Raindrops

Little Black Words

As I was walking up to my room, I heard a low muttering coming from the room across from mine. I paused to listen for a moment.

Austin. Of course. His room had to be in front of mine. 

Yay.

"Stupid girl. My butt's gonna hurt for ages." He groaned, and I could just imagine him rubbing his behind in pain. I rolled my eyes at him. I didn't even push him that hard! Baby.

I sighed quietly. Well, there were always people who were going to hate me. I just didn't expect to find one so soon. Oh well.

I turned the brass handle on my door, careful not to touch the wood - just in case it triggered another hallucination - and walked inside.

The bed was made, with new blankets, linens, and pillows, which were all in different shades of blue. There was a vase fill of roses, daisies, and violets sitting on a table, which sat in the middle of the room. It hadn't been there before. Someone must have come through to clean. I slowly circled around the table, my gaze never wavering from the flowers. I came to a stop after I went around one full time, shrugged, and continued looking around the rest of the room. Thankfully, whoever came in to clean didn't look through my stuff, which was still lying in a messy heap next to the dresser. I stared at it, willing it to pack itself up, but no such luck. Telekinesis was not on my side. I waved my hand at it dismissively. I'll do it tomorrow, I thought to myself.

I looked at the flowers again. They were a beautiful assortment of orange, red, white, and violet. I reached down slightly and picked up one of the roses. I brought it to my nose to smell the gentle fragrance that wafted out of the petals. I sighed in quiet content. I loved the smell of flowers.

I carefully stuck the rose back into the bouquet. I saw a small white card, sitting innocently next to the vase. It looked more like a business card to me. That was all this was though, right? A business transaction. I would stay here, and in return, they would receive free labor from Yours Truly.

I picked up the card, and my eyes quickly scanned through the words written on it.

We hope this freshens up your day! Love, Pattie, Roger, Violet, Austin, and Suzie.

The curvy, flow-y script was obviously Pattie's because her name was written in the same font. Each person had signed their own names, and I found myself unconsciously tracing the crooked letters in Suzie's name. I reread the card. Every time I read over Austin's name, a strange feeling in my stomach. I dismissed it as some form of disgust. But I didn't ignore the felling of happiness I felt as I read the small card.

No one had ever left me flowers or a card before. It felt sort of good to receive something nice for once.

As I placed the card carefully on the table, at the exact spot it had been before I picked it up, I felt someone's eyes on me. My eyes flitted up towards my door, and there he was.

Austin.

Awesome. Not.

Austin.

Ugh. That girl was so... I don't know. She was different from any girl I had ever met. She didn't throw herself at me like more of those other girls did. I mean, for crying out loud, I had old, married women throw themselves at me!

I kind of liked her for that.

It was hard, being the school's most popular bad boy, star quarterback, straight A student, and hottest guy at school. Everything about me had to be perfect. Everyone expected so much from me, and I had to do what they wanted. My reputation and my image were on the line.

This girl... Alex. She was special.

Unique.

But I had given her the worst first impression. I was a total dick to her! I knew she thought I was an asshole. After thinking for a moment, I shrugged. I don't even care. That's who I am, and she's just gonna have to deal with it, I thought to myself with an air of finality. I didn't care if she thought I was a bastard, or Satan's reincarnation or whatever. She could just deal with it.