Secrets In The Garden / l.h ✔️

12

~Ophelia's POV~

I peeked outside through the blinds on my window, looking at Luke's house and then down at my own front yard. Noticing that Luke's car was missing from his driveway, I was pretty sure that he wasn't home. That meant I had the perfect opportunity to garden today and I needed to take advantage of it while I still could. He wouldn't be gone forever, after all.

With those thoughts in mind, I scrambled up to my feet and hurried to change into something I didn't mind getting dirty and likely stained. I put on some socks and began hurrying down the hall, tying my hair up in a bun on my head while I ran out the front door.

It was hot outside today, not that that was any surprise to me, but I didn't mind it as I kneeled down in the grass in front of the flower bed. Since I had been spending significantly less time gardening on the weekends, I was feeling eager to get right into it. I reached over to where I set down my gardening supplies when I sat, picking up the watering pail that I filled up with the hose around the side of the house. I felt bad that I couldn't seem to remember the last time I had watered these plants. Usually I was good about it.

After I had made sure to water my plants, being extra careful not to pour too much and end up drowning them, I began to pluck out the couple of weeds that I'd noticed had begun to grow during the week. All of the flowers still looked vibrant and beautiful, though, so that was good. They got plenty of sunlight during the day, I was sure of that much.

I easily became immersed in my gardening, plucking all the weeds and tossing them before I began to think where I wanted to put the little garden decorations at that I'd bought. The small concrete fountain I'd bought was really cute, with two concrete birds perched on the edges of it. It had a little hole in the very middle that water came up out of, filling the fountain little by little. I'd decided to tuck it right between the purple and blue hydrangeas, where it was more than visible. There was also a rabbit garden figure I had bought, which I hid in the bushes that were neatly trimmed.

When I had placed all of the little decorations that I'd bought in the places I wanted them, I stood up and grabbed the weeds I'd picked from out of the grass, putting them in one of the big blue trash bins out front. I headed back to the garden and sat on my knees again, beginning to put the gardening supplies into the little bucket I had that I kept everything in it that would fit.

All of the sudden, I heard someone yell my name from behind me, sounding very far away. I recognized the voice and froze immediately, wondering if I'd be lucky enough to not be seen if I just pretended not to have heard him.

"Ophelia!" I heard Luke call again, then I heard the slamming of a car door. How had I not heard him driving down the street, or pulling into his driveway? I got too stuck in my own little world! I'm a complete idiot!

Panicking, I whipped my head over my shoulder and could've cried when I saw he was already halfway up my driveway, and he wasn't slowing down. "Go away!" I exclaimed, scrambling to get up off of the ground. However, because I was in such a hurry, I failed miserably. "Aw, that's so mean." He teased, just watching as I tripped over my own foot and went tumbling forward onto my knees in the grass. It was better than falling on the concrete, but it still hurt. And to make matters worse, he started laughing at me when I fell, not even bothering to ask if I was alright.

"Shut up." I frowned, peering up at him as I sat back onto my butt. He chuckled and crossed his arms over his chest, staring down at me. "I thought it was you over here. I didn't know you lived across the street." He mentioned, raising a brow.

"Yeah, because I didn't want you to know." I sighed, looking away from him as I felt his gaze wandering over me. He was probably thinking that I looked dirty, and I wouldn't have blamed him for it because I did look dirty. Well, I really was dirty, being that I had dirt all over my hands and knees. Luckily, I'd managed to not get any dirt on my clothes this time.

"Why not?" He pouted, crouching down in front of me. I looked over at him and gasped softly as his face was a lot closer to mine than I expected it to be, his blue eyes peering closely at me. "B-Because you...y-you'd just annoy me a-all the time." I squeaked, reeling my head back to put some distance between our faces. His pink lips twitched up. "Annoy you?" He hummed, pouting. "Is that what you call it? I quite like our conversations, gorgeous." He teased, his knees settling into the grass.

I felt the fabric of his pants brush my bare knees and felt my cheeks warm as I looked at him, my hands forming fists in my lap. "Why are you here?" I asked quietly, knowing he noticed the color in my bare face as his lips formed a slight smirk. Thankfully, he didn't comment on it. "I got curious. Wasn't expecting to see you here." He confessed, shrugging.

It was quiet for a moment, as I wasn't really sure what to say.

Luke suddenly reached out and brushed his fingertips over my dirt-covered knees, making my cheeks flush. "You're all dirty." He mentioned, brushing off bits of dirt from my skin. I shifted a little, moving out of his reach. "I was gardening." I explained, examining his handsome face. Not surprisingly, he looked as pretty as always.

His blue eyes flickered over to the garden bed beside me, a small smile rising on his lips. "You did all of that yourself?" He asked, glancing back at me again. I grinned and nodded my head, tucking a strand of my hair behind my ear. "Y-Yeah. I like to garden on the weekends." I smiled, not caring that I was talking to Luke if I got to talk about gardening. Right up until I remembered that Saniya lived across the street from me as well, and she'd likely be pissed if she happened to see Luke over in my front yard, talking to me.

"You should probably go home before Saniya possibly sees you." I suggested, standing up off of the ground. He glanced up at me and then stood up as well, towering over me once again. "Or you could just invite me inside, like a good little host." He said back, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

Surprised, I blinked. "W-What?" I stammered, not expecting him to be so bold as to ask to come inside my house. He and I didn't really know each other well, but he knew me enough that it was obvious I was still trying to avoid him like I knew I should. "You heard me." He shrugged, raising a brow. I looked up at him, biting my lip as I actually hesitated to tell him to go away for the first time. "I don't know if that's a good idea..." I said hesitantly, frowning.

A little smile rose on his lips that I found weirdly adorable. "It's not a big deal. We can just hang out, Ophelia. Promise, I won't do anything." He assured, but I gently shook my head, more sure this time.

"I really think you should go home." I whispered. He frowned a little but nodded his head, disappointed but not angry at all. "Okay, then." He murmured, biting his lip. His eyes peered down into mine and he smiled softly. "You look weirdly cute covered in dirt." He said, making my cheeks blush bright pink as he turned around and headed back across the street to his house.

Embarrassed and weirdly flustered, I walked inside and quickly shut the door, locking it behind me. I knew he probably hadn't meant anything by it; he was a player, after all. Even so, I couldn't help but to feel flustered by it because he was oddly charming and I was an idiot, apparently.

Sighing to myself, I headed down the hall and into my bathroom, taking a shower to get clean again. Some part of me felt only embarrassed because I had actually swooned when he complimented me, and I knew I shouldn't have because, like I said, he likely hadn't meant anything by it other than him being the player that he was.

Water pouring onto my head from the shower head, I sighed deeply. He didn't mean anything by it.