Work Text:
Marcy coughed on the scent of roses when she opened her locker door.
“What the…?”
“What is it?” Anne asked, peering into her locker.
Marcy reached into the depths of the locker, searching for the smell. At the bottom, she found roses scattered over her books. She gathered them carefully, standing up.
“...Roses.”
Marcy held them up, inspecting the flowers. They were definitely real, the thorns poking her softly but not enough to break skin.
“Does someone have a secret admirer???” Anne asked, teasing. Marcy laughed and gently shoved her.
“Who knows, maybe it’s a warning sign that I’m getting hanahaki.”
Anne rolled her eyes.
“That isn’t real, Mar Mar.”
Marcy took a sniff of the roses. They smelled sweet and slightly headache inducing. She ran a fingertip over one of the petals.
“What are you gonna do with them?” Anne asked.
“I dunno, wonder who they’re from,” Marcy replied. She hummed to herself, counting the flowers. Five roses. “It’s not Valentine's Day, is it?” she asked, slightly alarmed. Anne shook her head.
“It’s March 5th, Marbles.” Marcy let out a sigh of relief. “Sasha got you that bear, remember?” Anne continued. “The pink and brown one?”
“Ohh yeah,” Marcy said, remembering. She stared down the hallway, thinking. “I like that one. It’s soft. Smells like Sasha.”
“How do you know what Sasha smells like?” Anne asked, raising an eyebrow.
“You don’t?” Marcy asked.
“Vanilla?” Anne guessed.
“Berries and warm,” Marcy said.
“Warm is not a scent, Marmalade.”
“Yes, it is! Smell Sasha next time she passes by!” Marcy defended.
Anne laughed. “You’re weird, Marbles.”
Marcy laughed too. “Where is Sasha anyway?”
Anne leaned against the locker beside Marcy’s. “Library. Some project she forgot about.”
Marcy nodded. She looked down at the roses. She smiled and set them back inside her locker.
That was a mystery for another day.
…
It continued.
When Marcy opened her locker on Tuesday, she found marigolds. Four of them, laying on her books just like the day before. On Wednesday, it was daffodils, this time only three.
“Watch there be like… lilies today or something,” Anne said, approaching Marcy’s locker with her.
Marcy rolled her eyes and put in her combination. She tugged on the door, finding it stuck. Her eyebrows furrowed. “Come on!” she groaned.
“Marcy. You put in a six instead of five,” Anne pointed out. Marcy looked down at the lock. She giggled sheepishly.
“So I did…” She corrected her mistake and opened the door.
There was less of a scent today, but Marcy honestly couldn’t smell much beyond the roses that lingered. She had been taking the flowers home and hiding them in a box in her room. The scent of flowers invaded her life, currently.
She immediately reached down to the bottom of the locker. She returned with two flowers, one pink and one yellow.
“Two tulips,” she observed.
Anne snickered. “This person has it bad for you.”
“Shut up,” Marcy said, sniffing the tulips idly. They smelled like summer, and a tiny bit like that god awful body spray a girl in her gym class used. Marcy shrugged and set the flowers back in her locker. She picked up her books. “Come on, let’s get to class. Sash is probably waiting.”
Anne nodded and pushed herself off the wall. Marcy turned to leave and Anne was about to follow her when she spotted something. She bent down to inspect the lock of Marcy’s locker.
A single strand of long, golden blonde hair was sitting on it. She quirked an eyebrow, picking it up. Glancing up and down the hallway to make sure nobody was watching, she sniffed it.
Strawberries .
Weird.
Anne dropped the hair and followed after Marcy.
…
Marcy was alone on Friday morning.
She walked into the building, humming to herself. She was in a good mood, it was a warm sunny day as the seasons turned to Spring. She made her way to her locker with a skip in her step. She had almost completely forgotten about the secret admirer thing.
She opened her locker with more ease this time, kneeling down to get her books. Her hand touched something odd and she gasped, remembering. She felt around for more.
She pulled out the object. Just one flower today. A purple orchid, soft in the lighting of the school. It was really pretty. She smiled and tucked it behind her ear, continuing to gather her stuff.
She heard shuffling behind her. She stood up, holding her books to her chest.
“Oh, hey Sashy!” she greeted, smiling at the blonde. Sasha smiled back, blushing a bit. She coughed. “What’s wrong, are you sick?” Marcy asked, concerned, moving closer to her friend. Sasha shook her head, ponytail hitting her in the face.
“No, no, not sick, promise,” she said. She bit the inside of her cheek. Her hands were held behind her back.
“What’cha got there?” Marcy asked, trying to peek around her to see what she was holding.
Sasha took a deep breath. She pulled out the bouquet from behind her back and presented it to Marcy.
Orchids, blue and purple, held out in front of her. Sasha’s blush was more noticeable now.
“Who are those for?” Marcy asked. Sasha giggled. She held the flowers with one hand and used the other to reach up to Marcy’s ear. She brushed her fingers along the single orchid there. Marcy gasped. “ Me ?” she asked. Sasha nodded.
“Uh, yeah, they’re for you.”
Marcy reached out, gently taking the bouquet from her. Sasha dropped her hands awkwardly to her sides.
“They’re meant to represent love and beauty, or something…” Sasha looked away, flustered.
“Love, luxury, beauty, and strength,” Marcy marveled. She held the flowers up to her face.
“Yeah, just like you,” Sasha said quietly. Marcy looked up at her over the flowers. She smiled.
“You were the one leaving the flowers?”
Sasha nodded. “Yeah…”
“You like me?” Marcy asked, wide-eyed.
Sasha nodded. “I… I’ve been wanting to tell you for a while. I didn’t know how.”
Marcy lowered the flowers from her face.
“You’re pretty,” she blurted out.
“Don’t you mean the flowers?” Sasha asked, genuine. Marcy shook her head, laughing.
“No, you’re pretty,” she repeated. Sasha smiled. She took a step closer and placed her hands over Marcy’s holding the flowers. She pressed her forehead against Marcy’s.
“And you’re beautiful, meine Liebe.”
Marcy giggled. Sasha smelled like a sunny day right as the sun was setting on a strawberry field. She looked at the flowers.
She couldn’t wait to preserve them.