⁵ ⁻ ʲᵃᶜᵏᵉᵗˢ.
After dinner, I helped Mary wash and put away the dishes. I also gave King a bath, an put him to sleep. As much as I tried to forget it, it was impossible to simply haze over the event from dinner. Thomas had taken everyone by surprise. He was usually a loner, he never really talked to the other boys in the home. Every once in a while I saw him reading a book, and I sometimes brought a book for him. I was a little worried about him, and I took upon myself to see if he was open to talk. Coming to his room, the door was open, Thomas sitting on his bed reading a book.
I knocked on his door softly, and he looked up at me, closing his book. "Hi, Thomas," I smiled, "can I come in?" He nodded, and I entered his room, closing the door behind me. He put his book aside, and I sat on the edge of his bed. I pondered how to go about this, but maybe going at it head on would be best. "Thomas, what you said at dinner, was something wrong?" I asked, watching him as he closed his eyes, letting a deep breath out.
"I'm jealous, okay?" He told me, quietly.
Thomas sighed, and opened his eyes, "I have a crush on Tiffany. I know she doesn't like me back, but I'm jealous of that boy in her class, Aiden. He's all she ever talks about anymore, and I can't stand it."
I rubbed his arm, "That doesn't give you the right to say what you said to her, T. That wasn't fair."
"I know, I know.."
I lifted up his head so he could look at me, and smiled at him. "Crushes are just a phase. Tiffany's going to have a lot of crushes as she grows up, and you will too. You never know, she might like you too." His face lit up, and his cheeks flushed red. "T-Thanks, Monroe," he started to smile. "No problem," I pulled him in for a small hug, and left him to get back to his book.
I had sympathy for Thomas. He was the last one to enter the home, the last one to bond with the other kids, and the last one to be picked for generally..anything. He was always so pessimistic, and it was understandable, to me at least. His Dad was Bloom, and his mother was a Wilt. Thomas had told me that the only reason that he was born was because his father had taken advantage of his mother, leading her on, and left her alone, to take care of him. Mary found Thomas one freezing winter night, as he was wandering the streets. The only reason he was here was because his mother had died from pneumonia. He essentially had no guidance, nothing to be optimistic about.
Thomas's words still carried on with me to school the next day. I was going to try my best to make him feel comfortable.
School was a breeze for me. It was actually the only thing that I enjoyed, besides taking care of King. I was never one of those kids who hated school; I wanted to make something better of myself, so I studied hard and tried to pass all my classes. I didn't cause much trouble, as I tried to steer clear off all the Blooms. I was absolutely nervous around them, their clean, flashy clothes bearing no resemblance to my dingy shirt and skirt. I simply didn't compare to them. They didn't pay me much attention, and I was glad for that. I preferred to stay as much under the radar as possible..but it wasn't like they'd pay me loads of attention anyway.
I went to a mixed school, much like the other ones in the state. There were Wilt-only schools in the state, but I didn't live close enough to them, and had no way to get to it. I enjoyed going here, as I was fascinated with how pretty everything was on this side of town. It was a drastic change from where I lived. Everything was colorful; clean. I passed by the school sign, a concrete, stone slab with the words Amaryllis School of the Mixed.
I kept my head down, hugging my books to my chest as I walked along the paved, brownstone path. I tried walking as far to the right as I could, without falling into the thick shrubbery. There were little buds growing from within the plant, and they would soon blossom into vibrant purple, red, and yellow flowers. Once in a while, I would bring them to Mary so we could plant them in the front yard, but eventually the poor flowers are forgotten. There was a few buds that had already bloomed, into small, white flowers.
Walking into the cafeteria, I went ahead and grabbed something from the vending machine. I never had enough money to buy lunch, so I took what I could get. Placing my dollar in the machine, I picked A4, which was fruit punch. It fell down into the receiver, and I took it out, getting a bag of salt and vinegar chips to go along with it. I turned around, beginning to walk out of the cafeteria. Usually, I would have lunch with Joshua, but since his schedule had gotten changed, we couldn't have lunch together anymore. On my way out, I walked right into someone that was coming in, and there was a loud crash, the sound of one of the metal trays dropping. My things fell out of my hand, and there was a huge mess on the floor.
"I'm so sorry!" I apologized, beginning to pick up the food off the floor. I could feel several sets of eyes on me, and I quickly tried to pick up the spilled contents.
Once I had everything picked up, upon standing up I realized who I was standing in front of. Josiah. He gave me a soft smile, taking the tray out of my hand. "Accidents happen," he shrugged. I watched him throw away the contents of the tray, and he placed the lunch tray on top of the trash bin, and turned to me, still smiling at me.
"That's all you're going to eat?" He asked me, raising his eyebrows. I couldn't see his eyes through his black shades, and for some reason, I felt nervous. Behind me, the cafeteria returned to it loud volume, obnoxious conversations all around. The noise was the reason I sat under the tree out in the front and ate my snack. I began to open my mouth to answer him, but he cut me off, saying something instead. "Come on, I'll buy you lunch."
He grabbed my hand, and I noticed that he was trembling..plus his hand was clammy. I didn't ask him about it though, and let him lead me to the line, skipping a few people who weren't paying attention. My eyes marveled at the food, as I had never seen so much food, and sides to go along with it. It was all very overwhelming for me, and I had no idea what to choose. Today, they were having pizza, a sub sandwich, and grilled cheese. "You can get more than one thing," he chuckled, making me look at him. I decided to get a slice of pizza, and some fries to go along with it. Like he said he would do, Josiah paid for it all and I followed him to the courtyard, where we sat under my tree.
I had no idea what to say to him. This was the third time talking to each other, but this was different. We had a whole twenty-two minutes with each other, and I didn't even know where to start. He didn't seem like a bad person, but he was a Bloom. I was usually ignored by them. There was awkward silence between us, a bad thing since we were facing each other, cross legged. He had also taken off his shades so I could see his eyes, which were a deep brown color.
I took a sip of my juice, and Josiah smiled, twisting the cap off of his water. I don't know why he kept smiling at me, but at least his smile didn't seem forced. "I've noticed that you sit here all the time," he said, "special place for you?" I shook my head, "It's just the spot in the courtyard with the most shade." A breeze past by, and it moved my hair into my face. Before I could move it out of the way, Josiah did it for me, and I could see that his hand was shaking, even worse than before. I also noticed that he was shaking his leg.
He began to say something, but a high pitched voice interrupted him.
"Jo-Jo!"
He visually tensed, placing his water bottle down. He mumbled something to himself, and I watched as Lily Perkins came over to us. Lily was a blonde, Caucasian girl, who wore itty-bitty skirts, that you could automatically tell were to tiny for her. She had came from a table further down the courtyard, where the girls at the table eyed me, giving me harsh stares. I pushed a piece of my hair behind my ear, looking away from them. Lily smiled, "Hi, Josiah!" She looked my way, and rolled her eyes.
"Hi..Lily," he sighed, rubbing his temples. I could tell he didn't like her, as his whole demeanor had changed, as soon as she walked over here. I sat there quietly, as I had nothing to say to Lily. Ever since the first time I met her, I think she decided to have it out of me. Her and her friends didn't bother me much, but the constantly giggling whenever they saw me, or as I walked down the hall bothered me. "I was just wondering if you would like to have lunch with my friends and I," she looked at me, "instead of her."
Josiah looked at me, then Lily, and I sighed. "It's okay if you want to go," I started to tell him. I didn't want to be a bother. I had gotten used to eating lunch by myself, and I could always study with the time I had left. "Lily, I think I'll pass.." he smiled, "I'm enjoying lunch with Monroe. Talk to me later?"
I froze.
He actually wanted to stay?
What was wrong with him? First he returns my pen, then helps me out at the store, now he's bought me lunch and outright rejected a Bloom, one of his own, to eat lunch with me. Either he was on medication or he was just plain crazy, as he's the first Bloom to be this nice to me, in a long time.
Lily growled, and took my juice in her hand. "Ooh, Fruit Punch..maybe it'll look better on your head." Before I knew it, Lily had poured the whole bottle of juice over my head, the liquid getting in my hair, and on my clothes. Josiah's eyes widened in shock, and I felt tears well up in my eyes. She let it drop out of her hand, a wicked smile on her face. I heard her friends laugh in the distance, and I got up, rushing out of the courtyard, so no one would see me cry.
"Monroe, wait!"
Josiah called my name, but I ignored him. Running back into the school and through the halls, I pushed people aside until I was in the safety of the girl's restroom. No one was in here thankfully, and I locked myself in one of the stalls. I put the toilet seat lid down, and let my tears fall. I wondered what I had did to deserve that? I was nice to everyone, including Lily and her snobby friends, so why did she do it? I had never done anything to her. Looking down at my clothes, my cardigan and white shirt was stained red, but my dark blue jeans were fine. My hair smelled fruity, and felt sticky to the touch.
"Monroe, are you in here?"
I wiped my tears, hearing the door open. I sniffed, and there was a knock on the door. "Open up, Monroe.." I shook my head, as if Josiah could see me. I was embarrassed. I was humiliated. I couldn't let him see me like this, or anyone for that matter. I heard him sigh, and then there was silence. I heard a zipper, and Josiah placed his jacket on top of the door. I hugged myself, and what he did next scared me half to death.
He got on his knees, and climbed his way under the stall, giving me a soft smile. I watched him as he dusted himself off, and tore some tissue off the toilet roll. He made me look at him and wiped my eyes with the tissue. "Lily's..something else. Don't let her ugly personality get to you. She's nothing, really, compared to you."
"M-Me?" I questioned. No boy had ever given me a compliment like that, and it meant a lot to me. Josiah was a really nice person. Most people wouldn't care if I was in the bathroom crying my eyes out, but he did. He nodded, "Yeah. I mean that, too." He dropped the tissue on the floor, and took his jacket from the door. "Here," he said handing my the acid-washed jacket. It had several sets of spikes on it, all of them gold in color. I slowly reached out and took the jacket from him, running my hands over the spikes. "It'll cover up the red stains," he grinned.
"T-Thank you," I started to smile.
I stood up and hugged him, and his soft scent invaded my nose. He was warm, and I felt him wrap his arms around me. His heart was pounding in his chest, and I assumed it was from chasing after me. He was breathing harder, and I pulled away, wiping the remaining tears in my eyes away.
"Thank you, again," I said. I kissed his cheek, and his eyes widened. His cheeks flushed red, and he looked away from me. I got a giggle out of that, and slipped his jacket on.
"You're really sweet for doing all of this..other people wouldn't have came to comfort me."