Rose Petals

Chapter 11

"Okay this sucks I give up." Ash threw his backpack and notebook into a corner of his room and flopped down onto his bed sighing exhaustedly. I chuckled and put my work away neatly unlike how he did. He was staring at his ceiling and I couldn't help but stare at him. Creepy maybe but hey, if you see someone as beautiful as he is you would stare too.

His porcelain skin was delicately beautiful. His black hair was long enough to cover his eyes but still short enough to make his eyes visible. His long black lashes swayed flawlessly with every blink. Under those extravagant lashes were the most magnificent eyes you would ever see. They held all the worlds secrets in them and they held the color of a full moon. A beautiful gray. How did I come to admire this human so much?

And why did I admire him? His physical features surely are outstanding but I'm not one to care for looks as much as I care for the soul. But everything about him was... perfect.

No... not perfect.

Perfection doesn't exist. He's human. Humanity isn't perfect. Everyone makes mistakes. But... everyone has different features. Maybe... perfect does exist. It's just not what everyone thinks it to in be.

Perfection is what you make it to be. Human perfection is uniqueness. Everyone is unique therefor everyone is perfect. Perfect in their own way.

Humanly Perfect.

~^~*~^~

"Lets go get a snack or something." He sat up from laying on his bed and started walking towards the door. I got up also and followed him downstairs. He walked into the kitchen and I saw Christy outside on the porch reading a book.

He got into the cupboard and pulled out a package of microwaveable popcorn. I looked out the window at his backyard and he had a lot of plants and greenery.

"Your backyard is really pretty." I thought out loud. I heard the microwave start and he walked next to me, looking out the window as well.

"My mom likes the plants. I help her out with it sometimes when she needs me to." He said in a soft voice. By this time I started hearing the popping of the popcorn.

The outside was beautiful. There was a little garden where what looks like cucumbers and pumpkins to be growing on the right fenced off and then on the left was a big oak tree with flowers planted everywhere at the base along with decorative fairy houses and gnomes. In the middle of it all was a small pond with a fountain, spewing water gently into the air and back into the body of water. There was a stone path leading to all of these and small outside lights running along the path and in corners of the yard.

"Your mother really out does herself, doesn't she?" I asked and looked at him. He only shrugged.

"She's done a lot to the house since my father left. She doesn't want to see any trace of him." He said nonchalantly. The microwave beeped, telling us the popcorn was done. He walked over to it.

"I'm sorry." I said quietly.

"Hmm? For what?" His questionable gaze flickered towards me as he shook the bag of popcorn and tore the top off.

"I didn't mean to... bring up a touchy subject." His movements stopped and he furrowed his brows. I don't know much about it but I do know that it isn't the best subject for a normal conversation.

"Well isn't that what friends are for? To know everything about each other?" He said kind of aggressively as he poured the popcorn into a bowl. His face stayed the same but his gaze drifted away from mine.

I was kind of shocked at his tone. "Hey c'mon I said I was sorry." I said in a soft voice.

"You don't know what you're apologizing for." Ash threw the empty popcorn bag away and picked up the bowl. He walked passed me out of the kitchen, leaving me confused.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked when I turned around. He was halfway up the stairs and he stopped. He didn't turn around for a few seconds but when he did his face held a grim, pained expression.

"I said what I meant. You don't know what you're apologizing for." He turned around and went back into his room. I sat at one of the stools in the island and put my head in my hands. My eyes started to sting from tears building up.

"Is everything okay, honey?" I heard the backdoor open and Christy's soft voice chime into the room. I looked up and sniffled a bit.

"Yeah everything's just great." I sighed and put my head in my arms. I heard her footsteps come closer to me and I felt a hand rub my back in a loving manner.

"I saw that happened. I heard a little bit of it too. He gets that way sometimes." She sighed. I just sniffled in response. "Oh come on now, don't cry." She made me pick my head up and gave me some tissues.

"Thanks." She smiled and patted me on the back.

"He'll open up to you soon. I know it." She smiled warmly and got back up to go outside.

"Christy?" She turned around and hummed in response. I didn't know what I wanted to say. I had a lot of emotions I wanted to express to her but I didn't know how to. I just finally said what I thought could answer my silent questions.

"How do you know if you're in love?" She smiled and came back to sit down beside me.

"Well, you start noticing things you haven't before. Small details. The world is brighter. Your emotions are all over the place. You get little jitters in your stomach when you talk to that person you're in love with. You want to give them the world. And you want them to be happy..." She trailed off a bit after that. "Even if it means it's not with you."

I looked at the pained expression on her face that suddenly replaced her bright fragile smile. She sighed and looked at me in the eyes. And then she smiled again.

"You have a good heart, Nate. I trust you have a good mind, too." She took my hand and gave it a little squeeze then got up and went back outside.

Everything she said about being in love... it all makes sense now.

I've fallen in love. And I've fallen hard.