Flowers of Spring

Spring Love

I kept my conversation a secret from my friends, except for the fact that I had plans for ice cream with Anna. That was enough for the jokes to commence. Mia held no punches this time around, the similarities of her jokes to my thoughts made her comments much more real to me. Some of them kept dwelling around my mind, making me more nervous about the time we'd have to spend alone during our outing. Others seriously had me preoccupied with Mia's mental state.

Our test results were given to us by the middle of the week. As expected Mia had done pretty well, Gabriela was just above the median, and Nat managed to survive once again. I still have no idea how she does it, nothing she's ever done or said has implied that she cheats. She's not the type of person to take the easy route anyway, she's just not interested in classical schooling—a concept she has firm opinions about.

Her family's full of performers. Even Nat's older sister pursued theater in university. It seemed that Nat was bound to do something akin to that. Her interest in arts, especially movies, was one of the many wonders she had.

I mustered up the courage to ask Anna how she had done with her tests. To which I received a stale answer.

"I fared pretty well," she said and showed me her grade. She had done well indeed, and it made me happy to see that.

We didn't talk much after that time when we were alone. She once approached me to ask if Saturday was a good day for our outing but other than that, we'd indulge in the normal small talk we usually had.

It seemed hard for Anna to change her behavior during school hours. I don't know if it was to keep appearances or simply because she felt more comfortable doing so. I didn't want to push her too much, therefore I simply made myself more approachable whenever she decided to talk. I did notice the glances she'd give me more often.

After school, I once managed to meet her at the library when the girls, once again, left me hanging when it came to walking back home. She was sitting alone. Her body was evanescent. As if the natural light coming from the window was simply projecting her body. Her expression was composed and her eyes squinted slightly as she read. Once she saw me, she swiftly closed her book and sat straight. She wiped her skirt down.

She ironed it with her own hands.

Her prim and proper self. The same way I tried to be.

Lately, she had been wearing pantyhose and leggings more often than not. The chilly weather had loomed and disappeared, therefore I asked her why she did, out of simple curiosity.

"You stare at my legs when I do," was her answer.

An answer all too upfront for my liking. Once said, I could feel my brain forgetting words I had learned since I was a child. My cheeks would burn more than they did whenever I got a fever. The burning sensation would then move to my ears. This seemed to be amusing to her. She'd snicker whenever she saw this affliction of mine.

It made the embarrassment ... not as bad.

Nat came by my house quite often this week. She helped me pick out clothes and showed me simple make-up techniques I could do on my own. "These will let your natural beauty glow," is how she put it. I was grateful for everything she was doing for me. But I did confront her about her little scheme.

Mia and Gabriela were in on it, too. They had left me so I didn't have any reason to leave quickly. Nat told me that she found out who the people in charge of cleaning duty were that day and made sure they had good excuses to leave Anna alone. When Nat went to the classroom she explained to Anna that she had plans and couldn't give me my book back. She asked if it was fine if she left the book on my desk and Anna simply agreed.