Language of Flowers

Cora was never a big flower girl. Oh, sure, she liked the way they looked and smelled and she knew what some of the more basic ones were called, but she had never been into the whole "language of flowers" thing. Sure, it seemed cool to her that different flowers could convey different things, but to her, it was a bit needless. In Cora's world, flowers were always gifts of love. The only thing that might vary slightly was what kind of love it was. For example, roses were romantic, yellow flowers were platonic, and white could be considered comforting since white flowers were often associated with funerals, but that was just Cora's point. Even though each of the flowers meant something different, they were all still the same underneath: gifts of love. Because of that, she never saw the point in trying to understand the technicalities of the language of flowers. She only knew that they were pretty, and that when June gave them to her, her heart would flutter and soar. Did she really need to know more to understand what June was trying to convey every time she gave Cora flowers? Cora didn't think so.

"Hey, Cora!" June caught Cora as she was headed over to their city's library.

"June! Good morning!" Cora called back. She was pleasantly surprised to see her friend this early. Usually, June didn't even wake until 8:00, so to see her out and about at 8:00 was quiet the surprise. And it was even more surprising because the last time Cora had seen June, June was out cold, and that had only been about 30 minutes ago at this point.

"Wait up!" June continued as she ran closer and closer. Cora could see a bag in her hand.

"I'm not going anywhere," Cora replied with an amused chuckle as June continued to fly down the sidewalk to meet her. Once they were together, June bent over a little and put her hands on her knees, breathing hard.

"Well. You're up early," Cora remarked, still amused and surprised by June's little visit.

"Yeah. Well. I had to give you this, today," June replied, then she stood up and opened the bag. Inside was a garland of violets.

"Oh! June! It's beautiful," Cora smiled, taking the strand of flowers from her best friend and draping them around her neck.

"You like them?" June sounded hopeful. She was twisting the handle of the bag, almost like she was anxious about something.

"Of course!" Cora replied. Why would June think otherwise? June knew Cora always loved getting flowers from her! Though violets did seem to be a very random choice, but then again, perhaps it was more of June's uniqueness. After all, the flowers she'd gotten Cora before were always like lavenders, mallows, pansies or green carnations, never anything normal like a red rose or a yellow flower.

"Then would you like to go to the dance with me?" June asked next, pulling out a flyer from her bag. The flyer was advertising some public event run by a nearby high school. It was supposed to be like a mini-prom. Guests were still expected to get dressed up, but it was not going to be quite as costly or fancy and it was going to be outdoors and anyone was invited, not just school members. It was a community prom, basically.

"Really, June? A dance?" Cora teased her friend. "You are such a hopeless romantic!"

"Well, you know me," she grinned shyly, gesturing to the violets at Cora's neck. "Now is that a yes?" she asked. Why did she sound so nervous?

"Of course," Cora promised, and June looked like a huge burden had been lifted off of her shoulders. Seriously, what was going on with her?

"Will you wear the violets too?" June asked next.

"Well, it'll be a bit hard to dance and party with these things wrapped around my neck and shoulders, but I will wear them if you want me to," Cora replied with a shrug. She had meant this to be a positive statement since she was agreeing to wear the violets, but June's reaction was the total opposite. She didn't look pleased or grateful for Cora's reply. She looked hurt, embarrassed and... angry? What?