Renata Santos doesn't expect her heart to flutter when she catches a boy stealing flowers out of her backyard. But as she unravels his reputation, she realizes puppy-eyed delinquent Isaac Marshall may just be the sunshine she needs to turn her life...
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O L E A N D E R
[nerium oleander] ➳ beauty.
FRIDAY EVENING ARRIVED AND brought Isaac's usual self with it, much to my relief.
Though he still wasn't exactly the boy I'd fallen for. His favourite t-shirt and faded jeans were nowhere to be found in the lobby of this country club. Instead, he wore a light blue dress shirt, tucked into a pair of black pants and finished off with a belt my father had lent him.
I doubt I would've recognized him if we hadn't taken the same taxi out of Newberry. Every few minutes I had to reacquaint my brain's autopilot with the idea of me and Isaac spending time together outside the immediate radius of my house.
Even in the cab, I hadn't been able to resist revisiting Newberry's dirty laundry. As we'd weaved through a residential area, finding our way to the edge of town, I'd whispered, "You know why these streets look so weird? Because all of Doug Merritt's signs are missing."
Isaac's face had lit up with realization. We'd both leaned against the window and tried to prove this observation false, glaring off the highway to billboards that were way too far away. But we came up empty-handed, and when our taxi crept across the city lines, everything changed.
Being here was weird. I was used to seeing Isaac through the wide-lens of a small-town sunset, and almost couldn't comprehend this image of him standing inside a polished-wood building that only served expensive food.
I would have to accept it eventually, though, if I had any hope of surviving this night.
In long, reflective windows, I glimpsed my own outfit, which I'd shopped for with my mother. My black dress was patterned with tiny blue flowers that matched Isaac's shirt, and my heels helped me tower over most of the other women milling around.
Isaac's stepbrother and his fiancée were twenty-two, and many of the people chatting in the lobby were only a few years older than us. In fact, Isaac's grandmother — Elsie — said she couldn't even tell the difference, despite that we were the only teenagers here.
Like Isaac, she had moss-green eyes that delighted in every little thing. Now, they danced over to me, her salt-and-pepper curls bobbing over her face when she realized I was checking myself out.
"You're very beautiful, my dear," she said, for the third time since we'd met. She frowned, placing my hand onto the armrest of her wheelchair conspiratorially. "How on Earth did you convince my Isaac to wear blue today?"
I giggled, patting her arm. "Thank you." I glanced at Isaac, who stuck his hands up in surrender, the tips of his ears slightly pink. "I think he would've worn a three-piece today if I asked. I have superpowers."
"That's one way to put it," he said, playfully rolling his eyes.
After loitering a little longer in the lobby, Isaac and I worked up the courage to enter the actual party. Both of us hovering behind Elsie's wheelchair, we arrived at the entrance of the banquet room, where a well-dressed college-aged guy greeted us and ticked our names off the guest list. He clapped Isaac on the back and introduced himself as his stepbrother, Nick.
