Walking down the street to her home, Blossom held her flushed cheeks. Thoughts of his smile and bright eyes as they spoke flashed through her mind. With a giggle, she ran her fingers through her hair, trying to calm down.
Stepping in front of her door, she opened the door her face still flushed. Hearing the door open, her mom rushed over in a panic, looking her up and down.
"Dear, why are you so late? I was so worried!"
Her dad stepped out of the kitchen wearing sweats and a kiss-the-chef's apron. Her mom's eyes locked onto her sweet smile, along with the fresh bandages on her face.
"What happened, dear? You look very happy?" She asked, starting to calm down. Blossom pressed her lips together, not wanting to respond, but her cheeks flushed red once more. Her dad's eyes narrowed, noticing her blush, and he stepped closer to them at the door.
Her mom's eyes widened seeing her blush before a sly smile grew.
"Is it a boy?" She asked teasingly. Hearing her words, Blossom's blush grew stronger, and she lowered her head, avoiding looking at the two.
"Who is it?" Her dad asked, frowning, not liking the sound of her getting close to boys.
"I forgot to ask his name," Blossom said shyly. A huge smile grew on her mom's face and led her to the living room, sitting her on the couch. Following behind them, her dad sat down on a nearby armchair.
"Is he handsome?" Those were the first words out of her mom's mouth. Blossom avoided looking at them as her cheeks flamed up and nodded her head gently.
"Is he a classmate? How did you meet?" Her mom asked with a giggle, happy to finally start talking about boys with her daughter. Blossom paused, remembering what happened with Jianna.
"We met in the nurse's office when I was getting my bandages changed." She said, avoiding explaining anything other than that. Her expression slowly turned dreamy as the image of him sleeping on the couch came back to mind.
"He was asleep on the couch under the window. He was funny, telling me to tell him not to sleep on the couch again." She said her mind wandering and her cheeks flushing once again.
Hearing her words, her dad frowned and leaned back listening.
"Ooooo!" Her mom couldn't think of anything else to say in her excitement and shook her arm before turning to her husband.
"Honey! Blossom is finally interested in boys!" She said her voice sounded squeaky.
"I don't approve of any relationships until you graduate." He said, frowning, sounding slightly grumpy. Her mom gave him a playful glare before rolling her eyes and looking back to Blossom.
"Blossom, dear, just ignore your dad. It's good that you're getting close with someone." She patted Blossom's thigh gently.
"Go up to your room, relax, and get ready for dinner, and don't worry about your dad." Embarrassed Blossom stood up and ran up the stairs to her room, closing the door. Then, stopping at her bed, she plopped down, wrapped herself in the blanket, and lay in bed for a minute, trying to calm down somewhat.
As she lay within her warm blanket, a thought of Liam and their conversation about sleep positions popped back up, causing her cheeks to flush once more. With a sigh, she sat up and slapped her cheeks with both hands.
"Gosh, you just met him, Blossom. Calm down." She muttered to herself. Then, wanting to distract herself, she jumped up, went to her closet, and pulled out soft blue night pants and a tan tank top. After doing so, she entered her bathroom and took an hour-long shower.
Coming out dressed with her hair wrapped in a towel, she dropped her clothes in the laundry basket before pulling her homework out of her bag and setting it on her desk. Sitting down for the next hour, she finished her homework before getting up to finish drying her hair off, then heading downstairs.
In the kitchen, she saw her dad walking around the table, setting it up for dinner. With a smile, she entered and helped him finish setting up the table. The rest of the night passed with happy laughter from the three as they ate dinner and even had a simple family movie night before going to bed, since she has school the next day.
In the morning, Blossom stood at the front door in a clean uniform, fresh bandages covering her wounds.
"Be careful going out today and try to avoid getting hurt, ok?" Her mom said, adjusting her clothes, patting it down. Turning to leave, she heard her dad call out.
"Try to avoid getting close to that boy, Blossom." With a blush, she sped off, rushing to school. Her mom frowned at him and, with a smack to his shoulder, dragged him into the house.
Nearing the school, Blossom saw Liam standing near the gate, looking around. Slowing down, she took him in her cheeks, slowly flushing. His eyes locked onto her, and with a big smile ran over. He turned and walked in sync with her towards the school.
"Do you feel better today?" He asked, his eyes running over her face, noticing her slightly red cheeks. She looked up at him, shyly nodding her head.
"Yes." She said. Looking at her, his cheeks flushed slightly. Turning his head, he cleared his throat.
"Oh, I forgot to ask for your name yesterday. My name is Liam." He said, avoiding looking at her. She looked up at him shyly, catching a glimpse of his side profile before looking away.
"My name is Blossom." She responded softly. Just after she finished speaking, she noticed the crowd around her seemed to get quiet.
"Liam!" A sweet girl's voice called out. The two turned to look in the direction the voice came from.
Jianna ran up with a sweet smile directed towards Liam and clung to his arm. With a frown, Liam tried to pull his arm away, but Jianna just held on tighter, not letting him take his arm back.
As usual, Olive stood nearby looking Blossom up and down while chewing on some gummies with a smirk.
"Why are you so close to Liam?" She asked. Flinching Blossom lowered her pale face, avoiding their gaze. Liam quickly noticed her expression and, yanking his arm back, approached her with a worried look.
"Are you alright?" He asked softly, gently placing his hand on her shoulder. She nodded, her face still pale, scared to look at Jianna. Frowning, he shot Jianna another glare before placing his hand on the lower back of Blossom and leading her away from the two girls.
With an ugly glare, Jianna's eyes seemed like they could kill with just a glance. Olive's eyes narrowed as she leaned over and whispered in Jianna's ear.
"We will find a chance to drag her away today, trust me."
"It's Blossom's slutty face that got his attention," Jianna said through gritted teeth.
Inside the school, Liam and Blossom stood together with him, looking down at her. Dazed Blossom didn't even realize she kept trembling from the adrenaline rush of everything that happened, even though nothing really happened at the same time.
"Do your injuries from yesterday have to do with them?" Liam asked, knowing how they are. Blossom froze for a second, then, without looking up at him, spoke.
"It has nothing to do with them."
Liam gave her lowered head a deep gaze before sighing and changing his expression to a smile.
"Do you have a phone?" He asked, changing the subject. Blossom raised her head, confused, and nodded. With a smile, Liam held his hand.
Blossom stared at him, dazed, wondering why he seemed bright and sunny. Noticing her dazed expression, he slightly tilted his head to the side, confused. Embarrassed, she quickly handed him her phone.
Opening the phone that didn't have a lock, he started tapping away at it.
"What are you doing?" She asked, giving him a confused look. He glanced at her with a smirk.
"I find you funny, so I decided to give you my number." Hearing his words, Blossom's face flushed red as she avoided looking at him. Seeing this, Liam chuckled, his cheeks flushing as well, and trying to calm down, he focused back on her phone, finishing up.
Once he passed the phone back to her, Blossom quickly looked at what he had put in. Her eyes quickly locked onto the name he set for himself. It read Liam with a kissy face emoji. Giggling, she put her phone away.
Seeing this, Liam frowned and pouted jokingly at her.
"You don't want me to have your number?" He asked, sounding like he was whining. Giggling, she brushed her hair behind her ear before pulling her phone out, sending a quick hi to his number.
Liam pulled out his phone, quickly changing the name for her number. She looked up at him with a cute, curious expression.
"What's my name?" She asked. He paused before turning his phone off and putting it away.
"It's a secret." He said with a smile. Glancing at the clock, he looked back at her.
"We should hurry, class should be starting soon."
As they left, Liam's phone turned on, showing what he had set as Blossom's name.
'Cutie.'