Fire and Rain [🗸]

9. pastries and flowers

"you dance secretly

inside my heart

where no one else 

can see."

***

"THIS CINNAMON BUN is god tier."

Josiah says this, ripping off small pieces of his cinnamon bun as the Greenport Gang walks along the sidewalk, heading in the direction of Central Park according to Josiah's phone which he has in one hand, with his cinnamon bun in the other, eyes flickering to the screen and flickering back up every so often.

Everyone has some sort of pastry in hand. This morning, Josiah had us all up at 8 AM, proposing a bakery that he found out about the other day, and eventually managing to get us all ready and down by the foyer so we could make our way over to the place. 

The bakery was quaint. It was one of those pretty places that you imagine a cliché meet-cute taking place. Somehow, I think that's what made the entire atmosphere so perfect. It was all simple browns, yet they all seemed to work together to create this calm aura.

Josiah got his cinnamon bun, Azul and Sadie split a bagel, Elliot got an unfairly massive chocolate chip cookie and Zahra and I each got cupcakes. 

We always used to do this thing where we would each buy a cupcake of a different flavor whenever we went to a bakery or a café— then we would have a ritual exchange, where we'd each take a bite of the other person's cupcake and rate it. 

I glance over at Zahra from the corner of my eyes. She's in flannel and huge jeans, half-done cupcake in hand and eyes on the sidewalk in front of her.

Even though we did breach the subject of the kiss, we haven't exactly delved into it. So, even though it would be sweet and seemingly simple to instantly becoming who we once were, it's a steady process. We're still not quite there yet.

My eyes drift back to my surroundings—the skyscrapers, the people, the cars. 

It's our last day in New York City.

It's bittersweet in a way. There's this excitement of us moving on to our next place, but there's also this bitterness of leaving Manhattan behind. The end of June has already arrived, so our plan is to head to the Pride march later today. 

Central park is vast and green once we finally arrive. Huge trees, grass, little shops and larger buildings not too far away. We wander into the place, sneakers padding against the ground as we take everything in.

Azul turns around so that they're facing us, and they blink for a moment as an idea seems to suddenly register with them. "Can we get some coffee?" She asks, and with their glasses catching the glow of the sunlight as they stare at us, we eventually agree, once we catch sight of a café not too far from where we are.