The Shy Flower Part 2

[Thursday]

On the morning of the following day, Sean woke up earlier than usual. He dashed out of bed and ran as quickly as he could to school just to make sure he wasn't late.

He waited by where he saw the girl from before with a smile on his face, hoping that she will be there.

After a few minutes of waiting, Lily approached the receptionist's desk where a teacher stepped out. Sean watched for a while admiring her from a distance. She was wearing the same bubblegum pink hoodie under her school blazer that she always wore. Her black hair gently rested on her shoulders as she looked up, listening to the teacher talking to her.

"I think that's the Geography teacher? Mrs something. I can't remember her name." Sean whispered to himself.

She stared back at the teacher with a confused but patient look, as she hid her hands in her hoodie's sleeves. The teacher smiled at Lily telling her something before running off to class.

"H-hey. Excuse me..." Sean approached and attempted to talk.

Lily stared back unsure if she was the one being spoken to.

"M-me?" She replied, after having checked to see if it could have been someone else Sean was speaking to.

"Y-yes?" Sean said, confused but looking firmly at Lily who quickly moved her head away avoiding eye contact.

"Sorry… I have to go."

Lily quickly ran off holding her bag close to her chest as she put her hood up to hide her expression. Sean was left staring at her as she ran out of the school, without the teachers stopping her. He sighed to himself, before slowly dragging his body to class.

Inside the classroom, Sean walked in slowly and sat down next to Ethan without saying anything.

"What's wrong with you? You seem different." He asked.

"I attempted to speak to that Lily girl. But she just left."

Sean planted his face on the table and squished his head with his bag.

"Hmm… well. You can always try again tomorrow. We were just saying how she has a mock exam in the first lesson."

"Perfect!" Sean jumped up. "I shall try again tomorrow."

Ethan's eyes rolled as he feared Sean was catching up with him in the love game. He wanted the first to get a girlfriend and was already jealous of the progress Sean was making. Despite there being no real progress.

# # #

[Friday]

The following morning Sean waited patiently in the same spot for Lily to arrive. He listened to the conversations of the students who walked passed and overheard people talking about the girl that wears the pink hoodie. Since she always arrived at the same time, in the same clothes, it quickly became a hot topic amongst those who spotted her on their path.

"Ah. She's here." Sean said to himself.

Sean watched Lily as she spoke to the same teacher with the same flat expression.

As soon as the teacher left Lily turned around and noticed Sean in the corner of her eye. Quickly avoiding him and running away.

"AH! Please wait!" Sean followed running.

"W-what is it?" Lily said, almost biting her tongue as she did.

"Errr… I just want to talk."

Lily turned around to face Sean but didn't look at him.

"What is it?" She asked quietly.

"Oh… err… I just wanted to get to know you. I'm Sean. Nice to meet ya!"

Lily looked at the energetic boy standing in front of her. Only seeing the parts of him she hates.

"I'm Lily."

Sean stood facing Lily who kept checking to see if Sean was staring at her. Occasionally, her eyes met with his, but she would turn away, embarrassed and scared.

"I'm sorry. I have to go."

Lily ran off in the direction of the teacher's offices, hiding from Sean. Inside the office, she sat with her head covered and her face resting against the table. The teachers didn't care to ask her about her worries, as this was a daily occurrence for them. Every time they saw Lily, they knew she would act this way.

# # #

[Monday]

As Monday approached and a new school week began, Sean sat in bed thinking about the wasted weekend that he spent sitting inside asking Ethan and Owen for advice. All the advice he was given wasn't very helpful. Ethan replied with his own crazy elaborate ideas whilst Owen contradicted each one with logic and harsh truths.

A heavy sigh escaped his mouth as he turned to the clock, looking at the ticking hands that taunted him.

"Shit..." he said, quickly rushing to get ready. Sean would always leave later, but due to his recent adventure, he wanted to arrive early to meet Lily.

He quickly ran through the pouring rain and headed straight up to the same spot outside the reception office, where Lily stood talking to the teacher, again.

"H-hello," Sean said once they were done talking, and Lily was about to leave.

"Ah, S-sean?"

Sean attempted to reply but was too infatuated with the fact that she remembered his name.

"Y-yes. Lily, right?" Sean said acting like he only just remembered her name and wasn't thinking about it all weekend.

"Y-yeah."

The two stood awkwardly, admiring the ground in silence. Sean's confidence was taken from him as he was suddenly barraged by cuteness. The ace who never got nervous was finally meeting his match.

"Hey look, it's the pink hoodie girl." A passing student said, loud enough that most could hear and more attention was brought to them both.

"I've heard rumours about her from the other schools."

"Yeah. She went to my sister's school before coming here. She told me not to get involved with the pink hoodie girl."

Lily looked over but quickly retreated to the safety of her hood and hid her hands up her sleeves, keeping her head down.

Sean turned to look at the student that called out to her and turned back to see Lily's reaction, but the hood covered it.

"I've got to go. Please stay away from me."

"W-wait!" Sean attempted to chase after her but it was already too late. She ran out of the school gates into the rain and charged into a car that was waiting for her by the entrance.

Another sigh escaped the so-called perfect boy's mouth. He was becoming tired of this routine. Why couldn't it all just work out? Why couldn't it be easier?

Sean had to return to his classroom. He dropped into his chair and pulled out his notebook from his bag.

"What are you doing?" Owen asked.

"I'm annoyed so I'm trying to vent my feelings."

"R-right." Owen desired to no longer question the weirdness. "Are you going to tell us what happened?"

Sean pulled out a pencil from his pocket and started to draw a doodle on a random page of the notebook.

"So I saw Lily again. She spoke to me this time. But I found out why she doesn't want to come to school."

"Why is that?" Ethan asked.

"Because she's being bullied!" Sean Screamed.

"Alright, alright. Calm down." Owen attempted to control the storm. "Look, I knew something was strange about her situation and this must be it. I'm going to tell you something important so listen up, and stop drawing flowers! I thought we told you to give up on drawing! Although you have gotten better"

"Thanks. And sorry, I'll put it away."

"She is being bullied and she doesn't want to come to school because of it. She hands in all her work and only comes to school for exams then she leaves as soon as they are done. What she needs right now, more than anything, is someone she trusts. Someone that will make her want to go to school. Ruby said she transferred in during Year 9, something must have happened in the past to make her lose her trust. You need to be that person. If you can be that person she will want to come back."

"Wow." Sean thought about Owen's words and knew that they were true, as did Ethan who nodded along. He knew that their past experiences taught them that. Sean slumped his head on the desk thinking about what to do. He had gone his whole life without being bullied and had no experience dealing with this. All he knew was how to solve it his own way from the past.

"I... I don't know what to do."

Ethan and Owen watched as Sean fell further. They looked at him as if they saw nothing but a failure. A part of them enjoyed seeing Sean lose his smile, but that quickly went away, as it started to feel like hell had frozen over.

"Are you serious?" Owen exclaimed. "What the hell is sitting here crying going to do? This girl needs someone! This girl needs you! If you want her to come to school. If you want to talk to her. Then you need to stop this shit you are currently on and step up! Punch every bully that comes near her! Punch Everyone!"

"He's right, Sean," Ethan said. "Lily needs someone who will never betray her, she needs someone who will punch those bullies in the face, metaphorically of course. Someone who will look at her as the person she is and not some victim of bullying! So basically, punch the bullies."

"Punch the bullies," Owen repeated, not speaking metaphorically.

Sean sat up from his desk "You're right! I need to be there for her."

"Well, I'm glad we managed to explain it to you. I honestly thought our explanation was rubbish, but if you understood that's all that matters."

"No, it was perfect. Thanks, guys. But how do you know so much about this stuff? This doesn't seem like you."

Ethan and Owen looked at each other and drooped down. They questioned just how much of an idiot Sean truly was.

"Eh? Don't worry about that, Sean. Just focus on yourself."

Throughout the day various rumours started to emerge around the school regarding Lily. Sean listened to all the rumours he could to find out what had happened to Lily in the past. Each rumour was worse than the last and he had no idea what to believe. By the end of the day, everyone throughout the year had heard of Lily. Those that had spoken to her in the past insulted her, and those that had never seen or met her spoke as if they were Lily's friends, and that she betrayed all of them. But the recent rumours of her and Sean were spreading rapidly. The school's football ace was supposedly dating her.

Occasional comments would reach Sean during lunch and lessons, but he would just ignore them until everyone got bored of asking. His thick skin was his greatest weapon, and his carefreeness was what Ethan and Owen loved about him.

# # #

[Tuesday]

Tuesday arrived and Sean ran out of his house earlier than he has ever left before. He ran without care, splashing through several puddles from the night before, arriving at school before it even opened. A smile rested on his face as confidence reentered his mind.

He waited in the usual spot as soon as the gates opened. He wanted to make sure that they would see each other. He wasn't going to shy away and let her leave without hearing what he has to say.

Several minutes later, Lily arrived with her face covered. She approached the teacher that waited for her and handed the pieces of paper in her hands before quickly retreating, not a single word was said by her. Sean watched the encounter from afar and quickly followed as she walked down the stairs.

"Wait! Lily!" Sean called out.

Lily stopped but didn't turn around, she knew his voice and wanted to listen. Sean's call alerted the students around them who had stopped and looked at the two of them. They all recognised her from the rumours. They spoke about her as if she couldn't hear. Although Sean was able to ignore them, Lily could not and tried to cover her tears, choking herself with her own hood.

"Ah… my bad," Sean said, aware of the situation he had put her in. "Come here" Sean ran up to Lily and grabbed her hand out of her sleeve, tightly holding it and pulling her along as they ran to the empty school field.

All eyes were on them as students watched. The love rumours were spreading faster than light, most were already talking to their friends about it. Many were angry that a girl like Lily had stolen Sean. But the teachers watched and smile, knowing the kindhearted Sean was trying to help her.

"Sorry about that. I wanted to talk to you."

Lily stood in silence and rested her body against a wall to hide her red face. She couldn't even raise her voice to ask why Sean took her away, and why Sean didn't let her leave. Because deep down, she was happy that Sean didn't leave.

"When I first approached you last week. It was because I was interested in you. I saw you talking to a teacher. You were a girl who looked shy but held a brave face. Someone who looked as if they wanted to be invisible in a place where they stood out. I saw you and wanted to know more about you."

There was a brief moment of silence before Lily's tiny voice spoke.

"N-no… you heard them all. I'm weird. You know, right? W-why they hate me. I'm not brave like you think. I'm an awful person. Everyone I hang out with ends up hating me. I don't blame them though. I also hate me."

Sean watched Lily crumble in front of him. Lily rested her head against the cold bricks of the school, dirtying the hood of her jumper that covered her head.

"I don't know what happened." Sean began to speak. "I don't know what you've been through.

But what's wrong with being weird? If you think you are weird you should see my friends, one of them is similar to you. He hates crowds, people and life in general but he powers through. The other one gets upset whenever he messes up slightly when talking to the girl he likes. People used to look at them and say the things they said to you. But to me, I watched them and was jealous of them. On the first day, they magnetized to each other, it seemed like they were having so much fun and whilst everyone insulted them and hit them, I was jealous of their friendship. They think I don't know about it all but I just keep quiet because it's embarrassing for all of us. I think you'd like them. They would never hate you."

"They seem nice… your friends…" Lily mumbled, jealous of the story Sean told.

"Yeah. I always considered myself to be lucky. Although I don't get along with my parents very well I have great friends and a brother who would do anything for me. My whole life has been easy. I've never been bullied and I seem to be popular according to those around me, even if I do get overwhelmed from time to time. I know that I have people who will always treat me properly. People who will defend me even if I don't ask for it. Ah. I forgot. this isn't meant to be about me. What I meant to say was."

Sean struggled to get his words out. He planned several speeches the night before with the help of Owen and Ethan but threw them all away last minute. He had notes in his bag but threw those in the bin before leaving. This was all from his mind.

"I want to be that person for you! I want to be someone you can trust! Someone you can turn to! Someone you can always count on! I want to be your friend! I WANT TO BE THE PERSON TO MAKE YOU FORGET ABOUT EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED!" Sean projected at the top of his lungs alerting people in the classrooms who were looking out their windows to see what was happening.

"I-i… I-i don't know. I've heard this all before… How do I… How do I know that it won't end up like it always does."

Lily said fighting through the tears that crawled down her face, hidden by the hood she pulled down on. If she didn't cover her head, she would have broken down even more from the eyes that all watched her.

"Let me show you! Spend the day with me tomorrow and I'll show you!"

Lily spent her whole life being an outcast by those around her. Every time she would go to a new school she would attempt to make new friends, but they always ended up the same. Her past mistakes would never leave her. Even her parents gave up trying to help. They thought that going to a new school would change things, but they were wrong. It always made things worse.

Lily didn't want hope. To her hope was something that she thought she wasn't allowed. But as she stood crying into her hood, she hoped. As wrong as she thought it was. As words of her past rushed through her mind telling her to give up, she hoped. Hoped that the person in front of her was telling the truth.