Guns and Roses

One ~ Quinn

"Shit" I hiss as I suck at the small wound on my finger. I glare at the guilty rose before snipping off the end of the stem with my shears as angrily as possible.

My grandfather sighs and takes the rose from me. "So slow. Quickly or you'll never get through the bunch" I watch as he cuts and snips his way through the other eleven roses before tying them in a large pink bow. "See, quickly"

He puts the bouquet gently in my arms and I carry it through to the front shop where a pretty girl stands nervously. I sit at the counter and write out 'Samantha' in cursive on a tag before sticking it to the bunch.

I take her money and wish her luck before having a seat for what feels like the first time in hours.

I love it here even if it doesn't seem like it. I haven't seen my grandfather in years and I remember his shop clearly from when I was small.

The bright colours and fresh smells make me feel at home, at peace.

The little bell above the door rings and I sit up straighter as my grandfather comes through from the back. His stick rests against the till gathering dust as he ambles across the floor to stand beside me.

I've seen pictures from when he was my age, we didn't look too different. He had red hair too, more orange than mine, but it was shaved close to his head. My auburn hair is spiked up from me running my hands through it. We both have striking blue eyes that have been carried down the generations.

Now, his hair is white and balding at the top of his head. His once tall and proud posture replaced with a hunched back and shoulders that seem to curl in. His hands shake slightly except from when he's arranging flowers, that's when I see the life spark in his eyes.

The boy that came in hovers by the sunflowers near the door, picking through them before choosing one and bringing it to the front. He smiles as he puts it in front of me and then pulls a small piece of paper from his back pocket. "Hey. Could you attach this to it? It's just a note for my girlfriend"

I smile at him and do as instructed. I look over him at the blue blazer with red braiding, white shirt and neat red and blue tie. "You go to Torstone High?" I ask him.

He nods and pats the insignia on the breast pocket of his blazer. "Final year and then I'm off to see the world" he picks up the sunflower with the note attached. "Hopefully, with my girl" He frowns and puts the flower down. "Is there any chance I can leave this here and she can pick it up?"

I shrug "I'll be at school but my grandfather should be in. I'll leave it behind the desk" I tuck it beneath the counter so it won't be sold "What's her name and I'll tell my grandfather?"

He smiles and itches his nose "Her names Rya"

****

"Okay, so I guess this is like the bit in Mean Girls where I tell you who to sit next to and who to avoid" the girl giggles as she says this. With a perfectly manicured hand she gestures to the room.

She smells like fake rose. Must be perfume, or maybe shampoo. I'm still staring at her bouncy blonde curls when she checks to make sure I'm paying attention.

"Quinn?" She says softly "I know this is nerve-wracking but you're going to be okay"

I nod and watch as she turns back to the cafeteria. "Our year usually sit in that corner" she points towards the back of the room where a group of tables are swarmed with jostling teenagers. "It's like an unspoken rule that we only sit at these tables"

We walk closer so she can go into more detail. I look around at the obvious cliques that have formed. Some groups have more variation but the majority of people seem to be with people of their own social stature.

Except one girl.

She sits apart from everyone else with a book open but scrolling through her phone. Every few seconds she puts a chip in her mouth but is too engrossed in whatever she's looking at to be paying much attention to what she's eating.

She reaches for another chip and I watch as her face crumples and she finally drags her eyes away from her phone to see that her chips are gone.

The girl catches me staring. "Try not to stare" she says but doesn't sound mean about it. There's pity in her voice. I frown at her and her eyes widen slightly in surprise. "You don't know who she is? I guess you're not from the area but still, I would have thought something like that would be national"

I shrug and she sighs "Do you remember last year when there was this massive protest down by the prison?"

I nod "They were letting out someone that people didn't want out" I frown at the girl sitting alone "That was her?"

My tour guide laughs. "No" she says her voice light "It was her mum. Her parents are completely psychotic, we're talking murder, kidnap, torture the whole lot. No one knows for sure exactly what they did before they were caught"

I remember now. Her husband had got out a few years before and there was a whole investigation into whether or not the police were corrupt. "She's mafia?" I ask.

My guide laughs "She was at least. She only came here a few months back, the day her mum got out. She lives with her uncles now and is lovely. You can sit and have a laugh with her in class but no one stays for long. Everyone's a little bit afraid of her"

I stare at the girl. I can't help it. She looks so normal, so calm and collected. She doesn't look like someone to be afraid of.

"Come on" My guide says tugging in my sleeve "There are other people at Torstone that you can hang around with"