Copyright © MonMoncheese
All Rights Reserved
19 Published 03.12.2020

•••

JAMES

Theo walks in front of me as my phone rings.

Taking out my phone, I check the caller.

"Princess," I whisper as I see her caller ID. Accepting the call I wait for her to speak.

"I think I know what I'm going to call you." I hear her soft voice say.

"What?" I ask, genuinely curious of what name she has prepared for me.

"The love of my life." She finally answers.

"Oh god," I mumble stopping slightly as she cracks up.

I shake my head and smile at the sound of her laugh.

It's beautiful just like her voice.

"What? Don't you like it?" She asks once she sobers up.

"You're crazy." I tell her.

"I'm crazy for you."

My heart stops for a second before speeding up.

"Bloody hell." I whisper.

"Love! Stop!" I yell into the phone and she starts laughing again.

"I am the guy here. That is my job. I should be telling you all this."

"Excuse me, mister. Stop being so stereotypical. I should knock some sense into you."

"I'm not!" I defend myself. "I just prefer being the guy who says things like that. I like to be the one making the girl shy. But with you, it's the other way around. Just know that if I suffer from a heart attack, I'm going to blame you." Looking down I stare at Theo as he starts pulling the leash, I take it as a sign that he wants to continue walking.

"Mhm, sure." She says as I start moving again.

"I'm serious, babe." I retort. "So, I'm the love of your life?" I smirk.

"Yeah, that's what I'm going to call you."

"Oh, so you're saying I'm not the love of your life?"

"You are! You're the only boy I love, well besides my dad and my brother."

"Hmm, what about guy friends? Do you not love them?"

"I don't have any guy friends," She trails off.

"You don't?" I asked surprised that she doesn't have any guy friends. She seems like the fun girl that guys would hang around. I know the lads and I would enjoy being around her presence.

"Yeah, my brother's friends are the only guys that I know, but I wouldn't consider my friends because I don't really talk to them much. Besides them, no other guys have tried to befriend me. That's okay, I don't blame them." At this, I frown whilst I'm moving the phone to my other ear.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Nothing, I'm just not fun nor am I interesting. So I see why no guys would like to hang around me. The only guy friends I actually had were from elementary school, but things are different when you grow up."

"I beg to differ." I start. "Princess, don't put yourself down like that. You're fun to talk to. My own mates would enjoy your friendship."

"It's okay, stranger. It's not a big deal." She sighs.

"But it is, I don't want you to think like that about yourself. Especially when you are interesting. "

"Awwe, are you caring about me?" She cooes and I roll my eyes.

Of course, she would ruin it.

"As if," I scoff.

A few birds are chirping in the distance and I see the clouds turn grey.

'It's a good thing I brought the car today.' I think to myself.

Turning around, Theo follows beside me as we make our way back to the parking lot.

"You know, I just thought of something. Technically, I do have two guy friends."

"Who?"

"My brother and you!"

"Well, I don't recall starting a friendship with you." I chuckle.

The girl gasps at my comment.

"I forgive you because I know you're playing hard to get." At this, I roll my eyes.

Walking to the SUV, I open the door and Theo takes the opportunity to climb inside. When he manages to get inside, he walks to the back of the car and sits on the floor.

Shutting the door, I walk to the front of the car and get inside.

"Princess?" I call out.

She hums in response.

"Give me a minute, I just got in the car and I'm going to connect the phone to the Bluetooth." She replies back with an 'okay' and I turn on the car to connect the Bluetooth.

When I'm done, I began to drive away from the parking lot.

"You still there?" I say.

"Yep."

"So where were we?"

"The fact that you're playing hard to get." She starts. "You know, there's really no point since you're going to accept my love in the end. You might as well just love me back." She finishes.

"But you have to win my love," I explain to her.

"What makes you think I won't?"

"Then when you win my love, I'll love you back."

"Awwe, you will be a good husband, to me, of course."

"Hey, stranger?"

"Yeah?"

"I have to go." She says sadly.

"Alright, princess. Don't forget to keep thinking of names."

"Don't remind me." She groans

"Bye, stranger!" She exclaims.

"Bye, sweetheart." I end the call and focus on driving.

ROSEANNE

After putting my phone to charge, I hear footsteps coming near my room.

"Hi, little sis." My brother knocks on the door. The door is slightly ajar, so he pokes his head inside.

I grin at because of the way he looks.

I wave and smile at him.

"Can I come in?" He asks and I nod my head. "Thanks."

Nathan opens the door wide open as he steps inside and then proceeds to close it to the way it was.

"I heard you on the phone. Did you make a friend?" He asks walking to the small sofa in my bedroom.

I chuckle thinking about the stranger that refuses to be my friend. Turning to my brother, I say, "he doesn't consider us friends yet, but something like that."

Nathan gives me a confused look. "I'll tell you another day. Oh, by the way, if you're looking for mom and dad, they're not here. They said earlier this morning that they would stay late at the law firm to keep working on a case."

Nathan listens and nods once I'm done talking. "I wanted to ask you if you were alright with having a few friends of mine in a few hours, I invited, but I came to check if you are okay with it."

"You mean Bryson and Ethan?" I ask him.

Nathan scratches the back of his neck. "Yes, but I invited some new guys. Remember when I told you that 4 new guys enrolled in the school?" He waits for me to respond and I nod. "That's them, they're pretty funny. But are you okay with it?" He looks at me.

I sigh and turn to him.

"Nathan, you don't have to ask me if I'm okay with you having friends over. It's fine, you know? I don't mind. Plus, Ethan and Bryson are really nice. I don't know them much, but they're nice to me."

"I know, I know, I'm just making sure. And if you happen to bump into the new guys, I'm sure they will be nice as well. Like I said, they're pretty funny and we get along well. They might even come here often. But yeah, don't get scared when you see the new faces."

"Yes, sir." I salute him jokingly.

Nathan rolls his eyes and smiles.

"Thanks for letting me know, then." I say walking to my study desk, but I stop turning to Nathan. "Before I forget, I'm going to the library later."

"Do you want me to drive you?" My brother asks.

"No, I can take the car by myself. You will have guests remember?"

"You sure? I don't mind." He shrugs.

"I'm sure."

My brothers nods at me and proceeds to stand up from the sofa.

"Are you feeling better after what happened last weekend?" He stares at me.

I freeze at that, remembering how I was treated that day at school, because of that I even ignored Stranger, the boy who makes me happy.

"I feel better, Nate. I've rather just ignore it. It was my fault in the end, I tripped on her."

"No, it wasn't, Roseanne, it was an accident! You were feeling sick. Your mind was somewhere else. She should not have treated you like that." Nathan exclaims and I wince at his tone.

"It doesn't matter, Nathan. Please, just forget about it." I plead.

There was nothing that could be done.

"You can still be homeschooled, you know?" He walks towards me.

Except that. Nathan had begged me to be homeschooled when he discovered that some students were bullying me at my previous school. But I never wanted that, so I dismissed the idea. Every now and then he brings it up, but I always say no.

I just disliked the idea of being homeschooled. I would feel alone, and even though in a sense I am alone, at the same time I wasn't. Attending school with other students made me feel better.

"You know I don't want that," I say quietly.

"I know." He sighs.

Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath. "Nathan, please. Let's just forget about it. I only have this junior year and senior year left. And who knows, things might get better."

Nathan scoffs.

"I won't forget about it, Rose. I can't. But I won't say anything about it, anymore. But the moment things get worse, I won't stay quiet. I will tell our parents." He says angrily.

I didn't doubt it. There were many occasions that he was close to telling mom and dad what was happening, but I begged him to do it. And I knew that one day he would snap and tell the truth. I could only hope that it didn't come to it.

"I understand," I say, finally defeated.

Nathan sighs again and stands in front of me and wraps around my shoulders to hug me. "I don't want to do this, Rose. But I love you. And I will do it if it means I'm protecting you."

There was nothing I could say, so I just held onto him tightly.

When we pull apart, he gives my shoulder a squeeze.

"I'll leave you now, I have to prepare some snacks." He says and I smile.

After that, he walks out the door and I'm left alone with my own thoughts.

When I finally compose myself I grab a bag and stuff my laptop inside along with my binder. I could always finish my class project in my room, but I needed certain books that were only available in the libraries.

As I'm packing my bag, I hear the doorbell ring.

Nathan's friends must be here.

Unplugging my phone from the charger, I place it inside the back pocket of my jeans. Walking to my closet, I grab a yellow hoodie and put it on.

Going to my bed I zip my bag close and walk out of my room.

As I'm walking down the stairs I hear different voices.

Hey, Nate, I brought some burgers for all of us." I recognize Bryson's voice as he speaks.

Bryson, Ethan, and my brother are childhood friends. And they've been inseparable since then. I've talked to them many times, and they're really kind to me. But because of my shyness, I never developed a friendship with them. Even though we went to the same schools before, I never started a friendship with them. Perhaps it was because they know how I was treated when I attended the same school as them. They protected me when they could, but they weren't always there. And when I tried to fight my own battles, things got worse for me. Or maybe it was because it was afraid of becoming friends with them.

Whatever it was, I just never tried to develop a friendship with them.

"When is Adri coming?" Asks another voice I don't recognize.

"He said he was almost close. So maybe in about 15 minutes or so." A new voice replies.

The living room was hidden because there was a wall in between. So if I waked to the front door, I wouldn't really be seen. But since I needed to grab the car keys, I had to walk through the living room.

Slowly I step into the living room. There are two guys I don't recognize talking to my brother. Bryson is opening a few bags, while Ethan is talking to another boy.

I walk inside, hoping that I don't recognize, but just as I'm walking, Bryson turns around and sees me.

His eyes grow wide. "Little Roseanne! Hi!"He exclaims causing everyone else to turn to me.

I catch my brother's stare and he smiles at me.

"Hi, Bryson." I say waving at him.

"Hey, Rosie." Ethan greets from the couch. I smile back at him. "Oh, meet Alec, Vince, and Nico. They are new to the school." Ethan points to each guy saying their name.

"Hello, my name is Roseanne." I greet them.

"But you can call her Rosie, Rose, Anne or Annie." Ethan says causing me to chuckle.

"Hello, sweetheart. I'm Nico." One of the guys talking to my brother points to himself.

Oh, he has a British accent.

"I'm Alec." The other guy next to him says.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Vincent, Vince for short." The guy sitting down introduces himself.

All three of them have a British accent.

'Is Toronto getting new students from the United Kingdom?' I think to myself.

"Hey, I brought a burger for you, do you want it?" Bryson says coming my way. When he stands in front of me, he hugs me slightly before freezing.

"Omg." He mumbles quietly to himself, but I manage to hear him. We pull apart and his eyes run over my body with a frown. When he looks up he ruffles my hair and smiles.

"Hi," He whispers. "So do you want the burger?"

"Um, I can't eat right now. I'm heading to the library, but you can save it for me."

"I will." He whispers frowning again, but he shakes his head. "Bye."

I ignore it because it might be nothing.

"Be safe," Ethan yells from the couch as I start walking.

"It was nice meeting you. Enjoy your day." I tell the new guys.

Two of them smile and the other one waves.

After grabbing the car keys, I exit the house. When I'm finally outside, I take a deep breath to calm myself.

"It's fine," I whisper.

Unlocking the car, I place my bag in the back. Shutting the door, I get inside the driver's seat.

Putting on my seatbelt I start the car and drive off the library.

○○○

Eh, I feel like the second half of this chapter is kind of boring.

What do you guys think?

I'm also writing this chapter while my left hand is hurting. Why? Because my dumb self ran into a wall left while I was being chased by my puppies. But my left hand took the hit instead of my full body. Not a good idea, by the way. I don't know what I was thinking.

Don't do that at home, guys. I do not recommend it.

But that's okay! It is all good. No worries. I'm perfectly fine.

While we're at it, I feel like watching Pirates of the Caribbean while writing the next chapter.