Young Writers Society

A/N: Any and all criticism is welcome! Although, I'm looking for pointers on character consistency. Aaaalso, uh, looking for a new title? I'm thinking about polishing this up for actual publishing

1,800 words

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Luca crept along the wall, his dandelion-covered hands brushing against the rough brick, the balls of his feet stepping lightly on the grassy floor. His breath held stagnant in his chest as he waited for the perfect moment to surprise her. Closer and closer he crept, nearing her back as she worked on the community garden.

Without warning, Melody snapped the beanie off of her hair, her head twisted to face him, her brown eyes flashed yellow, and the green snakes writhing on her skull hissed at him in unison. He cried out, stumbling backward and catching himself on a statue of an angel, with both he and the marble wobbling from his weight.

“Well,” Melody smiled, her fangs retracting. “The governor’s wallflower is back from the meeting. How’d it go?”

He regained his balance, flashing her a glare and wiping his dandelion palms against his formal black pants. Maddock would have a fit over the yellow streaks 

Her crutches laid beside her, along with flimsy plastic pots full of flowers.

“Wall flower?” Luca said, crouching down next to her to examine the Virgina bluebells. He had to admit that the sanctuary officials knew their flowers, given that bluebells didn’t require that much care. It made the job easier on Melody, he guessed. “Whatcha mean by that, Mels?”

Sticking the spade into the dirt, Melody sighed. “You can’t expect me to believe you haven’t heard that saying before, flower boy.”

She reached for her purple crocheted beanie, placing it over her snakes who hissed and twisted before meeting the cover of darkness yet again.

Luca also sighed, mimicking her tone and head tilt. “Youuu keep on forgetting that I’m eight, Mels. I don’t know a looot of things.”

He picked up her spade and started to widen the hole she was making, setting it down when necessary to pick up the slimy worms and investigate them. The prominent sounds on the site were their breathing, the sound of metal hitting pieces of broken stone, and the distant sounds of other children playing in the background.

The sweeping willow tree protected the two from the scorching late July heat, providing chunks of shade. The branches kept tap-tap-tapping against the windows. If Luca dared to look up, then he’d see the windows to his dormitory.

He didn’t dare to look up.

“I’m sorry,” she finally said, scooting herself closer to him and dirtying her pale purple dress even further. “That was mean of me.”

“Yeaaahhh,” he said. Luca didn’t have to look back at her to see the apologetic expression. She handed him a pot and he stuck the flowers inside of the hole, taking precautions to not damage the leaves or the petals themselves. “Buuut I was gonna sneak up on you, sooo it’s all good.”

The silence hung between the two as they both gathered soil onto the roots, sealing the plant’s fate as a resident of Willow’s Sanctuary. It would join together with one hundred other children, sitting and waiting around.

“So, how’d it actually go?”

“I don’t wanna talk about it.” He felt his own flowers -- bloodroot this time -- crawling up his roots, digging through his skin’s weak barriers, and sprouting forth in almost record time. Luca brought a shaking hand up to a stem, plucking one flower off and wincing at the sharp pain. “I wish you could go, Mels.”

She stole the yellow and white flower from his grasp, taking it and placing it behind his ear. She kept her hand on his face, her thumb rested next to the bridge of his nose. “We’ve talked about this before, bud. The governor and the press want success stories, not… snakes.”

Gruffness didn’t suit his voice. “I’m not a success story.”

“You’re an acceptable story in progress.”

Melody’s calloused thumb smoothed away the tears that began to overflow.

“It’s not fair,” he mumbled, sniffing and swallowing back snot. “I don’t even wanna be adopted anymore—you wanna be adopted! You’re sooo smart! You deserve this more than me!” He gestured to his suit, almost incredulous that he got to wear it.

“Aw, shucks.” She laughed. “I didn’t know you thought so highly of me, Luca! ‘Weirdo’ this, ‘snake girl’ that.” Melody sounded like she was mocking him, with her false falsetto, but she contrasted that with pulling him in for a hug.

He buried his head in the crook of her neck, seeking her warmth like a plant sought sunlight.

“Bud, I’m unadoptable. I’ll be here until I die, probably”—Luca’s sob started and stopped on that same note, listening to her words—“And you’re smart too, bud. Don’t forget that. Even if you don’t want to be adopted, that’s fine.”

“I’ll make sure that you have a mom and dad, Melody.”

“Luca, I’m twelve. I’m too old for that.”

“I promise you. You’re gonna get out of here.”

-

Luca fiddled with the crocus flowers growing along his arm as he watched out of the grimy window, seeing as Melody sat on the metal swing set. It was a free day for the both of them, with no school nor gardening to accomplish. Typically, they’d be off scheming about how to steal extra food from the kitchens, but Melody seemed to want to be on her own that day.

He plucked off a petal from the white crocus, spinning it around in his fingers and then crushing it.

Boredom was often at the forefront of his mind, dulling his senses and leaving him to mess with his flowers. Without Melody, Luca would often hole up in a corner of his dorm and read for a bit, but the library was closed and Maddock had taken all of his books. (“Go see your counselor and you’ll get these back.”)

Suddenly, an abrupt knock came to the door.

“Uhhuh?” Luca said, not looking away from the swing set and barely registering the willow branches which tapped against the window. “Whatcha want, Derrick?”

“Can I come in?” That voice was definitely not Derrick’s. Too low and too adult.

Luca snapped his head to see a dark man peering through the door, looking around and scanning at the four beds.

The man spoke again, stepping into the room with a ginger care. “I hope this is all right — I was sent in by one of the caretakers. I’m Max Courtenay, but you can call me Max.”

Luca stood up, pushing back his rickety wooden chair and suppressing a wince as it screeched across the floor. “Hello, sir. I’m Luca Smith.”

Max smiled with whitened teeth. “Ahah, Luca. It’s so nice to meet you. I assume that your other roommates are away right now?”

Luca furrowed his brow. “Uhhuh. Whatcha want?” He kept his tone terse, edging back to the window just in case he needed to make an escape.

“No, no, no— don’t take this the wrong way. I’m just here to ask about an opportunity. You’re in the third grade, right?”

“Fourth.” Luca pressed his flowerless hands up against the somewhat splintered wall. Fortunately, Max — in his black suit — stayed by the door. His hands were in his pockets. His stance looked unthreatening, but then again…

“Ah, smart lad.” Max took a hand out of his pocket and smoothed back his locks.

“Look, sir. I don’t wanna be adopted. You got the wrong kid. Whatever Maddock said about me? Well—“ Luca pointed to the white, purple, and yellow flowers sprouting from his arm, “you don’t want me.”

Max smiled a bit more, titled his head to the side. “Ah, I see. Good ol’ Maddock hasn’t told you anything about me, has he?” Max reached into the front of his suit and pulled out a small booklet. “Here! Catch!”

Without thinking, Luca reached out and caught it before it hit the ground.

“Fill this out and give it to Maddock, okay? It’s clear that you’re not in the mood to talk to me today — and I don’t blame you, living in here. See you later, kiddo.”

Max then slid out the door, his footsteps fading into nothingness.

So there Luca stood, piecing through a small booklet and waiting for the dinner bell to be rung.

-

“Mooove me up to the fifth grade, please.” Luca didn’t look up at Maddock, instead he just scribbled along on his paper with the no. 2 pencil held in dirty hands. “Third grade was boring, but fourth grade isn’t challenging enough.” The graphite scratched out answers to math problems, a simple task.

Maddock’s shadow loomed behind him. “If you attended counseling, then maybe I’d consider putting in a request to change your course material. But I have to keep order, Luca. I can’t jump you up multiple grades if you choose to be defiant.”

Luca finished the page of multiplication problems, handing the sheet behind him and waiting for Maddock to snatch it up and check over his answers. “If ya stopped wanting to snip my flowers, then I’d actually go see Mr. Günther—but he’s in on your agenda too, so nope.” He popped the ‘p’ sound and started on the page with division problems.

Red clover grew along the back of his neck, causing him to want to wriggle and squirm and dance until they fully sprouted. Instead, he sat as patiently as possible and only looked straight ahead at the beige plaster when he needed a break from "7 into 67 equaled what".

“Luca…” Maddock said, “I don’t have an agenda. All that I want is to see you grow up happy, healthy, and to eventually find a family who loves you.”

“You wanna cut off my flowers again.”

“Aren’t they painful, Luca? If we were to just trim them down to an acceptable amount…”

“Bump me up to the sixth grade and I’ll let you cut my flowers.”

Luca could hear Maddock start to pace, his boots causing the floorboards to creak. Sometimes, Luca passively wondered if the boards in his room were intentionally designed to creak. Other times, he just blamed the fact that the sanctuary was built over one hundred years ago.

“That is a larger request than the first one, kiddo. You’re only eight. To be bumped up to the sixth grade would be quite a leap, don’t you agree?”

Luca grabbed the booklet and tossed it behind him, satisfied at hearing Maddock catch it. “You could’a told me that that man was comin’, Maddock.”

“Oh?”

“I’d like to be better edumacated, buuut I don’t really feel like leavin’ you or Melody. That school looks fun and all, but…” Luca bit back a swallow of regret, passing up the best opportunity of his life. “Bump me up to something challenging and I’ll attend counseling.”

Luca could hear Maddock flipping through the booklet.

“Okay, Luca. That’s fine by me.”