wildflower

Holding up the turtleneck sweater dress she’d found, Jenny offered Ellie a gentle smile before looking at the piece herself once again. It was mid thigh length and black, simple yet elegant, something that’d fit her style well. “I think I’ll go with this for sure.”

ellie nodded her head, smiling at her best friend. “you should totally do that. it’s super cute and i think it’s more you than that pink sweater you first picked up.” she stated.

Eloise laughed, “Don’t worry i understand what it’s like when you’re trying to persuade people to let me get them a drink or whatever. But honestly it’s all fine.” She smiled for a moment and took the pen smiling over at the girl, “Yeah I do work here. It’s a fun job to be honest.”

“some people really just refuse and that’s okay but like, in a situation like this, i’d want to pay someone back, you know?” ellie smiled in response, “that’s awesome. it seems like a fun place to work. i always wanted to try the bar career after watching coyote ugly but i don’t know if it’s as fun as they make it look.”

“We could swim together some time, if you want,” he suggested, it was more fun when you did it with someone else. Since he didn’t have a choice, often he did alone, but it wasn’t as fun, “It’s nice meeting you, I’m Amelio, but call me Lio.”

ellie raised her eyebrows in surprise and then nodded, a smile resting on her lips. “that would be nice. i’m totally down for that.” she replied. “i’m always up for new adventures. i feel like i’ve definitely been working too much.” she added. “lio, it is. it’s nice to meet you too.”

To know that she made Ellie feel even a little more beautiful than she did a moment ago made Jenny grin wide, tilting her head to one side and running her fingers through her hair. “I would say you should get it then. If you think my reaction was good, just you wait until the rest of the town gets to see it.”

ellie appreciated her friend’s compliment more than she’d ever be able to express. she had her moments of insecurity and she liked reassured every now and again. “well then, i think i’ll do it.” she smiled. “don’t let me be the only one buying something in here. you should find something to take home too.” she encouraged the girl.

Eloise glanced over at the girl for a brief moment, “Well if you really want to get me a drink, then I won’t turn it down.” She smiled over at her, “Well I am all about helping others out in a time of need.” She smiled and nodded, “I can see how the spill could be annoying. Well when I finished my shift it’s been great, absolutely love Halloween.”

ellie grinned, “good. i was hoping you wouldn’t make me beg. i totally owe you one for savin’ my costume.” she replied and handed the pen back over before tilting her head to one side. “your shift? do you work here?”

Upon hearing Elli’s voice, Jenny turned on her heels to see Ellie looking absolutely gorgeous, bringing a grin to her face. “You look so good… it would be totally stupid if you didn’t get the dress.” Ellie had always been so gorgeous in the eyes of Jenny, no matter what she wore. Sometimes that song Heather came to mind, but Jenny wasn’t inherenly jealous of her closest female friend, she just envied how effortlessly gorgeous she could be sometimes.

a grin grew over her face. sure, she was originally buying the outfit for school to wear for the kids but who was to say she wasn’t buying it for a special someone either? she decided not to even think about that too hard. she knew if she did, she’d stress herself out. “i’m definitely getting the dress, especially if everyone reacts the way you did.” 

Eyes focused on the sweater once again, she definitely considered buying it, but she would have to figure out when this man was going to be around so she could wear it for him. Jenny may have liked the top in itself, but she didn’t want to purchase something in the haze of going mildly boy crazy. “You’re right… see you in a bit.” While waiting for her friend to finish trying the sweat dress on, she hummed to herself quietly and looked through the different clothing items on the racks, finding herself a really gorgeous grey turtleneck sweater dress.

ellie moved into the dressing room after encouraging her friend to get the sweater but she realized she shouldn’t really pressure her into anything. she stepped out in the dress, “so, what do you think? should i get it?” she asked, doing a little twirl and smiling to herself. she liked the dress but of course, she wanted a second opinion.

“Yeah? You like to swim?” he asked with a small smile, wondering why she found it so insteresting, he would be up for swimming with her if that was the case, after winter, obviously, “I agree with you, you’re my kind of girl.”

“i do like to swim, actually, but you know, just for fun. i don’t think i’ve ever raced or anything.” ellie admitted. she wouldn’t mind hanging out with him. she was good at making friends and clinging onto people who stayed in her life. “i’m ellie, by the way.”

Nicholas raised his brow as Ellie Mae spoke of not thinking there was anyone out there for her. He truly found that hard to believe. He knew how great his sister was and Nicholas was a soft man at heart. There was someone out there for everyone, “Well,” he tipped his head to the side as she did hers, “I don’t think it’s weird,” his tongue slipped over his lips, “You just haven’t met the right boy,” Nick paused, “or maybe it’s not a guy,” Nick was no stranger to swinging the other way himself on some occasions, “Good, I’d be disappointed if you weren’t out dancin’, ya know?”

ellie mae wasn’t worried, not really anyways. of course, it crossed her mind that maybe she was just better off alone but she knew she was still young and she was still very able to find someone eventually. “you don’t?” she asked and then her cheeks turned blood red at the thought that it wasn’t a boy. “what?” she asked, shaking her head slowly. the thought that she might like girls had only crossed her mind for a brief second and that was when she met polly. she shook the thought out of her head, “don’t worry. i’m having fun.”

Trying not to let her thoughts get the best of her, she decided it was best to place the top back onto the rack and stop letting her mind run away with what ifs. If he was interested in her, sure he would’ve made it known, right? Pushing her hair out of her face, she nodded her head some and motioned her friend toward the dressing room. “I think I’ll find something a little more… inspiring while you try it out.” By inspiring, what she truly meant was that she was going to find something that didn’t scream ‘look at me’ to the man she’d grown her mild little crush on these days.

“aw, you’re not going to get it?” ellie asked, her held tilted to one side as she looked over at her friend. “i mean, i genuinely like the top and you shouldn’t let a boy’s opinion on it change whether you buy it or not. but you know, if you’re not actually into it then putting it back on the rack shouldn’t hurt anything.” she didn’t want to make the girl feel pressured into buying it either. she knew it was ultimately her decision either way. “but that works too. let me go try this one and then you’re next so hurry up and find something.”

“There’s always next year,” he raised a brow at his younger sister. The Morris siblings might not have been related by blood, but he never considered them anything but family. They were his life lines in his darkest of days and never failed to bring a smile to his face. “Thanks, Ellie Bellie,” he grinned at her, “You been dancin’ it up on the dance floor at all? If not, you’re missin’ out.” 

“you’re right. there’s always next year.” she paused, pursing her lips for a moment. “but maybe not. i don’t think there’s someone out there for me. i’ve never clicked with like, any boy i’ve gone out with. don’t you think that’s weird?” she asked, tilting her head to one side. “i’ve been out dancing. come on, you should expect that from me out of everyone.”

“Do you think…” a smile crept onto her lips as she’d thought about the young man she’d been crushing on for the past few weeks. They met at the grocery store, something completely cliche and that one could only imagine happening in the movies, but she was incredibly shy about speaking to him. He was tall, dark and handsome, quite literally every young woman’s ideal man. His hair was dark, his eyes like pools of earthy brown. Sure, she was stuck in her own fantasy world. “Do you think a guy would like this top?” Normally she wouldn’t base her wardrobe on whether a man would like it or not, but here she was, doing just that. Breaking her attention from the daze she’d placed herself in, she eyed the sweater dress with a slight tilt of her head, giving her friend the warmest of grins. “I think you’d look absolutely stunning in it.. try it on?”

ellie tilted her head to one side, a smile crawling over her face. “do i think what?” she asked, curiously. a small laugh left her lips. she had no idea whether a guy would like it or not, especially since she hadn’t ever clicked with a guy like she hoped she would. if there was on thing the girl was bad at, it was dating. but she did know she liked the top and she hoped that was enough for her friend. “maybe.” she shrugged her shoulders. “i mean, i like it so i think you should give it a go.” either way, she just wanted the girl to be happy. that’s all she really wanted from any of her friends. “i think i might have to. there’s no way for me to decide without trying it on.”

Being original was never something that he worried about, he dressed in whatever costume he wanted, whether it was common or not, “See, you get it, that should be a common knowledge,” he grinned at her, not everyone seemed to think like they did, “A few, but I didn’t always win first place, which I didn’t mind, because I still had fun.”

“well, first place isn’t always important, you know? i just think it’s interesting that you were a swimmer at all.” she admitted, a smile resting on her lips. “but i also think that as long as you were having fun then that’s all that counts.”

The star speckled wheels of her teal roller skates skidded to an hasty halt mid spin. From the overly exaggerated horrified contenance fixed on Polly’s features it was if the nameless woman confessed to murder. “Never really listened to disco?” she uttered in hushed whispers as repeating the confession on a higher decibel was unheard of. Polly’s brain appeared to be short circuited for a beat, mouth agape and lashes fluttering rapidly. “Not even like the Bee Gees?” she questioned further. “You know, a little, Well, you can tell by the way I use my walk. I’m a woman’s man, no time to talk” she proceeded to act out a move synonymous with the seventies era, jerking her hips from side to side as her index finger rhythmically pointed from the floor to the sky. Thus effectively drawing the attention of anyone in the general vicinity who took to gawking in bewilderment at the strange girl. “Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin’ alive, stayin’ alive…” she trailed off when she processed the woman wasn’t showing any signs of recognition. 

Polly inhaled a shuddered breath of pure excitement. Polly was so affected by the pure and unadulterated serendipity of this chance meeting that she was struck speechless for several moments. Her, speechless! Her mouth hung open as she scrambled to gather her thoughts given the sliver of brand new information that had been presented to her, the mother of all geek outs brewing steadily and rapidly within her. “You do realize what this means right,” she finally managed to squeak out. “Of course you do. I was meant to crash into you and introduce you the world of le disko. This is perfection” 

“There’s just far too much to discuss. I need to sit down. You need to sit down, with me. Over milkshakes” as it appeared her previous seemingly ceaseless babbling hadn’t put her off as of yet she didn’t see any reason to tone it down now. And then they were walking – or rolling in Polly’s case – and she was rambling, again. The speed of her speech seeming to increase the higher her excitement. “What’s your name? I’m Polly, Polly Foxx. With two ‘x’s’” she raised to fingers to indicate. “What do you listen to? What’s your hogwarts house? What do you eat for breakfast? Am I asking too many questions? Sorry, I’ll zip it” she mimed the motion of zipping her lips though a grin broke through seconds later as she rolled in front of dark haired beauty, proceeding to skate backwards. 

ellie was clearly amused by the girl’s reaction and her attempt at trying to get her to recognize a disco song. it just wasn’t anything she grew up listening to or even what she listened to now. ellie had always been a pop kind of girl. she listened to the top fifty songs or whatever kept her mood up. she liked things with a good beat and things that might make her want to dance and so she could definitely see herself listening to disco. she just never really had the desire to until she saw the girl in front of her dancing around. an involuntary smile grew over her face. she was cute, that was for sure. “no,” she giggled, shaking her head. “i’m sorry. i don’t think i know what you’re talkin’ about.” she admitted, a small blush on her cheeks. she wished she did though so that maybe she could connect with the girl a little more. 

it was quiet for a few beats and she had no idea what that meant. she didn’t know if it was because the girl was thinking she was uncultured or what. she didn’t want the girl to think anything negative of her and she didn’t know if that was the people pleaser inside of her or if it was because she wanted to get closer to the girl, as a friend of course. being anything but friends with a girl hasn’t even crossed ellie’s mind but she knew if it did then maybe it’d help her realize why exactly she couldn’t connect with a boy, any boy.

“okay.” she agreed, nodding her head. “let’s get milkshakes then. what’s your go to flavor?” she asked, tilting her head in curiosity. ellie mae figured that if she was going to hang out with the girl, she might as well make more of an effort to get to know the girl. maybe the two of them would be friends after this and she’d be good with that.s he could always take more friends. “ellie mae morris. it’s nice to meet ya, polly foxx.” she smiled, holding the hand out for the girl to shake. she took in every question, trying to find a moment between the girl’s rambling to answer her. the amount of her talking actually didn’t bother her. “i listen to pop, mostly. i’m okay with listening to anything though, you know? recently i’ve been listening to kelsea ballerini and she’s more country than pop but her new album is sweet. kinda slower than my usual taste though.” she admitted before shrugging her shoulders. “i think i’ve always seen myself as a hufflepuff and i like bagels or pancakes for breakfast but honestly, i’m not picky.”