Flowers of Spring

Your Story

It all began the moment I saw her serious self walk into our classroom in our junior year. Her head was sharp between her shoulders, her skirt was exactly an inch over her knees (like school rules dictate), and her school bag was black leather and simple. She boasted confidence without even trying to. Quickly, I thought she had to be the type that spoke fewer words than her mind was thinking.

"I'm Anna Collins. I hope we can all get along well," she said when the teacher asked her to present herself. From the little information she gave, it seemed to be that her parents had moved out here because of her father's work.

It wasn't long before all the students in the classroom whispered and snickered. She was tremendously dazzling and quite elegant for a junior in high school. Her presence turned heads with ease.

I was strangely drawn to her.

My friends talked about boys, about their crushes, and about their explorations with their youthful sexuality. Nat was one whose experiences turned her into the girl she was now in our senior year— someone confident in herself, questionable intellect (questionable because her smarts largely came from street knowledge), and beauty. But when they spoke about these things, I felt outcast. I could never relate to such conversations or ever think of anyone who I could speak to them about. One of my closest friends, Jackson— the guy who recently confessed to me— was the only one I could slightly consider ending up together with. Not because of any physical attraction, but because it was trustworthy and comfortable.

Knowing what I know now, it would've ended up a failure.

It was all because of Anna Collins.

It was during the autumn festival at our school. Anna had already adapted to our classroom and drifted towards her own social group. Which were her and her books. Like I said before, her elegance, sharp eyes, and serious aura were enough to make her unapproachable. In the beginning, the popular guys trod the path towards her heart, but all of them were rightfully dismissed before they could even begin to know her. She was just ... intimidating in all the right ways.

Her way of speaking was just ... lovely, but to guys our age— plain stuck-up. Yet she never tried to be stuck-up. She wasn't at all. Her word choices were just grand and refined. I suspect from the many books she reads. I know I've seen her go through two or three books in a day. But more than that, it was the mystery that encompassed her. She never let out a single detail about her life. At most, the only thing people knew about her was why she transferred to our school. Not who her dad was, where she came from, nor why she was barely passing her classes if she looked and acted so smart. But as everyone else felt the need to distance themselves from all those mysteries, I found myself being pulled towards them.

When the autumn festival began, the whole school was invaded by people who were not exactly part of the student body or faculty— the families of the students and their friends, the young children of the faculty members and their significant others, and even people who had no relation to any member of the school were there. The autumn festival was opened to the public, and because of that, it had become a trendy event around town. This meant that every class had to put their utmost effort into whatever theme they were planning to do. We, the junior class and the most sought-out class of the school had to do our best to represent the school. Sought out because amongst us, even when girls like Nat were part of our class, some kids were expected to be the pride and joy of the school.

We decided to do what you'd call a "Victorian Tea Party" in our classroom. We'd take out the student's desks and replace them with low tea tables— provided by the parents of one of our classmates— and, of course, the classroom would be decorated in Victorian style. Flower backdrops acted as wallpapers, thick velvety curtains covered the windows, and vintage lamps were placed on each table. The teacups and dessert plates were white ceramic with lilac flowers. Again, all this was provided by the parents of one of our classmates. I believe they own a party decor company specializing in weddings. It makes sense that everything looked so authentic.