The Good in You

In the Eyes of Ellie: Pink Flower

"When do you want me to leave?" I asked Drake one day, while we were at the lake.

Drake and I are gotten closer every day. The two of us got sick of being in separate rooms knowing someone is just one door away from you. Someone you can talk to.

"Hmm," Drake exclaimed, "I never thought about that."

"Well, now's the time," I said.

Drake stared at the necklace Amber gave me. I haven't taken it off and I wasn't planning to. And Amber giving it to me wasn't the only reason I was wearing that necklace.

I was wearing it for Drake.

And myself.

"Not now," Drake drifted his eyes to me, "But not later either."

My eyes widen, "So...you want me to stay forever?"

Drake stared at the sky, "Not forever. Well..."

"Will it be hard for you when I leave?" I ask.

"I guess so," I heard Drake mumble.

The truth was, each day that passed, the harder it was to think about leaving Drake. Maybe I was falling for him.

And maybe...just maybe...he was falling for me.

I huffed, "You're not the only one."

Drake looked at me, "So, you don't want to leave either?"

I nodded.

"What about your aunt?" Drake asked, "And your little cousins?"

I sighed, "I never said I won't leave. I just said it'll be hard for me to leave."

"Oh," Drake exclaimed.

There was a bit of silence after that. It wasn't an awkward silence, as the type of silence when I ask my students a question and no one says anything. It's more of the silence of thought. We're both looking for the right words to say to each other.

Drake, apparently, found his words before me, "What is something that makes you want to leave?"

This wasn't the first time I thought about this question. I thought about it a lot more when I was alone.

So I had my answer prepared, "Well, I need something to keep me busy. All I do all day is draw pictures of flowers and people. And I need money. I can't have someone constantly paying for my needs. That makes me need a job. And then, a room."

Drake let out a small chuckle, "Yeah, you can't sleep on a couch forever."

"Yeah," I chuckled as well.

I grabbed a pink flower that I was eyeing for a while. I picked it up and pulled off the petals.

"Finding out if he loves you or not?" Drake asked.

"Yeah," I said, handing him another flower.

Drake swirled the flower with the tips of his fingers.

"She probably loves," I said, "You just need to know it."

He started picking the flower petals too.

We did it together, waiting to find out if the person beside us loves us.

Well, at least for me.

Maybe Drake was thinking the same thing.

We both pulled our last petal at the same time.

We blushed.

We turned our heads to each other and smiled.

We both looked back at our petal-less flowers.

I don't usually believe in this stuff.

But this time, I knew it was true.

He loves me.