I Chose Nothing

4

     John left Sage's house with a bright smile on his face, for the first time in months, he caught himself feeling happy.

     Sage closed the door and sighed happily, she enjoyed talking to him.  She cleaned up the mess she made of plastic bags on her counter, and headed into her room. The bottle of  sleeping pills, clothes, and toiletries still lay untouched on her bed. She decided to leave her room and tend to the flowers in the kitchen. Her father had given them to her as a gift over three months ago, he bet her fifty dollars they wouldn't live until the next time he visited. At least she had something to look forward to when she came home. That was until John came along.

     John took Sage's advice and went to the flower shop she'd recommended to him. As he walked to the shop from where he parked, he noticed how empty the streets were. He unconsciously jogged a bit as he came into view of the vintage flower shop. As he opened the door, a little bell rang above him, "Welcome!" A little old voice exclaimed, John turned towards to where the voice was coming from and saw an elderly woman walking up to him. "What can I help you with hun? I sell all types of flowers here!" She exclaimed happily, "I'm looking for some help on growing these, a friend recommended me to you." He said nervously, handing the bag of seeds over to the owner of the shop. "Well these are carnations, do you already have a flower pot?" She asked, John nodded, "Okay, well you're going to need slightly alkalized soil, I believe I have some in shop. Would you like to buy some?" John nodded desperately.

     After the nice flower shop owner, (Who's name was Cathy) helped John out by telling him everything a carnation needed in order to grow healthily in a pot, he left and gave the woman his number, just in case she ever needed help. He left the shop and walked down the sidewalk. They were still empty as he roamed around, not wanting to go home for the first time in a while. As he kept walking he noticed that there was a delicious smell coming from across the street, he was quickly able to identify it as bread baking. The sweet smell of the baking dough in the ovens and the coffee brewing attracted him instantly, so he looked both ways and crossed the street. 'La Rosa Bakery' was the name of the small shop. It wasn't too crowded, he then realized that he was starving, he had only eaten whatever was left of Sage's presents from previous visits earlier that day, and nothing else. Someone tapped him on the shoulder, "You dropped this man," John turned around to see another guy roughly his same height, holding up the bag of seeds. John took the bag graciously, "Thanks dude! I have no idea what I would've done without these." The man, who wore sunglasses indoors, raised his right eyebrow "Special gift for a certain someone eh?" He teased, as he joined John in line. "Oh I- uh um...no" John turned a bit pink from the question. The man laughed, "I'm just playing with you, names Marc Scavetta, you're up." He pushed John forward towards the cashier. "Hello...uh can I get a croissant and a large black coffee?" He asked out of panic. The cashier nodded and said, "The name for the order is?" "John." The cashier nodded and rung him up. John sat down to enjoy his cup of coffee, once Marc got his order, he joined him. "Do you go to UCF? I think you're in one of my classes?" Marc asked, John nodded, "Which class?" "Humanities, with Dr.Heighmann." John nodded, "I think I recognize your last name, Scavetta?" Marc nodded, "Sweet, do you live around here? I'm basically failing that class and I would love some extra help, hell, I would even pay you. You seem pretty smart." Marc laughed at himself. "Yeah, I live in the apartment complex across from Publix." John answered pointing in the direction, "No way! My boyfriend and I live there too! What floor?" John jumped at Marc's sudden burst of excitement, it reminded him of Sage in a way. 'They're both energetic and talkative'  He thought to himself, then he realized that Marc had asked him a question, "I live on floor six, room 627-A, and yourself?" He asked finishing his croissant with a sip of his coffee. "I live on the fourth floor, room 220-B, So for this tutoring stuff, how much do you charge?" Marc said, taking a large gulp of his drink. John waved his hand to dismiss the question, 'Just like Sage' "I'm not going to charge you anything man, and you seem like a cool guy, you can just come and hang out with your boyfriend and I." John shrugged cooly. Marc smiled and they finished their coffee.

     John made it home after a long discussion with Marc. The two of them walked home and John planted the seeds into the pot, following the written-out steps Cathy had happily written out for him. The small blank canvas was out on his desk, as he used his computer to look up ideas to paint onto it. He was going to paint something as a present for her.