As I walked home with this big problem hovering above me, I came across this field next to the river. And there, where it was all green yesterday, it was now filled with whites, pinks and purples! It was such a lovely sight. That was when it hit me. Come on, the answer was dancing merrily infront of me in the breeze! And the best part was that it was all for free! No one would come and count how many flowers were missing as this is public property; just a little piece of land next to the river. All right then. We were going to take only two baskets of mixed flowers. I took out the little silver piece of technology and scrolled through the namelist, calling up each member and telling them to come meet me in an hour’s time. Some said that they would try to, some said no outright as it was a very last minute call to work, but thankfully, a good number of the club members turned up in the end with the neccessary equipment. As we worked to fill up the two baskets, I explained to them all that had happen, and when I was done, Sam, my classmate and Treasurer of the club said, “I heard from Julien”, (her boyfriend) “that Merchants can be really evil. There was one time he kicked a kid out of his club just because she broke a flower in the process of arrangment, and after that, all the other members tormented her such that the kid transferred to another school.” After hearing such a story, I made up my mind to never to have anything to do with the Merchants guy. Brrr. I felt cold.

Soon enough, we finished. I brought home one basket and Sam brought home the other three (she called her Dad to pick her up in his car). As for the rest, they went off to have coffee at The Corner. The Corner is a cosy and unassuming little coffee shop where the quieter members of the school would like to meet for booksharing activites, or just to chill without having to hear or see the upper classes of society.

The next morning, Sam and her Dad came to pick me and the flowers up for school. The first thing we did when we got there was to prepare the other two baskets of flowers and with the help of two guys from the club, we brought the flowers to the Flower Arrangement Room.

We did not expect anyone to be there so early but apparently, someone else was earlier. Her name was Stella Ayman. And like the star she was named, she had a kind of beauty that shone. The guys who were with us were rather star-strucked. Thankfully, the two of us were not, hence, after quickly making introductions, we hastily set down the flowers and left. However, as I was the last to turn around and leave, I heard her say, “Lower class people will always be lower class, that’s why they are digging in the dirt”. I pretended not to hear but walked away. I saw no point in turning around and picking a fight with her on that. She would probably feel even more right about what she said and I had no intention of letting her have the higher-up on us.

Class. Status. Is it that important?

I do not really take things that seriously. But I do only for the tests and exams. You can hardly find me paying attention to the latest fashion trends or the most good-looking actor on the current scene. I guess that trait of mine was what brought me to this problem I am in. A little more of that later. As I was saying, if I can have my way, I will be wearing jeans and tees everyday, holed up in my room painting or out in the mountains photographing. Yes. I like Nature art, but not the airy-fairy kind. I am more into trees and plants. Maybe it was because of my interest in trees that got me into the school’s Horticulture club, where we are in-charged of the school’s plants; grass, shrubs, flowers and trees. We also plant fruits and vegetables in the back gardens (which we sell to the Home Ec club for a small amount). Did I mention that the club plants flowers too? We provide flowers for the Flower Arranging club. When I went through all of these ‘extra’ activities the club does, the first thought that came to me was, “Wow! We are like a small company! It’s either we provide a service or we are whole-sellers!” LOL.

About this problem I have. However, before I begin, you must understand this. I am now a second year student in high school. School is an ordinary, mostly middle-class partially private co-ed. I have been in the Hort club (Horticulture club for short) since I started school. Due to an illness, I was more-out than in school during my first year, hence, I became a ‘phantom’ club member. But I am back now, much better, thanks to a new medicine and lots of rest.

About this problem now. Well, it started about three days ago, after school hours. I was the last of the few volunteered club members clearing up the tree planting activity earlier on. As I was keeping the tools and gathering my backpack in the tool shed, I heard a noise behind me. Remember, I was the last one, so I was more than surprised to hear a person’s throat-clearing sound behind me at 6-odd p.m. I turned around, and there at the doorway stood this really tall guy, with the setting sun behind him, causing me to squint at him. Without introducing himself, he barked out angrily, “Where were the flowers I ordered with you yesterday? Make sure this doesn’t happen again. I expect double the order tomorrow, or else…” With that, he turned on his heels and left. I was standing there gaping. ‘Or else, what?What’s up with the rude guy??? And, who is he???’ With the sun in my eyes, how was I supposed to recognise his face? And he did not leave his name. Great. I was left with only a memory of his body outline, and it looked like a really good physique to me. I took out my mobilephone and rang up Michelle, our club’s chairman.

“Hello, Michelle? It’s me, Willow. Sorry to disturb you. Are you free now?”
“Yeah, I am. What’s up?”
“It’s like this. Did the club owe anyone flowers recently?”
“Flowers? Owe? Hmmm… Let me think… OH MY GOD!!!! Today! What is it??”
I replied her, “Tuesday.”
“TUESDAY!!! YES!!!! Aargh…!!! I forgot all about it!!!”
“Errr… Michelle… Chill. So, who-”
“The Terror of Greendale High, chairman of the Flower Arranging Club, Flower Arranging genius, the Flower Prince, Tylor Merchants!!!”
“Right. I see. So, we just send the flowers, double, to him tomorrow-”
“Hang on, girlfriend. It’s not that simple. We normally deliver two basket-worth. So, double it will be four-times. Do we have that many flowers???”
Realisation hit me. We had given our last basket of flowers to the Elders Home Centre. “Oh. No.”
“Exactly. And you will be filling in for me as the club’s chairman ‘cos I will be grounded in the hospital all thanks to this ankle. All the best!”
“Wait-!!” And the line was dead. Dread filled me to the core. I knew nothing about flowers as I was put in-charged of the trees. Sigh. And Michelle is in hospital due to a broken ankle after she slipped and fell down the stairs in school, being distracted by a, quote and unquote, “really gorgeous male” (little did I know that the said “gorgeous male” was none other than the fan-dubbed “Flower Prince”). I was in trouble.

Eiram here. I got a couple of stories in the works and I hope to have it up by summer or else, by end of summer. I will not elaborate too much on them but what I can say is that the stories are purely fictional but the names of most of the characters are real.

So… Watch out for this spot coming June.

Cheers!