Rose Amongst Thorns

Chapter Seven

Aftermath


Rose woke up. It wasn't the slow, gradual awakening she was used to, gentle and refreshing. She woke up, completely and unavoidably, with a crick in her neck and the distinct impression that the world had turned into a spinning-top.

The house—wherever she was, and whatever she was sat curled up on and against—was dark, only the sounds of water rippling subtly in a gentle breeze that swept pleasantly through the open windows. Open windows? Nobody ever had their windows open in North Carolina… She blinked, and the darkness ebbed slightly, enough that she could see that this wasn't any house she had ever been to in North Carolina, and more to the point, it looked like a hurricane had just blown through it, bottles and empty bowls and bodies tossed here and there with Guitar Hero controllers and decks of cards and crushed potato chips and the remnants of barbecue on paper plates scattered around.

And then the whole night came crashing into Rose's memory and she glanced down at the boy on whom she had been sleeping. In sleep, he looked angelic, in a dark-haired way, his lips plump from kissing—not her, she remembered. Darnell, and Evan. Truth or Dare. Rose grinned to herself at the memory and the knowledge that someone had videoed the whole thing on their digital camera.

The darkness gradually seeped away as Rose carefully disentangled herself from cute cross-country guy, and looked around the den. There was Darnell, still wearing his birthday-boy crown—he had managed to find a change of clothes after his had been thrown in the pool—and Evan, lying on his stomach in front of the TV, snoring gently, his hand still curled around a beer bottle, wearing only his boxers. There were countless other people Rose barely knew the names of, and mess.

Rose hated mess. She didn't mind organised clutter, but mess like this made her cringe. Securing her towel around her torso tighter, Rose picked her way through the room, picking up empty bottles and paper plates and discarded clothing; she tugged a trash-bag from under the kitchen sink and started filling it with trash, and found her way to the laundry-room, piling all the sodden clothes she found tossed around the room and the backyard—she had to repossess Darnell's clothing, several glasses and empty bottles from the bottom of the pool, which woke her up because it was so cold—into the dryer, and started cleaning up the outdoor kitchenette and the patio.

Rose jumped into one of the upstairs showers—the one that she guessed was Darnell's en-suite because the bedroom was football-themed and very messy, with the sheets rumpled and freshly stained; she dried off and found a hairdryer, and jumped when the thing started whirring out hot air, the noise startling her; she crept downstairs with her towel wrapped around her, took back her underwear, bra, top and shorts, dressed, and continued tidying up, as the darkness dwindled into a pretty forget-me-not blue dawn tinged with purple and gold. She found the coffee grounds and filled the filter in the coffeemaker and found clean mugs in the cupboard, put glasses and plates into the dishwasher. She found her purse, checked she still had everything in her wallet, and drew out her cell-phone.

Tues, 31 Aug. 05:49.

"Tuesday?" Rose frowned at the screen, which was going blurry and sparkling at her. Despite her shower—and helping herself to cereal and toast—the world to Rose was still that fun, tilt-a-whirl place it was when she was drinking. She blinked, and aligned her thoughts. It was Tuesday morning…and yesterday she had been at school, surely, because she had seen most of these kids outside on the steps after cross-country try-outs.

"Oh shit!" Rose squeaked, glancing over at Evan; she hopped over the boys snuggled together under a beach-towel and fell to her knees next to Evan. She shook him roughly.

"Evan—Ev," Rose grumbled, shaking him; she dragged him onto his back. He grumbled and swiped lazily at her, sighing. "Evan—wake up!" She slapped him round the face, and he jumped awake.

"Wha's wrong?" he grumbled, his eyes at half-mast. She showed him the screen of her phone, the time illuminated. It took him a few seconds.

"Shit!"

"Your parents are gonna kill us," Rose said, her cheeks burning with shame and dread. Her parents had been very relaxed about curfew; they knew if Rose wasn't at home, she was with Pogue, and Pogue always took care of her.

"Yeah, they might—No—no, they won't, it's okay," Evan said, lumbering to a stand; he clutched his head and made a noise that might have been a groan and an attempt not to retch. "'S okay—I have a plan."

"You do?" Rose blinked. "What is it?"

"Havin' six brothers comes in handy sometimes," Evan murmured, with a slightly crooked smile. "Do you know where my cell-phone is?" Rose helped him pick his way through the bodies thrown over the den and took his clothes out of the dryer, and handed him the tub of cell-phones she had collected with digital-cameras around the room. Evan frowned and took a long time deciding which phone was his; he picked out a shiny gunmetal-silver Blackberry and punched in a number, and waited.

"Sean… Yeah. Run interference scenario three," Evan mumbled. "…Yeah, she's with me—looking real chipper for the amount she drank last night."

"Hark who's talking," Rose said softly, sticking her tongue out. She and Evan had drunk just as much as each other, but Rose had had a lot more to eat last night, before and during the party. Evan had been with Hailey until after Darnell turned off the grill (well, before the grilled tater-tots).

"Yeah, we'll come back to the house to get everyone else," Evan mumbled, on a sigh. "Thanks, dude." He hung up, and Rose glanced around the room.

"I guess we should probably get everyone else up," she said, biting her lip.

"Hm? Oh, yeah, probably," Evan grumbled, almost falling over as he tried to pull his jeans on. Rose steadied him, and he shot her a grateful glance. "How're you so…non-hungover?"

"Oh, I am, trust me," Rose smiled. "Actually, I think I might still be drunk. You?"

"Definitely still a little drunk," Evan said, clutching his head. "You always forget the morning after when you're enjoying the night before."

"Speaking of—where's Hailey?"

"She left around half-eleven. She has a midnight curfew on school-nights," Evan sighed. "I thought this place was messier."

"Oh…It was. I cleaned," Rose said, blushing. He glanced at her, raised his eyebrows, and then smiled a laugh.

"You're a strange girl, Rose," he chuckled affectionately. "Come on, let's get 'em awake. They won't like us." Rose nodded, went over to the TV and put MTV on, loud, so the music woke them, as Evan picked his way through the room shaking people and helping them off the floor. Rose filled the mugs with strong black coffee and found the sugar bowl and half-and-half, and went around handing out the mugs, to very grateful half-smiles and thanks. Darnell staggered upstairs back to bed.

Rose picked up the beach-towels strewn across the room; she helped cute cross-country to the nearest bathroom so he could vomit, and doled out the still-warm clothes to their respective owners, and helped clean up the den, kitchen and patio as best she could.

"Hey, you wanna go get breakfast?" Evan asked, staggering toward Rose, almost chugging back strong black coffee.

"What'd you have in mind?" Rose smiled.

"Well…after a night out like this, we usually go to our favourite diner," Evan smiled, indicating his friends, who were all drinking strong black coffee and grimacing, clutching their heads—or running off to the bathroom, clutching their stomachs. Evan's friends… Last night, though fun, would have been epic if Pogue had been here with her. Well, he'd see the photos on Facebook by tonight, she guessed.

"Sure. That sounds like a good idea," Rose smiled tiredly. She'd need something for her headache. "Hey, d'you know where there's any aspirin?"

"Um…check in Darnell's medicine cabinet," Evan said. "Hey, who wants to go get breakfast at Jim's?"

There was a general grumble of agreement, that a big breakfast probably would be a good idea before going to school, and while Rose searched his medicine cabinet for aspirin and Pepto Bismol, Evan hauled an ashen-faced Darnell downstairs to get some coffee and food in him, and before six a.m. had even struck the clock, Rose climbed into the already-toasty passenger seat of Evan's Saab. A small fleet of cars followed Evan's to a grocery-store plaza that featured a Mexican fast-food restaurant, a Chinese takeout, a bagel shop, hair salon, a trophy store, a huge grocery store, an ice-cream parlour, dance studio and after-school homework help place, a Gymboree, a pet store, nail-salon, a Blockbuster, and a scrapbooking and craft store that instantly caught Rose's notice.

There were about a half-dozen of them, and walking into Jim's Diner, a bright, airy place that smelled of coffee and maple syrup, with soft country music that sounded like Alison Kraus playing and a fan whirring just inside the door, they were met by a smiling young-woman in a plain white t-shirt and jeans and an apron tied around her hips, who couldn't be older than nineteen or twenty, and seemed to know everyone in the group save Rose.

"Hey Taylor," Evan rumbled softly, giving her a hug. "You got a table for us?"

"Yeah, sure. You need coffee?" 'Taylor' asked, and Evan laughed under his breath.

"Do you even need to ask; lots of coffee, please; no decaf, and lots of soda," Evan smiled amiably; the girl led them to a booth and added another table and two chairs, and quickly took their drinks orders and handed them menus. Rose sat down opposite Evan and a beautiful Middle Eastern girl sat down next to her—Vithya, Rose thought her name was—and she was looking at her menu but couldn't quite focus on the letters. It was cosy and warm in the diner and the low talking of Evan's friends and the laughter of Taylor made her feel nice and drowsy.

"Rose!" someone nudged her leg under the table, and her elbow slipped; her chin almost crashed into the table when she fell; she blinked.

"What?" she asked. Had she fallen asleep; Evan, looking peaky but not as bleary as before, was smiling at her.

"You fell asleep, babe. What do you want to eat?"

"Oh…a big waffle and a cup of fruit, please," Rose said, her cheeks flushing as she glanced at the menu hastily, then handed it to the waitress. Rose hadn't noticed her arrive with drinks; brown mugs of steaming coffee littered the table, along with tall plastic glasses filled with everything from lemonade to Pepsi to orange soda to juice to milkshakes. Evan smiled at her across the table and pushed her coffee mug toward her.

"Drink up, baby; interference scenario number three won't work if you start falling asleep," Evan smiled. Rose grumbled; she hated coffee; instead, she clasped her tall Pepsi and drank most of it, asking Taylor for a refill before she went off to put their orders in.

"So, what's interference scenario number three?" Rose asked him, licking her lips of sugary-sweet soda, and fidgeting slightly next to Vithya, who was drinking her ice-water very slowly, with some aspirins. Evan grinned.

"It's where Sean tells mom and dad that I took you out for breakfast this morning, and we'll be coming back to the house to collect Finn and the others," Evan smiled.

"Sneaky. How often do you use that cover?"

"Not as often as you'd think," Evan laughed, his eyes twinkling. "Scenario one is better for everyday use. What about you—how d'you avoid your parents' rules?" Evan's expression went a little stark, his eyes widening with alarm, and he stammered. "Er—I—Sorry, Rose, I—"

"Pogue usually comes up with excuses," Rose said, cutting him off. "My parents never really gave me a curfew when I started going out to parties and stuff, so just as long as I actually came home or called, it was okay. They knew if I was with Pogue I'd be taken care of."

"He your body-guard and your best-friend?" Evan smiled.

"Well, he's six-foot-eight and rides a Harley, so what's your guess?" Rose smiled. "People don't tend to mess with anyone if Pogue's around." Taylor returned with the coffee refill jug and fresh sodas; she put a fresh-fruit cup in front of Rose and smiled. Evan reached over and stole one of the strawberries.

Considering most of them were horrendously hungover—Darnell was still a little bit drunk and was having trouble navigating his straw—the conversation was quiet, and stinted; only after their breakfasts arrived did conversation pick up, just as other customers started arriving for their breakfasts, and Rose demolished her huge Belgian waffle, her fruit-cup, and helped Evan finish his hash-browns and one of his pancakes, drank a ton of soda, a mug of coffee, and forked over some cash to put toward the bill.

She and Evan left, and Rose sat drowsily in the front passenger seat, warm and sleepy, the food having done a world of good.

"Won't your parents suspect us if we look like we haven't slept all night?" Rose asked, as they neared the McGowans' house.

"Nah. They'll just think we're not used to getting up early for school," Evan shrugged. "That's the only good thing about going back to school." Rose chuckled softly and smiled, but her smile faded when she realised she would have to wait hours till she could sleep. She had had a little nap, yes, on cute cross-country guy, but she would crash by midday. I'll just have to keep drinking soda, Rose thought to herself, as Evan turned into the McGowan's property, and up toward the house. They climbed out of the car, and before they'd even entered the house they heard the pandemonium of the kitchen.


This was the bit Rose was good at. Pretending she was sober in front of her parents. She had developed mimicking sobriety when she was completely shit-faced into an art. Taking a deep breath, she rearranged her expression and walked a little more slowly, taking care not to look around too quickly or talk too loudly. That was the key.

"I'll be back in a sec," Rose said, and slowly walked upstairs; when she reached her room, she got a dizzy spell and had to stand very still for a minute, then slowly made her way around her room, noticing someone had put cushions and pillows under her duvet in mimicry of a person sleeping; she sorted out her bed, replaced her math notebook in her slouchy black matte-leather bag, picked up her running sneakers in their dust-bag, made sure she had the twenty bucks for her cross-country uniform, and quickly changed into one of the pretty Top Shop tops Regina had bought her—was it only yesterday? It seemed like so long ago. She buttoned the lace-embellished floral cami, tied the ruched waist tie into a bow, pulled on some studded brown sandals and did the buckles up, put some product in her hair to make her blow-dried locks beachy and soft, put on some makeup and some perfume, and drained the last of the water from the bottle in her bag.

Downstairs in the kitchen, she was a little unnerved about seeing Regina, but she was nowhere to be seen. Instead, Sean was silently watching over his younger brothers. Finn's eyes flicked to Rose when she entered the kitchen through the swinging door, and Rose made her way to the fridge, filling her bottle with ice-water.

"Long night, huh," Finn murmured to her, sidling up to take something out of the fridge. Rose just grumbled softly, and Finn laughed. "It's alright; Evan's already told me I'm driving us to school. How was breakfast?"

"Good. Jim's is a good restaurant," Rose said, sipping some ice-water.

"Yeah; it's our favourite," Finn smiled. "Sucks you had to go there with a hangover, though."

"Tell me about it," Rose said dully; Finn just smiled.

"Take a can of soda from the cupboard," he advised, nodding at the door to the pantry, which was stocked like a bomb-shelter in the middle of London during the Blitz. Regina must have bought out Costco—or at least have shares! With her bag stocked with a can of Pepsi, a Fruit Leather, granola bar and apple, Rose walked with Finn out to the car; because Finn was driving, Miller had made sure Rose sat behind him again, on the opposite end of the backseat, whilst Evan groaned and lowered himself carefully into the front passenger seat.

School passed in a blur of noise, light and dizziness if she moved too quickly. By break-time, she was already exhausted, and downed her soda, with the Fruit Leather, apple and granola bar, and gym was okay; she didn't get her nose bloodied again, but she kept tripping over herself chasing after the basketball, and couldn't wait until enough admin stuff had been done so they could get into the pool for their swimming unit. Miss Willow was facing away from her and Pearl's table during Art, so Rose had a much-needed nap, and felt so much better for it. Pearl had made her another two bracelets while she napped, and Finn had sketched her while she slept, her head resting against her hand, her elbow on the desk. Darnell found her at lunchtime in the courtyard, eating a bowl of chilli and some home-style fries, an apple, a honey yoghurt, another can of soda, some orange juice and the rest of her water; he came to thank her for, firstly, coming to his party even though it was her first night in a new town, and, secondly, for cleaning up his house. She filled her water bottle before AP English, having gone through about six of them already, and was a little more recovered from her long night by that class and was able to play Hermia in the first scene of A Midsummer Night's Dream. She fell asleep for a few minutes during Math, but nobody except Aimee (whom she hadn't realised was in that class with her) noticed.

By the time cross-country practice came around, Rose was exhausted but running on adrenaline and caffeine; she bought her uniform, changed into her sneakers and pulled her hair in a ponytail, and halfway through practice, after she had finished her three-mile run and then some, she had to escort cute cross-country guy back to the boys' locker-rooms so he could vomit spectacularly in the bathroom.

Showering after practice woke her up again, using the cold water, and she let her hair down, changed back into her tiny sculpted shorts and camisole and jewellery, reapplied some eyeshadow and mascara and perfume, and met Evan outside the school.

"I'll be more attentive tomorrow, I promise," Rose mumbled to Aimee, who had been highly amused all day since Pearl had told her Rose had fallen asleep during Art, and having witnessed her falling asleep during Math, and still setting the pace during practice. Even Hailey, who had left the party before midnight, having been picked up by Aimee because she'd drunk so much, was greener around the gills than Rose. But then, she wasn't a lightweight, and she had eaten well before going to the party and during it. That was probably only what had saved her. That, and the breakfast at Jim's and the frequent shots of caffeine in the form of Pepsi cans throughout the day.

Evan had heard she was good at History and came into her room after school to ask for her help with his first History assignment. Their books spread out over Rose's bed, they both fell asleep, and slept through dinner.

Regina attributed this, the next morning, to tiredness from sports practice, and couldn't fathom how Rose liked running miles and miles every day. Rose loved it; it burned off her food and the booze she had consumed at Darnell's party, and set her body's equilibrium back on level.

But that was the last time she was ever going to drink heavily on a school night. Aimee had emailed her a scan of her Math notes so Rose could do her homework, which she had to do during lunch on Wednesday.

Rose still couldn't believe that she and Evan had gotten away with not coming home on a school-night. Missing curfew, she was sure Regina and John could understand. But it was more that John and Regina hadn't even noticed she and Evan hadn't come home that made Rose feel anxious.


On Wednesday night, Rose spent an hour writing in a brand-new eco-friendly cardboard Letter-sized journal that tied closed with a black ribbon, writing everything that had happened since she had parked out near the barn on Sunday afternoon, punctuating her writings with drawings, mementos and things like phone-numbers, a coloured sketch of Pearl's bracelet, the Wildcats logo, and a print of a painting she had found on Google; 'Carnival and Lent,' by Cecily Brown, and which perfectly put into paint and canvas the last few days, a blur of motion, colour, senses, chaos. She printed another on glossy photo paper to put up on her wall.

After she had finished her homework and they'd had dinner, Evan drove her out to Logan after dark, to watch the planes take off. Rose avoided alcohol this time, and she and Evan's friends had a good time around the little campfire they had made, making S'mores and (the others) drinking beer. Every time a plane took off over their heads, barely clearing the tree-tops of the wood in which Hailey and Evan, and then Darnell and a girl Rose didn't know disappeared into, they would roar and scream themselves hoarse. Rose and cute cross-country guy (whose name was Jake) were lying on the hood of Darnell's car, their fingers intertwined, and sharing their first beer, gazing up at the stars, and having a low, slurred conversation because they were tired, not because they were drunk.

"Jake…Do you think there's really such a thing as heaven?" Rose asked quietly, gazing up at the twinkling stars. They were bigger and brighter than she had ever seen them in North Carolina, because everywhere here was pitch-black, save the campfire, and Alex running across the field with his sneakers on fire, two small flashing beacons in otherwise perfect darkness.

"This isn't gonna turn into a religious debate, is it?" Jake asked. When not vomiting, Jake was very smart and very cute, and very playful. He reminded her of Pogue, which was probably why they got along so well already.

"No," Rose laughed softly. "Just answer the question. Do you think there's people we've lost, gazing down on us all the time?"

"Well, I'd hope not all the time," Jake remarked, and Rose laughed. "It'd give me a bit of a complex about taking my clothes off, wouldn't it?"

"I doubt that," Rose laughed softly, and Jake pinched her playfully.

"What about you—do you think there's a heaven?" Jake asked. Rose sighed heavily, gazing up at the stars.

"I've been trying to decide," she admitted quietly. Those stars looked so far away, so how could anything be higher than them, where the angels lived? If indeed that was where heaven was, and not on another plane, like another dimension, in the novels she read. "I know—well, I hope—that there's a place where children go if they die," she said quietly, licking her lips, having difficulty swallowing. Her chest ached dully.

"Neverland," Jake said softly, and Rose smiled to herself. Lucia had loved Peter Pan. She used to sing Maggie's song from Hook over and over again for hours. For a while, they just lay back in silence, watching the stars; shouting at the planes had gotten old for Rose very quickly, and she closed her eyes whenever one soared overhead.

"Hey. You guys having fun?"

Rose glanced up and peered in the moonlight at Evan, who was hovering over her and eyeing the fingers she had entwined with Jake's with a strange look on his face.

"You ready to go?" Rose asked, blinking up at him. Given how she had spent her last two nights—drinking heavily, and hungover and sleeping it off—she really wanted to go home and have a good night's sleep in her bed, under her covers, not curled up in Jake's lap or surrounded by pointy-cornered textbooks and Evan's snoring.

"Already?" Hailey asked, reaching for Evan's hand with both of hers. "I've barely talked to anybody."

Rose frowned. "Well whose fault is that?" Just because she hadn't had sex with Evan in, oh, a day, she'd dragged Evan off two hours ago and this was the first time all night Rose had seen either of them anywhere near the campfire. Evan shot Rose a pleading look and Rose's good mood slipped away. She had been having a nice night, chatting with Jake and Vithya and Darnell, she just really wanted to get some good sleep in.

"It's alright," Jake sighed heavily. "I'm over this anyway. I'll take you home, Rose. You don't mind motorcycles, do you?"

"Er—No," Rose grinned.

"Umm…" Evan said, looking a little uncomfortable.

"Evan, I lived on the back of Pogue's Harley," Rose said, tilting her head to one side as she looked up at him. "You're not scared of me falling off, are you?"

"I—No. It's just…Mom and Dad…"

"You don't have to babysit me," Rose said quietly, her cheeks flushing. Evan blushed and smiled.

"Okay, I guess… Hey, just…The spare key is under the mat at the back-door of the kitchen," he said quietly. "Everyone's probably still awake if you can't find it…"

"Okay," Rose smiled. "Well…enjoy the rest of your night."

Jake handed her a spare motorcycle helmet and Rose climbed onto the back of his 2000 Indian 'Chief,' taking Jake's waist and clamping the bike between her thighs. The engine roared into life, and Rose closed her eyes, living in the moment, hearing the roar of the engine and the wind whistling past her ears, tousling her hair, feeling the vibration of the engine, the warmth of Jake's body against hers. Just movement, no boundaries; freedom. She and Pogue just used to get on his bike and drive around for hours, going no-place special but just driving, enjoying the speed and the freedom and power. Jake dropped her almost at the porch steps; he grinned and took back his helmet.

"Thanks," Rose smiled. "That was fun."

"Anytime," Jake smiled. He really did have a very pretty smile.

"Your shocks, though, need some work," Rose remarked, now feeling the difference in riding on back of Jake's bike than Pogue's. Jake's eyebrows flew up.

"What's wrong with my shocks?"

"I think you need another in rear," Rose shrugged. Jake's eyes narrowed.

"You know bikes?"

"I know some," Rose smiled, her cheeks flushing. "My daddy restored vintage Harleys. Since he didn't have any sons, he kinda had to make do with what he had—me."

"Alright, well, maybe one afternoon we can go to the parts store in town," Jake smiled easily. "You can show me what I need to improve my bike."

"Well—It's a beautiful bike," Rose said, smiling shyly. "Just, another shock would make the ride more comfortable for passengers. Trust me," she added, with a wince. Jake chuckled.

"Alright. I'll catch you tomorrow at practice," he said, offering his knuckles to knock; Rose pressed her knuckles against his and he smiled, adjusted the strap of his helmet, kicked the bike into life, and left.

Rose walked around the house to the kitchen back-door and checked under the mat, unlocked the door, and grabbed a glass of ice-water before heading upstairs; Regina smiled and waved from the living-room, drinking hot tea and reading a thick novel.

"You're home early," she smiled. "Where's Evan?"

"Um…He and Hailey are still in Logan," Rose said, licking her lips.

"Was that Jake Salvatore's bike I heard?" Regina asked, smiling subtly. Rose nodded.

"I think so—well, I don't know his last name," Rose blushed. Regina smiled.

"He's a sweet guy. Beautiful, too," Regina smiled again. "I can tell you, he doesn't let just anyone ride on his bike with him."

"Probably cos there aren't enough shocks to make it comfortable," Rose said quietly, and Regina laughed outright.

"Oh, no, you insulted his baby?" she chuckled. "He'll be after your blood!"

"He asked me to come with him to the parts store in town to get new shocks," Rose smiled, blushing hotly. Regina practically beamed.

"Do you like him?" she asked. Rose blushed and shrugged. She liked talking to him, yes; he was a sweet guy, and very playful, but serious at the same time when he needed or wanted to be. He had great arms from weight-training, which was a big thing for Rose. But did she like him in that way? She had only just gotten to town; she would wait a few more weeks before looking into the male market.

"I don't know him, really. He's on the varsity cross-country team," Rose said.

"How's that going, by the way?" Regina asked.

"Good."

"You and Evan should go running together," Regina said thoughtfully. "He needs to push himself this season, if he wants the scouts looking."

"I heard he's hoping to play ice-hockey?" Rose said, hating that she'd heard it from Hailey that first day after cross-country practice.

"Yup," Regina beamed. "Evan's hoping for Michigan or Minnesota."

"So far away?" Regina's eyes darkened sadly for a second, but then she smiled.

"John and I don't mind so much where he goes, just that he does," Regina said. Rose's parents had been the same; they knew she wasn't going to be an astrophysicist or an astronaut or heart-surgeon or an aerospace engineer, but had wanted her to go to college, if not for a degree, just for the people she would meet there and the opportunities it would open up for her later in life. With her inheritance, Rose could do anything or nothing, but she knew she would go to college. She just didn't know where. Or what to do. Or even what she would do after.

"Well…I'm exhausted. Do you mind if I go to bed?"

"No, not at all," Regina smiled. "Sleep well."

"Goodnight," Rose smiled.


A.N.: Please review!