Petunia gazed upon the single flower that laid on top of the stack of textbooks within her locker. Its bold blue coloring popped out from the dull gray background. Wordlessly, she held the flower between her fingers and gently lifted it towards her face to inspect it. She quickly recognized it as the flower she shared a name with, how fitting.
She continued to gawk the flower, utterly confused on its presence within her tidy space. How had it gotten there? Better yet, why was it there? Lost in thought, she failed to notice a certain pink-haired girl approach her from behind.
"Hey! What'cha got there?" a bubbly voice asked.
Petunia jolted in shock at the sudden noise, turning quickly to come face to face with her best friend. Petunia concealed the flower within her hands as she felt a surge of embarrassment wash over her. The sheepish look combined with the badly hidden item gave her the appearance of a petty thief who had been caught stealing.
"Well," Giggles said as she huffily crossed her arms, "are you gonna show me?"
Her no-nonsense pout made it clear that she wasn't going to accept any sort of excuse. Slowly, Petunia unclasped her hands revealing the flower she had tried to hide. Giggles' smiled as she realized what had been in Petunia's hands.
"Ooh. It's so pretty! Where'd you get it from?" Giggles asked.
Petunia averted her gaze, still feeling flustered over the whole situation.
"I found it inside my locker. I have no idea how it got in there," she admitted.
Giggles' already joyful expression lit up even more, leaving Petunia wondering how it was even humanly possible to look so happy.
"Ohmygosh! You know what this means, right?" Giggles squealed, slightly bouncing as she said each word.
Petunia looked back at her, dumbfounded. She hadn't even thought about any possible implications behind the appearance of the flower. Her gaze returned to it as her fingers gently played with its petals.
"What this means?" she questioned, still stroking one of the petals. "It's just a flower, Giggles."
Giggles' laughed at Petunia's ignorance."Out of everyone I know, I thought for sure you'd be the one to understand the meaning of a flower." She stuck out her tongue teasingly.
Petunia frowned at being poked fun at. "There's no need to act so smug about it. Just tell me."
Smiling brightly, Giggles replied "Don't act so grumpy, dear! I'm just messing with you a bit. You know I love you" She affectionately placed her hand on Petunia's shoulder. " And since I love you so much, it's my duty to inform you that you, Miss. Petunia, have an admirer."
Thousands of thoughts raced through Petunia's head at once. An admirer? Could it really be one? No, there's no way. Then again, what other explanation could there be for the flower?
"Petunia? Hello? Are you there?" Giggles questioned while waving her hands in Petunia's face.
Blinking slowly, Petunia finally formulated the exact phrase to express her thoughts.
"What?"
Giggles' grinned at her friend's puzzlement. "Don't look so shocked! It was only a matter of time until someone became interested in you and in such a romantic manner too! Who do you think it is? Handy? Mime? Someone you haven't told me about?"
Petunia's brows furrowed in thought as she mindlessly twisted the flower. Could it have really been one of her former flames? Though flame wouldn't be the exact choice of words she'd use for either relationship. Her brief relationship with Mime had been a spark, a quick jolt of infatuation that appeared as soon as it left. Really, the only reason that it had occurred was a result of her feeling lonely after breaking it off with Handy.
Handy… Being with him reminded her of fireworks. Pretty from afar, but awfully dangerous when you get close. Their personalities didn't fit together as much as she would've liked. She was stubborn, he was stubborn, and they clashed against each other until they burned themselves out. They had ended it on good terms, but it was as awkward as any other break-up.
"I really doubt it was either of those two" Petunia timidly replied.
Giggles rubbed her chin. "So, looks like it's like a super mysterious admirer." She struck a determined pose while holding her fist in the air. "Well, I have just the team to solve this mystery!"
Petunia sighed at the other girl's seemingly endless energy. A smile couldn't help make its way to her lips, however. Giggles did always want to do what's best for her.
The final bell rung and Petunia made her out of the classroom into the hallway, still on edge over the predicament she had gotten herself in due to a silly flower. Said flower still located in her hands. It had remained by her side throughout the entire school day. Why? She wasn't quite sure herself. She stopped once she reached the doors to the library. Taking a deep breathe, she reached for the door handle.
"Hey." A gruff voice spoke out.
Petunia turned around in surprise, getting deja-vu from earlier the same day. Just how many people were going to surprise her today? She looked up at the source of the voice only to be greeted by crimson hair and bored eyes to match.
"Splendont?" Petunia breathily asked.
The hero did nothing but hold his hand out. Within it, a blue flower almost identical to the one Petunia currently held. Petunia ogled the flower as she quickly came to the obvious conclusion. Splendont? Splendont had been her admirer? The two had barely ever even exchanged words. Hell, Petunia wasn't even sure if Splendont knew her name. Had he based his attraction only on looks? The red hero must've been much more shallow than he appeared.
"Are you going to take the flower or not?" Splendont asked, though it sounded more like a demand. Annoyance dripped from his every being, not something a girl would want in a suitor.
Petunia sulked. "You know, being rude isn't a good way to get a girl to like you." She retorted. "I'll still take the gift, but flowers by themselves won't get you very far."
Splendont raised an eyebrow, but said nothing as she took the flower.
Petunia felt disappointed, the flower didn't seem as special as it had before. Still, she would respond calmly.
She looked down as she began "Thank you for the flowers, but I-"
"They aren't from me" Splendont cut her off, disinterest in his voice.
Petunia look up. "What?" she asked, ignoring his impoliteness.
"I told you, they aren't from me. I'm just the messenger." he answered, as deadpan as ever. He placed his hands in his pockets and began to walk away.
"W-wait!" Petunia cried out as she reached towards the boy.
Splendont didn't even turn around. He simply stopped walking, giving Petunia the chance to ask the question that had been plaguing her mind since she found the flower.
"Who gave me the flower?" She whispered. Time passed and Petunia was afraid Splendont hadn't heard her.
"Can't tell ya, he'd get mad. I owed him a favor, though. That's why he's got me out here like a damn delivery boy." he scoffed as he continued to walk.
Petunia watched Splendont until he turned the corner and disappeared out of sight. Had it been anyone else, she would've poked and pried until getting somewhere. Splendont being Splendont, however, meant that she wouldn't ever get an answer from him. Much more frustrated than before, Petunia shoved open the library doors and went inside.
"There you are! I was worried I'd have to go out and drag you here!" Giggles shouted out as she beckoned Petunia to sit next to her.
Mole, the librarian, instantly shushed her. "Miss Giggles, may I remind you this is a library. Please respect the other students."
Giggles pouted."Sorry, sir. I'll keep it down."
Mole only nodded as he returned to his book, flipping the pages with a gentle touch.
Petunia reached the table and sat besides Giggles. Also there were Flaky and Lammy, who were currently staring at Mole.
"Isn't he blind?" Flaky questioned, hands nervously stroking her unkempt red locks. "How is he reading that? It's not even in braille…"
Lammy shrugged. "It is very peculiar, indeed."
Giggles dismissed their confusion. "C'mon guys, now is not the time to question logic. Petunia has an admirer and it is our job to find out who he is!" She turned to face Petunia. "Don't worry! All three of us have been on the case today. We're the best there is! Now let's report our findings. Flaky, have you uncovered anything?"
The other three girls looked expectantly at the short redhead. Flaky tensed up due to the sudden attention and her face reddened. She managed to spit out a few jumbled words.
"U-um… You-you see. I uh.." The hair stroking quickly became pulling as Flaky became overwhelmed.
"Hey, it's alright. Whatever information you found will be useful, even if it's something small" Giggles consoled her.
"That's the thing, Giggles." the redhead stammered. "I didn't find out...anything heh heh."
The other three sighed in disappointment while Flaky looked down in embarrassment.
"Don't worry about it! It's a tricky mystery." Giggles comforted her. "Lammy, what about you?"
The distinguished girl bit her lip and averted her eyes. "I'm afraid I haven't been able to discover who this mystery person is, either. Sorry, girls."
Another three sighs filled the room. Petunia was starting to feel that this meeting would be going nowhere.
"Well Giggles," Petunia stated. "Have you found anything out? You do declare yourself the self-appointed love expert. If anyone can find something, it's you"
The "love expert" sheepishly laughed. "About that..."
This time, the other three girls groaned.
"This is hopeless!" Petunia exclaimed as she held her head down.
"Sorry!" Giggles apologized. "I meant it when I said this was a tricky mystery. I asked absolutely everyone I know! Even Disco, and you know how much I can't stand Disco!"
Lammy chuckled at her overly dramatic declaration. "How very brave of you, dear." she teased.
"Super brave!" Giggles insisted. "Every word he said made me want to gag myself!" She motioned towards her neck and made a choking gesture.
The table broke into a fit of giggles. Petunia felt herself liven up a bit. She might not discover the identity of the admirer, but at least she always had her friends here.
As the laughter subsided, Flaky found herself more at ease. "Are you sure you don't have the slightest idea who it's from? Has anyone been acting strange around you?" she asked.
Petunia thought about it. "Well…" she began.
Her friends leaned in closely. Intrigued by what was going to follow.
"Don't get too excited, it was just a weird thing that happened with Splendont before arriving here." Petunia recalled.
"Splendont?!" Her friends yelled out in unison.
"Girls." Mole warned without looking up from his book.
"Sorry sir, won't happen again." Giggles reassured.
"For the sake of everyone else here, I sure hope not." he replied.
"Splendont? You think he's your admirer?" Giggles asked, making sure to whisper.
Petunia chuckled. "Definitely not. I'd be surprised to find out if he loves anything."
Lammy and Giggles frowned in disappointment. Petunia couldn't help but notice that Flaky let out a sigh of relief. She'd remember that for later, but thought it best to not question it now.
"Apparently," Petunia continued. "He's not the admirer. He did give me a flower a while ago, but it wasn't on his own accord. Instead, Splendont was delivering it to me from the same person who placed the flower in my locker. According to him, it's because Splendont owed him a favor."
"Well, that's a lot more information than any of us were able to get." Lammy pointed out as the other two girls nodded in agreement.
Giggles grinned deviously. "And now we have a perfect suspect to question. We'll make Splendont reveal the admirer, even if it takes kryptonut!" she joked.
Lammy and Petunia smiled in amusement. Flaky, however, did not realize it was a joke and looked absolutely horrified.
"Oh god. Giggles! We can't torture him! I won't let you!" Flaky yelped out in worry as she clenched her hands on the table.
"Girls i'm going to have to ask you to leave. Sniffles keeps complaining you're distracting him from studying. Alongside that, I don't think any of you have read anything since stepping in here." Mole said with a sigh.
"Well, Neither have you!" Giggles replied shortly before getting them all kicked out of the library.