WALLFLOWER // B.E

nine

juniper

i flipped the page of reminders of him as low, soft music played through my airpods. i fully leaned back against the tree i was sitting under as a gust of wind blew.

it's currently sunday, two days after billie came over to my house to work on the project. since she's left, archer practically hasn't shut up about how he wants to see her and how she should come over again.

since the weather today was really nice, i decided to go to a park and read. i also, as much as i love him, needed to get away from archer incessantly asking for billie to come over.

my eyes scanned across the page as i read it. i stopped though, and i looked up as i heard a familiar voice.

"juniper?" billie squinted down at me. she lifted her free hand to cover shield her eyes from the sun; her other hand was holding a leash for a gray pit-bull, who was curiously walking over to me.

i took one of my airpods out as i looked up at her. "oh, hey."

"hi," a grin formed on her face. she walked closer, so that the sun wasn't beaming into her eyes anymore. she glanced down at the dog, who was already trying to lick me in the face. "shark," she warned.

"he's fine," i assured. i placed my book mark in between the pages, then set my book to the side. i took out my other airpod, then set them both on my book for now before i lifted my hand to pet shark.

"so, this is what you do outside of school, huh?" billie asked with a small laugh. "read?"

"um, yeah. i love reading," i scoffed.

she laughed again. she walked over, and she took a seat beside me. she was obviously careful with how close she sat to me, mindful of the times i've told her to not touch me. shark moved to lay on her lap as she sprawled her legs out in front of her.

"okay, what are you reading then?" she questioned as she tried to peek over at my book.

"reminders of him by colleen hoover," i told her as i picked the book up and handed it to her. she took it into her hands, and flipped it over to read the back of it. "it's good so far, i like it. colleen hoover's books are top tier."

she hummed as she finished reading the back of it. "i'm not much of a book reader, but it seems interesting. i'll try to read it sometime."

"really?" my eyes widened a bit as she handed the book back to me.

"yeah, for sure," she smiled.

i couldn't help the smile that formed on my lips. i looked down at my lap so that she couldn't see it.

"hey, stop that. look at me," billie chuckled.

"why?" i questioned softly.

"'cause i wanna see your smile; it's pretty. you're pretty," she complimented sweetly.

"shut up," i mumbled as my face started to flush. she giggled as i still avoided looking at her.

she brought her knees up to her chest, and she wrapped her arms around her legs. she rested her chin on her knees as she looked at me.

"have you ate yet?" she tilted her head.

"i had breakfast a few hours ago," i told her.

"you should come with me to get lunch then," she gave a smile.

i glanced down at shark, who was now peacefully laying in the grass. "what about shark?"

"i can bring him back to my house real quick," she waved me off. "then we can go get lunch. did you drive here?"