The Prince and the Plant Whisperer

Dance Gone Awry

[~Posted 6/17/21]

Late that afternoon, Lilly looked up to see Kai burst into their dorm room, flushed. Ruddy-looking.

"The greenhouse is up!" Kai shouted. "Well—it hasn't fallen over yet." It was a little wobbly. Even stuff rated five stars online... was usually junk. Still, she couldn't afford anything nicer right now.

Kai stood in work-boots and jeans, her button-down shirt half-tucked in. She balanced a bag of potting soil on her hip, like holding a baby.

Smiling, Lilly reached out, and wiped a smudge of dirt off Kai's cheek.

"The greenhouse is really happening!" Kai said with wonder. "Barry's gonna love it there."

Barry the Cactus had been looking like the Leaning Tower of Pisa these days, trying to get enough sunlight on her desk.

Said Lilly, "See? That's why you can't drop out of school! Your plants need you. Barry needs you. He can't survive another plane flight back!"

Then Lilly stepped back and gave Kai's ratty gardening clothes a skeptical glance. "You're not wearing that tonight, are you?"

"Tonight?" Furrowed brow.

Right! The dance.

"Lilly, I'm sorry. I'm not gonna be able to pull off that dress you bought," Kai said. "I'll return it and get you your money back."

Kai thought to herself, I definitely, DEFINITELY can't pull that dress off—now that Lukas has looked at it like that.

Like he was a strict headmaster inspecting a uniform!

Lilly just replied, "Don't worry." Actually, Lilly had something else on her mind. She went and  grabbed a piece of paper, bringing it to Kai.

It was a long sequence of cryptic clues. From Taeyong.

On the night of the Freshman Year Formal, everyone set up clues for their roommates to follow. Clues that led them to their dates. It was tradition.

The two girls stared at Taeyong's mysterious message in their hands.

Kai looked sidelong at her friend, musing out loud. "So, this Taeyong—Why do you like him so much, anyway?"

Lilly sighed, tilting her head. "It's not even really so much about Taeyong," Lilly said. She pulled back her hair, like she was preparing to tell a long story.

Then Lilly explained: "Everyone was just so sh*tty to me in high school. I always went along with it. I never set boundaries.

...I never took the lead."

Lilly continued, "So I thought college would be a new leaf. Like, I'd just be a completely new self. Ask out any guy. Just leave the room, if anyone gave me a hard time." She laughed.

Kai put her hand on Lilly's shoulder. "Is that why you quit Intro Psych too?"

Lilly nodded. "I was telling myself, I get to call the shots, now."

Kai blew air out from puffed cheeks. "Whoa."

Lilly looked resolute.

"I just sorta decided I'd be Me 2.0" she said. Sitting on Kai's bed, her straight arms squeezed between her knees, Lilly suddenly looked plaintive. "Kai, do you think I'm pulling it off? Do you like Lilly 2.0?"

Kai sat down, pulled her friend's head to her chest and began patting her head. "Lilly 2.0's great. But I'm sure I'd love Lilly 1.0 too. I always wish we knew each other in high school—"