biggie biggie biggie

Eloise nodded in response to the suggestion. “I don’t think I’ve ever had a mojito before,” she admitted. Usually, she didn’t go too far outside of her comfort zone when it came to alcohol. “I might give it a try. Are they strong?” she asked, trying to figure out if she wanted to go down that route or not. At the man’s question, the blonde let out a sigh. “A bad blind date’s got me here tonight. What about you?”

“Really?” His brows perked. Introducing someone to something new was one of his most beloved hobbies -- usually it wasn’t something as simple as a mojito, but he was a big fan, so he welcomed it. “You should. Depends who’s making it. Most of the time they’re a bit stronger than the average drink. It’s time consuming to make, I’ve gotten a weak one solely because me ordering it was annoying.” He made air quotes as he said the last word. “Define bad. Are we talking stalking situation..crazy exes?”

“Considerin’ nobody’s ever given you flowers before, it’s on the house. –Don’t tell Miss Virginia though. I worked hard on this and it’s worth at least $30.” Annie grinned, carefully moving the vase towards Xavier. “Seasonal depression is a very real thing. Mine usually hits in winter, though. Are you not a fall person?”

“Thank you for taking pity on me. I’ve always wanted a peony.” He picked up the vase, admiring the work she put into the arrangement. Xavier, who prided himself on knowing everything about everything, actually didn’t know much about flower arrangements - but he could appreciate the beauty in it. “Not particularly, no. Everything starts dying, which is never fun. I have about three triggers specifically associated with fairs. And, most importantly, I could never pull off the color orange.”

He laughed. “I uh, think I can live without that, but thanks for the offer. One day I’ll get used to the quiet. Until then I guess I just gotta listen to city sounds or something’.”

“Suit yourself. You’d be surprised how much the extreme comes in handy.” He shrugged, genuinely believing his words. “The drive’s not so bad, if that makes you feel any better. I’ve gone on quite a few weekend trips myself; catch the Falcons, Hawks..” He trailed off. “What brings you to Frostford?”

Eloise didn’t go to bars often. She had a relatively busy life between looking after her son and teaching ballet, so any free time she had was spent grocery shopping or catching up on sleep. However, a friend had set her up on a blind date and she reluctantly went through with it. The outcome of the date was what brought Elle to The Watering Can in the first place. The date went terribly, and she regretted not following her gut instinct. Walking up to the bar countertop, the tiny blonde plopped herself down on one of the stools and turned to the person next to her. “What’s your favorite drink?” She asked, her slight French accent evident in her words. “I’m tired of my usual gin and tonics and I’d like to switch it up.” @frostfordstart

Sometimes it was frustrating not being able to help the kids at school as much as he wanted to. He could never show it, but he couldn’t easily shake it, even after hours. It’s what led him to The Watering Can. “Favorite drink?” He repeated, taking a moment to process. “Mojito.” He answered, raising his glass. “The classic, mint, nothing fancy. What’s got you here drinking tonight?”

“Listen, I know it’s gonna sound silly, but…” Annie smiled as she tucked a rose in between sprigs of baby’s breath. “Maybe flowers can’t solve all your problems, but they sure are a start.” Nothing made her feel better than putting together an arrangement, be it for herself or a customer. “Alright,” she murmured, putting on the finishing touches. “Y’got my attention. What’s up?” @frostfordstart

“I’ll give it to you, it’s a start. No one’s ever given me flowers before.” He reached for her arrangement, trying to appreciate an art he didn’t really understand. “You are giving this to me, right? Because it’d be rude not to, considering it’s my time of need.” He sighed, not really sure where to start. “Nothing’s up, particularly. Or everything is. I think I have Fall depression, that’s a real thing you know.”

it wasn’t like she could really avoid xavier.  they lived in such a small community, that even if she wanted to completely erase him from her life ( which, she didn’t, he’d been too important to do such a thing ) it wouldn’t be possible.  but simply avoiding shopping in certain places on certain days the past couple of years, now that she had been good at.  both of them had been, honestly.  and yet, she still wound up face to face with him making a mess in the aisle at bushel’s.  carefully, juliette took the items he picked up and offered him a small smile.  “well, that’s good.  that they’re alright.  frannie’s been doin’ lots of studyin’ and she needs her snacks.”  juliette explained with a shrug as she tapped on the snacks in her hands once more.  “oh, me?  ‘m fine.  no bumps or bruises.  ‘cept to my ego, but i wasn’t really lookin’ either, so.”  juliette shrugged her shoulders as she made a face at her own comment ( and the whole situation ).  “’m sorry.  are you alright?  i didn’t accidentally cause you to drop anything, right?”

“Study snacks, of course. I should’ve known.” Familiarity lingered, and he resisted the urge to comment on knowing the few groceries in her hand were for Frannie. He’d made similar shopping runs for her himself, for both of them, but mentioning so would only make the situation more awkward. “Good, good. I’m glad you’re not hurt. My ego’s always a little bit bruised around you. Hate to admit I’m kind of happy we’re even now.” A poor attempt at a joke. Was it a good sign or a bad one that things could still be oddly tense after years? “I’m alright, no damage done. How are you? Not now, in general, in life. Things are good with you and Frannie?”

“Sure is different from Atlanta..” he mumbled to the dog at his side. Standing outside the small flower shop, blue eyes dropped from daisies to Bucket, and back up to the person in front of him. “I am so sorry, I didn’t realize I was blocking the doorway.” @frostfordstart

“No apologies necessary. If you’re missing Atlanta, I could always make you feel more at home. Shove you out of my way, spit on your shoes..” He jokingly trailed off. “Frostford takes some getting used to if you’re from the city, let me know if I can help.”

“You’re right, you’re not big enough to be Alabama,” she quietly kidded in return. At his next words, Aurora looked down at herself, wondering what it was about her that gave off the impression she was looking to boutique hop. “Thanks,” she said, and was ready to leave it at that– she was wanted to leave it at that, but she couldn’t help herself. There was a beat, and then she continued, “Clearly I either look really good, or really, really shit if you guessed that…”

“Good. You look good -- that was definitely a positive assumption. You see a lot of overalls around here, duck boots during the fall. Neither are exactly bad choices, but more practical than fashionable.” He gestured to her. “And your outfit actually matches, that was the big giveaway.” 

closed for @xcvierbell 

if juliette had been thinking before she went to the grocery store, she’d have realized that it was the worst day to go.  that she’d probably run into xavier there.  but she hadn’t thought it through, which meant that walking down the aisle’s looking for the specific snack frannie had asked for and spotting him out of the corner of her eye had caught her off guard.  and then, ten minutes later when she finally found what she had been looking for, she didn’t think she was going to literally bump into him.  so, juliette stumbled backwards and hit the rack holding the snacks and dropped what she’d been holding on to.  “well aren’t i graceful?”  she mumbled to herself, shaking her head.  “sorry ‘bout that.” 

It’d been years -- three to be exact, and Xavier still made an effort to avoid Juliette if he could help it. He wasn’t hurt anymore, no, his heart had healed but the sense of awkwardness between them still lingered. The town was too small and far too community driven for him to avoid her completely, but distance was always appreciated. It’s why he quickly turned a corner and ducked behind an end cap when he spotted her browsing an aisle. His desire to evade her was more embarrassing than any bout of small talk they’d get into, yet that didn’t stop him. Unfortunately, it didn’t do him any good. Just when he thought he was in the clear, she came crashing into him, like a bat out of hell. “No, no. It was me.” He gladly took the blame, leaning down to pick up the few items she dropped. “I uh - wasn’t looking where I was going.” He continued. “Here, looks like it survived the fall. What about you? Should I call 9-1-1?”

It’s the sound of old wood creaking, its used and worn structure restraining under the pressure of weight, that breaks the silence. And despite its distinctive protest, Riven stretches to her toes. Her tiny frame wobbling dangerously on the top step of the ladder. Ironically, she’s never much minded the height up here. Reaching up, her fingers clutching to the old spine of a book, she makes sure it’s in place before finding better footing. There was something to be said about negligent readers that didn’t seem care for the carefully created structure the library lived by. And while, frankly, she loved her job, she wished people would just return books to the right sections. Eyeing the rows one last time, Riven slowly climbs down, jumping off of the last step with fervor. The immediate presence that greets her once she turns has her a little startled. “Oh, uhm, sorry. Did you need something?” @frostfordstart

“Fun Home.” His eyes were still scanning the rows of books, turning to her when it seemed like he had her undivided attention. “Sorry if you were in the middle of something.” He spoke more out of obligation than genuine remorse, gesturing to the ladder beside her. “I checked the shelves, no luck. It’s a graphic novel, so there’s a chance I’m not looking in the right place. It’s also, arguably, racy. For Frostford, that is.” A student had their own copy confiscated by an especially grumpy English teacher who refused to give it up -- even to Xavier. “If you don’t have it, could you tell me the closest library that does?”

@frostfordstart

As a child, Aurora had always loved visiting her grandparents in Frostford. Her grandfather doted on her without a care of favoritism, and there were always enough desserts to go around. Now, as she strolled down the sidewalk of her father’s hometown with just the streetlights and a vague sense of direction guiding her, Aurora tried not to think of where else she might have been just then, other than the idyllic town of her childhood.

“Damn it,” she cursed aloud– and loudly– as she stopped suddenly on the sidewalk. “Stupid… Alabama.” That wasn’t fair. Alabama hadn’t done anything wrong. Just as suddenly as she had stopped, Aurora turned around, only to come face-to-face with the realization that someone had been behind her.

Her cheeks flared red. Was her throat really dry all of a sudden? “Sorry,” she squeaked.

“No need to apologize, I’m not Alabama.” He winced at his own words, horrible joke. “The town’s not too big, all the farmland makes it look more daunting than it actually is. You could keep taking lefts and eventually you’d end up where you wanted to be.” Looking her up and down, he narrowed his eyes slightly, attempting to guess what she was in search of. “Buttons and Bows? The boutique. Go back a block and take a right, big blue sign, you can’t miss it.”

“excuse me? getting laid off wasn’t a failure, it was out of my control. just because you’re living high and mighty and have some stability doesn’t make you any better than i am. i’m just still trying to find my way with what i want to do in life.”

“Didn’t you get laid off because you weren’t good at your job? Hate to break it to you, but that falls under the blanket of being in your control. I am high and mighty, thank you so much for noticing. Mooching off our poor old grandparents simply didn’t appeal to me, so I was sure to make the most of my education.”

“I didn’t want to know such a thing either,” Jason started dramatically, shaking his head. “I had a nightmare when I found out some young folks killed a goat and drank its blood.” God knows who made up that story, Jason still had no idea to this day, yet he kept telling everybody. “Can you believe this is happening in our Christian town? Unbelievable..”

His eyes narrowed as the other went on. Xavier heard his fair share of weird Frostford stories over the years, but they typically involved cow tipping and bull riding, not goat sacrifice. It didn’t sound completely ridiculous, but it was certainly out there as far as small-town Alabama went. “Bro, are you high?” He had to ask. “No judgement, but..”

“I mean some people figure if the stores are sellin’ it then it’s fair game, right?” He shrugged, as if this was a defense for it all. “I don’t know that I’ve seen anything like that– I mean they haven’t started some sorta cutest pup contest that we somehow don’t know about have they?”

“When in doubt, blame the hell that is retail." He agreed -- it was at least a logical explanation. “Honestly, yeah, they probably have. It’d make more sense than anything else. I’m all for cute puppies, contests too, but I don’t think I could force my dog into an uncomfortable costume for a month. Harnesses look uncomfortable enough.”

“It gets worse every year.” Jason didn’t know how but they always got worse, there was no exception. Or he was simply losing his tolerance. “That certainly wouldn’t be the worst thing to happen to those goats though.” Everybody heard the rumors, apparently some kids sacrificed a goat and drank its blood. Of course none of those claims were true, it didn’t happen at all but once Jason’d heard something, he tended to spread it whether it’s true or not. 

Xavier’s eyes narrowed, unsure where this was going, but too curious not to comment. “Why do I get the feeling I don’t want to know the worst thing that could happen to the goats?”

The sound of his voice was comforting. After keeping up with text messages and Instagram comments, there was no comparison to catching up in person even if her entire plan had been foiled. “You know I love a good surprise. I was just waiting for the school year to roll back around so that I could show up in your office and start tossin’ college acceptance questions your way.” Her rounds weren’t as pressing now, she knew she had time to catch everyone, but maybe she had dropped the ball on this one. “What the hell are you doin’ here? You and home improvement projects is a little scary.”

“So what I’m getting from this is you were planning to show up unannounced with gifts for me? Because that I’m okay with. In fact, I insist.” It was far too easy to fall back into their same routine, trading playful jabs with one another -- smiles glued to their faces. He was never sure just how much he missed her until she showed up again. “I’ll have you know my home improvement techniques have improved. I installed a new shower head in my bathroom a couple weeks back. I’ve come a very long way from accidentally destroying dressers. In my defense, I really thought the card catalog handles would be an easy job and I didn’t consider how permanent wood stain would be on other surfaces.”