Rosemary's P.O.V

Yesterday I overreacted. Violet owed me nothing. I should have never made all those horrible remarks about her. Especially to a stranger. Today, I was in a better state of mind.

While I was getting getting dressed, the room was more silent than other days. I was looking at my reflection in the mirror, fixing my blazer.

Lucy was stepping into her boots. While Violet was sitting, brushing her hair down. This morning, she woke up very quiet. Barely said a word. Only spoke when Lucy talked to her, if that. It was strange to see her so quiet and calmed. There was something in her expression though. Sadness.

"Hey, Violet," I called for her attention. Didn't look at me though, just kept brushing her hair. I danced like a clown in front her, "I'm right here, aren't you going to make fun of me?" I wanted to get a reaction out of her but it was not working. Hmm, this was bad. I held her forehead to check her temperature.

"Please stop," she actually asked nicely while moving her head away from my hand. Lucy noticed her strange behavior. We both exchanged a confused expression.

I walked to Lucy, "What's wrong with her?" I asked in concern.

"I have no idea," she shrugged while still analyzing her friend. I snorted at that. Lucy was her best friend, so how in the world did she not know? What kind of a best friend was that?

At first I thought it was because of what happened yesterday but that would mean that she would be furious. Not sad, right? There was hurt in her eyes. Pain that I didn't want to see in them.

Did anything happen with her parents that I did not know about? Maybe the weekend trip? I hadn't spoken to them about it.

Lucy went into the bathroom. I took this opportunity to kneel down in front of Violet.
"Hey, what's wrong?" I asked, softly.

She looked down, avoiding eye contact. "Nothing," I heard her sniffle. My eyes narrowed downwards to see if any tears would fall and land on her knees. "Please Rosemary, leave me alone," she was still being polite about it.

"In case of anything, I'll be here to help you," I said before standing up.

"No, I don't want to bother you with anything else," her head remained down while she stood too. Before I could say anything, she added, "I don't want to be a burden on you," and with that said, she walked fast, down the stairs.

"Violet," I called after her but let her go, as she kept walking.

My hands held onto the hand rail and I watched as she left the room. Lucy quickly came out of the bathroom and looked down to the first floor.

"She left?" she asked in panic. Well it was obvious, wasn't it? I nodded. "Ugh, why didn't she wait for me!" Lucy quickly jogged down the stairs, almost missing a step. Luckily for her, she managed to keep balance.

Couldn't she ever do things on her own? Did she really need to be by Violet's side all the time?

Now that I was alone. I thought about Violet. The blazer was bothering me, so I took it off. What's making her so upset? I thought about it. Seeing Violet like this made my heart ache. The light in her eyes had disappeared. Her smile was nowhere to be found, not even a glimpse of it.

**********

Violet had been behaving strange for the last few days. What scared me the most is that she was not walking the halls as if she owned the place. Neither was she watching herself in the mirror. Her friends were even starting to worry about her. This was bad, she wasn't even insulting me! Only ignored me but not in a distasteful manner. More like avoiding me. Violet wouldn't even gather with me to talk about the parenthood assignment. We no longer had the baby doll for now. Just had to work on essays about it. Shockingly, she was working on her half and leaving it on my bed. Basically, we were working on it separately.

This morning, I found her crying by her closet. I assumed that it was because one of her heels had broken but no. There was actual pain in her eyes. No matter how much I insisted, she wouldn't tell me anything. Instead ran away from me, like she had been doing lately.

I'm not going to lie, I was extremely worried about her.

Seeing her cry hurt me too. It made me feel useless. I wanted to turn her frown upside down but I didn't even know what the problem was about. Just in case, I asked her parents if anything had happened but they said no. Fortunately, they didn't ask me any questions. They were too caught up in their own business.
Violet was hiding from me. For the last few days, I was practically only able to see her during classes and at night. She wouldn't even show up to the secret gatherings that our classmates planned in the yoga room.

Believe it or not, two more took place. One during free hour and another one at night. I only went to the free hour one but not for long. I only went looking for Violet. Unfortunately, I had no luck. That was yesterday.

Now I was in the room, sitting on the bed. Waited for Violet to enter any minute now. An hour had passed and there was no signs of her. Lucy wouldn't tell me anything. She obviously knew but apparently Violet ordered her to not tell anyone where she was.

Being in the room was driving me crazy. I had to go looking for Violet. Just wanted to make sure that she was okay. Maybe in hopes that she'd speak to me. Even though Violet always insulted me, I wanted to hear from her. These last few days felt incomplete without her. Yes, I missed her insults, her random remarks! At least that let me know that she was acknowledging my presence but now, it was like she didn't even care. Like if I weren't here. Strange, right?

Grabbing my maroon blazer, I ran out of the room to go looking for her. I loosened the tie while walking down the hall.

Right away, I spotted Lola.

"Lola!" I ran to her, held onto her shoulders. "Have you seen Violet?" I questioned, desperately wanting her to say yes.

Her forehead creased, "Why are you looking for that bitch?" she snickered.

"Don't insult her like that," I wasn't sure of why it bothered me. Lola's eyes widened. "Sorry," I released her.

"You need to chill the fuck out," she scoffed. "Who cares where she is?" she didn't understand.

I fuckin' cared!

And just when I thought things couldn't get any worse. Someone showed up. The one person who I never imagined to see here. My dad.

Melanie appeared next to Lola and I.

"Wow, who's the hottie?" Melanie was checking out my dad! What the hell? She might not have known but that was extremely disturbing!

I gasped, "Melanie, that's my dad!" I stated.

Her eyes widened, "That can't be," she couldn't believe it. "That man looks so young, he must be like 25 years old," she calculated. Yeah, well she was terrible in math, her rounding up was totally off.

Lola intervened, "Oh please, he does not look 25," thanked god! "He looks about 30," she guessed too.

I held the bridge of my nose, "He's 35," I corrected, wanting them to shut up about it.

Both their eyes widened.

Yes, my parents were young. My mom had me when she was eighteen. Right after graduating. They met in high school. Obviously, they had to mature into parenthood at an early age. Good thing that they were at least over age already though.

They looked like my siblings next to me. In my old high school, the principal doubted that they were my parents once when they were called in. I almost got in trouble for that. Dad and mom had to prove to be my parents. Imagine how embarrassing that must have been for all of us, especially for the principal.

Whistling was heard. My head turned to the direction of it. Oh no, my mom was here too. Dad hadn't seen me yet. My mom spotted me right away though.

"Rosemary!" she hurried to me and wrapped her arms around me.

"An older girlfriend," Nick was nearby. He was such an asshole. "Nice," I wanted to slap the annoying smug off his face off.

My parents didn't seem to hear him. Good!

"That's my mom," I hissed at him.

"Rosemary, we have to speak to you about something," dad scolded Nick, making him walk away.

"Um sure," I pulled them away from everyone who was checking them out.

Melanie stepped directly in front of us though.
"Hello," she held her hand out to my dad. He shook it, gentlemanlike. Her eyes then locked on my mom. "Oh my god, Rosemary looks just like you!" her mouth dropped. I was practically identical to my mom. People always thought we were sisters.

"Yeah, well we gotta go," I tried pulling my parents away. Unfortunately, Melanie wouldn't allow it.

"Where are you guys going?" oh my god, she did not need to know. It was none of her business.

"To talk, so please excuse us," I managed to push her out of the way.

Finally, I was able to take my parents to the visiting room. There, we had privacy. They sat on the sofa and I sat between them. It couldn't possibly be bad news, they were smiling. At least I was gonna get news for once.

"I've missed you so much!" my mom's arms wrapped around me again. My tongue stuck out, as if she were really choking me. "Don't play like that," she smacked my arm, slightly.

"You barely saw me last week," I chuckled.

"I still missed you though," she gave me a squeeze before releasing me.

"Okay," dad intervened. "Let me tell her why we're here," he added. I looked at him. "We got in contact with the Delaney family again and they invited us to another dinner on Saturday," he informed.

I needed a time to let that sink in. Violet and I weren't exactly in good terms right now and maybe the dinner was not a good idea. I mean, Violet and I were always bothering each other but that was normal to us. Now, we weren't talking at all. Damn, I really missed her insults.

"I think it will be nice to see you and Violet together close again, like in preschool," mom squealed. Hmm, maybe the dinner was a good idea? Violet wouldn't be able to run away from me. That would be my chance to speak to her.

I bit my lower lip, deciding that it was what I wanted. "Awesome, can't wait!" I smiled at them.

**********

Mom was fixing my clothes. Wow, she was being such a mom. Dad face-palmed himself. My mom might not have seemed old enough to be my mom but she sure behaved like one. Physically, she was a young and cool mom but from the inside, she was clingy. Always pampered me. It was annoying sometimes, nevertheless, I appreciated it.

We were waiting for the Delaney family. A maid directed us to the dining room. Their mansion was enormous and even though we had been here before, we could still get lost.

"Remember Rosemary, be on your best behavior," mom reminded.

"She's always on her best behavior," dad then said. Yeah, that was right. As long as my parents were around, I was a perfect little angel. Hopefully they would never find out about the things in school.

"Good to have you here," Mr. Delaney came walking from around the corner. "Ross," he greeted him in a manly embrace. "Mary, nice to have you here," he held her hand and kissed it, gentlemanlike.

"Thank you for inviting us," my dad's hand rested on my mom's lower back.

"It's an honor to have you back," Mr. Delaney replied. "My wife will be down in a few minutes," he informed. "Please sit," he motioned for us to sit down. As my parents began sitting, Mr. Delaney then directed towards me. "Rosemary, I want to thank you for always watching over my daughter," he smiled.

"No problem," I forced a smile. I turned around to take a seat but stopped. Turned to look at Mr. Delaney again, "By the way, where's Violet?" I wondered.

"She should be down any second now," he answered before going to the main seat at the dining table.

At that very moment, Violet and Mrs. Delaney entered the dining room. Violet looked absolutely gorgeous in a turquoise dress. Her blonde hair was in beautiful waves. By the emotion in her eyes, she was still gloomy. Not even her sadness could take away from her beauty. Still, she would have been way more gorgeous if there was a genuine smile on her face.

"Hello Rosemary," Mrs. Delaney greeted me with a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"Nice to see you, Mrs. Delaney," I smiled.

She took a step back, holding my hands, "Likewise," she released them. She walked past me to greet my parents. They had to stand in order to greet her properly.

I turned my focus on Violet, "Hey," I greeted, hoping for her to meet my eyes.

"Hello," she replied but made no eye contact. I chewed on the inside of my cheek, trying to think of something else to say.

"You look gorgeous," is the only thing that filled my mind.

"Thanks," still no eye contact.

Wow, she didn't say Oh I know or I always am. I wished she would have, even if I would have made a remark afterwards. At least I would have known that she was back to her old self. Believe it or not, I missed the vain her. The one who was highly confident, more like cocky. The one who carried herself with such elegance and knew that people worshiped her. The one who wouldn't take a no for an answer. The one who would throw tantrums if things didn't go her way.

This Violet was... destroyed. Her spirit was gone. It saddened me.

"Violet and Rosemary," her mother called for us. "Sit over here, together," she instructed.

Her and I exchanged a look but did as told. We walked to the other side and sat by each other. Violet somewhat scooted her chair to the other side, just a bit. Obviously, she did not want to be too close to me.

As we were being served by the maids, our parents started conversation. Violet and I were the minors, therefore, we had to be respectful by staying silent. Well we didn't have to but let's face it, it was awkward enough. Our parents looked so at ease with each other. Violet and I were the awkward ones here. Mainly because she wouldn't even look at me at all. No matter how much I tried getting her attention.

Our parents were lost in conversation.
"Violet," I tapped her shoulder. Her shoulder dropped away from my hand. Okay, so she didn't want to be touched. I was going to respect that. "I'm bored," my chuckle became an awkward one.

"I'm not your entertainment," she finally replied to something! There was no attitude in it though, not quite.

"I know but let's talk," I suggested in a whisper. Her head shook slightly. Violet was a stubborn girl, meaning that I had to insist. "You know you want to," I poked her ribs.

"Stop," she held my finger. "I'm not in the mood for games," she stated firmly. She let go of my finger and continued eating.

"You haven't changed a bit," Mr. Delaney laughed along with my dad. It was nice to see our parents having such a great time. Unlike Violet and I. "I'm really glad to have reunited with your family," he commented.

"Us too," my mom took a sip from the wine.

Mrs. Delaney's eyes shifted to Violet and I, "Are you girls having a good time?" she asked. Everyone's attention turned to us. Fudge.

"A great time," I lied with a grin.
"Me too," Violet kept her head down.

Surprisingly, it fooled them all.

"It's so nice to see the both of you together again," my mom commented. "I remember when the both of you were tiny and used to always hold hands," she added, seeming like she wanted to cry. Oh no. This was embarrassing.

"Oh, I found another album of photographs of them when they were little," Mrs. Delaney told. She looked at us, "I found more," there was excitement in her voice.

That was music to my mother's ears, "I would love to see them!" great, the both of them together were going to destroy us.

"After dinner I'll show them to you," Mrs. Delaney was more than happy. From the corner of my eye, I saw Violet slouching in her chair. Playing with her food with the fork. She seemed uncomfortable. Well, I was too.

-

As my dad and Mr. Delaney went to the bar in the other room, Mrs. Delaney was taking out the photographs. The dads didn't want to be caught up in all of this cheesiness. They were lucky. I actually wanted to join them and have a drink too. To ease my nerves.

Our mothers made Violet and I stay with them. We had to put up with them. Pretend to actually be having a great time. Violet was barely able to put up a front. Either way, everyone was too caught up with themselves to even notice it.

The album of photographs rested on Mrs. Delaney's lap. My mom sat by her, taking a look. There were a lot of Aww's. It was said through every photo. I sat by Violet. Already, she was turning her back to me.

"Violet, can we talk?" I whispered. Her head shook. "Please?" I insisted. I needed to know what was bothering her.

"Rosemary, I'm begging you, please leave me alone," she pleaded. Our eyes locked at that very moment. Wow, she really did not want me around, I could see it in her stare. Not being able to take it anymore, my eyes narrowed down.

"I remember how they used to cry everyday at the end of the school," my mom was having some flashbacks. "They would hold on tight to each other and cry their eyes out," she chuckled at the memory. It actually sounded quite nice and I liked hearing about it.

"I remember that," Mrs. Delaney glanced at us. "I remember how the preschool teacher used to complain everyday because they wouldn't play with the rest of the kids, only with each other," a smile appeared on her face.

As they went on remembering, I started to have a few memories of my own. Memories that had once vanished or hidden over the years.

The best part of the day had finally come, play time! Just like everyday, Violet and I held hands and ran to the kitchen play area. Everyday, we played house. And just like always, we argued on who would be the wife. Violet had a way of winning every argument. Maybe because of her gold locks.

"I'll let you touch my hair if you let me be the wife," how was I supposed to refuse that offer?

"Okay," I grinned.

See, all because of her blonde hair!

Violet jumped in place and clapped her hands, excitedly. Just like we settled, I held her hair in my hand, carefully.

"It's soft, huh," she was so proud of it.

"Very soft," I giggled. I wished my hair could be as beautiful and soft as hers. Violet was really pretty. A total babe in preschool.

"Okay, now let's play house," her hair slipped out of my hand. "You'll be my husband," she had a victorious grin. I didn't like the sound of husband but oh well, we agreed on it and I had to follow through.

"Okay," I shrugged, as long as that was going to make her happy.

"Go outside of the kitchen and walk in like if you got home from work," she instructed. Violet watched too much t.v. That's why she knew everything. Just as I was told, I skipped out of the kitchen. "Husbands don't skip," she stated in a little groan.

"Sorry," I walked instead.

"Okay, now come in," she allowed. As I stepped in, Violet had her back towards me. She was at the stove, pretending to be cooking something. To make it more realistic, she even played out the sounds, pouncing out the letter s. It made me want to giggle but I held it back.

"Honey, I'm home," I stumbled in, pretending to be exhausted.

Violet turned around and put her cheek in front of me, I kissed it. As if we were an actual married couple. She giggled when my lips made contact with her cheek. It was cute.

"Violet and Rosemary," our