This idea has plagued me for forever. I'd been so hesitant to write it because I'm afraid I'll loose inspirtaion. But, I'll put it up here anyways. I've worked hard on this story and had 3 beta readers from DeviantArt test it every 500 words or so.
I have an idea on where this story is going, it's just very "rough." Feel free to leave suggestions, just nothing too harsh... I'm very sensitive. ;w;
Every chapter I will answer reviews, nothing will be left unanswered!
The feeling of a broken heart, it's truly unbearable. What was I even thinking, me with him? I never had a chance. So what did I do? I ran.
He was such a kind gentleman to everyone including me. That means I was just like everyone else to him. But how he gently kissed the girl on the lips made the emotions of jealousy and pain spark. The girl was a beautiful brunette with hair that came a little past her hips and a lovely pair of cyan eyes. I'd die to be her, to be with him.
I didn't stop. Not even when familiar voices called after me or falling onto the ground. No one could ever believe someone at my age would do something like this all because of one heartbreaking truth, but I did.
Alone in the dark woods, my clothes were torn and parts of the fabric were stained with the color of crimson. I walked towards a little stream in the middle of it all where I used the water to wash off all the blood from my scrapped knees. When the water came in contact with the scrape, it burned like a raging fire.
I drank my coffee in silence, the cup's distance not far from my lips. The steam gave off warmth to the tip of my nose. Hopefully the coffee could get me through the rest of the day; I'm still not use to waking up so early.
"Would you like anything else, Lillian dear?" Howard clapped his hands together and smiled. From the looks of it, he painted his nails just recently. For someone I used to think was the monster from under my bed so long ago, he was truly a sweet man once you got to know him. I shook my head.
"No thank you, the coffee will do me just fine." Just as I finished my sentence, the florist—Cam Farron—came out of his room and took a seat next to me up at the counter. It was his day off today. He was wearing his usual clothing: violet checkered hat, lilac button up shirt with a violet vest and a dandelion yellow tie, grey denim jeans, and brown European shoes. I liked his taste in clothes.
"Morning sleepy head," Howard chimed cheerfully before starting Cam's breakfast. I set my cup onto the counter and turned to the boy beside of me. His elbow was propped on the surface and held his head up. I took notice of his face; there were dark circles under his eyes. Those same tired eyes than took a moment to stare into my eyes. He then did his best to show a charming smile.
"Happy birthday Lillian," I was grinning wide as I turned my attention to the floor before seconds later returning to his gaze. Howard tried his best to not scream like a crazed fan girl.
"Thanks Cam,"
That's right, today is my birthday and I finally turned the legal age, the age everyone couldn't wait to be, 21. Cam turned 21 just 6 days before me so do the math. Speaking of flower boy he's actually the first one to say those words to me today—sad I know but hopefully I'd hear them more before the end of today. If anything I bet Howard would have been said something, but I guess he wanted Cam to have the honors of being first.
The sound of stomping coming from the stairs knocked me out of my thoughts. It was my best friend Laney Breedlove. She walked over to where I sat and pouted, the only thing keeping us separated was the expensive granite counters—I don't know how Howard could even afford it.
"I can never help but wonder how Cam always manages to beat me to you on such a special occasion." She then sighed and replaced her pout with a smile. "Well if I'm forever doomed to be second place, so be it. Happy birthday, Lillian Raglan," She always loved to be formal, that's why most of the time she says my full name.
"Good, Lillian likes me better anyways." Cam joked. His tone was different now, most likely because he was finally starting to wake up. He looked more alive and less like zombie. Laney playfully punched his arm and scoffed.
"And since when do you know all about Lillian? Are you her secret admirer or something?" I chuckled at the two while at the same time Cam flushed. When I first found out that Laney and Cam weren't siblings, I was dead shocked. Which lead me to believe that they were dating, however when I saw how they acted it made more sense that they were just best friends but grew up like siblings.
While they continue their little argument I guess I should take this time to introduce myself a bit more. I'm Lillian Raglan and I moved into the little town of Bluebell just 6 years ago, if you do the math correctly you can tell that I was 15 at the time. Being the age that I am now you most likely would think that I'd be out partying and drinking irresponsibly but that's incorrect. I'm not that kind of person at all; in fact it insults me if you think that I am! Instead of doing such things, I'm actually taking time being a farmer. Technically you could say it's my job. It's tough and often leaves my hands with blisters and rough skin, but I do enjoy it nonetheless.
Some of you may wonder of my appearance, hmm? Well I have light brown hair that comes just a bit past my shoulders and violet eyes. My clothing was given to me by the Mayor himself—Rutger Wood—as a welcome present: a yellow bonnet with a matching plaid dress along with a red vest and tights. The final piece of my outfit was my caramel colored boots; they were heavy yet tough against any terrain, even cow poop.
Okay enough about me for now.
"Lillian, care to go on a walk with me?" I took notice of our surroundings, no one was in the café but Cam and I. Laney was obviously going to hang out with Georgia Parish and Howard probably headed to the Town Hall.
"But today is Thursday, aren't your customers going to be upset when they find their florist missing?" I smirked when he rolled his eyes and scoffed. Moments where I could tease on him were the moments that made me realize why Laney has so much fun with Cam living under the same roof.
"Don't get me wrong Lillian, ever since that day you helped out at my shop more customers have been buying flowers from me more than once. However I still don't have enough customers that would care if I wasn't there for a day." I closed my eyes and smiled.
"I have nothing better to do."
Cam had then led me to the river just outside of Bluebell. I remember finding him here a lot when I came to scavenge what I could of the many things that inhabited the mountain. We both sat down on the patch of grass in front of the river and stayed silent before Cam decided to speak.
"You know I didn't just invite you up here to chat." I turned to him just as he crawled over to a bush behind us. Curiosity was the big feeling I felt as he pulled out a red package in the shape of a cube and a white bow on top. "Here,"
I delicately took hold of the package and once I did I quickly noticed the box was slightly heavy. The box also had hold holes punctured at the top as if something-!
"Meow," A small kitten jumped out of the box and onto me, looking up at me when deep green cat eyes. I broke out into a cheesy smile. Gently I stroked the tiny creature's back; its soft pure white fur tickled my hand. In a positive response the kitten purred.
"It already seems to be attached to you." Cam said. I glanced up at him.
"As am I," The cat then pounced out of my arms and ran off.
"Hey, come back!" I called after. It seemed to be chasing after a wild mouse. Out of instinct I rose to my feet but halfway up Cam stopped me.
"You stay here, I'll go catch him." My reply was unheard because before I could even say one word he was gone. Heaving a sigh I sat back down in my spot, staring into the stream watching the fish swim past. I never minded being alone however this was the one time I did, Cam was my best friend and I've always spent my birthday with him. You could say we stuck together like glue. It's always been like that and I've grown used to it, so of course I'd feel this way.
For a moment I stopped thinking and instead letting nature claim my eyes and mind. Leaves were dancing in the wind and birds were chirping for an encore. Squirrels were hanging around the stumps of trees gathering acorns and walnuts to feed themselves and their families. The buzzing of bees would be heard every now and then when they went from flower to flower.
I couldn't help but feel lonely. Cam must be out of shape if he couldn't catch a small kitten. How long have I even been waiting? Ten minutes? Fifteen minutes?
"Um… Hello?" Out of shock I jumped to my feet.
"Cam you're—" I stopped mid-sentence when I got a view of a male, a male who wasn't Cam in any way.
"Cam? I'm sorry miss but I'm not Cam." This man had the same eye color as Cam, but not the exact same haircut and color. He took a step closer to me and grinned, holding out his hand for me to shake. "The name's Dirk, Dirk Bentley!" Dirk was kind of… cute. I hesitated before I shook his hand.
This boy was around my age but had the energy of 5 year old. Normally I'd be the one who'd avoid those who possess such energy because they annoy me, however when I looked into his eyes there was something that told me he wasn't like those that I tried to stay away from but instead one that can keep their energy at bay without annoying others while at the same time using that energy on smiles that made everyone else want to smile along with him. He could keep those around him glued to him instead of pushing them away; the natural ability of extrovert.
Just by his eyes I could tell all that. I've already found out that Dirk was an extrovert, the opposite of Cam—an introvert. He was like the sunshine for the flower. The flower always wanting to embrace the sun's light.
Dirk had opened his mouth as if he had more to say, but instead he held back. It was as if he had doubted something. "I better continue my route." He walked past me without a word, the sudden change of personality making me curious.
Maybe it was something I said? However I highly doubt anything I said could've offended him—in fact I barely said anything! I guess I should apologize for whatever I did the next time we meet.
.
.
.
"Lillian!"
A voice had brought me back from my thoughts of the little encounter with the mail courier, whom I haven't seen since my birthday. First thing I see is the palm of Laney's hand being waved at my face as she sat at the other side of the blue wooden table. The aroma of lavender-scented hand lotion was strong. Suddenly everything came back to me, it was Monday; the day Cam goes to the city to re-stock on a variety of flower seeds. It's also the day where I hang out with Laney outside of the cafe, when she's on her break that is.
"Oh sorry, I sort of dazed off." I pushed her hand away. She gave me a somewhat teasing look. Laney took a brief moment to take a sip of her Oolong tea while I turned my head towards the direction of Cam's flower stand that stood only a few feet away. Some part of me wished Cam would magically appear with flowers to sell.
"So how's that cat of yours doing?" Laney suddenly asked, my attention shifting back to her. She had her left arm held up on the table with her head resting in the palm, her leaf green eyes sparkling with interest.
"He's doing well. He's made work a lot easier with the chickens." I smiled at the thought of my cat running out of the chicken coop with a chicken in his mouth. Of course he made sure his teeth did not injure any of them.
"What did you decide to name him?"
"I named him Ziggy." Laney then let out a light giggle.
"It's such a funny and cute name. I like it." Mayor Rutger then walked up to us, a man I've never seen before was following behind him. The man was just as tall as Cam, maybe a few inches higher. His hair was pure white and his haircut was short. He wore glasses that had black rims. The clothing he wore was somewhat similar to the people who lived in Bluebell: a tan trench coat, an orange long-sleeved shirt, black denim jeans, and brown European shoes just like the ones Cam wears. In his right hand he seemed to be carrying a violin case, most likely with the instrument inside. Laney flashed the two a friendly smile.
"Hello Mayor Rutger," She gestured towards the mayor than looked over to the man beside of him. "And who might this be with you?" At least I wasn't alone being clueless.
"It's nice to see you too, girls." Rutger returned Laney's smile. "This young man is Mikhail, a traveling violinist. He has been so generous enough to come to our village to play for us at the Music Festival!" In the past Music Festivals, we'd always dance to the music of a piano but never a violin; it'd be a nice change for once. Mikhail stayed quiet, as did I.
"I wish I had more time to introduce you three, but I'm afraid I don't have time for chit chat. We must start preparations!" Rutger tipped his hat down a bit as if to silently say: "Good day." He rushed off with Mikhail into the town hall.
"That Mikhail is a strange one, isn't he?" Laney was onto something when she called him "strange." There was no doubt in mind that there was something different about him that made him appeal to me as strange. It made me eager for the Music Festival.