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 Posted: Mon Apr 25, 2016 10:35 pm
A high school senior of 6’3” entered a flower shop with a sketchpad and pencil in hand. He almost looked like an absurd reporter of some sort, but he had the Hillworth school uniform on, so the picture didn’t quite fit. When he looked up from his sketchpad, he did a double-take at the young man at the counter and his vague smile grew into a broad grin. Kit approached the fellow, leaning on the counter with his elbows, his sketchpad and pencil all but forgotten in his hands.
“Well well,” he began, regarding those bright green eyes and dyed hair streaks against skin that was nearly the same olive-tan complexion as his own. “What have we here? A teenage guy aspiring to be a florist?” He glanced about briefly. “Are you running this place by yourself right now, cupcake?”
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Posted: Thu Apr 28, 2016 3:03 pm
Days at Farah's Garden were the same as they'd always been, but only on the surface. Matthew and Art still lived in the apartment above, still took inventory and helped customers, still made sales. Laney still worked her shifts. Under all if it though, was a hollowness. A great big hole where something was missing. It took the color out of everything, the joy, and for Matthew, everything had become grey and tasted like sawdust.
It had been four months now, since his sister had gone missing. Four months of worry that slowly shifted into grief and anger and then listlessness. He still went to school, but teen's grades had tanked. He still ran the shop, but only because he and his father still needed to eat, to turn on their lights and keep the shop itself.
He'd heard his father talking on the phone to the school. This was going to be his last year at Meadowview. Without Orah around to smooth things over, things had boiled over to the point the threat had become reality. He would be going to Hillsworth in the fall to finish out his last year. The only reason they hadn't expelled him already was the proximity of the end of the year. But what did it matter what school he went to? He hated all of it... and what did it matter that it would separate him from his friends? Tensions had grown between him and his little pack of hooligans anyway. It had started with his involvement with the Negaverse, pulling him away, but now, with Orah gone... he just wasn't fit company for anyone.
It was with this dark and gloomy cloud hanging over him that the punk with the curly black hair walked into his shop, grinning like he found something funny. At first, Matthew had ignored him, assuming him a customer who'd do his browsing, pick something, and bring it to the counter to be rung up before leaving. It was a surprise then to hear himself addressed and then find the guy leaning against the counter where he sat on a stool, his legs crossed while he played a game on his phone.
Forest green eyes snapped upwards as his brows drew together and the teen finally gave the newcomer a once over, taking in the street fashion and blue swirls on his face. The words seeped in and in record time, Matthew was seeing red. Had this been anywhere else, he would have been across the counter with one fist in the a*****e's shirt and the other right in his grinning face. His hand clenched around his phone as his eyes flashed as he pushed down the urge through sheer force of will, but the anger showed in his face.
"I'm sorry. The <********> did you just call me?"
He might have been able to resist punching the stranger straight out, but there was no way he could keep his reply civil, at work or not.
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Posted: Thu Apr 28, 2016 3:54 pm
At Matthew's response to him, Kit laughed aloud, because if he hadn't had anything to find funny before, he certainly did now. "I called you 'cupcake'. But if you preferred 'sweetheart' or 'buttercup' since this is a flower shop, I can comply." He kept his gaze locked on the other young man's as if daring him to do something.
At the same time he made little observations from his peripheral vision about the guy like how his grip tightened on his phone and the minute changes of his expression's features. He tried to commit every detail into memory if only because he couldn't start sketching it out right that moment. He had to have his wits about him since he could guess what was coming. He couldn't afford to look away even for a second.
If Matthew was paying the attention to this impudent stranger as Kit was to him, he might have noticed that the Hillworth boy's body tensed. He didn't move from his position on the counter, but he seemed to be bracing himself for a hit.
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Posted: Tue May 03, 2016 4:59 pm
The young man shoved his phone impatiently into his back pocket as he slid off his stool, thunderclouds gathering behind his eyes. His hands came down harder on the counter than they rightly should have and he leaned forward, aggression in every line of his lean body.
"I prefer for you to either shut the ******** up and make a purchase, or get the ******** out of my store." He said, reading the tension in the body across from him almost subconsciously. This a** hat knew exactly what he was doing... he was intentionally being insulting. But why? What did he stand to gain by waltzing into a store and provoking the guy behind the counter? He'd get thrown out on his a** and that would be it.
"And you don't exactly look like the flower buying type."
What Matthew thought he looked like right then was probably best for not being said out loud.
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Posted: Wed May 04, 2016 12:17 am
The Hillworth boy drank in every detail of Matthew's actions and behavior as the younger male came into closer proximity over the counter. His smile never wavered and he was careful not to flinch.
"You sure like to say the f-word a lot, don't you?" Kit mused aloud. "Can't make a purchase very easily if I can't talk, so I guess that leaves 'shutting up' out of the picture." Evidently this fellow wasn't so impulsive that he was going to give in to his more violent desires. At least not immediately.
He looked over at some deep purple irises. Kit stuffed both his pencil and sketchbook in his pant pocket and reached out to delicately stroke a petal between his forefinger and thumb. "And I love how suddenly it's your store. I'll take half a dozen of these, if that's cool with you."
Turning his full attention back to the younger teen, the tattoo-faced senior once more peered into his vivid green eyes. "So...I'm curious. What does 'the flower-buying type' look like to you, then?" he questioned. "I could be wanting to buy these for my girlfriend to celebrate our first date anniversary. I could be getting them for my sick mother or my little sister's birthday." He tilted his head slightly as if he could see another side to the shop clerk that way. "Or maybe I just like flowers. Don't you know better than to judge a book by its cover?"
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Posted: Mon May 09, 2016 2:18 pm
Green eyes narrowed as the stranger reached to stroke one of the display flowers, and even though Matthew could really care less about the flowers themselves, he knew the act was meant to push his buttons... and it did.
"Its always been my store. That's my mother's name on the front, dipshit." He huffed as he leaned back, taking his hands off the counter. Having a clear purpose gave him something to focus on that wasn't the other guy's smug face and the teen turned to the standing cases that made up the rear wall to slide one door open. Inside, more of the Irises waited in a tub of water and he carefully plucked out six of them before he came back. To the side of the main counter with the cash register was the wrapping counter and Matthew went easily through the motions of rubber banding the stems together, tucking a packet of plant food into them, and then wrapping the whole in paper to make a small, professional looking bouquet. He didn't even really have to think about it, the motions were so ingrained in him.
"If you've got a girlfriend, which I doubt, then I doubt she's the flower type either." He said as he came back and set the bouquet down in front of the young man, more gentle with the flowers than his manner suggested he could be.
"Sixteen thirty-nine." Matthew quoted the price from memory, bracing the heels of his hands against the counter again. "If you want a vase, its another ten."
The sooner he could get through this, the sooner this a*****e would leave. Hopefully.
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Posted: Mon May 09, 2016 6:21 pm
"Then unless you have your mother's name, wouldn't that make this her store?" Kit asked. "Or did you just name it after her because you're a hardcore momma's boy?" As Matthew turned to fetch the requested flowers, the older teen reached into his back pocket to pull out his wallet. He focused his gaze on the bills to pay for the flowers as he counted them out. "Oh yeah? Why's that?" he inquired, referring to the other high schooler's doubts.
Kit looked up from the money to notice the care with which the other young man set down the flowers. Amused, he took out two fives and a ten-dollar bill, placing his currency on the counter in exchange for the irises. "Thanks," he said, picking up the bouquet to admire it. "But I won't be needing a vase." He didn't seem quite ready to leave just yet.
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Posted: Thu May 12, 2016 2:52 pm
"It would be her store if she wasn't dead." Matthew snapped, part of him hoping the bald admission would shut the stranger up and make him leave. It usually shut people up pretty quick when it came up even in casual conversation... so if it did it for this guy, he was willing to sacrifice the little pain that came with remembering the mother he couldn't really remember.
He slapped a hand down on the money and took it to the register. A quick sequence of keys and a tiny bell rang as the drawer popped open. The counting came easily, especially with the proper change displayed on the screen, and when Matthew closed the register and came back, he had three dollar bills and a handful of change to hold out for the other guy to take.
"If that's it, you can leave now. I have work I have to get back to. Stocking shelves and cleaning up. s**t like that." s**t that he implied was a hell of a lot more important than talking to this guy and his exceedingly annoying, smug face.
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Posted: Thu May 12, 2016 6:33 pm
"So then you're keeping it running in her honor?" Kit pressed, mellowing a bit, but refusing to back off. He took the change with a soft, 'thank you' and stared at the flowers absently, seemingly lost in thought.
At the younger teen's encouragement that Kit leave, the Hillworth senior pushed up from the counter and straightened. "Not done yet," he said with a small half-smile. "Come'ere." Curling his finger at the other male in a gesture for him to come closer, he held out the bouquet of irises. "For you."
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Posted: Sun May 15, 2016 8:39 pm
The teen's eyes narrowed at the stranger, his face saying a very loud '******** off'.
He didn't even bother with a reply to the first question, since that was pretty damn self explanatory. His frown was directed, rather, at the flowers the kid had bought, from him, and was now apparently... giving back to him?
God, and that ******** smile... he really, really wanted to plant his fist in the middle of it.
Leaning back, Matthew crossed his arms over his chest, as far away from the flowers and that beckoning finger as he could get.
"I don't accept gifts from creepy strangers." He snapped, his voice heavy with snark. The ******** kind of sense did this whole thing make? He just spent money on flowers... that Matthew had bunches of right behind him. Seriously. What the ******** class="quote">Kitomyx
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Posted: Wed May 18, 2016 9:56 am
"Hehehe...I guess I am pretty creepy, aren't I?" Kit chuckled, glancing back at the flowers in his hand. "But I saw you and wanted to get to know you. I'm just interested in people; that's all. And you seemed like you had an interesting story to tell."
He lowered his arm and turned so that he was leaning his back against the counter instead of his front, facing away from Matthew and surveying the shop from his new point of view. "Well, if I introduce myself to you, then I'm not really a stranger anymore, am I? My name's Kit. I go to Hillworth, so I see a lot of angry young men like yourself. It makes me wonder why; why they feel they have to hold on to such anger. Obviously it causes themselves more pain than anyone else."
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Posted: Sun May 29, 2016 1:03 pm
"Newsflash, dumbass; insulting someone, even as a joke, when you first meet them is not a good way to get to know them. Because, surprise!, then they don't want to be nice to you." Matthew growled.
What was with people lately? This was at least the second guy he'd had to explain these very obvious and simple facts to. You act like a creep or an angry s**t, and you turned people away. If you wanted to get closer to people, you had to be nice to them. Why was that so hard to understand? It made him tend to feel like they were lying out of their asses about wanting to get to know people.
Green eyes watched the guy turn to lean against the, narrowed and unwelcoming.
"Knowing your name doesn't make you less of an a*****e." He pointed out. As for finding out why he was angry, well... that was really none of his business, was it? This guy had just waltzed into his shop, why tell him anything? Trust didn't come easily, and especially not when it came to the sensitive subject of his life falling apart. ******** that.
"If you want a story, go to the library, because my life is none of your business. I'm not your cheap entertainment."
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Posted: Mon Jun 06, 2016 7:57 pm
Kit tsked and shook his head, sighing. "I never insulted you, sugar. You're the one using foul names and taking offense to what I say. I just stated an observation I made." He smiled again. "And actually, insulting someone is a very good way of getting to know them. It tells you right off the bat how they react to being provoked."
The older teen pointed the iris bouquet at him indicatively. "You, for example, didn't seem to have enough of a poker face to keep your anger concealed, but you weren't impulsive enough to hit me, either. And you were also very gentle with the plants despite your anger. It was those little observations that intrigued me. Lots of Hillworth boys wouldn't even have had that much self-discipline."
"It's the nice people you have to worry about," he continued, his smile fading as he studied the flowers again. "because if they seem nice on the outside, you never know what else they could be hiding. Those with enough charisma and charm can get away with almost anything. That's also why people who use profanity are considered more trustworthy; because they're thought to be more brutally honest without pulling punches."
He looked back at Matthew, a trace of a smile still about his features, but his expression dominated by a sudden seriousness. "Nothing is black and white, kiddo. People who act nice aren't necessarily always good and people who seem mean aren't necessarily bad. I don't judge based on how people treat me because I know there could be other motives that drive them to behave or not behave as they do. You have to learn to see things from other perspectives or you'll never be able to look at things objectively and your emotions will always end up clouding your judgement."
He set the flowers down gently on the counter. "Here. You can give these to your mother if you don't want them." Kit stuck his hands back in his pockets and turned to go. "I'm sorry for making you feel like I was belittling your hardships. I've been through my own s**t so I guess I just thought I might at least be able to empathize with another troubled youth."
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Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2016 12:00 pm
"You're so full of s**t..." Matthew growled as the other both lectured him with bullshit. His pontificating was as annoying as the rest of him and considering they were likely the same age, it was entirely unnecessary in the teen's opinion. He didn't need to tell him things he already knew and he had no right to act like he was better or smarter than any one else.
Being friends was not in the cards for this one, not with the hole he had dug for himself. And that bullshit about looking at things objectively? All well and good, unless you didn't want to.
"My mother's grave is in Ireland, Jackass." He said, leaning back into the cooler doors behind him, arms still crossed. "You know where the door is and I think you can see yourself out."
God this day was just ******** PERFECT. As soon as he was off the clock, he was so out of here. He needed to blow off some steam.
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Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2016 4:41 pm
"Maybe I am. But between the two of us, who's better off right now? Obviously some of that s**t must be working for me," Kit chuckled.
"Look, naturally, the only person who can change your perspective is yourself, so if you have no intention of doing so, nothing else in your life is going to change. You can go on being angsty and angry at the world while dwelling on things you can't change and wallowing in your own self-pity instead of trying to do something about it. But think about if that's what you really want and, if it is, how long you want to spend with things the way they are until end up regretting it."
Taking out his sketchpad, he ripped off a small piece of a back page and wrote something down on it. "Here. This is my name and number if you ever decide you want to talk. And before you decide to make a show of just how much you hate my guts and how full of s**t you think I am by ripping it up in my face before reading it or setting it on fire, just think about what I said. I was serious when I said I've been where you are now. Got the scars to prove it." He slapped the piece of paper down on the table.
"Not that I want to talk any more about your mother than I have to since it seems to be a touchy subject with you, but...I doubt it would make any difference to her if you laid the things down on her actual, physical grave or just put them in a vase and cared for them with her in mind."
He nodded briefly to Matt and offered one more small smile - a more sincere one than those he'd shown thus far. "I'm leaving for real now, so stay calm. It was a pleasure to meet you even if the feeling wasn't mutual."
The paper he left on the counter read 'Kit the a*****e' followed by the digits of his cell.
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