“Do you guys have to do that in front of me?”
Elsa giggled, and her boyfriend Max smiled at Flora. “You’re just jealous because you can’t get a man.”
Elsa pouted at him. “Max! Don’t be mean.”
Flora looked over to Nanami. “Back me up here, aren’t they a little too lovey-dovey?”
Nanami’s boyfriend Tane was also sitting with them, but the two of them weren’t doing any PDA.
Nanami shrugged. “Let them do what they want, Flora. You’re really too uptight.”
Flora rolled her eyes. They never listened to her when she said she had good reason to be uncomfortable watching teenagers make out. She was proof that it could go horribly wrong. “I’m not jealous or uptight. I just think you guys should be careful.”
Max raised an eyebrow at her. “Maybe we should get you a boyfriend too.” He turned to Elsa. “Who do you think would be a good match with her? Alex?”
Elsa lit up. “Alex would be perfect! I’ll text him.”
Flora slammed her hands on the table. “I don’t need you to find me a boyfriend!”
Nanami looked at her. “Don’t tell me you’re still hung up on Wren Grove. You guys are not at all compatible.”
Tane, who was usually quiet, chimed in. “Wren’s a decent dude, but he already has somebody he likes.”
Elsa looked at him. “Who?” She didn’t like Wren, but she was always interested in new gossip.
“I don’t know, some girl he hangs out with outside of school. He only mentioned it briefly.”
Tane went back to his food, and the conversation continued on a different topic. No one noticed Flora’s silly smile down at the table.
-------
“Do you want to go outside? I’m bored.”
Skye frowned down at her homework. “Not until I finish this.”
Amos flopped down on the couch. “Since when do you care so much about school?”
“I’m smart!”
“Yeah, but I’m not losing sleep over it. I wouldn’t think you would be, either.”
Skye looked down. “Anna scored first in the class on the last exam, and this next one is our last test before high school.”
“Anna again? I don’t get why you care so much about her. She’s so boring.”
Skye was silent. She didn’t want to admit that her father liked Anna better than he liked her, and the more she paid attention to Anna, the more it felt like Anna was genuinely better than her. She was better at school, at the very least, and it didn’t mean much that Skye could beat her at sports. So she’d become determined to beat Anna on the academic front. She refused to believe that Anna was smarter than her. All she had to do was try harder, and she would be able to do better than Anna.
Amos shook his head. “Forget it. If you want to do well on the test, go ahead. I’m going outside.”
Skye shook herself out of her trance. “Wait up! I’m done now, I’ll come with you.”
-------
It had become Flora’s routine to meet Wren on the weekends. This weekend was no different, but in another way, it was completely different. This weekend, Flora was going to tell Wren how she felt about him.
“Wren!” She ran up and hugged him. He embraced her back.
When he eventually pulled back, he grinned at her. “Flora! Happy to see me?”
She smiled back at him. “I am. Are you happy to see me?”
“Do you want to go first?”
“No, you go first.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes! Stop stalling and tell me already.”
Flora’s smile spread all over her face. “Good. Because I like you too. And I should tell you, I only date with the intention of marriage, so you’re not getting away from me.”
He had a huge, silly grin on his face. “That’s exactly what I want.”
Shyly, he held out his hand. She took it enthusiastically, and they walked together hand in hand, talking as comfortably as they ever had.
Author's Note: As promised, I took pictures for the last five chapters yesterday - they're all done, except for a few pictures from Chapter 20, which I'll take in the next few days. Next time: Skye is a teen!
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