Flowers by Nichole Hall (the unexpected everything .TXT) 📕

“I’ll think about it.” Clarissa pouts, shooting a glare in my direction.

“Hi.” I wave awkwardly. She only offers an eye roll and literally stomps away. It’s hard to keep in a laugh, so I don’t. Kevin’s lips twitch in humor. “You know, if I have to keep saving you from unwanted attention I should deserve a reward.” Oh my God, that so came out more insinuating than anything else. Worse than Clarissa’s obvious attempt. 

“Who says it’s unwanted?”

“Okay, go get em tiger!” I move my arms in a shooing motion, suddenly angry. 

“What’s got your panties in a twist?”

You. “Nothing.”

“Right.” 

Silence threatens us for a few more minutes until Charlie and Mandy finally climb out of the monster truck. Mandy approaches with her head down.

“Sorry, Willow. You know I didn’t mean it.”

Yes you did. “It’s alright.”

Suddenly feeling tired of all the snaps so early in the morning, I begin to walk away. Going to class early seems smarter than standing there brooding.

“Willow!” I wave with my back still turned to them. So much for barely being on time.

The first day of school, there really isn’t homework assigned. Only get to know you papers after the whole introduction to the syllabus. So boring yes, time for more thinking, definitely. Once lunch finally rolls around, I want to hop in the air doing some victory dance. After lunch one class left and then I get to go home while everyone else has two classes after that. Lucky me at being the “smart girl.”

Passing my locker, I throw the assigned books in there from the first four classes. Mandy’s locker is on the opposite side of the courtyard, but somehow Charlie and I are locker neighbors. Just as I slam my locker from the morning’s pent up frustration, Charlie smiles. I scream and jump in the air like some maniac. 

“Ready for lunch?” Oh yeah. We are sitting with him and his friends now. So, not really.

“Sure.” I mumble.

Charlie turns around and I follow like a good little lap dog. Mandy meets us halfway to the cafeteria, automatically Charlie holds out his hand to her and they connect leaving me behind as the lonely, sad third wheel. Another body joins us, fortunately, it’s Luke.

“Heya, Willow.”

“Hi Luke.” Luke is one of those gangly looking kids. Tall and skinny, just waiting for that summer when all his muscle fills out his length to make him well not gangly looking. 

“How’s the first day of school?” He is also one of those genuine always happy kids. One where you don’t know whether to snap at him, or appreciate him. I’m at the borderline right now.

“Eh, same as every year. Syllabus and ‘who are you’ worksheets.” Luke shakes his head. Funny now that I always knew Luke, we did have some classes together and some class projects, but we never hung out. Now Charlie is dating Mandy and I am automatically inserted into their little group by association. High school and their popularity groups. Sadly, high school will always have them and has always had them. 

“When’s your last class?” We just approached the cafeteria doors, where Kevin and Clarissa wait. A few more of their friends do too, but I am not real familiar with their names. 

“That’s Trina.” Luke points to a girl with long black hair, in clothing similar to Clarissa’s. She stands with her arms across her chest with a scrunched up face. When she looks over at us approaching, her eyes seem to only look for me. Doing the once over on me, the thing where girls look up and down your outfit deciding whether your are worthy or not, she turns back to Clarissa whispering. They both find their heads towards my directions giggling. “Don’t mind her. She is Clarissa’s right hand man.”

“Why didn’t I see her at the pool party?”

“She was out of town. Those two guys next to Kevin are Lucky and Herman. Lucky’s real name is Lucky, but Herman goes by his last name. Don’t ever say his first name, he hates it. Other than that, they are two pretty laid back guys. If you ever need some back up, they will be behind you no matter what.”

“I don’t even know them.”

“Yeah, but Kevin and Charlie cleared you.”

“Cleared me?” I ask, obviously offended. Luke takes a step back at my humiliation, which he mistakes for horror.

“Don’t worry. Some people try to get in our group to use the guys. We all hang out together, because honestly we all come from wealth.” 

“Why are you telling me this, Luke?”

He shrugs. “You don’t seem the type to care about labels, but people, mainly Clarissa and Trina, will give you a hard time. If they do, ask one of us and we can shut them up immediately.”

Oh God. This is not looking too fun. 

Mandy comes from upper middle class too, which makes sense why they aren’t giving her a hard time. Other than me, they all really are wealthy and most everyone here, whether they know by name or personally, know about my family problems. They also know, Grandma and I don’t qualify under the wealthy department. Don’t get me wrong, Grandma gives me anything I want or need, but nothing is ever extravagant. I have never really minded it, and I refuse to now just because two girls think I am lower class than them.

“Hey guys.” Luke proceeds to do the male handshake, which is a hand bump, hug, slap on the back thing. Weird. 

“Lucky, Herman, this is Willow.” Kevin introduces us. Still unsure, I only give a small wave. Lucky isn’t having any of that. Throwing an arm over my shoulder, he pulls me close.

“We do hugs.” He exclaims. Lucky has the sandy blonde, dark brown eyes thing going on. Automatically he is the goofy one, where Herman is all muscle. Born to be a linebacker type of muscle. When he hugs me, it’s like hugging a giant teddy bear. “Don’t mistake Herman for a rough and tough guy, he’s actually really soft inside.” 

Lucky’s joke eases the tension in my shoulders. I notice the two take each of my side as we walk into the cafeteria, effectively blocking Trina and Clarissa. Luke was right, they would protect me, no questions asked. I wonder who gave them the warning. Luke or Kevin?

“So what are we having today big guy? Salad?” 

“Cheese burgers.” Herman’s voice is deep, but when he sends me a wink I know that he really is a softy. I guess I was so used to just Mandy and I, that it never made sense to make more friends. Now in this situation, I am glad for her and Charlie getting together. Well minus the female part of the group. These guys seem really cool and protective over me. 

And we just met. 

I don’t know if that qualifies me as shallow. Things just happened and friends didn’t make sense at the time. Then again, this group would have never given me a second thought if it weren’t for Charlie and Kevin.

Lunch was funny and full of laughter. It seems as though Lucky doesn’t just crack jokes on Herman. He even did a few at my expense. It was easy to see how nobody took offense to his words. It was all in the name of fun and nothing was ever serious. Except for Kevin, of course. Sure he would crack a smile here and there, but he never laughed. Like ever. Even when the moment called for it. I found myself laughing so hard a few times that tears came to my eyes and my stomach started hurting. 

When I didn’t understand a joke, Luke would whisper in my ear what it was really meant to be. Herman was the silent type, but at least he laughed. It was straining, but I kept my eyes off Trina and Clarissa. Mandy and I really didn’t talk either, which I think Charlie could still sense the tension between us. When he would try and lure me into a conversation, Mandy would say something to gain his attention right back. It was obvious that she thought I was trying to take Charlie’s attention away from her. She had never acted like this before with a guy or me, so this was all new territory. I brushed it off with a shrug whenever Charlie would look at me with apologetic eyes. 

As the bell rang ending lunch, we all stood up.

“Which class do you have brainiac?” Lucky again. I smile anyways, he means no harm with his words.

“Physics.”

“No way! Me too. Lead the way.” Lucky bows.

“Now who’s the brainiac?”

“Still you, my dear.” Lucky turns around looking for someone. 

“Yo Kevin, smarty pants over here has class with us. Let’s go cheat off her.”

See what I mean? Never a serious moment with Lucky, which is a nice break for once. Kevin breaks apart from a whispering moment with Charlie and heads over to our direction. Lucky throws an arm over my shoulder. He seems to have no understanding of the word boundaries, but then again nothing is ever serious with him. So no harm, no foul.

When the three of us are ready we head towards the direction of the math and science building. What I really want to know is what Charlie and Kevin were discussing back there. I bide my time, knowing so early on that Lucky will most likely take up the room for talking. 

As we continue walking, Kevin shoots a glare at Lucky and almost instantly his arm drops from my shoulder. If I were any other girl, my mind would be racing with what that means and over thinking just about everything. But I am not. 

I slap Kevin behind his head. “Be nice.” Lucky stops walking, his mouth completing a perfect circle.

“Willow..” Kevin growls. We’ve been through this before. Turning around, I start walking backwards. 

“You guys coming or what?” I turn around again not waiting to see if they join me. Lucky’s laughter permeates the halls.

“Dude, you got a strong willed one there.” I hear a slap on the back and Kevin say something along the lines that he is going to kick my ass. In your dreams buddy, in your dreams. 

Class has assigned seating. Lucky’s name tag is stuck on a desk in the very front. He tries grabbing it, but the teacher catches him. Looking defeated he sits down with sad sigh. I couldn’t help but laugh, that is until the teacher shot me a glare leaving me scrambling trying to find my name. 

Willow Hart

On a folded white notecard in the back lays my card. Guess who’s name is next to mine? 

Kevin Gardley

Why do teachers insist on boy, girl classroom seating arrangements?

The bell rings and already on the teacher’s bad side I jump into my seat as Kevin leisurely sits in his. Leaning back, he crosses his arms behind his head like he is ready to take a nap. This is one of the first times he has ever seemed at ease. Usually straight backed and sitting properly, Kevin acts like a tight ass. Now in his element, it seems that he can relax for once. This demeanor is dangerous. It makes him seem available and touchable. So