Copyright © 2018. All Rights Reserved.

Rosalie never once had a reason to take a boy other than Sam out with the soccer team, and Jamie's new involvement was more or less the single most looked-forward-to event of the year. It almost surpassed Blake Miles' invitation to the group, and truthfully, Rosalie forgot he existed until people started showing up at her house for photos.

True to his word, the vehicle for their entire affair was a spectacle on its own. Jamie was the first one on the porch, and thus, the remainder of the team in Rosalie's kitchen flocked after him, leaving Rosalie in the dust to collect her bearings. When she managed to reach the front porch and peer over Kim's tall hair, Alyssa had already emerged and stood beneath the awning of Blake Miles' father's car doors where they hinged up like wings. Rosalie slapped a hand over her face and groaned, but unlike her, Jamie was practically drooling.

He raced from the steps, throwing his arms up at Alyssa, and then to where Blake emerged from the driver's seat, clad in a Knights' blue tux. Rosalie's jaw dropped, and in the midst of panicking over all of that, Blake said, "Number Six! How's your ankle holding up? Are you playing again?"

Jamie turned red as a tomato—embarrassment? anger? frustration? Rosalie couldn't tell. Regardless, Alyssa walked up and hugged those feelings out of Jamie so that he could clear his throat and say, "Fine. And my name's Jamie-Lee, not Number Six."

"That's so precious," Blake said, hand to his chest as he sidled up the walkway. "Blake Miles—lovely to meet you."

"Jamie's a sweetheart—be nice to him," Alyssa ordered him, taking Blake's hand before Jamie could shake it. She guided him towards the steps as Rosalie went down to meet Jamie. She was stopped by Blake recognizing her, though, with a started, yet excited gasp.

"My dear Rosalie!" he cried, reaching for her hand. Alyssa rolled her eyes away and started ahead with a low, "For fuck's sake..." as Blake distracted himself with Rosalie.

"Um... you know my name?" Rosalie laughed, glancing at the other girls as they witnessed him getting down on one knee to kiss her hand. She flushed all the way up to her hairline and looked desperately to Jamie, who seemed more or less beside himself.

"Your dress looks elegant."

"Uh, thanks, Jamie's mom made it," she said, pointing to Jamie. "She works for Kohl's."

Rosalie couldn't quite comprehend the look Blake shared with Jamie then, aside from the fact that Jamie looked like he was about to puke. She tugged him by the sleeve of his suit and dragged him inside, past where her mom was speaking with Juliana and Ray. As Rosalie and Jamie hurried past, her mom hesitated and asked where they were going.

"Going to hunt down Sami! He should've been here by now!" she said. Truthfully, she was starting to panic. Would she look out her balcony and find a red flag in Sami's window.

"Have you gone to his house yet?" Ray called after her as she and Jamie raced up the stairs.

"No! Sami was going to pick up Isaiah!" she said, stopped and backtracking. Jamie staggered along, spinning, and stilling at the top of the stairs as she pointed to her mom. "Has Tante Bee said anything?"

"No, not that I've heard," her mom said.

At that moment, Alyssa stepped in with Blake at her hip. Miss Mason did a double-take, and then looked to the girls for clarification. Juliana shrugged, and Ray raised her hands in an I-don't-fucking-know gesture. "Alyssa... nice to see you again. You look adorable tonight," Miss Mason decidedly said, and Alyssa beamed.

"Thanks, Miss Mason. This is Blake—he's from Adams."

"Oh, that's where our good friend Sami goes now," she said, hands on her hips. "Do you know a Sami Griffin?"

Blake immediately swelled with something akin to pride. "I have, yes! I'm more or less the welcome wagon at Adams, and Sami fits in well considering he jumped in late. I like to think that we're friends."

"Really?" Ray deadpanned.

Juliana elbowed her in the rib and hissed, "Be nice!" before turning to Blake and asking, arms crossed and skepticism on her face, "If you really know Sami, then what does he eat for lunch?"

Blake said, "Oh, that's easy. A sandwich, and then he dissects it and eats it piece-by-piece."

"Oh, yeah, he knows Sami," Ray sighed, pinching the bridge of her knows. "I don't know why but I thought Sami would be better than this."

Blake looked around the foyer then and made pleasantries with Miss Mason along the lines of, "I love this decor! Did you style it yourself?" to which Miss Mason replied, "Yes, mostly. I had more time for interior design before I took over the firm. How do you know Rosalie's group?"

They migrated to the kitchen where Blake threw his arms up in amazement at the skylights, and the back deck. Ray and Juliana snuck after them, fully intent on keeping their eye on the Adam scum for Rosalie's sake. Meanwhile, Alyssa went off in search of Jamie up the steps to where Rosalie tore across her room and swung open the balcony door.

Rosalie stepped out in her heels, reaching out for the railing. She leaned over, squinting past the neighbor's oak tree, and to where the Griffin residence stood. Rosalie looked back at Jamie and pointed across the yard. "Second house down. That's Sami's place. I'm looking to see if he put up a red flag."

"Do you have binoculars?" he asked, unfazed by the 'red flag' bit. Rosalie said that she did, and wandered back into her room to hunt them down. She fetched them from her desk just as Alyssa joined them, hands on her hips.

"What are you two doing up here?" Alyssa asked, dully. Jamie was snatching the binoculars out of Rosalie's hands at that time, so it was up to Rosalie to answer.

"Making sure nothing happened to Sami. You can see his house from here." Rosalie led her out onto the balcony where she pointed off over the stretch of yards.

"Why would something happen to Sami?" Alyssa asked as Jamie said, "Where would he tie a red flag?"

"Off of the railing facing us. You could see it through the branches of the oak."

"Ah. Yeah, nothing that I can see," Jamie declared, passing the binoculars to Rosalie. Before she could grab them, Alyssa snatched them out of Jamie's hands and put them to her eyes.

"I take it something weird happened with the Griffins. Why else would they transfer Sami?"

"I don't know that it's for me to say," Rosalie confessed. "His father is really uptight about certain... things."

Jamie leant back against the railing as Alyssa squinted through the binoculars. Rosalie dropped her eyes to the criss-cross netting on the back of Alyssa's white and porcelain blue patterned dress. The white dress and blonde hair just made Alyssa's semi-fake tan darker than usual. She lowered the binoculars from her eyes, eyelids brushed over with silver glitter. "Nothing," she said.

"I like your dress," Rosalie said.

Alyssa turned to give her a weird look. Rosalie shrugged. "It's cute," she rationalized.

Alyssa looked her up and down with a scoff, pushing the binoculars back into Rosalie's hands. "I can't tell if that's you or Joanna talking," she said as she walked by, silver heels clicking. "See you losers down there."

Rosalie opened her mouth to object, but thought better of it. She clamped her mouth shut with a frown, and looked down at the railing. "Well, it was a cute dress," she muttered.

Jamie-Lee said nothing, and Rosalie figured it was because he was debating going after Alyssa. He stood at the patio threshold, and when she glanced back at him, she found his eyes on her. "What?" she demanded.

"Nothing!" he squeaked. "It's just—I don't think Alyssa gets it anymore."

"Gets what?" she asked.

Jamie shuffled in place before rolling his head back on his shoulders with a groan. He turned and shut the patio door, blocking the house out from their conversation. "That you're—bisexual, Rosalie. Alyssa thinks that shit is black and white when it isn't."

"What does it matter to her?"

"She can't tell if you're hitting on her."

Rosalie scoffed, and laughed darkly. "I was not hitting on her."

Jamie hurried up to her side, exclaiming, "I know! Yeah, I know you weren't, but Alyssa honestly thinks that I'm your beard right now."

"You're my what? I don't have a beard," Rosalie cried, hands slapping to her upper lip. She was always a little hairier up there, what with working out every day since she was in sixth grade. So what if her testosterone levels were a little higher than usual?

"Not a physical beard, Rosalie," he sighed, pulling her hands down. "Like, you know how gay men pretend to date their best girl friends when their parents start complaining like, 'Why don't you have a girlfriend?'" he said in a mocking voice. Rosalie shrugged. She'd heard of it before. "Alyssa thinks you're completely gay because of you and Joanna."

"Nothing's going on between me and Joanna though," she countered. Jamie shrugged. His agreement wasn't at all convincing. She rolled her eyes, slumping forward with her arms against the railing. "Alright, fine, but I am not talking to you about it."

"Fine. Then can I talk to you about something?" he asked. Rosalie peeked over at him. He laid his forearms on the railing and looked down at the lawn. "I've been thinking about it since Joanna and I started talking and... you being... you and all..." he started, painfully slow. He bit down on his lip and said nothing more until Rosalie prompted him.

"What is it?" she said, quietly.

Jamie-Lee glanced over at her, and those wide, doe-eyes made him look so much younger than a guy on the brink of university. When he put himself together for homecoming, Rosalie could see the traits his mother passed down to him—chief among them being the fact that he looked almost beautiful.

"It's just that... I think I'm bi?" he said, shrugging. He groaned and put a hand to his head. "No. I don't think it. I definitely am. And I didn't think anyone at our high school was until Joanna mentioned you and I just—I'm so relieved if I'm being honest."

"Whoa. How long have you known?" she asked, eyes wide.

"Since Dylan Cox hugged me in the locker room after gym class freshmen year," he said immediately, and Rosalie laughed at the surety of it. Jamie grinned and asked her the same.

"Since Joanna shook sense into me by saying it's okay to be confused," she said. "Not as long as you, but..."

"That's fine. I mean, better late than never," he said, and the smile on his face had her blushing. "Alyssa thinks my fruity side is a curse to humanity."

"Why?"

"Because she thinks I'm better off with a girl," he said. He straightened, drumming his hands on the railing. "But, for now, it's just romantic attraction to guys. I don't know about anything else. Figured I'd know when it happens."

"Is that a thing? Just being romantically attracted to people?"

"Hell yeah," he said with a wave of his hand. He started for the door. "As a bi infant, I spent most of my time on Tumblr. You can find everything about that shit over there."

Rosalie followed after him, saying, "I've never had a Tumblr. I'm starting to think I should."

"I'll show you some time," he said and shut the balcony door behind them. Rosalie tried to ignore the thrill of hearing that, but alas, her heart hummed happily in her chest. Hearing that from Jamie meant that this wouldn't be the last time they spoke, or even the last time they hung out together. She hadn't realized how much she looked forward to visiting his house until that last dress session with his mother.

With a better understanding of where they each stood, Jamie and Rosalie went in search of saving her mother from the inevitable disaster that was socializing with their friends. When they arrived in the kitchen, though, they found Blake at the center of attention. Rosalie really wasn't all that surprised, though her mother's approval was always a finicky thing that she never really could pin down. Still, somehow Blake managed to gain it.

Rosalie checked her phone and said, "Well, our reservations are at five, so we should leave soon. I'll text Sami—"

She barely had their messages opened on her phone when the doorbell rang. Juliana shrieked with excitement, lunging ahead with Ray leaping into action behind her, trying to fight her way past Juliana to answer the door first. Rosalie and Jamie staggered out of the way, flattening themselves against the foyer hall walls as the two hooligans barreled past. Ray grabbed Juliana around the waist at the door and swung her around and back, freeing up the door just in time to grab the handle and fling it open herself.

Ray threw her hand out in a grand bow, tipping one foot back as she said, "Welcome to my home."

"Oh, wow Ray, nice new place you've got here," Sami said.

He was dressed in a sharp-looking grey tux, topped with a black collared shirt and a white tie. He flattened a hand over the open front of the tux and reached an arm out to hug ray as Juliana greeted Isaiah with a hug. Rosalie stepped up smiling, looking Isaiah up and down and noting that his white tux had a complimentary grey, pinstripe tie.

"You guys really know how to clean up," she said. Sami smiled at her from over Ray's head. "Well, Isaiah I'm not surprised about. Sami, on the other hand..."

"Oh, hush up and get over here," he whined, and made sure to squeeze her tightly enough to take the air from her lungs. Rosalie relished every second of it, relief causing her to sag in his arms.

"I was worried you weren't coming," she confessed in a whisper, nestling her cheek to his shoulder.

"Don't worry, Rosie-girl," he said, patting her on the back. He gave her a firm rub on the shoulder before pulling back. "Alright! Sorry for the wait! I'm ready to eat, I don't know about you guys—"

The moment they separated, Sami lifted his eyes across the foyer where their group gathered, and to where Alyssa stood at the foot stairs with Blake Miles standing at the other side of the railing. Sami cleared his throat, but Rosalie couldn't miss the strike of panic across his face.

Rosalie looked to Blake, whose shock then drew into a wide smile. Sami dropped his hand from Isaiah's and clenched his fists behind his back.

"Blake," Sami squeaked. "I didn't—"

"You two look so cute together," Blake said, and were it anyone else, Rosalie would have assumed it was malicious. Thankfully, though, all she knew of Blake was some alien form of constant kindness. "And Rosalie's right—you two do clean up well. But back to the food situation. Where are we going?"

That seemed to satisfy Sami. He let out a shaky sigh and turned a smile onto Isaiah, and then squeezed Rosalie around the shoulders. He thrust a fist in the air and announced, "To Olive Garden!"

They all divvied up carpooling between Sami, Blake, and Ray's cars. Rosalie wound up in the back seat of Ray's car with Jamie-Lee at her side. She thought having a soccer guy with them would make the situation awkward, but Juliana and Jamie were too busy rocking out to his pump-up playlist to bother festering in the weirdness. They followed after Sami's taillights, and at the yellow light before Olive Garden, Jamie flung his hand up to the roof and smacked it so loud Ray screamed and cried, "Who hit us?!"

"Oh, shit, no we just went through a yellow light," Jamie explained quickly. "You hit the roof when ya go through a yellow."

"Holy fuck dude," Ray hollered, and Rosalie started cackling before she could stop herself. She slapped a hand over her mouth and snorted. Jamie-Lee clapped and threw his head back laughing.

She never expected to merge friend groups her final year in high school, but alas, there she was, integrating Jamie-Lee into her life.

Freshmen year Rosalie Mason never would have believed that bullshit.