Love Soars

Chapter 5

Recap: “Thanks, but no thanks Flora. I can handle this by myself. After all, I am growing a backbone; you said so yourself.”

She pulled me into another hug and nodded excitedly. “It’s true! I’m so proud of you, you’re...blossoming!”

I’m pretty sure my face was red by this point. Relief flooded through me as the bell rang. I stood up and grabbed Flora’s hands to pull her up too. We walked outside together, parting ways when we reached the field.

Victoria’s POV

The morning passed without incident. When lunchtime came, I met Flora at our lockers and we walked to the cafeteria together. I hadn’t seen McKenna and her group all day, and as we reached the cafeteria, I was curious to see if they would be there.

I took a look around the room, but I didn’t see any of them.

“Hey Flora, have you seen McKenna today?”

Flora had been humming to herself, and I nudged her to get her attention.

“Hmmm? What did you say?”

“I asked you if you’d seen McKenna today. I haven’t and she’s not in here.”

“That’s weird, I haven’t seen her either. Are you sure she’s not in here? Let me listen for that annoying voice of hers.”

“I looked, but you can look if you don’t believe me. I can’t hear her voice, and it’s usually really easy to pick out of a crowd.”

“You said it, that voice could kill a deaf person...”

We got our lunches and then took a seat at a table towards the middle of the room. There were a few crumbs on the table, so I brushed them off as I sat down. Flora took a seat to the right of me, and we dug into out lunches.

Today’s lunch was spaghetti and meatballs, and I had to admit that it was pretty good. The school usually did a good job of preparing food for the students. I was about halfway done with my pasta, when the doors on the right side of the room slammed open. McKenna came strutting through them, with her group following behind her. My face automatically became a scowl as I watched her shake her hips, acting as if she owned the place.

Flora’s eyes were glued to her plate, as she practically shoved food down her throat. “Someone didn’t have breakfast this morning,” I thought to myself. I nudged her slightly, and her head snapped up so fast, I thought it might pop right off.

“What?” she asked with her eyes wide.

“Calm down there, I was just going to point out who just walked into the lunchroom.”

She smiled and said, “Is it Derek?”

I rolled my eyes and replied, “No, McKenna has finally made her appearance, minions in tow.”

Flora looked over the the lunch line and frowned when she spotted McKenna’s fake blonde hair. She looked back at me, the frown still etched on her face.

“Couldn’t she have done us all a favor a stayed away? Even for just a day, it would make a world of difference, let me tell you.”

“I know, oh well, let’s hope she doesn’t decide to come sit over near us. I could use a day off from her hair-dye soaked brain.”

“Victoria!” Flora exclaimed with her eyes wide.

“What?”

“You really are blossoming. You’re getting an attitude, and I like it! I just wonder where it came from...any ideas?”