The bell rang to signal the end of school. As the students were packing their bags and leaving in a hurry, August took her time putting away her sketchbook and pencils.

Currently, she hadn’t a clue that she had an admirer waiting and watching. She swung her bag over her shoulder and walked out of the class. He’d left before her and waited by a line of lockers across the hall on his cell. He let her walk ahead, then followed.

August took the same route she always did after school every day. She exited from the foremost left school gates and walked down the small local roads that led to the small residential neighborhood near the school. Claude made sure to stay out of her view or peripheral vision as he continued to stalk her down the quiet road. To say he was thinking about trailing the girl he liked after school… would be assuming he was thinking at all. A boy after his own heart, with little to no clear thought about his desperate actions. August had her earbuds in while walking, unaware of the teen lurking behind her. Criminal, by MS MR, filled her ears while she walked towards a large botanical greenery where she went to care for the flowers and plants there as a community service slash volunteering—simply for her plain love of flowers. She bent the corner and smiled when she saw the curly, pastel pink hair of her supervisor, Rachel, waiting at the door with a pot of purple tulips under her arm. She wore a black and pastel pink halter top that matched her hair color, along with her black combat boots, and black bagging ripped jeans.

“Hey sunshine, you look as bright as a sunflower today, and as pretty as one.”

August blushed, putting away her earbuds in their case. “Thanks, Rach, you look lovely today as well.” They exchanged a cheek-to-cheek kiss before stepping back.

“So, how was school?”

“Same as always, but today a teacher actually thought I wasn’t smart enough to tell her what the center of an atom was.” August rolled her eyes at the nonsense, and Rachel laughed and shook her head.

“Wow. What, did she think you were dumb or something?” She sucked her teeth as she watered the large planters out front.

“She probably thought that the student who spends her time drawing flowers with her head in the clouds was an idiot… except for the fact that my grades have never fallen lower than an A-, and that’s only when I’m feeling lazy.”

Rachel snickered. “You’re a daydreamer, but one with her feet just above the line of reality.” They turned and entered the thick exterior doors of the botanical greenery,

“So, what are we tending to today?”

“Baby’s breath, have you ever heard of them?”

August scoffed. “My mom uses them for almost every bouquet to add some innocence and simplistic beauty to an order.” She took the gloves handed to her and continued to follow Rachel to the bushes full of baby’s breath flowers. The small, white, almost puffy cotton-like bushes were full and looked so fluffy. “I just love these.”

Unbeknownst to the two young women, Claude was still lurking behind the large tropical red ginger flowers. He couldn’t believe that he had truly followed his crush all the way here. He was slightly disgusted at himself for becoming this girl’s stalker just out of his curiosity to get close to her. He thought about what created serial killers, and stalking seemed to be one of the commonalities. Claude huffed out softly, waiting for a moment to make an exit and to stop being so creepy to the person he liked. The woman with pink hair was speaking to August, then she patted her shoulder and walked off with the medium potted plant. August was left alone with an array of small flowers in a pot tray. He could only assume that it was to plant into the soil where the rest of the similar-looking flowers were.

August pulled on the gloves Rachel gave her and then turned to the small potted baby’s breath sprouts in the tray, just waiting to be repotted and set among the others. She took the two trays and set them down on the floor beside her bag as she grabbed the hand shovel with a maroon handle and a green watering can. She knelt on the small towel from the stack on the table so that her knees wouldn’t ache and began to dig small holes in the empty soil, which would become the new homes for these growing seedling flowers.

Claude’s eyes softened while watching her tend to the baby flowers with gentle care. He wondered what had gotten her into flowers and what her dreams were.

“You know, baby’s breath flowers are very delicate and innocent. Many florists use them in wedding bouquets for the pure fact that they are intended to show innocence, hence their peculiar name.”

Claude froze. Had she spoken to him? Or was she speaking to herself?

“You can come out from behind the red gingers now. I know you’re there. Just not why.” August said as she began removing the sprouts from the tray.

Claude gulped, taking his time as he stepped into view. August hadn’t turned around to see him, but he was nervous at the fact that she knew he was there… how long had she known? She patted soil on top of the roots of the flowers, then dusted her gloved hands off and stood up.

August turned to face her stalker, taking him, remembering those soft blue eyes and longing look in them.

Her expression was unreadable to him as she surveyed him without speaking. “H—How’d you know?” She ignored his question as if he had never spoken, still running her eyes over him. Would it be weird if he hid behind the large plant again, as he felt judged by her cool gaze?

“So, it was you. I’ve never had a stalker before. Why?” She tilted her head, “Why were you stalking me?”

He took a deep breath in, filling his lungs before he spoke. “I was curious.”

“Curiosity killed the cat, all nine lives,” August said.

Her calm voice was as sharp as knives to his throat. Claude gulped, his heart was racing, and his lungs tight as he prayed, she didn’t scream for help. Her tone sounded repulsed, and he wasn’t sure what she’d do if she was irritated with him. “I—why does everyone avoid you?”

August rolled her eyes and shook her head in nonchalance. “Everyone who avoids me is ridiculous and judgmental. They don’t like differences too much, but then, not everyone at school sees me as an oddball. Why don’t you avoid me?” she pulled off her gloves to set them on the table beside her. “You followed me all the way over here, so you at least owe me answers, right? I could always scream for help. Up to you.”

He bit the inside of his bottom lip as he got ready to tell her why he had unintentionally stalked her. “You’re interesting.” Her eyes widened as if in surprise, and he wasn’t sure if he should smile at that or keep it together… the latter seemed better now, so he kept it together as he continued. “I—what I meant was—.”

“Why am I interesting to you?” she was curious now, his words had gotten to her, and now she wanted his reasons for them. His forehead had broken out in sweat, so she didn’t push too hard lest he run out on her.

Claude blurted out the first thing he could think of. “I think flowers look beautiful on you, a—and the simple fact that you enjoy them, wear them, and love them makes you interesting… to me—please don’t think that I’m weird for saying that,” he said with his hands up, in defeat. “I just admired you for a long time, and I really wanted to talk to you today, but I just couldn’t find the courage to approach you.”

“So, stalking me was your next best option?” She folded her arms over her chest, and he nodded, embarrassment painting the poor boy’s face red. She held back her laughter, then saw as he lowered his hands then pointed his left thumb towards the exit.

“I’ll just leave then.” He turned around with sadness strangling his neck, cursing his idiocy.

August couldn’t take it. He was too adorable and innocent. “Wait, don’t go," she smiled, “what’s your name?”

He turned back and watched her like she had just spoken in tongues. “U—uhh, it’s Claude, Claude Mason.”

“Hi, I’m August Chandler. I love flowers. And in the future, you should start with hi, then see where it goes from there.” He nodded and stepped closer, sticking out a hand.

“I’m into photography, nature, and modeling. I’m sorry for stalking you. That wasn’t my intention. I was too mesmerized by you, and I did something stupid and possibly harmful.”

August shrugged and chuckled. She wasn’t bent outta shape because of it, but it was nice to know that he was more harmless than she originally thought. “It wasn’t fully stupid. We finally spoke, so there’s a win in that.” She winked, ignoring his outstretched hand, which he awkwardly pulled back seconds later.

He blushed and scratched the back of his neck. “Hi.”

“Hi.” She grinned as they stood there for another second without speaking, but then she cleared her throat. “See, not so hard. Um, I knew you were following me, because no one really takes that route since it’s mostly elderly residents in that neighborhood. I heard extra footsteps while Rachel and I were walking. The rest of the workers normally work in the other sections of the greenhouse, so technically, I heard you coming.” She said, answering his earlier question about how she knew he was there. She turned back to her gloves and smirked, “Maybe don’t wear combat boots when you go stalking, they’re heavy boots.”

Claude chuckled nervously at his foolish actions. “Well, in my defense, I don’t leave my house planning to stalk pretty girls into greenhouses.” She paused in pulling on her first glove on her right hand.

“Pretty?” August asked. His blue eyes met her gaze, and he swore under his breath. He opened his mouth to speak, but she was quicker. “Thank you.” She grabbed another pair of gloves. “Come be useful and help me plant these. It’s a better use of your time, don’t you agree?”

Claude nodded, trying to hide his smile as he took the gloves from her. “I think so, so do you come here every day?”

“Not every day, but most of the time. I told you, Claude, I love flowers, and they are the only beautiful things on this planet that are worth the time. With care and love, they live long. And their multiple arrays of colors are something that attracts the eye. They're the imagined colors that the mind believes it sees.”

“Excuse me?” he asked, following her to the tray of tiny flowers

“You don’t see color, not really. It’s all in your mind. It’s an illusion of the mind.” August said while making her hands into an arch before her eyes. She chuckled and handed a small hand shovel to Claude. “Come on. There are still more flowers to plant.”

They got to their knees and began setting the baby flowers in their homes that she had previously dug up. He couldn’t keep his eyes to himself because she was as beautiful as the flowers she was planting. Something about her made him distracted, and he couldn’t figure it out.

“If you keep gazing at me, you’ll never finish these.”

“S—sorry,” he said, looking down at his knees, “so how do you care for baby’s breath?” he said, testing the name on his tongue, after seeing the labels on their sections in the dirt where she was planting them. The name sounded odd, but cute.

“Well, with minimal warm water—since they’re still young. They last five to around ten days, but if you take good enough care of them, then they live longer. These new ones are still growing, but will soon get used to the new environment.”

“Have you ever dealt with dangerous flowers before?” he asked randomly. She shrugged.

“No, they won’t allow me to. But most flowers with toxins are dangerous by touch, like poison ivy, so they keep me and other young volunteers away. You’ll learn that some or all parts of most flowers are toxic for humans and or animals. These babies here are toxic to dogs if ingested.” He raised an eyebrow, so she continued to elaborate. “It contains a gastrointestinal toxin that causes vomiting and diarrhea. While it’s mild, it’s still something to be aware of.”

“Wow, you know your stuff.”

“Yeah, well, I want to have my own flower shop when I’m older, and knowing all there is to them is one of the most important parts of that job.” She smiled at him, and he gave her one back. “Thank you for helping me.”

“Not a problem, thank you for… not thinking of me as a stalker,” Claude said, standing and dusting off his knees with his free hand.

“Oh, you’re still a stalker, you just unintentionally became a stalker because of your random curiosity. But I’ll give you a free pass—just this time.” He giggled, his eyes lit up as he covered his mouth. She couldn’t help but smile along with him. He was cute, she thought as she stood up. “Maybe, if you want, you can come here with me after school whenever I go? You did so well with these flowers today, and in turn, I could talk with you more in school?”

“Yes!” he jumped, then dialed back a lot and nodded. “Yes, I’d love that.” Claude caught himself when he heard how desperate he sounded. He calmed his tone then began again. “Sorry, I mean, I’d like to, it was nice, relaxing even.” She stretched her hand out to him, and he observed her smirk, then took her smaller hand in his.

She gasped softly from the contact, then bit her lips to stop the grin that wanted to come forth. “We have a deal then.”