Flourish

Bambi stares at her vanity mirror for a second longer than needed, she practices the smile that feels so foreign on her face, she has pretty much perfected her fake smile, she has gotten so good her parents can no longer tell, she is not proud of this fact but it is easier than being constantly asked after.

Happy with her smile she walks into the kitchen where her mother is pouring her a glass of orange juice, “Morning sweetie” She says with her ever chipper attitude, Bambi wishes she were more like her mother, but she is not.

“Morning” She says with her false smile,

“Excited for school this morning?”

“Yes” Bambi lies, Bambi eats her breakfast and makes pointless small talk with her mother, Bambi really does love her parents she just cannot bare to tell them the truth, Bambi’s mother loves her little brother how can Bambi tell her the truth? She can’t so she keeps her pretty mouth in a tight fake smile and goes through the motions of a normal life.

“Oh and Alice,” Her mother asks, she stares at her mother chewing her mouthful of toast, “Your uncle is coming to visit”

“What?” Bambi chokes out, the bread is stuck at the back of her throat and she needs to swallow but her mouth is bone dry,

“He’s coming to visit isn’t that wonderful?” The dragon is coming back, Bambi is scared, Bambi is shaking with fear but she cannot let her mother know this,

“I forgot,” Bambi lies “I need to go to school early and work on a project with my friends”

“Alright dear” her mother answers none the wiser,

*

Ryan walks into his English classroom half an hour early prepared to set out today's lesson plan, in her usual seat sits Bambi, her pale face covered by long blonde hair, she is not reading and Ryan can tell something is wrong. “Bambi” He asks, she looks up, Bambi is confident in her smile so she flashes it at Ryan, “What are you doing here, class doesn’t start for another half hour” He says glancing at the circular analogue clock on the wall above the whiteboard,

“Sorry, I” She says looking away quickly, her perfect fake smile is faltering and tears are filling her large eyes, they hold so much water but she is terrified to let any slip. “I’ll go” She whispers standing, she nearly falls back into her seat, she places a hand to her head and just waits for the unbalanced feeling in her body to leave.

“No, stay Bambi” Ryan says moving to her side, he helps her back into her seat, “Are you okay?”

“Why?” Bambi asks her heart rate skyrocketing, she cannot talk about this, he will tell her parents and Bambi cannot hurt her parents like that, she just wants to be a good little girl.

“You just seem… I don’t know I’m sorry” Ryan says walking back to the whiteboard,

“No, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have come here” Bambi wants to stand and leave but she can’t,

“Why did you come here?”

“I needed to get away” Bambi says, the truth slips from her lips and she doesn’t know why she is telling her English teacher this but she is and she can’t stop.

“From what?”

“My uncle is coming to visit” Bambi says, Ryan watches her with confusion,

“Don’t get along?”

“No, we don’t” Bambi says, she waits for another question but no more come and although Bambi is wondering if Ryan believes her, she is not read to speak up. She bites her lip and watches his messy scrawl fill the board. “Aren’t teachers supposed to have neat writing?”

Ryan turns to stare at her, she is staring at his writing, he laughs “I should be a doctor right”
“No” Bambi mutters quietly, “I’m glad you became a teacher” She mutters quietly, she feels better talking about stupid pointless things, she almost feels normal. It is nice and she wishes it would last but she knows it won’t, it never does but for now she smiles and talks to her teacher.

“So am I” Ryan murmurs, he is not sure what is happening but Bambi is smiling and it is not the fake smile she tries to pass off as real, it is genuine and it makes Ryan’s heart skip a beat. It is stupid and he wishes it would stop but it doesn’t and secretly a small part of him is glad.