//------------------------------//
// 03: Like Something Out of A Movie (Pt. 1) 
// Story: Blooming 
// by Bookish Delight 
//------------------------------//

"...my gosh!" Wallflower heard in warbling tones as she slowly came to. "Photo, Sunny, help me help her up!"

She felt herself being raised to her feet. The world came into focus as it happened, though she found herself wobbly for a short time, barely able to balance herself. Groaning, she narrowly avoided falling down again. A pair of arms caught her.

"You really did a number on her," she heard another voice say. "Do you think we should call the hospital?"

"Wait!" she heard a third voice say, in a thick accent she recognized in the back of her mind. "She is coming around!"

After what seemed an excruciating eternity, Wallflower was able to balance herself, the arms holding her let go, and her eyes and ears worked well enough again. She looked in front of her to see three girls, looking back at her with scrunched, concerned expressions. Two of them looked vaguely familiar to her, as they stood to both sides of someone entirely unknown.

"Oh, thank goodness," the new girl in the center said. "Are you all right? Can you stand? Do you have any head throbs or anything?"

"Yeah, I'm... I'm fine," Wallflower groaned, fighting the ringing in her head, until she felt them go away, then felt them replaced with growls of annoyance. "You need to watch where you're going," she snapped, intentionally ignoring the snarky voice in the back of her head that just had to remind her that she really hadn't been watching either.

"You're right, I really need to! I am so sorry," the new girl said, her hand over her heart. "Seriously, I'm just glad you're okay. You really are okay, right?"

"Yeah," Wallflower said, putting her hands in her pockets. "It's fine," she added, feeling herself calming down. "I... might not have had my eyes on the sidewalk either."

"I do that all the time," the new girl said, turning to the other two. "Photo, Sunny, could you go ahead and order our shakes for us? I'll be right behind you. Also..." she hesitated, putting her fingers to her chin with a thoughtful moan before adding, "Yeah. Go ahead and make it four instead of three."

The girl with the large sunglasses—right, Photo Finish, Wallflower now recognized—saluted with a grin. "Right away, Miss Montage." She nodded slightly towards Wallflower. "Shall I ask for the extra booth as well?" 

Wallflower looked back and forth between Photo Finish, and the girl next to her, who was a slightly different shade of blue, wearing short-cut violet hair and another Crystal Prep uniform. Before she could make any further observations, the new girl "hmm"ed, then smiled from one corner of her mouth. "You know what, that might not be a bad idea. Do it. I'll see you inside."

Wallflower shrugged as she watched Photo Finish and "Sunny" dart inside of the building. A quick look up revealed that it was Sugarcube Corner. All the students hung out there—even Wallflower, every once in a blue moon. Saying "table for one" only stung for as long as it took for the great food to arrive. 

For a second she considered going in—some junk food would probably lift her spirits just enough for her to get through the rest of the day. Ultimately, she decided against it. Instead she shrugged, and turned to walk home, in the opposite direction of her impromptu assailant. Whoever she was.

"Wait!" the other girl said. "Hang on. Just for a second?"

Wallflower stopped. She had no clue why she stopped, but she did. "What is it?"

The girl darted back in front of Wallflower's field of vision, making it unavoidable for Wallflower to take her first real look at her. Now that the world wasn't swirling and fuzzy, it was easier, at least. 

She was light-skinned, much like Indigo Zap—were they related? No, that'd be silly. Or would it?—with green hair done up in twin ponytails, a violet blouse with glasses to match, and a black polka-dotted miniskirt. Wallflower had to admit, she was incredibly cute, in a 'nerd-chic-crossed-with-Applewood-glitz' sort of way. Wallflower wouldn't have been surprised if she turned out to secretly be some entertainer's agent. Even on the busy streets of Manehattan, she would have been easy to pick out of a crowd. 

In other words, she was the exact opposite of Wallflower herself. 

The girl fished a business card from her purse, and handed it to Wallflower, who did a double-take upon receiving it. Seriously, just how close had Wallflower's guess been?

"I'm Juniper Montage, director to the stars," Juniper said. "It's nice to meet you! I mean, again. For the first time?" 

Okay, so Wallflower's guess had been really, really close. A quick scan of the card showed a cute, smiling, super-deformed Juniper head giving a disembodied V-sign, along with a film reel, some juniper berries, a small description of her skills, and her contact information.

"I'm Wallflower Blush—wait. Director?" Wallflower blinked up at Juniper. "As in, like, a film director?"

"That's me!" Juniper said. "'You Want A Movie, I Wanna Make Movies, Let's Meet Halfway!'" A beat passed before she added, "Slogan's still a work in progress. Anyway, full disclosure: the reason I bumped into you was because I was actually rushing here to Sugarcube Corner to try out their new Lemon-Lime Smoothie." Juniper thumbed to the poster in front of the window, showing several lemons, limes, and a glass filled with green liquid. She sighed. "No excuse, of course, but we all have our weaknesses, am I right?"

"Actually, I can sort of understand," Wallflower said with a nod, twirling a few locks of her hair around her finger. "Green's my favorite color. And my favorite flavor of anything." 

Juniper hopped on her toes. "Oh my gosh, seriously? Mine too!" she said, her smile returning. 

It was a really pretty smile, Wallflower decided. What was left of her frustration was disappearing by the second just by looking at it. "SCC does makes killer shakes as well," she replied. "So, I guess I can see the timeline where I might have knocked you over? You know. If I'd known this was a thing."

Juniper giggled. "Glad to hear it. But like I said, that's still no excuse. I still feel awful about what I did. Sooooo, how about we both try it out? On me, of course."

"R-really?" Wallflower said, perking up on both the inside and outside for just a second, before shrinking back. "I-I mean, you don't have to do that."

"Yeah, I guess that's true?" Juniper said, meeting Wallflower's eyes head-on. "But I want to."

Wallflower blinked, then blushed. Not one moment later, Juniper's own cheeks pinked, her expression shuffling. "I-I mean, purely for evaluation reasons. Aesthetics? Flavor? I'm curious to see what the color green actually tastes like—" Juniper exhaled and rolled her eyes. "Ugh, this is why I wish life had multiple takes. For line-flubs just like this."

Wallflower smiled. "I've totally been there. Don't worry, though, I got what you meant." 

Juniper breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks. But yeah. How about it?"

The moment she heard Juniper's request, a million excuses popped up in Wallflower's mind. Excuses, reasons, easy ones, to let her turn Juniper down, go back home, go back to her normal, routine, familiar life. Late for an appointment? Hair to wash? Going back to the party she'd already just declined? Plants to water? 

Actually, strike that last one. She really had to stop trying to use her plants as an excuse for anything.

She thought back to the party she was missing out on. Not that she wanted to go back for partying's sake, but she did miss Sunset, Rainbow and Indigo. The girls who had actually decided to talk to her, even though she arguably wasn't worth talking to.

But here was another girl, in front of her, who was doing the same.

What if I said 'yes'?

It wouldn't be a huge gathering. It would be starting small, with one person, who was being just as nice as the others were. 

It wasn't what she'd expected to be doing today. Accepting an invitation out of the blue by someone who had almost run her over certainly wasn't part of her internal social handbook. A handbook that consisted of a couple of pages at most, but which existed nonetheless.

But... what if I said 'yes' anyway?

She made her decision. 

"Actually? Yeah. I'd like that," Wallflower finally said.

"Sweet!" Juniper said with a squeal. She opened the door for Wallflower in a flowing, grandiose gesture. "After you, then."

"Thanks," Wallflower said, walking towards the door, her heart beating in nervousness and excitement at the same time.

I sure hope I know what I'm doing.