Rose
Waking up the next morning was an unpleasant surprise. Sun slipped through my curtains and bounced off every surface in my room, creating a golden glow that anyone who wasn't this hungover would enjoy. I grabbed a water bottle and advil off my bedside table, where they'd lived for the past five months. I shuffled across my room in search of food, hoping that would help, and when there was none, I decided to just go to the kitchen. We fought far too often for me to avoid my parents every time.
I acknowledged my father as he sat at the kitchen table, reading a paper. He gave me the decency of a few minutes of quiet, enough time to pop a slice of bread in the toaster. If the room was silent, though, it was a surefire sign my mother wasn't home. Questions gnawed at me, simmering as my father sat silently, with my foot tapping impatiently on the floor.
"So are you gonna explain to me what happened?" I asked, sliding with my toast into the seat across from my father. I was desperate to seem nonchalant, but if the foot tapping didn't give me away, I was certain the lip biting would. After a few seconds, which each lasted a lifetime, my dad snapped the paper down, softening his gaze when I caught his eye. I couldn't exactly read his expression, which just made my foot bounce faster. What the hell, old man?
"I have a friend, she lives out in Montana. She has a daughter about your age, a few older kids. Your mother and I decided, together, that perhaps it would be best for you to stay with her in your senior year." So I guess that wasn't a hallucination. "Now, kizim, I know it's not what you want, but you're not thriving here. You're going down the wrong path! We just want to give you the opportunity for a fresh start, and I think you need to get out of this town. I can tell everything that's happened here is holding you back." He was calm, kind, even, making it nearly impossible for me to respond in anger.
"So, what, you decided to just upend my life? You want me to forget about the friends I have here?" I sighed, squeezing my eyes shut. "Besides, I can guarantee your my mother doesn't have the same reasoning for sending me away as you do." There's that old Hathaway venom.
"Your mother didn't mean what she said last night. She was just frustrated at your lack of regard for our rules." I found that laughable, heat rising to my cheeks. I couldn't help but slap my hand on the table in response.
"She had five months to pick a fight about that! She told me she was happy to send me away because she is, baba! But I won't go!" My indignation was not well received. My father's voice rose with mine, commanding the room, making even the plates on the table rattle in fear.
"Well it doesn't matter now! It doesn't matter what she thinks because you are going away and that's final!" I closed my eyes, considering. I'm too damn stubborn for my own good. I stood up, ready to leave this hellhole of a house.
"Then how fucking soon can I get out of here?" I spat, nearly running out the front door, letting it slam behind me.
Tears had been running down my face before I even got out, but it was a full sob by the time I was halfway down the street. My only reaction was to do the same thing that had gotten me in all this trouble in the first place - call Adrian.
"Hey, little love, I was just about to text -" I cut him off, uninterested in small talk.
"Adrian, I need a ride." I deadpanned, knowing that if we got into this on the phone he'd never want to hang up.
"Is someone having a bad hangover?" His sticky-sweet voice made my stomach churn. I will kill you, Adrian. I pressed at my temples, letting out a long sigh.
"Not in the mood," I warned him, spinning to figure out where my walk had taken me. I must look insane. "Look, can you just come get me? I'm on the corner of Oak and West Bend. I'm sure your fancy GPS will be able to find me." He muttered an agreement, leaving me to wait. I plopped down on the grass, right under the street sign, trying to enjoy the view. Might be the last time in awhile you get to see it.
I live in a nice area. Two parents working full-time jobs will do that for you. They got the house, the yard, the white picket fence. I spent my childhood afternoons playing with neighborhood kids and my summers at sleepaway camp. I got good enough grades, even when my temper landed me hot water. I had friends. I had a life. I guess sometimes that's not enough, Rose.
"Will you get in and explain what the hell is happening?" Adrian's voice floated through his open window, along with the music of some indie-rock-revivalist that literally only Adrian could be into. I popped one eye open to look at him, considering, for a second, how the hell I was gonna even tell him. Just rip the band-aid off, Hathaway. I slid into the car, and gave him a moment to start rambling before I cut him off.
"I'm leaving." I stared straight ahead, out the window, unable to look him in the eyes. This codependency thing is really coming back to bite me in the ass, huh?
"What?" He asked, his tone dripping in confusion. He grabbed my chin, forcing me to face him, and asked again, "What the fuck does that mean?"
"It means," I sighed, unsure. What does this mean. "It means my parents are forcing me to spend my senior year in, in Montana, I think? With one of my father's friends. They think you're a bad influence. They think I need a fresh start." My tears bubbled up again, and Adrian's eyes softened.
"I don't think I've ever seen you cry, little love." I shook my head, snorting. Leave it to Adrian to make me laugh right now.
"Yeah, right, like you didn't drag me through the first few months after Mason passed." He tsked, making me smile yet again.
"And here I was, thinking your memory had gone to shit from all that drinking." Full-bodied and obnoxious, another fit of laughter slipped out of me. I'm going to miss this the most. Laughing in Adrian's car with his shit music and the A.C. cranked up too high. Wasting gas. Wasting time.
"When do you leave?" I winced, I really made that one worse for myself, didn't I? He reached out and grabbed my hand, pulling me out of my head with a gentle squeeze.
"I pitched a pretty big fit, so probably as soon as my parents can pack me up and ship me off." I paused, trying to do some math. "I mean, I only really found out about this early this morning, so I need at least a week or so to pack, right? I'll be gone for the entire year." Adrian nodded, then shrugged.
"How are you gonna tell everybody?" Fuck. I threw my head back into my seat, biting off a scream.
"I forgot about that part," I admitted, wheels turning in my head, gnawing at my lips as I searched for a solution. "Do you think I could call an emergency diner meeting? Me, you, Eddie, Mia, then we can call Lissa and Christian from there?" Adrian typed everyone into his phone, I guess trying to make plans. He squinted at something on the screen, confused.
"What about Jailbait?" Fuck, again.
"Add her in, too. And make sure someone can drive her." I sighed, unable to cope with the fact that my life had utterly gone to shit. "There's another person I totally let down." Adrian sighed, putting a reassuring hand on my knee.
"You could never let her down. She totally admires you."
"Yeah, and what a great example I'm setting, getting so out of control I'm kicked out of my house before I even finish high school!" I paused, letting my temper simmer a little. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be taking this out on you."
"It's alright, little love. This shouldn't be happening to you." I nodded in agreement, as Adrian checked his phone again. "Everyone's gonna meet us there in a half-hour. Mia's gotta Jill."
Adrian started the car back up, beginning our drive to the diner. I was thankful for the silence he afforded me, because I needed to figure out what the fuck I was going to tell my closest friends, especially Lissa. How do you tell your best friend since kindergarten that you're not finishing senior year with her? How do you tell her you're missing a year's worth of memories, anniversaries, parties, banquets, dances, a graduation? How do you tell her over the phone?
I was pulled out of my anxious spiral by Adrian swinging us into a parking spot. We went in and grabbed a table early, I passed the time waiting by trying to pick out all the things I miss about this place. The crappy eggs. The kind waitress. The fancy display cakes. The funny signs hanging up about coffee and other drugs. The way my friends look shoved into the corner booth.
Eddie's entrance pulled my attention, with Mia and Jill pilling in not long after. With a few greetings and buttons pressed on Adrian's phone, Lissa and Christian were there too. Everyone gave me expectant stares, while I struggled with where to start.
"So I'm the one who called this meeting," I reminded them, looking all around the table, even though they already knew that, stupid stupid stupid, "My parents are sending me away, guys. They decided I'm too wild and they can't handle me, so they're shipping me off to stay with some random family in Montana - and, and not just for the summer, for the year. I'm gonna be gone for our entire senior year." Tears began to slip down my face, again, but I couldn't help it. Lissa looked equally upset, and everyone else wore faces with varying degrees of shock. Adrian caught my eye and frowned, while I just gave everyone a moment to let it sink in.
"Before I get back?" Lissa's voice wavered, making me wish even more I could change the answer.
"Yeah, Liss. I'm so sorry. I don't have an exact date, but I'm guessing in about a week." I looked around at everyone else's face, trying to gather the courage to say some goodbyes. I'll probably have to spend the rest of my time packing, anyway. I ignored a call from my father, remembering the tantrum I'd thrown this morning. If I'm not grounded, that is.
"Look, guys, I don't know how soon I'm leaving or if I'll even be allowed to leave the house again before I go, so I just want to say some goodbyes now, while we're all here together. You guys already know I love you, so try not to make me cry, alright?" I joked, but it fell a little flat considering the scenario. I turned first to Jill, holding a hand out to her.
"Jill, you are like the little sister I never had, and that's not gonna change, no matter how far away I am. I'll write up that high school survival guide for you, I promise. Otherwise," I paused, looking around the circle as I considered my options. Eddie's a nice boy, I reminded myself, settling on him. "I'm putting Eddie in charge of being you older brother in school. He'll probably protect you better than I could have, anyway. And you have to be good, Jill. Don't turn out like me, promise?" Jill was too choked up with tears to respond, but wrapped her pinky-finger around mine anyway. A promise is a promise, Jilly. I turned to Mia, who was smiling through teary eyes.
"I'm sorry for every awful thing I'd ever said to you," I joked, even though we'd both apologized for the first half of the past year like eighteen times. "I'm glad you're my friend, Mia. I'm really glad you're not my enemy anymore. There's no one I'd rather hurl snowballs at, you know." I told her, and she laughed openly.
"You really deserved that one," she reminded me, pulling me back into a snowy wonderland where I wasn't being dragged away from the friends I loved. The memory almost made me smile. It made Lissa, though, burst into a puddle of tears over the video-call. I guess I won't be saving her for last, then.
"Aw, Liss, don't cry!" I said empathetically, as if I hadn't been doing the same thing all morning. "You know I love you, Lissa. And as much as I wanted to finish out my senior year with you, no amount of miles will keep us from being soul-sisters. I promise, I'm never leaving you alone, no matter how sick and tired of me you get. And I'll try to be back for every holiday and break I can. You're my best friend for life." I reminded her finally, tugging at those stupid matching necklaces we had bought in middle school and hadn't taken off since. It almost earned me a laugh, as she untucked her own. She smiled sadly, giving up a sigh.
"I'm gonna miss you so much, you know." I returned her smile, trying to make sense of this entire fucked-up situation.
"We'll call all the time," I promised. "You'll hardly know I'm gone." I turned then, to Christian, surprisingly upset that I'd be leaving him, too.
"You think you can handle her all by yourself?" My challenge was met my laughs all around. Christian nodded.
"I think so, but it'll be tough without you here, Rosie." I scrunched up my face at the nickname.
"You take good care of her, pyro, and I might actually miss you." He smiled at me, mouthing back 'I will.' Well that's one less thing to worry about.
Finally, I turned to Eddie. He was sitting immediately to my left, and held my gaze in silence, as we sat there, considering each other and our life-long friendship. I nearly opened my mouth to speak, but he beat me to it, placing a calming hand on my shoulder.
"We're gonna be okay, Rose." He said, nodding his head reassuringly, both for me and for him.
"Will you visit him extra, for me?" Eddie's eyes watered, and I had already been crying, but we both ignored it.
"Of course. Let me know if hed've liked Montana, alright?" Mason was about three-quarters to visiting all the states when he died. Eddie and I promised to get the last fourteen in his honor.
And that's why this is so hard, I realized. I'm the second friend they're losing in the last six months. We're dropping like flies, Mase.
After rounds and rounds of 'I love you' and hugging, Adrian and I were back on our way to my house.
"So I don't get a goodbye?" Adrian asked, glancing between me and the red light. I playfully shoved his shoulder, rolling my eyes.
"You already got yours, it was getting to see me breakdown at eight in the morning, dummy." I reminded him, but then sombered for a second. "I will miss you though, Adrian. I'll miss you all."
"We'll miss you too, little love." His voice was soft, rounding the corner to my street. He pulled into my driveway, with its cars gone and the house's lights off. I opened the door, but then turned back to him once more.
"Throw a party in my honor, would ya?" I asked, throwing him a lopsided smile. He laughed, and for one brief moment, we radiated joy.
It didn't last, though. I got a text from my father, before I even managed to unlock the front door.
You're leaving in four days.
Fuck.