lily [a.i]

0 1

"Nova, it is so hot in this car, you need to get your air conditioner fixed," I complain while fanning myself with one hand and wiping the beads of sweat from the back of my neck with the other. My bleached blond hair is sticking to my neck and becoming tangled from the humidity.

"How about you quit complaining and roll your window down or something," Nova replies, keeping her eyes on the road but nevertheless rolling them dramatically. "I don't have any money for damn air conditioning."

I sigh and roll my window down, but I recieve no relief. The air is sticky and thick, making it even more uncomfortable in the car.

"Are we really sure about this?" Nova asks me, slowing at an intersection and wiping her sweaty hands on the seat. "I mean I understand blonde but teal's kind of different for you."

I chuckle and twist a piece of my hair around my finger, the blonde strands starkly contrasting with my black nail polish. "Yeah, of course I'm sure. But are you sure? Brunette is kind of risky, Nova."

She punches me in the arm a little too hard and I rub the spot where she hit, pouting and pretending like it hurt. She shakes her head at me and turns up the radio.

Our destination is the lousiest excuse for a grocery/convenience store known to human kind.

Imagine the most rundown building in your town or city. Now add more weeds to the cracks in the pavement and more shady people smoking outside the door. The Shop n' Save is clearly beyond saving, but the owner still puts some effort in at least. Every day, fresh pots of flowers are set outside the store for sale. The flowers line the dingy walls of the building, and the older ones have begun to grow up the bricks.

Even though entering the store may be a danger to your safety, it's worth it. The Shop n' Save happens to also be the home of the most extensive and cheapest collection of hair dye, which is why Nova has just taken a right turn into the shack that is Shop n' Save.

Nova pulls into the lot and parks haphazardly near the door, almost hitting the fresh flowers out front. The parking lot hasn't been painted in so long that the yellow lines dividing parkinf spots are nowhere to be seen. It's pretty much a free for all.

I hand Nova the paper that states the exact hair dye I want, and she flashes me a toothy smile and hops out of the car. "Be right back," she tells me through my open window before briskly walking through the open door of the shop.

I examine the new flowers in front of the store, and the progressively older ones behind them. The newest addition is a row of beautiful yellow lillies.

I debate running inside to tell the shop owner that if he'd just shut down his old failing store and turn it into a flower shop, he'd be a ton more successful. I begin day dreaming about how beautiful the shop could be. I'm just picking paint colors when I recognize a kid about my age standing at my door. Jerking backwards, embarrassed, I reach to brush my hand through my hair, and my eyes meet his.

He has an amused smirk settled on his model-like face, and he runs his hand through the shaggy light brown curls. They frame his soft features and seem to have a mind of their own. The symmetrical beauty of his face strikes me unexpectedly, and I fidget in my seat uncomfortably. His eyes crinkle, and he tilts his head to the side, watching me but still not speaking.

My immediate reaction is to roll up the window, but Nova has the keys and the car is off. So instead, I do the most logical thing in this situation, start conversation with the odd attractive boy.

"Um, can I help you?" I squeak out. The people around here are generally quite 'sketchy', so of course I'm a bit wary of this guy's odd presence at my window.

The boy chuckles, and I swear it's a sound sent from heaven itself. I find myself fascinated my his laugh and the deep dimples that result from it, and suddenly all I want is to hear it again. So much so, actually, that I completely miss what he says back to me.

I shake my head a bit and ask him to repeat what he said.

"I said, 'You can help me by telling me your name'." The boy enunciates every syllable and speaks slowly as if he was speaking to a child, that slight smirk still plastered across his face.

"Um, sorry, I don't think I can help you then. I don't even know you?" I reply, in utter confusion as to why this sarcastic, and quite attractive, guy was trying to get my name. Why not my number?

"Oh, c'mon," he continues. "Names are harmless."

I quickly glance over at the sign over his right shoulder. "It's Lily."

He giggles again and my heart soars.

"Oh, okay. How much do they cost?"

Seeing as he had already caught me lying, I lean out my window a bit and squint to see the price listed below the sign stating "Lillies".

However, the boy leaned in too. Suddenly his warm lips were on mine and, just like that, we were kissing. It takes me a second to realize what's happening, and I frantically pull away, irritated with the nerve of the boy.

"What was that? No, that's not okay. You can't do that. I don't even know you. I don't even know you name. Stop. No. Leave." My words are frantic and omce again, he looks amused by my stuttering.

"So I was the only one who thought that was fantastic?" he asks smugly.

"Ye-" I start to say that yes, he was the only one who enjoyed that. But to be honest, I don't think I could say that truthfully.

Granted, I don't know his name, and he doesn't really know mine. But once I set my nerves aside, the warmth of his lips did set off fireworks exploding in my stomach.

"That's what I thought," he replies, and I swear I just watched his ego grow even bigger right in front of my eyes.

I want to despise him due to his sarcastic and egotistic nature, but despite him possessing the very features I can't stand, I can't help but find myself attracted to him.

I begin to ask his name, but he cuts me off.

"I'll be right back. I promise." He smiles at me, exposing his dimples, and turns and runs into the store.

I sit in the car, unable to process what just happened. In a mere 5 minutes, I've figure this much out:

A boy showed up at the window in the parking lot of a rundown grocery store.
He asked my name and I lied.
Then he kissed me through the passenger side window of my bestfriend's car.

I'm still trying to wrap my head around what just happened when he walked back out the door, carrying a small potted lily in his hand.

I smile and shake my head to myself. This is not happening.

He approaches the window with the flower and hands it to me through the window.

"A beautiful lily for a beautiful Lily, kind of."

He giggles, turns on the heel of his black vans, and walks away towards a bicycle pulled up onto the chipped sidewalk. Just like that.

"Wait!" I yell towards him. He was leaving? That's it?

He hopped on his bicycle, flashed me a smile over his shoulder, and took off.

I look down and examine the flower in my lap, my lips still tingling from the kiss. I notice a small card tucked into the dirt, and I pull it out.

On the backside, a note is scrawled in almosy tidy handwriting. It reads:

14132479001 , dont leave me hangin lily :-)