Copyright © MonMoncheese
All Rights Reserved
73 Published 07.19.2020

•••

ROSEANNE

Plopping down on the living room's couch, I shut my eyes and place a hand over my stomach.

I had eaten again.

I was doing so well only eating small meals when I did have to eat, but James ended up getting me a big meal.

There was no way I could have said no to him, not after feeling so low on energy. He would have questioned it.

And I did not need James to know the truth. He couldn't know.

Removing the hand from my stomach, I turn to the side and bring a pillow to my chest, hugging it in the process.

I had to find another way to lose weight. I wasn't satisfied with my weight. It had only been a few days since those girls at the mall said something to me, but I hadn't lost much weight since then.

And I couldn't stop thinking about their words.

The voices in my head kept taunting me every time I looked at the mirror, reminding me that I was nowhere near looking like them.

That I would never be able to look like them.

Letting out a sigh, I feel myself doze off slowly. My mind no longer preoccupied as I think about a certain green-eyed boy.

I'm not sure how much time passed as I stayed on the couch, but the sudden sound of my mother's voice startles me awake.

Raising my head from the pillow, I blow away the strands of hair that fell over my face.

"Roseanne, honey, are you eating?" Turning my head to the direction of her voice, my eyes land on the woman dressed in her usual elegant attire. Her hair is up in a ponytail, swinging to the side as she walks in my direction.

"Mom," I smile as soon as she stands in front of the couch. Putting the pillow aside, I sit properly as my mom takes the spot next to me.

"Hi, honey. Did you have fun?" She places a kiss on my head and I wrap my arms around her torso.

"I did," I hum, placing my cheek on top shoulder, the silk of her blouse coming in contact with my skin. I could smell one of her perfumes and I let myself enjoy her presence, hugging her tighter in the process. "Are you not working late today?" My voice is muffled because of her shoulder, but I know she understood me.

"No, not today, honey. Your dad is here too." She runs her fingers through my hair, and I let out a sigh. It felt just like when I was little, when mom used to run her fingers through my hair until I fell asleep.

I missed those days.

They were the ones where I didn't have to worry about nothing.

"I miss you guys." I mumble into her shoulder. They have been so busy this past month that seeing them had become a little hard.

"We do too, Rose." Mom pats my back softly. Raising my head from her shoulder I pull away from her embrace.

Picking up my hand from my lap, she places her palm over my hand. "How was your day?"

With a smile on my face, I answer. "It was nice."

At my answer, mom's lip form into a playful grin. "How is that friend of yours?"

Looking away from her, I can't help but smile at the thought of James.

She didn't know it was a boy, but it was time I told her who is responsible for my smiles.

"He's the best." I tell mom, completely unaware of the twinkle in my eyes.

"I was right, so it is a boy." Her wine-colored lips form into a smirk and I nod sheepishly, a chuckle escaping my lips as I do so.

"Yeah, James is a boy." I tell her. Mom gives me a knowing look and I look away from her. A burning blaze threatening to overtake my cheeks.

"And what is the name of this friend of yours?" She raises her brows.

Looking down at my hand, my lips utter the name I've grown so accustomed to.

The name that brought me joy just by hearing it.

The name of the boy I care about.

"James."

My stranger.

Mom purses her lips and repeats the name as if testing the way it sounds. "James..."

For a few seconds, mom grows suspiciously quiet while a look of recognition flashes through her eyes and she gives me a funny look.

"Rose, is this James-" Mom doesn't finish her sentence and instead shakes her head.

"What about him?" I ask her.

"Nothing, I was thinking of something else." She pats my hand and looks up at me. "Tell me about him." She urges and I quickly forget about her previous words.

"What do you want to know?"

There wasn't much I could tell her. James and I are just now learning new things about each other. The beginning of our conversations were spent with me using pick-up lines on him, while he tried to get me to delete his number. But after realizing that I would not be doing that anytime soon, he just gave in.

"Anything." She shrugs.

"Hmm, okay." I click my tongue as I think of what to tell her. There was no way I could tell her about how we first started talking, I wouldn't tell her yet. That would be for another time.

"James... is amazing. He is always kind to me. But mom," I start of slowly, letting the words come out on their own. "James, in my eyes, he is perfect. He's a beautiful boy and not just physically, but his heart, he reminds me a bit of Nathan. He's protective of me, but in a different way." Slowly, I let my drift to him. Thinking back to his eyes and the way they twinkle. "He has this smile that when he shows it to me, I feel breathless. James is someone that I never expected to become friends with. He's too good for me." I look away from her as I say those words.

He's too good for me.

"Why?" Mom frowns. "You're gorgeous, Rose. And I'm sure that boy sees that."

Giving her a small smile, I don't anything. Mom doesn't know the truth and I intend to keep it that way.

"He makes me happy." I let out a breath. "And then whenever I'm with him, I feel so many things. I don't know how to explain it, but he makes me so happy." A memory of James leaning close to my lips runs through my mind.

We were so close.

So close to being together in a different sense, but I couldn't let him do that. Especially since there is a girl he likes.

"I get this feeing whenever I think of him, and whenever I see him, that feeling grows stronger. It's almost as if my heart misses him when I don't see him."

I miss him.

I miss him when he's not close to me.

But why do I long for him?

Do friends miss each other like this?

"Oh, Rose, you don't know what's happening to you, do you?" Mom stares at me. Her eyes gleaming with happiness.

"What do you mean?" I question, confused by the sudden happiness on mom's face.

Mom opens her mouth to speak, but then she brings her lips together and sighs. "You will find out later, Rose. You have no idea how happy you've made me just now." Mom lets go of my hand and pushes away a strand of hair.

"I'm so proud of you." She whispers lowly and I smile at her.

"I love you, mom."

"Me too, honey." She responds and looks around the living room. A comfortable silence falls over us as we get distracted with our own thoughts.

We stay like that for a few minutes, simply enjoying the silence, but as mom suddenly turns to me, I wait for her to say something. "Rose, will you be eating with us?"

"No, not right now." I shake my head at the thought of food. "James took me to eat before he dropped me off."

She doesn't question my excuse and nods.

Getting up from the couch, mom turns to me. "Alright, if you change your mind just let me know."

Looking up at her, I respond. "I will." With that, mom turns around and walks towards the kitchen, but she suddenly stops. "Rose, honey," She looks over her shoulders. "Can you go get your brother and your dad, please."

"Where are they?" I get up from the couch and fix the pillows.

"Nate is in his room and your dad should be in his office."

"I'll go get them."

"Thank you, honey." Mom leaves and I turn to the opposite way.

Jogging to my dad's office, I make a stop in front of his door. Raising my fist, I knock three times before waiting for him to say something.

"Come in!" His voice echoes in the room and I twist the knob. Pushing the door open, I pop my head inside.

"Dad?" I look around the room until my eyes land on the man sitting behind his desk. His sleeves are rolled up, his face set into a serious look as he stares at his computer screen.

"Dad!" I whisper yell and he looks away from the screen.

When his eyes land on me, I wave. "Roseanne?"

Flashing him a smile, I push the door all the way and walk in. "Hey, dad."

Standing up from his chair, he walks towards me and stretches out his arms. "Hi, dear." I wrap my arms around him and give him a hug.

Placing a kiss on his cheek, I pull away. "Are you busy?" I point to his desk.

"Eh, just taking care of some papers." He glances at his desk before turning to me. "Why?"

"Mom just wanted me to come get you. The food is ready." I tell him.

"Oh, that's great. I'm famished." He sighs. "I'll be there in a few minutes, just let me save a few things on the computer." Walking back to his desk, he takes a seat.

"Mhm, then I will go get Nathan. I'll see you later, dad. Don't take too long or mom will come get you herself." I warn him and he body begins to shake in laughter.

"Bye, Rose." Leaving his office, I slowly shut the door behind me.

Walking back from the way I came from I pass the living room and head upstairs. The sound of my footsteps on the stairs stops when I walk throughout the hallway that leads to our bedrooms.

Stopping in front of my brother's door, I raise my fist and knock. Bringing my hand down, I stay quiet, waiting for him to say something, but I only hear silence.

Wrapping a hand on the knob, I twist it and push the door open. Taking a step in, I see no sign of Nathan.

"Nathan, are you here?" I call out, walking deeper into his room. His room is clean, except for the random shirt hanging over his desk chair.

"Nathan?" I raise my voice this time, hoping to get a response.

"Is he in the bathroom?" I mumble to myself. A few seconds later his voice comes booming from the opposite side of his bedroom and I turn to the direction of his voice.

"Yeah?"

"Mom wanted me to come get you." My eyes dart to his closet

Nathan doesn't say anything and a few seconds later I see him step out of the closet.

"Hey, Rose." My brother grins as soon as he sees me.

"Are you going out?" I point to his attire.

"Yeah, I'm going out with some of the lads right after I eat." Nathan walks towards his nightstand and picks up his phone. Raising his head, he turns to me. "Do you want to come?"

"Oh, no." I shake my head rapidly. "I have to finish today's homework."

"You sure?" He gives me a look and I can't help but chuckle.

"Yes, Nate, I'm sure."

Walking straight towards me, Nathan stops and fixes the watch on his wrist. "Hmm, okay. Now tell me, did you have fun at the park?"

"I did," I grin.

"What did you guys do?"

"Nothing much, really." I shrug. "We talked for some time while we walked through the park. After that, we left and he took me to eat somewhere. But I had fun."

His head snaps to me at the mention of food. "You're not eating with us?"

"Nooo, I'm full. I ate a burger." As I tell him the truth, Nathan stares at me, his eyes switching back and forth between my eyes as if searching for a lie. He continues to stare at me for a few more seconds, but eventually nods.

"I'm glad, Rose." The tone of his voice makes me smile.

He's happy.

"This friend of you, he's good for you." He tells me and I let out a sheepish look.

"I'll leave you now, Nate. I have to go complete my homework." With one last glance at his face, I turn around and walk towards the door.

"I'll see you later, Rose." He says before walking in front of his mirror.

Opening the door, I give one last look to my brother who is styling his hair and I shake my head at the sight in front of me. Walking out of his room, I head straight to mine.

Stepping inside my room, I close the door behind me.

Walking over to my drawers, I waste no time in pulling the hoodie over my head, sighing as the cold climate of the house hits my bare arms and I feel a joy come over me.

Grabbing a random t-shirt from the drawer, I take it out put it over my head. Pulling the shirt down, I close the drawer and pull my hair into a bun.

Heading to my desk, I take out all of the assignments from my bag and take a seat on the chair.

As time passes, I begin to engross myself in the homework that I don't see the night approaching and soon it was time for me to sleep.

•••

Putting down my pen, I pick up my notebook and flip to a new sheet. Smoothing out the paper, I pick up my pen and continue writing the notes from the projector screen in front of me.

Mr. White is walking around the classroom, talking about the First Great Fire of Toronto, meanwhile the rest of us write down the notes.

"Now, you should know this but for those of you who do not know, the Great Fire of Toronto is also known as the Cathedral Fire, so please write that down on your notes." Pointing to the projector, he changes the slide.

My lips mumble the words I see on the screen just as the teacher continues to speak.

"This fire swept through 20 acres of Toronto's industrial core. But by the time the firefighters had managed to contain the fire, the blaze had already destroyed at least 96 buildings."

"That's a lot." Someone in the class mumbles.

Mr. White hears that and his head snaps to the front of the class, his eyes traveling until they land on a certain student. "Right, it is and don't get me started on the Second Great Fire of Toronto."

Walking back to his desk, he takes a seat on the rolling chair and faces the projector. Changing the slide, my eyes come in contact with some pictures of the aftermath of the fire.

There are a few murmurs across the class, each voicing out their thoughts.

Looking away from the projector, my eyes land on the back of a familiar boy. My gaze on him doesn't last too long because I lower my head and focus on the notebook in front of me. Scott was here, sitting a few seats in front of me and every now and then I would feel his eyes on me, but I was trying to avoid his gaze.

Ever since that day in front of the lockers, Scott has barely talked to me, so I found it weird that he would stare at me and not say something.

But his last words have been bothering me.

Why did he apologise to me? I just didn't understand.

I wanted to ask him about it, but I was afraid of doing so.

Ignoring my thoughts, I focus on Mr. White's words and shake Scott off of my mind.

"Even though, I've just told you about the First Great Fire of Toronto, please study your textbooks because I will ask questions about this topic on the exam. Therefore, all of you pay attention or you might miss important key points. If you want to know more information about this topic just ask the librarian in the library and she will show you where the books are."

"Mr. White, is the exam going to be difficult?" A girl seated at the very first row questions.

"The exam will be to test your knowledge, so yes, it will be difficult, Clara. As long as you study, you should be fine." The teacher responds and Clara nods.

"Umm," Mr. White glances at his computer's screen and places the remote on his desk. "Class should end in a minute, so you can start packing up."

The moment he says that, everyone including me starts cleaning their desk.

Closing my pencil bag, the guy in front of me stands up and walks towards Mr. White's desk to ask him a question.

Looking away from them, I grab my phone and take it out to check it.

At the beginning of class, I had gotten message, but I never checked it because I didn't want to miss something important.

Turning the phone on, my eyes come in contact with a message from my brother.

Just as I'm about to check it, the bell rings and I stand up from my chair.

"Alright, kids, have a good day. No homework today, just study for your test. See you tomorrow." The teacher announces as we slowly exit the classroom.

Bringing my books close to my chest, I put the phone away and wait for everyone to leave the classroom.

From the corner of my eyes, I watch Scott and his friends leave the classroom causing a weight to be lifted from my shoulder.

Standing behind two girls, they slowly exit the classroom with me following behind them.

Heading through the hallways, I hear students talk about the upcoming soccer game our school would have tomorrow.

It seemed to be today's topic since I've been hearing conversations about it since my first class.

Ignoring the conversations, I look straight ahead. There was no point in listening. I had no one to go with even if I wanted to. Perhaps, it didn't matter anyway, I had James to tell me about his games.

As soon as his name crosses my mind, a smile overtakes my lips.

My eyes come in contact with a group of girls leaning against the wall and the moment our eyes meet, they erupt in giggles. Looking away from them I feel their stares on my back, forcing me to increase my pace while their giggles turn into hush whispers.

Lowering my head, I look down at the floor shiny floor.

The smile had disappeared from my face, almost as if it were never there in the first place.

It shouldn't matter to me, but it did.

I would never understand why they detest me so much.

Turning around the corner, I catch sight of my locker and I force my legs to walk faster.

Students were still dispersed throughout the school, catching up with their friends before the bell rang again.

The bell would ring soon, but I was in no rush because I have a free period.

Stopping in front of my locker, I place the books underneath my arm and grab the lock. Putting the combination in, the door unlocks, and I pull it open. Reaching for my books, I organize them in their place before taking my phone out.

Clicking my brother's name, his message appears on the screen.

New Message From Nathan

10:07 a.m.

Hey, sis, I know you have class right now, but I wanted to tell you that I will be home late. I'm hanging out with Bryson today, but if you need anything, let me know.

Oh, and mom already knows.

Bringing my fingers across the screen, I type him a message.

11:33 a.m.

Nate, you don't need to message me every time you're going out. Thank you for letting me know, though. I love you, have fun.

Turning my phone off, I shove it inside the pocket of my blazer and grab my notebook and a random pen from my locker. Slamming the door shut, I turn around and head to the library.

On my way to the library, the bell begins to ring, and students rush to their classes leaving the school corridors empty.

Holding the notebook close to my chest, I feel my phone vibrate inside my blazer and I pull it out. Glancing ahead of me, I bring my eyes to the phone.

New Message From Husband.

011:38 a.m.

Princess, do you think we can meet today?

11:39 p.m.

Today?

11:40 a.m.

Yeah, I want to see