I Won't Let You Wilt

I almost threw it all away

"Sunny, I found a really cute jacket for you!"

Christmas shopping felt fun when Sunny had Basil to pick clothes for him. He hated shopping with his mom and dad; with Mari was okay, but she sometimes doted on him too much and chose outfits that fit her tastes rather than his own. Not that he had much of an opinion—he'd never cared too much about what kind of clothes he wore when he was a kid.

"Do you like it?" Basil asked.

"Is there a better color? Brown is okay, but I'm in the mood to try something brighter."

The suggestion that he was due for a change in dress made Basil's eyes sparkle with delight.

They were in a mall that all the college students hung out at now that exams were almost over. Basil still had a couple more exams left, but being a diligent student meant he wasn't in a panic trying to do last minute studying for his remaining courses.

Unlike Sunny, who really ought to study harder for his own courses than spend time being fussy over his outfit. On the other hand, since he now had a job that paid pretty well and an employer who valued his contributions, why not allow himself the luxury to enjoy shopping for a day or two?

Just to amuse himself, Sunny decided to rank his friends in order of their diligence at studying in school.

Mari was number one, no doubt about that. Hero would be number two, though he'd needed a bit of prodding from his parents to get back into becoming a hardworking student after all the bad stuff that had happened.

Basil was number three; Sunny remembered their grades back in elementary school being roughly the same. He heard that Basil maintained fairly average grades in high school and was also hitting mostly B's in his college courses.

The bottom three were himself, Aubrey, and Kel. Recent events had made it clear that he and Kel were in a competition to occupy the lowest rank.

From what he'd heard, Aubrey was at least on track to graduate high school even if her marks weren't the best. But Kel was struggling to pass, and his own marks were all over the place—on average, terrible.

I'm doing great in English and web design, but if I forget how to calculate the enthalpy of a reaction one more time in chemistry...

The blood drained from his face thinking about how much he'd let Basil down if he failed his last semester of high school.

"How about this jacket, Sunny?"

Snapping out of his daydreams, Sunny glanced at the yellow jacket Basil held in his hands. It was a duffle jacket with wooden fasts, a luxurious coat that he could imagine Mari wearing in the winter.

He actually kind of liked it.

"Mind if I try it on?" he asked.

"Go ahead!"

Sunny put on the jacket, fastened up the front, and looked at his reflection in a nearby mirror.

Wow...I look pretty good in this!

"What do you think?" he asked Basil.

"Hey, it looks cute on you!" Basil replied, all smiles.

"You really think so?"

"Yeah, totally! Though if you'd rather try out something you're more used to, it's okay..."

"No, I like it," Sunny said. "I think it makes me look elegant. Is that the right word? Mmmm...maybe...old-fashioned?"

"Not at all old-fashioned," Basil said. "It's a luxurious jacket people with more money would wear."

How much does it cost?