The Flower Child

4. Oh Boy

      All weekend I stared at that book on my desk. That lady is just plain nuts. My mom has off of work today so I am off the hook for taking Kimberly to school and picking her up.
     That makes my life so much easier. I have to talk to her about that book. I don't see why she would lie to me my whole life over that if it was true. On top of it magic only exists for illusions and entertainment not to see a whole new world.
     "Kimberly did you take my keys?" I ask her looking through my book bag.
      "No." She shakes her head at me. Her pig tails hitting her in the face.
     "Mom, do you know where my keys are?" I ask her.
     "No honey." She says to me.
     "Great! The one day I don't have Kimberly I am still going to be late." I throw my head back.
      "Relax, I will give you a ride to school and pick you up." She tells me.
      "Mom-" She stops me.
     "Harley you do a lot for me. Go get in the car and I will be there with Kimberly in a moment." She hands me her keys. I get in the front seat of the car and wait patiently for her. I look out the window and what I see makes me gasp.
     The grass is brown, all of it. It is just in our yard. I get out of the car and run to the back. I jump the gate and land on my feet. I look at the garden. It is healthy. It was just dead yesterday and now it is fine but the grass is dead.
     I don't get it. How does a garden and back yard filled with grass switch places in one night? They can't. It isn't even possible. I hear the door being locked from the front. I run around and jump the fence again.
     I hop in the front seat before they even get around the corner. Right about now Kimberly is throwing a fit about going to school. She will have to be dragged to the car. I see my mom trying to get her off the ground to get to school.
     I can hear Kimberly screaming her lungs out as my mom tries to get her to the car on time. When that child gets going you can't stop her. I get out once more and go to them.
"Kimberly, you get up." I tell her. She stops and looks at me. "Get up, let's go." She stands up. "Now wipe your tears, stop acting a fool and act your age." She wipes her tears and sniffles a couple times. "Get in the car. Let's go." She gets in the car without another argument or word.
"How did you do that?" My mom asks me.
"I have had a lot of practice." I tell her. She just smiles at me. I actually get to school in a decent amount of time. Evan greets me as usual by the door.
     "How was it?" He asks me.
     "Fine." I say to him.
     "You don't sound to sure." He says as we walk to my locker. I wait for a moment before deciding to tell him what happened.
     "While we were marching this lady in a wheelchair told me to meet her at the book store. I did, well she told me that my dad had powers and that there is a world beyond the clouds that only true flower children can see. She says that Kimberly and I are true flower children and that we are capable of these things." I close my locker.
     "That is nuts." He says.
     "Yeah, I know. The weirdest part is, when I got home the book she tried to show me, it was on my bed with a note in it." I tell him.
     "That is weird." He scrunches his face. "Do you believe her?"
     "No, I mean there can't be such a thing. This morning though the grass in the yard was dead and the garden was fine. Yesterday it was the exact opposite."
     "That is not normal."
     "Yeah, I know. I don't know what to believe. After school I am talking to my mom. She finally has a day off and I want to find out what's really going on." I tell him.
      "That's a good idea." 
     "I have to go talk to a teacher. I will see you later." I tell him.
     "Sounds good." I walk to the classroom that I need to be at. The teacher is waiting for me. I do what I need to do. He looks at me after he finishes helping me.
     "I know you have been having a hard time since your dad passed and your mom is always at work. Do you want to talk about it?" He asks me.
     "No, I think I am good." I tell him crossing my arms. I am not big on spilling my guts to others. In fact I don't think it is anyone's business.
"Are you sure?" He asks me.
"Yeah, I am. I am just a little stressed. I will be fine." I assure him with a smile.
"Okay, I will see you in class." He says as I fold up my notebooks and text books.
"Yeah, I will see you in class." I pile my things up and head to my first hour class. The first couple go really smoothly and Mr. Prince doesn't yell at me.
At least I am a little less stressed over it. He just ruins my whole day most days for no reason other then to make himself happy. I go to lunch and meet Evan at our table. He has his food and is waiting for me. I sit down with my tray.
"No ketchup?" He asks me.
"No, ketchup does not go with a chicken wrap." I tell him. "That's why I have ranch today." I say. He rolls his eyes at me as I pull ranch packets out of my pocket. He laughs a little bit. I smile.
"You are such a pain in the neck." He states to me.
"Only when you start things." I have a point.
"You got me there." He laughs again. Lunch ends and I head to my next class. I want this day to be over. I need to talk to my mom. I have to know. 8th hour comes around and I find my seat. The teacher stands up at the front of the room.
      "Class, we have a new student. Welcome Tate." I can't believe it! He is the guy I ran into last week after my problem with Mr. Prince. "Tate, please take a seat next to Harley." It isn't hard to fine me. I sit by myself in this class. That is until today. Tate sits next to me with his books. With luck the teacher has to walk out to attended to something.
     "Nice to see you again." He says holding his hand out. "I'm Tate as you know."
     "Harley, as you know." We laugh a little bit.
     "Can I ask you why you tie flowers in your hair?"
     "I am a flower child." I tell him.
     "What's a flower child?"
     "Essentially we are hippies." I tell him.
     "So you like hug trees, smoke weed, and ride around in a van covered in peace signs?" I laugh a little bit. That is usually the first reaction I get.
      "No, some of us smoke weed but not me. We march every weekend to spread peace and love. We don't conform to society's rules and roles. We live our own lives."
     "So those are all stereotypes?" He asks me.
     "Yeah, we like plants and nature but we don't hug trees."
     "I'm sorry." He turns a light red in his cheeks.
      "It's okay." I assure him. The teacher walks back into the room.
      "Okay class, we are starting a new project. We will be working with the person next to us for it." He hands out a packet for the project. Tate and I read it over. We get it started during class.
     "Hey, would you mind if I came over so we can work on it?" He asks me.
     "Tonight?" I ask him.
     "Yeah, what's wrong?" He shrugs his shoulders.
     "I am not sure." I really need to talk to my mom and on top of it, if I were to bring a boy home Kimberly would go nuts.
     "Well what do you got at home?" He teases me.
     "Low patience, a 3 year old sister, and tons of art supplies." I tell him with my chin in my hand. He smiles at me.
      "Perfect, here is my number. Text me your address and I shall see you at 5." With that the bells rings and he walks out of the classroom. I roll my eyes and grab my school books leaving the classroom myself.