I Can't Get You Off My Mind (A Kendall Knight Story): Chpt. 1 Meet Rosie
By Lauren Lopez
"and tell me why, oh why, can't you realize that I'm over you! I'm over you. I'm over you. Yeah!" I sang the ending for my soon to be hit single "I'm Over You" from my first, self titled album, "Rosalina", hitting all the right notes perfectly on key into the mike in the recording booth and listened to the last notes fading out. As I opened my eyes, smiling quickly to myself, and bit my lip I waited for my producer's/uncle's, Gustavo Rouque, opinion hoping silently that he wouldn't yell and that the blank looks on his and Kelly's faces were a good sign.
But, I'll introduce myself first. I'm Rosalina Talia Juarez, but people that know me call me Rosie, Rose or RJ and I'm an aspiring singer from a small town in New Jersey. I have been singing since I could talk but never put much effort into it until middle school where I found my love for music, singing and performing. I have shoulder-length dark brown hair, dark brown eyes, a light tan complexion and I'm average height for a 16 year old. My dad is from an Italian back round my mom from a Puerto Rican-American-Italian and I look like my mom. I'm quiet when you first meet me but after you get to know me, you'll realize I'm quite loud most of the time and I'm the coolest, funniest dork you'll ever meet and I actually don't mind the odd stares I get from people cause, hey, it is better that people realize that I don't care what they think cause their words can't hurt me. My mom convinced her brother, Gustavo, to give me a chance in the music bizz so he flew us out to L.A. and now I'm one of his top recording artists (I'm tied with some boy band). I live at the Palmwoods with my mom, brother, Simon (my parents are divorced), and our dachshund, Mable. Anyway back to the story.
"Rosie," he said, his voice making me flinch a bit before I nodded silently, "that…was…AMAZING! Now if I could only get the dogs to sing that well." I smiled, taking the headphones off and exited the recording booth happily. I was about to ask who these "dogs" I'd heard so much about were when four guys fell through the door (not literally through the door but like opened the door and they all fell) on to the floor in pile of tangled limbs.
"DOGS! GET UP, NOW!" Uncle Gustavo shouted, making me visibly wince and Kelly rushed to my side fearing that I might have a meltdown (I have a phobia of yelling, not happy yelling, just angry yelling, even if it's not directed at me). As Gustavo looked over at me he saw he had scared me and rushed to my side crushing me in a hug.
"Rosie, I'm sorry I forgot it's just," he pulled away slightly so he could see my face, "these guys aren't as careful as you are sometimes and I don't need them breaking more things than you already have." he chuckled with a smile, making me smile too and hug him tight. I pulled away when I heard gasps from behind him which is when I remembered the boys who had fallen and I rushed over to them. Due my protective, caring and curious nature the first thing I asked was if they were ok to which they replied yes and jumped to their feet.
"DOGS!," he glanced at me to make sure I was ok and this time I didn't flinch I just smiled at him and nodded signaling for him to continue, "this," he continued gesturing for me to come to his side which I did and before he started again he placed his hands on my shoulders in a comforting manner as I smiled brightly, "is Rosalina Juarez, better known as Rosie, my niece," the guys flinched and their smiles fell a bit as he said the word niece which for them meant "off limits", "She is staying at the Palmwoods," their smiles brightened a bit again, "which means that, since she is my niece, staying in the same hotel as you, the same age as you, working in the same building as you etc. etc. that you are all, to treat her with respect and, under no means, not flirt with her freely as you wish."
At this last piece I turned around with confusion on my face which quickly turned into a glare at his witty smirk and he just whispered to me "you need a boyfriend, you seem a bit quieter since your break-up with Matt," I cringed lightly, Matt had been my last boyfriend and he had tried to do bad things to me which scar me physically and mentally to this day. I thanked my closest guy friend, Dallas Barnet, for calling the cops on him when I was too scared to and helped me get Matt locked away, "and honestly, they aren't as bad as I always claim they are." He finished and the boys just gave each other questioning glances, high fives and happy cheers.
"But Uncle Gir (I 3 gir Gustavo Rouque, GR, gir? get it? lol!)!" I whined hoping he would see that I didn't really want four teenage boys with raging hormones flirting with me nonstop.
"No buts Rosie. Now, dogs, what was so dreadfully important that you had to interrupt my conversation with Rosie?" he asked his happiness turning to suspicion at their reason for being here. It was at this moment that I got my first really good look at the boys. Maybe having them flirt with me wouldn't be so bad after seeing them.
The one closest to me looked the most scared, his chocolate brown eyes were wide, his mouth hung open with incoherent words coming out every so often, one hand hung limply at his side the other scratching the back of his neck nervously, his hair was dark brown, short and spiky. His skin was slightly pale and he was the same height as me, his body looked slightly built but I could probably take him down, I have a black belt in self defense that I got after what Matt tried to do, and his face told that he was the brain/timid one but indecisive so I could tell he would be like a smart, loving, caring older brother so if I needed help in school he would be the one to call.
The boy to his left was Latino like me and looked like he was about to bounce through a wall, an endless ball of energy, just like Simon. His deep brown eyes looked like mine and his hair was black and an almost buzz cut I'm assuming because it was coved by a hockey helmet. He was the shortest of the four boys there but definitely the most energetic. He was stronger than the pale one; he was a bit shorter than me, but might be able to beat me in a fight, which by his grin I could tell I would never get in with him he seemed to nice to let anything get him down. The helmet on his head and goofy grin said that he was the lovable idiot but very caring and silly like me so I could tell he would be like another brother/twin to me.
The next boy was the tallest, had amber eyes and medium brown hair. He is at least 6 inches, maybe more, taller than me and could probably beat me in fight but the likelihood that he would want to ruin his hair, which was combed with perfection obviously being the goal, is not great. His face told that he was the flirter/pretty boy of the four so, if I ever needed help with clothes or boys or needed a shoulder to cry on, or bodyguard he was the one to call. The best older brother I never had or the perfect boyfriend that wasn't my type.
The last boy made my heart skip a beat. He was the perfect height for me, just a bit shorter than the boy to his right but still taller than me, like Matt had been but much more handsome than both the tall boy and Matt. He had sandy blonde hair with bit of brown under lay and hazel eyes that were gorgeous and made me melt. His face was completed by a nose and eyebrows that on any other face would look wrong but on his, it was perfect and a soft smile that made my heart melt as he calmly explained to Gustavo why they were there. He was tall and lean but somewhat built so he had probably played either soccer or hockey I didn't care which, I loved both. His stance was calm yet strong and his hands were in his pockets which said he wasn't afraid to stand his ground or stand up to Gustavo on some of his ideas. He seemed to be the leader of the group; the guy that had a plan for almost everything. Out of all of them he seemed like he would be the most boyfriend worthy which, as much as I hate to admit it, I really did need someone to hold me close and call me their own.
As I dared a last look to his face I caught him looking me over and I instantly wished I had worn something nicer than my favorite pair of ripped jeans and my favorite purple graphic tee that had shaded bulldozer on it and some trees running that said "Run, forest, run!" (lol Forest Gump ref.) and pair of purple converse with glitter stars I had drawn on my self with a silver fabric marker. As we caught each other looking, we were about to look away when our eyes met and my heart started to melt. As we continued to stare I noticed that, not only were his eyes hazel but also had specks of blue and green mixed in making them even more irresistibly sigh-worthy. Our eyes stayed like that for a moment longer before we both blushed and looked away.
Soon after, Gustavo said I could leave for the day; we hugged and kissed each others cheeks good-bye and he said that he'd see me there again tomorrow. I said okay and waved good-bye to everyone. As I grabbed my bag and made my exit I felt all of the boys' eyes on me which caused me to blush. On my way to my dark blue Chevy™ pick-up truck (idk the driving age in California) I couldn't get the blonde boy out of my head. It was like he had me under some spell with those eyes and I was really beginning to like it. Ok stop it, you don't even know his name and you're already falling for him I told myself as I started my truck and started to drive back to the Palmwoods.
I parked beside my mom's car and my other ride, a blue Harley Davidson I got as present for my birthday from my grandpa when he found out I got my motorcycle license. I used the bike when I want to go out to get away from everything or just go out and ride. I killed the engine and hopped out of my truck. I locked it behind me and checked the time.
"Crap!" I shouted; I had a little less than 30 minutes to get in, change, walk Mable and get to the pool to teach. I dashed through the lobby, barely hearing Bitters say "No running in the lobby!" and continued to dash to the apartment I shared with my mom and brother. I took the stairs because if I waited for the elevator I might have lost even more of my sanity. I ran into the door of 2K because I was in such a rush. As I sat on the floor rubbing my head I heard footsteps running to the door to see what caused the noise. The door flew open to reveal my 11 year old brother SJ or Simon staring down at me with curiosity in his eyes.
"You gonna just stand there or are you gonna help me up?" I asked him. He reached a hand down to help me up which I took gratefully. "Thanks." I said as I walked in. "Mom, I'm home!" I shouted only to hear Mable bark and running from my room to see me. "Hey, girl how are you?" I asked her picking her up and holding her to eye level. She answered me by giving happy bark and licking my face. "Yeah, I missed you too." I replied.
"Mom is still at work. She called to say she would be home at half past 3" SJ told me as I set Mable down only to have her circle around me.
"Ok. Well I'm gonna take Mable out and then go to the pool. Will you be ok until I get back?" I called from my room where I was getting my black bikini with white music notes on and packing a tote for the pool making sure take some treats and small container for water for Mable.
"Yeah" he replied.
"I'll see you later than, k?" I asked grabbing Mable's leash and kneeling down to clip it on and then put my hair up in a low ponytail.
"Rosie, I'm not 4. I'll be fine" he assured me going back to his video game.
"Ok. Making sure. Bye SJ" I yelled as I walked out, Mable by my side. I decided to take the elevator down to lobby and walk across the street to the park.