Realization

Jackie was fussing the following morning as they set off into town, asking Rose if she needed anything while they were away, even though she knew where Rose was really going. Rose supposed she was just putting on an act for Bob's benefit.

"Are ya sure ya don't need to take anything with ya?" Jackie asked her as Bob was parking the car in the town.

"I told ya Mum, everything's arranged, I don't need anything," Rose replied, wondering how many more times she was going to be asked.

"Well I don't want to seem rude by palming you off on someone for a week without offering," her mother told her.

"So do you spend all the holidays with this boy?" Bob decided to ask her.

"Yeah, my other friend moved," Rose tried to bluff, since she still mentioned Sandra now and then. "I'll have to meet her in town. Ya can leave me some spending money," she hinted. "I mean to get into town and go swimming."

Jackie had reckoned Rose had been saving up for a while but Bob didn't need to know that.

"Yeah, I'll leave ya some before we set off. I still wish ya'd come with us."

Rose saw Bob glance at her.

"I told ya Mum, I'd rather stay here. Lying on the beach or by the pool will be just about my limit," she replied, to see Bob's reaction.

She'd noticed the last few weeks that he'd looked annoyed because she wasn't going. Well she certainly wasn't going just for him to watch her swimming or sunbathing all day but she'd make an exception if it was Alec. She had also noticed when she went with Alec, he seemed to take his time getting out while she was sat waiting for him.

Now she knew he did it on purpose but who was she to spoil his fun? She would rather it was Alec than Bob any day and as for the big lump who was at the last party? She was beginning to wonder why exactly the teenagers were there, was it to watch the adults drink or something else? Still, she could forget about it until the next time.

She went off to meet Alec but as they were sat at the window eating, she saw the boy she didn't like stop in front of it.

"What's wrong Rose?" Alec asked as she stopped eating.

"That's one of them who goes to the parties. Told ya he was gross," Rose replied, the over-weight boy staring at them both now.

"Was he the one who didn't believe you have a boyfriend?" Alec asked, staring back as the boy stood pulling faces.

"Leave him Alec, he's not worth it," Rose replied, moving her chair so her back was to the window. "Have you got anything more to buy for the holiday?"

Alec shook his head. He felt like leaning over and giving her a kiss but they'd not yet done that in public and it may get them thrown out, since there were younger kids nearby. He already thought they stood out slightly, if there were any other teenagers there, they were sat in groups.

One more week and they would be on their way to the caravan park and they could forget about everything for a week. He didn't know who was looking forward to it the most, Rose or himself and he hoped where they were staying would be close to the beach. Not that he wanted to see Rose in her swimsuit.

He still didn't know how he was feeling about her, apart from being his friend and girlfriend, not that they'd admitted it apart from to friends and family. Now people would see them together in the holiday park and he thought it would bother him but it wasn't.

He already knew Rose was something else since the first day he saw her in the library, almost a year ago and thinking maybe he had been interested in girls after all the denials. He still had no clues about Jamie though, since they hardly saw each other, they'd spent the last long holiday together but things had changed.

"See ya tonight then?" Rose told him as she was about to go off. "When we get back from holiday, I'm gonna tell mum and Bob I want to start going home with you, not them."

"Rose, be careful tonight, don't get caught," he warned her.

"Aw, I'm an expert now at getting back before they do and what does Bob expect?"

"I still worry about you getting into trouble though."

Rose kissed his cheek and went to where her mother and Bob were, seeing them all sat at tables put together and the boy she'd seen earlier, wondering why he'd been out on his own. Then it struck her he'd been out looking for her since she'd told him she went somewhere else with her boyfriend.

She wondered if he'd gone on his own there or he'd been sent.

"Rose, there you are!" her mother called out as she stood in the doorway. "We were just talking about ya."

Rose wondered why her mother had never bothered hiding her London accent when she herself had gone to great pains to hide hers last year at school.

"Rose, Jimmy here said he passed you when you were in a takeaway," Bob informed her, nodding to the offender she'd seen Alec having a staring contest with.

"So? He was spying on me, I chose to ignore him," Rose replied. "I'm gonna get the bus back home, if you're not ready to leave."

"Rose, sit down and join us, go get a drink," Bob told her, nudging her mother to give her some money.

"I don't want a drink and from when you come back from holiday, I'll go home with Alec."

"Rose, do as Bob says," her mother insisted, Rose wondering who all the empty glasses belonged to and should Bob be driving home with three empty bottles of some lager beginning with 'T' she'd never heard of in front of him?

She also wondered what her mother was trying to stop her from saying. Was that creep right not to mention the word 'boyfriend' in front of everyone?

"Who s this Alec then?" one of Bob's friends asked.

"Just someone Rose goes to school with," her mother replied.

"He's not her boyfriend is he?" a woman asked Jackie. "Jimmy will be upset if he is, won't you son?"

Rose didn't even know the woman was the mother of this moron.

"What's it got to do with him?" Rose huffed, not even sitting down

"Rose. Don't be like that," her mother warned her. "Everyone's missed ya not being here the last few weeks. Jimmy wanted to know where ya were so he went to see if he could find ya, since ya said you were getting your own lunch."

"Yeah? Well I can go out on my own, thanks," she turned to the boy.

"She was sat with a boy, by the window in the chicken place," Jimmy told everyone.

"Well I don't need you spying on me so get lost next time," Rose warned him.

"Hey, don't you be rude to him," his mother defended him. "He was concerned which is why he went looking for you."

"Rose, apologize," Bob warned her.

"Huh, forget it, I'm going home, I'm not apologizing, I'm not the one who was spying. Did you send him?" she asked the boy's mother.

"Rose, I'm warning you," Bob starting to get annoyed. "You're hanging around with the wrong people."

"Ya mean Alec? No, I'm not, you want me to hang around with the wrong people and why do ya want me to go shopping with ya? It's not like ya get anything new and ya never ask what I want, not that I'm there all the time."

"You let her go out?" another man asked Bob.

"Blame her mother," Bob replied, going for his drink. "She won't be doing for much longer if she doesn't change her attitude so watch it Rose."

Rose thought Alec was right to warn her that she could be told to be back early.

"Anything else?" she asked, taking the money her mother was holding out. "I'll go for the bus then, see ya at home."

"Rose, that was for a drink," her mother told her.

"Well I don't want one, thanks, I don't like being spied on so he'd best not go looking for me again, it was all I could do to stop Alec going out and punching him."

"Huh, that skinny boy you were sat with?" Jimmy laughed.

"Ya wouldn't say that if you saw him in the school gym," Rose laughed, not that she'd seen much of him there, worse luck and wished the gym classes were still mixed.

She did enjoy watching the boys playing football or running when she gazed out of the window onto the playing field when she was supposed to be in domestic science class and trying to spot Alec. They both enjoyed sharing what she made in the class when they got back to Alec's house though.

"Enough Rose," Bob warned her. "You can't blame Jimmy if he misses ya being here."

"What? Ya mean that's why ya wanted me to go with ya on Saturday nights? Forget it, I'm not going to make friends with him, I've got Alec," Rose protested.

"Who's Alec?" the man who spoke before asked again, Rose seeing more empty beer bottles than in front of Bob and wondered why they didn't use glasses.

"Never mind Craig, I told ya he was just a friend of Rose's," Bob replied.

Rose felt like saying Alec was much more than a friend but saw her mother giving her a warning glance.

"Well I hope so," the man replied, taking a swig from his bottle and Rose wondering why her mother was having anything to do with them. "Jimmy could take it the wrong way."

Rose saw her chance to leave but Jimmy got up.

"Where are you going?" he asked Rose.

"To the ladies, wanna follow me?" Rose laughed, thinking he was a big girl anyway.

Her mother got up. "I could use a visit myself, won't be long Bob."

When they got to the entrance, Jackie grabbed Rose's arm.

"Rose, you're asking for trouble."

"So what? That creep was staring at us through the window, he's lucky I didn't grab Alec across the table and start snogging him."

"What?" Jackie asked.

"Ya think me and Alec don't kiss? We kissed under the mistletoe at his aunt's house, don't look that surprised Mum."

"Ya mean just the once?"

"Well at the new year party as well but it doesn't mean that was the only time," Rose replied, thinking maybe she should have warned her mother.

"Be very careful Rose, don't let Bob find out."

"Why? He wanted a family Mum, he's gonna have to deal with a teenager. Why did the others believe Bob, that Alec was just a friend? What the hell's going on Mum?"

"Nothing that concerns you. If ya going home, go now, I'll say ya must have slipped out while I was in the ladies. Be careful Bob doesn't make ya go with us tonight."

"We'll I'll lock my room door then until he's gone. Are that creep's parents expecting me to be his girlfriend?"

Jackie was guilty by her silence.

"Mum, this is creeping me out, what's Bob got us into? Can't ya see what's going on?"

"You'd best go Rose," her mother replied, putting her hand on the door to the ladies room.

Rose knew her mother was denying anything was wrong with the version of Bob wanting a family. She knew where the bus station was and thought she'd be best going there than trying to find the stop in the surrounding streets. She wished Alec had told her where his dad parked the car but they'd probably already left anyway.

Should she go home or to Alec's house? It was almost three anyway and she'd be going round after her mother and Bob went out so finding the right bus stand, she sat and waited and decided just to go home for now. She didn't want Alec asking her questions on how things had gone when she'd been to find her mother in the pub.

She knew he'd go crazy in view of that creep spying on them through the window but she wondered now what her mother thought about her admitting she'd already kissed Alec. Her mother had been on her side so far, would that now change?

On the way back with his dad, Alec was asked what was wrong, since he'd looked troubled.

"Come on Alec, another week and we'll be on holiday," his dad tried to cheer him up. "Something wrong between you and Rose?"

"No. Well we saw someone staring at us through the takeaway window and Rose said it was a boy from the parties Bob forces her to be there. I felt like going out to him but he's bigger than me but if Rose had asked me, I would have."

His dad smiled, knowing full well he would do anything for her.

"That put you off?" his dad smiled. "What did she say then?"

"To forget it, like she'd have anything to do with the big oaf. Dad, what if these parties Bob's trying to get her to go to are a way of introducing the teenagers?"

"Alec, I think that's hardly likely," his dad replied. "In what way though?"

Alec didn't want to say. "To get them used to each other and when they got older, well to all hang out together like their parents do."

His dad was thinking that may only be half of it?

"Well Rose is having nothing to do with them, is she? Don't worry so much, it seems Rose has no interest in replacing you as her friend."

Since he'd now seen the boy Rose had mentioned, why did he have to worry?

When Rose had left the pub and before Jackie had gone back in, Bob was being asked questions.

"What was all that about Bob?" he was being asked as the kids went off to amuse themselves on the video machines after being offered money to leave.

"Ah nothing Craig, Rose will get used to everyone," Bob replied.

"Why does she stay away from the parties then?" his wife wanted to know.

"She's not sure yet, give her a chance eh? Maybe your Jimmy can make a bit more of an effort next time you come round to our place?" Bob suggested, knowing Rose was already refusing to be seen but if he threatened her that she couldn't go out on Sundays, she'd have to comply.

"Well Rose has to make some effort too," he was reminded. "That was the reason you wanted to join in, remember? Watch out, Jackie's back."

"Did I miss anything?" Jackie grinned as they all went back to drinking.

"No love, where's Rose?" Bob asked her.

"Isn't she back?" Jackie replied, looking where the other teenagers were. "I bet she sneaked out before I got out."

"Yes, I just bet she did," Bob replied sarcastically. "She'd better not think she got away with it."

"Are you losing your influence over her?" another man asked him, blowing smoke in Jackie's direction and her wishing they would make pubs smoke-free.

"Think again. Jackie will make her see sense, won't you love?" Bob asked her, putting his arm around her neck.

"About still coming on Saturdays?" Jackie asked, wondering what she'd missed. "She'll get tired of getting the bus home when she has to get it from school every night."

"Why doesn't she go to the local comprehensive?" Jimmy's mother asked her. "I mean Jimmy's not seen her there, where does she go?"

"Ah, well Rose got herself a place at the grammar school," Bob admitted, Jackie thinking he was showing off.

"She must be clever then?" Bob was asked.

"We're proud of her at school, aren't we Jackie?"

"Yeah, we expect her to get good exam results, she's been working really hard," Jackie replied, not wanting to say Alec was coaching her every chance they got.

"What's she good at then?" Jackie was asked, Jackie trying to remember.

"Beside geography and history?" she laughed. "She's had to learn all over again about them, she learned English on those subjects. I think she'll do well."

Well at least she hoped so. She didn't want her daughter to be asked to leave or stay behind a class.

"I was just telling Sheila that Rose will get used to Jimmy," Bob told her.

"Yeah? Well I suppose she needs other friends?" Jackie asked.

"Come on Jackie, we talked about this," Bob nudged her, Jackie not recalling any such conversation involving Rose being anything other than friends with the other teenagers.

She saw the look on his face.

"She'll come round Bob, give her some time."

"Well that could take forever if ya don't bring her to the other parties," someone else told her.

Everyone started laughing, a few men getting up and debating whose turn it was to buy the drinks. Jimmy came back over and stood by his mother.

"I won again Mum," the teenager bragged, holding out his hand for more coins.

"You're really good at that game son," his dad ruffled his hair. "You should challenge Rose next time."

"I could beat her with my eyes closed," Jimmy bragged.

"Maybe she'd take to ya better if ya let her win?" his mother smiled.

Jackie knew how much Rose despised the boy, who had his arms around his mother's neck and looking smug. Seeing Rose with Alec the last time he'd been there, it was no comparison the way Rose looked at Alec then at the large boy.

What had Rose meant though by what were they getting her into? It was just a bunch of friends getting together and if the teenagers wanted to make friends, well wasn't that a good thing? Rose needed more than Alec and this Sandra she talked about.

When Bob got home, Jackie herself wondering how he'd managed to drive but he'd told her not to give him a lecture and he always got them back in one piece, Rose was trying to avoid him.

"Stay right there," Bob warned her as her mother retrieved the groceries and Rose now knowing why there was never any frozen food. "Why did you leave without saying goodbye to everyone?"

"I never even speak to any of them," Rose protested.

"That's no excuse Rose, it's not polite to go off like that. Jimmy's trying to be your friend."

"What? Well he could have fooled me by standing staring at me and Alec through the window. How did he guess where we were? Was he going around looking for us?" Rose wanted to know.

She looked at her mother.

"I might have mentioned ya got lunch at the chicken place," she admitted.

"Thanks a lot Mum, now we'll have to find somewhere else."

"Your mother was asked where he might find you," Bob joined in. "What do ya see in Alec anyway?"

"Really? He's good to me, he helps me with my homework and he's not pushy like that big lump is. He was nice to me on my first day at school and he lost his other best friend because of me. He's also still getting over losing his mother last year. Ya think there's any comparison?"

"Well you had best start showing an interest in what we do Rose, if you are not very careful, I will make you go out with us every Saturday or you can stop seeing Alec on Sundays and Saturday lunchtime, understood?" Bob asked her. "I had to tell everyone he was your friend."

"Well he's more than my friend," Rose replied. "Nothing's gonna change that. Why that creep?"

"Rose, he's not a creep," her mother joined in. "He's older than you are."

"So, what difference does it make Mum?" Rose wanted to know.

Rose didn't like where this was going, her mother was never going to listen to her. Rose went off to her room, Jackie making some strong coffee for Bob.

"She has to learn Jackie," he told her as she handed him the mug.

"Yeah, I know Bob but Alec's her best friend, she'll never be convinced to make Jimmy her friend."

"She must have told Jimmy Alec was her boyfriend to make him want to know where she was," Bob replied, sobering up slightly.

"She may have said something last Saturday, they were in the hallway," Jackie admitted.

"She has to learn to keep it quiet then," Bob warned her. "She can't just come out with the fact that Alec's her boyfriend, Jimmy might have already told her that."

Jackie saw no reason why Rose couldn't say Alec was her boyfriend, wasn't that the whole point? She knew Bob would never agree to letting Alec join in, it all seemed very private between them and who had become her friends as well as Bob's. She also knew now how much Rose thought about Alec, if she'd admitted they'd had their first kiss.

Bob would have his work cut out for him if he wanted Rose to leave Alec and make friends with Jimmy or even one of the other boys, who were slightly younger than Rose but Bob only seemed interested in Jimmy for some reason, what, she didn't know but keeping it quiet Alec was also Rose's boyfriend was now also going to be a problem.

Once Rose came back from her week away with Alec and his dad, it would probably make their friendship even stronger and Rose would have to be very careful in front of Bob and the others not to say anything. She thought Rose had over-reacted earlier though, there was nothing wrong with Bob wanting to be seen being a father-figure to Rose.

Rose waited until her mother shouted they were going out and wondered if it was such a good idea they'd be drinking again after earlier but at least they were getting a taxi this time. She had an idea though they may come back early so she planned on being back herself by ten.

She walked around to Alec's house and he let her in, greeting her with a kiss on the cheek as she put her arms around his neck.

"What's wrong Rose?" he asked, seeing she didn't look her usual cheerful self as she let go.

"Those morons who are Bob's friends," Rose had to admit as they sat at the kitchen table. "They sent Jimmy to spy on us and my mum more or less told him where we'd be."

"What? Then we'll have to start going some place else," Alec replied, putting his notepad away he'd been jotting a few story ideas down on. "Why would they do that?"

"You want to be a detective Alec, you work it out. They seem to have this idea I should be friends with him."

"Why would you do that? Haven't they been told you have a boyfriend?"

"You're not getting it Alec, I told ya he warned me not to say I had one, remember? Geez, what's my mum and Bob trying to get me into?"

"Calm down Rose," Alec tried to tell her as she put her head in her hands and leaned on the table. "I'll go tell my dad."

"What?" Alec's dad asked when she repeated what she'd told Alec and Rose thinking the 'what' must run in the family, since that seemed to be John's favourite word as well. "They are trying to get you interested in that boy? Why?"

"I don't know Mr Hardy, they didn't say much in front of me, just the way they said it. My mum's still denying there's anything wrong though. What's going on?"

Alec's dad dreaded to think but from what Rose had told him, she was right to be worried.