Title: An Arrogant Flower

A is for Amaryllis

Amaryllis: a bulbous plant with large red or pink flowers resembling lilies.

Timeline: They are fifteen.

"If you were a flower, you'd be an amaryllis, Noll," Gene said, reading a book about the symbolism of flowers.

"I don't care," Oliver said, reviewing a lecture that Martin was going to give that evening.

"'The amaryllis stands for pride. An arrogant flower, it grows tall enough to foreshadow all the other plants in the garden.'" Gene peeked over his book.

Noll didn't react, much to Gene's dismay.

"I wonder what flower suits me," Gene mused, flipping through the book.

"A buttercup," Noll answered, "which stands for childishness and irresponsibility."

"I knew you had read this book. And, I am cute like a buttercup."

Noll looked up from his work, "You're disgracing my own face when you say that."

"I think amaryllis will be your new nickname. The name Noll is getting quite monotonous. Then you'll have a nickname that suits your arrogant side."

"Pride does not mean arrogant," Noll said, fixing a mistake in the lecture.

"Ha! To hell it doesn't."

Noll set his pencil down, then pulled a dictionary off of the shelf close to him. "'Self-respect; self-esteem. Gratification arising from association with something laudable.'" Noll eyed him, "Do you remember what laudable means?"

"You're not reading that whole passage," Gene accused, "I know the word arrogant was in there – I do remember. It means something that is praiseworthy."

Noll sighed, "Only you would go from reading the dictionary – and remembering most of it - to reading a book about the romantic meaning of flowers."

"Flowers are more interesting than words." Gene dropped the book onto a small table near his armchair, then smoothly slipped off a thesaurus from the shelf.

"Let's see, the synonyms for pride are: 'Conceited, vain, smug, self-important, prideful, egotistical – '" Gene made a mock horrified face, "Why, Amaryllis, all these words are so directly linked to you that all you need is your picture here."

"If you're being funny, you're failing."

Gene put the book back, leaving it out half-way just to irritate his brother.

Noll went back to his work, ignoring Gene as he started whistling while he returned to reading.

"You could do that in your own room," Noll said, not looking up.

"Indeed I could," Gene said, not moving an inch.

They were quiet for a few moments.

Noll knew there was something wrong grammatically with the last sentence, but he couldn't put his finger on it. And he was being too much like an Amaryllis to ask Gene.

Noll rolled his eyes at himself.

"If you ever fall for a girl, give her a Gardenia. It stands for grace, subtlety and artistry."

"I guess she's going to be graceful?"

"I can't picture you falling for someone clumsy."

Noll fixed what was wrong with the sentence.

"There's no flower here to give to someone who is clumsy," Gene realized, "But if you are to break her heart, give her an Anemone, which means abandonment."

Noll steepled his fingers, "Are you quite finished?"

Gene thought for a moment, then, "Yes."

Notes: Each prompt will be exactly 500 words long. For some reason, I must feel a need to torture myself. I mean, try to delete 85 words out of a story that generally had no description. It can be a fun hassle.

ABC prompts list will be created by RaisedOnRadio (this isn't completely true. I came up with A and Z, xD). They will all be about Oliver and Eugene, in their early life.