Sunflowers and Lillies

𝟙𝟘

Shopping with Lilah was torturous. She tried on about a hundred different outfits—each of which Nick and I said looked great on her—and found the tiniest pinpricks of notes about all of them. In the end, she had dragged us out in a gloomy mood and said she was going to borrow something from her mother's closet. Nick had to, again, hold me from strangling her.

On the ride home, I had nagged Delilah, trying to find various details about her date. She had given them all freely. Nick and I managed to drop her off first, pushing her out of the car saying shit about how 'you have to get ready for your date', leaving us so that Nick could come over without going back and forth.

"So," I started as we entered my house. "We're gonna need some shit."

"Shit being?" Nick closed the door behind him.

I threw my scarf and coat on the couch, "Well, at first I was thinking we should just barge in there and I don't know, punch the dude, but I think we should go for something more secret."

Nick nods, "Secret is good. Better than punching some guy and possibly getting throw into jail."

I grin, "jail sounds fun though." Nick rolls his eyes and follows me into the kitchen, hopping onto the island in the middle while I rummage through the drawers.

"What are you looking for?" He asks.

My grin widens as I find what I was looking for, spinning around I hold it up to Nick. He grabs the bottle from my hand and pulls it closer to his eyes, squinting to read the table. His eyes widen and he quickly tosses the bottle back to me, "No."

I pass him a Chesire smile, "Yes."

"Why do you even have that?"

I shrug, "I used it to prank Alex."

"That one is prescribed."

"I just found it one day; I don't have problems if that's what you're insinuating."

His face blushes slightly and he shakes his head, "you're fucking crazy, anyone ever tell you that?"

"COWABUNGA BABY!" I do a flip as I jump down the roof of the house, aiming for the pool in the middle. My heart drops in that race adrenaline thrill and the vague certainty that I might die dwells on the top of my head.

I hit the water with a splash, sinking deep until I hit the tiled floor of the pool. The splash echoes in my ear as water rushes around me. I open my eyes and take in the hazy blue scene, smiling as bubbles leave my mouth, before pushing myself off the floor and emerging from the water.

"Yeah!" She whoops, splashing water on my face as she tackles me in a hug. "You just did that!"

"I know!" I exclaim, grinning with excitement. I turn to the skinny figure of Brandon, pinching the bridge of his nose, water running down his torso, and hair messed and mused. "I told you I would do it!"

"Your fucking crazy, Eliza." He shakes his head even though I can see the edges of his lips upturned in a smile, "absolutely crazy."

I gulp and look away from Nick, "yeah."

Before Nick can note the change in my mood, I grab the bottle and stuff it in my pocket, shaking my head as the memory floats away. "Come on."

He slips off the table and follows me up the stairs, to my room. He sits over on the desk chair like last time and I quickly disappear into my closet to pull something out. My gaze strays to a bundle of boxes near the edge, clothes over them in an attempt to keep them from eyes view, but I begrudgingly move my eyes over it. I flick through the hangers until I pull out what I want and return to the room to Nick.