A/N Just realized the timeline in which Fall From Grace screws with the timeline in HSS Choices, so I'm just gonna pretend this is an AU in which the main characters from each are the same age and are all juniors.
Rose's POV
Just as the late bell rings, Ace and Wes stroll into homeroom step in step. It's nice to see them actually being good friends for once. The teacher looks up at the two of them with a disdainful expression.
"Try to make it to class on time next time, Mr. Cruz and Mr. Burnett," she says without looking up from the attendance sheet. "The hallways are no place to loiter."
Ace smirks and takes his seat next to me. When the teacher isn't looking, he gives me a little kiss on the cheek. He's gotten a little cocky lately.
"Technically," he whispers to me. "You're considered late if you enter after the late bell. We arrived during the late bell. So, technically, we're not late."
"Ms. Brinkwater and Mr. Cruz, I assume you have something you want to share with the class?" the teacher pipes up. I admit, my school's a bit faulty in the faculty department. I blush and shake my head no. The smirk remains firmly on Ace's face. Out of all the teachers at this school, this one seems immune to Ace's current hero status. The sound of static fills the air and Professor Edwin's face appears on the school's TV.
"Good Morning Students. Happy Monday to you all," Edwin begins. A snort rises from the back of the room, followed by a few chuckles. "I have a special announcement for the junior class of Lakeside. As some of you may know, Oliver M. Berry High School experienced a contamination in their air vents last week. As their sister school, we have graciously offered to have the junior class receive instruction here."
The class breaks into murmurs. I am completely frozen, trying to piece the words together.
Oliver Berry High…
Junior Class…
Here?!
Everyone else is chattering excitedly about the new students, while I'm on the verge of a breakdown. See, there's a big reason why Lakeside exists in the first place. Berry High is the biggest reason. My first crush and boyfriend, Aiden Zhou goes there. He was also my first heartbreak. It wasn't his fault, though. A mean girl, whom I shall not name, did something really horrible to me around the end of freshman year. I don't want to go into too much detail, but it involved a marker. I never told Aiden what happened, scared he would think less of me if I told him. So I ended things with him before he could find out. Not too long after we broke up, the girl suddenly hooked up with him just to rub it in my face. So I left before the last day of school party.
"Rose?" Ace asks, a concerned frown replacing his arrogant smirk. "You ok?"
I swallow hard and nod.
"Are you sure there's nothing I need to know about?" He gently presses, taking my hand and lacing his fingers through mine. It's all I can do to avoid breaking down and crying.
"That's my old school…" I whisper in a shaky voice.
?'s POV
I can't believe those grody freshmen put some stink bombs in the ventilators and now we have to relocate to different schools. My current boyfriend, Aiden Zhou and I got assigned to some school called Lakeside High school. Some lanky junior tosses a newspaper on the table where we are sitting outside. It lands smack in front of Aiden, blowing some of his papers off the table. One of them narrowly hits me. Aiden's too lost in thought, but I'm pissed.
"ExCUSE you," I snap, grabbing the brat by her ponytail. "My boyfriend's trying to work here and you just came and dumped this piece of...hey...I recognize this girl in the picture…"
"Yeah. Rose Brinkwater. She used to go here." The junior butts in. I narrow my eyes at the little twerp.
"I wasn't asking you, beanpole," I sneer, trying to look at the paper. There she was, her mousy brown hair dyed a nauseating pink, her flabby arms wrapped around a really hot dude in a red sweater. To my surprise, he's smiling and hugging her back. How much was he paid to do that? Damn, she lost a little weight over time...but Miss. Piggy's got a long way to go before she can even imagine having a body like mine. Aiden's ears perk up when he hears Rose's name and looks at the paper, much to my chagrin. Here we go again.
"Former Pariah turns Do-Gooder After Saving Hometown Hero," Aiden reads softly, a wistful expression on his face. I'm not surprised. Let's just say Aiden and Rose had some...history before she transferred. After she had a total meltdown after the marker incident, she very messily broke things off with him. Not surprisingly, Aiden was devastated. Luckily I just so happened to be in the music room where he was playing that song her wrote for her, nearly in tears. I mean, come on, he should be happy to get such an upgrade. I'll be damned if I'll let her do the same thing to this fine piece of tanned meat. "Rose moved on…"
But first, I had to comfort the poor boy sitting next to me.
"Rose really meant a lot to you," I say in a saccharine voice. "But she's moved on. I think you should too."
"I guess you're right. It's not fair to you to dwell on someone in the past," Aiden admits, shrugging his shoulders. "I...I just hope there aren't any hard feelings between us when we see each other again."
"I don't think that's such a good idea if she's making you feel this way," I say, silently hoping he would agree with me. The last thing I need is for Obese Godzilla to win his heart back after she so callously broke it. "Besides, you have me now. You don't need Rose to make you happy."
"I don't know. Promise you'll be there when I talk to her?" He asks, holding my hands in his.
Oh.
My.
God.
No!
I bet he still has feelings for that fat cow! Not on my watch. I guess I'll stick around, for Aiden's sake. And to keep tabs on that new man she's with.
If Rose Brinkwater needs to be put in her place again…
So be it.
"No problem," I chirps, swallowing back a wave of vomit that just rose up. Who knows? Hopefully, he'll chicken out before she can sink her claws back into him.
Aiden's POV
Seeing that picture was like a mallet into my chest. I'm supposed to be over her. I was so close to forgetting about her and this shows up. I continue scanning the words. Apparently, this Ace guy saved Rose and a friend's life by taking a bullet in the torso for them, then calling the ambulance when her motorcycle fell on top of her. And the school they both go to is...Lakeside High?! I get a flashback.
(Flashback)
"Ok...you can do this…" I prepped myself as I prepared to ring the doorbell. Several times I raised my hand to the bell but then dropped it. Pathetic, I know. I'm not very good with social interactions. Even talking to Rose proves to be a challenge. But she didn't come to school the day after a bunch of us were out sick and she won't answer the phone to anyone. Everyone decided it was me who had to go see her in person.
"You're the closest to her, Aid," Myra said. "If she'll open up to anyone, it'll be you."
"Not like her other friend Ava's much help anyway," Caleb muttered. "She straight up yelled at us for not being there when she needed us. Well, excuse us for getting food poisoning after Jessica's party!"
"I don't know, guys...what if she doesn't want to see me?" I tried to argue. Everyone glared at me. "Ok, ok, I'll go. But only because... I care about her...a lot."
If I really cared I wouldn't have let her go.
After what appeared to be my 8th attempt to ring the bell, Rose's dad opens the door.
"Oh, it's you, Aiden," he said, sounding surprised. A knot formed in my stomach.
"Um...could I...could I...talk to Rose for a bit?" I timidly asked.
He nodded and called, "Rosebud, your friend's here to see you!"
A stuffed voice replied, "I'm not in the mood for any visitors!"
"Rosie…" he said, a forlorn look on his face. " He came all this way for you, hon. Can you at least come out of your room for a little bit?"
He then left the foyer to get her.
A door slammed open, and Rose appeared before me, her chestnut brown hair a mess and in a cute pair of pink pajamas. Without thinking, I pulled her into a tight hug.
"A-Aiden?!" she sounded just as surprised as her dad. " What are you doing here?"
"Everyone's worried about you. You haven't talked to us since two days ago and you haven't come to school since. What's going on?" I asked.
She pulled away from me and said, "I...I cant talk about it. Not with the others. Especially not with you."
"Rose...did something happen to you when I was out sick?"
She was trembling at this point. She reached for something to sustain herself on. In a moment of stupid chivalry, I held her steady by her waist.
"I can't tell you." She looked away from me, her face flushed with embarrassment.
"Why not?" I snapped, my words coming out harsher than I expected. She flinched at the sound of my voice and begins to tear up. "Sorry...sorry...but why can't you tell me?"
"Aiden…" she sniffed. "I think we should break things off. It's for the best."
"Why? Did I do something wrong?" I couldn't help but ask.
"No! It's not you! It was never you. It was me," she blurted out, slumping to the ground in defeat. The position made her cute pudginess stick out a little. She covered herself pretty quickly before I could say anything. "Just go, Aiden."
"Rose…" I said meekly. I knelt to her side as we shared one last kiss that ends all too soon.
"Goodbye, Aiden," she said. She got up and left the foyer. I didn't go after her. I really hated myself for that. *Spoiler Warning about Choices* After that day I simply locked myself in my room and cried for the first time since Isa got me suspended from school.*End Spoiler*
My friends didn't let me hear the end of it either.
"So she just walked away and you didn't try to stop her?" Maria demanded, crossing her arms in disappointment.
"What does she mean by, 'it was never you, it was me'? Is she hiding something from us?" Myra asked. They all waited expectantly for my answer.
"I...I couldn't get anything else out of her. By the time I managed to say anything, we were through and she left," I admitted, hanging my head. The group lets out a collective groan.
"I thought you cared about her," Michael remarked, shaking his head.
"I do!" I snapped. I slumped my shoulders. "But I guess not enough to convince her to stay."
With that, I turned on my heel and left for the music room. I made a beeline for my piano, the only thing that could help me make sense in all of this.
"Now you ain't around
Baby I can't think
Shoulda put it down
Shoulda kept you in
'Cause I can still feel it in the air
See your pretty face, run my fingers through your hair-"
Someone in the background cleared their throat. I whirled around, a little pissed that someone (other than Rose, that is) interrupted my reserved time in the music room. A tanned girl with curly black hair, eyeliner and pink lips stood in front of me and my piano.
"Hey... Aiden Zhang, is it?" she said, giving me a flirty smile.
"Actually, it's Aiden Zhou," I corrected her.
"I see," she giggled, twirling a strand of her hair around her manicured fingers. "At least you don't seem like the type of guy who'll trip over his tongue in front of a pretty girl."
"Look, I'm flattered that you're interested in me, but...I just broke up with my girlfriend recently. I don't think I want to enter another relationship so suddenly,"I stammered. The girl didn't seem deterred.
"Oh, is it that Rose girl?" she asked, almost as if saying the name bothered her. "Trust me, I think it's for the best. She went pretty crazy the day you weren't here. Had a total meltdown in front of the entire school."
"I didn't know that. What happened to her?"
I could've sworn I saw the hint of a smile on her face. She covered it up with a concerned frown.
"Who knows with her. She was probably lonely and craving for attention," she responded. She gazed at my fingers still fixed on the keys. Her hand gravitated towards mine. "Maybe you need someone more stable than she is in your life right now."
Her face was just inches from of the corner of my eye I saw Rose walk in, look at us, then quickly grab her saxophone and bolt. The other girl either doesn't seem to notice, or simply doesn't care.
"My name's Jessica, by the way," she whispered in my ear. "I'd love to get to know you better. Pink me up at 7?"
"But I-"
"Great! I'll see you tonight then." she sashayed away in the same direction Rose left. It seemed I had lost one girlfriend and gained another.
I didn't see Rose anymore after that.
(End Flashback)
No wonder she's with this Ace guy now.
Jessica's POV
Aiden and I walk step in step towards a large high school. Students mill about, holding red and gold banners saying, "Welcome, Berry High students!"
I whip out my Iphone and start texting my underling, er friend, Lauren.
JusticeisJessie: Looks like I have a new set of minions to condition.
LipGlossLauren: U go girl! Wish I had as much moxy as u.
JusticeisJessie: yeah, u do. But you dont. That's y im here n yur loser Hearst now.
LipGlossLauren: but that was ur fault…:(
JusticeisJessie: U beg my pardon?
LuckyLauren: Nvr mind. Good luck dealing w/ u know who.
JusticeisJessie: U mean Rose, that pink haired freak? Plz. She'll be begging 4 me 2 leave when im done w/ her…
I put my phone back in my Prada bag and critically eye the school
"This is Lakeside High?" I snort. "Our school is way bigger than this. I guess inheritance money only goes so far."
I elbow my boyfriend in the ribs. He's looking into the crowd, a forlorn expression on his face. He jumps at my touch. He looks up, startled.
"Huh?! Oh yeah, yeah, right." he says distractedly. I narrow my copper eyes at him. So help me if he's looking for her…
"You have no idea what I just said, do you?" I say condescendingly. He flushes, running a hand through his jet black hair.
"No, I'm sorry. I've been a little distracted."
"By Rose?" I demand, scrunching my nose in disgust. I have to stop doing that, or I'll get premature wrinkles. But Rose was just so...Ugh!
Aiden has the nerve to get defensive, commenting, "Jessica, we had something and I want to know why she broke things off so suddenly. Besides, she and I are through. No need to get jealous."
My face burns with fury.
"Jealous?" I hiss, clenching my hands. I am not jealous of that...that girl!"
I guess I looked like I'm about to cry, because Aiden quickly apologizes.
He holds my hands in his, kisses me on the cheek and says, "I didn't mean it like that. I just have unfinished business with her. We should at least be friends. Besides, you're my one and only."
I meet his genuine smile with a scowl.
"If I was you wouldn't even try to talk to her," I sniff, wiping away a fake lets go of my hands. His absence feels as cold as his current expression.
"Look, Jess. I remember a time where dating you was like hearing music again after being deaf for so long," he says. He sighs. Now...I might as well be tone deaf."
With that, he walks away. I grit my teeth, turning an ugly shade of red. Stupid Rose...what did Aiden ever see in her.
No matter, like my mama always said. Don't get mad.
Get even.