Far And Away.

After an excruciating two hour long class of near silence the bell finally rang and Flora couldn’t collect her things fast enough. She moved so fast that Andy hadn’t even realized that she had left until he looked to where she was sitting and saw that she was no longer there. Should he go after her? What he had said, while true, was still mean, but deep down Andy couldn’t help but feel like she had it coming. Flora was just another rich girl-who had decent taste in music-and Andy couldn’t shake the feeling that she felt like she was better than him. She was quick witted-something that not a lot of girls were and so with a groan Andy picked up his books and tried to move fast enough so that he could catch up with the feisty brunette.

Weaving in and out of people, Andy finally spotted Flora standing at what he could only guess would be her locker and he could see that she was clearly irritated. Another girl was standing by-obviously Flora’s locker-mate-and Andy couldn’t help but noticed the tension. The blonde girl was in a short skirt that was in the color of the school’s mascot and now he got it-Flora was sharing her locker with a cheerleader. The two girls looked like they were bickering and Andy being the curious person that he was, moved closer so that he could hear things better. He stayed out of site, ducking behind the edge of the row of lockers but his blue eyes still caught site of Flora.


“I just don’t understand why the two of you can’t fucking suck face somewhere else!” Flora said loudly, her tiny hands on her hips and Andy smirked. He had to give it to the girl-she stuck up for herself.

“And I don’t understand why you still fucking exist. God you are so pathetic…no wonder your dad up and left you…” The blonde was saying and Andy felt his fists clench. His mother had told him that Flora’s father had left her and her mother, but he could never imagine why someone would say such cruel things.

“Well the only reason your dad is still around Constance is because you suck his dick every night. Get out of my way…” Flora was pushing against some of the people that were crowding around and Andy was fighting the urge to get in there and help her.

“Fight! Fight!” People were shouting and the two girls seemed to square of silently until finally the blonde was pulled away by her boyfriend and Flora was left to herself.


Andy stood by and watched as the small girl pulled things out of her locker and he felt his heart clench as he noticed a single tear fall silently down one of her flushed cheeks. Here he thought this girl was stuck up and had everything handed to her-that’s how she acted. He had obviously been wrong…very wrong. Flora was just like him in some ways-misunderstood and bullied to the point of dreading every single day. The slamming of a locker door made him jump and Andy stood up straight as he noticed that Flora was coming right for him. She seemed to notice him finally as she caught site of him through her bangs and he tried to smile at her. Expecting a smile in return, Andy was shocked when she growled at him as she passed by on her way out the door.


“Fuck off Andy…I don’t need to hear any more shit today. Especially from someone like you…” Her words were so venomous that Andy felt himself crumble a little bit. Had his words made her hate him that much?


Just as Andy was about to run after her he felt someone clap a hand on his shoulder and he groaned as he looked behind him and saw Mr. Parsons-the Principal-looking at him.


“Not so fast Mr. Biersack. You owe me a detention…” Andy groaned as he followed behind the balding man and quickly looked over his shoulder. Flora had disappeared out of the school doors and Andy had only wished that he had jumped to her defense sooner.



Flora walked down the lonely sidewalk, her sneakers kicking up rocks as she kept her head down. She knew no one would follow her-they were all too busy with cheerleading and football practice, but there would be hell to pay the following days. She should have just kept her mouth shut, she should have just sucked it up and let Constance win, but Flora was tired of backing down all the time. Then seeing Andy, seeing the pity in his eyes as he had obviously seen her in her worst time, made Flora so angry that all she wanted to do was punch something. The leaves were falling from the trees and soon enough it would be cold and she would need a heavier jacket besides her hoodie, but for now Flora just crossed her arms over her chest and kept on walking. Her condo building came into view and Flora groaned as she noticed that Mr. Biersack was standing outside working on his car.


“Hey Flora. Where’s Andy?” He asked her as she passed and Flora stopped, squinting at the older man as the sun was getting in her eyes. Andy looked a lot like his dad, but he had his mom’s smile.

“Um-I dunno. We had our last period together but he must’ve taken the bus or something.” She said quickly as she tried to keep walking, but then sighed as Mr. Biersack kept speaking to her.

“Oh. He had said something to his mother and I this morning about the two of you hanging out today after school…” Flora felt shocked-he had said that? Andy had seemed less than enthused about the two of them being lab partners, let alone the two of them actually spending time together.

“Oh, I wouldn’t know anything about that.” She said quickly as she tried to continue walking inside-she had characters to develop for her latest story and English homework that needed to be done.

“Look Flora-I know Andy can kind of be an ass…” Flora smirked at this, but stayed silent so that Mr. Biersack could continue.

“But he’s been through a lot in his life. You guys have a lot in common…you just have to stop knocking heads long enough to see it. Andy’s a good guy…give him another chance…” Flora only smiled, nodding her head before waving goodbye and disappearing inside.


Flora walked into her home and smiled as she noticed that her mother was sleeping on the couch. Her artist mother was her best friend, confidant and the one person in the entire world who Flora cared for the most. Staying as quiet as possible, Flora placed her bag on the floor near the front door and tip-toed towards her bedroom. First thing Flora did was pat the fat grey cat that was laying on her bed on his tiny head and then change into a pair of sweat pants and pull her hair up off of her neck. While her computer was warming up, Flora moved around her room and tried to pick things up a bit-she was kind of a pig. The sun was still shining outside and while Flora knew most people were out enjoying the day, this was where she liked to be the most.

Finally Flora took her seat, cracked her knuckles and placed her hands against the key board. She had her ear phones in since her mother was sleeping and as Matt Skibba crooned in her ears and her fingers danced across the keys, Flora felt herself relax. She loved writing-no matter how shitty her day had been or was going to be, writing always made things better. Her mother had given Flora her very first notebook when she had just been six years old and Flora had never stopped writing ever since then. Writing and reading was an escape and it was her passion, something that Flora refused to give up on. She loved journalism, which was why she had plans on working for one of the top Rock Magazines out there and she knew…she just knew that things would go her way.

After a few hours of writing furiously and getting lost in Civil War area Virginia, Flora could smell dinner baking in the oven and she knew it was time to exit her lair. Stretching her arms over her head, Flora happened to look outside her window and noticed that Andy was sitting outside of the building with an acoustic guitar in his hands. His white shirt was crumpled from wearing it all day and she could see that he had fluffed his hair so much in the back that it had stayed that way, but most of all Flora couldn’t help but notice the goosebumps that were rising on her arms.

Andy was singing, very softly, but just loud enough so that she could hear him and as Flora got out of her chair and moved to sit in her window, she couldn’t help but smile. He was an asshole and she would probably never like him very much, but even Flora couldn’t deny that Andy had talent. He sang and even though Flora could hear her mother calling her to dinner, the seventeen year old girl couldn’t help but get lost in the words that were floating up to her from the ground below.


Found out the hard way
That you were lost and rendered
All alone in the dark forest of your thoughts
Forever following a trail of fear that seems to lead
To more dead ends and mysteries
I'm losing hope of ever solving

Notes