Sunflower With Red Drops

15.

   The door of my room slammed opened and Cy threw his bag at the end of my bed before jumping by my side.

   'What are you doing?', he seemed... excited, 'Because I got us a ride to the cinema and I'll get you slushies.' I immediately jumped off the bed and dressed up nicely while Cy was telling me about the movie we were going to watch. Even though the movie seemed interesting, the barely mentions of slushies overtook any thoughts or information I was supposed to comprehend.

   When we arrived at the crestmont, I was already running to the slush machines. I stayed a solid 5 minutes mesmerized by movement of the mechanism itself.

   'You want one of each flavor? Are you mad, there's like 6 different one?' I turned around to see who Cy was talking to, stars filling my eyes. I was surprised to meet eyes with Jessica, I walked over to Cy and pulled on his sleeve gently, feeling shy for some reason.

   'Can-Can I have the 6 flavors? Please.', I whispered not wanting Jess to hear but failing completely. Jessica's eyes widened and I hid behind Cy now fearing her reaction.

   'See, I told she'll ask for all the flavors. Oh and separately, she doesn't like it when it's mixed, thanks.' Jessica simply walked up to the slush machines. Cy looked down at me, now worried by my reaction.

   'You're feeling okay, sweetheart?' The question hid some deep concern. I nodded silently and for some reason Cy didn't take it. He waited for Jessica to hand him the bag with the food and for us to walk away to ask me again.

   'What's up with you Lily? Why are you being so quiet?', he patted my head while giving me the lemon flavored slushies.

   'Do you think I should stop eating so much? 'Cause I feel like I'm not supposed to be eating that much.' His eyes widened and he stopped immediately. He sighed and cupped my face with his hands.

   'Lily, I know you can spend days without eating anything more than an apple. That is unhealthy. Having a sweet tooth and getting more ice-cream than others is not eating too much. You're not even going to eat all of this, I'll help you finish it.', he turned me around to face the mirror in the hallway, 'Look at you. You're perfectly fine, okay?' I nodded and grabbed his hand before following him to the projection room.

   The movie was great. We were approaching the final battle when I heard a girl laughing loudly. I turned around to see one of the cheerleaders, with a name I didn't get, that was leaning into a boy's embrace. My eyes widened when I recognized Monty. What the hell is he doing? He told me he was gay for this Winston he won't stop talking about. What is he trying to do with this girl?

   At some point, Monty felt me staring and turned my way. His eyes broadened and he smoothly got his arm off the girl sitting next to him.

   'What are you doing?' I mouthed his way and he took his phone out to answer me. I received a series of stupid excuses about what brought him to invite the girl for a "friendly" meeting, as he called it himself.

   At the end of the film, I decided to ignore the whole situation that was happening with Monty, and followed Cy back to the car.

   'I loved it. Thank you Cy.' I kissed his right cheek as we drove back to my house. The drive was completely silent but I could feel that Cy had something to say.

   'You know if you want to say something I'm not going to kill you, right?' He cleared his throat and parked on the side of the road before turning to me.

   'Are we a thing?', the boy murmured shakily. My entire being jumped in surprise. How could I forget about that? I slapped my forehead with my hand while Cy was looking at me funny.

   'I'm sorry, I totally forgot about that.', 'No prob, Lily. It's fine', he exclaimed while scratching the back of his neck. I sat up straight, locking eyes with Cy before clearing my throat as well.

    'Cy, would you like to be my boyfriend and buy my ice cream every single day we spend together?' The car filled with laughter that was interrupted by a soft pair of lips pressed on mine.

    'That could be great sweetheart.'

~

    I was now sitting on a bench facing Monty who seemed to have a lot of trouble finding a good excuse for the cinema situation. After listening for a good 10 minutes to his stupid mumbling, I sighed and stopped him.

   'Rule number 1: Friends don't lie. So I'll repeat, why did you invite a girl, like a human with a vagina, when it doesn't suit your taste, which is', I lowered my voice just for him to hear, 'penis?' He sighed and sat back on the bench. There was a long silence that seemed to be needed by Monty. At least, to form an ideal answer.

   'I needed to prove my father wrong. She seemed interested in hooking up.' My eyes widened and my mouth opened in shock.

   'You had sex with her!! Are you kidding me? We can't use people for sex or at least it has to be cool on both side. What if she caught feelings? What about Winston?', he seemed to wince at the mention of the other boy's name.

   'Hey, answer me. You two had sex or not?' he sighed and shaked his head from left to right. I sighed in relief.

   'I couldn't. She tried to initiate something but I cowered away and left.' He seemed angry now, like he was angry at himself. I waited for him to calm down before initiating a new turn in our conversation.

   'What would you say if I told you Auntie is okay with you living with us permanently?' I tried to slide it like it was no big deal. He froze for about a minute before whispering something and all his hope crumbling to the floor.

   'Estela.', I frowned and bit my bottom lip. Who's Estela again? I cleared my throat and Monty broke out of his trance to look at me.

  'My sister. I can't leave her behind even if he wouldn't hurt her. I just can't.', I sighed knowingly now, taking in Monty's point of view.

   We sat there for about half an hour without saying anything and listening to the wind. We just watched the forest and nature be, the trees whispered secrets and the sky smiled around us, the place we were hiding away from reality. It didn't feel that new, to me at least. I was already so distant from reality by being myself that I just felt like I was taking a break. Unlike me, Monty had this shade in his eyes. For him, feeling so peaceful was refreshing. Like lemon ice cream. What I mean is that it was a new feeling he was trying to take in. He sat there looking at the wildflower upside down, being sat next to me, head down on the picnic table.

   'I have a date with Winston in three days and I'm scared shitless.', my eyes shut on him while he was fixating on a cornflower, 'Will you come with me?'

   'I'll come but I won't interfere. It's in a coffee or something?', he nodded, 'Then, I'll sit away but not too far from you. For moral support, okay?' He grabbed my hand and kissed it gently.

   'You're real Lily.'