Drawn Together

by Juliana Smith

I like shy hockey players and female leads who are learning their way through life.

I learned long ago that it's far better to stand alone with integrity than be surrounded by people who don’t even like who you are at your core.

“You bought this book,” I wave it around, fall colored tabs and all, “and annotated it for me?”

But, my mind is still trying to wrap around the hundreds of tiny tabs, notes, explanations, and comments like, ‘you will like this part, I think’ or ‘push through this scene, it gets better,’ that he left on this book just for me.

along with the three-minute hug that reminded him just how touch-starved he was.

Word of the day: droke Definition: to gaze intensely at someone while they are eating, in the hope that they will share their food

Fletcher really, really liked mushrooms.

Word of the day: sonder Definition: the feeling of realizing that every other person you see has a life as vivid and complex as your own

“I think I’d like to know what that’s like. To be the first person someone thinks about. To be the one that everything someone else does comes back to you. The one they always choose, to not be a maybe or a possible add-on, but to be a definite. That’s got to be nice.”

Fletcher didn’t hate exclamation marks.

“I think Lennon is one of those girls I would like every version of.”

Fletcher, with zero hesitation, answers, “Flora likes meat lovers.” I don’t remember even telling him that. My nod is sheepish. “I do, but I will eat anything.” Lennon pipes in, “She also likes ham and pineapple.”

Fletcher smiles, and it’s a goofy one. All wobbly and silly, and it makes me giggle.

Fletcher took a single throw blanket, his whole body on the carpet, minus a single foot propped up beside mine on my air mattress. It didn’t occur to me until the morning that he lived there—he had a warm bed and sheets and a nightstand to hold his water and Kindle—and yet, he slept in until ten o'clock that morning, happily on the floor beside me.

I would argue that the loneliest sound in the world is the symphony of laughter one door over.

Word of the day: Aspectabund Definition: being able to let expressive emotion show easily through one’s face and eyes

It’s that exact moment I realize Fletcher is in a suit—a full suit—with a white button-up tucked into black pants, shiny shoes scuffed on the toe, like he tripped on the way here, a simple black tie, and a jacket to top it off.

“Thanks for tonight, Flora. It was possibly the most selfish I’ve gotten to be in a while.”