2. Flowerpot Revolution

"There you are!" Are the first words that Lexi is greeted with when she all but sprints through the door of the Biology lab where the rest of her fellow students are waiting for the lecturer. Jathro removes his messenger bag from the stool beside him in order to let her sit down, his glasses balancing on the end of his nose, almost sliding off. "Where were you? Are the tube drivers on strike again or something? I was about to call the police and start putting up missing posters for you."

Lexi places two plastic Starbucks cups on the tabletop and almost collapses down into the seat. "Just needed to take a coffee detour on the way here. I got you that toffee blend that you like so much."

Jathro's face lights up into a smile as she pushes the drink towards him. "You're a princess, Lex'. An utter princess, you know that?" He takes a long gulp from the cup and sighs contentedly. "Yep. That's some good stuff right there."

"Mmhm," Lexi agrees wordlessly, the warm coffee in her own order soothing the somersaults that are currently going off in her stomach.

"So, what prompted this? You only ever drink coffee this early in the morning when something's wrong."

That's one of the problems with having Jathro as her only friend. He's far too observant for his own good. Lexi lets out a sigh, pushing her blonde hair out of her eyes. "Oh, nothing. Just embarrassed myself on the tube in front of a whole crowd of people. You know, a usual Monday morning in my life."

Jathro shakes his head, letting his glasses drop down onto the desk in front of them as his best friend picks at a thread that's coming loose from her oversized navy-coloured jumper. "Dammit, Lexi. What did you do this time?"

She's silent for a minute, before she speaks again, toying with the Starbucks on the table in front of her. "I may or may not have tripped over my own feet, collapsed on top of a stranger and told him that he had nice eyes."

Jathro snorts loudly, momentarily catching the attention of the others around them. "That's absolutely hilarious!"

"I'm glad my misfortune is so amusing to you," Lexi replies, her tone dry.

"Aw, c'mon, don't pull that face!" He nudges her shoulder with a grin, ready to say more but cut off by the sound of the lecturer entering.

"Good morning, my little flower pots!" Mr Fisher - first name David - calls cheerfully from the front of the room, dropping his briefcase on the floor next to the whiteboard. "Are we all ready for some Biology fun?"

"Whoo!" Jathro cheers under his breath in a sarcastic tone, causing Lexi to smirk.

"No need to sound so enthusiastic or anything." She lowers the volume of her voice as Mr Fisher turns and writes something on the board for them to copy.

"Look, L -" He drains the last of his drink "- it was cute during the first week or so, okay? Now it's just a little pitiful. I don't particularly want to be known as a flowerpot for the next three years." He taps his pen against the desk. "Maybe we should start a flowerpot revolution. Fight for our justice."

"I wasn't aware that flowerpots could have revolutions."

"Up until last week you weren't aware that our boss had been dating your brother for three months," Jathro points out.

"That was different," Lexi insists. She's been trying to delete the memory of that awkward conversation from her memory completely.

Her best friend looks amused. "How so?"

"Mr Kooth, Miss Nekross." Mr Fisher's voice cuts across their hushed whispering. He's watching them from the other side of the room, arms folded. "Is that a private conversation that you're having over there or can anyone contribute?"

"Private, actually," Jathro replies. Lexi digs him in the side with her elbow.

"Sorry, Mr Fisher," she says, ignoring the looks she's getting from her friend. Mr Fisher rolls his eyes out of some kind of exasperated amusement but nods, picking up where the lecture had left off. Lexi curls a strand of hair behind her ear, trying to pay attention this time round, until a piece of paper nudges her hand.

Embarrassment number two of your Monday morning, I take it?

Three, actually. No thanks to you.

Hey, don't shoot the interested secondary character in this story. Speaking of which, this morning. Underground. Tell me everything.

I've told you everything. I embarrassed myself and then made a break for it.

Jathro's brow furrows as he scribbles his reply.

No, no, not that everything! I mean, everything about this stranger! Who was it?

Just some boy. I don't think I've ever seen him before.

That's not very descriptive.

What do you want from me?

DETAILS.NOW.

OK. He had brown eyes. There.

LEXI.

WHAT.

DETAILS. Tall/short? Blonde? Brunette? Attractive? THOSE SORTS OF DETAILS.

You sound far too interested for your own good.

It's my responsibility to be, as your best friend.

OK. Fine. Shorter than me, but probably tall compared to everyone else. Brown hair. Brown eyes. I suppose that's attractive; I was too busy dying of embarrassment to really notice. Was that better?

I'm sure you didn't embarrass yourself that much.

Oh, I did. It was awful.

Hey, look on the bright side. At least it was someone you didn't know.

Lexi hums quietly to herself under her breath. She hasn't considered that factor before now.

That's true.

You'll probably never see him again anyway.

One can only hope.

"You know what I hope, Miss Nekross?" Mr Fisher says from behind them, causing the pair of them to jump. "That you and Mr Kooth will actually start paying attention to my class from now on instead of passing notes across the desk."

Lexi ducks her head as their fellow students all turn and stare in their direction, cheeks tinged red. Make that embarrassment number four of her Monday morning.