the girl in red

v. kashmir

Friday, December 12th, 1975

Lafayette, Indiana

Dimitra cupped her jaw with her hand and rested her elbow on the car door, ignoring the way the icy window froze her skin with starking harshness.  Kids walked by the car in little groups, some holding skateboards under their arms despite the frost that seemed to line everything it could.  The wind had calmed slightly, still rustling the leaves but no longer pounding against ears.  In her other hand, a newly-lit cigarette balanced between her pointer and middle finger just above the joints.  The car rumbled to life with a soft jolt beneath her and she tilted her head away from the window, instead looking towards the windshield.  Maxim messed with the radio and Dima tapped his fingers against the wheel, waiting for a crowd to pass in front of the car.

"How was school?" Maxim asked over his shoulder, only turning his head halfway.

Dimitra shrugged and placed her cigarette on her lip, talking around it.  "I don't remember much, but I also don't remember crying, so therefore it was fine."

Maxim raised his eyebrows and hummed, the tilt of his lips barely visible.  "Better than nothing."

The radio crackled from the announcers to a Led Zeppelin song and Dimitra leaned her head back, her lips mouthing the words that spilled from the speakers.  Her fingers tapped against her cheek and her nails scraped gently against her skin, ragged from her anxiety.  Her lips pursed as she stared out the window, watching the kids that walked or skated by, all with long feathered hair or slicked back, neck-length hair.  There were a few stragglers, those who didn't have the luxury that some students did, but most were dressed in some similar fashion.

Her eye caught onto Ecelynn in a split second, though.  Basked in unusually bright colors and patterns pulled straight from the magazines made in California that had somehow made it to Indiana.  They finally made it out of the parking lot and turned left onto the street, joining dozens of other cars backed up by groups of kids crossing the streets.  Snow still littered the sidewalks, though most of it was discolored mush by now.  Dimitra reached down with her hand and rolled her window down slightly, letting the built-up cigarette smoke spill out into the icy air.  The car heater hummed just barely, only keeping the metal parts of the car warm.  None of them were bothered by the goosebumps that raised on their arms or the wind that rustled their hair.

"I have a question," Dima said over his shoulder as they stopped at another stop light.

Dimitra hummed, lifting her cigarette from her lips.

"Do girls really like flowers?  Or is that, like, a myth?"

"You're asking the wrong girl.  You'd have a better chance with Judith, even.  But, yeah.  I think it's a universal thing," Dimitra replied with a shrug.

Dima furrowed his brows and raked his hand through his hair.  "What type of flowers are best?"

Maxim chuckled from the passenger's seat and shook his head.  "Are you already trying to get a girl?"

"...maybe."

Dimitra rolled her eyes but answered nonetheless, "It depends.  I think roses or chrysanthemums are the safest options, though.  Can't go wrong with those."

"Chrys-what?"

"Chrysanthemums," she said, frowning when she caught Dima's dumbfounded expression in the mirror.  "You'd know them if you saw them."

He shrugged and lifted his hands back to the steering wheel when the light finally turned to green.  The roads had begun to get slick, though Dima had yet to put the chains in the trunk in case they needed them.  The usually short drive was long, all because of the 'goddamn pussies who can't fucking drive when there's a spot of ice', in Dima's words.  Dimitra only chuckled at his curses and annoyance while Maxim just turned up the radio and bobbed his head.