FLOWERS

Magnolia

A chill went down her spine. She walked a lone dark path as the world around her seemed empty and meaningless. Nothing seemed to Matter. Everything was blank. So she walked.

She always knew how meaningless her life was, she always knew she was meant for a fate worse than death. So there she stood. On the top of her dormitory, looking down at the concrete below. She was too weak to slit her wrists like her best friend had told her. Her only choice was to fly. She stood on the edge. She didn't say a word.

"I wouldn't do that. Lilly says things that she doesn't mean when she's angry. You'll get used to it." Benny spoke up from behind her. "It's not worth listening to."

Penny turned around to face the sudden interruption. "Lilly?"

Benny stepped out of the darkness into view. "I've known her for a long time. We grew up together... She's not all there, I can tell you that. But she does care about you. You hurt her and she hit back. She does that."

"You said some of the meanest things to me that I've ever heard! I would never talk to you like that!" Peggy's eyes filled with tears. "Best friends don't say stuff like that to each other..."

"I know, Peggy. Tomorrow, she'll hug you and she'll feel horrible. She will, really. Just right now... Right now she needs to think." Benny walked over to her and wrested his arms on the railing of the roof.

"Why are you talking like that?" Peggy backed from him slightly, fearful that he might hurt her again.

"Because I know how much she really cares about you. I see it in her eyes. She doesn't look at many people the way she looks at you. She didn't even think she could feel like that when she was younger. She didn't know she could care. It's new to her. She's just getting used to it." Benny looked down from the four story building and sighed. "That's quite a fall, isn't it? It's likely you'd survive a fall like that. You'd breal a lot of bones no matter what, but you'd be alive. I wouldn't chance it, Peggy. That kind of pain would be unimaginable."

"Oh, so I should just slit my wrists then." Peggy said sarcastically and started to walk away.

"No, you shouldn't do that either. You should probably just go to bed and wake up refreshed in the morning. That's what I would do. Then tomorrow, you should give Lilly a piece of your mind and go on with your day."

"Why do you keep talking about yourself? What happened to being mute?" Peggy sat down and leaned her back against a wall. She looked up at Benny.

"Lilly's going through an emotional empowerment thing right now. It's hard to explain, but basically she's not sure who she is or what she wants to be. She's growing up. We'll see if that's for the better or for the worse." Benny sighed and slumped to a sitting position with his back against the railing. "Either way, her life is going to be very interesting."

"I'm sure." Peggy sighed. "All I wanted to do for you was be your friend... Treat you with kindness. Buy you things and laugh with you... I just wanted a friend... It wasn't that big of a deal."

"You're right, it wasn't. She should have been more understanding. But Lilly isn't like you and me. She doesn't feel the same things we do. She's... more black and white I guess. It's like this." He sat up straight. "When me and you feel something for someone, that bond with them either grows or weakens, right? But for her, it's either there of it's not. There's no level to it. It just is, or it isn't. Right now it isn't, but tomorrow it might be there again. Maybe not. She's only half the human you are. She feels at a more shallow level, if at all. Does that make sense?"

"But how's that fair?! I give you so many chances, and I get one?! Then you hate me all of the sudden?!" Peggy crossed her arms.

"Hate is a strong word. It's more just... not on her list anymore"