Among The Wildflowers

𝔼𝕝𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕟: It's A Good Day

After what felt like an eternity, school was finally over and the kids were filing into the bus. Since the seats only sat two people, it was a tight squeeze for the three friends.

"I can't move," Nic complained, shoving Stan with her elbow.

Stan gave her an annoyed look and pushed her back,"Yeah, well I can't breathe! I don't see why I can't sit on the end! I'm squished between y'all!"

"You can sit behind me and Kate if you wanna be annoying," Nic snapped, her arm going numb from being squished against the window.

"Hey y'all," Kate spoke up, her voice soft,"let's not fight. We all wanna sit together, don't we?"

"Yeah."

"Then let's just enjoy it, even if we can't breathe or move," she gave Stan a kind smile. It made him feel funny, like his stomach was in knots or something.

On the drive to the bus stop, where Nic would be dropped off, the three kids talked. Stan learned that just because Kate was the preacher's kid, she wasn't stuck up or a teacher's pet like he'd assumed. Nic learned that Stan had already been through 5th grade and had failed so he was redoing it, which made him a year older than her and Kate.

When questions about Nic came up, she changed the subject. She didn't want to talk about herself, or her past. She instead wanted to learn more about her new friends.

"Nic," Kate began,"maybe we could have a sleepover soon! My parents are a bit strict, but they might let you come over because they love Gina."

"A bit strict?" Stan teased,"Katie, your parents are the strictest of strict."

Kate nodded in agreement,"I know, but they love me. That's why they do it."

Stan scoffed,"Is that the bs they tell ya?"

"Don't you talk about my parents like that, Jacob Stanley," Kate scolded, her eyes glaring daggers at him,"They're the best people I know and I won't sit here and listen to you disrespect 'em."

Nic covered her mouth to keep from laughing at the look of shock on Stan's face. His cheeks were aflame with embarrassment. No girl aside from his mother had ever spoken to him like that.

Stan looked away, and the two girls started up a conversation. When the bus stopped in front of Kate's house, she stood to leave.

"See you guys tomorrow," she said, then she turned and started to walk away. A hand reached out to stop her.

"Wait!"

Kate stopped walking, and turned around. Stan looked up at her, hurt evident in his expression. He looked ashamed.

"I'm sorry, Kate."

She knew he meant it by the honesty in his eyes. Kate gave him a warm smile,"I forgive you."

Stan smiled back, he still hadn't released Kate's arm, but she didn't seem to mind.

"And you can call me Katie."

The joy that came over Stan's features warmed Kate's heart. She hadn't liked this boy a few hours ago, but now, she couldn't wait til tomorrow to see him again.

"See ya tomorrow, Katie," Stan said.

"See ya tomorrow," Kate replied, turning to go,"you too, Nic."

Nic nodded and waved goodbye, watching her new friend leave the bus. She turned to Stan, who was already taking advantage of the now empty space.

"You like her," Nic stated.

Stan gave her a disgusted look and made a gagging noise,"Yeah right."

Nic just smirked, knowing it was true.

-

Just as she'd promised, Nic went straight home from the bus stop. She'd had a good first day and didn't want to ruin anything by getting into trouble with Gina.

By the time Nic walked through the front door, it was almost 4:30 and she was tired. She dropped her backpack by the door, walked to the couch, and plopped down onto it.

Not two minutes later, Gina came into the room, her apron on, her hair frizzy and falling out of its bun. Her eyes lit up when she saw her daughter.

"Bella!" She exclaimed,"how was your first day?"

Nic smiled at Gina's enthusiasm,"It was good. I made some friends."

"Already? See I told ya you'd make friends fast!"

"Yeah, they're really cool," Nic continued,"we're on the same bus."

"That's wonderful, darlin'!" Gina replied,"Maybe they can come over sometime."

"That would be awesome, Gina," Nic said, reaching for the TV remote.

Gina shook her finger at the girl,"No ma'am, not until your homework is done."

"Ugh," Nic tossed the remote back onto the coffee table,"it's the first day, Gina! They shouldn't be giving out homework anyway!"

"Homework first," Gina said, turning to go back towards the cafe,"I wanna hear more about your day at dinner."

Once Gina left the room, Nic took a pillow, buried her face into it, and screamed. Then she set down the pillow, picked up her backpack and trudged upstairs.

She hated homework and the last thing she wanted to do was waste time solving math problems when she could be watching TV.

Nic threw her backpack onto her bed and started to go through it. She pulled out her math book, and took it to her desk. A sticky note fell out of the pages and fell to the floor. Nic picked it up and turned it over to read. It said:

Bella, I love ya to the moon and back. Have a lovely first day. Learn a lot and don't be scared to make friends!
Love, Gina♡

Nic grinned and stuck the note on the wall behind her desk so that she could see it while she did her homework.

A/N: What do y'all think about Kate and Stan? Do you like them? Let me know what you thought about this chapter!