Magpie

🏆 Flower crowns

Written for 'A Summer to Remember' contest held by YARomance

Prompt: I never imagined a locker-sharing program could bring me heartbreak. Why my locker mate is my crush has been my question all this time. The summer break, my crush decided to answer this themselves...

-Won 'Runner-up'!-

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July 1st: Summer school started today. I'm supposed to share my locker with this boy, Val. He's the one who sits behind me in homeroom and keeps whistling show tunes.

July 2nd: He's so messy. His things on the top shelf keep falling into mine.

July 3rd: He's spilled honey in our locker! Honey! I'd gone to the bathroom for barely five minutes...

By the time we could call the janitor, flies were swarming. I'm pretty sure the maggots are going to be better locker-mates than Val.

July 5th: I heard a group of boys snickering around our locker today. I hid behind a wall and watched from the corner as they dragged Val by his collar. They poured honey into our locker through the gaps and made him watch. I didn't tell Val I saw them, just called the janitor again.

July 7th: Those boys came by our locker again, Val in tow. They asked me to step aside and I said no. They spilled the honey on me instead. I don't know why he did it, but Val pounced on the bigger boy and began pummeling him. They had to call the teachers.

July 8th: Val and I got cleaning duty after yesterday's debacle. The boys got off easier, it's true, with the extra hours of volunteering, but we got the fun job—we spent the afternoon blowing dish-soap bubbles from the rooftop.

July 17th: Val says I'm the closest friend he's had. I wish he wouldn't call me his friend.

July 19th: It's starting to make sense now. It's starting to make sense why I've never been attracted to girls. I always thought there was something wrong with me. Val makes me feel normal.

July 20th: We did flower arrangements today. Val made me a dandelion flower crown. He said it matched my hair. Should I make him a flower crown of roses to match his hair?

July 21st: Val keeps eyeing the pretty girl in the jean overalls. Every time she spots Val staring, she turns and giggles with her friends. I don't want to be here. I don't want to watch him watch her.

July 23rd: Val and the pretty girl, Jen, are spending a lot of time together. They keep hanging out at our locker. I wish she would go away. It's our locker, not theirs.

July 24th: Val and Jen are drinking from the same juice box. I know we're too old for this, but I hope to God they get cooties.

July 25th: Val asked me why I'm so distant nowadays. I so badly want to tell him. I so badly want to tell him that watching him spend time with her is like a knife to my heart. But it doesn't matter. Summer school will end in six days anyway.

July 27th: I made him a flower crown of roses today, consequences be damned. It's our summer, isn't it? Our locker. I want him to know how I feel. I want him to know how he makes me feel. I've left it on his shelf.

July 28th: The flower crown I made is missing. And there's nothing. Nothing in return.

July 29th: Never-mind. I found it in the garbage bin behind our building. There's my answer, I guess. But the question now is, is it supposed to hurt this much? Is it supposed to feel like I want the ground to swallow me whole?

July 30th: I found a flower crown of daisies on my shelf today. With it came a note–

"Roses are red, violets are blue,
Daisies are pretty, and so are you."

July 31st: Val said Jen was jealous and threw the flower crown I made for him in the trash. He also said the daisies look better in my hair than the dandelions. Something about contrast.

I think he's wrong. I think the roses in his hair look better than anything on me ever could.