Planting Violets

"Ok," Jade said quietly as she stared down at her plate for a few seconds with a thoughtful frown. "That's uh. Dang."

I nodded slowly, "Yeah. It's very uh, dang."

After a couple more seconds she looked up at me and commented, "It's pretty obvious once you know though, right? I mean, calling herself 'Miss Archer' and wearing that gold brooch with the bow and arrows? Those are totally her symbols."

"Wait so does that mean she's going back to Mount Olympus now?" she added a moment later.

Then mom reminded us again, "Girls I don't think this is the sort of conversation you should be having in a public place. For that matter I'm not sure Miss Archer would want us to be discussing her identity at all."

For a moment I basked in the euphoria of being addressed as one of the girls, then that faded to a grimace and I responded quietly, "Right. Sorry mom."

"Sorry Mrs. Andersen," Jade added.

The three of us were quiet for a bit after that, as we all just focused on our meals. We were in one of the little restaurants right on Main Street, a BBQ place that specialized in ribs and wings and burgers and stuff like that.

Mom still ended up ordering a salad, but they didn't have her chicken caesar so she was trying something else. She said it was ok though. And Jade got a half rack of ribs and a side of fries, while I had a BBQ chicken sandwich and some onion rings.

And through some sort of unspoken agreement, none of us mentioned any of the extremely embarrassing things Phoebe said regarding me and Jade. In fact I was doing my best not think about those things at all, otherwise I'd end up a blushy incoherent mess again.

After another minute or two Jade suddenly asked, "Is it weird that you're a plant nymph but you're eating meat? Sorry if that's rude or insensitive Violet. It just kind of popped into my head while I was watching you with the chicken sandwich."

I shrugged, "I'm still half human. And anyways, I think it'd be weirder if I was a vegetarian, right? Like wouldn't that be kind of like cannibalism or something?"

"Huh," she frowned as she started thinking about that instead.

Then my mom reminded us yet again, "I don't think this is an appropriate topic for conversation in public either girls. And Violet hon, it's probably never a good idea to mention cannibalism while people are eating."

"Sorry," I replied with another little grimace.

I looked back at Jade and continued, "Anyways I get where you're coming from? When you think about it though, some plants do eat meat right? And some even feed off other plants, but I think they're even more rare than the carnivorous ones. Most of them just eat sunlight water and carbon dioxide."

"We can talk about it more later if you like," I added. "Somewhere not in public though."

My friend nodded slowly as she munched on another rib. Then she asked, "So what are we doing after lunch? Going back to check out your new place again?"

"I don't know," I sighed.

As much as I wanted to go back to my new home I was a little reluctant to see it again right away. Mostly because I knew Phoebe wouldn't be there anymore, and I'd probably never see her again. And that made me really sad, so I wanted to put it off for a while longer.

"Why don't we go and have a look at the local college?" mom suggested. "Since we don't need to spend the rest of the day cleaning after all, we can use that time to have a closer look at things around town."

Before I could respond she added, "We could even take Jade over to see the conservation area, if that's something the two of you would like?"

"That sounds cool," my friend smiled. "I'm up for either of those ideas. Or both even? Check out the local college, and the conservation place."

With that decided we all focused on lunch again. The food was pretty good, and the prices were ok. It was kind of a casual place, there wasn't much in the way of decor or anything. Like I got the feeling they didn't bother with an interior decorator or anything, they just focused on the food.

I could definitely see me eating there again in the near future, especially since it was pretty close to my new place. Or it would probably be good for delivery too, for that matter.

When we were all done mom paid for everyone, then the three of us headed back out to the car. We were parked right on Main Street, only a little ways down from the restaurant.

"Thanks for lunch Mrs. Andersen," Jade said as we got into the car. Then as we started out for the college she asked, "Hey Violet? Now that we're in private I have another awkward question for you. You were saying that you're still half-human so you still eat normally, but does your plant nymph side eat like a plant? Can you survive on sunlight and CO2?"

I blushed as I replied quietly, "Sort of. Not directly though? I can't photosynthesize, I'm part flower nymph not part plant. But I can sort of gain energy from the plants that are under my care? So they get energy from the sun and I get some of that."

"And the sun does feel really nice on my skin," I added in an even quieter voice. "I suddenly understand why people sunbathe."

Jade grinned, "That's pretty cool! And your plants are at the conservation area? Can we see them later?"

"Sure?" I shrugged. "I only have a few so far, but I'll probably be adding more all summer long. And I'll have lots at home too."

We were already pulling into a parking spot at the college campus by then, so we put that conversation on hold until later. Then the three of us went inside for a look around, but we couldn't actually see much since there were still some classes and exams and stuff going on.

I already knew they had the horticulture course I wanted to take so for me it was mostly about seeing the place in person. I noticed Jade picked up some of the brochures and other literature they had available. She even had a quick look at the different programs they offered.

Mom saw that too and asked, "Haven't you already made plans for college Jade?"

"Sort of?" she shrugged as she continued looking at one of the brochures. "I haven't enrolled yet so I'm not committed to anything, but the general idea was to go to our local community college back home? I see they offer some similar programs here though."

Suddenly I felt my cheeks colouring as I remembered those embarrassing things Phoebe said earlier, about inviting Jade to move in with me. And about the two of us lusting over each other.

That thought almost had my cheeks on fire again, except it suddenly struck me what that really meant. She wasn't just talking about me crushing on my friend, she was also saying my friend was crushing on me.

I wandered away a few paces and pretended to be interested in a poster or something while I hoped nobody would notice how much I was blushing. I couldn't help listening in on mom and Jade though, as they kept talking behind me.

"I'm planning on taking a visual arts program," the pretty green-haired girl explained, "But I also want to get a welding certificate? I like doing sculpture, and I know you can make money as a welder but what I really want to do is make sculptures out of metal. I've actually got a small stick welding set back home, but I want to learn how to do professional welding. Oxy-fuel, MIG and TIG welding, plasma, all the pro stuff."

Mom sounded impressed as she replied, "Wow it sounds like you have things all planned out. So after graduation would you be looking for work as a welder, and doing your art on the side?"

Jade replied, "I'd rather work on my art full-time, but I know it's not easy to make it as an artist. That's the idea though. Maybe I could sort of part-time it? Like find a part-time gig doing welding for some steady income, then spend the rest of my time making sculptures and stuff."

By that point I felt like I'd mostly got over all the blushing, so I moved back to join the others as I chimed in "You should see her stuff mom! She's been doing art all through high school and her work's amazing! Not just sculpture, Jade can draw and she does photography too. She even won a prize at an art show last year!"

All my praise left Jade blushing, while mom looked like she was trying not to smile too much. Instead she commented, "Sounds like you have a fan here Jade."

Suddenly my cheeks were red again too, and both my friend and I started looking for distractions to focus on instead.

There wasn't much else to see or do at the college so we headed back out to the car again. Mom drove us over to the conservation area, and I felt really happy as we started walking along the trail. There were loads of trees and plants on either side, and bright warm sunlight shining down.

We didn't go too far, but I made sure to show Jade all the flowers I grew when my parents and I were there on Tuesday. Then I couldn't help showing off again, and I moved to another patch of grass and had a bunch more flowers sprout up and bloom.

Jade stared with wide eyes and her jaw hanging open as some fifty or sixty wildflowers sprouted up, grew to full size, then bloomed, all in the span of a half minute or so. These were tall, with bright yellow flowers ontop of spindly stems.

"They're tall buttercups," I announced with a happy grin. Then I pointed to the ones I grew on Tuesday, "Those are forget-me-nots, wood sorrel, and creeping bellflowers."

My friend just stared for a few more seconds before she finally mumbled, "That was incredible. It's magic. Real actual magic!"

"I know!" I grinned. "It's pretty cool, right?"

She nodded slowly as she looked around again. Then she admitted quietly, "I kind of didn't really believe it, when you told me before? Like I guess I believed it's really you, like even your mom says it's you and you act and talk like you. But I still sort of didn't want to believe in magic? Except now I've seen it, and... Wow."

"Yeah," I agreed. "I probably wouldn't have believed it either, except all that stuff happened to me."

We continued looking around for another minute or two before we moved on from the flowers and looked at the lake instead. Eventually mom suggested, "Why don't we head back to the house now? And maybe we should think about how long we're planning to stay here today? Actually, when do you need to get home Jade? What time are your parents expecting you back?"

My friend shrugged as we all started walking back towards the car, "Oh uh, it's Friday so I can stay out late? I just have to call or text to let them know, but I don't really need to be home till one in the morning. They'd even let me sleep over at someone's house, if I asked in advance and they knew who it was."

A moment later she seemed to realize what she just said as her cheeks went bright red again. Mine were the same though, and the two of us both found interesting things to look at that weren't each other.

Jade and I were still quiet when we reached the car, and we remained quiet for the short drive back to my new house. That little electric car was still in the driveway when we arrived, and it was slowly starting to sink in that Phoebe actually left it there for me.

When we walked up to the front door I fumbled around with the keys, this time I used one of the new keys the goddess gave me and it worked just fine. Except as soon as I stepped inside I froze in place again.

Just like she said, the place had been completely furnished while we were out. The front room was now home to a big comfy L-shaped sectional sofa and a matching love-seat. There was a big TV on the wall, and some shelves in the corner that would be perfect for books or games or whatever. The furniture all looked brand new, the style was modern, and the colours fit perfectly.

After staring for a minute or so I moved deeper into the house, and found there was now a small table in the kitchen along with four matching chairs. The cabinets were all fully stocked too, with plates and cutlery and pots and pans and all that stuff.

The bedrooms were furnished as well, my room had a queen size bed with dark purple pillows and sheets, and a thick warm duvet. There was also a desk, dresser, and bookcase, all in a matching burly maple finish. The second bedroom had identical furnishings, except the bedding was all dark forest green and the furniture was a dark walnut finish.

And the last room was set up like a den or reading room, with a couple big comfy-looking chairs and some bookcases along one wall.

Like Phoebe said, the place was completely ready for me to move in. The only thing left was to bring my clothes and personal stuff.

"Dang," Jade said quietly. "It's like you won the lottery or something, you know? This is amazing Violet. Like you got it all, girl. Instant magic transition, you look amazing, you got magic powers, and you got a whole house and everything in it."

I sighed, "Yeah. I can't believe how lucky I am."

"What's wrong?" she frowned. "You don't sound that happy."

I shrugged, "I'm happy, I really appreciate everything Phoebe did for me. I just wish she didn't have to disappear so soon. And all this really happened because of Cynthia. It's been a decade and I still miss her. Finding out she died back then... It's just sad."

Mom moved closer and gave me a hug, "It's always sad when you lose a friend hon. I'm sure Cynthia wouldn't want you to keep mourning her though? The best thing you can do is honour her memory, while living the best life you can."

"Thanks mom," I replied quietly as I hugged her back. "You're right. It's just, meeting Phoebe and finding out about Cynthia and everything, then having Phoebe disappear like that, it brought back some of that pain from before. But I'll try not to let it get me too down."

She let go and stepped back as she gave me a supportive smile, "Good girl."

Hearing that gave me another blast of euphoria, but it also made me blush a bit. Except my mom wasn't actually finished embarrassing me yet.

She looked like she was trying not to smile too much as she suggested, "You know, it might help you feel better to share some of your good fortune with a friend. So how much longer were you planning to wait before asking Jade if she'd like to move in here with you?"

"Mom!" I squeaked as my cheeks were suddenly on fire again.