flower girl // hiatus

{four}

when flora woke up the next morning, she was sick.

her forehead was warm, she had a runny nose, and she couldn't stop sneezing. her aunt cam came in to check on her since she hadn't come out of her room for breakfast.

"honey, are you alright?" cam asked, holding a hand to her niece's forehead. in response, flora sneezed.

"yeah, i'll take that as a no," her aunt said. "let me go get a thermometer."

flora reached for her phone as cam left the room. her muscles ached from the movement.

yeah, i'm sick, that's for sure...

she looked through her contacts and found jack's name (she'd added his number into her phone yesterday after cam left), tapping on it and holding the phone up to her ear. jack didn't answer, so she left him a message.

"hi, this is flora. i just wanted to let you know that i probably won't be at school today. i have a cold or something. i swear, it's not you or anything. y'know, in case you thought that i was avoiding you or something. i would text, but as you said, i thought calling would be more appropriate, so, yeah. you can call me later, if you'd like. i think i'd like that. um, i think that's all. so, bye."

no, that's not all. i'd also like to tell you that i love you, but i think that would be weird. because, duh. also, i'd like to tell you that you're wonderful and awesome and beautiful and that i'd like to go to the movies with you some time. that'd be cool. then again, if i were to say all of this to you, i think you may be very freaked out by me. there's that.

flora set down her phone just as aunt cam walked into her room.

"here," cam said, handing her the thermometer. flora slipped the device into her mouth. after a few seconds, it beeped. she handed her aunt the device.

"102.4. yep, you've got a fever, so you're gonna have to stay home today. sorry, hun," cam said.

"man, that sucks. the fever, i mean. i'm cool with not going to school," flora explained. cam chuckled.

"are you okay with being by yourself? i hate to leave you home alone when you're sick."

"it's fine, i swear. i'll just watch netflix and eat soup," flora declared. cam smiled.

"well, okay, then. i'll be back around noon for a little while and i can bring back some lunch from noodles and company or something," she said, giving her niece a quick peck on the forehead.

"okay. love you," flora said.

"love you, too," cam replied as she left flora's room.

"so she does love you?" kyle asked jack.

"well, she says she does, but we don't really know each other, so i don't see how that's possible."

"hm. weird," kyle noted as he turned into the school parking lot.

"i don't get girls," jack said, grabbing his backpack and stepping out of the car.

"dude, no one does. girls don't even understand themselves," kyle explained as they walked towards the school entrance.

"i guess you're right," jack said, hiking his backpack further up on his shoulder.

for the rest of the day, jack kept an eye out for flora, but he didn't see her. was she avoiding him?

that would really suck, he thought to himself.

as he was walking towards room 204 for math, he got a call. he checked the caller i.d and saw that flora was calling him (he'd gotten her number from some girl--tons of people knew her number because, well, flora). he answered, leaning against the wall of lockers.

"hello?" jack said.

"hey, jack. this is flora." he saw a teacher approaching. his eyes went wide.

"yeah, um, i can't really talk," he said quickly.

"mister rivers, you aren't allowed to be on your phone in between classes," the teacher said, grabbing his phone from out of his hands and ending the call with flora. "you can pick it up in the office at the end of the day."

jack sighed, rushing to his next class, realizing that he was probably late.

well, that's just great, jack thought.

"hello? jack? can i call you later or something? jack?" flora said into the phone. in the background, she could hear someone talking. then, jack suddenly ended the call.

maybe he ran into trouble with a teacher or something. yeah. keep telling yourself that, flora, she thought to herself.

flora desperately hoped that jack didn't think she was avoiding him. did that attempted call clear it up at least a little bit? maybe.

flora sighed and left her room, heading towards the living room.

the living room was small, but in a cozy way. the walls were painted a coffee color with navy and gray accents all around the room. pictures of aunt cam, uncle warren, and flora hung on the walls in their wooden frames. two gray couches surrounded the fireplace, the tv resting on the mantle.

flora plopped down on one of the couches, reaching for the remote and turning on the tv. she flipped through the numerous channels, not having any particular channel in mind.

when she passed by the local news channel, something caught her eye.

"if you're looking for something to do with the family next weekend, then look no further than washington high's upcoming spring festival! come out to the football field, where the recreation comity will be hosting the festival. there's going to be games, food, a bouncy house, and a performance at the end of the day presented by the drama club. tickets are only seven dollars for adults and five dollars for students! did we mention that there's going to be a raffle? the prizes include an ipad mini, a macbook laptop, sports tickets, and lots of other fun stuff! raffle tickets only cost fifty cents per ticket! so if you're up for a day of great fun, then join us next saturday for the spring festival, hosted by washington high's recreation comity! thirty percent of the proceeds will go towards funding cancer research. we'll see you there!"

flora pulled out her phone and marked down the day in her calendar. maybe she could make plans to go to the festival with jack.

she grabbed the remote and shut off the tv.

our first date. exciting.

once school ended and jack got his phone back, he immediately called flora.

"hey, jack, what's up?" flora said as soon as she answered the phone.

"oh, nothing much, i guess. sorry about earlier, a teacher took my phone away. rules and stuff."

"oh, that makes sense. listen, i just wanted to tell you that i'm not avoiding you or anything. i had a fever, so i couldn't go to school. y'know, rules and stuff," flora explained. jack smiled as she repeated his words.

you're something else, flora, he thought to himself.

something else.