Flowers by Nichole Hall (best life changing books txt) 📖

trail off, hoping for her to finish my sentence. No such luck.   I try again. “He just acts so standoffish. He is so hot and cold one minute from the next, I can’t keep up with his mood swings. What’s his problem?”

“Willow.” Her chiding voice is back. I groan out loud as she swipes her hand against my arm in a weak slap. “You can’t judge that boy anymore than he can judge you.”

“He does though! God, he talked to me yesterday like I was no better than the dirt underneath his shoe.”

Grandma smiles that all knowing smile.

“Honey, you just haven’t read his story yet.”

“But you have apparently, so tell me.”

With a sad smile, Grandma shakes her body off with dirt. Standing up, I follow the same pattern before entering the house. Immediately Grandma goes the cupboard, pulling out two glasses. Before she even has to ask, I reach into the fridge pulling out the carafe of lemonade, made fresh every morning. When Grandma needs a cup for herself, it’s never a good sign. Grandma leans on the countertop. She hates gardening with her walker nearby, reminds her of her old age she says. Her legs must be tired and sore. Pretty soon, she will have to take a nap to rejuvenate. When her eyes linger outside the window, I know it’s something pretty important wheeling around in the mind of hers.

“Grandma, what’s the big secret?” Her sad smile returns.

“Willow, give the boy a chance.”

“Grandma?” I ask confused.

“It’s time for my nap, honey.” Holding out her arm for me, I guide her to her bedroom. She remains quietly content on the slow walk. My mind turning circles as I help her take off her shoes and hat. Pulling back the covers for her, she slides in gracefully for her age. 

“What are you keeping from me?”

With tired eyes, she sighs. “Somethings are not meant to be told from me, but the source itself.”

“So Kevin is the source?” The way she is talking in lingo, it’s like everything is directed at something hidden from me. What exactly could that be? Maybe, they’ve seen my mother or know where she is at. In that case, I would like to know. Just so I could approach her and ask what exactly she thought she was doing leaving me at the house by myself. What if I had gone into shock and no one found me? Or what if something had happened because I was freaking out at her absence? Did she even bother to check up on me, at least secretively?

“He just understands, Willow.” Her breathing deepens as her exhaustions takes ahold. What exactly can a boy that I’ve hardly had contact with, understand?

 

****

We sit at a booth this time in the ice cream shop. Ignoring Mandy all week had been a task, one that grandma was obviously not blind to. When registration day had come, just four days before school starts for our senior year, grandma forced me to go with Mandy. But she wasn’t alone. No, Kevin and Charlie were with her. Hence the reason for the ignoring. 

The two lovebirds sit across from me, Kevin to my right. The four of us haven’t really talked much as a group, rather in pairs or trios. Kevin and I haven’t talked directly to each other yet. 

After the gardening day, my mom and dad had been on my mind all week. Rehashing the old pain didn’t help any, but only brought more questions to my mind. What exactly did Kevin understand about me? And why does he talk with so much apparent hatred towards me? That does not equal understanding in my book. Grandma has officially lost her touch, or she’s delusional. I’m going with delusional. 

“What do you guys want?” Charlie finally asks.

“I know what Willow wants.” Charlie and Mandy share a look.

“And I know what Kevin wants.” They smile at each other and exit the booth. When I turn my head at Kevin, he avoids all eye contact with me. No time like the present to confront him.

“My grandmother seems to think you are a good kid.” He only offers me a brief glance. “She also seems to think you ‘understand’ me.” I add finger quotes to emphasize my point. Kevin straightens up in his seat.

“I know more than I’d like to know.” Intrigued, I pull Kevin’s sleeve to face me. He shoots me a nasty look, but doesn’t say anything.

“Just what do you know, Kevin Gardley?”

“What everyone in the town knows.” He shrugs, I slap the back of his head for playing stupid. 

“Don’t do that again.” He growls. Of course, I do it again. “Willow..” His voice has taken on a warning tone.

“Or what? You are playing evasive so I am playing dirty. Tell me, what do you know? Have you heard from my mother? Is she in town, hiding?” I can’t keep the enthusiasm out of my voice, nor do I want to. Shaking Kevin this time, he growls even louder until his forehead is pressed against mine. Eye to eye he speaks. 

“I know nothing. Drop it.” Golden flecks scatter around the greenish brown eyes. My breathing hitches up a notch. His is no better. Both of us are panting like dogs in heat. Boy, does it feel like I am heat. My stomach starts doing somersaults as chills spread all around my body head to toe. A deep need pools between my legs, at first I am confused at this reaction. When it hits like a brick to the head, I pull back with wide eyes. Kevin seems to understand that reaction perfectly and offers a quick smirk.

“Do I turn you on, little one? Does my ferocious tone and heated gaze bring wanting?” Strategically placing his hand on my stomach, just above my crotch, Kevin pulls in face to face again. Pushing his hand inward, my skin jumps at the desire and need to be touched by him. By Kevin Gardley. Oh hell. Words get stuck in my throat, I swallow a few times in attempt to talk.

“No.” I rasp out. Turning his head, his hot breath catches at the nape of my neck trailing up towards my left ear. The panting from both of us had increased tenfold. Closing my eyes, I try taking deep breaths to calm the sudden urge to jump his bones. Really it does nothing other than catch a whiff of his cologne and body masked together. The same smell of his clothes that I borrowed and yet to give back. It does strange things to my senses, nearly having me salivate all over his shoulder.

“Liar.” He whispers and whips back to his original straight sitting position. A veil once again over his face, masking whatever just happened there. With cold eyes, he turns to my direction. “I told you before I don’t do relationships.”

“Why do you feel the need to reiterate?” It comes out husky and full of wanting. Okay, Willow stop it. You can stop right now. But I can’t, not even when his sharp demeanor is once again pointed at me. 

“We both want each other. Enough said.”

“Whew, hot today and hot tomorrow.” Mandy slides in the booth, handing over the cup of ice cream. Immediately I dig in, trying to cool off the burning in me. 

Kevin and I both know it’s not from the heat in the weather. 

New Friends

School starts early on a hot Monday morning. Mandy called and requested an over the phone help to pick out her outfit. I could really care less in my shorts and scoop  neck shirt. There is one new development, until Mandy gets a car, Charlie is our new ride to school. Every. Morning. Oh goody.

They arrive exactly at seven fifteen, forty five minutes before school starts so we can “hang” out with everyone else. In another time, Mandy and I would barely arrive at school on time and make into our classes before the bell rang. Now, we are hanging out with people who we have had no affiliation with in the last three years of school. 

It’s a small miracle that Kevin is not in the car, but drove his own. After the whole ice cream day, my hormones around him had been on overdrive. The logical part of my brain would shut down in his presence, and instead my body craved his touch. The whisper of his lips against my own, hands roughened caressing my back inch by inch until they lower to my two little back dimples, then they would move forward and start with my

“Hey, you are quiet back there Willow.” Charlie glances in the backseat through the rearview mirror. “Nervous about the first day of school?” He continues. 

No, I am just having a hot and bothered fantasy with your best friend that has some kind of pre-notion hatred against me.

“Ha! Willow isn’t nervous. She lives for school.” If I didn’t know any better, there seemed to be a bit of underlined loathing in Mandy’s words. We still hadn’t approached the Charlie topic since the pool party. Sure, we hung out a lot in the last week, but always with Charlie and Kevin. Always.

“Babe...She’s just a smart girl.” 

“Right.” Again, with the sarcastic hostility.

“No, I am just a loser who spends all her time doing her homework and studying. Right, Mandy?”

She remains silent. The tension in the air thickens. Charlie fidgets, glancing between my best friend and I, trying to gauge the situation. 

We arrive at school in silence. I am the first to hop out of the car only to land next to Kevin’s white Tundra and Clarissa. I bite my lip in attempt to keep the groan in. Clarissa only offers a brief glance in my direction before turning her attention back to Kevin, who leans against his truck like some sort of male goddess. Why hadn’t I noticed before how much his aura of authority really does affect the female population? 

When I look back into the car, Mandy sits with her arms across her chest and Charlie speaking to her. He doesn’t seem to happy with her and it gives me hope that maybe he is not such a bad guy if he is sticking up for me with one her bitch fits. They come, they go. He will have to learn that sometime. But, it’s still nice for someone to stick up to her with one of her tantrums than be like me and just ignore them until she cools down. 

“Willow.” Kevin flicks his head to come over. My feet follow on their accord. Brain shut down in process, body craving in overload. Taking a spot next to Kevin against the car, I readjust my backpack so I can lean next to him. Clarissa in short jean skirt and white tank, flips her short blond hair behind her back, only to have it fall back in perfect place. Ah,  the female flirt attempts. Good thing I suck at those, because then I would look like an idiot like her. Oh wow, since when did I really care about Clarissa and her damn hair flipping? I look at Kevin, oh yeah since him. 

“So anyways, my parents are going to be gone this weekend...” Clarissa trails off, letting Kevin fill in the meaning himself. Not hard