Flowers Only Bloom in the Spring

Chapter 3

The next morning, Helena felt sick to her stomach and didn't want to leave her bed. It was like all the anxiety from last night's encounter had turned and churned inside of her and calcified into her chest. She peeked out of her window, looking at the rising sun over the tree line and groaned lowly to herself under her blankets. She didn't want to leave her bed ever again. She closed her eyes and willed herself to fall back asleep and hopefully the day would just disappear... But her luck wasn't that fortunate. Her alarm began to beep next to her and she huffed out, reaching out to swat it off before cowering further into her blankets. She closed her eyes and pretended that she didn't exist and just when she thought she was winning against the battle of the morning, the soft rap at her door caused irritation to boil inside of her. She said nothing and didn't move. She prayed to whatever God could hear her, that they would make her father just suddenly forget he had a daughter and would walk away. A few more knocks and she buried herself deeper under her blankets, trying with all her might to become one with the mattress and sheets below her.
Her bedroom door slowly pushed open and the low light of the hall night-light spilled through the crack until her father pushed open the door further and he took a few steps to her bed. He reached out and gently shook her foot, "Hel." He whispered her name. She didn't move or speak. She held her breath and hoped that he would just leave. "Helena." He shook her a little harder.
"What?" She murmured sleepily.
"There's a boy on our front porch." He said, confused. "He has the same uniform as you."
"I don't know him." Helena lied--she could only dare to guess it was Erend. What the hell was he doing there so early, and just sitting on her front porch? Was he seriously waiting for her like some kind of stalker?
"Are you sure?" Her father said a bit skeptically. He was met with silence and he shook at her foot a bit harder, "Helena..." He warned.
"I told you, I don't know him." She huffed out, pushing the blankets from her face, and staring her father down. Her face impassive, but the glint of annoyance was shining in the low light of the room. They stared at one another for a long moment before the male sighed out and nodded.
"Alright." His voice soft, "I'll tell him to leave."
Helena watched as her father left the room and when he shut the door behind him, she could hear him going down to the stairs, until he reached the front door and opened it. He spoke lowly, but she could clearly hear him say that he needed to leave. She sighed out and stared up at the ceiling, questioning her very existence and once more praying to any God that would listen to her, to strike her down dead so she didn't have to get up. She lay there for a few more minutes before huffing out in more annoyance that no one answered her prayers as she pushed her blankets off herself and began to get ready for the day.

Finishing her morning routine, she gathered her things, made it downstairs and went to the kitchen where her father was sitting at the table, morning paper in his hand, folded over in an easier way to hold it as he finished the story he was reading. His favorite coffee mug in his other hand, the steaming dark liquid catching her attention for a moment, before she shifted her eyes to the counter tops and seeing the coffee maker set up on the small counter space next to the fridge. She was surprised that he had actually gotten around to unpacking it this late of them being in the house. Usually that was the first thing to be set up. She walked over to it, grabbing for her own favorite mug that was waiting for her and poured the dark liquid into it about three quarters of the way. She placed the coffee pot back in its place as she reached inside the fridge for the carton of milk and poured some into the mug. She left the mug there as she walked over to the drawer where they kept the silverware and grabbed a spoon, staring at her misshapen figure in the curve of it as she walked back to her mug, then stirred the milk into the coffee. When it was combined to her liking, she grabbed for the handle of her mug, and walked to the sink, placing her spoon into it, turned and leaned back against the counter as she slowly sipped at the caffeinated drink. She was quiet, as was her father as he finished his story.
There was a comfortable silence before the male cleared his throat in the way that he did when he was about to talk about something that Helena did not want to talk about. She sipped at her coffee, steeling herself for the annoyance that was about to fill her up further.
"Helena." He started off gently, "I know we had this conversation at the beginning of the week and the beginning of every week when you start a new school, so it has become a surprise to me when you tell me that you don't know the young male that was just here, when clearly you know the rules are to try to get to know some people your age."
She remained quiet, sipping at her coffee, and not meeting her father's gaze as he shifted them from the paper to her face. He looked at her expectantly and when she didn't say anything, he placed the paper down on the table and leaned slightly in her direction, "Helena." His voice stern. She sighed into her mug and finally looked up at him.
"He's not someone I want to waste my time getting to know." She retorted honestly. "What would be the point anyways?" She continued, the words coming out harsher than she intended. "We will be here, for what? A few months at most? There is nothing I could gain from being friends with that idiot for the time that we are here."
Her father stared at her for a long moment, before sitting back in his chair. It was his turn to sip at his coffee, before bringing his mug down on the table and giving his daughter a serious look, "Hel, the plan is to be here for a couple of years to start off with." There was a hint of hurt in his voice and maybe guilt.
"We both know that's not going to happen." Helena stated simply before finishing off her coffee in a few big gulps before placing her mug in the sink. "I'll see you when I get home."
"Your lunch?" Her father called out as she passed the threshold of the kitchen, shouldering her bag.
"I don't want it." Her quick reply came as she stepped out the front door and closed it behind her.
The male sighed out and shook his head before picking the paper back up and continuing on the story.

The crisp morning air tingled at Helena's face and she looked out onto the street with trepidation. She didn't want to go to school. She didn't want to face the other students, but more importantly she didn't want to run into Erend. She could definitely go without ever having to look or talk to that bumbling fool ever again. She reached down and pulled at the hem of her school skirt before just deciding that today, she was indeed going to skip.
Jogging down the front steps, she left the yard and went in the opposite direction of where the train was, heading for the small store she had gone to on that first day and quickly glanced inside to make sure that the male wasn't in there before going in and walking around a bit. Grabbing some snacks and a few drinks, she brought them to the counter. As the items were being rung up, she pulled her bag to her front and pulled out her wallet so she could pay, then shoved everything into her backpack before leaving the store and continuing further down the street in the direction she had been going. She wasn't really sure where it was going to lead, but it was better than where she was supposed to be going.
Coming up to the corner, she stopped to look for traffic before crossing the street carefully. She looked around at the buildings and found that she must have been going to the older part of the outskirts of town, because the houses and smaller apartment buildings looked pretty old and a lot more traditional. She liked it and wished that they had moved into one of these homes. She shifted the straps on her shoulders, stepping up to the next corner and once more, looking both ways before crossing. This time however, she turned to her right and walked in the direction of what looked to be a park coming up. She watched as a few people that still lingered on the streets, walked in her direction and what she assumed to be the train station--which seemed to be the main use of transportation around this area. She kept her head down as she passed by people, not wanting someone to realize that she was going in the wrong direction than the school and stop her. She glanced up every now and then, but people were too engrossed in their phones or whatever else was on their minds to heed her any attention. Which she was grateful for.
Well, until she heard her name being called by a female's voice.
She ignored it, kept her head down and kept walking, a bit faster now and grabbed onto the straps of her bags. She knew of one thing that was certain and that was she could probably outrun whoever was calling for her if she needed to. However, the voice was getting closer, too close for comfort and she tried to walk faster before suddenly a hand came down and stopped her in her tracks. She glanced over her shoulder and saw the person she least expected to see in this part of town and turned slightly in the female's direction.
"Didn't you hear me calling for you?" Ari's sweet voice said in a breathless huff. She took a few intakes of air before laughing slightly, "Man you're fast."
Helena remained quiet and just stared at the girl for a long moment before dropping her eyes down to her feet. She gripped at the straps a bit tighter, before turning her attention in the direction she was just trying to disappear in. "No... Sorry." She finally said softly.
"You're going in the wrong direction." The other female noted, rather confused. She looked over the dark-haired girl for a moment before a sly smile tugged at her full lips, "Oh my gosh, are you skipping school?" The excitement was evident in her voice and she took a half a step closer to the other and she leaned in and brought a hand up next to her lips to whisper, "I know a really cool spot I can show you if you take me with you."
Helena contemplated the offer in her head, glancing at the girl from the corner of her eye, seeing the giddiness she was exuberating and narrowed her eyes a bit. "No."
The pout took over Ari's beautiful features and she brought her hands together in a pleading way, as her bottom lip quivered almost comically. "Please!"
"I said no." Helena's stern reply came as she narrowed her eyes in the slightest bit more. Her features didn't show the irritation she was feeling but the curt response was usually enough to get people to back down--but not with this one. The other female pouted more and whimpered almost like a dog.
"Oh, come on!" Ari whined, "Please! I promise it's really cool!"
Helena sighed and looked away from her, the sinking feeling that Ari wasn't just going to let her walk away, colliding with the tightness in her chest from this morning. "Fine." She said quietly, "Show me."
"You won't regret it!" Ari bounced happily before grabbing the girl's wrist and pulling her in the direction towards the park. Turning sharply down the main path of the park and heading for the jungle gym in the middle. Helena tried to pull out of the other's hold, but her grasp was tight, and she squeezed a bit harder in her struggling. "It's my secret spot, so you can't tell anyone about it, but you seem cool enough to share it with." The girl didn't seem to notice Helena's discomfort and continued to pull her along.
They went past the jungle gym, past the picnic tables and past the bathrooms, turning down a small path that was clearly worn down from people walking back and forth in the area. Ari pulled the girl along with her, until they reached the tree line and kept walking. They came up to a narrow river, where finally she let the other female go, so they could walk across the budding rocks carefully. However, once they were both on the other side, she grabbed for her wrist again--not wanting Helena to escape and make a run for it. Helena jerked at her wrist, but Ari didn't let go, she just heard the other giggle before tugging her further along until coming up to a vine covered cave-like structure made from cement. They stood there for a minute, Helena looking at it with a bit of concern before Ari pulled on her to keep going. Bending over a bit to fit through the smaller entrance, they both walked the dirt path before it opened up to a bigger area with large moss-covered boulders and graffitied walls. There was a makeshift tent made from tarps in the back corner, a small circle of rocks surrounding a few burnt logs and thick tree branches. Inside of the tent were some thick pillows, blankets, and an LED lantern, currently turned off. To the left of where she was standing, on the other side of the boulders there was a small puddle of water that glimmered in the few beams of sunlight that shone through the cracks in the ceiling of the structure. If Helena had to guess from the way the place was collapsing and the color of the cement, it might have been a parking garage at some point. Or at least the start of one that was never finished.