Evergreen Everleigh - The Wattys 2020

Chapter Eight - Greenhouse Nights

Chapter Eight

Greenhouse Nights

I barely have time to attempt to straighten my dress when a girl appears in the doorway.

She looks to be around the same age as me, if not a little older. Just as I did in school with the girls in my class, I look for something to be jealous of in this stranger. The cogs of my brain are already analysing this girl's every move before I have even waved goodbye to Lady Lavender and left the stifling room.

She smiles at me, but I am too focused on what I am seeing to answer her smile. A ringing begins in my ears and I reach out to grasp the door frame to hold me steady as I take in the girl's rather shabby blue skirt and striped yellow shirt. Just at a glance, I can see several places where she has had to darn holes. Yet, none of this matters, when I see her face. She is what my grandmother would have called a rare beauty, with her almond-shaped blue eyes and long brown hair that curves over her tanned skin. She has high cheekbones and smooth skin. A red ribbon is tied around her hair, completing in a bow on top of her head. I watch her full, symmetrical mouth open and close as she introduces herself to me. There is a single freckle to the left of her mouth that dances when she speaks.

Forcing myself to act as normally as I can, I pull my hand from the doorframe and pinch the soft flesh of the inside of my arm. It is the sharpness I need to bring me back to the hallway.

"Come with me, I'll show you where you're staying tonight."

The part of my personality which I hate the most sinks into a depression as Sweet Pea walks ahead of me, smiling back at me. She is glorious. In every step, she takes, there is vivacious energy that I know I will never be able to match. I watch her white plimsoles bounce all the way back to the stairs Yarrow and I took to get here. She is what Harmony is to me – light, breezy and probably even funny. It is all too much to bare. Though I cannot be sure, I can guess that I will find nothing to hate in her.

Mindlessly and miserably, I follow her up and up. I expect to find another hallway adorned in another pastel shade on the next level, yet the minute I feel a warm breeze whip around my legs I know we are on the roof.

Sweet Pea steps back from the door and watches me walk through the doorway, witnessing my reaction with her hands clasped together and held to her mouth, hiding a smile in anticipation.

"I'm sleeping outside?" I ask, a little too nonplussed for Sweet Pea's liking. Dropping her arms heavily, as though I am missing out on a tremendous joy, she sighs before explaining.

"No. You're sleeping in there!" Her voice is the embodiment of giddy and she hops forward and clasps one of my arms excitedly. Her touch is so warm that I imagine it burns my skin. I use this as a justification to myself to pull away from her.

Her finger only wavers slightly at this. I follow her gaze and find a small greenhouse resting nearby. As though I am in a trance, I walk to the greenhouse slowly, taking it in from every angle. With cautious fingers, I touch the warm glass. I almost expect it to melt at my touch and to disappear back into the whatever reality I left upon entering Freesia Fields.

To the far side is a small glass door, cut at an angle so that I have to stoop when I pull it open. Inside, my suitcase rests on a small bed which takes up almost have of the space. The smell released upon opening the door makes my knees shake. I always wanted a greenhouse. I never bothered to ask my mother for one, knowing that the conversation that followed would turn to talk of my school grades and anti-social behaviour, and much less about a greenhouse.

Roses, chrysanthemums, coxcombs, and irises rest in pots by the door. I spot over types of flowers too, either trailing the walls or resting over the headboard of the bed. The brilliantly white duvet has a single poppy flower resting on it.

"This... is beautiful," I say to myself, more than anyone. It is only when I hear a deep sigh of happiness that I remember about Sweet Pea. She is hovering outside, though by her twitching arms and fidgeting legs, I can tell that she is unhappy to be missing out on my happiness.

I stand in the doorway and look at her incredulously. When I smile, she smiles.

"It's a tradition here, to spend your first night under the stars."

I look up to the ceiling and see that the single pane of glass over the head of the bed is not tinged green, but a clean and clear white.

"We spent since we knew you were coming getting it ready."

My stomach sinks at this and my hands press to my stomach where I can feel the ridges of my previous scars through my dress. I cannot define why her simple comment has bothered me, but I can guess that it is a reminder of my hospital stay. Immediately, I think of Harmony and Henry and all that they saw. I cannot afford to stay here long, not for their sake. A few months and they might have forgotten me completely.

Just then, as though I had timed the interruption, music blares from downstairs. There is barely time to adjust to a single song before the tune is changed quickly. Several shouts follow and Sweet Pea winces. "I better leave you alone. Sleep well."

Her small smile as she turns back to the stairwell strikes pity in my heart.

"Sweet Pea?" I ask. She doesn't miss a beat.

"Yes?"

I swallow the icy part of my chest that struggles to say what I know I should.

"It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Everleigh."

Her answering smile is blindingly beautiful. I dawdle for only a moment outside in the cooling air before retreating inside the greenhouse. Slowly, I close the clasp on the door and lie back on my bed. I should open my suitcase and see what my mother packed for me in the line of nightclothes. Yet when I lie back with my head on the pillow, I cannot bring myself to move. The stars overhead do not simply twinkle, they blink at me like a giant set of eyes, watching me carefully.

Under their gaze and swaddled in the sweet smell of the flowers, I have the best night's I've had in many, many years.