❁
"What are you watching?" Lizzy asked her younger brother the next morning, leaping into the couch's cushions next to him. He didn't answer her for a moment, his eyes glued to the TV screen, his body tense and coiled like a spring. She sank into sofa's pillows delightfully and her lips released a content sigh, grateful that the weekend had finally arrived. Her eyes fluttered like a hummingbird's wings, still sleepy from waking up just a few moments ago. Everything was fuzzy and slow, like an ancient television, and it felt as if Lizzy hadn't left her blissful cocoon of dreams.
Logan finally gave her a quizzical look before returning to his intense staring, which flipped every so often from the TV to the game controller he was clutching. "I'm playing Xbox, not watching Netflix, my wonderfully smart sister," he responded sarcastically. "Less watching, more playing. Learn the difference."
Lizzy rolled her eyes, yawning and blinking as the world became less and less dreamlike. "Fine then. What are you playing?" She stretched out her pajama-clad legs until they rested on the coffee table that was positioned in front of the sofa. She had just woken up approximately five minutes ago after almost twelve hours of sleep. It was much needed following a long and exhausting week of school that, in Lizzy's opinion, never seemed to end.
"I just completed level 15 with a score of almost half a million points," Logan replied proudly, declaring his high score for Lizzy's amusement. Lizzy, of course, lacked experience in video games so she just stared dumbly at the TV screen, tilting her head in confusion, her eyebrows furrowed.
"You know you have work in, like, a half hour," Logan told his sister after a few minutes of silence, his fingers a blur as they collaborated with the game controller. His eyes were pasted to the screen as though they were cemented, his body sitting on the edge of the beige sofa with anticipation.
"Ugh, I know. Don't remind me," Lizzy moaned, dramatically tipping over until she dumped her body on her brother simply to annoy him.
"Oh my gosh, get the fuck off of me," Logan yelled at his sister, squirming under her weight before shoving her off of himself and the couch until she collapsed on the floor.
Stunned, Lizzy stood up with her hands on hips and concealed Logan's view of the TV screen. "Where did you learn that word?" she inquired in disbelief, shaken more at the word that had escaped his mouth than his action of pushing her onto the floor.
"At school, Mom," he muttered, a slight sheepish blush dashing his cheeks as he realized what he had said and was beginning to regret it.
"Who do you hang out with? Crazy kid," Lizzy mumbled under her breath. Logan, who was rather irritated at his sister, chucked a pillow at her, which she successfully managed to dodge. Unfortunately, she couldn't avoid the second pillow Logan threw at her, and it smacked her on the face. Lizzy's patience was eroding like rocks submerged in rivers but being angry was too much work.
Speaking of work, she thought to herself just as Logan asked, "Don't you have work or something?" His tone was smug and a proud twinkle illuminated his bronze eyes.
Lizzy rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at him before disappearing into her bedroom to get ready for her job at the florist's shop.
❁
Lizzy climbed into her dark gray car (It wasn't necessarily her car; her parents technically owned it—Lizzy just used it to get to school, home, and work.) and rolled out of the driveway smoothly and stealthily like a snake. Her destination was the flower shop called Once and Floral where she'd been employed since summer. It was a quaint boutique, overflowing with peonies, daisies, forget-me-nots, carnations, and other flowers and plants. She thoroughly enjoyed being an employee there; her boss was amiable, her fellow coworkers were other teenagers like herself, and sometimes, if Naomi was particularly pleased, she was sent home with a flower that varied depending on the season that she could plant in her makeshift garden.
Lizzy swung open the shop's door, a familiar sweet fragrance overwhelming her nose. An invisible bell chimed above her head, announcing her entrance. She smiled warmly at Reece who was preparing the cashier behind the counter and her boss, Naomi, sprinkled water on a row of red roses with a watering can. Naomi's face brightened when she spotted Lizzy, her silver-streaked hair pulled back in a bun. "Good morning, Lizzy! I hope you're ready for a rosy day!"
Lizzy chuckled at Naomi's pun, which were her obsessions, as anyone could guess by the name of the florist shop: Once and Floral. "Let's hope no thorns come into the shop today."
"Amen, sister," Naomi replied, raising her watering can as though Lizzy's words were a toast.
Lizzy joined Reece behind the counter, flinging her canvas messenger bag underneath. He sent her a quick grin, his brown eyes flickering toward her in acknowledgement for half of a second. Lizzy headed straight to work, organizing the tray of seed packets that had spiraled into disarray yesterday. "How's it going, Reece?" Lizzy asked in an attempt to strike up a conversation between them.
"Not too terribly. It's been a few weeks since Naomi paired us off for the same day."
Lizzy nodded absentmindedly, her fingers selecting the packets with sunflower seeds and grouping them together. "I'm guessing you missed me then?"
Startled, Reece's slender hand pushed back his glasses farther up on his nose. A blush emerged like a butterfly from a cocoon on his cheeks. "Y-You wish I did," he responded sheepishly.
Lizzy gently nudged his shoulder, noticing the sudden tension in his shoulders. "Relax, Reece, I'm only teasing you." She circled the counter and adjusted the tray of seed packets next to the cash register. "There," she murmured to herself, standing back with her arms crossed with content.
"We're opening in five minutes, kiddos!" Naomi exclaimed from the far end of the shop where she was still watering the thirsty plants until they were satisfied. Reece scampered over to the closed sign like a small mouse chasing after cheese, his fingers poised and ready to flip it around. Lizzy herself took a moment to savor her surroundings before the place was filled to the brim with people. Her eyes swept over the hanging baskets of lavender irises; beneath them were groups of magenta dahlias, the younger buds' petals peeking through like a shy child. Paintings depicting scenes and landscapes of picnics and nature decorated the walls. Unique and stylish tables of all shapes and sides were scattered throughout the room, pots of some plant adorning their surfaces. It was a place of color, a speck of rainbow in an otherwise bleak and dismal street.
A buzz tremored in the back pocket of Lizzy's denim jeans. She checked the notification as fast as she could, knowing full well that the shop was about to open in any minute. Her heart fell just the slightest when she saw that it was only Teagan; she wondered what else she was expecting. Lizzy rolled her eyes at herself before peering at Teagan's message. I need to talk to you. You'll be at Once and Floral today, right? Lunch?
Lizzy could feel Reece's curious gaze on the back of her neck. He was still standing by the window, ready to flip the sign as soon as he was given the signal. Sounds good to me. See you then.
Lizzy pressed her phone's power button until it was completely shut off. She didn't want the distraction; she didn't want to be tempted to check her text messages or Instagram or any of her other apps. Like sleeping, working at Once and Floral offered her a chance to escape from the perpetual pressures of her life and the world inside her phone.
❁
The morning flew by like monarchs fleeing south for the winter. Lizzy swiped her dirt encrusted fingers on her dusty jeans, a stripe of soil on her forehead. Lizzy spent most of her morning helping various customers in finding certain kinds of plants and informing them about how to care for the plants they bought; meanwhile, Reece assisted them at the cashier (he was better at math and that kind of thing). Now, it was almost lunchtime for her and Reece; they were expecting the afternoon workers to be arriving shortly.
"What're your plans for lunch?" Reece asked after giving the last customer in line her change. A few other guests were milling about, perusing the shop with delighted smiles at the dainty flowers. Each blossom endeavored to impress them like performers in a musical on Broadway.
"I'm just chilling with my friend Teagan. We'll probably go to Philip's Pizza Palace across the street. You?"
Reece scratched his head awkwardly, his gaze averted to the floor. "I'm probably just going to head home. We're done after this shift, right?"
"Right," Lizzy confirmed, checking the fruit-themed clock above the door. "We're done in literally three minutes." As she was speaking, Lizzy fetched the broom and began sweeping the pile of dirt that had appeared when a customer accidently dropped his potted plant on the floor. Reece grabbed the dustpan nearby and knelt before the dirt while Lizzy transferred the grime to it with the broom.
Naomi bounded into the main area from the back of the shop where her apartment and the breakroom were stationed. Clutched in her hand was an intricately painted mug filled to the brim with tea, wisps of steam like feathers billowing from the liquid. "You're off the hook, Lizzy and Reece. Don't forget"—she gestured to the forget-me-nots and Reece and Lizzy exchanged amused glances—"to check the work schedule to make sure you come in on your next work days!"
Lizzy slung her bag over her shoulder and trailed Reece outside. He held the door open for her like a gentleman and she couldn't help but smile. A swift breeze ruffled their hair, the sounds of city life that they couldn't hear from within finally reaching their ears. Luna and Harper, two teen girls that also worked with Reece and Lizzy, waved hello as they passed by and were swallowed by the colorful heap of leaves and petals of Once and Floral.
"See you later?" Reece asked, unsure, nerves pounding through his veins like a bass drum.
"See you!" Lizzy exclaimed, oblivious to Reece's anxiety.
They then parted ways like paper ripping in two. Lizzy sprinted across the street (after she looked both ways, of course), her eyes glancing upward at the sign, a cartoon man proudly presenting a perfect pizza to everyone around him, the words "Philip's Pizza Palace" strung by his side. Lizzy leaned forward and looked inside the restaurant, searching for Teagan's pin straight charcoal hair. Sure enough, there she was and Lizzy entered the building. Upon walking inside, she was greeted by the wonderful smell of greasy, cheesy pizza. On cue, Lizzy's stomach grumbled and, like a bear searching for honey, it propelled her across the red and white checked floor until she reached Teagan.
Teagan grinned at her friend, but Lizzy noticed how it didn't exactly reach her eyes. "Is everything okay, T?" Lizzy inquired, right after she sat down in the spot across from Teagan.
Teagan sighed and stirred her Coke with the straw. "No."
Lizzy waited a moment to see if she would elaborate but Teagan didn't offer any more information. "I can't read your mind, Teagan," Lizzy prompted before taking a sip of her own drink (Teagan knew her too well and had already ordered Lizzy's favorite, lemonade).
Teagan chewed her lip and blurted, "Mateo and I had another fight." Lizzy gave her friend a questioning look. "Last night," Teagan continued, squeezing her eyes shut in agony.
Lizzy propped her elbow up on the table and leaned her cheek into her hand, preparing herself to listen to the whole story. "What was it about this time?"
"He texted me last night, saying that he wanted to meet up. He was really excited and I had no clue what the heck was going on. I just said yes because I can't say no to him. Ever. Anyway, I went to his house and I was secretly hoping that it was about me and him—us. But it wasn't." Teagan buried her face into her hands. "He asked Paisley out on a freaking date and she said yes."
Lizzy almost choked on her drink in shock. She had always known that Teagan had a crush on Mateo and that he didn't reciprocate her feelings (he probably didn't even know she had them for him). She also knew that Mateo had a thing for Paisley. What surprised her was the fact that he had actually asked her out—he usually was a coward about that sort of thing. Besides, Paisley was in the popular crowd and Lizzy guessed that she probably didn't know who Mateo even was. But apparently not; Lizzy was wrong.
Lizzy reached across the table for Teagan's hands, squeezing them affectionately. "Hey, we're going to get through this. You and me, T. I know it's going to be hard on you and it sucks and hurts like hell but you're going to show him what he's missing and completely slay at the spring formal this year. Let him have this thing with Paisley; maybe when they break up, he'll realize how much he likes you after all. If not, at least he's happy, right?"
"Oh god yes. All I want is for him to be happy. But why can't he be happy with me?" Teagan wailed, tears beading on her eyelashes, droplets on spider webs.
Lizzy didn't know how to respond. She settled on something she determined a long while ago as she lived out her childhood and continued on through high school: "People are weird, T."
Teagan laughed through her tears, quickly wiping them away before anyone nearby would notice them. "People are the weirdest creatures I've ever seen." She sighed, her expression growing solemn and despondent. "I wish...I don't even know anymore. Thanks, Lizzy, for always listening to me pine over him. It's much appreciated."
Lizzy smiled sympathetically, discreetly searching about the room for a distraction for her miserable friend. "Let's order some pizza now, shall we?"
❁
A/N:
I love pizza so much so obviously I had to include a pizza place in this book! What are your thoughts so far? What do you think about Teagan? Mateo? Reece? What are your predications for what's going to happen next?
As you probably already know, I wrote this story for NaNoWriMo 2017 and I won! I have many chapters in stock—all I need to do is edit the chapters and post them!
I hope you enjoyed! Please vote and comment if you did :)
- Payton