Flowers Still Bloom

12

Boys Like You (Acoustic) - Anna Clendening

 (Saturday night) 

 Roman

Mom was having another one of her episodes again.

 Usually she was just tired, doing nothing but laying in her bed in the dark day after day. But sometimes, it seemed as it everything would wash over her again at once, and she just couldn't take it.

 She would snap, and I could never be there when she did.

 As soon as I had heard an angry scream come from the kitchen followed by the sound of the last of our plates breaking against the floor, I knew that it was once again time for me to leave.

 I've tried to stay once before, but everything seemed to get worse once she laid eyes on the only son she had left.

 So each night that the warnings started, I grabbed an overnight bag and crawled out of my window before my mom remembered that she still had a son.

 Some nights I would stay at Halian's, but he had gone with his family over the weekend to visit his cousins.

 I hopped in the car with no real destination in mind, and decided to simply drive around the small town until I found a sufficient place to park my car and fall asleep.

 As I neared the park that laid in the center of town, I noticed a small figure sitting on one of the benches beneath a streetlight.

 I parked my car along the street, and made my way cautiously over to where the girl was seated. Her face was pointed towards the sky with such focus, as if she was connecting the stars of each constellation.

 I recognized the curtain of golden curls almost immediately underneath the dim light.

 "Rose?"

 Her head shot down, her small body jumping in her seat. "You scared me!" She squealed immediately, her body loosening once she recognized my voice.

 "What are you doing out here?" I questioned.

 "I could ask you the same thing."

 "I asked first."

 "Fine," she murmured, wringing her hands nervously together, "My father comes back from a trip tomorrow night, so I'm just enjoying my last little bit of freedom."

 I didn't question what she meant by freedom, because I understood that I had things I'd rather not share as well.

 "This is how you spend your last night of freedom?" I asked skeptically, sitting down at the other end of the bench.

 "What else should I be doing?"

 I shrugged as if it was obvious, "I don't know, partying?"

 She laughed quietly, the sweet sound passing through her lips and into the cold night air. "Why would I do that when this is so much better?"

 "It is?"

 "W-well truthfully, I wouldn't know," her soft voice carrying over towards me, "In all honesty, I've never even been to a party."

 I tilted my head quizzically at the odd girl. Parties were a common occurrence among the high school students here; practically everyone had gone to one.

 "...or gone to the mall, or the movies. I'd never even stepped foot in a school before this year."

 "So what do you do?"

 Her eyes flickered to the side as a small blush coated her freckled cheeks, "You're gonna think I'm weird."

 "I won't."

 "Promise?" She murmured, holding up a pinky in my direction while she continued to avoid eye contact.

 I rolled my eyes jokingly at the childlike act, yet nevertheless hooked my pinky around hers.

 "Well, I garden and read, and sometimes I would be allowed to go into town to the bookstore."

 "So, you're basically a shut-in?"

 "It's not like I chose it," Her soft voice grew a little harder, and I chose not to push the subject any further.

 A few moments of silence passed between us before she interrupted it. "So, you never said why you were out here."

 "I couldn't go home."

 As the words left my mouth, I expected an array of questions on what I had meant by the vague statement. But instead, I was met with even more silence.

 I looked over to see her once again facing the stars, taking in the picturesque night sky.

 She leaned back down, looking me directly in my eyes, "Were you going to sleep in your car?" Her soft eyes connected to mine in question, and I knew that if I kept staring, I would tell her anything she wanted to know. 

 I shrugged and looked away, giving my answer without verbally voicing it. Rose nodded her head, then suddenly stood up from the bench, barely reaching above my height even though I was still sitting down.

 "You're going to stay at my house," she spoke as confidently as I had ever head her, her chin held up high as she attempted to order me around.

 I quirked an eyebrow at the oddness of a demand leaving the mouth of such a small girl.

 "It wasn't a question." She murmured, crossing her arms over her chest and looking down to her feet as she shuffled nervously.

 I thought about it for a moment, glancing over towards my car where I would be spending the night rolling around uncomfortably on the back seats if I didn't accept her request. After a few moments of contemplating the night of torture that I would go through in the back of my car, I came to a decision.

 "Fine," I sighed dramatically, making my way over to my car. She quickly followed, sliding quietly into the passenger seat alongside me.

 "Y-you know, you don't have to if you don't want to," She whispered quietly, "I don't wanna force you to do anything you don't wanna do."

 I immediately laughed loudly at her statement, the loud noise making her jump in her seat.

 I glanced over to her as I pulled onto the road, noticing her small body donned in a sweater much to large for her, easily passing her shorts in length. She was quite small, and probably weaker than most middle schoolers I knew. 

 "Sweetheart, I don't think you could force me to do anything if you tried."

 She huffed silently at my joke, turning away from me to look at the window. She didn't speak much during the rest of the ride, only occasionally speaking up to give me directions towards her house. I glanced over towards her every so often, catching glimpses of her face pressed against the glass, her eyes wide and following each thing that we sped past in the night.

 "Right there," She spoke, breaking the silence to point towards a patch of trees near the end of the road, a small home nestled between the grove. I pulled into the driveway, taking in the small home surrounded by an array of plants that grew on the outskirts and up the walls. 

 The house was alone, isolated in a small patch of trees that seemed to guard it, as if the person who lived inside it was too precious for the outside world. 

 A light tap on my shoulder snapped my attention away from the house.

 "A-are you coming in?" Rose asked softly, motioning her head towards the front door. I gave a short nod of my head and stepped out of the car. 

 I watched Rose as she went towards her house, her small body walking gracefully even with her oversized clothes; and I couldn't help but to think that she was one of the prettiest girls I'd ever seen. 

 What am I getting myself into?