flower girl.

            a blush rose to lenny’s cheeks when ana complimented her. she twirled a strand of hair around her finger as her gaze fell to the floor. “you’re sweet.” she mumbled. lenny’s gaze followed ana as she started sweeping again and she considered her options. “what do you think? actually, i don’t have anything that requires a flower crown today or tomorrow. maybe i’ll come back to get flowers to organize the crown. instead, can i just get a bouquet of your favorite flowers?”

            the question caught lenny off guard and she paused while she thought about her answer. she felt a little guilty about being caught for not listening but lenny wasn’t going to lie and pretend that she had been. it would only end up biting her in the ass and she knew that. “mm, i’m not gonna make any promises that i can’t keep. i will try a lot harder to listen, though. i did catch something about a party though? what’s up with that, hm?” she asked, getting up from her seat.

            lenny paused when the question was turned around on her. she tapped her forefinger against her chin as she thought about where to start. in the last week alone she had been to a concert, gone to some fancy thing with her grandparents, as well as a lot of prepping for the fair this weekend. “oh, i’ve been good. i’ve been really happy! just living life the best that i can. i just wanna be going out and doing a lot because you never know when you won’t be able to do it all.” she laughed, brushing some hair away from her face. “are you going to the thing this weekend?”

            one more spin before lenny let her arms fall down by her sides. she studied the other for a moment before she giggled and ran a hand through her waves. “summer is the best season and nothing can change my mind. i love everything about it. i love the warm weather, the happiness, the sundresses, all of it!” skipping closer to the other, lenny considered reaching for her hand but instead folded her arms across her chest. “that’s a good point, yeah. let them sit and mope and never be happy about anything ever!”

            sometimes lenny could get lost listening to stella speak and other times she’d get lost just watching the other. sadly, she could never manage to do both at the same time. it was either listen to everything stella said and pay attention to nothing else or lose herself in stella’s features and miss everything she said. lenny had already forgotten that she asked if they could go outside but it occurred to her when stella started talking about the fountain and so she jumped up and threw away her empty cup. “no, don’t be sorry.” she said, looking over her shoulder. “i love listening to to you talk. what were you gonna say about the fountain? i wanna go see it. i don’t think i’ve seen it yet.” she replied, holding the door open for the other girl.

            watching as anahita leaned over the counter, lenny tried to ignore the fluttering in her heart as the other got closer. she didn’t try to hide how her smile grew, though. lenny was quiet for a moment, considering what ana had to say before shaking her head. “mm, i don’t wanna do that. if i use fake flowers then i’ll have to go to a craft store and the girls that work in craft stores aren’t anywhere near as friendly or helpful as you.” she finally said, tapping her forefinger against her lips. “what if i spritz it with water regularly? do you think that’ll make it last all day?” she tried, sucking her lower lip between her teeth while she thought again. lenny was definitely stalling as she tried to come up with more ridiculous ideas. any excuse that she could have to keep staring at the girl behind the counter.

            lenny picked up her cup and swirled it in her hand before frowning and throwing it out at the realization that it was empty. “why aren’t people capitalizing on the outdoor seating? it seems like a missed opportunity.” she hummed as she held the door open for her friend. “okay so tell me all about the couple! you shared some of your ideas for the wedding but you haven’t told me about the couple yet!” lenny asked when she sat down across from eloise.

            lenny grabbed her empty cup and went to ask for a refill on her hot chocolate before she followed avery out of the shop. a smile graced her features when she felt the warmth from the sun hit her face and she tilted her head up towards the sun and simply stood there for a moment, enjoying the weather. “do you wanna go to the park?” she asked, taking a sip of her coffee and looking at the other with curious eyes. lenny wasn’t quite ready to part ways yet but she hadn’t thought this far ahead. “you can talk about whatever’s on your mind because something is clearly bugging you.”

            grabbing her empty cup of hot chocolate, lenny dropped it in the garbage on her way out the door. once she felt the sun on her cheeks, lenny stretched her arms out and did a little spin. “oh i love spring so much.” she mused as she closed her eyes and pulled her sunglasses from her forehead and over her eyes. once she was content with her spinning, lenny turned her attention to mykaela and giggled. “i don’t understand why everyone is sitting inside instead of outside. it’s so nice outside. i wanna soak up the sun as much as i can because before we know it we’ll be buried in snow again.”

            being on time was never something that lenny was good at. her grandparents had bought her several different watches in hopes that she’d wear one and be aware of the time and get better at time management. it never seemed to work, though. regardless, there was a thin silver watch on her wrist but lenny wasn’t even sure if it was set to the proper time. she was wearing a floral romper with a sheer cardigan over it. her jewlery was minimal and lenny had chosen to just wear a simple half up half down braid for her hair. lenny looked around the small sushi place before she spotted her date and slid into the seat across from her. “oh my gosh!! i’m so sorry i’m late! i couldn’t find my shoes and then i found one shoe but i couldn’t find that shoe’s sister so then i had to find a different shoe and it was this whole shoe disaster and now i’m just wearing my shoes that i wear around the house which is a little embarrassing but very comfortable.” she rambled, setting her clutch on the table and laying her phone down face down. “you look absolutely stunning though. so much prettier than your pictures which is hard to accomplish because those pictures are gorgeous!”

            lenny sat with her legs crossed and sighed as she looked at the area around her. she was seated in the back of a coffee shop and an empty cup of hot chocolate sitting beside her. the person sitting behind her was talking too fast for lenny to keep up, but she figured it’d also be easier if she had been listening from the start. “it’s kind of stuffy in here. do you want to maybe go outside?” she said after a moment when she felt like there was a long enough pause for her to speak. “i can feel my skin crying for some vitamin d.”

            her little sandals were stained with grass as she walked into the flower shop but lenny was too far in her how head to notice that or the wet footprints she was leaving behind as she walked up to the counter to see ana. both palms laid flat at the counter as she met the other girl’s eyes and whatever train of thought she had going had evaporated when she saw her. instead a soft smile crept onto her features and lenny couldn’t help but giggle. “hi!” she said before her gaze fell to her chipped nail polish. “oh, right!” she said, looking up again. “i had a reason for coming in here! i keep trying to use, like, actual flowers for my outfits because they just seem better. but by the end of the day they’re all wilted and it makes me sad. what should i do? you’re the flower genius and i don’t know what to do. these sad looking flowers keep breaking my heart. please help my heart not break again.” @anchitas