Idiots to Lovers (bxb)

6 | Fake Orchids and Exchanging Numbers

A week later, I was pushing open the door to the counseling place again. Everett was already seated at the waiting area outside Dr. Wrinkle's office, lounging casually with his head tipped back over the chair.

Part of me had thought he'd forgotten and wouldn't show up. I was surprisingly somewhat glad to see him. Or probably really glad.

Truth be told, I had caught myself thinking of Everett an alarmingly large number of times the past week.

"Hey!" he greeted enthusiastically.

I couldn't help but smile as I sat down beside him. His hair was sticking up all over his head and he wore a yellow T-shirt.

"Hey, you," I said. "I thought you would've given up on this by now."

"Nah man, when I win today I will make you whisk things. I swear, you will whisk so many things. You shall see how it splatters at even your lame low settings."

I rolled my eyes but the smile never left my face. The rest of our baking endeavours had gone relatively smoothly after the incident with the electric beater. The design I'd created had actually looked pretty good once we had flipped the cake over.

Everett suddenly clapped a hand on my knee, making a jolt of electricity travel up my leg. "Anyway, I couldn't tell you, I actually sold some pieces of the cake at the cafe!"

"They let you sell it? That's amazing, congratulations." I grinned.

"Yeah dude, I wanted to tell you right away but I didn't have your number. Can I have it?"

"Oh uh, yeah." I paused, trying to ignore my erratic heartbeat and the fluttery feeling that appeared when he asked for my number. Even though he had asked in probably the most casual way possible. "Um. Give me your phone."

"Oh right." He handed it over. "Did you walk over here?"

"Yeah, I live close by. Why?"

"I think your allergies are acting up again, maybe you should wear a mask when going outside?"

Well. Fuck.

I took the phone he held out and entered my number, in as dignified a manner as I possibly could with my cheeks aflame.

I glanced around the waiting area as I handed it back to him, willing my inconvenient blush to disappear. There was a potted orchid on the glass table, but I unfortunately couldn't blame it for my flushing as it was obviously fake.

The wall opposite where we sat was made of glass as well; it lightly reflected our silhouettes. My outline looked stiff and uncomfortable. I sat ramrod straight and stared directly ahead of me, my light purple eyes staring out of a pale, angular face with high cheekbones. My hair was dark enough to contrast it, at least. It was mostly straight except for the wavy ends.

Everett on the other hand was cool and relaxed. His silhouette had an ankle crossed over his knee and an arm draped over the back of the seat...dangerously close to my shoulder. Even his reflection was a warm beam of light. Everything about him was golden and sunny.

My phone vibrated in my pocket. I pulled it out.

Unknown number: hey

I stared at it for a long moment till Everett leaned in to glance at it as well, excruciatingly close.

"That's me," he whispered in my ear, almost making me jump.

"Oh right." I laughed awkwardly. "I should save that."

"You should, you might need it." He winked.

Did he just wink?? Or was that just a trick of the light???

Before I could ruminate on it any further, the receptionist looked up from her call and directed us to go into the office.

Holly beamed as she saw us, ushering us into our seats. "How are you guys doing today? Did you do the homework?"

"We had homework?" Everett asked blankly.

Huh, last week she had mentioned something about homework, now that I came to think of it. I must have spaced out.

"That's okay, I'll reassign it for next week," she said kindly. "Anyway, now that we've done our introductions and getting to know each other, today I'd like to dig deeper into your pasts."

I fidgeted in my chair as Holly said something about past relationships. I hadn't realized we'd have to dig into all that.

She questioned Everett first and he mentioned a few that weren't serious. Then she moved onto me.

"What about you, Clementine, have you been in a serious relationship prior to this?"

"Uh...one," I said haltingly.

"Tell me a little bit about it."

"Umm there's nothing much to say really, we dated for three years in high school."

Holly's brows knitted together. "That must have been hard when you broke up. I know it was six years ago, but how did you cope at the time?"

It had only been last week.

"I uh, I don't know. I guess I just tried not to think about it...much."

Holly nodded understandingly. "You were in denial."

This was starting to feel more like real therapy than I wanted it to.

"Maybe I haven't fully accepted it," I said cautiously.

Holly went on a long spiel about moving on from the past then, with plenty of advice and encouragement.

"I'll share a little trick with you," she leaned forward and whispered conspiratorially. "I would suggest writing a letter to them—one that you will never send of course—just detailing all your feelings and anything else that you would like to say. Trust me, it'll help more than you think; once you get your words onto the paper, they won't have power over you anymore."

"Maybe I will do that," I said, turning it over in my mind.

Maybe it was time I faced it.

The rest of the hour went by with Holly giving more suggestions and asking a little more about each of our pasts. Everett surprisingly didn't talk that much.

"Don't forget the homework this week!" she squeaked as we got up. "You have to go out and do something fun together."

"That's fun homework," Everett said as we left the office. "I was worried that she wanted us to write an essay or something. I just left school!"

"Oh, uh yeah," I said distractedly.

We were on the street outside the building. A cool breeze shook leaves off trees and ruffled Everett's curls.

"Hey, we don't have to come back here if you don't want to," he said suddenly as I turned to walk home. "If you don't want to talk about that stuff with me there."

"It's fine." I paused. "I don't mind coming back."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah...after all—" I grinned. "I'm winning the bet next time."