Not too long ago, Wallflower Blush discovered an ancient artifact from Equestria in her garden. This was the Memory Stone, which had come through a portal by accident long ago. Bitter and resentful over Sunset Shimmer’s popularity and her own invisibility, Wallflower used the stone to erase Sunset from everyone else’s memories. After an intense confrontation with Sunset in the Canterlot high parking lot, Wallflower ultimately expressed remorse over her actions, and she and Sunset were able to make amends with each other.
Wallflower had since opened up more and had gotten some new members for her Gardening Club. She had two close friends in Derpy and Roseluck, and still hung out with Sunset from time to time, but many other students at Canterlot High didn’t quite trust her yet.
One evening, Wallflower went to the hardware store to buy some more seeds, and invited Sunset to come with her. Since Wallflower didn’t have her license yet, Sunset offered to drive her. The sun was just setting over the horizon as the two girls walked through the doors and into the large building.
“It’s been a little while since we last hung out.” Sunset remarked as Wallflower grabbed a shopping basket. “How have you been?”
Wallflower thought for a moment. “I… could be better.” she finally said.
Sunset was concerned. “What do you mean?” she asked.
“Well, at the end of last year, I finally managed to make some friends, and I finally got my club into the yearbook.” said Wallflower. “Derpy, Roseluck and I spent a lot of time gardening and hanging out together over the summer. But now that we’re back at the school, I get the feeling that most other people still don’t like me. Then again, after what I did to you and your friends, I don’t blame them…”
Sunset sighed. “You know, I was in the exact same position a couple years ago, after my little incident at the Fall Formal. I felt awful for a long time afterward, and most people at CHS didn’t want anything to do with me. But I reminded myself that my past doesn’t define me, because my past is not today.” Sunset put her hand on Wallflower’s shoulder. “Don’t beat yourself up over your past mistakes. Once people see you for who you are now, they’ll warm up to you.”
Wallflower nodded. “Thanks, Sunset.”
Wallflower and Sunset made their way to the gardening aisles toward the end of the building. There, Wallflower pored over the extensive selection of seed packets, and picked out several plants that she didn’t yet have in her garden. When she had about twenty packets in her basket, she and Sunset began heading back to the registers.
“Wow, you got a lot of seeds!” Sunset remarked.
“Oh, of course!” said Wallflower. She reached into her packet and held up three packets of wisteria seeds. “I’ve always wanted to grow these, they’re so pretty!”
“Yeah, I really like the color!” Sunset agreed. “Your garden will look even better once you’ve planted them!”
At that moment, Sunset noticed a certain pair of twins walking out of the window aisle. Both were pushing shopping carts full of window frames of various sizes. One twin was shaved bald, and wore a blood red T-shirt with the name “DONALD” on it. The other twin had long, messy ginger hair tied in a ponytail, and wore a spring green T-shirt with the name “DOUGLAS” on it. Both had dark gray skin with freckles, and thick, angled ginger eyebrows.
“Donald! Douglas!” Sunset exclaimed. “Fancy running into you guys here!”
The Axeblade twins turned around. “Sunset!” Donald shouted. “Long time no see!”
Wallflower was confused. “You know these guys?”
“Yep! They’re the Axeblade twins.” Sunset explained. “I told you about them this past summer. My friends all thought they were ghosts haunting the city, but then I did some investigating and found that they weren’t scary at all.”
Wallflower wasn’t sure what to think of Donald and Douglas. She was still shy around people she hadn’t met before, especially if they were as physically imposing as the Axeblade twins. Douglas did have very nice hair, though. “Hi… I’m Wallflower Blush.” she said somewhat nervously. “It’s, um… nice to meet you.”
“You too!” said Donald. “Any friend of Sunset is good to us!”
“Anyway, I was just here buying seeds for my garden, and I invited Sunset to come with me.” Wallflower went on.
“Oh, you have your own garden?” Douglas remarked with a smile. “That’s so cool! I really wish I could have one, but my uncle’s backyard isn’t big enough.”
Wallflower suddenly perked up. As quiet as she normally was, she could go on and on when talking about plants or gardening. “You like gardening too?” she asked.
“It’s been a hobby of mine ever since I was little.” said Douglas. “Donald and I grew up in a high-rise apartment in San Francisco, and I had all kinds of potted plants set out on the balcony.” He chuckled. “By the time I was in high school, I practically had a forest growing out there!”
“Wow! What kind of plants did you have?” Wallflower asked.
“Mostly plants native to that area, like silverpuffs and woolly bluecurls.” Douglas replied. “I also had a bunch of miniature palm trees and cacti. Typical of a West Coast garden, really.”
“What happened to all your plants when you moved here?” Wallflower asked. “Please tell me you didn’t get rid of them!”
“Of course not!” Douglas laughed. “I’d never do that! I brought my whole garden to my uncle’s house, and now I have them all in my room. Although now that I live here, I was hoping to collect some plants native to this area. Do you have any recommendations?”
“You came to the right person!” Wallflower chuckled. “I can tell you all there is to know about the flora of the Northeast.” She placed her shopping basket on a rack where Douglas could see the seed packets inside, and began showing him each one.
While Douglas and Wallflower were looking at seeds and talking about their gardens, Donald was telling Sunset about the progress that had been made on the old house. “Now that we’ve replaced all the rotten floorboards, we can finally work on the windows.” said Donald. “We’re picking up the frames tonight so we can install them tomorrow.”
“Hopefully that won’t take too long.” said Sunset. “I imagine it’ll be a lot easier than pulling up the floor.”
“Yeah, that was awful.” Donald agreed. “It took the whole damn summer because it was just me, Douglas and Uncle Rusty doing it. We had to chop up the old floor with axes to get rid of it, and one time I sprained my ankle because the stupid thing collapsed under me.”
“Well, at least the hardest part of the job is done.” said Sunset. “By the way, what’s going to happen to the house after you guys finish restoring it? Will it be used as a guest house again?”
“No. According to my uncle, the mayor of Canterlot wants to reopen it as a historical site.” Donald replied. “I don’t think anyone would want to stay in it overnight, given the condition it was in when the project started.”
Sunset nodded. “That’s a good point. If it wasn’t made of stone, it probably wouldn’t have been salvageable.”
“So what do you think?” Wallflower asked when she had finished showing the seeds to Douglas.
“I think your garden’s going to look amazing with all these different flowers!” Douglas said with a smile. “Could you take me to the seed aisle? I really want to buy some for myself now.”
“Sure!” said Wallflower. “It’s at the other end of the store, but I can show you where it is!”
“Great!” said Douglas. “Lead the way!”
“What the hell?!” Donald growled as Wallflower and Douglas went back to the gardening aisles. “I told him the football game was starting at eight!”
“Well, what time is it now?” Sunset asked.
Donald glanced up at the big digital clock on the wall. “Seven-fifty.” he muttered. “If he and your friend don’t get back here in a couple minutes, I’m going to miss the kickoff!”
“If you really want to get home in time, I could drive you.” Sunset suggested. “But I’m not sure if ditching your brother would be the best idea.”
“So I ditch Douglas once.” Donald grunted. “Big deal. He takes forever to do anything. If I’d come here by myself, I would have been home about half an hour ago.”
Sunset sighed. “Fine. I’ll just go tell him and Wallflower about the change of plan.” Although Donald and Douglas were good friends of hers, Donald’s callous attitude did get on her nerves sometimes, as did the twins’ tendency to blame each other for anything that went wrong. Sunset jogged down to the seed aisle, where Wallflower was helping Douglas choose plants for his collection.
“The eastern blue star is one of my favorites.” said Wallflower. “It can grow up to four feet tall, and it lives for a long time. You just have to give it –”
“Hey, guys. Just so you know, I’m driving Donald home.” Sunset interrupted. “There’s a football game starting at eight, and he doesn’t want to miss it.”
“Typical Donald.” Douglas muttered. “He’ll ditch anything for a silly sports game.”
“But then how will I get home?” Wallflower asked.
“I can drive you home in my uncle’s van.” said Douglas. “You’ll have to give me directions, though.”
“Sounds good to me!” Wallflower said with a smile. She felt like she was becoming friends with Douglas already.
“Well then, that works out perfectly.” said Sunset. She jogged back to meet Donald at the registers.
By the time Douglas and Wallflower came out of the seed aisle, Donald and Sunset had already left. Douglas put his seed packets in the top compartment of his shopping cart, so they wouldn’t get crushed by the window frames. As he and Wallflower went to the registers, Douglas told Wallflower all about the old house.
“For the whole summer, it was just the three of us there.” Douglas explained. “But now my uncle has hired some roofers to fix the giant hole in the roof, so at least we don’t have to go up there. He also got some landscapers to cut down all the dead trees around the house. Hopefully, I can plant some new ones there later on.”
“It sounds like you’re making good progress.” Wallflower remarked. “I hope your uncle pays you for all your hard work.”
“Oh, of course he does.” said Douglas. “Just because he’s my uncle doesn’t mean I work for free. Donald and I each get $25 an hour, which is more than any other job I’ve ever had. It’s expected that the project will take about a year to finish, so I’ll have a lot of money by then.”
“Definitely.” Wallflower agreed. “You deserve a lot of money for such a tough job.”
“Thanks.” Douglas chuckled. “I consider myself lucky, because my uncle is a self-confessed cheapskate. He won’t pay for anything if he can help it!”
“I have an uncle like that too!” Wallflower laughed. “His greenhouse is really old and falling apart, but he’s too cheap to get it fixed!”
“Oh jeez…” Douglas snickered as he and Wallflower paid at the self-checkouts. When they finished paying, Douglas led Wallflower to his uncle’s van, which was parked near the store’s entrance.
“This is a nice van.” Wallflower said as she examined the large vehicle.
“It’s brand-new.” said Douglas. “Up until a few months ago, my uncle had this really old van. It was rusty all over and sounded horrible whenever it was driven. Donald and I kept telling him to replace the rust bucket, but he was too cheap. One night the engine blew up and the whole thing caught fire.” He smiled. “Then my uncle had to buy a new van.”
“That’s awful!” Wallflower giggled. “Both the old van and what happened to it!”
“I couldn’t have put it better myself.” said Douglas. He loaded the window frames into the back of the van, and Wallflower pushed the empty cart away. Once Wallflower was in the van with her seat belt on, Douglas put the van in gear and pulled out of the parking lot.
“So how far is your house from here?” Douglas asked.
“It’s on the outskirts of town.” Wallflower replied. “That’s probably out of your way, so sorry for making you drive so far.”
“Hey, you don’t need to apologize.” Douglas said kindly. “I’m in no rush to get home. Besides, I could use some company other than my brother.”
Wallflower raised one eyebrow. “Is your brother a… bad passenger?”
“Oh, he’s the worst!” Douglas laughed. “He’s always yelling at me to go faster, even when we’re on the highway. And whenever he’s driving, I’m always terrified. He does all kinds of crazy stuff behind the wheel. One time he took a slippery downhill curve at full speed, and I seriously thought I was going to die!”
“Has he ever had an accident?” Wallflower asked.
“Believe it or not, no.” said Douglas. “Not yet, anyway…”
Wallflower directed Douglas down several narrow side streets until they reached her house. It was a dark green ranch with a tall tree on each side. Wallflower took her bag of seeds and got out of the van. “Thanks for giving me a ride!” she said.
“No problem!” Douglas replied with a smile. “Anyway, I’d better head home now. My uncle’s probably wondering what’s keeping me.”
“Actually, before you go, I was wondering if you wanted to come to my Gardening Club?” Wallflower asked.
“You have a club?” Douglas asked. “Where is it?”
“It’s in my garden behind CHS. Me and a couple of my friends are meeting there after school tomorrow. If you’re not working tomorrow afternoon, I thought you might be interested.”
“Well, I have to help install the windows tomorrow morning, but I’ll have a break around two.” Douglas replied. “So yes, I can come to your club.”
Wallflower smiled. “Awesome! See you there!”
“You too!” said Douglas. “And thanks for helping me pick seeds today!”
“You’re welcome!” Wallflower called as Douglas drove away.
For the rest of the night, Wallflower couldn’t stop thinking about her new friend. She had just met Douglas Axeblade today, and they clicked with each other so well already. He was two years older than her, and had only been living in Canterlot for a few months, but she felt like she had a lot more in common with him than any boy at Canterlot High. She had previously been far too shy to even approach a boy, but talking to Douglas just felt natural to her.
Wallflower went to bed with a smile on her face, looking forward to what tomorrow would bring.
The next day, Wallflower was eating lunch with Sunset, Twilight, Rarity and Applejack. She told them about how she had invited Douglas to come to her Gardening Club after school.
“Douglas sure does love gardening.” said Sunset. “Now that I think about it, I probably should have introduced you to him sooner.”
“I’m really glad I met him.” Wallflower agreed. “He and I really get each other.” She couldn’t help but blush as she said that.
Rarity winked at Wallflower. “Sounds like someone has a crush…”
“No, I don’t!” Wallflower cried, her face a deep shade of red.
Applejack put her arm around Wallflower. “It’s nothin’ to be embarrassed about, sugarcube. Douglas is a great friend to all of us. He’s a big guy with a big heart, a lot like mah brother.”
“And he has pretty hair, too.” Twilight added.
“He sure does…” Wallflower giggled.
“Just continue to be yourself around him.” Sunset advised. “Take your time, and don’t let anyone rush you. You’ve come a long way.”
Just then, Flash Sentry walked up. He was hoping to talk to Sunset, but stopped when he saw Wallflower sitting next to her. “Oh, great.” he muttered. “It’s you.”
As Wallflower had told Sunset the night before, many students at Canterlot High still didn’t trust her after what she had done. Flash Sentry was chief among them. He greatly admired Sunset, and didn’t like that she had become friends with the girl who had tried to ostracize her. He was rude to Wallflower whenever he saw her, and showed no signs of being ready to forgive and forget.
Sunset glared at Flash. “Why are you being such a jerk to my friend?” she snapped.
“Well, why is she your friend in the first place?” Flash retorted. “She’s a nobody. The only reason people know she exists is because of what she did to you.”
“Perhaps you’d see sense if you actually got to know her.” said Rarity. “She’s really quite nice, and to put it frankly, you’re not.”
“She’s really quite nice? That’s a good one.” Flash scoffed. He walked away to go sit with his band.
Applejack pat Wallflower on the back. “Don’t listen to him. He’s just jealous that Sunset has a new friend now.”
“He does have a point, though…” Wallflower groaned.
“No, he doesn’t.” Sunset said firmly. “If he’s so quick to judge you for what you did in the past, then how can he admire me so much when I terrorized the school for years? He’s being very hypocritical.”
“He used to be cool, but now he’s just kind of sad.” Twilight agreed.
“In any case, I can tell you that the vast majority of students here are much more open-minded than Flash.” said Rarity.
“And so is Douglas.” added Sunset. “I bet he’ll really like your garden.”
Wallflower smiled, but secretly she was still a bit unsure of herself.
After her last class of the day, Wallflower headed to her garden in the woods behind the school. There she met up with Derpy and Roseluck, and told them all about Douglas.
“So he’s an Axeblade?” Derpy asked. “It’s been a long time since I heard that name.”
“According to my grandparents, the Axeblades were three Scottish lumberjacks who lived in Canterlot long ago.” put in Roseluck. “They died in the Great Storm of 1956, and now they haunt the woods on the outskirts of the town. Every night they sharpen their axes, and then they go hunting…”
“I’m pretty sure that’s just a myth.” said Wallflower. “But maybe we can ask Douglas when he gets here.”
Just then, the three girls noticed a large figure in the trees behind them. “What’s that?” Roseluck exclaimed.
Wallflower laughed. “That’s Douglas! Who’d you think it was?”
Douglas emerged from the woods carrying three packets of seeds and a large shovel. “Sorry I’m a little late.” said Douglas. “Installing one of the kitchen windows took longer than I thought it would.”
“Oh, that’s all right.” Wallflower said with a smile. “I’m just glad you remembered to come.”
“Donald and my uncle are having lunch at Jeff’s Steer House right now.” Douglas explained. “I just grabbed a chicken sandwich from the mall on my way here.” He turned to Derpy and Roseluck. “Anyway, this is me. Douglas Axeblade.”
Derpy smiled. “Hi, Douglas! My name’s Derpy.”
“And I’m Roseluck.” said Roseluck. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you too!” Douglas replied. He leaned his shovel against a tree and looked around at the expansive garden. It was full of flowers of all different colors, shapes and sizes. There were also several potted bonsai trees. “This garden is so pretty! Did the three of you do all of this yourselves?” he asked.
“It was mostly Wallflower.” said Derpy. “She’d been taking care of this garden since eighth grade before Roseluck and I became part of her club.”
Wallflower blushed. “I was the founder of the Gardening Club. And its only member for four years…”
Douglas was surprised. “How did no one else know about this place? It’s amazing!”
“Well, no one even knew about Wallflower until the Memory Stone incident at the end of last year.” Derpy said somewhat obliviously.
Wallflower shot a glare at Derpy. “You weren’t supposed to tell him about that!” she snapped.
“Tell me about what?” Douglas asked, feeling very confused.
Wallflower sighed heavily. “I guess I may as well tell you now.” she muttered. She proceeded to tell Douglas the full story of how she found the Memory Stone and used it against Sunset. “I guess you won’t want to be friends with me, now that you know what I did to her.” Wallflower sadly finished.
“No, no, it’s all right!” said Douglas. “I can tell you’ve changed since then.” He smiled at Wallflower. “Don’t worry, I still like you.”
“You… you do?” Wallflower faltered.
“Of course I do!” said Douglas. “No one back in San Francisco had any interest in plants. They were city people after all. Donald would hang out with the other athletes, but I never really had a group. It’s nice to have someone who shares my interests for a change. Besides, I didn’t make the best decisions last year either.”
“What do you mean?” Wallflower asked.
“Well, after graduating from high school, Donald and I went to college at the University of San Francisco. We figured that since most people said it was a good school, and it was near where we lived, it’d be perfect for us. But it was awful. All our classes were really boring, we never studied for exams, and our grades were terrible.”
“It sounds like neither of you adapted to college life very well.” said Roseluck.
“No, we did not.” Douglas agreed. “Although Donald handled it a lot worse than I did.”
“What did he do?” Wallflower asked.
“He punched a professor in the face.” Douglas replied. “Broke the guy’s jaw, and got himself expelled. He had to pay a pretty big fine, too.”
Wallflower shrugged. “That’s not too bad compared to what I did. I guess that’s why you guys are here now?”
“Pretty much, yeah.” said Douglas. “At the end of last year, I was asked not to come back to USF because my grades were in the toilet. My mom didn’t want me and Donald sitting around the house doing nothing, so she suggested that we move here and work for our uncle, Rusty Nails. When we called him, he told us about the old house in the woods, and now here we are.”
“Do you like living in Canterlot?” Derpy asked.
“It’s a really nice city.” said Douglas. “A lot less cramped than San Francisco. I do miss the redwoods, though.”
“Oh yeah, the redwoods!” said Wallflower. “Those huge evergreens all along the West Coast! They’re amazing!”
“They sure are!” Douglas agreed. “I have a bunch of pictures!” He pulled his phone out of his pocket and showed the girls several pictures that he’d taken in the Redwood National Park. Even a big guy like Douglas looked minuscule next to the massive conifers.
“Those pictures are amazing!” Wallflower remarked. “You’re lucky to have lived so close to the redwoods.”
Douglas nodded. “I used to go there several times a year, since the park was within driving distance of San Francisco. Being alone there is an interesting experience – it’s just you and the tallest trees on Earth.”
“I can imagine.” said Wallflower. “It’s been a long time since I went there, but I’d love to go again.”
“The next time you go out there, you definitely should!” said Douglas. He picked up his shovel. “Anyway, let’s get digging. These seeds aren’t going to plant themselves.”
“What kind of seeds did you bring?” Wallflower asked.
“Some of the ones you recommended to me last night.” Douglas replied. “I’ve got eastern blue stars, woodland irises and wisteria.”
“Those are great!” said Wallflower. “Where do you want to plant them?”
“Well, this is your garden.” said Douglas. “I think I’ll leave it up to you.”
Wallflower smiled. Soon Douglas and the girls were digging holes to plant the seeds that Douglas had brought. Roseluck was very impressed at how quickly Douglas could dig. “You move more dirt than all three of us put together!” she remarked to him.
Douglas chuckled. “Well, I am pretty strong. That’s why my uncle wanted me to work for him. But I’m hoping to go back to college one day, so I can become a plant researcher or something like that.”
Wallflower thought for a moment. “I bet you’d be good at that.” Derpy and Roseluck nodded in agreement.
“By the way, I was wondering if you know about the legend of the Axeblades?” Roseluck asked.
“There are a lot of legends about my family.” Douglas laughed. “We’re quite a famous clan. Which one are you thinking of?”
“The one about the Scottish lumberjacks who lived in Canterlot long ago.” Roseluck explained. “My grandparents said they got killed in the Great Storm of 1956, and now they haunt the woods on the outskirts of town.”
“I told her it’s just a myth.” Wallflower said with a smirk.
“Well then, you’re correct.” said Douglas. “It is just a myth. There was a branch of the Axeblade family who lived here in the early 50s, but they’d moved out before the Great Storm hit. You can’t trust urban legends.”
“Is your family actually Scottish?” Derpy asked.
“Well, duh!” Douglas chortled. “My name’s Douglas, and I have ginger hair.”
“Oh. Right.” said Derpy.
Douglas and the girls spent the next half hour planting seeds, watering flowers, and getting to know one another. Eventually Derpy and Roseluck had to go home for the afternoon, leaving Wallflower and Douglas alone in the garden.
“Thanks for inviting me to your club, Wallflower.” said Douglas. “It’s good to have someone to garden with.”
Wallflower blushed. “You’re welcome, Douglas. I’m really glad you enjoyed it. The club’s meeting at the same time next week, if you’re interested.”
“Of course I’m interested!” said Douglas. “Are there any other people in the club?”
“There are a few other people who’ve shown up, but Derpy and Roseluck are the only ones who come every week.” Wallflower replied. “It’s a small group, but at least I’m not the only member anymore.”
Douglas nodded. “How has everyone else at your school been treating you? I hope they’re not all just forgetting you like they used to.”
“Well, Sunset and her friends are all friendly with me, but a lot of other people don’t trust me after what I did.” Wallflower admitted. “Most of them just don’t really talk to me, but there’s this one guy who’s downright rude to me.”
Douglas lowered his eyebrows. “Who is this guy?”
“His name’s Flash Sentry.” Wallflower explained. “He has dark blue hair, and he plays the guitar. He used to be Sunset’s boyfriend, because back then she was the school bully and was using him to become popular. Now he just fawns over her and says mean things about me whenever he sees me and Sunset together.”
Douglas scowled. “If there are two kinds of people I really can’t stand, it’s bullies and hypocrites. This Flash Sentry guy sounds like he’s both.”
“He sure is.” Wallflower agreed. “I’m sick of hearing it from him day after day.”
“Tell you what.” said Douglas. “If I can find this guy, I’ll set him straight. Trust me – this isn’t my first rodeo.” He then glanced at his watch. It was a quarter past three. “I’d love to hang out with you for a while longer, but I really should be getting back to work now. Otherwise I’ll have to hear Donald complaining about me being slow again…”
“He does that a lot, doesn’t he?” Wallflower chuckled.
“Literally all the time!” Douglas laughed. “He may be my twin, but he’s such a pain in my butt! Anyway, I’m going to call my uncle for a lift now. See you soon!” He smiled and waved goodbye to Wallflower as he departed.
As Wallflower watched Douglas leave, she couldn’t help but grin and blush. He was so nice and funny and thoughtful, and he had so much in common with her. There was no use denying it – Wallflower Blush definitely had a crush on Douglas Axeblade.
The next day, Wallflower and Sunset were going to class together. As they were walking, Wallflower was telling Sunset about Douglas’ first visit to her club.
Sunset smiled. “It sounds like you and Douglas are getting close already. I mean, you only met him a couple days ago, but he really seems to care about you.” She winked at Wallflower. “I’d say you’ve got a good chance with him.”
Wallflower blushed and nodded.
Just then, Flash Sentry walked past, glaring at the two girls. Sunset rolled her eyes. “There goes Mr. Nice Guy again.”
“Being rude as usual.” said Wallflower. “What a hypocrite.”
“Honestly, how can she suddenly be friends with someone who was so mean to her before?” Flash muttered to himself as he exited the school. He had a break between classes, and was heading to the Canterlot Mall for lunch.
“Why don’t you ask yourself that question?” came a voice.
Flash jumped and looked to where the voice had come from. Standing next to the giant statue was Douglas Axeblade. “You’re Flash Sentry, aren’t you?” Douglas asked.
“Yeah.” Flash replied. “And who are you? How do know my name?”
“The name’s Douglas Axeblade.” said Douglas. “And I heard you’ve been acting like a real jerk recently.”
“No, I haven’t!” Flash retorted. “And even if I have, why do you care? You’re not even a student here.”
“Well, my friend Wallflower cares.” Douglas snapped.
“Wallflower?!” Flash spluttered. “Why would you be friends with her of all people? She’s a loser!”
Douglas grabbed Flash and shoved him up against the side of the statue. “Listen here, you little punk.” he hissed. “You can either apologize to Wallflower for being so rude to her, or you can go to the hospital after I’m done with you. Which will it be?”
Flash shut his eyes tightly. “I’ll apologize to Wallflower! Just please don’t hurt me!” he begged.
“Good.” said Douglas. He let go of Flash’s collar. “Honestly, how can you hold such a grudge against her when you were willing to forgive Sunset in a heartbeat?”
“Fine, fine, you have a point!” Flash stammered.
With that, Douglas walked away, smiling to himself. Meanwhile, a terrified Flash leaned against the statue and tried to calm himself down.
That afternoon, Wallflower was making her daily trip to her garden. Although the Gardening Club only met on a weekly basis, she stopped by every day to water the plants. She was watering the last bunch of flowers when Douglas walked up. “Hey, Wallflower!” called Douglas. “How are you doing?”
Wallflower smiled. She was very happy to see Douglas. “I’m doing great!” she replied. “Did you talk to Flash today? Because he gave me a really long apology earlier this afternoon!”
“I sure did!” Douglas chuckled. And he told Wallflower about his little talk with Flash.
“That’s awesome!” Wallflower laughed when Douglas had finished his story. “You sure scared him good! He looked terrified when he came up to me!”
Douglas smirked. “Well, as I said, this isn’t my first rodeo. I am from San Francisco after all – there’s a lot of sketchy people there.”
“The City by the Bay isn’t what it used to be, is it?” Wallflower sighed.
“Sadly, no.” Douglas agreed. “But I didn’t stop by just to tell you about that. I was wondering if you wanted to see a movie with me this Saturday?”
Wallflower gasped as she realized what Douglas had just asked her. “You… want to go out with me?” she asked. “Just the two of us?”
Douglas nodded. “Yep. One of my favorite books, The Rockridge Rendezvous, has finally been turned into a movie, but neither my uncle nor my brother want to see it with me. So I was wondering if you’d be available this Saturday?”
“Sure!” said Wallflower. “I love that book! I’d love to see the movie with you!”
Douglas grinned. “Perfect! Maybe we should exchange numbers too.”
“Of course!” Wallflower and Douglas traded phones and exchanged their numbers. “So… see you on Saturday, then?” Wallflower asked.
Douglas nodded. “The movie starts at one, so we’ll have time to get lunch before seeing it. Do you have any particular place you want to eat?”
Wallflower shrugged. “Not really. We can decide when the day comes.”
“Fine by me.” said Douglas. “Well then, I’ll see you on Saturday!”
“You too!” Wallflower said as Douglas left the garden. As she watched him disappear from view, she felt better and more secure about herself than ever before. She would never be invisible again, and this was a moment she would never forget.
