Rain fell down in a torrent, lighting crackled across the sky and thunder crashed as if the storm was a symphony in itself. Aster Nova walked home in the storm, the droplets of rain cascading off his golden hair and onto his gray raincoat. His icy-blue eyes flickered over to the watch on his wrist, only for him to discover that said watch was no longer functioning. Sighing in irritation, he took the watch off his wrist and after a moment of contemplation, decided not to throw it against a brick wall and instead stuffed it into one of the pockets inside his raincoat.
As he made his way down what he thought was his usual path, he happened to glance over to the side and saw rows upon rows of yellow roses surrounding what appeared to be a garden. Startled by the brightly colored roses, Aster realized that he had taken a wrong turn.
He once again sighed in irritation and pulled out his phone, only to discover that the battery had died and he was left staring at his own irritated reflection.
"And here I thought my day couldn't possibly get any worse!"
He threw his phone to the ground with such force that the screen cracked. He huffed and sat down on a nearby stone bench that was underneath a gazebo, sheltering him from the rain.
What he failed to notice was that he wasn't the only individual sitting in there. Another individual with dark-colored hair and eyes was sitting on the opposite side, her nose buried in a book, the droplets of rain falling slightly onto her bright pink raincoat. She looked up for a brief moment and icy-blue eyes met dark brown, both slightly startled at the sight of one another.
The corners of her mouth turned up into a shy smile, "I didn't think anyone else would come out here, much less in the rain".
Aster rolled his eyes, "I didn't even know this place existed. I took a wrong turn and somehow ended up here".
She laughed lightly, "Maybe it's a good thing you ended up here. You got lucky; you could've ended up in the forest".
Aster scoffed, "This is a city. There are no forests here, and if there were I'm sure a large expanse of trees would've been cut down rather quickly".
"You have no sense of adventure at all, Mr. Sunshine".
Aster looked taken aback at the new nickname, "That's not my name. Where did you even come up with such a ridiculous nickname? And who would have a sense of adventure in this dreary weather?"
His expression made the individual want to laugh, but she held in her laughter in favor of answering him, "Well, your hair is the color of the sun, and I don't know what else to call you. You didn't exactly introduce yourself to me".
"You didn't introduce yourself either, Miss Bookworm" he retorted rather quickly.
"Well, I'm Wisteria Valerian, nice to me you".
"Aster Nova. The pleasure is all mine Miss Valerian. If you wouldn't mind me asking, I'm curious about something, do you own this garden?"
"I don't own the garden per se, but I take care of it for a friend and in return, they let me come here whenever I want. Technically the garden is open to the public, but no one's come around in years".
"Perhaps I can be the first person to visit, when it's not raining this much. I don't suppose you have something that I could charge my phone with, or perhaps some directions on the way out?"
"I'll take you up on that Mr. Nova. I don't have a charger but I can show you the way out" she said grabbing a large black umbrella decorated with pink polka dots and holding it over the both of them.
Aster and Wisteria walked in comfortable silence until they reached the entrance of the garden, the same path of yellow roses still following them.
"One last question before I go, Miss Valerian. Why is there an abundance of yellow roses in particular?"
This time, she didn't hold back any laughter before answering, "Yellow roses symbolize friendship. Anytime you see yellow roses and cross paths with someone, that means the two of you will always remain friends. At least, that's what the legend is".
"Well, in that case, I hope we can get to know each other some more. I would love to come and see the garden when it's not raining so much. Until next time, Miss Valerian".
With that, Aster Nova walked home, finally in the right direction, and Wisteria Valerian watched him go until she could no longer see his silhouette in the rain. She turned and walked back into the garden, eagerly awaiting the next time he would come.
