I'm going to make it a personal mission to reread Scarlet sometime in February. And the rest of the series because they're becoming movies!
A Crown of Thornes: Part Five
After the school day, Jacin and Kinney walk through Andromeda Academy's residence hall on their way to the dining hall to grab some dinner. They pass by the front foyer and stop by the glass wall separating the start to the residence area and the front doors.
Iko stands at the main entrance, keeping the door open with her back. She talks with a young teen in a pastel purple polo, cargo shorts, and a matching cap with an emblem they can't read from where they're standing. Iko holds a wrapped bouquet of red roses in her arms, smiling at the other boy.
"Who the stars is that guy?" Kinney questions as if Jacin would know the answer.
"Beats me," Jacin responds. "Kinda looks like the delivery boy."
"Who's giving Iko flowers?" Kinney asks. He steps closer to the glass wall, squinting as if that would help him see the exchange better. He might as well be pressed against the glass or walk up to Iko and ask.
"That's the delivery boy giving them to her."
Kinney glares at him which makes Jacin's grin grow. Jacin wonders why Kinney is so invested in Iko's roses, almost angry that someone sent them to her. And then he remembers at the end of their day at the Hashtag Asteroid Belt when he saw Iko and Kinney drunkenly making out on the back hood of Kinney's car. Maybe there are repressed feelings that led to that moment then and this moment now. Either way, Jacin is entertained.
"Who even buys roses anymore?" Kinney asks, still frowning. "Overrated flowers."
Jacin nods casually, remembering what he saw during the summer. "Right."
They continue watching, seeing Iko pull out a card from the bouquet. She opens it and reads, fawning over the words as she holds it to her heart.
Kinney rolls his eyes. "Anyone can write romance. It's not that hard."
Jacin glances at him, keeping quiet as he turns back to Iko. She readjusts the flowers in her arms and jumps a little. Iko looks at her hand before sucking on the side of her thumb.
"Ha," Kinney states, "what an idiot. Can't even get Iko some properly dethorned roses. It's not like it's hard. I've seen Tressa use a nail file."
"Maybe the florist didn't have a spa set on him," Jacin reasons sarcastically. "Do you think this delivery boy-looking dude actually bought them or stole them from someone's fancy yard?"
Kinney grins from the corner of his mouth. "Maybe stole them from a florist … and stole the uniform too as a cover."
Jacin looks at him. "What would you have gotten Iko instead?"
Kinney eyes him in return, grin washed off his face. "If I wanted to get her something thorny, I'd give a cactus."
Jacin nods as he pulls out his phone and starts typing. He thought Kinney would've given Iko a trash bag or an empty flower pot, but cacti seem fitting. Little care, unique beauty, sharp at close proximity … maybe like Iko herself.
"What are you doing?" Kinney asks.
Jacin turns his phone towards Kinney and he's on a florist's site with a cactus in his shopping card. "Sending Iko a cactus on your behalf."
"Give me that!"
Kinney reaches for the phone but Jacin stretches his arm back, blocking Kinney with his free arm.
"Should I say they're from Liam?" Jacin teases with a laugh. "It'll look more genuine with your first name."
Kinney glares. "I hate you."
When they see Iko say goodbye to the florist person, she turns their way to head back to her dorm, presumably to put her roses in a vase of water. Jacin and Kinney sprint away as if they were never there watching her.
-o-
At the dining hall, Jacin walks to the table where he sees Iko picking the onions out of her chicken casserole. He glances down at his casserole before taking a seat across from her. She pauses reconstructing her food, taking a sip of her soda with a smile.
"Where's Kinney?" Iko questions.
"His mom and Tressa stopped by," Jacin responds. "I think they're in the foyer or something. I don't know. How are your roses?"
Iko was about to dump sour cream on her casserole but stops to look at Jacin quizzically. Jacin knows what he did. Iko didn't tell him or Kinney about the roses (yet) so she's obviously wondering how he found out. Jacin doesn't falter. He just eats his dinner and waits for an answer.
"You gonna answer?" Jacin prods, voice trailing by the end. "How are your roses?"
Iko stabs her fork into her food. "Sitting in a vase in my room. Why?"
"Who gave them to you?"
Iko raises a brow, pursing her lips into a grin. "Why? You jealous?"
"Kinney and I saw you pick up your delivery." Jacin's face doesn't shift but he knows that Kinney is definitely jealous but will deny it to his grave. "You know I'm not."
"I know." She smiles. "For the record, I bought them for myself."
Jacin didn't expect that but it makes so much sense the more he thinks about it. Cinder would've been his second guess. He didn't think of that earlier because why would he ever think of Cinder? Now that he knows Iko bought her own roses, he wonders what she bothered to write on the card. He assumes it was some dramatic prose about how amazing it is and how everyone should buy her roses.
"Admirable," Jacin states.
"But you can buy me some next time," Iko teases.
Jacin blinks. "Noted. Would you like a cactus?"
Iko raises her brows. "Why would I want one?"
Jacin shrugs. It's not like he still has a cactus sitting in his shopping cart on some online florist shop site supposedly coming from a Liam Kinney. It's not like Kinney thinks Jacin closed the tab and shrugged it off as a joke. It's not like Jacin will confirm the order later and forget to tell Kinney about it although Kinney never wanted it to happen.
Last Jacin checked, the site was having a sale on cacti. He could either buy Iko two on behalf of Kinney or send the other one to Winter.
Win-win for Jacin. That's all that matters to him.
"No reason," Jacin says as he starts eating.
For those still wondering, the Iko/Kinney will get better in this arc.