where he practically accused me of stalking him.

"He sounds arrogant," she laughed. "What's his name? I probably know him."

"Antonio."

There was a long silence in which Lily gawked at me.