Flowers for you?

HER:

There was this boy at school who kept giving me awkward glances or always looking at my way. I would see all his friends poke him at the side, and I would pass by and he'd just stare after me. 

It was just a little after New Year, just before Valentine's Day. And as you know, every Valentine's, all the beautiful girls in the school get either flowers or chocolates or both, from the boys that adore them. I never got anything on Valentine's by the way. I went by my day as usual, then I went home in the afternoon. 

Around 5:40 in the late afternoon, I heard the doorbell rang. I came to get the door, see who it was. 

It was him. The boy. He had a bouquet of flowers in hand. Dark red roses. 

"Must be expensive," I said, pointing to the bouquet. He did not say a word, he only extended them out to me.

"Oh, they're for me?" I sniffed the roses and sneezed. "I'm sorry. Is that all?"

He turned and walked away; again, without saying a word.

I immediately dropped the flowers into the garbage can in the kitchen.

Going to the living room to watch television; by this time, I heard my mother come into the kitchen and say, remorse in her voice, "Poor flowers. Anna, do you know who sent these flowers?" 

I saw her appear in the TV room with the flowers in her hand. Which I immediately grabbed away from her hand and binned them again. I sneezed. "Mom, you know I'm allergic to these." 

HIM:

I finally gathered up courage to talk to Anna. That was last week, when I gave her flowers. I bought the bouquet of pretty red roses using the money I saved up from my part-time job as a cook. 

I didn't really talk though, I didn't say anything, I was too nervous. But I did hand over the flowers to her, nicely and neatly. Did I need to speak anything? I heard it was said that, sometimes, silence speaks it all. That in place of words, silence fills in for everything void. All the things you wanted to say, spoken in silence.

I just wanted to drop by her place, today, to say goodbye. I was going away for good, to go to college. Make my dreams come true. You know, I always wanted to be a musician. 

When I arrived at her place, it was early in the morning and the garbage truck was there. I saw a garbage man emptying out the Stoner family garbage can, that is, Anna's. I watched as the bouquet of red roses tumbled out and into the black garbage bag.

"Nooooooo!" 

Like a movie in a  slow-mo I came to the rescue.

The garbage man had an odd look on his face. "You got any problems, son?"

Back to earth.

 I stopped, and flattened out an invisible crease on my shirt. "No, sir."

"Don't get too serious, though. It might kill you." He laughed, showing a set of yellow teeth and red gums. "Them girls." At that instant, he was talking about Anna, who was standing in front of their door, flirting with another boy. She didn't seem to notice me.

I watched her flip her hair, heard her titillated voice giggling. Things she didn't do when she was with me. 

I looked at her, for the longest time maybe. I knew I had to walk away. 

I walked away, my eyes steady on the ground.

I didn't know that Anna knew, that Anna watched, I only knew, I had to forget her soon.