Janet was sitting by herself on the lawn when I got to school on Monday. She had a pair of full-size headphones around her head, which she believed was the only way to go. She liked to feed herself on enough rock and roll to last her through the day. Instead of joining the rest of the girls for giant lattes, this was her idea of breakfast.

I saw her drumming her fingers on the grass and plopped myself down next to her.

She pulled down her headphones and handed it over to me. "Check out this awesome new band I just discovered. They're called Previous Search."

It had an infectious beat and was moody and sensual. I listened until the song had ended.

"Very dark and sultry, right?" Janet asked. "It's like getting stoned before first period. Not that you'd know what that feels like."

"Trust me, I know." I was dating Flora, after all. I didn't even see her yet but I felt lightheaded already. She was the first thought that came to my head this morning when I opened my eyes and had stayed there ever since.

"Do you like the song?" Janet took back the headphones.

"Absolutely."

"Great! I know the bassist, and I'm invited to see them perform next Friday. It's at a warehouse all the way over in the industrial area, which is very cool. Wanna come?"

I was her go-to guy whenever Brian was busy at university. A week ago I would have agreed right away, but now I hesitated.

"Don't worry, it's completely legal," Janet said.

"I'll ask Flora if she's up for it," I said, even though I had a sneaking suspicion it wasn't her cup of tea.

Janet only paused for one second before the realization clicked into place on her face. I knew that with a silent understanding, she would stop asking me to hang out with her since I was back in a relationship. She never complained about it because she knew how I always set rules for myself, even though Janet really was just Janet to me.

"Of course, ask Flora to come!" she said. "I'll ask Nicholas too. This is totally Nick's kind of thing."

"Sure." I could feel the undercurrent of the changed dynamics. We were once Sean, Flora, and Janet, but now we had shifted into the couple and the friend. The friend who didn't want to get stuck being the third wheel, to be exact.

"Didn't I predict you guys will get back together?" she said. "I saw everything through my crystal ball. I just knew you're both pining for each other."

"Yeah, you're right about everything. As usual."

"I heard about the Raymond incident." She shook her head. "I don't need to point out the obvious. If you had confided in me, at all, at any point during junior year, then-"

I groaned. "I get it. J. I brought this on myself. In the future I'll report everything to you first hand."

"Unless Flora beats you to it. I've already heard about all the fights you had during the weekend, including her guy friends issue and how you don't appreciate good wine, and I was forced to take sides on everything."

"Do you want to subscribe to our newsletter? It's called Flora and Sean's fightlog and you'll get updates every time we fight," I joked.

"No thanks, I have limited space on my Gmail."

I was surprised that the greatest weekend of my life was just a series of arguments in Flora's opinion. I didn't even think the issues were that important, not to mention they were resolved already. It was definitely nothing worth telling our friends about. "Of all the things that took place, she told you about us fighting?"

"No, but it's the only thing I feel like repeating. The rest is just...nauseating." She held a hand in front of her throat and pretended to gag. "I keep having to remind myself that she's dating you instead of some god from Greek mythology. I swear that girl is completely possessed."

I felt instantly flattered and embarrassed, the way Flora always did to me.

Janet smiled. "It's pretty cute, to be honest."

"Yeah. I just...I can't believe I can have her back."

She patted me on the shoulder. "I know Flora is one step away from tattooing your name on her forehead, and it's great to see you're taking it serious too."

"J, I'm so in love with her," I blurted.

Janet stared at me in stunned silence. I told Janet about all my girlfriends, but it was mostly vague descriptions along the lines of it's going okay. It wasn't like me to make such a declaration. My words surprised myself even, and after hearing it out loud, stark in the air between us, I regretted it. I waited to hear Janet tease me about it as her face broke into an ear to ear grin.

"I'm so happy for you. For both of you," she said. "I mean, obviously I've heard from Flora already that you exchanged your true love vows, but it's different coming from you."

"Flora took away the suspense of everything," I muttered. Janet couldn't fake that smile of genuine approval even if she wanted to. She really was the best friend I could ever hope for. She always wished the best for me, even though I pretty much ignored her every time I was in a relationship.

"You guys are my favorite couple. Good luck," she said. "Let me know if you need my advice on anything. Picking out a baby name, for example."

"We have got that covered. Flora will just name it Prada."

She laughed. "If you hurry you can catch Prada's mom before class."

***

Flora was sitting outside with Sandra and Carmen in her usual spot. On seeing her I felt the worst of the withdrawal symptoms: anxiety, palpitation and tightness in the chest. It was like I had tunnel vision. She was in the center and everything else defocused.

"Well, well, if it isn't the boy who made the same mistake twice," Sandra started as I approached them. Sandra was nice enough to me when we were just friends as basketball player and head cheerleader, but as soon as I became Flora's boyfriend I got this special treatment of her nastiness, which I accepted with pride. She was usually too busy ignoring people to bother making an insult, and I considered it a privilege knowing she made an effort on me.

"Sandy, not even your negativity is going to drag me down today," Flora said, but her eyes were on me and she was smiling.

I said my good mornings.

"Congrats, Sean," Carmen said, always the pleasant one to balance out Sandra's foul energy. "It's great you guys worked things out."

"Congrats yourself, Carmen." Sandra eyed her with an evil stare. "You just earned yourself the chance of giving another round of therapy sessions when they break up."

"Sandy, stop harassing us," Flora said. "Don't you need to go eat some small children or something?"

"Small children are hardly vegan," Sandra said but chuckled anyway, like an afterthought. "I meant to say congratulations too. Somehow it came out wrong because I'm a bit allergic to happy people."

"Thanks." I was too happy to come up with a halfway intelligent comeback.

Flora reached out her arms to me so I could pull her up, and as she stood up, she linked her arm through mine. She waved goodbye to her friends. "Excuse us. We need to go and be happy now."

When she pulled me over to the side of the building to kiss me, I didn't protest. We had become the sort of annoying couple who kissed in semi-public, the kind that always made me cringe, but I thought I was entitled at least a three-day-period of being annoying, considering how hard it was to get to where we were now.

It was not easy to pull apart but we managed reluctantly. Had to keep telling myself she was just going to class instead of war. I walked her to hers although I knew I would be late to mine. "Did you sleep okay last night? After you recounted every detail of the last 48 hours to your friends."

She smirked. "I didn't share every detail. Just the parts where you had your clothes on."

"That's about five minutes in total," I said and got a beautiful smile out of her.

"I'll see you at lunch."

The bell rang. She left a whiff of her jasmine perfume on my sleeve.

***

All through the morning I could only think about lunch. My life was cut up in fragments and I wondered if that was how being in jail would feel like, where chunks of time in between didn't matter anymore. My life was to be transformed into a repeating wheel of getting up, catching her before class, blur, then lunch, then history class where I could stare at her chocolate-colored head from three rows behind, then blur, class over, and we would spend every last drop of time together. It felt like a dream and the line of reality had blurred into a field of jasmine.

"You're extremely excited about reaction kinetics," Nicholas commented during AP Chemistry. He knew why I was restless and it seemed like everyone else knew. In history class Flora and I texted each other until my cell phone almost ran out of battery. I loved talking to her in person, but texting was another form of fun.

Dear King, it's very hard to concentrate with you radiating heat from three rows behind. I want to serve you in your chamber.

Dear chambermaid, we're on page 213. Stop fantasizing about my hotness.

Flora turned around and winked at me, and all the words from page 213 melted away.

***

"I'm surprised at how completely not surprised I am that you and Flora got back together," Dylan started at lunch on Tuesday. Flora had not entered the cafeteria yet.

"Yeah, what is it about Flora that keeps you crawling back for more?" Jake seconded.

"You never told us about the little tricks she does," Dylan said, giving me that obscene look he always wore when it came to sex. They went on to talk about everything they enjoyed about it, and when Dylan graciously shared with us his recent epiphany, that the best sex was the kind you had to shower before and after for, I decided to tell them.

"Okay, here goes." I leaned forward, and they both looked at me in anticipation as if they really expected me to share any private details. "Flora's little trick is that she is Flora."

Jake made a show of pulling his tray away from me. "Is your lameness contagious? I'm afraid if I catch it, I'll never get laid again."

I laughed. At that moment Flora slid in next to me, running her hand along my shoulder blades. "What are you guys talking about?"

"I'm telling him he can do better than you," Jake said with a grin. "I'm sick of all your friends. I was hoping Sean could bring in some new mix to this group, but we're stuck with you again."

"You haven't met her friends Jess and Sarah from St. Margaret's," I said. They seemed really perfect for Jake. They could probably set some barns on fire together.

"Jess wouldn't happen to be Chinese and has a tattoo on her hipbone, right?" Jake asked after a pause.

Flora and I exchanged a look, and Jake pulled out his phone. "Let's see...J...Jade...Jennifer...Jessica." He pretended to be scrolling through an index card until he found the picture he wanted. He showed it to us and it was of him and Jessica with their heads pressed close together, and the flash was on. He winked. "Linda's party really was awesome."

"Damn she's hot!" Dylan said, and I suspected I caught a hint of wistfulness. He was constantly thinking of cheating on Sydney but I doubt he'd ever really go through with it, again, considering the risks that followed.

Flora pressed her lips together. "You were supposed to be the bouncer," she said to Jake. "Not hitting on our party guests. I have to warn her about you."

"Oh, she knows," Jake replied. As a certified hook up artist, he was always straight about what he could and couldn't offer. "She hinted she didn't want me to get too attached, and when she learned about who I am, she seemed pleased with the finding."

"Jess is a free spirit." Flora took a sip from my apple juice. "I'm surprised you have time to get your hands on so many girls, though. It's like you're...all over the place."

Jake grinned. "Yeah, that's what Jess said last night too."

Flora threw the fries on my tray at him. "Don't take advantage of her. She's saying she doesn't want to commit, but you never know."

"Are you implying that she can't make her own decisions? Why do you assume your friend will get hurt?" Jake smiled. "And if anyone's being taken advantage of, it's me. After all, I'm the one who'll be doing all the work."

Flora shook her head. "Jake, I can't deal with you until I've had a couple of drinks."

"Jess is pretty cool, to be honest," Jake said. He told us about them hanging out over the weekend at the carnival, and because he was funny, we all laughed at the right moments as if on cue. Flora had no trouble fitting in at our table.

They would never admit it, but I knew my friends were happy for me. My girlfriend was so easy to talk to. She thought I didn't appreciate that about her but the truth was I really did.

"Are you coming to my place Saturday night for the game?" Dylan said to me. "It's against Miami Heat." He didn't need to say it because I knew, of course. We always watched the more important games together.

"Saturday?" Flora answered for me. "Saturday is fine. We're free."

"I didn't invite you," Dylan said. "Nothing personal, but I don't want a girl's idiotic opinions on which player is the cutest."

"I assume you're watching the live broadcast?" Flora said calmly. We nodded, and she shrugged. "Then I guess you're not interested in free tickets."

I arched my eyebrows. "You have tickets to the game?"

"No big deal, these are only the best seats. You know, those limited ones with the best view." Flora brushed a strand of hair away from her face. "My dad has this client and...anyway, I'm going to sell the tickets online, since I just found out watching live broadcast from TV is the cool way to do it."

"Take me! Please!" I put my hand over hers. "I'm not friends with these people." I knew Flora must have more than two tickets, however. It wasn't like her to flaunt unless she wanted to share.

"How many tickets do you have?" Jake asked.

"It depends," Flora said. "On how nice you are to me for the next five minutes."

I watched with amusement as my friends took turns sucking up to her, and she graciously agreed on taking them along. I didn't know how it was even possible but being Flora's boyfriend just kept getting better.

"I'll beat you if you ever break up with her." Dylan pointed a finger at me to show his loyalty to Flora the ticket holder.

Jake nodded and put a hand over his mouth to whisper loudly, just so she could hear and laugh. "Break up with her after the game."

***

My Flora-themed life unfolded before me with bliss. She was the center of it, and I tried fitting everything else in between. The basketball season had started and I played a lot, and we sometimes had to travel to different cities. Flora took her responsibility as socialite when I was away, and when I came back she spent all her time on me. She was undoubtedly more committed this time. Despite what I said about agreeing to go to parties and trying out new things, there really wasn't that much time and the only new things we managed to try were in the bedroom.

I understood her better than in junior year. After we got back together, her parents weren't home for a week. I tried imagining what that felt like to her, going back to an elegant apartment with the doorman and the elevator, an enormous living room with the grand coffee table where the sofa was always empty, the most equipped kitchen where only water was boiled, and a dining table with a centerpiece, big enough to fit twenty people but no one ever ate there.

She told me on our first date at The Pavement that she wasn't a stay-at-home girl and she didn't take loneliness well. I started to understand why she had so many dinner dates and guy friends, because she didn't want to eat alone.

Before going out with Flora I never really thought of how my family was always there. I always took them for granted, I mean, there was Linda who spoke Whinese, and even though my parents were alright in terms of parents, I was never especially excited about the concept of chatting with them.

But what if they weren't around? I was so used to coming home to my mom's home-cooked meals and everyone sitting down together, I'd come to expect that it was the norm, so no wonder for Flora her life was a big blank space after cheerleading practices and she needed exits for her excessive energy.

I started to take Flora home for dinner and everyone welcomed her. She would bring us her house collection of expensive wine and my parents were far more appreciative of it than me, and sometimes she gave my mom flowers and I could tell my parents really warmed up to her. She was much more considerate than Linda and a lot more expressive compared to me, and safe to say if she was offered to them as a daughter, Linda and I would be chucked out in no time. Flora always offered to clean up and I would let her take the credit, even though as soon as my parents left she would just sit on the counter and dangle her toned legs. Now that she was my girlfriend she didn't pretend to want to help me dry the dishes, which was okay because she still flirted with me shamelessly and I could only hope my parents never had to hear of the things she said to me.

After dinner we would retreat to my room and try to be as quiet as possible. I think my parents had a pretty good idea of what was going on in there, but they were very cool about it, and I had never felt as grateful towards them in all previous seventeen years of my life added together. Sometimes I would drive her back to her place where we could really blow off some steam. The routineness of it was delightful and not even Flora could deny it. We were irrefutably sex-crazed and infatuated with each other, executing our profound love in the most superficial way possible.

"You're a liar," Flora said one day as she sat on my bed going through my middle school yearbook.

"Huh?"

She beamed. "You said you weren't good-looking in middle school but you were a total babe. You were the cutest middle schooler I've ever seen."

"Turn down your psycho a little, Flora," I said. "I'm starting to question your taste."

"It's true! I can't say the same about Janet and Dylan, though," she said. "They were such a disaster. I'm glad Dylan took care of his acne problems. Janet looked...what's with the overalls?"

"Well, you weren't there to give everyone makeovers."

She smiled, then it shrunken. She turned her hazel eyes to me. "Hey...where's Martin?"

I sat down next to her and started flipping through the yearbook. Middle school really hosted some of the worse memories. I pointed to his picture. "That's him."

"Hmm." All I got was a noncommittal hmm. Flora snapped shut my yearbook and started playing with her phone, a sight I had gotten quite used to already. The subject of my old memory wasn't interesting enough to intrigue her for too long. She had started scrolling through whatever app she was using, sliding up and down with her index finger. After a while she held it up to me triumphantly. "Aha! Is that him?"

She had managed to track Martin down on Facebook despite the fact that he was using a username that didn't suggest his identity.

"How did you do it?"