𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐃𝐅𝐋𝐎𝐖𝐄𝐑 . neil perry

𝑽𝑰𝑰𝑰.

CHAPTER EIGHT — my lover, with flowers
——— ⋆୨୧ ₊ﾟ♡ ⊹ɞ ———

I WAS STANDING IN THE LIVING ROOM with john while i was waiting for neil to pick me up.

"you look great," he told me. i thanked him nervously and we went back to looking out the large window. it was almost eight o'clock and i knew he would be here soon.

i had decided on wearing a floral skirt that went down to my ankles. i wore black tights and my black mary janes. along with a big white sweater. i also grabbed a purse since i felt odd without one, and i needed somewhere to put my cigarettes. just in case i finally had a chance to smoke.

i couldn't help the redness that kept crawling up my face. i was just too excited. a minute later, i saw him walk down our sidewalk and up our porch steps. me and john both moved away from the window quickly so he wouldn't see us watching, looked at each other, and started laughing. the doorbell rang and john whispered, "act like your still getting ready, go upstairs, quick!"

i laughed as i hauled my shaky legs up the stairs. i looked in the mirror one last time and tried to contain my laughter. i heard them talking downstairs. "she's still getting ready," i heard john say. a second later john shouted for me, "faye!"

i took a deep breath, mainly to quit smiling so massively, and walked down the stairs quickly. there he was. he had a bouquet of flowers in his hand and was looking at me. i felt nervous, but tried not to fall down the stairs. he looked tried from the week, but happy to see me.

"hi," he said, with a big smile.

"hi," i replied, biting my cheek to quit laughing.

"these are for you," he said, handing me the flowers. i took them and stood there awkwardly for a second. i looked at john, and then at neil. i looked down at them so i wouldn't laugh.

"thank you," i said. john took the flowers from me and went to go put them in a vase.

"you kids go, i'll put these somewhere,"

neil stuck his elbow out for me to take and i gladly did. john smiled at us and we smiled back. we walked down the driveway and to the sidewalk in silence. and then we started talking.

"you look really nice tonight," he said.

"thanks, you do too," i said. it was awkward, but i was happy to be here. we were silent for a while, but then we had walked to the restaurant. it was a little italian food place and the lights inside gave it a yellow haze.

he opened the door for me, "thank you," i mumbled. we walked in and he told the server about his reservations. she brought us to a table for two and i sat down. the waiter gave us our silverware and menus and i scanned it quickly. i didn't know what i wanted since i hadn't been to a similar restaurant in years.

"any ideas?" neil said, mirroring my thoughts. i shook my head with a grin.

——— ⋆୨୧ ₊ﾟ

OUR FOOD HAD ARRIVED AND we had tried starting a conversation instead of sitting in silence. he brought up something interesting and we started to run with it.

"so my friends and i have this, uh group," neil started when we were getting quiet. "and we read poems and stuff."

i looked at him, trying not to let my face alter too much, so he wouldn't know i was confused. regardless, i continued listening, "actually, we got it from your uncle's annual. we asked him about something written by his name and he told us all about it,"

"really, how's that going?" i piped up when he said something about my unclr. i was also trying to avoid the silence.

"oh, just fine," he started, "my friends and i sneak out after we're supposed to be asleep and go to this cave. then we read from this book. or, sometimes we just read whatever," his eyes were excited speaking about the matter and i felt glad that he found something he enjoyed.

"is sneaking out scary?" i continued, "especially in a school like welton."

"the first time it was, but at this point it's more exciting than anything else."

i smiled at him and began to just stare at him as we ate. i was trying to not make it obvious. but i knew i failed miserably when he looked up and stared back at me.

——— ⋆୨୧ ₊ﾟ

WE'D FINISHED DINNER AND we were walking around since we had time to spare until both of our curfews. i had lit a cigarette and we were passing it back and forth.

"you know, i know it sounds weird, but uh- i've thinking about you since the first time i saw you." he spoke.

i blew out the smoke and started to respond to him, "really?" i said looking up at him, "i have too."

i took another draw of my cigarette and listened to his voice.

"you're kidding," he said stopping in the middle of the sidewalk.

"no, not at all," i replied, "i couldn't help but think about you. especially after seeing you that second time,"

"neither could i! i felt like it was uh-" he paused, looking for the right word, "fate," he said looking at me.

we stared at each other and he stepped towards me. he touched the arm of my sweater and he kept his hand there. we both looked at each other quickly before leaning closer to each other. after a long time, we both closed our eyes. and on the dark sidewalk, only being illuminated by a nearby streetlamp, i was kissing neil perry.

he put my face in his hands and i held on to his arm with my free hand. i had only kissed one other boy in grade school, but this definitely ruled anything out.

my cigarette was still in between my fingers, and i got scared the only thing he could focus on was the taste of cigarette smoke. i let it fall out of my grasp to the cracked sidewalk below us.

it wasn't a bad kiss, but i knew he still he could feel the slight hesitation i felt and stepped back. he kept his hands where they were and slowly put them down.

my eyes were wide. as big saucers even. he pulled his hands fully away and looked a little sad. he put a hand to his head and smiled at me. "i'm sorry, i don't...usually do that."

"usually?" i smiled big at him.

"never." he responded with a smile, coming closer to me. we smiled at each other and neither of us were nervous anymore. he carefully grabbed my hand and we walked back home. i was glad i had stamped out my cigarette before, since i knew i would probably be too dazed to and john would see. we walked slowly until we got to the sidewalk in front of the house and neil pulled me closer to him.

"join the dead poets," he said, talking about his group from earlier. i nodded and told him "sure". i didn't care how or when i could get there, but i didn't want to be away from neil now.

he smiled and thought for a second. "i'll call you tomorrow about it, okay?" i could find a way to do anything to get more time with him. he held my hand as he walked me up to my porch. we smiled at each other and he kissed my cheek for show.

"see you soon, tonight was great," he said.

"goodnight neil," i said, as he started to walk back to welton. i walked up the porch steps with a huge grin. i walked slowly, replaying every moment in my head. i opened the door, and looked down at my watch. i wasn't late, but john was looking out the window.

"how'd it go?" he asked me.

"great," i replied happily.

he smiled at me and i made my way up the stairs. i took a quick shower and, again, could barely fall asleep.

———
✉️: ꒰ 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬 ꒱ؘ ࿐ ࿔*:･ﾟ
this is cringey. :-o