Chapter Forty Five: Basket Case by Green Day

Rose went upstairs to her room after school that day. Helga wasn't there, to her relief, and Jack was at work. She sat down on her bed and turned her head to look for a book in her room. All of a sudden, she saw a message written in red lipstick on her mirror.

BITCH

Rose's jaw dropped in shock, and she went downstairs. She knew it was Helga who had left her that message, and she was about to confront her about it.

On her way downstairs, she saw Helga sitting in the library, reading a book. Rose stormed inside and slammed the door behind her. "Seriously?" Rose yelled.

"So you said we were never friends. That I didn't mean anything to you?" Helga yelled back. She reached into a bag next to her and pulled out a picture frame. "Here's a picture of me and you." She threw it at the wall next to Rose.

Rose stormed over to her. She picked her up and threw her onto the floor. They fought for a few seconds. "Quit it!" Helga yelled.

Helga fought against Rose and flipped on top of her. Rose pulled her hair, causing her to fall over, and then she got back on top. "God, just let go!" Helga yelled. "I'm the one with no boyfriend, no friends, and no money. You have the guy you love! You win!"

Rose stopped fighting her, and started panting. "Okay, Rose? You win!" She climbed off of Helga and walked away. "Why do you even care anymore?"

Rose turned back around to look at Helga, who was still on the ground. "Why do I care?" Rose demanded. "I've been having a hard time, and I needed my best friend more than ever. And you cut me out because I was honest with you! And you were never honest with me!"

"Rose!" Helga said, clearly angry.

"You made fun of my dad's death, Helga," said Rose, and she started to cry. "You knew how I felt about him. You were with my while I cried over him. And now you use him as a punchline in a joke to hurt me!

"It hurt. It really did," said Rose. "But not anymore. Because you and me? We're done. You're right. He's gone. And as far as I'm concerned, so are you."

Rose left and went back upstairs. She lay down on her bed and started to cry. She started texting Emily.

R: Why are people assholes?

E: Who? Helga?

R: Yep.

E: People suck. I'm sorry.

R: I know.

E: It's not an excuse, but it doesn't mean she's a bad person. She's just a bitch.

R: When's the next time you're coming to the city?

E: I'm in the city.

R: Come here. Now.

Rose hung out in her room until suddenly there was a knock. "It's open!"

"Hey," said Emily. She gave Rose a tight hug, and she sat on the bed. "What's going on?"

"I lost it," said Rose. "I fought her. Physically fought her."

"Well, you are crazy strong because of cheer," said Emily.

"I'm not kidding," said Rose. "I'm just hurting."

"I know," said Emily. She gave Rose a hug. "Listen, either she'll forgive you or she won't, but I think you should just try to move on at this point."

Rose nodded. "I just don't know how someone could just change like that. Just… abandon you."

"Well, Rose, I hate to break it to you, but you did the same thing," said Emily.

"What? How?" Rose asked.

"You left everyone high and dry when you moved to New York," said Emily. "No one knew where you were, other than me, and I wasn't allowed to tell anybody."

"That's not exactly the same thing," said Rose.

"Maybe not, but you had friends, Rose. You left without saying a word, and people were hurt," said Emily.

Rose hadn't thought about that. "I feel terrible."

"Don't," said Emily. "They understand now, but for a while…"

"Okay," said Rose.

"Don't feel bad," said Emily. "I promise you everything's fine."

"Thanks," said Rose.

"And listen, at the end of the day, you have a boyfriend that loves you," said Emily.

"I know," said Rose, and she smiled.

"I can't believe you never have given me any details about that," said Emily.

"Oh," said Rose, and she turned to face Emily. "You want details?"

"Obviously," said Emily. "So how good's the hot boyfriend in bed?"

"I don't know," said Rose. "We haven't had sex."

"Seriously?" Emily asked.

Rose nodded. "We decided to wait."

"Oh," said Emily. "That's okay. I haven't even kissed anyone yet. Which is why I need details."

"Okay," said Rose. "Well, when he kisses me, it's like all of my problems go away."

Emily smiled. "What else?"

"He starts out soft, and then he deepens the kiss. He softly touches my cheek, and then he kisses me, and he has his hands on my back, but he'll slowly slide them up to play with my hair," said Rose, and she smiled as she spoke.

"You're so lucky," said Emily.

"There's an amazing guy just around the corner for you," said Rose.

"Thanks," said Emily.

•••

Helga was in the room, and Rose wasn't. She was just sitting on the bed late at night when the door opened. She didn't know who it was, but a dark figure walked into the room.

"Who is that?" Helga asked. It definitely wasn't Rose.

The dark figure inched closer and closer before grabbing Helga and taking her out of the room.

Helga screamed as they covered her mouth and pulled her out to a van outside. She kicked and screamed as they locked her in the back of the van.

She still didn't know who this was. Who would do this to her? Aside from Jack, Rose, and Fabrizio, who hated her enough to do this?

•••

Meanwhile, Jack and Rose were sitting on the roof. Jack was kissing her, his hand sliding up her thigh. Rose smiled as she kissed him back.

They didn't hear the screaming, and they didn't see the van in front of the home.

•••

"What are you doing to me?" Helga yelled as the person pulled the piece of tape off of her face. "Who the hell are you?"

The person pulled of their ski mask. It was Cal.