Losing you ; Joel Miller

xvi. The garden of Eden

[1998]
EDEN

     Summer had just started and Eden had finally graduated high school, she was looking forward to university, wanting to get out and explore. Her father wasn't as excited though, pressing her to stay home and doing it from a distance.

     Eden sat down by her favourite tree, opening her book to the page she had previously saved, this was the most precious time of the day for her. She was able to read, in peace and quiet, alone.

     " You're reading Wuthering Heights?" A voice said, seemingly coming out of nowhere. Eden jumped, looking up to find a boy standing over her. He was her age, his head full of messy brown curls that seemed like his haircut was long overdue, dimples formed on his cheeks as he smiled at her. " I'm Callum, you must be... Eden?" Her eyebrows furrowed in shock as he said her name, feeling alarmed that he knew who she was. " It says on your shirt... I just guessed..." he shrugged, looking around the empty field. She peered down at the oversized shirt she had painted herself, of course, out of all the days she chose to wear it. " Are you even allowed to be here? You know this is private property" Callum said, watching the blonde girl suspiciously.

     He has got to be kidding. Eden rolled her eyes, opening her book again and ignoring his very obvious presence. " I work here by the way... but it's fine, I won't snitch" he gave her another boyish grin, brown eyes twinkling with mischief. " It's my first day... my mom landed me the job, she used to work for the Francis family" obviously not taking the cue, he sat down next to her. Eden observed his clothes, noticing the small patches on his jeans and worn out shoes. She chewed her lip, looking up at his face, he was already smiling at her.

     " Anyways- how do you like the book?" He asked, eyebrow quirking with interest as he waited for an answer... he never got one. " Not much of a talker? That's fine, I get it, I tend to talk too much, my ma' says I'd win if my mouth could run a marathon" Eden sighed obnoxiously, if her mother would've seen her she would've been scolded.

     Oddly, Callum didn't seem phased by her obvious disinterest towards him, if anything, his smile grew wider, showing off his pointy canines. " Well, Eden, I've gotta go back to work, now I know I shouldn't be encouraging trespassing, but I hope I see you around" he stood up, his lanky body towering over her as he sprinted towards the gardens.

     Well... that was odd.

     " Funny seeing you here again" Eden peered up from her book, it was Callum, she groaned. " You seem to really like this spot" he mumbled out, looking up at the large tree, his focus moved back to her with a grin " do you wanna go for a walk?" He asked, raking a hand through the messy curls. Eden thought about it for a moment, before reluctantly agreeing by standing up and brushing off the dirt from her dress.

     " Great! Follow me" he said, seemingly excited that she had actually agreed. " You know, Mr. Francis has a beautiful garden... don't know if you've been there but it's great" he continued to babble as Eden walked silently next to him, her book clutched tightly by her chest. She found it funny that he hadn't yet realised that she had lived here for all of the 18 years of her existence. Maybe it felt liberating, most of the staff had a hard time talking to her freely.

     " They have roses, chrysanthemums, lilies, oh! And peonies..." the boy had told her the truth when he said he never stopped talking, she wasn't sure if he had even taken a break to breathe yet. " ...I love flora and fauna, I probably want to open a garden shop when I get enough money..." he was quite cute, Eden thought, before immediately shutting it down and scolding herself internally. " ...When I was younger we used to have an apple tree in our backyard..." but how could she not think he's cute?! His hair almost fell over his eyes and those dimples- no. Stop.

     " ... Eden? Hello? Earth to Edennnn" the blonde girl jumped slightly as she noticed he had caught her not listening. " There you are! You sorta looked like you were having an internal crisis" he grinned, those damn dimples. " You have a nice name, are you named after the garden of Eden?" The blonde nodded softly, still feeling slightly flustered. " That's cute, anyways, we're almost here!" Callum took her hand into his, running off as she let out a yelp of surprise.

     " Ta da! Isn't it great?" The boy's grin was so wide, Eden wouldn't have been shocked if it permanently stayed that way. She found Callum's enthusiasm for her garden endearing though, deciding to humour him a bit, she gave him a small smile and a nod.

     They walked around, the brunet pointing out different flowers before sneakily plucking a daisy and putting it in Eden's hair. Her cheeks burned red at that, eyes moving towards the ground as he grinned at her.

     " Pretty" it was all he had said, before continuing his long speech about the different types of flowers that could be found in her garden.

     Eden hadn't seen Callum in a week, she felt foolish for sitting by the tree with her book, waiting for him to come and bother her. Deciding that she wasn't going to wait around for some stupid boy, Eden walked towards her tree with her latest book in hand, not because she wanted to see him, but because she was going to enjoy her alone time reading.

     It had gone fifteen minutes, Eden was now fully immersed into her book, feeling someone tap her shoulder, she turned around and saw nobody. " Hey" Eden flew into the air, slapping a hand over her heart, she saw Callum doubled over with laughter. She didn't find anything about the situation particularly funny.

     " You should've seen your face!" He was almost crying, falling onto the floor as he tried to recompose himself. Eden glared at him, arms crossing over her chest to show that she wasn't amused at all. " Oh c'mon now, it was a bit funny" he grinned, looking up at her from where he was lying down. She huffed, trying not to smile. " Ohhh I see you! You're smilinggggg~ I knew you thought It was funny!" Callum sat up, poking her cheeks as he teased her. " Admit it Edennnn~ c'mon, I see you hiding that smile!"

     Eden huffed, allowing a small giggle to escape her lips as she swatted his hands away. The boyish grin on his face, that had once seemed annoying, now made her blush. " By the way, I wanna show you something" he said softly, the twinkle in his eyes intrigued her. He stood up, offering his hand, which she gladly took, before tugging her into a sprint. Apparently this was going to become a habit.

     " Ok, I need you to close your eyes... do you trust me?" She nodded, allowing him to cover her eyes with his hands before leading her somewhere. When he pulled them away, Eden gasped with shock, flowers had been planted around a tree in the corner of the estate. " I named it the garden of Eden... what do you think?" Callum's voice sounded soft, for the first time since she met him, he seemed shy. Tears brimming in her eyes at the name, her hand moved over her mouth at the gesture.

     The boy let out an 'oof!' when she pulled him into a hug, her face burrowed into the old band shirt he was wearing, allowing the tears to escape, Eden softly said " I love it, thank you."

Honey is typing...
This is just a super long Eden lore chapter💀 The next chapter will be posted very soon and is in 2023 I promise

Quick question... what do you guys think of Callum? :>