the girl in the green house » david dobrik au

eleven

LUELLA DIXIE EMMERSON

"You're here early," Betsy Brinkman commented as I placed my container of raspberries on the counter. It was pretty early for me. I usually got to the farmer's market right around lunchtime. It was always bustling by the time I stepped in the doors. But today it was empty, aside from Betsy, who was always behind the counter.

"I couldn't sleep last night," I admitted honestly. "And I didn't come yesterday. It was raining outside."

"You couldn't sleep, huh?" she raised her eyebrows in a suggestive manner. "Too busy with your little boyfriend? Or were you just thinking about him all night?"

"Who is this boyfriend you speak of?"

"That little Dobrik boy," she smirked. "You know me and Maude live just across the street from each other?"

"I... did not know that," I nervously replied, glancing around to make sure no customer had slipped in. Anything that could get back to my mother would ruin me and my chances at a decent summer. "You're watching me, then? Creepy."

"A little," she shrugged. "I got eyes all over town. You may be tricking everyone else with your sneaking around, but not me."

"I'm not tricking anyone, Betsy," I had to laugh at that. "Well, I guess I am, but not because we're dating. He's my friend. But you know Mama would be so mad if she found out I was friends with anyone who lives lower than Cherry Tree Lane."

"What ever would she do? Bless her sweet little heart," Betsy's sarcastic words were accompanied by  placing her hand over her heart and dramatically shaking her head. Asking God to bless anyone's heart in the south was the ultimate insult. "Well, he sure is cute. You better snatch him up soon before one of your little girlfriends decides to."

"They have the same moms as me," I reminded her. "Besides Natalie. But yeah, I'm not too worried. He doesn't really talk to the other girls."

"He's only got eyes for you, huh?" she wiggled her eyebrows at me, and for some reason, I couldn't stop my cheeks from flushing bright red.

"I'm never coming back here if you keep teasing me," I told her, grabbing my basket off the counter.

"Like you could ever stay away."

I sighed as I pulled open the door, giving Betsy one last smile over my shoulder. "You know me too well."

I biked to the diner and grabbed a coffee, then walked down to the river to sit. It wasn't long before I heard footsteps approaching behind me. I wasn't scared, mainly because we lived in Calhoun where no crime ever occurred, and I could recognize the pattern of those footsteps anywhere.

"How'd you find me?" I asked as he sat down next to me.

David smiled, grabbing a raspberry from the basket. "You're not a difficult girl to find, Lu. You do the same thing every day."

"Ain't it pretty in the day?" I half gestured to the river. "So peaceful."

"It is," he nodded. "I see why it's your spot."

"You not busy at the shop today?"

"No, Maude sent me home," he chuckled. "I honestly don't think she likes when I'm there. She's been alone in there since she started that place. All I do is take up space."

"I'm sure she likes you there. You look like a good bookkeeper."

"She likes to be alone. She thinks I'm only here to help her, and she thinks she doesn't need help."

"She doesn't," I reassured him. "Does she not know about your parents?"

"Uhh," he trailed off, like he was searching for the right words. "I mean, she knows. She just believes in true love, you know. Like love worth fighting for. She doesn't like to talk about them possibly divorcing."

"Well, that's both sad and sweet," I half smiled. "Sweet that she thinks love is worth fighting for. I think old people don't really understand it's not like that anymore."

"You don't think it's like that anymore?" he asked, a genuine curiosity in his voice.

"I don't know," I shrugged. "I just think life is more complicated now. It was easier to be in love when your husband was supporting you and it was looked down upon to get a divorce. I think sometimes you kind of force yourself to love someone just to save face. Now you don't really have to do that. You can leave, if you want. I don't know. I don't know if it was scarier then or now."

"What do you mean?"

"Like, my great grandma was real crazy when I knew her. She was real old, and she loved telling stories. She ended up telling all of us about her husband cheating on her and he abused her, but back then, she couldn't leave. So that's scary," I said. "But then I think about now and how easy it is to leave. What if you give up on someone you should've fought a little harder for? I don't want someone to give up on me before we know we can't fix it, you know?"

"Yeah," he sighed. "That is scary."

DAVID JULIAN DOBRIK

You are a fucking loser. You had the perfect opportunity and you missed it. How fucking stupid can you be?

Those three lines played over and over in my head on my walk back to Maude's. Luella was sitting there, shining in the sun, lips stained red like raspberries, talking about not wanting anyone to give up on her, and I couldn't even say I wouldn't.

I felt like a little kid who had missed his chance to tell the pretty, popular girl he had a crush on her, and now she was dating the equally as popular boy I'd never be. It was only a matter of time until Lu was sold to the highest bidder and I was just a memory in the back of her head.

But I didn't want that. She was my girl. I had known for a long time she was my girl. Since I met her on that shitty playground that gave me two splinters. She was pretty and blonde and her laugh sounded like fucking daffodils, and even as a little kid, I knew she was something different, a force to be reckoned with. When she asked me to take her away, I knew I would. There was a reason I called Maude every Sunday, not just because she was my grandma, but to check up on the girl I felt I abandoned.

I never knew coming back to Calhoun that I'd meet her again or that she'd be interested in me. I knew I'd see her around, but from the way my grandma talked, Emmerson's did not run around with boys like me.

That's why I knew she was different. The first day I saw her, I instantly recognized her. You don't forget the soft innocence and the bright light someone like Lu carries around with them.

It was shocking to me that she even wanted to talk to me, and suddenly one little chat became a friendship that meant the world to me. It warmed my heart just to be in her presence every day, just to hear her soft voice with that intense southern accent on the phone asking to hang out.

All I had to do was tell her. There was a chance she felt the same way; maybe not a big one, but a chance nonetheless. Still, I blew it. I didn't have the guts. I didn't want to lose all of her, so instead, I kept myself guarded from part of her.

It was going to be a long summer.

I hope davids part makes sense ?? I have a thing for making people who are in love talk very flustered bc i think its cute when it seems like the words cant come out fast enough lmao

Xoxo abby