Poppy (SH CalTex)

Poppy

(All Texas's POV)

I can't stand having eyes, especially when all they can do is fall back onto him...

California may not be the closest to me, out of everyone in my friend group, but somehow he stands out as more brilliant to me than the fireworks lighting up the sky. His glittering dress shirt was sparkling in Florida's backyard pool lights, as we all hopped into the hot-tub fully clothed, out of drunken euphoria. July 4th always manages to make my vision blur...

But he still stands out, always in perfect focus...

It feels like an otherworldly force keeps him in the corner of my vision... perhaps my morbid curiosity... the glare of his glittering makeup, slowly dripping down his face as he reclined in the hot tub... his drenched shirt now clung onto his subtly toned chest, and he laughed with Arizona and New York as they joked about who knows what...

I feel a familiar tightness in my lungs. I've been feeling it for weeks now... like a noose wrapped tightly around my airways gets tighter every time I allow my mind to wander... every time he makes my mind betray my conventional sexual desires...

"Tex, you feelin' alright?" I hear Tennessee ask. I try to clear my throat, but it turns into a fierce coughing fit. Tennessee pulls me out of the pool and gives me a towel.

"Aw bud, you feelin' ok? You sound terrible," Tennessee says, patting my back as I wrap myself in the towel like a blanket.

"I just got a cough... it feels like there's something in my throat... I'll be fine," I say hoarsely. Tennessee gives me an apologetic frown.

"I can drive ya home, since I haven't had anything to drink yet... we don't want ya getting anyone else sick anyway," Tennessee said.

"Huh? Oh, is Texas leaving?" I hear a light, airy voice say... a voice that makes my heart flutter every time it speaks my name...

"Yeah, he's not feelin' good," Tennessee said. I look up at California, who has a sad, sympathetic expression on his face. He looks at me, and I feel the tightness in my lungs grow as our eyes meet.

"That's a shame... I hope you feel better soon! I'm sad to see you go early," he says. My thoughts race, and in a panicked frenzy I perform mental gymnastics trying to break down his statement. He's sad to see me go. That's just music to my damn ears, and it pains me to know this statement was just superficial. Tennessee drives me home, my shortness of breath continuing as my lungs compress within my chest

That night, as I indulge in my warm shower, I feel something suddenly block my throat. I cough and choke desperately, trying to purge myself of this obstruction... my face goes red as I desperately hack and wheeze, until suddenly I feel a silky-smooth texture against the top of my mouth... I aggressively spit it all out.... five golden flower petals fall to my shower floor.... Poppy petals...

"Oh no....,"