That was certainly an odd dispute, Rose thought as she walked outside to her car. I wonder if Kanaya really does have feelings for that Vriska girl. She said she didn't, but it was hard to tell, really. ...Why am I even wondering? It's not really my business... She sighed.

Dave and Rose didn't converse much on the way home. It was the usual, playful bickering they went through after school days. They weren't related by blood, but they acted almost like how Rose and Roxy used too. Well, before Roxy's alcoholism set in. The Lalonde's mother had a little too much of an influence on the older of the siblings.

After around ten minutes, the two reached their house. They were greeted by Dirk, who was outside talking to his boyfriend, Jake, on the phone. Rose sighed. The boy talked to him for what seemed like eternity. She thought it was cute, though, to see two people so in love... But sad at the same time. She was slightly envious, seeing as she had only been in love once before. It was a toxic relationship, however. One that she didn't want again.

"Yo, Dirk, you talking to Jake?" Dave said as he walked up to Dirk, smirking. "So gaaaay!"

Dirk rolled his eyes. "Yo, Dave, why are you so nosy?" he retaliated. Dave snatched the phone away and said to Jake over the phone that Dirk had pictures of him all over his room. Which was true, they just weren't out in the open. Dirk conked Dave on the head and took the phone back. "Sorry, my bother can be a little shit." Dave punched Dirk in the shoulder and went inside. Rose followed.

"You and Dirk have quite the rivalry going on," Rose said. "That's how Roxy and I used to be."

"Really now? So you know how siblings can be annoying as fuck?" Dave muttered. "Your family has some weird-ass passive-aggressive shit going on..."

"You're one to talk," the Lalonde chuckled. "You're literally telling me that what I just witnessed outside wasn't passive-aggressive."

"Yeah, it wasn't."

"Mmmhm, sure it wasn't. Well, I suppose you're going to lock yourself in your room and talk to Jade, now, so have fun with that!" Rose smirked. Before Dave could say anything, she walked into her room and shut the door. She knew he'd say something lame later, anyway.

Well... I suppose I should get mom to sign these papers when she gets home. I'll leave them on my desk so I don't forget. She took out the small stack of papers that her teachers gave her. All required parent signatures, allergies, medical issues, and the usual. Ms. Paint went ahead and handed out play production forms to get signed, saying that students in her Theater class would be able to participate in the original plays. Of course her mom would sign that.

Luckily, she didn't have any actual homework. Her teachers this semester weren't the kind to give out homework on the first day or over breaks. And she was very thankful for that, because it meant she had a lot of free time to work on her writing. Currently, she was working on a couple of books. Rose had gotten slightly lazy on those, however, and turned to fanfiction instead. Oh what a glorious hobby. At least it's better than making shitty rap songs, was what Rose thought about fanfiction. But of course, anything beat that. Hell, even Dave's web comic was better than that.

Rose plopped down on her bed with a sigh, staring up at the ceiling. It's been a long day, she thought. A nap would be pleasant right now. One of the others will come get me whenever dinner is ready later. And so, with the soothing sound of the ceiling fan in her room, she dozed off to her own little dream bubble where nobody could interrupt her.

….

Knock, knock, knock.

No answer.

Knock, knock, knock.

Still no answer.

KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK!

A pause.

"ROSIE GET YA ASS UP, IT'S TIME FOR DINNER!" A frustrated Roxy shouted into her sisters room. Rose jolted up, startled by the tone of Roxy's voice. She figured that she was just drunk or hungover, so she shrugged it off. She sat up and sighed. "I'm up, Rox." she said. There was no answer, so she assumed that Roxy had already left.

She stood up and walked over to her mirror. Her hair was a mess and her makeup was smeared all over the place. "...Ew." she muttered. Grabbing a brush, she took off her headband and proceeded to fix her hair. Once she finished that, she cleaned her face off with a makeup wipe. It worked like a charm. She put on a little bit of cologne. Turning to the door, she went downstairs to the dining room.

As usual, plates had been prepared for the teens, but the adults were nowhere too be seen. Emphasis on "too be seen." Rose sat down at the table, next to her sister. Across from them were the Strider boys, who were already arguing over who would get a slice of cake first.

"Now, boys. Boys. We all kno who will get tha cake first. Totes Rosie and me," Roxy said, her words slurring.

"Definitely. As they say, ladies first," Rose played along, raising an eyebrow at the boys. She smirked in an intimidating manner. To their surprise, the boys ignored them.

"Daaaang, they must'a picked a fight earlier!" the older sister whispered to Rose. Rose nodded in reply, as if saying "They did, I was there." Because she actually was. Roxy understood and went back to watching the boys as she ate some of the food on her plate. They had spaghetti this night. Rose took a small bite. The pasta was slightly overcooked, but it was decent. The sauce was magnificent, she thought.

In the Strider's bickering, the two girls finished their dinner before them. They went over and got their slices of cake and went to the living room, which was right next to the dining room, to see if there was anything good on TV. Roxy walked by the boys and waved the cake in their face. "Yer too late, boys, ya should'a acted quicker~" she cackled as she walked into the other room. The boys stared at each other in silence. For once it was quiet in the house.

"So Rosie, anythin' good on TV right now?" Roxy asked, sitting down next to Rose.

"Not that I can see. We may just be better off watching cat videos on YouTube," Rose replied. The girls used to do that all the time when they were little with their mom. Rose didn't like to admit it, but she did miss those times. When Roxy was sober and she didn't have to worry about her doing stupid things while she was drunk.

"Hah! That'd be great! Butttt lets do it some otha time, maybe when mom can too? We all needa bond a lil' bit." Roxy said, smiling at Rose. For once, Rose couldn't tell if Roxy was being sincere, or if it was the booze talking. Which was surprising. It was usually blatantly obvious.

"Hm... Maybe you're right," Rose said after an awkward silence. "Maybe we do. That would be nice, as well."

"Damn right it would be!" Roxy said, playfully nudging Rose. Rose smiled and playfully nudged her back. "Well, I think I should go do my homework for that stupid calculus class I have. Talk about some hard-ass shit!" She said as she stood up.

Rose nodded. "You do that, Rox. I'll see you in the morning, I think I'm going to go to sleep," she sighed.

"Okay, g'night, love ya sis," Roxy said as she started walking to her bedroom.

Rose paused and stared at Roxy. It was rare she heard that from anybody in her household, so it made her smile. "Love you too, sis." she said softly.

Rose sat there on the couch, watching a brief story on the news about how a school was torn down completely a couple of weeks ago. They didn't say the name of the school or why they tore it down, but that didn't matter. Rose sighed and turned the TV off. She yawned and stood up, straightening up the room a little bit.

When she walked past the kitchen, she saw that the Strider boys were nowhere to be found. She wondered if they had gone outside to have another sword fight. Probably, she thought. My metaphorical money is on Dirk. Again. And with that, she made her way upstairs to her room to go to sleep for the night.