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Everyone says they like fall, but really they only like the beginning of it. Despite popular culture stating otherwise, winter doesn’t technically start until very close to Christmas. Yet no one associates fall with snow. Even if they like snow, snow is not listed as a reason they like fall.
No, the part of fall everyone likes is earlier on. It's the point where the leaves start to change color. It finally starts to cool down after an obscenely hot summer. The harvest comes in, days grow shorter, and eventually those beautiful leaves fall to the ground. They can come in an array of colors. Orange, red, yellow, some are even all three, or they have a little green still on them. Sometimes they even turn purple, though generally those leaves were not green to begin with.
Fall is a season of transition, and Noah would say that people enjoyed watching the transition. So once the transition is complete, they no longer consider it fall, whether or not the season is actually over yet.
Even so, Noah’s not the nature type. He’s not the type to enjoy spending time outside. Or if he does he’s almost certainly looking at a book rather than the world around him. So, why exactly was he currently outside combing through leaves of various shapes and colors instead of reading?
The answer to that question is a girl named Gwen. She’s a goth he’s been friends with for a while. She’s an artist, and at the moment her idea is to make leaf art. So she asked Noah to help her find a lot of good ones. It’s not just about the color of the leaves. It’s about the shape of them, and how long they’ve been disconnected from the tree they’d come from.
Noah’s not usually the type to help a friend out if it involves so much work, but Gwen is different. He’s not sure why, but he likes to hang around her the most. It feels different than when he’s hanging out with his other friends. With his other friends he enjoys their company, but with Gwen he feels amazing just being near her. He can’t help but wonder what it means, and if it's creepy for him to enjoy her presence so much.
“How about this one?” He asked, holding up a golden poplar leaf perfectly shaped.
“That’s another good one.” Gwen smirked at him, allowing Noah to place it into her ziploc bag. “You’re really good at finding ones that are aesthetically pleasing. Which is strange considering your fashion sense.”
Noah rolled his eyes. “This is different. It’s more about symmetry here.”
“Yeah that makes sense.” The goth said.
The gallon sized ziploc bag she held was about three fourths of the way full of leaves in all sorts of colors and sizes. The leaves are of many different kinds, including a red maple leaf that looked like it could have come off the Canadian flag itself.
“So, how are going to preserve the color?” He asked.
“Glycerin water mixture. Then I’ll dry’em and press them between a couple of books.” Gwen explained.
“Makes sense. Wax does seem like a bit much for you.” Noah smirked. “ It’s a good thing we’re doing this now. Much longer and the leaves will be completely dead.”
“Yeah.” The goth replied. “It’s kind of messed up when you think about it. We use the corpses or tree leaves to make art with and it's completely accepted.”
“I mean, they’re dead anyway. Preserving them is kind of like when they bury humans.” Noah told her.
“Quit making my alternative take on leaf art sound normal.” Gwen pouted, clearly not serious.
“Sorry. I meant to say you’re a horrible monster who should feel ashamed.” He smirked.
“Thank you.” The goth said.
“You and all the children diving into the pile of plant corpses collected on their front lawn.” He continued.
Gwen slapped the back of his head playfully and laughed. “Stop it!”
“Does this make us corpse defilers?” Noah asked.
“I guess it kinda does.”
They kept searching through the leaves for good ones, occsionally making the odd comment about how strange this whole thing was, and wondering if the plant would find their behavior abhorrant if they were senitent enough to comprehend it.
Thing got a little strange when he reached for the same leaf Gwen did. Their hands touched and Noah felt a shudder run through him. A pleasant shudder. He could see Gwen had the same reaction. They sat there for a moment.
Gwen cleared her throat. “Uh, sorry. You, you can grab it if you want?”
“Why would I care who grabs it? It’s going in your bag anyway.” Noah replied.
“Uh, yeah. Yeah, that’s right.” The goth replied.
Noah couldn’t help but notice neither of them had withdrawn their hand. Which Noah knew for a fact was unusual for both of them. Noah hated physical contact usually. So did Gwen. Yet somehow this felt really natural.
“So, um.” Noah began. “We should uh, get back to looking for leaves right?”
“Yep.” Gwen replied, popping the p. Neither of them moved.
“The sun’s going down soon so really…” He trailed.
“Yeah, yeah,” She replied. Once again neither of them moved.
Noah didn’t know what was going to happen, but he felt electric. Gwen’s hand cupped his face. It felt warm. He swallowed, and leaned forward on instinct. He’s surprised when Gwen’s lips connect with his own. He doesn’t know who made the first move and he doesn’t really care. It feels amazing.
They pull away. “Um, Noah? I might have invited you specifically because I like you.” Gwen admitted.
Noah smiled, now understanding why hanging out with Gwen felt so different. “I like you too.”
“So uh, we’ve gotten enough leaves today. Why don’t we uh, go get a cup of coffee from a cafe I know? You know if you want to.” Gwen cleared her throat.
Noah took her hand in his. “I’d love to.”