Disclaimer: I do not own anything belonging to Jhonen Vasquez, which includes Johnny and Squee.
Life in the care of Rose wasn't really as bad as Johnny would have thought it would be. With the exception of having to see that annoying nurse every other day, things were actually pretty good. Johnny's usual menu of anything from a can or box didn't change much. He got to see Squee more often than when he spent all his time in his house. Day by day, his leg and ribs healed. The doctors, after all, said he was a quick healer. Rose was nice enough to move the Play Station into his room so he wouldn't be bored all day.
She also made sure that he received his daily dose of literature, which surprisingly, he didn't revolt to. She would sit in the leather chair across the room and read him chapters of The Odyssey or Romeo and Juliet. There were times where Rose would have her canvas set up in Johnny's room, and he would read to her while she painted. He would always secretly look up for a moment just to sneak a glance of how far she progressed while he wasn't watching. Her latest piece intrigued him quite a bit. It was of a dark, mysterious cloaked man helping a beautiful, angelic woman with crumpled fairy wings back onto her feet.
Squee would visit every day. It was a good thing that Rose babysat him everyday because of how little she was paid. Now that she was taking care of Squee and Johnny, she couldn't leave her house as often. Squee's trips to the park were shortened now, but it didn't matter to him. He still found plenty joy in playing video games against Johnny (and winning), watching movies, helping Rose clean the house, tending to the little pots of flowers out on the balcony overlooking the crummy city streets, learning how to paint, or listening to her childhood stories. Today's project was cleaning Rose's room, after putting it off so long from being busy.
The white carpet couldn't be seen under the rug of discarded clothes. Dust was building up on all the flat surfaces. The silk bed sheets were shoved rudely off the bed and pillows lay jumbled on the floor. The black walls were hung with large photos of family or friends and paintings framed in silver. They began by picking up clothes off the floor and neatly folding them into piles of shirts, pants, and skirts. Underneath a cerulean blue t shirt, Squee discovered a photograph of two women in a pink frame. One of them was Rose in a midnight blue dress. The other girl was an Asian looking young lady with a pink kimono printed with silver roses and a sparkling tiara perched on her head.
"Hey Rosie?" Squee held up the picture, "Who's that?"
Rose identified the picture, holding the jeans she was folding, "Oh, that's me and my friend, Yoko. This picture was taken at our junior prom, where she became prom queen."
"Ohhh," Squee's bright eyes took in the whole picture, "Why weren't you prom queen. You're the prettiest person I know."
Rose smiled lightly to the compliment, "Well, in school, not a lot of people liked me that much."
Squee wondered, "Why?"
"Well, I wasn't one of the coolest girls in school. A lot of people made fun of me because I was a goody two shoes. They thought it was stupid that I stuck up for people who couldn't defend themselves or helped people out. I just wanted to be a nice person." She answered.
Rose's retrospective of the past only reopened old wounds. Being bullied in school just for being kind can hurt a person for a while. Like a jeering ghost that won't leave you alone. Her battle scars were too numerous to count. From the last she left that school, every day, good or bad, has been a blessing. One that makes you feel like the luckiest person on the face of the earth.
Rose's room was finally cleaned. All the clothing was organized into the red maple dressers or neatly hung in the closet. Paintings and pictures were dusted and became more vivid. Somewhere, Squee had found a figurine of Happy Noodle Boy constructed of a white golf ball-sized Styrofoam ball and black pipe cleaners. It was placed amongst the cherished possessions on the bedside night table. Rose remembered the day Yoko gave it to her…
Rose sat in crestfallen sadness in the front seat of the white Convertible car, a fleece blanket wrapped around her. Tears streaked down her reddened cheeks of embarrassment. She looked at her beautiful midnight blue dress. The delicate beading and flowing silk made it so lovely and breathtaking. Now it is a torn piece of cloth with beads. Of all the terrible things her classmates have done to her, this was the worse. They had planned their joke. They purposely ripped her dress then, and torn it off later. The act was so cruel, and the feeling so mortifying.
The driver side door opened. It was her prom queen friend, Yoko, the image of perfection with a tiara. She slid into the car and shut the door. A few seconds of silence seemed almost eternal.
"Rose," Yoko began, almost beginning to cry, "I am so, so sorry about what they did to you. I can't believe they would do such a horrible thing."
Rose wiped away a few of her own tears, "Well, at least I'll have an excuse for my mom to transfer me to Navy Creek. I doubt anyone knows me at that school."
They both tried to put on a smile. Yoko carefully lifted the glittery crown off her head.
"Rose, of all the people I know, you deserve this crown the most." She delicately placed the tiara on Rose's head, a true smile finally emerging from both of them.
"Oh, I also made you something," Yoko retrieved something from the back seat. She returned with a bobbily little homemade Happy Noodle Boy, "Since you weren't able to actually get a date for prom, I made you one."
Rose and Yoko cracked up into laughter. Even the darkest holes we fall into can be lit by the love of a friend.
Squee listened in disbelief that people could ever be so cruel to someone as kind as Rose. But she had learned to overcome her inner casualties, the slow death of her spirit. But time and love is a healer. With the love of Yoko and Squee, the scars close up little by little.
Meanwhile, in the next room, Johnny could hear every word and unshed tear through the heating vent.
He spoke to himself, "Rose..."
The Maiden of Light: Well, there you go. You now know the painful past of our little good Samaritan. It seems that Johnny has enough of a heart in him that he feels the pain too. Alright, review time! Chapter 6 coming soon.