Flourish

Bambi too anxious to sit still sits on her hands trying to look as casual as she can, she sits in her corner seat a warm cup of tea in front of her as she waits for Ryan. Bambi never having been good with waiting is growing anxious and starting to doubt he is coming, Bambi bites her lip and looks away from the door, 13 days until the devil returns, Bambi feels sick and sad inside at the same time and she is no longer worrying about Ryan.

Ryan enters the coffee shop, Bambi is staring out the window she is sitting next to, she has a sad look on her face and he is wondering what is making her so sad, he bumps into a group of people and stumbles an apology as he looks into the eyes of three of his colleagues, Bambi has yet to notice Ryan and he is grateful, “Oh hello Ryan” The two men and one women chime with smiles,
“Hello” Ryan glances at Bambi she has noticed, having heard Ryan’s name her attention is drawn to the group of people standing in the middle of the small café, she recognizes her maths teacher and remains where she is sitting.

“What brings you here?” He math teacher asks Ryan, as much as Bambi wants to look away and remain unnoticed she can’t because Ryan is staring at her with a small smile, it makes her heart skip a beat and sends a flush from the top of her head right down to the tips of her toes,
“A friend recommended the coffee” Ryan says glancing from Bambi to his colleagues not wanting to alert them to their student’s presence in the corner. Ryan orders his coffee and stands awkwardly to the side of the group waiting for them to leave, they stand there.

“So Ryan, what are you doing after this?” Mr Johnson the vice principle asks,

“Yes do you have plans?” The women asks Ms Martin, she looks different outside of school without her sharp hairdo and causal outfit, he smiles and racks his brain for a good excuse,

“We were going out to lunch” Mr Luther the math teacher says, “You should join us”

“I’d love to” Ryan says as his name is called, Bambi watches this scene with her big eyes and Ryan shoots her a small glance, she is smiling slightly, Bambi is finding this funny, she likes watching Ryan squirm, it makes her feel less awkward about herself. “But I have tests to mark, and I’m meeting a friend later” He shoots Bambi a glance, she continues to watch with that infuriating smile on her pretty face, “So I’m going to go drink this in my car” He says loudly, Bambi raises her eyebrows and lets out a small giggle, none of the teachers notice Bambi but they do notice the strange behavior of their colleague.

Ryan pauses before leaving the coffee shop, he walks to his car his face flushing with embarrassment, he sits in the driver’s seat and places his head on the steering wheel, he doesn’t even notice Bambi is sitting next to him until he hears her laugh. “It’s not funny” Ryan complains, he glances around making sure the teachers are not watching him. “Let’s get out of here”

Bambi doesn’t speak and Ryan drives from the car park, before he realizes what he is doing he is turning down newly familiar streets to his house, “Where are we going?” Bambi asks, she stares at the houses as they pass them,

“Well, uh we could,” Ryan changes gears and clears his throat, “We could go to, uh, my place” He finally stammers, Bambi bites her lip,

“Okay” Ryan cannot help but notice Bambi’s pale thin legs sicking out from her dress, he wonders if she has ever been to a boys house before and just who has seen up her dress and if he ever will.
Ryan almost misses his driveway thinking about Bambi, “Shit” He mutters making a sharp turn, Bambi giggles she likes that she is making Ryan nervous, she likes knowing she has the same effect on him as he does her. “So this is it” He says as they exit the car,

“Is your roommate home?” Bambi asks as he unlocks the door to the apartment complex, they climb the stairs as Ryan remembers the blonde girl he met briefly this morning in his kitchen, she stood in front of him in nothing but Tony’s shirt and Ryan is suddenly regretting his decision to bring Bambi here.

“He’s in his room” Ryan says, he is not entirely sure where Tony is but he hopes he is not forced to introduce his 16 year old date to his best friend. Ryan pauses outside of apartment 3A turning the doorknob, Bambi takes in her surroundings, the apartment is very big and spacious with two bedrooms branching off from the living room, on the left hand side of the house is a small kitchen with a strange shirtless man staring at them from in it, Bambi is mostly interested in the large bay windows and sliding doors leading out to a veranda. She moves forward and stares out the window.
Tony stands behind the counter staring at the short girl standing with Ryan, she looks much too young to be here and he puts the pieces together, “So” Tony says stepping out from the kitchen, Ryan gives him a pointed look which he of course ignores, there is no way he is letting his friend fuck up like this. “This is the reason you couldn’t make the date last night”

Ryan glares at his friend, Bambi looks between Ryan and his roommate unsure of what ‘date’ they are discussing, “Date?” She asks in her small timid voice,

“Double date, I’ll explain later” Bambi does not know what to do with her hands, they hold her tea awkwardly and she wants to leave, Tony is shirtless and eyeballing her with anger and she feels silly and young. A tall blonde woman with legs five times longer than Bambi’s walks out from a bedroom in a singlet and underwear, she smiles at them both. Bambi wants to die.

“Ryan” The woman says, Bambi’s heart starts to beat erratically, Ryan stares at the girl whose name he cannot remember from this morning, her nipples are visible through her shirt and both Bambi and Ryan notice this, Ryan clears his throat,

“Tony this is Alice” Ryan says, Bambi stands stiffly beside him and he feels like a jackass, he looks down at her she is staring at the girl, and her face is expressionless. Ryan hates the thought that he has made her expressionless, he may not know Bambi well but he does know her well enough to know her silence is not a good thing. Bambi stares at the pretty girl and cannot help but compare herself to this model, Bambi is short and frumpy in her dress with smaller breasts and a pale exterior.

“Alice this is Carla” Tony says as Ryan brings a hand to his head, Tony is staring at Bambi and Bambi does not really notice, Tony reminds her of a lion, all big and scary full of anger and fight. Bambi is not a fighter she does not speak mean words, she barely speaks words and right now her mouth and brain are not cooperating, as much as she wants to leave her mouth wont form the words, as awkward as she feels she cannot say anything.

“What big eyes you have” The girl says with a warm smile, the smile reminds her of the smile the wolf has before he eats Red Riding Hood, it is all teeth and it scares Bambi, she stares at the wolf in a pretty girl’s skin and remains quiet.

“Bambi, do you want to go to my room?” Ryan asks as he places a hand on the small of her back, Bambi barely registers Ryan’s touch she is thinking of Red Riding Hood and how she wants to gobbled up by that Wolf right about how. Ryan shuts the door and stares at Bambi, she looks around his room, she notices Alice in Wonderland sitting in the small bedside table, Ryan has no other seating options then his large king size bed with black sheets. “Shit, I’m really sorry” Bambi doesn’t reply she reaches for the Alice in Wonderland book, she stares at the cover, “Alice?” Ryan asks, she doesn’t respond, “Alice are you okay?”

“Who was that girl” Bambi asks quietly, Ryan breathes a sigh of relief Bambi is talking and looking at him,

“Tony’s date”

“She likes you”

“She does not” Bambi wants to laugh but she is not in a laughing mood, Ryan excuses himself and Bambi stands awkwardly in his room holding the book and her tea, Ryan tries to stay quiet so Bambi does not hear but she does, “Tony, what the fuck was that?”

“Who the fuck is that?” Tony asks, Bambi glances round Ryan’s room, she considers climbing out the window but Bambi is scared of heights and she is not sure how to get back to her house from here so she stays rooted to the spot as this stranger speaks unkind words about her, “She is a child Ryan, a fucking child!”

“Shut up” Ryan hisses grabbing Tony by his elbow and leading him to the kitchen, “She can fucking hear you” Bambi flinches at Ryan’s raised tone, his loud words scare her, Bambi does not like loud voices, screaming and shouting scare her, anger scares her.

“I don’t care, what the hell were you thinking bringing her back here? What are you going to fuck your student?” Bambi flinches at the mention of sex, she glances around Ryan’s room searching for a place to hide, she considers crawling under the bed but the sheets aren’t long enough to cover her and she does not know what to do once she is under there.

“It’s not like that” Ryan says, running a hand over his face, “I don’t know what I’m doing Tony, all I know is I like this girl and she likes me I think, and I hate that I am doing this with my student” Ryan’s voice is very quiet and Bambi cannot hear him, she is scared he has agreed with his roommate Tony, “Fuck” He says a little too loudly, Bambi jumps and tears form in her eyes, she is such an idiot thinking her teacher brought her here for anything other than sex, Bambi is annoyed at how naive she has been, of course he wants sex, that’s all men ever want.

“She’s a kid Ryan”

“She’s 16” Ryan says, “And three quarters” He adds at the end, he feels ridiculous hearing himself add the end part, “I’ve tried to stay away from her, I have I just can’t”

“You obviously didn’t try hard enough Ryan” Bambi takes a step backward and knocks into a lamp, it hits the wall and makes a big bang, Ryan remembers he has left Bambi alone in his room, Bambi drops the book and grabs the lamp before it hits the ground, Ryan walks away from his friend and straight to his room, he walks in and Bambi is standing there with tears in her big eyes holding his lamp.

“I’m sorry” She says biting her lip, Bambi does not want to cry, she does not want to seem even younger and immature than she already is but the tears are coming and she feels so stupid,
“Hey, it’s okay” Ryan says in a soothing voice, he reaches over and grabs the lamp straightening it, Bambi stands awkwardly on her feet, she sniffles and hopes Ryan doesn’t notice she is crying, “Hey, it’s okay” He says softly, Ryan wants to hug Bambi and Bambi wants to be hugged but both are too awkward to initiate it so Ryan stands in front of Bambi feeling useless. Ryan leans down to grab the book she has dropped; he runs a shaky hand through his short brown hair “You were right”
“About what?” Bambi asks through a sniffle,

“The Queen, she is much better than the caterpillar” Bambi lets out a small laugh and sighs relaxing her shoulders,

“I told you” Bambi mutters wrapping her arms around her frail body,

“I’m sorry about that” Ryan says nodding his head towards the door, Bambi smiles lightly in acceptance of the apology. “And about Carla, I don’t like her, I like someone else” Bambi’s heart does a small flip in her stomach as Ryan stares into her eyes

“Who?”

“You”

“Me?”

“Yes, you silly” Ryan says taking a step closer to Bambi, Bambi’s heart is racing and she wants to kiss Ryan she really does she is just not ready, not yet. She needs a little more time, Ryan senses Bambi’s hesitation and moves away a little, I can wait, he thinks to himself, Ryan drives Bambi home shortly afterward, she does not kiss him but she does place her hand lightly on his and it is enough for them both, it is a small reminder that Bambi is Ryan’s and he hers, even if they are not ready it admit it yet.