dead flowers

1

"I love you so much, Ellie."

"Ellie, it's time..."

"Wake up... Wake up... Wake up!"

The orange sunlight bathed Elena's body in an ironic warm glow as she opened her eyes to find that yet another burning summer morning had passed her by. Not many things seemed to change anymore; the lily on the window had not been watered for months, it given as much attention as the disheveled sheets hanging off the bed and the unopened boxes resting in her closet. She reached for the phone, the first thing she did waking up every miserable afternoon. The blue light of the screen stung her cracked eyes, but it wasn't as important as her urgency to check again. Zero unread messages. Zero notifications. What's new? she thought to herself. 

Elena fell in love for the first time during the winter. David Wilson, star of the basketball team - lover of puppies, part time cook, and the dream boyfriend of half the student population at her former high school. The eighteen year old girl didn't experience romance in the slightest until David slam dunked his charm into her life that had previously been filled with nothing but studying and binge watching anime. It was like a cliche teenage drama plot line, but she couldn't believe that someone who could have anyone he wanted would go for her. And yet, it was Elena that he chose to put his arm around in the hallway: the bookworm girl that never talked.

"Humor," he once said. "The reason I love you is your sense of humor. You're funny. Also pretty, smart, honest, and easy to talk to." Elena recalled feeling the safety of pure bliss after he then turned and gently pressed a kiss to her forehead before falling asleep in an open field under the starlight. Back then, how was she supposed to know that one day she would wake up and he would just stop saying good morning? How could she have guessed that he would break up with her the week after, stating that he simply no longer saw things working out? And how, for the love of God, could Elena process her the torment of her mind, constantly producing images of David in Annie's bed one month after he promised her that it wasn't her fault and that he was going to take a break from dating?

She held onto any last sliver of hope that perhaps he would eventually give her the answers, but she would never receive a sign from him - only unread messages from friends that she couldn't bear to spend time with. Elena pulled the covers over her forehead, blocking the outside world and retreating to a dream world where she wasn't alone.