"No looking back when I am gone, follow your heart; it's never wrong. No looking back when I am gone, don't second guess the note you're on. Out of time, all out of fight, you are the only thing in life that I got right..." -Yellowcard, Sing for me

-Ib- Age 14-

"Hey, Ib," I looked up to see Satoru at my side. I packed up my bag quickly and slung it over my shoulder. I shuddered as I closed my locker and met his glance.

"You ready?" I nodded. We walked out of the building, slowly strolling down the street.

"You love me... am I correct?" he asked, and I looked over at him. My feelings for him weren't sorted out yet, and I still really didn't know anything about anything. I didn't know what was right and wrong. The only thing that I needed was the rose that was blemished by his rough fingers.

"Do you?"

However, since then, I couldn't be away from it. For some odd reason it felt risky to leave it out in the open, on it's own. Even simply not having the prickly stem and soft petals in my possession didn't feel right.

"Ib?" he said, and stopped.

I had brought the rose to school, and lost it somewhere. I was sure I had it in my hand the whole day, until it just disappeared. I couldn't think straight since then, and my whole body wouldn't stop shaking.

"R-Rose... I need one..." was what came out of my mouth.

"Ib? Are you alright?" he said, and stroked my head. I felt like I could speak no more.

"Uh, you want a rose? S-sure, I'll get one for you," he said, and took my hand. It took a few minutes, but we ended up in front of a flower shop. The scent of roses were under all the smells of other strange flowers, but it made me feel better. We entered, and the shop was huge. There were poinsettias to lilies to daisies. We continued to where the roses were, and he took a bouquet.

"This good?" he asked, and continued to look around, and then I froze. There was a single rack that had only a few roses in it. But there was something special about these roses.

They were blue.

They were beautiful.

I took one in my hand, comfort and warmth easing into my shoulders and cold hands.

"Blue roses? That's neat... I wonder when this came along,"

Something was all too familiar, but I could care less. The blue rose was okay. Satoru brought me up to the counter and paid for it. We walked out of the shop, and I felt better about Satoru.

"Thank you," I said, and he gave me a small smile. My thoughts cleared up about the boy, and they ended up positive. I flashed him a smile, and he put his arms around me. I laid my head on his chest, clutching the rose within my fingertips. It all didn't feel so wrong anymore.

"It's a hybrid rose. They don't naturally grow, do they?" I asked.

"No idea. It's pretty, though," I nodded. We walked along the sidewalk while comfortable silence filled the air, although people were swarming around us. Then I remembered the whole reason we were out here was that he had something important to tell me.

"Uhm, Satoru?"

"Yeah?"

"What did you need to tell me?" I asked, and he stopped walking and looked straight ahead. His eyes crept back towards mine, and my hands started to quiver as I was grasping the blue rose.

"N-Nothing," he stuttered and shook his head. I felt suspicion arise within, but didn't let it out.

-Garry- Age 25-

She said she would miss me.

I could have saved her.

It was too late.

I lied awake in bed that night, trying to think of something else. Something distant to distract me from what was happening... but everything I thought of lead to Michelle. The good times, the laughs, the drama, she got through it all until I wasn't there for her. I helped her the whole way until I just simply... forgot. How stupid. It was all my fault. I couldn't help but shed a tear when I thought about her frail body collapsing on me, blood staining her shirt.

I loved her. I didn't know why, but I loved how she was insecure and fragile, because it was who she became. I loved her hipster-style of dress, how she wore plaid and shorts with a ball cap. I loved her shimmering blue eyes that went with her blond hair.

And all this started because of a poem. It must have been fate.

Starting to shed tears once more, I finally cried myself to sleep.

Garry opened his eyes to see a large glass container, like on at a museum. However, there wasn't an exhibit inside.

"Garry!"

Michelle cried, bangning againt the glass. Her crystal blue eyes pleaded in agony as she mustered all her strength to try to break the glass. But to no avail.

"Michelle!" Garry screamed as he ran up to the glass. Suddenly, there was a sound of flowing water followed by stronger and louder banging. Garry noticed that ever so slowly, the glass case was being filled with water.

"Michelle!" Garry screamed. The water was rapidly rising, and Garry started to panic. He was striking the glass so hard his fingers had started bleeding, and the fragile girl inside started to gasp for air.

"Garry, if you can hear me..." Michelle said, the water rising to her bottom lip. Garry stopped banging for a mid second and looked up at her.

"I-" she was cut off by the water rising above her nose. She jumped up and gasped for a breath, but then sunk back down as the tank was filled to the top with water. Garry collapsed and fell to his knees, tears welling up in his eyes.

I woke up sweaty, and I could feel wet tears that quickly rolled down my face. I stared at the ceiling with a heavy feeling in my chest. Was there any meaning for me now? I wasn't there for Michelle when she needed me most. I had failed, and I wasn't there for anyone now.

-Ib- Age 14-

I laid in bed and my glance wandered over to the vibrant petals of the bright blue rose. It was inside a glass vase with water up half way, but I couldn't help but worry it would die. I didn't like looking away from it.

I looked towards the clock and sighed.

1:23

I never liked these painfully long nights in which I couldn't get a wink of sleep. My mind was too full to do anything but stare at still objects around the room. My mind eventually started to think about the hospital and when I first woke up. I remembered I was dizzy, and everything I tried to think of had a wall of blankness behind it. It was still that way when I tried to think about certain things. Then my mind began to wonder how it all happened in the first place.

Why was there blankness behind everything?

Why do I remember pain?

I needed to ask Mom, but she wouldn't accept it this time. I decided to wait for tomorrow, but my eyes refused to shut. I glanced back at the blue rose, and I felt comfort, but also felt that something was missing. Something... important.

After another while of staring at the ceiling and back to the blue rose, I got up and out of bed, and took the blue rose. Mom won't get so mad at me...

I descended the stairs with quiet steps to see a dark and silent house. I went down the hall and around the corner to my parents room. Quietly as possible, I took the doorknob and turned it ever so slowly, and pulled. For some reason I was expecting something to jump out at me, and I braced myself. However, behind the door was my parent's room, shrouded in darkness. I jumped when I heard the tap tap of someone-or something, typing. I fought the urge to run, and peeked around the corner to their room.

"Ib?" I felt relief wash over me when I saw my Mom, sitting at the computer and typing with her nimble fingers.

"Are you having trouble sleeping?" she asked, her face expression obviously concerned. I gave a small nod and she signaled for me to come over. I walked over, and she got up from her seat by the computer and onto the couch. I sat down on the plush couch, while I could hear Dad's heavy breathing from the bed a few feet away.

"Is there anything worrying you?" she asked, and I gave another nod. There was a silence, and to me it was an appropriate time.

"Why can't I remember anything?" I asked. She took a long pause, then spoke.

"Are you sure you want to know?" I thought about it, and wondered how bad it could actually be. I really didn't care what it was, because it was over already. Hopefully.

"Yes,"

"You were crossing the street and a car hit you without even hesitation. I don't know why someone would want to hurt you, but the Police said it looked as if it was on purpose," Mom said, a sad look on her face. I let it sink in, that I was hit by a car. I didn't remember it happening, but it seemed very familiar, as if I just had to massage it in to remember the exact moment. I stayed silent.

"Your father didn't want me to tell you. Don't tell him I said anything, okay, sweetie?" she said. I gave a faint nod, and a there was something else burning at the back of my mind, but I couldn't quite grasp it.

"Go get some sleep. You still have school tomorrow," she said, giving me a light push towards the door. I grasped the blue rose in my fingers, and started to wonder why she didn't ask about it. I walked up the stairs and placed the rose back into the vase. I plopped back into bed and my eyes got heavy.

So it was a car accident, huh.

-Garry- Age 25-

That next day, I just moped and sulked around. There was nothing to be done, really. I checked Twitter, and there was a whole community who supported Michelle and were sad about her death. I immediately turned it off, because I still couldn't accept she was gone.

What is my purpose in life now?

I sat and thought, to realize there was none. I laid back in bed and closed my eyes, but right then Ayumi's blonde-dyed hair, as she bursted into tears. It was as if she went limp, and she slumped against my chest. I had refused to believe the news, but Ayumi had reacted quickly. I felt rather sorry for the poor girl, because it was simply not acceptable to me that she was dead. And it was my fault.

It was if her golden hair bounced in the slightest way when she smiled. Her sea blue eyes glimmered as she followed Garry along, hand in hand. Garry smiled back, and held her hand tight. Everything was so right. Garry was truly happy.

He closed his eyes, it was just a mere blink. When he opened them back up, he wished he hadn't. Instead of the sound of birds chirping in harmony, there was dead silence. There was a blue room and a painting, but still felt Michelle's hand in his. He breathed a sigh of relief, but when he turned his head he screeched in horror. A mannequin stood there in a blue dress, it's hand out, and the other grasping a blue rose. Garry took a step back, while the mannequin took one forward. He turned his back to run, just to be gripped in the shoulders and hulled back.

"NO! No...no...NO!" He screamed, kicking and flailing in every which direction. Everytime he moved, the hands gripped harder, and every time the hands gripped harder, it felt as if the plastic fingers were piercing his skin.

Then, the pain dissipated. Little by little, the mannequin let go. Garry looked up, and saw a small girl with brown hair and red eyes. In her hand was the bright blue rose that she handed to Garry. With his fingers, he took the rose, but couldn't stand. Horror struck the girl's face, looked past Garry, and he turned to see the mannequin, knocked to the ground, a red rose in hand. He tried to move, but failed. The girl stood still paralyzed. Then, one petal at a time fell to the ground. The small girl then crumpled to the ground with a thump.

A laugh echoed in Garry's ears, the laugh belonging to Michelle. He couldn't concentrate, and just fell to the ground.

-Ib- Age 14-

"Satoru?"

"What's up, girl?" I continued to follow Satoru along the sidewalk home from school.

"Hey um... do you know anything about this car accident?" There was a silence.

"What do you mean?"

"Like... what made me forget stuff," He stopped walking and looked at me.

"Well, a guy saw you get hit and ran to you. He took you off the street and helped you into the ambulance. Then I came, and said I knew you and answered questions,"

"Who...?"

"Dunno. Doesn't matter anyhow. The only thing that matters is that you're alright," For some reason it felt like I needed to know, but I didn't bother to ask.

"C'mon, the cafe's right here," he said and took my hand, then proceeding to open the door for me. I entered the quiet cafe behind Satoru, and we took a seat. I felt something familiar with the situation, but shrugged it off.

"Excited for Winter formal?"

"I guess," I really wasn't excited at all, but I couldn't really say no.

"Haha, I got all my clothes and stuff figured out. What about you?" he asked, ruffling his hair.

"Not yet," I spoke quietly.

That night, I lied awake in bed thinking about everything. A man saved me... that I kind of understand. I didn't know how to act around anyone really, but only because it felt like I really didn't know myself. It kind of felt like all my actions weren't my own, but someone else's.

"Where are you going Ib?" Ib turned around to see a girl with blond hair, intense blue eyes, and a green dress behind her. In her hand, she clutched a pallette knife. It wasn't razor sharp, but sharp enough to pierce skin.

"I thought we were going to leave together!" Ib felt she knew what she was talking about, but nothing came out of her mouth.

"Right?" She smiled a smile- a smile so wide it was unrealistic. She clenched the pallette knife and advanced forward, and Ib spontaneously took a step back until her back hit the wall with a thud.

The girl raised the pallette knife above her head slowly, and Ib screwed her eyes shut and braced for impact.

"Ib!" There was a shout, and a scream. Ib opened her eyes quickly to see a tall man in a torn jacket, his hair a shade of lavender.

"G-Garry, wha-?" The girl shouted, and he shoved her so she hit the ground hard. She didn't move from the ground, and the man came to Ib.

"Ib... I have something to tell you. Mary... she's a painting, one of Guertena's works. Just like those painting women and sculptures that came after us. It's... simply not safe to stay around her. I'm sorry... I didn't spend enough time around her to notice," he said, a look of concern on his face. Ib, paralyzed and scared, now felt relief and shelter.

He had saved her.

She threw her arms around him, and thanked him silently.

"W-Woah, Ib?" Ib loosened her grip and took a small step back, a thin smile on her face. He gave a smile back, and took her hand in his.

Hey, I've been on major writer's block lately. I know where this story's going to go, but just kind of getting there is the problem. Any suggestions or tips would be greatly appreciated. Make sure to leave a review if you enjoyed, and remember to favorite/follow! Also, for story statuses and updates make sure you check my profile! Next chapter should come much sooner than this one did, hopefully. :)