All Roses Have Thorns

Erin XXII

She sat on the bench inside the greenhouse, a fuzzy blanket wrapped around her shoulders. Jake brought up what was supposed to be her dinner an hour or so ago, and she had gnawed on a little of it because she was just too lazy to cut it.

Zach stayed by her side the entire time, refusing to let her out of his sight. He wanted to be there in case she needed anything.

It was reassuring.

A small glimmer of hope in a world shrouded in darkness.

"My last day of the year is going to be spent being miserable," she grumbled, loudly sipping her mostly empty, cold tea.

"Next year will be better."

Erin absentmindedly poked one of the holes in his ripped jeans. "Why are your legs so un-hairy?"

"That's a quick change of topic but," he smirked, "it's the Asian blood."

"B-But I'm Asian too!" She protested, "You don't even look Asian! I look more Asian than you."

"Isn't that kind of racist?"

"But I am Asian? And I'm saying Asian because we are from two different places, so if I specified wrongly I think it would be racist."

He shrugged, "Well, we got two different sides of similar coins. Nothing you can do about that."

"I can complain about it."

"Touché."