Page 4 of Reckless Roses
“My mom definitely wouldn’t like you climbing our tree, but…I could? If you wanted. I’ll pick the flowers for you.”
A smile explodes on her cheeks, but she hides it just as quickly. “You don’t have to do that.”
“I don’t mind!” I find myself shouting, and her head rears back, as if surprised by my eagerness.Rein it in, Augustus. I’m bad at talking to girls in general, even the ones who don’t make my stomach hurt with how pretty they are, and Elena is by far the prettiest. “I mean…” I clear my throat. “It’s no big deal. Do you live far?”
She hides a knowing smile, and I feel stupid. “No. Just one street over. Oceanside Avenue.”
“Are you in middle school?” I ask. “I feel like I would’ve noticed you if we went to school together, so you must be older.” She smiles at me again, and I notice the purple and black chains across her teeth. “I like the color of your braces. Is purple your favorite color?”
Jesus, why am I asking her so many questions?
Somebody tape my mouth shut.
She snorts. “Yes, I’m in middle school. I’m in seventh grade.” Elena smiles to herself, plucking at the petals of the small flower in her hand. “And yeah, purple is my favorite color. Wild violets are my favorite flowers. I love that they’re all purple and then have a little burst of yellow in the middle.” She shrugs. “My dad calls them weeds, but I think they’re pretty. I like to let them dry out and make bookmarks out of them. But I add other flowers too, and since these trees don’t bloom all year round, I try to pick some before they die,” she says, waving to the drooping bundles of purple flowers above our heads.
“I like purple too,” I respond. “And I like to read.”
Her head snaps up, and the most genuine smile I think I’ve ever seen flashes across her face. “Really? What’s your favorite book?”
“Right now? Probably Percy Jackson and the Olympians.”
Elena shoots up on her knees, crossing the space between us and setting a hand on my knee. Every atom in my body seems to head straight for her touch, and I’m buzzing. “IlovePercy Jackson!” She’s the one squealing with excitement now, and I can’t help the smile it brings to my face. “I annotated the whole series!”
“What’s annotating?” I ask, trying to think of anything other than the way her hand feels on my leg.
“Oh, it’s like…highlighting your favorite passages and making little notes in the margins, putting tabs on those pages so you can go back and find them later.” She smiles at me. “Sometimes, I draw little doodles too, but I’m not very good at drawing. I don’t like doing things I’m no good at.”
That makes me laugh for some reason. “I like to draw.”
Her head tilts sideways, and I decide her smile is my favorite one I’ve ever seen. “Are you good at it? Drawing?”
I shrug. “My mom says I am.”
She’s laughing at me now. Her head drops, and for the first time, I think she realizes she’s touching me. She quickly removes her hand and falls back onto the grass. “I like you, Augustus.”
Is this what having a heart attack feels like?
My heart is beating so hard, I wonder if it’s leaving an imprint beneath my shirt. I can’t breathe because my stomach is blocking my airway, but somehow, I say the words, “I like you too, Elena.”
She smiles to herself, stuffing the flower petals into her shirt as she stands. “Do you want to hang out this weekend? I can bring you my copy ofThe Lightning Thiefso you can see my annotations?”
I try to keep myself calm, but the truth is, I want to scream and run in circles like an excited puppy. “Sure.” I force myselfto stay on the ground, to stop my smile from growing too wide. “That sounds fun.”
“Have you been to Sweet Rue’s on the Boardwalk? We could meet there and get ice cream?”
“Okay.” I’m lactose intolerant, but I’m not about to tell her that. I’ll eat all the ice cream and suffer everything that comes afterward if I get to see her again.
I get up and swipe the dirt from my knees. “I’m normally not allowed to go down to the Boardwalk without my older brother, Zach, but he won’t care. He’ll just leave me at the ice cream shop and go surfing or something.”
Elena’s entire body goes still. Where she was vibrating with excitement before, she’s frozen now. “Zach?” she asks, tilting her head. “Wait, what’s your last name?”
“Hayes,” I say. “My brother is in eighth grade, so you go to school with him. I’m only in sixth grade.”
Her jaw drops, pretty brown eyes going wide with shock. “Your brother isZach Hayes?”
“Yeah?”
“Oh shit.” Elena steps back, planting herself on the sidewalk in front of the house. “Zach Hayes liveshere? I was climbing Zach Hayes’stree?”
