Flowers for Violet

Chapter 9- Clouds Don't Make Sense

"Wanna be my date?" She says and my hands drop from my hair as I stare into my notebook. My eyes widen. I guess it takes me too long to comprehend what Violet just asked since she speaks up again.

"J-just as friends of course. I mean you don't have to. It was just a question. Actually forge-"

I tear a piece of paper out of my notebook and scribble a "yes" before throwing it at her. Violet winces upon contact with the paper ball and opens it up. 

"Yes." She reads aloud and although I am not looking at her, I could easily detect her smile. Yes, it may not be the same way I want to think the date is but even if it's a friendly date, I can't help but smile to myself. Violet sighs and says, "Oh Will. What would I do without you? What did I do to deserve you?"

What would  I do without you? What did  I ever do to deserve such a wonderful person like you? I feel like melting right here, right now. My cheeks flush with a tomato red.  If I died now, I wouldn't care. I'm content with the amount of love Violet has given me. If Violet was getting married to someone else who deserved her far more than I ever will, I would still go to her wedding just to see her in her brilliance one last time. Even if it hurts me.

Today is the day of the dance and I want to get this whole school day over. I just want the dance to be here already. Soon enough, it is. Since Violet and I aren't going to the dance as a loving romantic couple, we both agreed to go to the dance separately. Also so we can be surprised with each other's appearance when we arrive. It is 5:00 p.m. when I finish getting ready. I look myself over in the mirror and I will admit I actually don't look like a rat who has lived in the sewers its entire life. My red graphic T-shirt is wrinkle-free, my blazer is spotless, I'm wearing contacts instead of my round metal glasses, and my hair is gelled to the side rather than the scruffy hair I usually wear with a straight centered part with hair that hasn't been brushed. The only thing that isn't quite there are my black converse. They're a bit faded and smothered in dirt. I don't have time to clean it so I'll just work with what I have. Before I head out the door, I slip my glasses into my pocket just in case my contacts don't work out. 

I decide to walk to school and by the time I arrive, it's 5:25 p.m. That's strange, I think. It usually only takes fifteen minutes to walk here from home. When I push open the gym doors, music fills my ears and I see students who volunteered to help with the dance run around with equipment in their hands. Some chairs have already been placed but other than that, it seems they just started setting up. Wow, I'm pretty early. I decide to go out the back door and sit in the parking lot. My eyes focus on the clouds and watch them pass slowly. I glance at my watch and see that only a minute has passed. I guess I'll have to find a way to pass the time since I'm early and can't help the volunteers. I try to make sense of the shapes the clouds take form in but all of them seem so idiotic and nonsensical. I mean, there's one that looks like a panda eating a shark whose wearing a black tutu and is holding a crossbow. What the heck is that supposed to mean? Where the hell would you ever see an image like that? You won't even see that in a children's coloring book.

There's another cloud that looks like it's a grey house with realistic eyes and splatters of a liquid that I presume to be blood. Now that's just scary. Another one just looks like a Robert Downey Jr. It is quite nice considering what a handsome devil the man is. Other than that, all of these clouds don't make sense. Then it strikes me; am I high? Did I inhale the wrong type of air intoxicated with hundreds of mind-altering chemicals? What if it were those brownies I ate earlier? Maybe my father had slipped some things in. I shoot up from my position. I look down at my watch and it says 5:57 p.m. Goodness, what if I am high? I lay down for a couple of minutes and watch the sky darken before it's pitch black. 

I stand up after four minutes and stumble into the gym. It is fully set up and I can see a handful of students entering. They're pretty early as well since the dance officially starts at 6:30 p.m. I walk across the freshly mopped floor and sit at the steps of the stage. I watch as more students filter in.

6:13 p.m. That's when I see her.