Now You See Me [Jasper Hale story]

VII. Yellow Roses

"I hate roses. Don't you? It's all right if you can hide them in a cutting garden, but I think a rose garden is the height of ick." - Cy Twombly

***

The medical inspection had taken place in the morning, during which I had been told I could go home. Hayden was called to a severe gastric surgery for an instance, therefore, she couldn't give me a lift home. She insisted on my calling one of my friends - preferably Alice - to drive me back nevertheless. When I told her Alice wasn't the person I'd call, my aunt was suspicious. Eventually, I talked some sense into her, lying about how shocked Alice had been, when she had found me yesterday. It worked, and soon, I was free to call Angela.

"Yes?" Her voice sounded even more piping on the phone.

"Hey, Angela. It's me, Gwyneth."

"Oh my God, Gwyn! We were told what happened to you yesterday. Are you all right?" She asked, concerned.

"Yeah, I am now. Thanks for asking."

"Sweetie, any time," she exhaled, relieved. "Freakin' elm! I thought you might be interested in my having persuaded Eric to go to the headmaster's office and lob for that someone would chop the damned tree down for good."

"Goodness, you didn't have to do that! I don't want any of you to get into trouble, you barely know me," I ushered, folding the blouse I had been wearing yesterday, putting it into a bag from the new clothes Hayden brought me in the morning. "Moreover, I hadn't acted the nicest to Eric."

"He mentioned you were a bit... sharp to him yesterday," Angela admitted. "But still, I consider you to be my friend, and that is what friends do for each other. You can apologize to Eric later. Now... is there something I can do for you?"

Huffing, I took the skirt from yesterday out of the small, plastic wardrobe opposite to my bed. "Actually, there is something I'd be really grateful for. I need to get home somehow. My car is still parked at school, and I'd ask my aunt, but she's stuck up in the operating theatre, so... I figured that - "

"Oh my, why haven't you said it earlier? Of course I'll drive you home! You just stay in the hospital and relax. I'll be there in a sec!"

With that, she hung up, before I managed to thank her properly. Despite Angela's having ended the call, I couldn't help but kept staring at the phone screen. If I was being completely honest, the girl's attitude surprised me greatly. We knew each other for less than a day, and she had already risked her post in school for me; which was a pretty strange feeling. It had always been hard for me to find new friends, even back in Dublin, where I spent whole childhood. Searching for people you'd be able to trust enough to let them become your friends, wasn't easy for anyone, I guess; especially not for someone like me - a person with such a cautious personality.

Suddenly, someone knocked on the door. It was opened anyways, for that, it was just an act of politeness to knock on it. What I saw when looking at the newcomer, surprised me though.

"J-Jasper?" I marveled, trying my best not to let my jaw fall down. I felt like dropping the clothes I had been folding neatly until then to the floor in an instant, then start grooming myself into a more representative and less look-everyone-I've-just-gotten-out-of-the-hospital form nervously. "What.. what are ya doing here?"

"Good afternoon, Gwyneth," his voice came out of his throat in all of its low-pitched glory. Dammit, why did he have sound so hot?! Honestly, I felt safer when he was silent. Not happier, but definitely safer.
"Alice mentioned you wanted to see me. Forgive me though, if I managed to disturb your phone call."

"It's quite all right, you haven't disturbed anything. And, did she? Uhm... well," I shifted nervously, attempting to sleek my already tight with my sweating palms. "It's not a big deal, really. It's probably not even worth the miles you had to make to get here. Nevertheless, to stop wasting your time, I-I just wanted to thank you for, you know, finding me and giving me the first aid. It's possible that if it wasn't for you, I would have... suffocated."

I looked up at him, finding out that he had been watching me for all the time of my babbling. Moreover, this was the first time I forced myself to tear my eyes off of his mysterious, golden ones, as my gaze landed on his left hand, which he had been holding a bouquet of yellow roses in.
At first, it shocked me (in a good way). After all, why would he have brought flowers to the hospital, if he hadn't meant to give them to some patient? Of course, it was very nice to think the lucky person was me. After a few moments, however, I realized that roses were one of the critical plants on the lists of flowers I was allergic to. And with that, my dream of receiving a gift from the hottest guy in school faded away...

"There is nothing to thank me for, ma'am. It was a common, right thing to do. Anyone in my position would have done the same, I'm sure," Jasper lifted the corners of his lips up slightly, bowing his head a bit. Afterwards, he looked at the bouquet in his hand indecisively.

"Not everyone, trust me," I sighed, remembering the moment I had eaten strawberries last year, in a camp in Wicklow mountains. Me and Hayden had been staying there for three days, on last summer holidays. There was plenty of people around, when I became all red and swollen, yet, none of them had an idea about what to do. So there, they started to panick, and in the end, ambulance had to come for me. Yeah, people were terrible, when it came to unpredictable situations...

"Those roses are really beautiful, by the way. Who is the lucky devil, if you don't mind my asking?" I decided to lead the conversation away from my nearly-death.

Jasper smiled enigmatically, making two casual steps towards the centre of the room. "In fact, those are for you. I wasn't sure what flowers you liked, therefore..."
My eyes widened, as he stretched the arm he had been holding the bouquet in, to me. I was more than sure I had been blushing by then, flattered - that, however, hadn't changed anything on the fact I was freaking allergic to goddammed roses.

That was why I made a few quick steps away from the flowers (not from Jasper), covering my nose with the collar of my coat. Jasper frowned for a second (breathing in, most probably to ask what the hell was wrong with me) just before a realization hit him. He opened his mouth to speak once again, but had to exhale once again.
"Wait, you are not allergic to roses as well, are you?"

I nodded reluctantly, my eyes watching him over the hem of the coat. I hoped he saw all the "sorry's" my glances were supposed to provide.

"Gwyneth," this time, my name sounded as a martyred sigh from him. "I apologize. It hadn't even occured to me, that you'd be... I assume I should have known better."

"It's not your fault, Jasper! You didn't know I was allergic to them."

I tried to prevent him from what he was going to do by catching his forearm. Coming closer to a whole bunch of allergens, nevertheless, wasn't the best thing to do for an allergic person. I started sneezing immediately, as the tears flooded my eyes once again.

"No, it was thoughtless of me to listen to Alice. I-I don't know what got into me. I swear it will not happen again," he stated definitely, while turning on his heel and disappearing from the room. It might have been a cruel thing to say, but the moment he left, my torture was over. The urge to sneeze stopped and soon, my sight cleared.

"Fuck!" I couldn't help myself but cursed loudly. My allergy to roses was an unfortunate coincidence, while I was left to hope that Jasper was aware of that. I hated myself for being allergic to them, since all the boys I had ever had (well, I had one, back in Dublin) always chose them, as a gift. No wonder, by the way. Roses were neutral flowers, a safe bet even - all women liked them. Besides me.

Set for the part: www.polyvore.com/now_you_see_me_vi/set?id=202232598