“You don’t know what’s in those woods,” he suddenly said.
“What?”
“You’re new here, so you don’t know… just, stay out of the forest, okay?”
“But, why?” Now, he had gotten her all curious.
“It’s best you never find out.”
“Tell me,” she urged him.
“No, I won’t,” he kept shaking his head and she knew, from the look on his face, that he wouldn’t tell her anything else.
Never mind. She would have to find out on her own, which she preferred to do anyway.
“So, you like to think surrounded by plants, too?” he asked, in an effort to change the topic.
She tilted her head, watching him carefully, trying to decide whether he was worth her trouble or not. She couldn’t tell yet but talking never hurt anyone. It felt pleasant to be here, with him.
“I came to see what kind of plants they had here,” she gave him an honest answer, though only half of it.
“Do you like what you see?” he asked, with a soft smile.
“I wish I could smell those roses in there,” she told him, whispering.
“Do you have a death wish?” he asked, with a frown.
“Don’t worry, we’d be protected.”
“You know we aren’t allowed to have any of those pills and creams here. We should be as we are here, that’s the whole point.”
“Spoil sport,” she frowned, though she was still smiling.
“You like living on the edge, don’t you?”
“Isn’t it boring, otherwise?”
“I’m not a big fan of pain, honestly.”
“Then you don’t know what you’re missing…”
She got so close to him that their noses were almost touching. She could hear him breathe in deeply, then out, loudly. It was like he was wheezing, like it was difficult for him to take a proper breath.
“You don’t have asthma or something like that, do you?” she asked, giggling.
“No, why?” he wondered.
“You’re breathing weirdly.”
“Well… that’s… because you got so close, and I….”
Instead of a reply, she started laughing. He was really cute and clumsy, and probably had a nerdy sounding name but she wanted to find out what it was anyway.
“I’m Lucy, by the way,” she offered him her right hand, all business like.
“Thorne,” he nodded, accepting it.
“Thorne?” she laughed out loud.