Stupid Cupid (Chapter 3)

Debra and Lizzie scattered away from Andrea and Skye, who decided to stick together to find a game to play. Madeline made her way to a stand where a guy was sitting down, taking people's money and handing them pure red roses. Over the stand was a sign that said, "Roses for $5" written in red paint. There was a short line to the stand so Madeline stood in the back of it and waited. It took a few minutes until she was first in line. She was face-to-face with the guy, who had to be in his late teens, early twenties.
"How many roses?" he asked in a silky voice.
"Just one," answered Madeline, crossing her arms.
The guy reached down to one of the baskets of fresh cut roses behind the stand. "Is it for yourself?"
"Yeah. So what?"
"Nothing. I just thought a guy should be buying one for you."
"Well, I don't have a guy to buy me one."
The gentleman revealed the long-stemmed rose. "I'm sorry; I can't paint a picture right now. How could someone as gorgeous as you not have a boyfriend?"
"I ask myself all the time. I just don't know the answer."
"Well, there can't be an answer. There is no excuse for you to be single."
Madeline looked into this guy's eyes. She started to get lost into them. So smoldering and brown; it was like they were hypnotizing her. Then she began to realize how enticing this guy was when he smiled at her, oh so seductively.
"Um... thank you," she almost stuttered.
"Not at all. Here's your rose."
Madeline slowly took the flower from him. "Here's five dollars." She slipped a folded-up five dollar bill out of her pocket.
She protruded the money from in-between her index and middle finger. The guy looked into Madeline's blue eyes as he started to grab the dollar from her, slowly caressing her fingers before sliding the money out of her fingers.
"Thank you," he said.
"T-Thank you," she responded.
The guy held eye contact with Madeline for a while. She couldn't handle how hot he was so she slowly backed up then ran away.

Several minutes later, Lizzie decided to make herself feel less guilty about basically ditching her boyfriend by buying him another gift. So she found the rose stand and decided to wait in line. It didn't take too long for her to be first in line.
"How many roses?" asked the guy.
"One," responded Lizzie with a smile.
"Just one?" The guy reached down to the flowers.
"Well, I only got one boyfriend."
"Oh, this is for your boyfriend?"
"Yep. He loves roses. He likes how they look like that design people make with frosting when they're making a cake."
The guy pulled out the rose. "Very interesting. Also, when I first saw you, I knew you had a boyfriend."
"How? Are you psychic?"
The guy laughed sexily. "No. It's just that you're very beautiful. A girl like you can't be single."
Lizzie blushed; she was flattered. "Oh. Thank you."
"No need to thank me. It's the truth. You are very beautiful."
Lizzie giggled. She started to become aware of how cute and nice that guy was. "Here you go," she grinned, handing him money before taking it out of her small open purse.
"Thanks. Here you go." He gave her the rose.
"You know what? Can I get another rose?"
"You want another one?"
"Yeah, DeMarcus could use two. Or three. Or four! He loves them so... so he doesn't care how many he has... I'm sure."
The guy bent down and tore three more roses out of their basket. He sat up and handed them to Lizzie.
Lizzie gave the guy more money. "Thank you."
"Sure. Four roses for the girl who is four times more beautiful than any other girl here."
"You know what? I'm gotta go but I'm gonna come back if I decide that I want more roses."
"I'll be here waiting."
Lizzie grinned at the guy who grinned right back. As she slowly began to exit, she waved at him goodbye. He waved back but she kept waving as she walked away backwards. When she had gotten far enough, she stopped waving, which prompted the guy to stop waving back.

Later, Andrea realized how much she appreciated Madeline for being so confident about her solitude. So she made a decision to buy a rose for herself to get as much self-assurance as Madeline had. She walked through the fair and found the rose stand which had no line. She sprinted all the way to the front of the table.
"How many roses?" asked the guy.
"One," Andrea answered, holding up her index finger.
The guy reached down to the roses. "May I ask who is this rose for?"
"It's for me."
"For you? Just you?"
"Yeah, I have no one to give it to. That's why there's no one to give me a rose. But I deserve one so I'm buying one for myself."
"Wow." The guy sat up and revealed a red rose. "Well, you do deserve one. That's for sure."
Andrea smiled. "Thank you."
"Of course. What I don't understand is why you have no one to give things to you when you're incredibly beautiful."
"Well, I tend to hurt people... physically and emotionally."
"That just means you're strong. I like that."
Andrea was mesmerized by this guy's smoky eyes. "Ah, dios mio..."
"You speak Spanish? I speak a little. Fuera de todas las lenguas en el mundo, eres la mejor."
"Aw, yeah."
"Here you go." The guy smiled at Andrea as he offered the rose.
Andrea smiled back as she grabbed the flower from him. "What's your name?"
"What's yours?"
"Andrea."
"I'm Milo. It's not as beautiful as 'Andrea' though."
"Listen, I got to split but if you want to look for me later, I'll be here." She handed him a five dollar bill.
"Good to know."
Andrea giggled, almost nervously, before exiting.

A few minutes after that, Debra made her way to the rose stand. She was still thinking about her boyfriend, Kyle, longing to spend time with him. She thought she would be able to take her mind off of him if she bought something that she loved: a flower. There was one person at the front of the stand so when she came up, that person was just leaving. She stepped closer to the stand and faced the gentleman.
"How many roses?" he asked.
"One will do me good," Debra responded.
The guy reached down to grab a rose. "Who is this flower for?"
"Myself. I find serenity with flowers."
"You do?"
"'Yesserina'. The smell usually helps me find a calmer state of mind."
Milos held up a rose. "What's 'yesserina'?"
"It means 'yes'. I'm sorry; I like to make up words to keep myself loose, if that makes sense."
"No, I get it. It makes perfect sense. I think it's cool that you feel calmer when you're around flowers."
"Thank you. I believe that peace is important in everyone's life. It keeps us from destroying what should be loved."
"That's really beautiful. Like you."
Debra grinned. "Thank you."
"I like a girl who's laid-back."
"Back up, Jack. I got a boyfriend."
"Oh. Well, that makes sense. A girl who looks like you and acts like you cannot be single."
Debra giggled, basking in Milo's honeyed words and slowly becoming infatuated with him. "Can I get an extra rose?"
"An extra rose?"
"Maybe a third one."
"Sure thing, sweet thing."
Debra giggled again. She took her money out of the back pocket of her jean shorts and began counting it to get ready to give Milo the right amount.
Milo bent over and picked two more roses from their basket. He sat up, picked up the first red rose and handed all three to her. "There you go."
"Thank you." Debra handed him the money, which he slowly took from her, fondling her fingers.
"No, thank you."
Debra gave him one last smile before walking off.

Next, not much of a surprise, Skye made her way over to the rose stand. She felt bad for getting her boyfriend, Jeffrey, a gift so she wanted to at least give him something. She waited in the short line to the stand. And in almost no time, she was in the presence of Milo.
"How many roses?" he asked.
"The way that my budget looks, one," answered Skye.
Milo reached down to the roses. "You have a budget?"
"Yes, which may seem shocking, but I'm one of those poor white people."
Milo laughed his sexy laugh. "You're funny."
"I get that a lot."
Milo exposed the red rose for Skye. "Is this for yourself?"
"No, it's for my boyfriend, Jeffrey."
"Oh. Does he like roses?"
"I don't know. But that doesn't mean he shouldn't appreciate it."
"I see. Jeffrey's a lucky guy."
"How so?"
"Well, he's with a girl who looks like you."
"And what do I look like?"
"Beautiful. Really beautiful."
"Thanks, man but I ain't all that."
"How can you say that? You look like those goddesses that one would see only from a mythology book."
"Well, me being as beautiful as a goddess is a straight myth."
"Sorry I even mentioned it. I just had to say something because you are the best looking person in this entire fair."
"Do you really believe that?"
"No, I know that. That's why I said your boyfriend is a lucky guy. He probably calls you his princess and stuff like that."
"No, not really. He calls me Skye."
"Is that your name?"
"Yeah."
"Oh, well, there's nothing more gorgeous than the sky. Of course it will get black at night like a deadly disease. But sometimes there are stars and without the black, we can never admire the illumination of the precious stars in the sky. And the sky can also be blue, shining and precious like the hue of your gorgeous eyes."
Right there, Skye fell under his spell. "Um... are you gonna give me my rose or what?"
"Yeah." Milo handed Skye the flower. "Here you go."
"Thanks." Skye pulled a folded up dollar from her jeans' pocket and laid it on the table.
Milo picked the dollar up. "Come again."
"Yeah, we'll see, brother."
Skye turned around and walked away, trying to deny the feelings she was getting.