February 12th
On BOUQUET OF ROSES
Marianne stood outside the flower store, considering. It was Chet’s birthday, and it would be appropriate to get him a present. But flowers? It would appropriately embarrass him, that was for sure. She could imagine his face going red right now. Chet was the best for being embarrassed. But was that what Marianne wanted out of this trip? Would it ruin her social trajectory?
“Come on, Marianne, we’re going to go meet up with Josh and Eric,” Sally said. Sally was pretty popular, and Marianne was pretty lucky to be hanging out with her. Sally was the type of girl that was popular, but not snobby; she went out of her way to take pity and say hi to the unpopular girls in the hallway at school. She smoked, but only socially. When they found out that they were roommates for the Quebec trip, they had miraculously hit it off. Mostly they talked about boys. They could even be described as boy crazy! The whole time they talked about Marty Chan and Fred Garrults, though, Marianne was thinking in the back of her mind that this was the end of her days of crying at night and being afraid to go to school. Sally would be her gateway to social acceptance.
Now they were in their free time period, and were heading down to meet some boys. When Sally suggested this, Marianne acted like this was something she did all the time. But really she was super excited and also wanted to throw up. She didn’t even think about whether she liked Josh or Eric. That was the last thing she had to worry about. What she was worrying about most was what part of this process she would be revealed as a complete fraud.
And what about Chet? Maybe she should try and buy him a new sports hat, or something silly from the dollar store. But a bouquet of roses just seemed right. Yeah, Chet probably liked Marianne. She had seen When Harry Met Sally, and knew the rule about guys not having platonic female friends. So it would say, hey, I’m leaving your social level, but here’s something you’ve always wanted: an expression of my love. No that sounded horrible. And what would it look like if Marianne showed up for their casual rendez-vous with Josh and Eric with a bouquet of flowers?
“Are you thinking of getting flowers?” Sally asked.
“I don’t know,” Marianne replied. “Probably not. Let’s go.”
“Who are you buying flowers for?” Sally said.
“Chet,” Marianne said, and blushed. “It’s his birthday.”
“Oh yeah! Get them!” Sally’s eyes lit up. She had huge eyes.
Marianne’s face scrunched up skeptically. Was Sally trying to torpedo her somehow? What was her game plan?
“Really?” said Marianne.
“Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!” said Sally, in a sort of spaced out kind of way. “He’d love that! A girl buying a boy flowers? That’s cool!”
“But what about Josh and Eric?” asked Marianne, raising her eyebrows. Even though they had spent several days together, Marianne didn’t really think of Sally as a person until this moment. Maybe she was genuine; maybe she did think it would be cool.
“Fuck them,” swore Sally, “This is better! You can find guys like Josh and Eric anywhere.”
“You can find guys like Chet anywhere,” said Marianne, “Trust me.”
They stood on the street for a little while, Marianne thinking, and Sally waiting to see what she would do. Sally looked at her watch. Then, buoyed by Sally’s encouragement, Marianne went into the store, and bought the bouquet of roses.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
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