Keys:
(None this time~ ;3)
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Y/N’s POV
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After saying goodbye to my friends and going back home, it had become the next day so quickly and I still had no idea who I planned on taking to the carnival. One ticket for me, one for Sparkle, and one for Eileen. The stump kids are a package deal so I can’t ask them, the horse girls would say something along the lines of, “WE’rE HorsEs, WE HaVE nO HANdS, oNLy HoOVEs!”
I snickered at my perfect Mackenzie impression. ‘Nailed it,’ I thought in a sing-song tone. When I quieted down, I started thinking about the kids I could give my last ticket to while walking along some random path.
If I bring Bobby, he’s gonna drop his candy on every ride and force us to buy him more. The Ten Speeds would try stunts on the rides and get us in trouble. The Sewer Kids don’t like me for a reason I have yet to understand. I could invite Kit… possibly, but she has high standards for a lot of things and can’t come too late at night. I crouched down to a nearby flower.
“Would you like to come or at least help me decide?” The wind brushed its stem and leaves a little, making it seem like it shrugged. “Go figure.” I laughed, “Here I am talking to plants again, somehow receiving a response. Who even talks to flowers?”
With a jump, I shot back away from the bushes as a voice emanated from it, “We sure do!” Out walking from behind a bush were two girls. One was blonde, had brown eyes and was a little taller than average. The other had dark skin, fiery red hair, hazel eyes, a missing tooth in her big smile, and was about my height. She couldn’t seem to stop moving her feet in her spot.
(Said 2 new girls):
The blondie cleared her throat, “so… hi! I’m Abigail.” I waved my hand at her a little bit. Her energetic friend popped up, eyes avoiding mine though, “Hii! I’m Nora. Me and Abby… uhm… Uh Abby…? what are we gonna do again?” She looked to Abigail.
“We came to invite them to the Gardeners Association. Remember the plants we saw on their porch?” Nora gasped in realization. “Ohh Right! I want to do it!” Abigail pet her friend on the head making it shake a little as that smile somehow grew bigger.
“That’s okay, do you remember what to say?”
Nora nodded her head quickly, I feared she would get whiplash for a second, she cleared her throat a bit too much and said in her light and bright voice,
“Hello [Y/N]! We came to invite you… to the Esteemed Association of Gardeners throughout the creek. And… uh… We would be happy if you were to accept this invitation and become our third member.” Abigail did weak jazz hands as Nora crept forward into my bubble of personal space.
I scratched the back of my neck as I stepped back a bit, I thought about their chaotic introduction, they just knew my name…? I didn’t tell them. I’m also not hush-hush about being a gardener so I understand how they’d know that but I should ask anyway.
“So… I have a few questions.” I glanced over at Nora who was distracted by a butterfly, trying to hold it.
“We accept any questions.”
“How’d you know my name? Pretty sure I don’t recall telling you.”
She laughed a bit, “Oh well, we asked Kit!” I hummed. “Hmm. What’s goin’ on with that Nora girl? She’s quite different from you.”
Abigail nodded and sat down with me on a log, joining in on watching her energetic friend go ham over a butterfly. “Nora is different from most kids. That’s not a bad thing! She’s just wired differently I suppose, sometimes she doesn’t feel right or express her feelings properly, or maybe she even over expresses them. There are times where she goes silent, maybe just struggling to speak, and may need some help with tasks that other people wouldn’t need help with. She’s a smart independent kid though, I don’t think of her any less.”
“What does all of that mean?”
“She’s Autistic. Nora is a sweetheart and does her best to understand no matter how hard it can be at times, I’m here to help her out if she needs or wants it. Don’t treat her any less than how you’d treat other kids, okay?”
“I have no issue with it. It’s all good.” Abigail smiled and Nora came back over to us, tuckered out from all the bug chasing. I thought long and hard about the Association of Gardeners. I didn’t know this group existed. Though I guess there are a lot of groups out there I have no idea of. I have yet to decide what kids I’ve joined, I still like adventuring so maybe there’s room for both?
“Could I get some time to think about it?”
“Of course. Do you wanna see the greenhouse?” After giving an eager nod, I got off the log and stretched while Abigail made her way to Nora. “Hey Nora, we’re going now.”
“Ok! Can I hold your hand?”
“Definitely.” They held hands and led me to their greenhouse. When we got there, they opened the door and let me in. The door was quickly shut behind me making me jump since I had no idea why. As I noticed the direction of their gaze, I looked up and finally understood. “Nora! Your caterpillars are finally butterflies.” Said girl started playing with the flying bugs, unnoticing the conversation behind her. “Well, let’s go check out some other areas here.”
We started walking through different ways, pointing at each area which was habitat based. “Here are the ones that need extra sun.” I looked around, all plants in good condition, but I didn’t find any cacti. Though not everyone had a preference for them, there was none, not even a spine laying around. “Where are your cacti?”
Abigail scratched her face for a second and was about to speak, but Nora answered for her, “we don’t have any! They’re hard to take care of.” I did see their point, though once you got a good grasp on understanding the plant, it was rather simple. Not much different from any other plant. “You just need to give them enough sun, like these ones,” I waved my hand at the plants who were embracing the sun full force, “and not too much water. They have a skip day every week when it comes to that.”
The fiery redhead bound over to us, looking at the blondie with bright eyes, “since they know and now we know, can we get a cacti now, pretty please!” Abigail bent down to Nora’s level and smiled, “Yeah! We can get one.”
“Lets get them from the duck mart!!” She was about to race out before stopping once she realized no one was following, she turned back with a confused stare, “well?”
“We have to see if [Y/N] wants to be a member first, ok?” Nora nodded and looked at me expectantly. Abigail grinned with hope as she looked at me as well. “I’d love to be a part of the Gardeners Association! It sounds fun and I’d love to make new friends.”
A lightbulb turned on in my head, I tapped my fingers together before clasping them behind my back.
“By the way, would one of you like to go to the carnival with me and my friends?”
Credits to WorldinHand for proof reading