Ari & Bloom

A short story about having crushes on cute, artsy girls

Ari leans in and adjusts her glasses, eyes fixed on the computer screen. Bloom was an odd enough name, right? As she scrolls through the profiles of people who are most definitely not the Bloom she wants, she recalls the list. Of course! Why hadn't she thought of it before? Bending down, Ari pulls open one of the filing drawers and rifles through the papers of each folder, snagging the bright salmon colored one. Her class list for art history. Smirking, Ari scans the page with her index finger, pausing at "Clemens, Bloom". Clemens. Oddly fitting for the not-so-cutesy new girl. Sure enough, when entered into the search bar the first result is what she was looking for. Bloom with big hazel eyes and the lightest freckles and a messy head of pink hair. "Stalking me?" Oh f**k. Ari whips around to see the subject of her search standing before her and smiles a guilty smile. "Kind of. I have a thing for deciding who to talk to before giving them a chance to talk first." Bloom arches a perfect eyebrow. "Well. You're talking now. What sparked your interest?" Ari stares at her, all leather jacket and plaid miniskirt and sneakers and messy buns and red lipstick...and shrugs. "I like a girl in Converse, what can I say?" Bloom smiles and blows a small bubble with the gum that Ari was unaware was in her mouth. "Damn good shoes," she says in agreement. Ari nods and leans back in her chair, trying not to stare. Or blush. Or both. Suddenly Bloom looks up and fixes her gaze on her. "So...what's your name?" Ari blinks, momentarily blanking. "Uhm...I...Ari. Arianna, but...Ari." Bloom nods, smirking again as she pops another bubble. "Okay. Arianna. What is that? The background?" Ari shrugs. "I have no idea. Could be lots of things, really. What about Bloom? That's sort of an odd name." 

Bloom laughs and nods her head again. "Yeah, it is pretty weird. I actually do have a story behind it, though," she leans back and looks off into space, as if recalling a memory. "My parents were really romantic. My dad was a poet and he always thought up really clever, personal things for my mom. And my mom has always loved flowers and gardening and such, so you can just imagine the bouquets he gets her from time to time," she smiles at Ari and Ari smiles back, completely and totally intrigued by this girl already. "Anyways. One Valentine's day, they were at a getaway house on vacation. It was a beautiful day; the weather was perfect and they were so in love, and that night things got a little..ya know...a little steamy, " she laughs again, "and they decided to just go for it. They had been dating for a while and they wanted a kid and given that the house was surrounded completely by flowers that had just burst into bloom...well. They liked that idea; the idea of Bloom. So here I am." Ari smiles. "Your parents sound like a couple of crazy romantics," she comments. Bloom shrugs. "Yeah, I guess. Good thing they didn't pass that on to me. I don't know if I've met anyone colder," she says with an edge, as if trying to be impressive. Ari frowns. "You don't seem too cold to me." Bloom starts taking baby steps backwards. "That's because you don't know me. Not yet, at least." She turns on her heel and heads for the door, tossing a "Later, Arianna" over her shoulder. Weird. What a completely and utterly strange girl. Oddly attractive, though. Ari would give her that. With a small chuckle, she closes the computer and leans back in her chair, spinning and filling her mind with possibilities of freckled pink-haired girls named Bloom.