Chapter Text
She smiled at the only thing her vision set on. A single flower that blossomed fire red, standing out from the other white flowers sprinkled across the field. The grass below tickled her ankles and knees,her arms tucked in her body, fingers gently cradling small white flowers picked a while ago.
She studied the rare flower. All the other kids found her strange. What was so interesting about flowers and green grass that stretched endlessly? She didn't know herself. The flowers looked happy, and this particular flower reminded her of what she wanted to be: Bright and happy.
"I'm gonna take you home," she whispered, a wide grin on her face. "I just need the proper soil and pot for you."
She put the white flowers in her pocket and took out a small pink notebook and a plastic multi- colored pen, flipping through the tiny pages. As she sketched on the page,a shadow appeared from behind her.
"Hey... PB."
She turned around and frowned. It was a group of three again. Mary and her friends.
"What are you even doing?"
"I don't have to tell you," she said, watching as Mary walked in front of her. "I don't have to share."
"Whatever. Mrs.Maple told us to tell you we're going in soon. Ya know... since you're always out here in the field by yourself."
The two boys snickered behind her.
"What's so funny?"
"You're such a ditz. You'l never understand."
Mary stepped forward and with her boot she stepped on the flower. PB gasped.
"Hey! No stepping on the flower!" She said pushing her boot away, as Mary grinded it into the dirt.
"Ew! Don't touch me!"
She shoved her boot up and PB fell backwards, dropping her notebook and pen into the grass.
"You stupid! You could've messed up my boots!"
"Whatever! Let's go!" one of the boys said .
"You killed the flower!"
The girl ignored her.
"Leave me alone or I'll tell Mrs.Maple!"
The boys mocked her and Mary laughed, the three walking away to the playground.
"What a weirdo!"
PB's face tinted red with anger. She turned back to the flower. The dead flower. Snapped in two and pushed into the dirt.
She sat there frozen. The bell rang from the brick building, signaling it was time to go back inside. She grabbed her notebook and pen ,dusting her skirt of the dirt stains she knew wouldn't come off. Opening her notebook she scribbled out the drawing and walked towards the school building. Some days were lonely. No one to stay and be happy.
As the kids entered the school building, a shadow of a small figure stood above the flower and stepped over it with small feet. The flower came together, slowly standing up ,and proceeded to show it's radiance once again .
The bus ride home was as usual. She was used to the other kids who screamed on the bus, chatting away. Some girls boasted their play jewelry, the boys pulled each others hair and dueled Yugi-Oh cards. Some sang in the back of the bus, screaming. Lily was PB's only friend ,and the two entertained themselves by listening to their favorite music and planning out which celebrity they were going to marry; Something PB wasn't very interested in, but found to enjoy it from her boy-crazy friend.
"And at our wedding, we're going to have a unicorn!" Lily exclaimed, as they stepped off the crowded yellow school bus.
"That be so cool! My brother says unicorns don't exist." PB replied, fixing her backpack.
Lily skipping infront of her, turning around to face PB, walking backwards."Your brother is crazy! They are real. Oh! I know ! We should go unicorn hunting!" She stopped walking. "Then, we can ask the unicorns to go to my wedding!"
"Okay. Let's do it," PB said, half smiling. "I'm not sure if they exist where we live though."
"We can still try!" Lily said. "I know they're rare but I still wanna. "
"Yeah."
Lily noticed PB's frown. "PB...I'm sorry your flower got smashed."
"I was gonna take that flower home too!" PB yelled up to the sky, her first balled up. "They always think they're better than me!"
"If I had your same class and recess as you, I would beat them up!" Lily said, throwing a punch to emphasize her point.
PB forced a smile."Thanks."
They walked until they got to PB's house.
"I'll see you tomorrow PB! Mom's making hamburgers for dinner!" Lily said, running across the street.
"Bye! Tell your mom I said hi!"
"I will! You should over for dinner sometime!"
PB watched as Lily ran across the street and down the side walk. She waved to her once again before disappearing around the corner. PB looked down at her skirt, her thumb pressing against the denim fabric. Her mom knew she liked being in dirt. Maybe from now on, she wouldn't get questioned as much.
"Hi sweetie! How was your day?"
"It was good." PB said, taking her shoes off.
Her mom smiled, entering the living room from the kitchen. "I bought strawberries today from the farmers market. I put some on the counter for you."
PB face brightened up. "Thank you mommy!"
She raced up stairs, their house cat Rocky lifted his head in response to the commotion of feet running across the floor, and followed suit.
"Hi rocky!"
Throwing her backpack in her room, she changed into her afternoon clothes and raced back downstairs sliding across the wooden floor, Rocky bracing himself along the ride.
"No running Bubble head!"
Her brother sat in the dining room , playing on his D.S. She wished she was in middle school too, so she could get out of class sooner.
"I'm not a bubble head."
"I know I know," he said, watching her walk into the kitchen. She put the cat down and grabbed the dish soap, washing her hands.
"You got dirt on your skirt."
"I know." she said.
"Are they still bothering you?"
PB dryer her hands off , silently, then answered. "Kind of."
"Let me know if things get bad," he said , not taking his eyes off the screen. "Punks like them just don't know when to quit, do they?"
"I will." she said, grabbing a paper towel and placing it on the dining room table. She proceeded to grab a handful of strawberries. "Is mommy still working?"
"Yep."
She shoved a strawberry in her mouth. She was different from her brother. Besides the fact that he had light freckles, he also had natural red hair, Pb's was many shades lighter, taking the characteristics of her least favorite color: dark pink. He also made friends easily, which she envied. With two hands she grabbed the paper towel holding the strawberries and made her way outside the back door into the backyard.
The back yard didn't have much. She stepped onto the deck, and made her way down the stairs, her sneakers treading across the grass, passing the plum tree. She turned the backyard gate handle with a little bit of force, opening it and closing it back, making her way to the neighborhood play ground on the hill .
The playground didn't have any kids on it .That was a bit strange , but it made her all the more happy to be there. She could swing on the swings or sit in the grass without being disturbed.
She made her way past the playground, the mulch crunching under her, and finally got to the grassy area where a flower bush was. She sat down, putting the strawberries beside her and pulled out her notebook. Shoving another strawberry in her mouth, she flipped through her notebook once again, going to the scribbled out flower doodle. The sweet strawberry turned sour in her mouth.
"Now I'll have to look for another flower."
She already did the flowers around the neighborhood , doodling them, sometimes putting them on her window seal. And she didn't really feel like hunting ladybugs or swinging on a tire swing .
PB sighed, putting her notebook down and just as she reached for another strawberry a rustle came from the flower bush. She froze, slowly scooting away from the bush, and stood up. Maybe it was a squirrel.
She started at the bush, waiting for it to rustle again. Nothing.
Turning back to grab her notebook, she looked back again to see a small, dark blue creature with big maroon eyes. She screamed, her shoe hitting a small rock in the dirt and tumbled back onto her tailbone .
The creature stared at her. She looked at it and realized it was a vampire bat.
"Oh..I'm sorry. Didn't realize you are a bat."
The creature's ear twitched, sniffing .
"Hello." she said.
The bat tumbled closer, and she quickly sat up.
"Uh..." she scooter back as it walked closer. It stopped ." I'm sorry."
The bat titled it's head and waddled closer. She forced herself to stay still. She wasn't sure if it would bite her or not. The bat eyed the strawberries and sniffed again.
"Oh... are you hungry?" Pb asked, eyeing the fruit then back at the creature. The bats ears stood up excited.
"You want some?"
She grabbed a strawberry and outstretched her hand, getting down on her bare knees. The bat sniffed the strawberry , stare at it , then quickly snatched it, nibbling quietly.
"Are you new around here?"
The bat didn't answer, focusing on it's mission to finish the treat it was rewarded.
"You want another one?"
She handed her last strawberry and the bat took it. With a small flash of an instant the bat disappears and turned into a human. PB gasped, eyes widened.
The bat wasn't a bat anymore. It turned into a girl. She wore overalls and had short pixie cut black hair. Her sneakers were white.
Pb watched as the girl shoved the strawberry into her mouth. She smiled.
"Thanks for feeding me! I was suuupperrr hungry!"
PB blinked. "I didn't know you could turn human."
"Oh yeah, it's rare for vampires to have bat forms. That thing right?" The girl said, snickering. She had a bandaid on her cheek.
PB was silent as the girl brushed her overall pants off. She had a feminine, but rough look to her. They made eye contact in silence. PB blinked confused.
"Uh..."
"You're cute."
PB eyes widened from the response. "W-what?"
"You heard me. I know you did," the girl said, a wide grin on her face. "What's your name?"
"Wait.. did you move around here?"
"Yeah. Over there." the girl said, pointing across the playground. It was the same street PB's house was located.
"Down the hill?"
"Yeah,there." the girl said, smiling ."So....name?"
"Uh.. it's Bonniebel. But everyone calls me PB."
"PB? Like peanut butter and jelly?"
PB frowned.
"I'm just joking. It's a cool name...Bonniebel."
The girl stood up, offering her hand out to PB. PB took it and stood on her feet .
"What's yours?"
"Marceline."
"Never heard of that name. It's a nice name."
"Thanks."
"So uh... where'd you move from?"
"Washington State. Up top. You know, where the mountains are?"
"Ooh."
Marceline looked down at the notebook.
"Is that yours?"
PB picked up her notebook. "Yeah it is."
"What's in it?"
"My doodles."
"Can I see?"
PB looked at her, wondering if she should show a stranger her things. "Sure."
She flipped to a page that showed a past drawing of a plant.
"Whoah! Those are good."
"Thanks."
"I had a ton of flowers were I used to live. Mostly orchids."
"Oh."
"One of them reminds me of you."
PB gave her a questioning look.
"Cause your hair is pink. You're like a flower."
"That's kinda like something a boy would say." PB said, waking toward the playground .
"Huh,Really?"
Marceline curiously followed after PB, ducking under the playground bridge behind her.
"What grade are you in?" PB asked.
"Third grade."
"Me too."
"I start school in two days mom says." Marceline said, standing on the swing.
"Which school?"
"Wood stone elementary."
"Oh! That's where I go!"
"Cool! I went to the school earlier today. Maybe we can go to school together from now on."
"Yeah. I can walk you to your homeroom."
"That's very nice of you." Marceline said , swinging high.
Pb looked up at the evening sky. "I have to go home soon."
"Oh." Marceline stopped swinging. "I guess I'll see you around?"
PB stared at Marceline, then had a rush of excitement hit her.
"We can see each other tomorrow! At the same exact time."
Marceline blinked, slightly surprised from the sudden request. She smiled and answered,"Yeah!"
The two walked back to the neighborhood street. They stopped where PB's backyard gate was.
"Um...If you ever walk by, you can come over. I'll come to the playground tomorrow." PB said, staring at the ground.
"I'm glad I met a new friend." Marceline said.
Pb looked up, the green eyes that were once maroon staring at her with wonder.
"Me too."
They stood still for a moment, looking around. The birds glided across the sky, and a car passed by, leaving them in silence once more. PB turned towards the gate, unlocking it.
"See ya Bonniebel!
"See you--"
PB looked around her. Marceline disappeared so suddenly. She smiled to herself, closing the gate behind her. "She's weird, but nice."
Marceline smiled to herself ,walking down the side walk to her house, thinking of the flower she saw earlier that day. Her favorite color was red.
"She really is like a flower.. but sweeter."