your city gave me asthma // Wilbur Soot

seven

Marie giggles and apologizes as her brush nearly pokes me in the eye. She offered to do my makeup to practice, plus she says she feels bad about tricking me last night, but I know she doesn't.

My phone buzzes and I open it up, glancing down at it as Marie works on my eyebrows.

Wilbur: Heyy

Me: hellooo

Wilbur: What ya doing?

Me: Marie is doing my makeup lol 🙃 you?

Wilbur: That's crazy, Matt is doing my makeup too

Me: well at least you can finally look nice.

Wilbur: Ouch. Guess I shouldn't ask you if you're free to go out with us then.

Me: i didn't know we were doing anything tonight???

I look up at Marie after she sprays me with setting mist, finally done with my look. "Are we all going out tonight?"

"Um, it was supposed to be a surprise, but I guess Wilbur ruined it. But yeah, we're going to take you to our favorite spot."

"Is that why you did my makeup?" I ask with a smile. "Don't tell me you guys are trying to make me and Wilbur hook up or something."

"We're just showing you around!" Marie exclaims. "We won't leave you alone again. It'll be fun."

"Mhmm," I mumble, unsure if I should trust her or not. I look back down at my phone.

Me: aw, Marie said you ruined the surprise!

Wilbur: Oh I had thought it was a surprise of where we were taking you, I thought you knew we were going out... oh well

Me: well now i wanna know.

Wilbur: Nope! See you there :))

"I need to leave Europe," I joke, rolling my eyes as I stand from Marie's bed. "The people over here are insane."

"Only 'cause we love you!" She says, bouncing off her bed and walking to my closet, sorting through it all. "I'm picking your outfit."

"Why?" I ask, staring in the mirror as I brush my hair.

"We're all gonna look cute and take pictures. I love this dress!" She exclaims, pulling out a short, simple floral dress. She pulls out a thin cardigan as well and places the clothes on my bed. "Get ready. Matt will be here in thirty minutes."

"Thirty minutes?" I ask. "Why did you wait so long to tell me you're surprising me?!"

"Well, we weren't even gonna tell you. I was just gonna tell you we're getting groceries."

I sigh as I undress and slip into the dress and cardigan. I'm so thankful for my new friends, but they love to stress me out. Since I'm ready, Marie has me help her out with her makeup and hair. Soon enough, there's a knock on our door, and we quickly grab our stuff.

Matt leads us to the parking lot and over to his car made for a soccer mom. We make fun of him, but he's also the only one here with a car. Olivia sits in the front, Wilbur in the back row. Marie and I sit in the middle row, saying hello to everyone.

"Well, don't you two look nice." Wilbur says, poking his head between our seats.

I quickly glance down at his outfit; a loose, white, long sleeved button-up with slacks. I'm convinced that Marie told Wilbur that I thought his glasses were cute, because he hasn't taken them off since the second day of classes. His curls look nice, and so does his perfect smile.

"You as well, Wil," Marie says, while I just stay quiet, trying to force down the smile on my face. "Don't you agree, Skylar?"

I just nod, looking down at my phone. After just a couple of minutes, the car is parked again. I glance up and look out the window, still unsure where we are. We all climb out of the car and I see a sign, smiling as I read it.

"A garden?" I ask excitedly. There's a few lovely ones back in New York that I miss going to like crazy. I grin as I remember that I had told Wilbur about that in art the other day, so he must've made this happen.

"Yes ma'am!" Olivia says, pulling her jacket on. "This place is so pretty. You'll love it,"

We walk along the sidewalk, pointing out and taking pictures of the beautiful flowers and different plants. We reach a large, flowing fountain, only lit up by the surrounding lamp posts.

Matt and Olivia sit on the edge of the fountain, posing as Marie takes pictures of them.

I smile as I watch them, happy for them, but also a bit jealous. "They're so cute together."

"Yeah, they are." Wilbur says, leaning against a pole. "Oh, look!"

I watch as he leans down and starts pulling a rose out of a bush. "Wil, don't mess it up," I groan, but he ignores me.

He lifts the rose up and admires it. "Nearly as pretty as you."

I bite the inside of my cheek, trying not to satisfy him with a smile. "You ruined the bush."

"Oh, Skylar, it's fine," Wilbur tells me, placing the stem of the rose in his mouth. He offers me his hand, as if inviting me to dance, and I'm about to take it before he winces and quickly takes the rose out of his mouth. "Shit!"

"Did a thorn get you?" I ask, holding back my laughter.

Matt, Olivia, and Marie now stare at Wilbur as a bit of blood drips onto his bottom teeth. "Shit!" He says again, holding his hand up to his mouth.

"I'll take him to the park's office building," I say, biting back my grin. "Hopefully they have a nurse. Or a tissue,"

Everyone else stays at the fountain to take more pictures as I walk him to the only building in the garden area. I ask someone at the front desk for a couple of tissues then walk Wilbur back outside to sit on a bench.

I have him tip his head back as I wipe his chin and he holds a tissue up in his mouth. "Thanks," He says, muffled.

"No problem," I tell him, handing him the last clean tissue and quickly tossing the dirty one into a trash can.

"I'll be waiting for that dance."

I look over at him and blood begins to flush my face. "What?"

"You were about to grab my hand to dance. Maybe we could do it sometime after a date. Together. Just us. No Marie or Matt or Olivia or anyone else."

I know I should say no. Our hearts will be broken in December. There's no used to develop a relationship. But damn it, he's so handsome. "I'd like that."

He nods and faces forward with a small grin on his face. "Good,"