Pollen Count | ✓

t h r e e

Daisy closes up the back of the pickup and rudely turns down Allie's offer of a slice of home-baked cake.

Allie's feelings are hurt, but just a little.

"Wait, before you go--" Allegra says, still clutching the petunias to her chest. She reaches out with one hand to Daisy, who looks aghast, but holds still. Allie's fingertips seem to float out of Daisy's field of vision for a moment or two, and she feels fingertips brush against her hair lightly.

When Allegra pulls her hand back, she's shaking loose a tiny money spider.

"Got it," she proudly says, smiling up at Daisy.

Daisy stares at Allie, struck. Then she turns, wordlessly, and gets back into the truck.

Allegra wonders what she's done wrong. It couldn't have been a pet spider or anything, right?

She watches the truck disappear, the skirt of her knee-length tea dress floating gently in the breeze.

***

The petunias are beginning to pose a problem.

Allie starts sneezing just after she puts the flowers down. Her parents buzz through to the kitchen, both of them curious about Allegra's visitor. She does her best to explain what had happened to both of them, but it doesn't sound real when the words come out of her mouth.

Her mother and father both look confused by the story their daughter gives them - this punk girl who ruined our flowers felt bad, but didn't feel bad, and actually drove here with a truck full of potential replacements? - but they go along with it, and her father is outside replanting the petunias within the hour.

Allegra contemplates popping an anti-histamine. Being so close to so many flowers that had been rustled around in the back of a pick-up was really starting to make her eyes itch, but instead she just takes a shower, changes into her pajamas even though it's a little early, and curls up with her laptop and a good book.

She hates taking pills. Any alternative is a good alternative.

She's engrossed in the love story she's currently hooked on when a noisy, annoying ping snaps her out of it.

She checks her phone, the source of the distraction, then pulls up the offending service on her laptop. Facebook tells her she has one new friend request: Daisy Kane, 102 mutual friends.

One of Allie's eyebrows quirks up curiously. While they're not quite friends yet, she wouldn't have said at least 90 of those mutuals were either, so... she clicks accept, and then clicks her new friend's name.

Allegra hadn't paid a lot of attention to Daisy in the past. That's something that's become wildly, vastly untrue in the last twenty-four hours. Allie's brain is running on a loop: why did Daisy come back why did Daisy make such an effort with me why did Daisy seem so mad when she left Daisy Daisy Daisy--

She looks at the girl on the screen, framed in her profile picture. The rest of her profile is barren, it's clearly not been updated in a while - apart from that profile picture. When Allie clicks on it to enlarge it, she sees it was updated four hours ago.

Daisy's eyes are staring her down through the screen. She has the ghost of a smile on her otherwise pouty lips, and her hair is straight and neat. She's wearing what looks like a huge denim jacket and a tiny crop top, and a thick black choker stands out against her skin.

Allegra's eyes rush to take in every detail - every pore - until she hears footsteps coming up the stairs, and she violently slams the laptop shut.

She shuffles back to her lounging position and flips her phone over before committing her eyes to her book once again.

***

Days pass, punctuated by books, video games, and baking. Sometimes, Allegra has friends over to hang out and partake, and sometimes she sucks it up and agrees to go out with them - but it's almost always to the beach, since her allergies don't make as much of a fuss there. She still hates being out in the sun, but sitting under the parasol and guarding her friends' belongings while they frolic in the sea and sand is tolerable.

She's at the beach when her phone buzzes, and that picture of Daisy pops up in miniature format. She blinks down at the screen, stunned, and squints to read the message.

how are the petunias working out

i was gonna drop by and ask but i didn't want you to think i was there to give your garbage can round two

The tight, nervous feeling in Allegra's stomach takes her by surprise as she opens the text box. How is she supposed to reply to that? She's almost certain Daisy is messing around, but when she thinks about how the girl stormed off on her after their brief flower-and-sass exchange...

haha

Allegra types, after five whole minutes of sweating. (And not because of the heat.)

they look good! my parents are really happy.

thanks for bringing them by.

Allie waits a few long moments, but when no bubble appears to tell her Daisy is typing, she locks her phone and slots it back into the pocket of her beach bag.

Her friends run off for snacks and bring her back an ice-cream and a bottle of water, and still she hasn't received a reply. Allegra checks her phone every few minutes.

Seen 15:02

***

The next time Daisy messages her, she's back home and toweling off from a post-beach shower to get the sand off her feet.

you're welcome i guess

listen do you wanna come check out the shop

Allie stares at the messages on the screen for a long time, but not nearly as long as Daisy had left her hanging for. When she does start typing, the words fall out in a hurried mess.

is this so you can give me more flowers? because it's really sweet of you and i really appreciate it but we're even, i promise

super kind of you to offer though

really, i mean it

Daisy's reply is almost lightning-quick, this time.

lmao

gross

i know we're square allie

it's whatever

u wanna see the shop or nah??

Allegra stares at the screen in disbelief. It grows to outright astonishment, however, when she sees that she's already typed and hit send on a message that says: sure. when and where?