Rose:-
I refused to read that dreaded book again. Flinging it back into the drawer it had come from and shut it away. Trying desperately to discard it as some fiction. Or a sick, sick prank Lily was pulling. That was it. Nothing more.
(ON MONDAY)
Monday couldn't have come any quicker. Lily hadn't spoke to me all weekend. Our friends were all busy. Stacy was out with Brad all weekend, Janet was out at ballet and Harley was studying, alone and I was fearful that, in my boredom, that the creepy book would find its way back into my hands.
I holed up in my room all weekend studying, listening to music and being alone. Mom and Dad knew me and Lily had, had a fight. But they didn't know when or why. They left us be as to not wind us up.
On Monday morning when we got to school there was a huge commotion.
"Have you seen him?" I heard someone say,
"Yeah, oh my gosh he's fine!" I heard someone reply. I was extremely confused but I didn't ask any questions.
I walked over to Harley who was sitting on the steps.
"Any idea what they're talking about?" I asked her, sitting next to her,
"Some guy." She replied.
"HERE THEY COME!" Someone screamed and a crowd formed at the bottom of the stairs. They stared down the street and I stood up, following their gaze.
Trixie and Spud were skating towards us closely followed by Jake. But Jake was different. He was taller and as he got closer he looked muscly. The trio saw the crowd, Trixie and Spud skidded to a halt but Jake weaved between the pair and skated at the crowd. They dispersed immediately and he kicked up his board, catching it and running up the stairs and into school. Not making eye contact with anyone as he ran in. Followed by Trixie and Spud, then by the crowd.
"Was that Jake?" Harley asked,
"Yeah." I breathed
"Wow." Harley gasped.
We got up and walked into school.
When we FINALLY got to homeroom the bell went and I saw Jake rush in. Followed by a gaggle of giggling girls. He sat at the back with Trixie and Spud again and he was barely holding off the girls.
Miss Park cleared her throat and they reluctantly went back to their places.
I sat next to Brad again and I couldn't help but stare at Jake, he was wearing black jeans and a black t-shirt with the words 'Be Afraid' trailing across his chest in red writing. His hair was spiked as usual but the green tips weren't as prominent anymore. He seemed to be anxious and I didn't have a clue why. He caught me staring and smiled and waved. I smiled and waved back. Brad wasn't pleased and he grumbled something illegible.
The bell went and we had Science. It went without event. I sat with Harley and I, like many others in the class, only had eyes for Jake.
The thing that happened today that was shocking was at breaktime. We were in the corridor and I was walking out of Science. Jake had already gone to his locker and Brad and two of his friends decided amongst themselves that they didn't like Jake.
"Hey Long!" Brad yelled, Jake turned and was punched in the face.
He fell back into his locker and he could barely keep his footing.
"Think you can steal away the girls and get away with it?" He snarled again and hit Jake in the stomach. Jake folded into the blow and dry heaved,
"I haven't stolen anything Brad." He coughed.
"Sure!" He sneered, "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't hit you again!"
Jake straightened up. He stood up and stepped forward. Brad backed off,
"Hitting me again would be bad." Jake growled.
"Sure it would!" Brad laughed,
"For you." Jake snarled.
The whole crowd that had formed a circle around the three boys held their breaths. Jake was standing calmly, Brad stood with his fists clenched and he was quivering with anger and his two brunette friends just stood like spectators. Waiting for Brad to tell them what to do and for Brad to make a move. He didn't disappoint...
He threw a punch and Jake just spun around it and ended up behind Brad. Brad made a wide back hand but Jake just leant back and it passed over his head. Brad punched at Jake but Jake caught his hand and, with a spin, pinned it behind Brads back.
"Don't just stand there!" Brad screamed.
The first of Brads lackeys ran at him and aimed a wild punch at Jakes face. Jake manoeuvred Brads head so Brad took the punch in the face. The brunette gasped and looked flustered and Brad seemed to have been knocked out. Jake shoved the lifeless jock at his friend and he launched at the brunette. His hand upper cutting and hitting the boy under the chin. His head shot back and he slipped over from the punch and Brads extra weight and his head hit the floor with a crack.
Jake and the final brunette regarded each other and the second brunette threw up his hands in surrender. Jake nodded at him and returned to his locker. Grabbing the book for his next lesson and slamming it shut he walked away. Weaving through the crowd leaving the jocks far behind.
Jake:-
I can't believe it. I beat up Brad! I took on and defeated Brad! No way!
I put as much distance as possible between the two creamed jocks lying in a pile and I headed to my next class. Home Ec. Miss Park. Goodie.
I walked into class and sat at a table in the far corner. I felt terrible, I wondered if the pair of them were okay. What if they needed medical attention?!
The bell went and Miss Park walked in. She wore her usual yellow silk with pink embroidery on the hems and sky blue skirt. She looked over and saw me,
"I must say Jake. When Fuu told me about the changes I thought he was exaggerating."
"Um, Thanks. I think." I muttered. She had been absent from the apartment for the past week with no explanation. Some Mom.
The class filed in and the first person in was Brad and his goons. They looked at me fearfully and sat at a desk by Miss Park's. Trixie and Spud rushed over after that,
"Jakey! Am I hearing that you creamed two guys all alone?!" Trixie exclaimed,
"Probably." I sighed,
"Radical." Spud said and myself and Trix stared at him he hushed and sat at the desk. The desk seated six, who would the other 3 be sitting with us.
As if on que, Rose, her sister and one of their friends with long ginger hair walked in. Rose was in a white blouse with a blue frilly skirt. Only half the class was here and there were plenty of other desks, but she scanned the room and when she saw me she made a beeline for me.
"Are you ok?!" She gasped as she got over to us.
"I'm fine really." I said,
"Well the cut on your forehead is saying something else." Her sister said. Was her name Lily? Yeah. Well she wore a red t-shirt with a black skirt. She had black hair as oppose to Rose's golden hair. And her eyes were like sparkly emeralds, as oppose to Rose's twin sapphire eyes.
Rose pulled out a tissue and dabbed at my head and I immediately felt a sharp tongue of pain in my forehead. I recoiled from the tissue,
"Come on Jake. Let me help you." She said, "It'll be ok. I promise. It'll be okay."
She gave me a comforting look but I was rooted to the spot. Those were the last words Rose spoke to me before my wish. I bit back tears and suppressed the pain of losing her. I nodded and she dabbed my head again. Gently caressing the area of pain. Eventually she pulled it away. Coated in my blood. I took it from her had screwed it up and through it across the classroom. It spiralled in the air and landed in the bin. Lily and the other girl stared, their eyes unbelievably wide.
"Thanks Rose." I sighed and she put her arms around me and we hugged.
"Anytime Jake." She said. I smiled as I hugged her. I may have lost the old Rose. But this was better than nothing.
Rose:-
I gave Jake a hug after I'd finished clearing up his cut, then, when he pulled away, I saw that I was getting dirty looks from most of the girls in the class. I didn't care about them, I cared about the look of loathing that came from my own sister. I sat next to Jake and tried to ignore her as she and Harley sat next to Trixie on the other side of the table. I began to notice details of the room in my plight to stop myself from looking at my sister.
The room had 6 tables seating 6 in the room. There were 6 sinks all across the far wall marked with laminated cards with numbers on them.
Lily cleared her throat and I instinctively turned to her. She quickly showed me her cellphone before whisking it under the table. A text came through and I slipped my phone out of my pocket
*wow. Way 2 rub it in!* Lily sent,
*i'm not sis.* I replied,
*oh yeah. Then wtf was that?!* she replied,
*he was sad. I gave him a hug. No biggie.* I sent,
*you're the worst sis ever.* she sent,
*why don't you open your eyes. He's not interested in you. Deal with it.*
I slipped my phone into my pocket and got on with the lesson. Avoiding the hate filled glares from my sister. We were making stir fry and Jake next to me was doing pretty well. The knife a blur as he cut up brocolli and other vegetables. As I looked around the table and saw all eyes on Jake's intense knife work. The prep was meant to take 30 minutes. Jake was done in half the time and was on the hob frying meat, boiling noodles and preparing the veggies for frying.
Trixie, Harley and Spud were done 10 minutes later and were on the hob as Jake was plating up. He came back to the table with his finished dish.
"Wow." He sighed,
"What?" I asked,
"Normally I'm lame." He said with a laugh. I laughed as well.
I had everything ready and was frying when it happened. Someone barged past and knocked me into the hob. It all seemed to happen in slow motion. I was knocked into my pot of boiling water and it shot up, the boiling water came at me. I had hit the hob and was winded; I wouldn't be able to move in time. Then a hand was on my shoulder and I was yanked out of the way. The water splattered harmlessly onto the floor.
I turned and saw Jake there,
"Are you ok?" He asked, his voice flooded with concern.
"Yeah, I'm great. Thank you. You saved me. Again!" I said and I kissed his cheek. He smiled and we hugged.
"Come on." He said, pulling away, "You've got a dish to complete."
Then, for the rest of the lesson, we worked as a solid team to complete my dish. It was done in half the time it would have took if I'd have done it alone. I was washing dishes in the sink and Mrs Park was examining everyone's work when Jake walked off. I looked over and he was up with Miss Park, talking in hushed voices. I was curious as to the nature of their conversation but I couldn't hear a thing. So I turned back to the dishes and pondered silently.
I didn't hear him approach and I was washing a plate at that time,
"Don't scream." Jake whispered in my ear and I had to suppress the scream of shock. I dropped the plate and it clattered dully on the bottom of the sink.
"REAL clever Jake!" I hissed as he snickered silently behind me. Then his arms encircled me from behind and I nearly melted,
"My deepest apologies. Here, let me help." He said and he picked up the plate and scrubbed it clean with a sponge and plopped it on the draining board,
"That's the last of them." I said triumphantly, I sighed and leaned back slightly, so my head was rested on his now broad chest, "Seriously how did you get so big?!" I said, looking back at him, he was now slightly taller than I was and it was strange how he'd shot up in just 1 weekend,
"Growth spurt." He said absently, whilst fiddling with the remaining bubbles left in the lukewarm dish water. I looked up at him and noticed a mischievous glint shoot through his eyes. He grabbed a handful of the bubbles and thrust them at my face. I ducked and slipped out from under his arms and backed off. He advanced with the soap bubbles in hand,
"Don't. Even." I warned him as he advanced with a ridiculous lopsided grin plastered on his face. He lunged and got me with bubbles on my nose and chin. He laughed wildly and in his hysterical outburst I scooped up some bubbles form the sink and shoved them in his face.
It soon became a war between the pair of us and many had stopped what they were doing and stared at us in ridicule. I didn't care. I was having too much fun.
"YOU TWO!" Mrs Park shouted and we stopped, bubbles in hand and we looked over at Mrs Park who stood at our table looking amused and annoyed all at once.
She stalked over and before we could react, scooped bubbles into both of her hands and shoed them into both of our faces, cracking a grin as she did it, "Now clean up this mess please." She said calmly and walked away, the class laughing and cheering. Just like us.
We cleared up minutes before the bell went and when we left I walked alongside Harley and Jake walked with Trixie and Spud, who were prying him for details about his fight with Brad earlier, whereas I walked in an uncomfortable silence with Harley,
"Where's Lily?" I asked my friend, who was twirling a lock of her fiery ginger hair in her long delicate fingers,
"Umm, what happened between you and Lily during the lesson?" she asked, avoiding eye contact,
"Well, we had a fight over the phone." I said, "Why."
"Well…" Harley said, after a pause, "She was pretty ticked off and she kinda shoved you when you were cooking."
I thought back and then I remembered, I was shoved and I nearly had a pot of boiling water poured on me,
"Oh my gosh! I almost died!" I gasped, realising that I'd had two scrapes with death recently.
"Yeah, but you're missing the BIG picture." Harley hissed, I looked at her questioningly, unsure of what she was on about.
She dragged me over to the side so that others could pass. She grabbed my shoulders and shook them, her eyes boring into mine,
"Rose!" she said, her voice no louder than a whisper, "Lily, nearly, KILLED, you!"