Both Lillian and Oliver walked into Blueplate Diner. They stood at the front of the diner, waiting to be seated. A light chatter filled the small area that encompassed most of the building. A waitress ran over to them, the first two buttons of her black polo shirt had been unbuttoned, her ombre brown hair was held up in a ponytail. Lilly looked over at Oliver who stared at her, a smile washing across his face. A sudden feeling of inadequacy washing over Lilly as she followed behind Oliver and the waitress to a booth. The two of them sat down on opposite sides, a menu being placed in front of them.
"So what are you going to order?" Oliver asked as her flipped open the menu. Lilly opened her own menu and started browsing through the different food sections.
"Uh, I'm not sure really," Lillian responded glancing up at Oliver who looked down at his own menu. "W-what are you going to order?" Lilly stuttered, glancing back down at her own menu once again. Lillian's bangs hung from her forehead as she kept her head down, her eyes wandering the different words that filled up the menu.
"I think I might just get pancakes if they let me," Oliver responded, before flipping to the back of the menu and beginning to look at the drinks. Lillian continued to look through her menu and try to figure out what she was planning on ordering. Lilly was scared that they wouldn't let them order anything from the breakfast section and began looking through the lunch one. Lillian spotted a simple grill cheese and decided on ordering it, she then mimicked Oliver and flipped to the drink section. Just as she began looking through the drink section, the waitress from before had walked back up the table.
"What can I get you two to drink?" she asked, smiling at Oliver as he looked up from his menu. Lillian looked up, and stared at the waitress who jotted down Oliver's order in her small notebook. "And what can I get about you?" the waitress asked turning to Lillian, a smile still spread across her face.
"Uhm, can I get a coca-cola?" Lillian asked, trying to raise her tone in order for the waitress named Taylor to hear her.
"Of course you can, diet or regular?" Taylor asked looking back down at her notebook.
"Just regular." Lilly stated.
"And what will you be ordering to eat?" Taylor looked up and cocking her head slightly at Lillian.
"May I just get a grill cheese?" Lillian asked, before Taylor nodded and wrote it down in her notebook.
"Ok! I'll be back with your drinks," She said before closing and shoving the notebook in her pocket then walking off.
"Is that all you're going to have?" Oliver asked as he closed his menu and pushed it off to the side. Lillian closed her own menu and put it atop of his, before nodding and looking down at the fork she played around with.
"Yeah, I'm not very hungry," Lillian replied glancing up before putting the fork down next to the other two pieces of silverware.
"If you want to, you can always eat off of my plate too. They always make their pancakes huge," Oliver joked, Lillian let out a small chuckle before looking up and Oliver who smiled at her, his sparkling blue eyes glistened in the light that shined through the open window just above their booth.Their silvery tint almost engulfed Lillian in them. Before she fully became lost in his eyes, she caught herself and began looking around the restaurant. Taylor made her way over with a glass of Mountain Dew and a glass of Coca-cola. She leaned over the table, placing Oliver's drink in front of him and Lillian's drink in front of her. The sweaty glass seemed to almost immediately soak the brown striped table. Lilly pulled off the paper that covered the red and white elongated bendy straw that had come with their drinks and pushed her straw through the walls of ice that sat in her drink.
"I'll be back as soon as I can with your food," Taylor noted before walking off and beginning to attend to the other customers who barged through the restaurant doors. Lilly leaned forward and took a sip of her drink, Oliver didn't bother using the straw and brought the glass up to his lips and tilted his head back; chugging down half of the glass as if he was making an attempt to impress Lillian. Lilly giggled, holding the straw between the top of her index finger and thumb. Holding the straw she began to make circular motions with her hand and stir the soft drink inside. The two sat in silence for a small amount of time, Lilly had a battle inside about asking Oliver something to break the silence. Finally, she took a deep breath after taking another sip of her drink and looking back over at Oliver.
"So...after you finish school are you planning on like..going to college?" Lilly asked, her voice quiet among the rest of the chatter that still remained present in the small building.
"Oh uh, yeah? I don't know maybe, I can never tell what I want to do...you?" Oliver inquired as he nudged his drink farther in front of him before looking around the restaurant and back at Lillian.
"Maybe..I'm not sure quite yet either.." Lilly responded before taking another sip from her Coca-Cola.
"Really? I always thought of you as the type to go to college and get your like..PHD," Oliver answered, cocking his head slightly and leaning forward on the table.
"Oh no, I couldn't be like a doctor or anything..I have my own problems never mind dealing with other people's," Lillian stated, before looking around the restaurant in an attempt to look and see if their waitress Taylor had planned on giving them their food anytime soon.
"Like what?" Oliver asked, putting his head in his hand as he leaned over on the table staring at Lilly.
"Oh...nothing really..stupid stuff," Lillian replied, she felt compelled to tell him; but feared that his opinion might change of her after she gave him insight on her 'habits'. Lillian shuffled in her seat, staring down at her drink before looking back at Oliver who continued to stare. He didn't want to make her feel uncomfortable, but Oliver still wanted to know exactly what she had been referring to. "It's just like uh...." Lilly paused lowering her voice slightly before finishing her sentence. "Smoking." Oliver was slightly taken aback from Lillian revealing she smoked.
"Wait like..weed or cigarettes?" Oliver asked, his eyebrows raising as he readjusted himself in his seat.
"Uh..uh..both," Lillian replied shifting her gaze to the table just as Taylor came back and placed their food in front of them. Lilly's stomach growled as she caught a wiff of the grill cheese and pancakes.
"If you guys need anything just call me over," Taylor mentioned, smiling like she had every time before walking off. Lillian picked up her sandwich, taking a pigeon sized bite out of it before looking at Oliver, who cut up a slice of his pancake and began eating.
"So how long have you been smoking uh..cigarettes?" Oliver asked, shoving a piece of pancake into his mouth.
"Since I was like...13ish," Lilly replied, taking another small bite of her grill cheese and then putting it down to wipe her mouth.
"Wow that's like..a long time," Oliver stated as he hovered his fork just outside his mouth before he took another bite.
"Yeah..I'm gonna get cancer," Lillian remarked, giving a slight snicker and looking at Oliver who chuckled just a bit himself.
"I mean, I guess it could be worse," Oliver stated as he began chewing another a piece of pancake.
"Yeah, I could be doing heroine," Lillian laughed as she picked up her grill cheese backup. Oliver almost spit out his food he had begun laughing so hard. Lilly smiled as she took a bite, a warm feeling filling her body as she made Oliver laugh. "But I uh..don't like needles," Lilly added, covering her mouth with her hand as she spoke when there had still been food in her mouth. Ollie let out another snicker before beginning to continue eating his food.
"I don't know, I 've never really done any of that stuff. I mean like I've smoked weed," Oliver stated as he pushed around some of his food in his plate.
"Well I mean, looking at you and your friends..I kind of just assumed that," Lillian remarked as she continued taking bites out of her sandwich.
"What do you mean?" Oliver giggled, furrowing his brows slightly confused.
"Uh, like uh, with Dan," Lilly replied, slightly scared that she had just insulted Oliver and his group of friends, but to her surprise he snorted.
"Yeah I see what you mean, he kind of flaunts it," Oliver replied. The two continued to talk for a little, Lilly finished her grill cheese and pushed her plate to the side. "Are you sure you don't want to share some of this?" Oliver asked, as he played around with one of the pancakes. Lillian hesitated before her stomach still growled, she shifted on in her seat before looking around. Lilly's gaze returned to Oliver before feeling her face heat up as she gave a slight nod. Oliver smiled and pushed the plate in the middle of them. Lilly grabbed the napkin wrapped utensils and slipped out the fork from where it peeked out.
Once she held the fork in her hand, she pulled out the knife and began to cut out a piece of a large uneaten pancake; Oliver also began eating from the same piece of pancake.
"I knew that grill cheese wasn't going to fill you up," Oliver confessed, Lilly giggled as she put a bit of pancake in her mouth.
"And what if it did?" Lillian questioned before cutting off another piece.
"I would be extremely surprised," Oliver responded, as they continued unconsciously eating at away the same pancake. Each time they continued their small conversations, Oliver would find himself smiling at how happy he had been that she seemed to be opening up to him and become more comfortable around him.
"Oh uh, do you want this piece?" Lilly asked, as they both plunged their fork in the medium sized piece of pancake that sat in the middle of their plate.
"No you can have it!" Oliver offered beginning to take his fork out of the piece of pancake.
"No-no you can have it don't worry," Lilly replied.
"No seriously you can have the piece of pancake," Oliver insisted.
"I'm pretty sure I've eaten enough, don't worry I'm not going to starve if I don't have it," Lillian snickered.
"Okay! If you don't want it, and I don't want it, then never of us will eat it," Oliver stated, standing up to grab his wallet from his pocket and search through it. Taylor placed the bill on the table before walking off. Ollie placed twenty-five dollars on the table, Lilly stood up with as they both shuffled out of the booth, she grabbed her bag from under the table and looked at the piece of pancake left. Oliver began walking ahead of her to the door, before turning around and looking at her.
"Okay maybe I'll just eat it," She stated before quickly picking up the fork and grabbing the pancake, shoving it in her mouth before dropping the fork back on the plate and running off to Oliver who laughed. As the two walked out of the restaurant, they brushed shoulders. Lillian's stomach felt like it had just done backflips, a surge of happiness mixed with excitement shot through her as they continued to aimlessly walk out of the diner parking lot.
"I knew you would do that," Oliver remarked as they strolled along the sidewalk.
"What ever know-it-all," Lillian replied with a slight snicker.
"It's true! I called it!" Oliver insisted stopping in his tracks.
"Wait what? No you didn't, I don't remember you calling it," Lillian responded, stopping herself and looking back at Oliver who stood a few steps behind her.
"I did, in my head," Oliver commented before begin to walk again, Lilly followed behind. Ollie spotted a flower on the side of where they had been walking and immediately ran to pick it up. Plucking it from the ground, he turned towards Lilly and got down on one knee. "For you, princess," Oliver spoke, his tone mocking that of a medieval comedy. Lillian's face heated up as she giggled, taking the flower from Oliver and looking at it.
"Why thankyou kind sir," Lilly responded, giving a small curtsy before Oliver stood up.
"Anything for m'lady," he joked. The two continued to walk in silence, before they stopped and realized they weren't exactly very sure as to where they headed to in the first place. "Wait, where are we going?" Oliver asked, turning to Lilly who looked around realizing they had been walking along a familiar main road that forked off into different neighborhoods.
"I don't know," Lillian replied before noticing the street that led into her own neighborhood. Oliver checked his watch before realizing how late it had gotten.
"Wow, I should probably be heading home, do you want me to walk you to your house before?" Oliver questioned, cocking his head slightly. Lilly stood there unsure at first, a small tingle filling her stomach as she hesitated to respond.
"No uh-you can just go home," Lilly offered.
"No I should probably walk you, that would be gentlemen thing to do right?" Oliver asked.
"No-no it's fine, I can walk home alone, I only live like a couple streets down from here," Lilly stated before looking back at the road that led of into her neighborhood.
"Are you sure?" Oliver probed.
"Yes I am sure,." Lillian answered.
"I'm gonna walk you home anyway," Oliver stated. Lillian let out a giggle and look down at their feet slightly shaking her head.
"Fine," Lilly said before they began walking to her house. The two walked in silence before Oliver paused having a moment of realization.
"Oh! I've been in this neighborhood before," Oliver acknowledged.
"Really?" Lillian asked, they continued walking, turning the corner onto Lillian's street.
"Yeah, Vince lives over here I'm pretty sure, a couple of streets down," Oliver answered. Lillian remembered going to elementary school with Vince, as well as middle school.
"My house is right here," Lilly commented, pointing at the yellow tinted vinyl, and crimson red shutters. Oliver escorted Lillian up the small stone stairs as she pushed open her front door. Lilly turned around, facing Oliver from the doorway.
"Uh..so I'll see you tomorrow?" Oliver asked as he shuffled in place.
"Yeah..thank you by the way..I uh-I had fun," Lillian commented, Oliver smiled and nodded his head in agreement.
"Me too," He responded; the two stood there in silence for a few minutes awkwardly looking around in an attempt to not make eye contact.
"So uh-you should probably get going," Lillian mentioned looking at Oliver.
"OH yeah, I should..I'll talk to you later then," Oliver said taking a small step away.
"Okay, uh-bye," Lilly said, as she went to shut the door she heard Oliver's voice. Reopening it, he still stood where he had before.
"How about a little goodbye hug?" Oliver asked, a smirk spreading across his face. Lillian felt her own face heat up, her cheeks turning a lighter shade then the shutters on her house. Lilly nodded, stepping out of the doorway and standing about a foot away from Oliver. He opened his arms, Lilly hesitated walking into them, but when she did the similar shock was sent through her. Lillian lightly wrapped her arms around Oliver's neck, his own wrapping around her waist. The hug didn't last long before Lillian pulled away and stepped back into her house; Oliver and Lillian exchanged goodbyes once again before they parted ways. Lilly's stomach filled with butterflies, her stomach wrapping in thousands of knots as she leaned up against the closed front door. Lillian couldn't help but let her own smile spread across her face.
"Lilly darling, is that you?" her mother called from the kitchen, Lillian snapped out of her 'daze' and made her way to the kitchen, standing in the archway separating the living room and kitchen.
"Hey mom," Lilly greeted her mother who stood in front of the stove cooking grilled cheeses for her brother's.
"Hey, what did you do after school?" her mother questioned, turning around as she took the cooked sandwich off of the frying pan and onto a plate.
"Oh..I just hangout with someone," Lilly responded, walking over to the plate and picking off some melted cheese that oozed off the side of the grilled cheese.
"Don't do that- who did you hangout with?" Lillian's mother asked, looking up at her daughter as she swatted away her hand.
"Oh..it was just a boy named Oliver," Lilly answered, before walking over to the fridge in the corner of the kitchen and opening it.
"Was it a date?" her mother asked, perking up and rushing over to Lilly and pushing past her to get the cheese and bread from the bottom shelf of the fridge.
"I guess..I don't know," Lillian commented before grabbing a soda from the fridge's top shelf.
"Oh! My little girl is growing up, how did it go? Is he cute? Please tell me he isn't a boy like Sean," Lilly's mother rattled off questions and comments before Lillian even had a chance to answer.
"Mom, it was fine..it was stupid anyway," Lilly snapped before shutting the fridge and walking out of the kitchen. Lillian made her way to her bedroom, opening the door and slamming it behind her.
"God, I'm so stupid why did I even go with him," Lillian scolded herself as she sat on her bed and grabbed her laptop from her end table. "I shouldn't of even gone, I probably made a fool of myself," Lilly remarked, prying open her laptop and pressing down on the power button. Lillian waited for her laptop to boot up before she logged into her facebook and began checking her boring feed. The timid girl looked at her flashing message in the corner of her screen, it had been from Oliver. Lillian felt another knot in her stomach before she closed out of the message and ignored it. She felt silly for even saying yes to him when she had been asked to hangout. Suddenly Oliver's messenger box popped open again in the corner of Lillian's screen.
Oliver Corzett: "i see you online, don't ignore me'
Lillian couldn't help but smile, letting out a small giggle before finally giving in and responded to him
Lillian Bryson: "i wasn't ignoring you i just got on!"
Oliver Corzett: "yeah whatever you say lmfao, anyway what's up?"
Lillian slightly frowned, not really sure if he was kidding or not; before moving on from it and continuing her conversation with Oliver. The two talked for around two hours, before Lillian fell asleep on him. Oliver sent her a series of messages before giving up himself and putting his phone away to make an attempt to go to bed. Oliver thought to himself while he laid in his dark room thinking of his time with Lillian. He came to the realization that he believe he genuinely like Lilly, but didn't want to jump the gun and scare her off; Oliver also didn't want to move too quickly and find out dating her hadn't been what he expected. Ollie tried to push any of the negative thoughts about being in a relationship with Lilly out of his head, instead thinking about their date earlier and fell asleep with a small grin on his face.
The two slept soundly in their bed that night, Ruby-joy once again staying up late in order to finish her homework and attempt to get a midnight smoke session before her mother came up to her room to tell her goodnight. Ruby-joy sat on her bed, scrolling through her phone silently as she exhaled the small amount of smoke she had inhaled. When she barely finished smoking, Ruby-joy put her glass piece away in its box, placing her lighter against it gently. Ruby closed the box and shoved it under her bed just as her mother peeked through her bedroom door.
"Goodnight, I love you," Her mother signed, Ruby-joy repeated her mother before she was finally left alone once again. Ruby shut off her lights and laid back in her bed, scrolling through her phone. Ruby-joy noticed everyone posting about this app that had come out on the app store. Ruby decided to download the app and see what it was about exactly. The app had been called 'Afterschool'; Ruby patiently waited for the app to finish downloading before she clicked on the app's icon and opened it up. It took a few different pages before Ruby-joy could see what exactly her classmates had been posting about each other. Nothing seemed to catch Ruby's eye until she noticed something about her best friend, it had read:
"i don't understand why oliver would want to date lilly, she has tar in her lungs and her breath probably smells horrible! that's why she doesn't talk!!!"
Ruby-joy frowned and immediately took a screenshot of the anonymous comment about her friend. Ruby continued to scroll through the app trying to see if anyone else had posted anything about her or Lilly. Ruby-joy didn't seem to find anything and closed out of the app, she rolled over and made an attempt to go to sleep; before turning on her phone once again and going into her messenger app.
YOU ARE READING
Little Flower Girl
Teen Fiction"Two months ago you said that my hair smelled like flowers, and today I saw you step on a rose"
