Flower Boy [Part 4]

Author's note: Need tips on consistency, description, and if the resolution was any good or not. I also feel as if this could be trimmed a lot more? It's 2,833 words long. (And it hasn't been edited, yikes.) If there are any suggestions for a better ending, then I'll totally take them into account. I want to rewrite this and hopefully get it published.

But yeaaah, it's rough.

-

Luca awoke before the sun had risen, taking care to be as silent as possible. His dorm room was just illuminated enough that he managed to maneuver around, grabbing the things he needed. His dresser drawer slid open with the slightest creak, but neither Derrick nor the other boys stirred from their slumber.

Crocus flowers budded from his jaw, white and yellow in their pain. Yet he worked methodically, stuffing his clothes and his few books into his fraying backpack. I’ll get popcorn and peanuts when I join the circus. That’ll be enough.

The branches of the willow tree tapped against the window, but he shook his head and ignored it. The willow tree offered no advice, just annoyance. He’d spent many a day sitting at its base, asking it questions only to be met with a tree-like silence.

Regardless.

With everything packed up, Luca crawled on his hands and knees and grabbed Melody’s crutches from under Derrick’s bed.

With his backpack slung on his shoulder, and Melody’s crutches under one arm, Luca was ready to set off.

Maddock can’t make me go anywhere. I’ll do what I want.

His walk to Melody’s side of the sanctuary was long and composed of bated breath, creaked floorboards, and the occasional hint of an adult getting ready for the day. He actually caught a glimpse of Mrs. Hatcher’s silver bun as she strode into the library.

Rumor had it that she had been around since the founding of the sanctuary, but rumor was often wrong. Maddock had said she was related to the benefactor who found the place, which was much more likely. But, it wasfun to believe she was of the fairfolk, ethereal and ageless. It was less fun to believe that she ate children to stay alive.

Luca shook these thoughts out of his brain, finally coming across Melody’s dorm room and twisting the knob on the unlocked door. He ignored the other sleeping girls, not really interested in who they were or what they were doing. Instead, he made a beeline over to Melody’s bed, setting her crutches next to her form and shaking her awake.

No response.

He shook her again, her snakes starting to hiss. Frantically, he shushed them, but they only hissed louder. He started to wave arms in a “cancel” motion, but that didn’t help either. Luca began alternating between putting a finger over his lips and making the “cancel” motion, until the hissing was finally replaced with a low snicker.

Melody’s eyes flashed open, lycanthrope yellow for a slight moment before returning to the usual warm brown abyss. She smiled, showing her fangs for a split second before retracting them.

“What do you want, Luca?”

The snakes stopped their hissing.

“We need to get out of here, Melody. If we get outta here before wakeup call, then we might be able to make it through the forest and into town—“

“What?” Her features melted into confusion. “What are you talking about?”

“M-m-maddock wants to send me to a school, and-and they won’t let me bring you, and weee need to get out of here.”

He suddenly became aware of how he looked. Unbrushed hair, a hastily thrown together backpack, half-healed scabs coating his face, eyes filled to the brim with threatening tears.

“Hold on, Luca. What now?”

While Luca’s voice was hushed — yet still frantic — Melody’s voice was even-toned and just loud enough to draw attention to their conversation. Luca’s heart skipped a beat, so he pressed a finger against his lips and cast his gaze back to the row of three beds behind him.

“I hav’ta go to Haven’s Academy but I don’t wanna to go without you and they won’t let you go and-and-and if we run away to the town and to the circus, then I’ll be able to staaay with you and I wanna stay with you.”

Melody’s snakes poked around the room curiously, before falling back down and acting as normal hair. She cocked her head to the side. “Thanks for the crutches, kid—but I don’t want to leave.”

Luca felt the bloodroot and crocus grow around his ankles, crawling up his roots like vines. He blanched, his upper body going cold. Vomit started to make its first appearance, but he flinched and kept it contained. “You should wanna leave, Mels.”

She laughed, still not keeping her voice to an appropriate level. “Luca, they clothe us and feed us and we’re well cared for and… face it, no one wants me. I’m not going to join the circus either, kid. I remember what happened to Lyria…”

Melody closed her eyes.

Luca saw his escape slipping out of his hands, with the sun rising in the background with its hateful orange rays casting light through the window. In about thirty minutes, the caretakers would come through to wake everyone up for breakfast. In about thirty minutes, his opportunity to escape would be gone and he would be resigned to a life without his only friend.

“We-we can go and we can hide un-until you’re eighteen and then we can get a job and—“

“Luca, my legs don’t work and I have snakes for hair. No one will hire me.” Her eyes snapped open, yellow and… sad. “Willow’s Sanctuary is the best place for me. I’m unadoptable, so I’ll just stay here.”

“I need to go, Mels. I—“ he tugged at his backpack, pointed to her crutches, “I’ll give you fifteen minutes but we need to get out of here.”

The conversation paused.

Lobelia and aster returned to the back of his knee, angry at their previous trimming. Luca writhed and twisting, trying to suppress kicking up to avoid the pain.

“Do you… ever consider what I want, Luca?”

Silence.

“You’re like a little brother to me, Luca, but… I won’t go with you. I want to stay here.”

Anger sprouted from his chest. Suddenly, his own tone didn’t matter. Just that Melody understood why the sanctuary sucked. “What about Derrick? What about your crutches gettin’ stolen? This place is mean and the people are mean and everyone is mean and and—“

She stared at him. “I love you, but your outlook isn’t mine. I know you’re young, but please… just try to think from my perspective.”

Cast-aside, hidden away at governor meetings, an endless supply of beanies to hide her hair.

“I did. You should wanna come with me.” He wiped off angry tears with the palm of his hand, wiping them on his shirt.

“No, Luca. I love you, but this isn’t what I want. This isn’t… good for me or good for you. Just… this isn’t how it should go.” With her firm voice and furrowed brow, Luca felt his heart break for the second time in twenty-four hours.

An unfamiliar but not foreign voice popped up, high pitched and airy. “Uhhh, Melody? Do you want to get the weed boy out of here? Ms. Romilda will be waking us up soon and I don’t want to see her reaction to this.”

Hot, white pain. He dug his dirt encrusted nails into the palms of his hand, crying out in frustration. “Take your crutches,” he said. “Leave me alone. I’m going. Without you.”

With that, Luca adjusted his backpack and raced out of Melody’s dorm, not even daring to look back.

Gotta go, gotta leave, can’t fix, can’t fix.

Luca bounded down the hallway, not caring to calm down and instead letting out his emotions in small shouts of rage that were pent up in his chest. No one understands, no one listens, this is dumb. He found himself standing in the common area, just ten paces from the exit.

He ran for it, only five paces away when he heard Mrs. Hatcher’s shrill voice cry out, “Mr. Smith, what in the dickens are you doing out here?”

Luca didn’t even turn to face her, instead dodging left and finding himself face to face with the utility closest. Doing the quick calculations in his head, he found himself opening the closet door and then quickly closing it behind himself.

Pressing his back up against the door, he heaved and buckled over from the cool pain right below his lower right rib. Still, Luca kept himself pressed up against the door, acting as a 80 pound wedge of pure force. He couldn’t even see, with dark grays and blackness illustrating the scene before him.

Mrs. Hatcher banged around the door, causing his head to pound. “Luca? Luca, what are you doing in there? Luca, you will get out right this instant, young man.”

The doorknob jiggled, but he held fast, still heaving.

Mrs. Hatcher’s shrill cries died down and heard her muttering before hearing her steps walk off.

Thinking quickly, he grasped around for the string to turn on the lightbulb and found it. With the new orange light, he scanned around the room— ahah. A mop and a broom.

He worked on his barricade, angling the mop and the broom like an X and sliding each object through the wire shelving on both sides. Luca ended up knocking down some cleaning chemicals in the process, but nothing spilled open.

Finally, he was certain that no one could get in.

Luca was safe. Trapped inside a utility closet.

I can live in here forever.

The bulb above him started to flicker. An uneasy feeling washed over him, emphasized by the bloodroot starting to sprout on his body at random. He could barely keep track of the lobelia and the polyanthus.

Luca sat down on the floor, doffing his backpack and staring down at his own body. He started to count the buds littered on his leg. Twenty-one buds on his left leg, all belonging to various different flower species. Twenty-one is divisible by seven. Seven is prime. He moved on to his right arm, counting the buds and skipping the flowers and the leaves. Eleven. Eleven is prime.

Eventually, counting buds got boring. Only about five or so minutes had passed—he was just about ready to zip open his backpack and grab his one book when there was a pounding against the door.

“Luca? Luca? Are you in there? Melody got me— Melody and Mrs. Hatcher. Luca, kiddo, you need to get out of there. It has the potential to be incredibly dangerous.” Maddock’s voice had a parental kilter to it, with a softness Luca was only familiar with in his most vulnerable states.

Yet, Luca stayed silent.

“Luca? Luca? I know you’re in there, young man.” Maddock only pounded against the door louder.

Luca drew his knees up to his chin.

“Go away,” he called out.

“Oh God, thank God. Luca? Kiddo, please come out of there— are you injured?” The doorknob rattled. “Please, please come out.”

“No.”

With hawklike eyes, Luca kept staring at the splintered door.

“Luca, acting as your guardian, I firmly request that you exist this closet at once.”

Maddock’s banging ceased.

“Acting as me, I’m sayin’ go away.”

“Luca…” Maddock’s voice broke in pitch. “I named you, you know? I care about you. If you exit this closet, then we’ll be able to talk about whatever you need.”

Out of everyone’s watchful gaze, Luca allowed himself to wriggle and writhe at the growing flowers emerging from his skin. The primary players were veiny crocus flowers and bright yellow bloodroot. The skin on his legs were no longer visible, replaced with color and familiar pain.

One, two, three, four, five… He counted the seconds, waiting for Maddock to say something else. Perhaps if he waited — he could wait all day, all night if he needed to. Surely, Maddock would get tired and need to rest. When that happened, then Luca could grab his backpack and run through the grounds to the forest.

Fourteen, fifteen, sixteen…

“Melody told me what you two argued about, Luca.”

A dagger sliced through Luca’s chest.

“It’s not okay to dismiss someone else’s will like that. I know you sometimes find this place stifling, but she flourishes here. She’s talking to me about getting stronger and becoming a groundskeeper or maybe taking over the abandoned greenhouse here—“

Luca dug his nails back into his palm, narrowing his eye as he continued to star at the monotonous door.

“I’m sorry for ignorin’ what she wanted, Maddock.” His words tasted heavily of regret and bloodroot poison. “You can tell her that, too. I’m sorry. But-but it’s not fair to talk about dissssmissing someone’s will when you do that to me all the time.” He attempted to keep his voice even, but he managed to almost break into sobs.

For a second, it was easy to think that he was just talking to a wooden door.

Maddock stepped over eggshells in large boots, cracking fifteen to smithereens in the process. He wavered. “Have I… ever ignored your will?”

“Mmhmm. I don’t like the governor. I don’t like havin’ my flowers cut. It hurts when people mess with my flowers. I don’t like Mr. Günther.” Luca paused, crawling on his hands and knees so he was right up against the door. Clear as day, he said, “I don’t like havin’ my future talked about when I’m not there.”

“Oh.”

“I don’t wanna go to the school without Melody.”

Maddock responded, “Melody doesn’t want to go to Haven’s Academy at all, Luca.” His topic shifted, breaking like tectonic plates. ”Did you, hmm, hear my conversation with Mr. Courtenay?”

“Yessir.”

Luca began to press his face up against the door, just to hear outside better. Perhaps, if he had been younger, then he would have admitted he wanted Maddock to hold him again.

Silence hung between the two, the atmosphere thick and hard to navigate. It didn’t help that Luca was breathing primarily stale air with a chemical aftertaste.

“Günther doesn’t really wanna listen to me, and it sucks and I hate seeing him. I’m just the governor’s wallflower too. The dinners aren’t for me, they’re for him and his stupid polititicks stuff. And, and, I feel so small all the time.”

Quiet. One, two, three, four, five. Processing. Six, seven, eight, nine, ten.

“I sincerely apologize, Luca. I wanted what was best for you, and I ended up hurting you in the process. You’re right — I steamrolled both your wills and your wants, which was not right of me.”

Luca had never heard Maddock cry before, but the uneven tone and the sniffling lead him to believe that the man was crying on the other side of the door.

“I-I forgive you, Maddock.”

“Thank you.”

He proceeded to count the seconds again, pressing his forehead against the door and waiting. Ten seconds went by with nothing. Ten seconds turned into twenty which turned into thirty.

And then Maddock laughed. “Do you seriously want to pass up on Haven’s Academy?”

Luca paused for a moment, trying to dismiss the weight centered in the middle of his chest. “I want to go… but I’m afraid of missing you and Melody.”

Maddock’s voice was muffled against the wood. “You might miss us, but that’s okay.”

-

On a cloudy day in late summer, two cars were parked in front of the sanctuary with their engines rumbling. Groups of children and caretakers said goodbye to their friends and charges.

“I’m so sorry,” he mumbled into Melody’s side, holding onto her like his life depended on it. “Please, please write to me, but I’m so sorry.”

She laughed, looking down at him with twinkling brown eyes. “All’s good, bud. Just… have fun for me, okay?”

He broke the hug, wiping tears from his dandelion-covered face. Luca looked up at her with an earnest expression. “Don’t let Derrick mess with you, Mels.”

Melody gave a firm nod, her snakes wriggling under her purple beanie.

Luca heard Max’s voice, ushering various children and their luggage into the proper waiting cars. The shrieks of goodbyes and laughter around him became louder.

Then, out of nowhere, Luca was wrapped into a large hug from behind and picked up off of the ground. He kicked his legs, squirming and giggling. “Maddock!” He cried, scrambling to get down.

“Luca!”

He turned around to see Maddock’s smiling face, although he couldn’t ignore the red puffiness around his caretaker’s eyes. “It’s so’kay, Maddock. I’ll be back for the summers. I’ll write too!”

Maddock simply smiled, running his fingers through his straight hair. “Despite wanting you to take this opportunity, I never thought I’d have to deal with you… leaving.”

“I… never thought ‘bout leaving either.”

Maddock hugged Luca again, holding him tight.

“Write to me, okay? If you have any problems, then just send me a letter.”

Luca nodded, still pressed up against Maddock’s abdomen.

Maddock’s voice broke again as the man withheld tears. “Ah— Max wants you to get in the car now, kiddo. This is actually goodbye.”

“So’kay, Maddock. So’kay.”