Shy Boy

Chapter 16

Because he didn't feel comfortable going alone, he brought his friend with him when school ended and they were at the garden outside with a full of planter boxes in the process of growing. Coral gave them a touring around and showed them what she and the community were working on. 

They watched her talk about the bedding plants and how it took them weeks, but she enjoyed it greatly. Walking around more there were lots of other things that popped out to them vibrantly. Some parts had the dirt with seeds buried underneath, but he also saw tiny leaves sticking out or growing stems. One appeared taller than the other, one could barely begin, or one may just be waiting to pop open to be a flower. 

Everything around them was encircling with shrubs, culinary herbs, and just many flowers. They had stepped into an area that was unlike any other area of the school. It became even bigger for him. The last time Joshua was at the garden was when he had a fieldwork activity for an Advanced Biology class about the process of Photosynthesis that he had to grow his own plant and write an observation about it. 

She trailed on about her love for flowers, going around and softly feeling the grassy leaves and checking their condition. Scooter whispered next to him how she knew her stuff.

"Isn't it great? I wish more people come by sometimes and look at them." Coral held her hands together with an adorned look.

"You really do a lot around here," Scooter said.

She smiled proudly. "I come here almost every day. I love seeing if anything is new with them."

He took a step closer to the bright yellow plant with petals walled up too closely like in the shape of corn. "What are these? They look funny."

"Ahh, those are Pachystachys lutea or as most people like to call them Lollipop or Golden Shrimp. They are new and I think they're unique."

"Wow, interesting. I never heard of them before." He looked invested. 

Joshua nodded.

"I'm going to look around more if you don't mind." Scooter glanced at Joshua, a hint of his charming smile sent him troubled. He was going to leave him by himself.

It didn't help as Scooter walked further and out of earshot. They could still see him, but that meant he was left here with her and that's what he didn't want. 

She turned to Joshua and he felt a pit of his stomach turned upside down. 

"He must really want to check them out." She had no idea.

He nodded apprehensively. It was terrible enough that he knew he couldn't do it by himself and he had left him.

Where was luck when he needed it and an escape pass when he wanted to exit?

"What do you think about it?" Coral asked him.

Joshua took an all-around gaze at every part that she showed him and what's ahead from what he could see from behind her.

"Looks great." He swallowed.

Why did Scooter have to pull a move like that after five minutes of being here? He was going to remember this.

"Yeah? I love showing people around here. Occasionally they might visit, but not too many." Her head tilted cutely. 

The little things like that were too cute for him. Did she realize that she's doing them as she was doing it? Whether it was out of habit or she did it to express her actions, anything he saw in her became more endearing. 

"Your name," she said. "Could I have it again?"

His heart dropped. If there was one thing he didn't think about giving, it was giving his name once again to her. Because he thought that if she didn't remember, it would be for the better. 

But he gave it to her again.

"I'm sorry I'm terrible with names." She let out a soft chuckle, the kind she hoped she didn't cause an inconvenience to anyone.

It's fine, he thought. Maybe it's because it was her.

"I think back... and I think that the first time I asked for it was at the library. It was kind of long ago."

"Was it?" he said. 

"Yeah, I was looking around for a book and you happened to be in the section I was looking at."

He thought that day he was somehow imagining it or convinced himself that it was a one time thing and nothing more than a passing. Now that he thought about it, she came to the library often to browse through books.

"What's your favorite genre?" he asked the first thing that came to him. 

Her eyes lit up. "I love Mystery novels. There's so much to it and just something about the thrill of looking at a problem and finding the unknown."

When he was right about her being a mystery, she really was the mystery. She didn't look like that type of person who'd pick up that genre, but it suited her.

Off to the side, he saw Scooter who did an OK gesture to him.

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I think I only have a few ideas left before I can wrap up this story. I wrote another chapter so yayyy. If you made it this far, please leave a vote and comment. I'd appreciate them so much. Don't forget to check out my other stories on my profile if you're interested. I write cute stories like this. In the future, I may write another short story, who knows. But I hope you all enjoy your day and remember, the pandemic is not over yet. So stay inside and stay safe. If you're going outside, wear a mask. For the safety of your own and others. And most importantly, keep your distance and wash your hands. Okay, just want to mention that.