Chapter Six #2
She chuckles and eases off the gas. The streetlights streak across her face, catching the gold in her eyes and the way her dark hair cascades over her shoulder. The world outside moves fast, but a strange calm settles over me. She’s poised but reckless, thoughtful and daring all at once.
And she’s with me.
* * *
The gym reeks of floor wax and punch, and a haze of cheap cologne hits every time someone brushes past. Music thumps through the speakers.
After Flora greets what feels like half the junior class, she slides her arms around my neck.
She smells like jasmine. The music shifts to something slower, and we fall into a lazy rhythm, ignoring the beat. Her hair tickles my face.
I never knew that dances could be this interesting.
“Do you know everyone?” I ask after yet another person stops by to say hi. We sidestep under a drooping strand of string lights.
“Most of them. Don’t you?” She laughs, her face painted pink and purple by the lighting. “Aren’t you kind of popular?”
“Not really. I have about three friends and that’s it.”
She tilts her head, eyes sparkling. “That’s exactly what a popular person would say.”
When we swing by the pink balloon arch by the entrance, Dylan and his on-again, off-again girlfriend, Sydney, spot us.
Sydney is a year younger than us, and Dylan told me it was lust at first sight.
His heartfelt confession of love was something along the lines of You give me a boner every time I see you.
On good days they grope each other in public, and on bad days Dylan refers to her as “the psycho bitch from hell.”
“Flora, can I dance with you?” Dylan asks. “I’m tired of Sydney.”
“I’m more tired of you.” Sydney stomps on his foot.
Flora’s arms tighten around me. “No, I’m not done with my partner yet.”
Sydney pretends to gag. Dylan smirks at me. “Seany, didn’t think you had it in you.” He shakes his head, and I move Flora away before he can say anything lewd to her.
Flora lifts her head, and her eyes draw me in like gravity. “I don’t want to dance with anybody else. Unless you do.”
“I don’t either.”
“Good.” She rests her head back on my chest, and I place my chin against the top of her head. I wish we were somewhere more private, somewhere just us. But people are watching. A few even take out their phones.
Guess I finally did something worthy of being immortalized on a stranger’s camera roll. Not sure if I’m supposed to feel flattered or hunted. Either way, I don’t let go.
Madison passes by, her eyes scanning Flora from head to toe. “Green? Bold choice. I can tell you really tried.”
“Sage charmeuse with a subtle champagne sheen,” Flora corrects. “It’s not for everyone, especially the untrained. They should stick to a boring color like cream or beige. You seem to wear those so well!”
Madison scowls. If an alien landed on Earth, they for sure wouldn’t be able to decipher this as close female friendship. Madison flicks her gaze at me and curls up one side of her mouth. “How’s it going with the catch of the day?”
Ouch. Flora’s grip tightens around my arm. Without thinking, I say, “And here I thought I was more like Moby Dick.”
“Oof. This one reads,” Madison says.
Flora laughs. “Don’t be jealous I found him first.”
Madison tilts her head, her smile turning sly. “Nah. I’m just impressed you managed to reel him in. You two seem made for each other.”
“Careful, Mads. You almost sound supportive.” Flora turns to me, her voice playful but easy. “It’s not a party until Madison makes a jab at her loved ones. If she didn’t like you, she’d ignore you completely.”
“Welcome to the inner circle,” Madison says, as if I passed an initiation.
They take pictures until the music cuts, and a loud crackle bursts through the speakers.
“Time for the Homecoming Court announcement. Please give it up for your junior class representatives—Madison Jenkins and Raymond Corbett!”
The crowd erupts into cheers. Madison steps up, waving like royalty. Raymond follows, throwing a lazy grin to the crowd.
My hand slides off Flora’s waist to take hold of her left hand, and her cool fingers curl around mine.
“How come you never ran for this?” I ask.
“Madison loves the title. Even though I was nominated, I dropped out. It’s not worth it to fight with her.”
“She was okay with that?”
“Obviously I said something like, ‘I never stand a chance against you, Mads!’ and I told her I hate the crown because I don’t wear fake jewelry.” She winks. “But between you and me, I’d totally win, right?”
I nod. “I’d vote for you.”
Flora wants punch, and I offer to get it for her.
She promises to stay put in front of the photo wall, where she’s posing with Carmen and Josie.
There’s a small group forming near the beverage stand.
The drink sloshes in its plastic cup as I dodge around seniors dancing in reckless circles.
I grip the cups tighter, careful not to spill as I weave through the crowd.
When I get back, she’s not there.
Then her voice comes through. “Tell me everything!” She’s surrounded by a few guys from the hockey team, head tossed back as she laughs at something.
“You don’t hang out with us anymore.” William, the goaltender, leans in closer than necessary. “You have a boyfriend now?”
Flora shrugs, swinging her legs where she sits perched on the edge of the stage platform. One of her shoulder straps slips and she pushes it up.
“Are you coming to my party this weekend?” William asks.
“Maybe, we’ll see.” She spots me, waves, and hops off the stage. She takes one of the cups from my hand. After she finishes, she crushes the plastic between her fingers. “Hey. Want to get some air?”
* * *
We stroll around the empty campus holding hands.
It’s different at night, almost unrecognizable.
The front lawn, where Josie blasts hipster music through full-size headphones at lunch, is quiet now, an open stretch of grass under the moonlight.
The parking lot, where Jake always screeches in at the last second in his Jeep, is nothing but an empty grid of painted lines.
The library looms nearby, a maroon block by day, now swallowed by the dark, fading into deep brown with no lights on. The trees are shadowless.
We pass the swimming pool, and Flora stops. Her face lights up. “Let’s break in.”
I only hesitate for one second. That gleam in her eyes when she gets an idea—how do I say no to that? “Only if you promise you won’t push me into the water.”
“I promise.”
She leads me to the fence. I climb over first, the metal cold beneath my hands. Her fingers slide into mine as I pull her up, and as she steadies herself, her hand lingers long enough to trace the curve of my arm.
“Wow. Someone’s been working out.”
“Thank you for noticing.”
“Isn’t it nice? Like our own private pool party,” she says as we sit down near the water.
A row of backstroke flags crosses the pool, red and white and flapping.
The greenish lighting casts an eerie glow over everything, and the sharp scent of chlorine fills my lungs.
This couldn’t be further from a pool party.
“It’s very nice,” I say, looking at her.
Flora wraps her arms around herself. “Tell me about your last relationship.”
“No small talk this time?”
“We’re past that.”
“Olivia. We met while volunteering for a middle-school robotics league. We were creating a Daniell cell when she said my eyes were the color of copper sulfate. They aren’t, but I went out with her anyway.”
Flora bursts into laughter. “You are nerdy.”
“Hey, are you supposed to laugh when I share my love life?”
Olivia and I dated until she moved away. Our kisses were polite, like all the others before her. Fine but forgettable. Sparks fizzled out before they even started. I’d rather be playing Grand Theft Auto.
Not like with Flora. Not even close.
“No, sorry.” She laughs some more. “Clearly, you had a lot of chemistry.”
“Your turn. Tell me about your last relationship.”
She tilts her head up. “Nope. It’s a conversation for another time.”
“That’s not fair.”
She traces her fingertips over my knuckles. “How about I tell you about my next relationship?”
My breath catches. When I asked her to the dance, was it because I wanted people to see us together? I fight the urge to bite my nails.
“This is probably uncool to ask,” I say. “Can we be exclusive?”
The moonlight shines down on the water, casting silver ripples across the surface. It’s silent apart from the faint hum of the pool filter. She takes her time, long enough to make me wonder if I read this wrong. “I thought we already were? I like you so much.”
I stare back at her, this beautiful, irresistible girl who makes my head spin like no one else ever has before. “I like you so much too.”
Her lips split into a grin. “Say that again.”
“I like you so much, too, Flora.”
“This is the best night of my life. Wait, let me try it out.” She gestures to me. “This is Sean Foster, and we’re exclusive. Hmmm. I love how that sounds.”
She smiles again, and I can’t figure out why she’s chosen me. We spend the rest of the night making out beneath the stars.