Burn Me Right

Chapter 11

The ring in her alarm woke Autumn up. Rubbing her tired eyes, she plopped on her elbows. Peaches yawned, refusing to let Autumn up. "Up, Peach," she coaxed her fur baby, but he refused to get up.

"We can't keep being this lazy, Peachy. I should get a job before I run out of my savings," she scratched his belly. The dog smiled. " If not, we both will have to eat mud," she pouted.

"Do you think I will?" she continued patting her puppy, but the dog only cuddled more into her body in response. "I am lucky to get a scholarship, and the on-campus job helped me a bit, but I don't know how long those will sustain us," she said. Sighing, she put her feet on the ground and felt them sticky. Scrunching her brows, she lifted her feet. A white thread connected her feet to the floor. The girl had no idea why her floor was messy. As far as she remembered, she always kept it clean. "What is this?" she hopped into the restroom to wash her feet.

She put a dollop of toothpaste on her brush and turned it on. The dog whined and walked back in, "Did you pee on the floor last night?" she knew Peaches peed outside. She potty trained him young. The dog didn't answer. He royally ignored her and walked to his feeding bowl to demand his breakfast.

She grabbed a mop and water and wiped her floor. That is when her gaze caught onto the flower resting on top of her nightstand. She grabbed the mop and water bucket on the floor and picked up the flower in her hands. Her brows creased in confusion, "what kind of flower is this?" she clutched the stalk and brought it to her nose. "Dahlia?" She made an educated guess.

"But why is it black? And more importantly, who left it here?" she didn't think much of it, considering Peaches had a habit of bringing random things inside. Her baby once got a raccoon inside, the girl had a heart attack when she found it in the living room, and Peaches had a proud look on his face. She tried hard to chase that animal out of the house while he sat on the couch like the king he was. She was going to punish him, but he made that cute puppy face, and she couldn't just follow through with that punishment. Instead, he got multiple kisses and many treats for being pretty and just existing.

Thinking it was Peaches, she trashed the flower and headed to the library. She packed her work tote and grabbed her baby. She unlocked the door only to find a bouquet of black Dahlia and red roses on her porch. She took the bouquet in her hands, "to my Black Dahlia" was written on a note neatly tucked in between the flowers.

She wasn't sure if it was for her. Why would anyone send flowers to her? She isn't unique; the only man in her life is Nicholas. He is more of an "I will end you if you don't like me" kind of guy. She was sure Nick would never show this romantic gesture toward her.

Her dog whining got her attention, "Do you think I have a secret admirer, Peachy?" she wiggled her eyebrows, and the god gave her a side eye, "What? You don't think I am worthy of having one?" She put the bouquet inside on her table and locked the door. She was flattered. This was the first time anyone had ever sent something surprising to her house. The girl's naivety was going to be her ruin.

She dropped her dog off at Rowena's house, and they both strolled toward the library. "What's up?" Rowena chuckled, seeing Autumn's radiant face.

"I got flowers today," Autumn excitedly said.

"From?" Rowena tapped her ID on the door.

"I don't know," she followed her friend and tapped her ID on the slot.

"What do you mean you don't know?" Rowena unhooked her backpack from her shoulder and sat in the chair.

"I opened the door, and they were there right before me," Autumn was shocked and flattered. Rowena could tell.