A Rose for a Rose [Chantin]

[Justin Gardner]

It was relatively difficult to grow flowers with such vibrant colors the way Justin did during the winter. Turned out that the sixteen year old was gifted but it wasn't because he was naturally born that way; no. It was because he was persistent and interested in what he loved and that was botany. The greenhouse in his backyard also served as a factor and advantage to Justin's successful gardening. He grew everything from colorful roses to herbs used for cooking. The Venus fly-trap however, was his biggest pride and joy. Justin grew all of that with the help of his father who had influenced him greatly on his desire of becoming a professional gardener. Gardner was after all his surname. Ah yes, and Patrick did also tell him that flowers were a great way of demonstrating affection toward the ladies.

A certain Chantel Jackson was Justin's lady of interest. He had been leaving flowers on top of her desk before her class began ever since he found out her schedule. It may have sounded a bit on the stalker side but Justin never followed her anywhere beyond school. He already felt bad enough for confusing her about these secret gestures. There was really no other way he could express his feelings for her. She was just— too much woman for him or that is what he thought. You see, Justin was left with the bitter taste of relationships. It was subject he'd rather not talk about considering it was he who always ended up looking like a fool. He felt terribly unappreciated but also lesser than others because of the way he'd been treated. Justin began to believe the ways of others toward him despite that he was not inferior to the next person.

Justin had been leaving Chantel daffodils and tulips and today he had cut a different species of flower — the ever romantic red rose. A rose for a rose. As the saying goes. It was a wonderful bunch tied together by a thin, shoestring sepia colored ribbon. The roses were freshly cut, the thorns were gone and the petals were rich in color. Justin took a second to admire his work but didn't realize that Chantel could have appeared any moment then.

[Chantel Jackson]

[ www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=90962202 ]

For some time, Chantel had been receiving lovely flowers on her desks every day, and never in the same class. These flowers didn’t look like the generic ones you could get in the store. No, these were grown locally and fresh. She’d never let on about how special these flowers made her feel. The fact that someone was taking the time out of their day to do something so nice amazed her. Her friends called the flower boy her ‘secret admirer’, and she couldn’t help but admire this person back. She just wanted to know who it was, and the anticipation was eating away at her.

Ever since she started to get those flowers she had changed slightly. She didn’t flirt around as much, and she stopped ‘talking’ to guys around school. These flowers made her feel like she was more than just some easy bang or a girl on the side. They made her feel like a woman and empowered her. Sure, having someone know her schedule was slightly strange, but the end product was so worth it. Seeing those flowers on her desk everyday made her smile, and it didn’t even bother her that she had to carry them around. In fact, she showed them off to everyone. She tried talking to her teachers to see who it was, but they were all so clueless and didn’t know the identity to her mystery man.

Today though, Chantel was determined to figure it out. She had a good feeling as she sweet talked her teacher into letting her out of class early. Chantel bit her softly as she swiftly made her way down the hall. She stopped outside the door to her next class-art second guessing her actions. She could hear her own heart pounding dangerously loud in her ears. Surely someone else could hear the thumping from a mile away. With a racing heart and shaking hands, she turned the knob to the class and stepped in quietly. Standing there was someone she hadn’t expected. “Justin?” she asked softly looking at what was in his hands.

In his hands were beautiful roses and she assumed they were for her? Justin wasn’t the typical guy she was used to interacting with. He had been cheated on, quite a view times, and she never took him as the kind of guy to go about leaving flowers. So this was her secret admirer? She couldn’t stop herself from smiling as she looked up from the flowers to him. “You’re the one who’s been leaving me flowers?” All those beautiful flowers were from him. As Chantel looked up at him, she couldn’t help but see all the things she never noticed. Justin was actually a very attractive person with beautiful blue eyes. Normally she was a bold confident person who stared fear in the face, but now she was quiet with crimson stained cheeks looking at the person she’d been waiting to meet ever since the first bouquet.

[Justin Gardner]

A sigh escaped Justin's lips as he bought the roses to his nose. Their scent was just as rich as their color. The aroma just filled the room and he hoped that Chantel enjoyed it. Usually people had preferences for the smells of flowers. Some people liked the smell of tulips, say, but they didn't really favor sunflowers. He was about to let down the bouquet but once he heard the door open, Justin quickly brought them up to his chest. Mentally, he crossed his fingers hoping that it was maybe the teacher who was coming in early or another student but the person he would least expect would be Chantel. That would just favor her chance and despite that he wanted to be straight up with her, he was shy and he admitted it. 

Once Justin heard her voice, he turned his head to her and his ocean blue eyes widened slightly in surprise. It was evident that he was a little astonished and somewhat flabbergasted due to the fact that he was no expecting for her to catch him in action. He closed the small gape in his mouth before pursing his lips together and taking a step forward closer to her. "Hey Chantel!" Justin greeted her, a little hesitance to his tone as he edged a bit to the side out of nervousness. Once he was finally standing at a fair distance from her, he looked down to the floor before turning to her. 

Justin began to feel nervous, his cheeks flushed a soft color of pink. He shifted his eyes left and right when Chantel asked him if it had been who had been leaving her the flowers on her desk. "Uh..." he debated on whether or not to come up with a lie. How could he lie to Chantel? Justin liked her so much to make up some silly story. "Yes." he answered quickly, offering her the bouquet. "Does it bother you? I can stop doing that." he was always apologizing despite that Chantel did not look at all bothered by his gesture. 

[Chantel Jackson]

Chantel took note of the sweet fragrance in the room as it was one of the first things she noticed. That was usually the first tell that flowers had been delivered. Whenever there were flowers on her desk the whole classroom take one a new aroma that smelled amazing. That was one of her favorite things about the special deliveries. She watched the back of the tensed teenager as she made her presence well aware. It felt like she had just caught a little boy with his hand in the cookie jar except in a completely different context. A part of her wasn’t exactly sure what she was supposed to do. It wasn’t like she didn’t enjoy the flowers, because she honestly loved them more than anyone knew.

She didn’t make a move as he finally looked at her. Her breath caught slightly as she simply blinked. The whole ordeal wasn’t awkward because there was energy in the air, or at least there was for Chantel. She had been so excited to finally meet her mystery admirer and here he was before her. It almost felt like a dream as she tried to wrap her head around everything. It seemed like he was trying to figure out his next move. She wondered why for the longest time he couldn’t look at her and only the floor. Was he ashamed of bringing her flowers? He shouldn’t be!

She smiled at him as she noticed the slight pink pigment on his cheeks. She bit her lower lip slightly at how cute he looked. Justin had always been a good looking person, but he seemed to end up in relationships where the girls just didn’t appreciate him. She just never took him as the guy to leave flowers. It never occurred to her that the flowers might not actually be his. Maybe he just happened to stumble upon them?

She smiled has he finally admitted that he was in fact her mystery man, and she was glad. “These are beautiful,” she said softly in amazement finally able to appreciate them up close. She carefully took the bouquet in her hands, slender fingers brushing up against his. She took a moment to hold them up to her face and breathe them in, something she always did with every special gift. “They don’t bother me at all,” she said shaking her head. They were the highlight of her day, every day. “They’re great! I love them and I-“she stopped herself from rambling on. After clearing her throat to regain her composure she continued,” I just wish I had known sooner. How come you never said anything?” Bright green eyes looked up into ocean blue.