June, She’ll Change Her Tune
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~⚜~
I rip out a weed and throw it to the ground. I take a deep breath through my nose in an attempt to rein in my temper. She stands only a few yards away, clipping shirts to the clothesline, but I feel as if there’s a gulf between us. Her words are snippety and concise. Her thoughts are very clear. I, on the other hand, cannot make sense of anything.
School is over for a while, and we’ve retreated to her family’s farm. It consists of a few charming white buildings on immaculately mowed grass. Scatterings of ancient trees shelter the house from gusts of wind. The gardens, once stately and pruned, run rampant with weeds and prairie flowers, but it makes them all the more beautiful.
In the first few days, she puts me to work cleaning up the gardens. Even with multiple layers of sunscreen, my skin turns a dark tan. My perfume is insect repellent; however, it is better at repelling humans than bugs. As if they can read my thoughts, the mosquitoes swarm around my head, and I bat them away angrily. My only relief is the sprinkler system. I try to dodge it for the most part, but every once in a while, it catches me off guard and drenches me. I relish in the cool water, but she chides me, calling me a little child.
All we do is bicker. Everything I do is wrong, and she is always right. Opinions are prohibited, and patience is in short supply.
Pulling out another weed, I gather my thoughts to tell her how I really feel: Visiting her home has opened my eyes to the real her. She lives in two different worlds – university and home – and changing between them is like flipping a switch. At school, she is a cheerful angel, ready to please and happy to oblige. Here, she is in charge. She rules this kingdom. My dandelion crown means nothing here.
I hardly know anything about her life before me. She enjoys reading poetry and baking pastries, but that doesn’t compare to knowing her family and friends. She knows everything about me, from my favorite sibling to my first pet. She can use it all against me, as she does now.
Even though everyone gave me a warm welcome, I feel like an outcast. When I arrived, her parents didn’t know my name. Her friends didn’t even know I existed.
I’d given her a piece of my heart, but she’d given me nothing in return. In fact, she locked her heart away in the deepest, darkest dungeon, never to see the light of day.
As our voices rise, the birds above us chirp louder. The cacophony is deafening.
My Arabesque falls apart at the seams.
~⚜~
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