Dimitri
I watched Rose walk away from the group and go back to the front of her bus. I heard the door open and close and then open and close again. I soon started to smell cigarette smoke. Not the disgusting clove scent from Adrian, but the usual smell of Marbolo cigarettes. The same stuff that Rose was smoking when we found her.
I left the group and walked to the other side of the bus. When I turned the corner, I found Rose leaning against the bus with a cigarette in between her fingers. I watched as she blew smoke up into the air and watched it curl and evaporate into the air. The red embers from the end of the smoking cigarette glowed in the dark.
I walked a little closer but stopped a little bit from where I started. Rose looked over at me and flicked her cigarette. She raised an eyebrow and turned away from me. She took a long drag before she spoke.
"You know, it's rude to stare. Didn't your mama ever teach you that?"
"Yes she did. I'm sorry to be offensive, Miss." I had nothing else to say and since she was acting like a different person, I had to be more polite.
"You know, it's funny when people get you mixed up with another. I met your Rose. Nice gal. A little rash and all over the place, but a good kid." She made her voice sound reminiscent and far away.
"She was like that." I walked a little closer and leaned against the bus next to her. She moved her cigarette to the other hand so I didn't have to smell it as much.
"What was she to you, if you don't mind me asking," Rose asked. She sounded genuinely curious.
I stood there looking at the grass under my feet. Rose's question had thrown me off a little. I didn't expect her to ask it. After thinking a little bit longer, I looked up at her with a sad look on my face.
"She was my everything. She was my world and I let her go. I left her at her school to take a job offer from Tasha back there. But when I did it, I lied. I told her that I didn't love her anymore and broke her heart." I had no idea why I was telling her this, but I couldn't stop myself. "When I left, I guarded Tasha for a year and moved to Court. I couldn't work with Tasha when I knew that I loved Rose. Only when I got there to find her, she was gone. She, Lissa, and Mia left Court and disappeared. I tried to find her but I couldn't. I guess her death would make it impossible for her to be found."
Rose watched me silently during my rave. She stayed silent for a while before speaking again.
"Why did you lie? Of all the ways to the break up with a girl, why did you choose to do it that way?"
"I don't know. I guess if I told her that I didn't love her that she'd move on and live a life that was meant for her."
"That's a bullshit answer." Her response was so blunt and sudden that I looked up at her in shock.
"Pardon?"
"That answer was a cop-out," she explained. "Lord knows that there was a different reason for you lying like that. So spill it." Rose took another drag on her cigarette and looked at me as she waited for her answer.
"That's the truth! How dare you question my actions?" I demanded. I was getting mad at her for asking me why I did the things that I did. I wasn't talking to Rose Hathaway anymore, I was talking to Rose Mazur.
"I'm Lissa's best friend and I'm trying to figure out why in God's name you lied to her old friend. There is no need to get your knickers in a twist," she answered defensively.
"God! You are her best friend because you are Rosemarie Hathaway! You have been friends with Lissa for years since you were five and you threw your book at your teacher in kindergarten!" I was yelling and breathing hard. How can she just stand there and play stupid?
"Sir," Rose spat in a tone full of malice. "You have no right to talk to me like that. I am a lady and you will treat me as such."
I stared at her for a moment. For a moment, I saw the old Rose. The one that would fight me and protect her pride. The only thing different was the Southern accent in her words.
"I'm sorry for my mistake. Please excuse me." With that, I turned around and stomped back to my group. On my way, I crumbled up the piece of paper that had my name and number and threw it on the ground. There was no need for it now.