/THrīv/ verb
- (of a child, animal, or plant) grow or develop well or vigorously.
- prosper; flourish.
Leila saw red.
No, really. Like red red.
The red flashing light that signaled the test had failed, malfunctioned somehow, errored out.
“Damn it!” her colleague, Joseph, slammed his fists down to the desk in front of the console, where the red flashing light emanated from. “Damn it damn it just damn it all!”
Kia tutted at him. “Joseph, is that really necessary?”
Leila chimed in, “Yea, language! There are children around.”
/ˈfansē/
adjective fan·ci·er, fan·ci·est
- ornamental; decorative; not plain.
- tending or intending to impress.
noun, plural fan·cies
- imagination or fantasy, especially as exercised in a capricious manner.
- the artistic ability of creating unreal or whimsical imagery, decorative detail, etc., as in poetry or drawing.
There was no time to waste, but Keisha didn't really understand why. She was just excited that she didn't have to be at first grade for the rest of the day. She didn't like first grade as much as she liked kindergarten. A year ago, she never would have let her mama take her out of Ms. Mathew's class.
But now she was a first grader, and so she let her mama, Kendra, whisk her away for a day of hooky.
It was 10:30am, and Kendra was 20 mins away from her 10:45am appointment.
/ˌadəˈmanˌtēn,ˌadəˈmanˌtīn/ adjective
- Unable to be broken.
She paced side to side, once, twice, three times before glancing down at her watch. She was early, but her mind grew more restless than her body waiting in that creaking, overbearing house. The roof smothered her.
It was a perfect morning, with the sun just easing into its full power. She cupped a hand out over her forehead to look up at it, and a slight wisp of the breeze tickled her face. Why had she forgotten her sunglasses inside? Inside, where she wasn't ready to go back to yet. Ah well, more chance for her to experience the world at full vibrancy, not dull it down with the dark grayish-blue tint of her shades. The shades she got as a birthday present last year.
Restless still, this time she paced straight outward from the large wooden door, hand still shading her face, face still turned to the sun, willing it to encompass her.
re·sil·ient /rəˈzilyənt/ adjective
- (of a person or animal) able to withstand or recover quickly from difficult conditions.
- (of a substance or object) able to recoil or spring back into shape after bending, stretching, or being compressed.
She absolutely hated how he spoke to her, and yet she let him finish. But this time, for the first time, she did not turn away.
red·a·man·cy noun
- the act of loving in return.
It had been approximately two weeks, four days, 10 hours, and 15 minutes since Jacob had said those precious three words, and Jane had not said them back.