A Year in the Life: Part Eight- The Lalondes

by kaybee613

Rose doesn't know how to feel about high school. She doesn't know how to feel about her family's problems, and sometimes she seems to be the only one trying to be proactive about them. Roxy is in a new environment, and suddenly very unsure of herself, in a way she's never really been before. Maybe they can help each other out, if they can get over their perceptions of the other.

2. First Impressions

When Rose woke up the next morning, she was the first one to do so, or at least the first between her and Roxy—their mother was either passed out at the bar or already tapping out her latest novel, and Rose wasn't about to investigate to find out which it was. Instead, she headed downstairs after getting dressed and thrust the curtains open. Why did Mother have to have them made out of velvet? So heavy. So pointless. The sunlight flooded in and Roxy let out a groan from where she'd fallen asleep on the couch. Rose frowned at her.
"Really, you couldn't even make it to your bedroom?" Rose said, her voice scathing.
"This couch is so comfy, Rose."
"Don't you have class?"
"Not 'til later. Beauty of college, Rosie—getting to set your own schedule." Rose let out a sigh and went into the kitchen, Roxy following not far behind her and sitting at the barstool, looking at Rose expectantly as she fetched the instant pancake mix from the pantry. She glanced over her shoulder at Roxy, who was just smiling at her.
"I'm not making you breakfast."
"Awww, why you gotta be so stingy? Pleeeeaaaaasssseeee?" Rose rolled her eyes, but she couldn't help but smile a bit. This was the Roxy she preferred to interact with—that was to say, a sober Roxy.
"Fine. But you're doing the dishes," she conceded.
"Deal!"
As Rose cooked breakfast, Roxy attended to her phone, which had a few lingering Pesterchum message.

timeausTestified [TT] began pestering tipsyGnostalgic [TG]

TT: Rox?
TT: You up yet?
TG: hrrghhh
TG: yeh
TG: rose woke me up by openin the damn curtains
TG: whats up d-strizzle
TT: Just wanted to say good luck with your first day at college.
TG: aww cuz
TG: youre sweet
TT: I mean,
TT: I wouldn't use that word to describe myself, but sure.
TG: youre too hard on yourself dirk
TT: Probably.
TG: u kno dirk i mean it
TG: youre always bein' self deprecating an shit
TG: not like intense about it but its there just like under the surface
TG: an im just here like
TG: damn dirk would be a good boyfriend
TG: i mean not for me but
TG: if we werent cousins
TT: You're going down a weird road, Rox.
TG: yeah sorry
TG: but i totally imagine you bein sweet on some girl
TG: le sign
TT: Le sign?
TG: yeh le sign you heard me
TT: Do you mean * le sigh?
TG: hmm nup
TT: What does le sign even mean in this context?
TG: oh come on
TT: Come on what?
TG: LE SIGN IS UNIVERSALLY UNDERSTOOD TO MEAN TOO BAD HES GAY YOU DELIBERATELY OBTUSE DUNDERFUCK
TT: I mean, yeah, that's what I thought.
TT: It would just be cool if you'd refrain from tossing about such antediluvian terms.
TG: antediulivan what
TG: me sayin ur gay you mean?
TT: Yes.
TG: ok but terminology aside i dont think im off base!
TT: I don't see how it has to be a thing.
TG: you kno its a thing bro
TT: Why do you always do this.
TG: ugh jus stop draggin your feet man we both kno ur in2 jake
TG: pretty sure thats gay!
TT: I mean…
TT: I guess.
TT: I don't really care for labels.
TT: I guess I take after Bro in that way.
TG: oh shit
TG: hang on
TG: janeys mssging me

gutsyGumshoe [GG] began pestering tipsyGnostalgic [TG]

GG: Heyyy.
GG: Ahem.
GG: Ro-Lal?
TG: oopos sry
TG: was havin important chats
GG: Oh?
GG: With whom?
TG: w yet anather ineligible fuckin bachelor who elfe i have to talk 2
GG: Yeah.
GG: Um… which one, precisely?
TG: di stri
TG: insmufferable prick mf'r extroariadinnere
TG: *lol wow
TG: *extradinner
TG: *heheh yum
GG: If the chats and surplus dinners were truly important, I wouldn't want to interrupt.
TG: tchhhh
TG: of course not jus the usual bs
TG: chats with u always get precedance anyways
TG: unless this is more of u givin me shit about not believin me on all my sick tru facts
GG: No, but there was something I wanted to talk to you about.
TG: i c
TG: go on….
GG: You see, I was just thinking about the situation at school this year. I know I really should talk to Jake about how I feel, but… what if that ruins everything? And, worse, because of Dirk's feelings, also. Even if I don't say anything, I am concerned that without your oddly good sense of diplomacy with this situation, Dirk and I might begin subconsciously fighting for Jake's attention.
TG: nah
TG: frist off, jake in't goin 2 stpo hangin out wit u just cuz u decide to womon up an tell him how u feel
TG: second off, u an dirk are too good of friends to start arguin, evn subconcuously, over sone DUDE
TG: even if that dude is jakey

TT: Speaking of Jake…
TT: I think I'm going to tell him soon.
TT: How I feel, I mean.
TG: hhhh
TG: good to know
TT: Why do you say it like that?
TG: no reason
TT: Hmm.

GG: Are you sure?
GG: I'm just very nervous about this year.
GG: And if I wanted to tell Jake, I'm not even sure how to approach it.
TG: do u wan me 2 talk 2 jake about it?
GG: That's not necessary.
TG: fineeee
TG: u gonna do it today?
GG: Probably not.
TG: well the sooner the better janey
TG: if u don't say sometihng soon, dirk'll beat cha to it
GG: Mm.
GG: I suppose I should try to do that soon.
GG: Thanks, Rox.
TG: no prablem
TG: we BFFSIES 4 LYFE
TG: i got chu girl

gutsyGumshoe [GG] has ceased pestering tipsyGnostalgic [TG]

TT: Well…
TT: I'm not sure, actually, how to go about it.
TT: I was thinking of having the Auto-Responder send something, if only because I'm not totally sure what to say.
TG: omg nooooo
TG: you cant leave that kinda shit to AR
TT: Why?
TG: well for one its impersonal
TG: for two that thing is like 13 year old you
TG: not a great impression tb quite h
TT: Fair point.
TT: Hmm.
TT: I guess I'll think about it a little more before I do anything.
TG: mkay

timeausTestified [TT] ceased pestering tipsyGnostalgic

caligulasAquarium [CA] began pestering tipsyGnostalgic [TG]

CA: so are you SURE this will work?
TG: yes dude ive told you soooooooo many times
TG: even if you dont believe me youll find out for yourself later
CA: can you blame a guy for double checking?
TG: youve double checked like a ZILLION times
CA: well you can't be too careful can you
CA: if it works ill send payment tonight

caligulasAquarium [CA] ceased pestering tipsyGnostalgic [TG]

Roxy sighed. Rose glanced at her as she set down a plate of pancakes.
"Something wrong?"
"Nah, this Ampora kid is just being a pain in my ass."
"Hmm?"
"I hacked into the school records for some kid. Doesn't want his real name getting out or something."
Rose hummed again before serving herself a plate of pancakes. The two sisters ate their breakfast in relative silence before Rose got a glimpse of the clock on the wall. "Is that the time? Shit," she said, grabbing her school bag as she ran towards the front door.
"Bye Rosie, have a good day at school!"

Rose managed to narrowly avoid being late for her first class, which was French, fulfilling her foreign language requirement. As she walked in the door, she caught the eye of… well, a rather pretty girl, who happened to have a seat available next to her. Rose smiled a bit and approached the girl.
"Excuse me, is this seat taken?" she asked. The girl shook her head wordlessly and Rose sat down next to her. "My name's Rose Lalonde," she said, reaching out to shake the other girl's hand.
"Kanaya Maryam," the other girl answered, turning away from Rose a little bit. Rose wasn't sure what to make of that small action, but she could already tell Kanaya was going to be on her mind quite a bit.
After French, Rose made her way to English class, sitting near a grouchy-looking kid. Oh. It was that boy from the beach. She smiled a bit and tried to wave at him, and he just flipped her off. Pleasant. She tried not to pay too much mind to it. Classes were relatively uneventful that day, anyway. Just teachers running over the syllabus. After English was Biology, then P.E., in which Rose reunited with Dave.
"Hi, Dave. How's your morning been?" she asked her cousin very plainly. Dave just glanced at her, clearly not enthused by school. They sat down on the gym bleachers. "Are you going to wear your shades all day?" Rose moved to shift the glasses off Dave's face, and he immediately swatted her hand away.
"And deal with a migraine from these shitty fluorescent lights?"
"Right… I forgot about your photophobia."
"Why do you have to put these fancy words on everything? I have light sensitivity; it's not a phobia."
Rose just sighed at him. Based on his reaction, it was something Dave didn't like talking about. After P.E., Rose stopped by her locker, having missed the opportunity to do so in the morning, and ran into Jade.
"Rose!" Jade said, excitedly. "Hey!"
"Hello, Jade," Rose smiled back at her. "Shall we join the boys for lunch?"

"Yeah!"

The two girls made their way to the cafeteria, managing to spot Dave and John at a table towards the middle of the seating area and sitting with them. The four talked about how their mornings had gone, Rose conveniently not mentioning just how gorgeous she'd found Kanaya to be. Afterwards, she went off to her geometry class, where she was greeted by a teacher informing her that there was a seating chart. She sighed, but went to where she was instructed to sit regardless. A few moments later, another disgruntled-looking boy came in and sat next to her. She glanced up and smiled at him. While Rose didn't consider herself as chipper as Jade, showing people a little kindness didn't really seem to hurt, and it seemed as though she and this boy would be sitting next to each other for a while, so may as well extend a little courtesy.
"Hello, my name's Rose. I don't believe I caught yours."
"M'name's Sollux," he grumbled at her, shifting in his seat and not really making eye contact. Well, seemed clear he wasn't in the mood to talk. Rose pulled her copy of The Grimoire of the Zoologically Dubious out of her bag and started reading as the teacher went over the syllabus. At the very least, she'd tried to be sociable. Still her eyes pried at Sollux as he, too, pulled a book out of his backpack, a book she very much recognized. She snapped the Grimoire closed and looked at Sollux again.
"You're a fan of Complacency of the Learned?" Rose could have sworn she saw Sollux roll his eyes.
"Yeah, what about it?" he said, immediately sounding defensive. "I suppose you're gonna tell me about how Calmasis' prophesy meant that Zazzerpan shouldn't have even survived up until this book, and how great your fan theories are as opposed to the actual content of the books." Rose laughed a bit to herself. The fans of CoTL could be intense, to say the least, but little did they know that all would be explained, particularly the plot hole that Sollux had just pointed out. Yes, Zazzerpan should have died, according to the prophesy, assuming the prophesy was even about him in the first place. But that was a matter for a different conversation.
"Why no, of course not. What word could I have that was greater than the author's herself? I'll let you get back to your reading, then. I wouldn't want to spoil the ending for you," Rose said, being purposefully coy about the whole thing.
"The author's said there's like, two more books coming out. How could you even know the ending?"
And he took the bait. "Oh, I am well aware of what the author may or may not have said, being her daughter and all." There was something so enjoyable about seeing people's reactions to that last little tidbit. Sollux's jaw dropped.

"You're bullshitting me."
"Nope. Rose Lalonde, youngest daughter of Rowan Lalonde."
"Well, you'll at least make this class interesting." That was true enough. While Rose doubted she'd get too chummy with Sollux, he seemed like an interesting kid. After saying bye to Sollux, Rose made her way to the last class of the day, which was her history class, and which she also shared with Dave. Actually, upon bumping into Dave in the hallway, she walked the rest of the way to class with him. When they walked into the classroom, Dave fixated on something towards the back of the room—Rose wasn't sure what he was looking at—before glancing away.
"Dave, you alright?"
"Hm. Yeah."
Rose looked over her shoulder in an attempt to see what Dave had been looking at, and wondering if perhaps he was looking at that same grouchy kid from the beach, who was sitting in the back of the classroom.

Roxy was more than a little excited to be at Skaia U. Her classes themselves were not actually all that exciting, just general education-type things that she was surprised to learn she still needed to take in college even though it was pretty much the same stuff she'd learned in high school, and was even more surprised to learn that apparently, not everybody had. Roxy's advisor had suggested she get a bit of an early start on classes for her major, but Roxy wasn't quite sure what she wanted to major in yet, so she wound up taking nothing but uneventful GE's, that up until that afternoon she'd been excited about regardless. But it seemed college wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Chalk it up to rotten first impression, Roxy told herself, and still tried to be optimistic going forward. It wasn't until her fourth class of the day (she took everything Monday/Wednesday so she'd have Tuesday/Thursday to do other things), her English Literature class, that things did take a turn for the better, and that turn for the better was getting seated next to Calliope Bennett. Roxy knew from one look and one smile that those two were going to be good friends.