Thorn • Scott Summers

nine

Florence opened her eyes slowly, the sunlight beaming through her window waking her up. She was always usually the first to wake of the school, accustomed to her old life's strict schedule. Despite her annoyance at waking up so early, it gave her first serve at the communal showers.

She felt a weight on her stomach, and warmth to her right. She almost jolted up when she saw Scott sleeping next to her, his arm lazily holding her waist.
Last night's events and conversations flooded back to her memory, and she couldn't believe she had actually asked him to stay. Emotions had ruled over conscience in a state of fatigue.

Scott sensed her movement, stirring him awake. He moved his head slightly, repositioning it.

"Hey," he said, and in realization, he slowly retracted his arm from her waist. Florence's heart skipped at his voice, having dropped octaves and sounding attractively hoarse.

The first thoughts Florence could muster spilled out. "You sleep with your glasses on?"

Scott paused, not expecting the comment. He was groggy, but awake enough to laugh. "I take these glasses off, you're toast."

Scott's voice was husky from sleep, and it was edged with reminiscence. Florence remembered his words. They had been from the day they met, but Scott's words were now spoken with sarcasm and nostalgia, not arrogance.

Florence smiled and sat up, realizing her shorts had ridden up and now looked more like underwear. Scott noticed, his adolescent hormones overriding his thoughts, and he averted his eyes when she adjusted them down further.

She rubbed her eyes. "Is it Saturday?"

"Yeah," Scott repeated, and he sat up as well, adjusting his glasses. "Jubilee said something about a movie night at the parlor last week."

"Tonight?"

"No, next year." He said sarcastically and she shot him a look.

Florence suddenly felt awkward. She had never been so intimate with anyone before- even if it was just sleeping in the same bed. She didn't know where her affection was coming from, and she felt emotionally exposed. She didn't know whether to trust Scott in that way- or anyone else, for that matter. Despite all that, something inside of her- a spark of optimism- told her not to be so withdrawn.

"I think I'm gonna, um," she started, getting out of the bed, "I'm gonna go take a shower."

"Early bird gets the worm, right?"

She laughed quietly and nodded, grabbing clothes from her dresser and a towel. Reaching the door, she opened it and stepped into the hallway. She turned back around to him, holding the door. He had been watching her movement, so they made eye contact.

"Thanks, Scott."

"For sleeping with you?" He said teasingly.

Florence blushed, looking down and resting her forehead on the door. "Shut up," she muttered, and he laughed at her stirred reaction. She left, leaving the door ajar.

As she walked to the showers, she thought about how much Scott had changed- and only with her. She smiled to herself, earning a look from another kid in the hallway. But she didn't care. For the first time in a while, she felt happy.

After Florence had left, Scott used the solitary moment to take in his surroundings.
Her room was full of plants. That was an understatement. Scott smiled at how Florence it all was. Walls sparsely populated with vines, along with the ceiling. Her floor was filled with pots, big and small, of different types of plant life.
There was an open rectangular box made from branches on one of the walls, functioning as a shelf. On it were piles of books, most of them regular literature, but Scott was able to read plant related titles the spine of some of them.
She had a couple prints taped to the same wall, in spaces where there wasn't a vine; a medium sized Blondie poster, a The Cure one, a movie poster of Eraserhead, and a picture of Michelle Pfeiffer in Scarface.
On her dresser was a soil bin lush with flowers, and he looked to his right, noticing the red roses in a small pot on her nightstand.
He also saw the snow globe from Jean, the book from him and Peter, and the cassette he had given her. He also distinctly noticed another item.