Lavender

Chapter 5; •Raisin•

The rain pelted down onto my umbrella like balls of ice, except there was no sign of hail. I tightened my jacket around me, as the wind pierced my cheeks. Lana Del Rey's voice surrounded me as I entered the tube to go home.

The minute I stepped on, my phone's battery ran out and my music stopped. I groaned, not wanting to awkwardly stand in the tube with people giving me looks. I pretended to be listening to music and slipped my phone into the pocket of my jacket. Grabbing onto one of the supporters that hung from the rod above, I thought about Lavender for the fiftieth time this day.

Is it possible to fall for someone by spending a few days with them? And not eventful ones, just days where you sit quietly next to each other, painting in blissful silence? And was it really love that I was feeling? I shook the thought of it away. I was scared, if I have to admit. I didn't want to feel something so strongly about someone and then end up being rejected because it was all in my head.

I'm being stupid. It's not love. It's lust, it's infatuation, it's attraction. It's just a crush. I've been stupid ever since I've met her and it's driving me insane. I need to be myself again, I can't let a girl mess with my head. I decided to think about the party that was coming this Friday. It was going to be me, my mates and drinks. The same party I had invited Lavender to come to. I should be excited but I'm not. It's odd to think that I invited her even though I've known her a week.

My stop arrived, and I breathed a sigh of relief. It was getting intensely stuffy in here and I wanted to get off as soon as possible. Hailing a cab, I reached home. Recently I had just travelled to Cardiff to meet a mate of mine. He found himself a girl, and here I was killing brain cells over someone I didn't fully know yet.

"Dom, is that you?" My mother called out as soon as I shut the front door behind me. Closing my umbrella and placing it in the stand, I shrugged my coat off and hung it on a peg.

"No, it's Jimmy the axe murderer." I said flatly.

"What an unflattering name for an axe murderer." She grinned as she saw me enter. She was sat wearing a cardigan, a nice brew in her hands. "Tea, Jimmy?" She asked motioning to her cup.

"Yes, please." I smiled and placed myself across the counter. She poured me a cup and pushed it, so it slid across the counter top and into my open palms. I let it remain there to warm my cold hands. We sat there, sipping our tea in comfortable silence. "Mum?" I asked looking into the shadow that formed inside my tea.

"Yes, sweetheart?" She asked, raising her own cup to take a sip.

"There's this girl.." I said, still not meeting her eyes. She raised her eyebrow and slowly placed her cup down.

"What's she like?"

"She, Uh, she's gorgeous." I said, exhaling a laugh at the thought of her.

"And?" My mother pressed on.

"She has really nice eyes, blue but green. Her hair is fascinating, it's like blue from the top and purple from the bottom. She loves art and indie bands, she works at Helen's and serves the best coffee and-" I stopped when I saw my mum's eyes widened and a surprised expression on her features. I faltered a bit, not knowing what to do.

"What's her name?"

"Lavender." I said, loving the taste of her name. It was so easy to just say it, it felt natural.

"Dominic Alexander Pounds! You like someone!" She squealed. "I knew it! The way you just described her- oh! I need to, uh, oh my God, my son finally likes someone!"

"What do you mean finally?" I asked grinning at her sudden hyper activeness.

"You're 17 and you've never had a girlfriend, at this point if you liked a boy, I'd still be overjoyed!" She said jumping up and down. Good to know she'd support me if I were gay.