Short Story Week: Yellow, Part 3

Here's PART 1 and PART 2 if you're just joining in. Thank you everyone who's commenting.

And here's Part 3.

When Columbus Day came, Lacey spent her morning lounging around the house in pajamas. She caught up on the daytime TV she only watched during summer vacation, while her grandmother prepared lunch in the kitchen.


“Lacey,” her grandmother called, “maybe today you should clean your room.”

“It’s clean,” she replied, flipping the channels between trashy talk shows and soap operas.

“I mean, maybe you should clean up those roses.”

“The roses are fine.”

“You have too many.”

Lacey flipped the channel again. “Why do you care?”

Her grandmother did not respond. Lacey had noticed an increase in her grandmother’s agitation. She didn’t want to think it had something to do with her roses, but she knew it did. She had no idea why.

A scuffle of noise outside the door made Lacey think the mail had arrived. She was just about to swing the door opened when she remembered that there was no mail on Columbus Day, but she opened the front door anyway. Arranging what looked like a hundred yellow roses on her porch stood Aaron. The day had an unusually warm temperature and for once, it was dry. Aaron stood before her, his hands shoved into his jean pockets, wearing a light grey sweater.

“It’s you?” Lacey asked. “All this time, you’ve been sending me these roses, these yellow roses. Even though you know I have a boyfriend, even though you know I hate the color yellow.”

Aaron smiled sheepishly. “Yes.”

“But why?”

“Because I love you,” he said simply. “I always have, and I think now that I always will.”

“Aaron, I…I don’t know what to say.”

“You don’t have to say anything,” he said. “I’m not expecting much…I know I don’t have much of a shot against a guy like Simon…but I don’t know. I just had a feeling. A hunch. I wanted to do something for you. I haven’t seen you smile as much lately and I was hoping to cheer you up. I just love you. I want you to be happy.”

“Aaron, I’m sorry…”

“You’re with Simon, I know.”

“Yeah.”

“Well tell me this,” Aaron said. “Do you like the roses? Do they make you smile at all?”

“Aaron…”

“Do they make you smile?”

“Yes,” she admitted.

“Then I won’t stop sending them,” he said and took off for the next yard.

Lacey walked inside leaving the roses on her porch. She felt odd accepting them, now that she knew where they had come from. She felt even more uneasy about the fact that she would continue to receive them. Why couldn’t he send any other color? But then again, she thought, no other color would do. Maybe yellow wasn’t such a bad thing after all. And Lacey returned outside, needing seven trips to bring the hundred yellow roses fully in.

Aaron kept true to his word, leaving piles and bouquets of yellow roses for Lacey every day. She had also convinced Simon to drop her off at the corner, claiming her grandmother had taken to watching their make out sessions from a window. But in reality, she had to keep the yellow roses a secret, or else Aaron or any other guy that looked at her might feel the wrath of the football team upon them.