Page 30 of Believe in Caloosa Springs

“Tian, are you okay? What’s going on with your face?”

I turned to see Tyler staring at me from across the table. I hadn’t even noticed him standing there.

I reached up and touched the side of my face. It was burning like crazy, now.

“And your hands!” Porter exclaimed.

I set my plate down and held my hands in front of my face. They were as red as beets and had little blisters starting to form all over them. Uh-oh.Thatusually wasn’t a nervous sign. Not one I had ever experienced.

“What the fuck?” I muttered.

“Mom!” Tyler beckoned. “Come over here and look at Tian’s face and hands. Something’s wrong.”

Mrs. Baker had just pulled a tray of hot dog buns from the oven. With a concerned expression, she set the tray down on the counter and crossed the space as she wiped her hands across the front of her apron.

“Oh, dear,” she tutted, holding my chin between her fingers as she turned my face to and fro. “It looks like an allergic reaction. Do you have any serious allergies, dear? Actually, it looks quite a bit like poison oak or poison ivy, come to think about it.”

“Oh,no,” Porter groaned, bringing his own hands up to examine them.

“What?” I asked.

“I think I messed up,” he said sheepishly. “The flowers I brought you…”

“Flowers?” Tyler asked blankly, looking between the two of us.

“Yeah…” he began, his face flushing in embarrassment. “I tried to get some from the store, but they didn’t have any. So, when I was on my way to your house, I passed by a big field that was full of flowery plants. I just picked some I thought were nice and brought them to you.”

If my face and hands didn’t feel like they were on fire, this whole thing might have been comical. Now, having the realization my date had unknowingly poisoned me, I was itching like a madman.

“Goodness,” Mrs. Baker murmured. “I don’t know that I’ve ever seen it so bad, you poor thing?”

“What do we do?” I asked her between gritted teeth.

“We need to get you out of those clothes and into a warm tub. We need to soak as much plant oil off your skin as we can. Porter, you too… come on. Then we’ll get some cortisone cream on you and keep an eye on it for the next couple of days. Don’t want any infections.”

Next couple ofdays? Fuck.

Chapter Ten

Porter

ME:I’m so sorry about the flowers! I seriously didn’t know, I was trying to do something nice.

TIAN:It’s not your fault. I’m just cursed.

ME:Maybe we can try again- I’ll bring chocolates next time instead. :)

***

ME:I hope you are not too itchy today, my hands seem to be getting a little better. I got some calamine lotion that is helping a lot. Do you want me to bring you some?

***

ME:Hope you have a good day.

I shook my head in frustration and tossed my phone down onto the bed. I’d blown it with Tian; that was for sure. Jiminy Christmas, I was a complete fool. I didn’t even get to kiss him goodnight because of my ingrained heteronormativity. Why would a guy like Tian want me to bring him stupid flowers, anyway?

“You couldn’t have just played it cool and hung out with the guy? You had to come on all heavy-handed with flowers? Flowers that ended up ruining the whole thing?” I stared at my reflection inthe small bathroom mirror as if I was expecting an answer from myself.

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