Janet
Everybody has a friend like this.
You know the kind. They may not be the closest to you, know you the longest or understand you the best, but they always pop into your head without warning. They're the friend you talk about, who makes you start a sentence with their names. They stand out like a dash of red on a canvas of blue and brown, a flamingo among the pigeons, a harp against the drums.
I met Flora when we were both freshmen in high school. She had a seemingly elegant, almost demure composition, but this impression was overthrown the minute she opened her mouth. She couldn't stop talking, and her energy sizzled off her body like static electricity. Even when she was whispering, it was done loudly and crassly, and when accompanied by her huge database of expressions and gestures, she left me slightly dizzy.
We didn't seem like we belong in the same group. I don't want to sound like a Taylor Swift song here, but Flora the cheerleader wore high heels and her skirt was so short she made me blush. Her nose looked so perfect it could only be preordered.
First three words that came to my head: rich, bratty, surgery.
The rich part turned out to be true. Bratty? Occasionally. Rhinoplasty? Nope. The girl was just lucky.
I was proud of my vintage collection of rock band tees and my sneakers. I didn't own a single dress before turning 14 and my hair was way too short. For some reason I thought it was a good idea to base my hair style on Marie Fredriksson from Roxette; if you're into the Swedish pop rock band then you get the idea.
Before high school, most of my friends were guys. Their honesty was what I liked most about them. They wouldn't refuse something then get mad at you later for not persuading them harder. If I wasn't hanging around my older brother and his friends, I'd be practicing with my band members, or sitting on the doorsteps chatting with my best friend/next door neighbor Sean.
I was always honored to be one of the guys.
However, as my hair grew longer with age, I started to see the opposite sex differently. How did they go from eww to yum in one second? I'd be lying if I said I didn't care at all about my own appearance, and when Flora crashed into my life with her makeover offer, I took the chance.
Never really thought we'd get along splendidly, until we did. She, the walking drama, always ready to entertain, and me, the sarcastic observer, forever psychoanalyzing people and changing my opinions of the world.
I adored Flora, but that doesn't mean I liked to meddle in her love affairs. I knew from past experiences that she had a very different idea on relationships compared to most people.
Flora and Sean were a mess I didn't want to take part in, but I tried my best to give them some alone time when we hung out one afternoon. Sean practically flung every chance I gave him back in my face like a boomerang.
On the way back from the movie, he dropped Flora off first then drove on home with me. My mobile phone buzzed and I saw that I had a message from Flora.
I know you don't want to but would you please please please ask him what he thinks because I'm at wits end. And don't make me sound desperate.
I groaned inwardly at the most desperate text I'd read in a while. Why did I always get stuck being the messenger? This wasn't the first time a girl asked me about Sean's opinion, what he liked or whether he had a girlfriend. The guy should hire me as his agent and I could throw him a press conference and get it over with.
"I noticed you didn't seem particularly interested in Flora," I brought it up dutifully.
Sean stopped at a red light. "Well, it's not that. I can't imagine anyone not at least a little bit interested in Flora. I think it's more like not wanting to get involved."
"Really? Why?"
"I think Flora is pretty hot, but so does every other guy at this school. I don't want to check every second if someone else is checking her out."
I chuckled in surprise. "I've never known you to be scared of competition."
"In the case of Flora Morgan I think I am a little scared. And you know how secretly I'm the jealous boyfriend, and something tells me if we dated there'd be plenty of things to provoke me."
"You're not even tempted for some harmless casual dating?" I figured that was what Flora was aiming for anyway.
"You mean just have fun and go with it? That sounds like something only Jake would say." Jake was the star on the basketball team and a real player, both on and off the court. "Not that I need to make it into something serious, but if I know in advance it's not going to work out, I probably wouldn't initiate it."
"Well, I admire your morals. Most people would jump at the chance of initiating anything with her, serious or not serious." Sean had a bunch of rules that he set for himself, and he always tried to do the right thing.
"I think she goes through guys like collecting designer bags. It's like she has a list of 'guys to date before graduating high school'," he said. This analogy was probably inspired by the Chanel bag Flora was carrying earlier. "I'm just not comfortable with the idea of being a name that is waiting to be crossed off."
"Well..." I hesitated. I didn't want to meddle in their business but I felt I had to say something. "Just to set the record straight, she's had a crush on you for two years. She keeps trying to get to know you better, but she thinks you brush her off."
Sean turned his attention away from the road and glanced at me briefly.
"To her you're more like the guy to date before graduating high school."
He laughed. "Wow. Thanks for telling me that."
"It's true. Remember in freshman year when you were tutoring me on math and she'd ask to join? And you kicked her out of your tutoring session?"
"Yeah, but that was because she didn't need it. She was distracting me."
"She thought you didn't like her because she wasn't smart enough."
"I've never thought that. Ever. I think she's just lazy about studying."
I glanced at Sean, who wasn't showing too much enthusiasm about finding his new not-so-secret admirer. On the outside they seemed like a good match. Good to look at together, at least, but they sent out opposite vibes.
Being around Sean made me feel like reaching out for soft, falling snow. He was perpetually calm and cool. Flora was more like an avalanche. She was unapologetic and in your face, but you just couldn't look away.
"So...are you really not interested? Because I can make things happen if you are." I really hate this job. "Speak now or forever hold your peace."
He hesitated for a brief second and smiled. "I'll pass. I'm sure she's not serious about me anyway."
To be honest I wasn't even surprised. I knew all about Sean's dating pattern, and I knew he tended to avoid difficult cases. He was busy enough being a jock on the outside and a science nerd on the inside, and he knew better than to challenge himself with someone like Flora.
It wasn't a confidence thing; it had more to do with just how unimportant relationships were to him and how unmotivated he was about working for it. He usually let fate happen.
In freshman year he had commented once about my friends Sandra and Flora.
"You're friends with the most beautiful girls in school," he remarked. "What are they like?" It was more out of curiosity than interest.
"They're actually pretty nice, not what I expected. Especially Flora."
He nodded. "Yeah, she seems to be very outgoing."
He had left it at that, but it showed Sean's definition of beauty was the same as everyone else, and I knew he liked them pretty. He was superficial like every other guy I knew; it was looks before personality, at least in the initial state of attraction.
Two weeks later he announced that he asked out his lab partner Sharon, who was a nice enough girl but I thought he did it mainly for the convenience. He never went out of his way to meet a girl or stressed over how to make someone like him, so in a way he was really naïve about relationships.
Dating Sharon just made sense, since they talked over a crystallization procedure and Sean seemed to think it was a good idea to combine chemistry with chemistry.
"She said my eyes were the color of copper sulfate," he reported. "I think she likes me. Although to be fair my eyes are much darker."
I rolled my eyes. "You fell for that? Is that like the nerdy version of pickup line?"
He laughed. "Chemicals really turn me on," he joked. "And Sharon is pretty."
He went out with Sharon for a few times, but it faded soon when he transferred most of his energy to practicing for basketball team tryouts. Later there were a few others in the same fashion, such as the girl who sat next to him in English and the partner in German class. He dated them briefly in classic high school fashion, no more than a few weeks with fading intensity. The dates were mainly just an activity to fill up an occasional opening. He let it diminish naturally before it turned into anything concrete.
Dating was more like a recreational thing for him, a why not rather than something that he felt he had to keep adding fuel in to keep moving, and that's why it surprised me so much when I witnessed what happened later with Flora.
He just didn't know what it felt like to meet that one person who challenged him, who drove him insane and madly in love, and made his life a living hell, until he met her.
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Dedicated with love to @inevitxble for making me the cover/banner in the media. Thank you so much! x