Bouquet

#5

Samantha's POV:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The bell finally rang after what felt like only 10 minutes of class. I sadly said bye to my friends and walked over to my locker to grab my French books.

...

"Hey." I whispered to Amber, sitting in the seat next to her. "Bonjour." She responded, grinning. "What's up?" I asked, her smile was worrying me. She tried to mask her grin. "Soooooooo....                 Rowan?"

"Shut up." I muttered, my face bright red. She burst out laughing. I dug my elbow into her side until she winced. "Bitch." She muttered, rubbing her side.
"How's Ariana?" I asked. Amber's eyes lit up at the mention of her girlfriend. "She's good. We're good."
"I'm glad." I grinned.

We continued to chat until the teacher began attendance.

...

We took a short break about halfway through the class, so I headed out into the hallway to refill my water bottle. Amber accompanied me.
"Be right back." She whispered to me before slipping into the girl's bathroom. I rolled my eyes and opened the door to yell "Be safe you two!" I heard the familiar giggles of Amber and Ariana before I let the door swing shut. I continued down the hallway to the water fountain.

As I walked through the hall, I heard someone running behind me. I turned right as Rowan reached out to tap me on the shoulder. I ducked quickly to avoid being slapped in the face. "Hi. Sorry." He said breathlessly. I smiled at him. "Hi."
I continued down the hall with him on my tail. I stopped when I reached the water fountain. I filled my bottle and put the cap back on. Rowan just stood there silently. "Did you want something?" I asked, confused. "No, all good." He smiled awkwardly, giving me a thumbs up. "Ooookayy?" I responded confusedly. I turned on my heels and hurried back down the hall to class. "Where are you going?" Rowan called behind me. I rolled my eyes. "Class!" I called over my shoulder, not stopping. "Wait! Can I show you something?" I stopped. What the heck could he possibly want to show me in the middle of the school day? "Later." I responded, still not turning to look at him. Rowan sighed loudly, but didn't say anything else.

I entered the class and sat down in my seat quietly. Amber entered shortly afterward. "Hey." I muttered. "Do I look normal?" She asked worriedly. "Just let me fix your makeup." I said softly, turning to her. "Thanks." She whispered as I reapplied a few products and fixed her hair. We smiled at each other for a moment and then turned back to listen to the teacher.

...

Amber and I raced each other to the locker rooms. At the last moment, she sprinted and got there first. We high-fived and then went to our lockers to grab our clothes for track. We changed quickly and then walked out to the track where everyone was warming up. A few other girls followed us out. "Hi babe." Ariana called, running up to us. She and Amber kissed quickly and then they continued walking. We started stretching. Our coach came over and barked at us. "Five laps, girls."
"Yes coach." We all groaned. We took off, the pounding of our feet rhythmically across the pavement all I could hear.

...

I was still breathing heavily when I sat down on the bench, sweat dripping from my face. I grabbed my water bottle and dumped some onto my face. I then proceeded to open my mouth and allow the cool drink to pour down my throat, the dryness evaporating.

"Hey." I looked up, placing my bottle on the bench beside me. Rowan stood with his hands in his pockets staring at me. I wiped my chin self consciously and smiled at him. "Hi. How's it going?" He smiled back. "Going great, thanks. Looks like you got quite a workout in." He ran his hand through his hair slowly. I was unable to stop staring. Eventually I snapped out of it, turning slightly pink. "Um, yeah. I guess I did." His hands were back at his sides. "Sam? Can I show you something now?" I sighed. "Can it wait till after school? I really can't skip." He winced. "I guess so." He looked really disappointed. My resolve was crumbling by the second. I shot a desperate glance at Ariana over Rowan's shoulder. We made eye contact for a moment, and she quickly ran over. "Sam! We need to get to Gym!" She tugged on my arm to pull me away from Him. I shrugged apologetically at him before hurrying after Ariana.

"Thanks." I whispered when we were out of his earshot. "No problem." We smiled at each other and then grabbed Amber. We dropped her off at her class and then we ran to Gym, joining the crowd.

...

"What's Rowan's deal anyway?" Ariana and I sat next to each other on the floor of the gym. Thankfully, class had finished up early and we were just relaxing and waiting for the bell. "I'm not sure." Ariana held out a box of sourpatch kids. I helped myself, eating them slowly as I filled her in on everything that had happened between us.

"I mean, I know it's not much, and there was literally nothing romantic about it, but it just feels really fragile, you know?" I popped a few more pieces of candy into my mouth as I spoke. "Yeah. I can't blame you. He really seems to like you. But then again, straight people are so weird and complicated. Y'all just dance around each other and wait for the other to admit their feelings. It's so odd." I giggle and lay down on the ground with a hmph. "It's just so fucking awkward. I never know what to say around him."

"You liiiiike himmmmm." Ariana sang. I sat up quickly and smacked her arm, glaring at her. "Ow! Well at least I got you up. This floor is in no way clean. It's unsanitary to lay down on." I rolled my eyes, but didn't lay back down.

Riiiiiingg

Everyone took off in a stampede out the doors. I grabbed another handful of candy and took off, hearing an indignant 'Hey!' behind me.

I maneuvered around people and arrived at my destination. History. I hurried to sit beside Caleb before someone took my seat. "Hey dude." I whispered as I sat down next to him. "Sammy!" He grinned. I shoved the candy into my mouth and wiped my hands off. We did our handshake and I set down my binder on the wooden desk.

I suddenly felt someone looking at me. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up and I turned around. Rowan sat 2 desks behind me, but his eyes were currently burning into the back of Caleb's head. I gave him a questioning look and held it until he finally looked back over at me. He looked jealous. I felt giddy with excitement. Rowan was jealous. Over my and Caleb's interaction. I grinned. He looked away from me with a wounded expression.

...

"Hey Sam!" I heard someone call as I ran toward my locker. I didn't stop and wait though. If they want to talk, they'll follow me. I quickly put in my code and opened my locker, grabbing my bag and swinging the door of my locker shut. "Sam!" The voice called again. I huffed and finally turned to see who it was, glaring.

My glare softened significantly when I realized that it was only Rowan. "Whats up?" I swung my bag over one shoulder and started walking slowly toward the main doors to the parking lot, allowing Rowan to walk besides me as I shoved past people to get to the doors. "What's up with you and that guy?" He asked, his tone confusing me.

"Caleb?" I asked, slowly realizing what he was going on about. "Yes, sure. Him." He emphasized slowly. I slapped his arm. "First off, don't patronize me. Second, he's Emily's boyfriend." I saw Rowan's shoulders relax slightly, narrowing my eyes at him.

"Oh. Okay." He stumbled over his words for a few moments, before attempting to continue the conversation. "Sooooo, can I show you that thing now?" I sighed heavily. "Sure. Where?"

"I'll be at your house at 6:30 sharp to pick you up." I raised my eyebrow. "Alright. It's a date." I said slowly, evaluating his reaction.

He lit up like a Christmas tree. "Okay!" He grinned at me, stumbling over his words. "I'll see you later!" He said before hurrying off to his car. I watched him, amused. I started making my way to Emily's car, where she was watching the interaction, smiling like a creep. I opened the door and got into the passenger's seat, slamming the door shut. "What?" I said, the smile evident in my voice. Emily squealed. "You have a date!" "Shutup." I mumbled, trying to resist the urge to squeal just as she did.

...

Emily stayed over. We decided to have a sleepover even though I would be with Rowan for most of the night, most likely. She helped me with some light makeup. I wore a cropped sweater and a non-ripped pair of jeans. It wasn't fancy, but still noticeably nicer than my everyday outfits.

I could tell that Rowan had pulled up by Em's loud squeal. I laced up my combat boots and said bye to Emily before going outside to meet him.