The Summit

A New Adventure

Relentless teasing form his parents lasted that entire day, until he went to the gym to climb a couple walls. Sarah was there with a couple other members of the group. It seemed they were having a group session and Finn had totally forgotten about it with all of the commotion yesterday. They mentioned that they planned to do it later in the week as well and he was eager to get back into it. There were often times when everyone took a break at the start of the summer, whether it was intentional or not. Now that July was creeping up on them, it seemed appropriate to get back into it. He couldn't believe how quickly time had passed, but he also recognized that he now had all of his time to devote himself to his art. If he got in touch with anyone in particular, he was sure he could make a steady living off of just making flower arrangements. Especially with Harvey's selfless act of letting him use his flowers. It made them both money so it made sense that he was so generous.

The next day, Finnley was at work when a woman stopped by. Her hair was beautiful and her eyes reminded him of someone. He couldn't place a finger on it until she picked one of his flower arrangements and flashed a sweet smile at him. Harvey was helping her check out, but he took this as his opportunity to ask her something.

"Hey, this might be really strange, but do you know anyone named Griffin?" Her face lit up and she got completely distracted from paying, placing the flowers down to clasp her hands together at her chest.

"Griffin? My son's name is Griffin. How do you know each other, honey?" She asked, a bright grin complimenting her words. Finn could see the love on her face and he suddenly felt his chest explode with warmth.

"Oh, we're friends. I'm Finnley, it's so lovely to meet you, ma'am." His specialty was being the epitome of politeness with adults he wanted to impress, or at least make a good impression on.

"Finnley? Oh, he talks about you all the time! Come here, sweetie, no need to be so formal." She swung out her arms for a hug and Finn silently hoped she couldn't tell how sweaty he was, accepting the warm embrace. The smell of vanilla wafted from her skin and it reminded him of his own mother who was as comforting as apple pie. She was a small woman and he suddenly wondered how Griffin was the product of her with how large he was in general. Maybe his dad was a bigger guy? Actually, he couldn't assume he had a dad because he had never heard him talk about it. Of course, they had a family business but that didn't mean anything.

"Well, I need to get back to work, but tell Griffin I said hi. It was so nice meeting you." He didn't want to keep her for long and she seemed satisfied with the conversation at that point. If anything, work was the best excuse to get out of accidentally embarrassing himself by saying anything dumb. Griffin's mother waved as he left to the green house he spent most of his time in.  It wasn't strange that he didn't hear much about Griffin's family, it was none of his business. However, his mother seemed so welcoming and loving that he wondered how he couldn't have mentioned her before. Maybe she wasn't as nice as she seemed? Or maybe he just didn't think about it...that would make sense.

___

Several days flew by of him working or hanging out with Moss, who he missed after not seeing them for a month. They were eager to show Finn several new games and also ask about his recent friendly development. Finn messaged their group chat about any new developments often and was surprised when each of them responded positively to Griffin worming his way into friendship. Julian even mentioned how he and the boy started talking relatively often again. It made Finnley much more sure of his decision to accept Griffin.

It was Friday when his rock climbing group decided to meet. It was around two when he went, completely aware that most of the others wouldn't be there, including Griffin, but when he went to the bathroom to change, a particular person caught his eye.