Hi! Sorry I was so long (again). I just finished up my first week of high school, and I'm exhausted! Hopefully, I only have a chapter or two left before I finish this story. It's been so long! Although I've had a lot of trouble writing this story, I still don't want it to be over. Anyway, enjoy!
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Chapter 19- Come Back Home?!
For the rest of the day, Kurama stayed with Rose. Around 7:00, Kurama got a call from his mother, asking if he could come home for dinner. After Kurama left, Rose had a dinner of leftover pizza and a diet soda. She stayed up for a few more hours drawing, and then went to bed.
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The next morning, Rose woke up, and saw that it was raining outside. So, she was stuck inside all day.
"I'm gonna go nuts." She sighed.
She ended up spending most of her morning working on a manga strip for one of her art classes. After finishing the shitae (1), she left her room and went downstairs to get her mail.
She walked along the wall of mailboxes in the lobby, until she found the one marked "Rose Knight". She pulled out her small stack of mail, and after discarding a bunch of mail ads, she found a letter from her parents.
She ripped it open, and quickly scanned her mother's sloppy scrawl. She dropped the letter, and quickly bolted out the door.
-
She ran through the rain, water sloshing against her ankles. Her hair was weighed down with water, her face stained with tears. She needed to get away. She had to get somewhere, anywhere. Just nowhere near her mother's letter.
Several minutes later, out of breath, she found herself at the entrance to the local park. She stumbled over to a nearby oak tree, and collapsed against it, breathing heavily from running. She was wet, cold, and shivering.
"I don't… I don't want to…" Rose mumbled to herself before continuing to sob.
-
Riku ran inside the apartment lobby, dripping wet.
"Man, if I had known it was gonna rain, I would've brought an umbrella." He mumbled to himself.
He walked up to the front desk, and asked the woman running it "Does a girl named Rose Knight live here? I came to see her."
The woman looked up, and scowled. "Another boy. How many guys does that girl have? Anyway, she does live here, but she's not here."
"Not here?" Riku asked.
"Yeah." The woman popped the gum she was chewing. "She left, about a half hour ago. Ran out, actually. She seemed pretty upset. Maybe she had a fight with her other boyfriend or something."
Riku blushed. "I-I'm not her boyfriend! My friend Kurama is. I'm just a friend."
"Whatever." The woman rolled her eyes and cracked her gum again.
Riku walked away from the desk, and pulled out his cell phone. "I guess I'll call her. Hopefully, she's not stuck in the rain."
Ring…
Ring…
Ring…
Ring…
"Hi-"
"Rose!" Riku started.
"-you've reached Rose Knight. I can't pick up my cell right now. Please leave me a message and I'll get back to you when I can. Thanks."
Beep.
Riku snapped his phone shut.
"Darn…" he mumbled.
Riku opened his cell phone again, and dialed Kurama's house. He picked up after the third ring.
"Hello?"
"Kurama? It's Riku."
"Oh, Riku. You sound worried. Is something wrong?"
"Yeah. I'm at Rose's apartment, and the lady at the desk, who's really aggravating by the way,"
"Hey! I heard that, you little brat! Don't make me kick you out into the rain!" the woman snarled.
"That her?"
"Yeah…" Riku replied sheepishly.
"It's best not to say bad things about people when they can hear you."
"Whatever. Listen Kurama, the lady said Rose ran out a little while ago. Said she looked upset. Did she go to your house?"
"No… No she didn't. She doesn't know where I live."
"Argh! Then where do you think she is?"
"I don't know. Did you try calling her?"
"Yeah. I got her answering machine." Just then, Riku spotted a piece of paper and a torn envelope lying on the floor by his feet. He picked it up, and growled quietly.
"Riku? What is it?"
"Kurama, come meet at the apartments right now. We've got a problem." Riku snapped his phone shut angrily. He stalked back over to the front desk.
"Hey, lady, can you tell me which way Rose went? It's really important!"
"I don't have to tell you anything, you disrespectful little snot." She growled.
"Wha-" Riku took a deep breath, and then asked, in a much more polite tone, "Can you please tell me which direction Rose went?"
"Much better." The lady spit out her gum and leaned forward. "She ran towards the center of the city. Not sure where exactly she was headed. You know why she left?"
-
Rose had gained back some energy back and was wandering around the park. Due to the storm, no one was around. She could barely see through the dense sheets of rain. She saw a swing set, and quietly walked over and sat on one of the faded yellow plastic seats. She gently began to swing, closing her eyes…
-
Kurama and Riku were running along the streets in the direction of the center of town. Kurama had brought umbrellas for them, but since they were running, they didn't really help.
After about a half hour of searching, they ducked inside a small café.
"Argh! We can't find her anywhere!" Riku moaned as he shook out his wet hair.
"Think, Riku, is there anywhere in particular you think she'd go?" Kurama closed his wet umbrella, and squeezed out his soaked hair.
"No! She hasn't been living here for too long, so I don't think she'd have any 'particular places' to go to yet!" Riku replied angrily.
"Okay then, some general areas where she may have ended up?"
"What about the park? We haven't checked there yet."
"Worth a try." Kurama shrugged, and they set out again.
-
Rose continued to swing, when she heard fast footsteps coming towards her. She slowly stood up, and squinted through the dense rain.
"KURAMA!" She screamed, and ran towards him and Riku.
Kurama dropped his umbrella. "Rose! Oh, thank god you're alright!" He held Rose in his arms, overwhelmed with relief.
Riku stood off to the side, sad, but happy at the same time. Happy that Rose was happy. But, sad that it was Kurama and not him.
"Rose… Is it true?" Kurama asked after they broke apart. "Is it true that you have to go back to America?"
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Oooh, a cliffie! … Sort of. Anyway, please review, and I'll try to write the next chapter as fast as I can!
(1) Shitae- the rough pencil drawing of a manga strip or panel.