Bella:
And the walls kept tumbling down
In the city that we love
Great clouds roll over the hill
Bringing darkness from above
Rosalie takes a deep breathe, looking like she's trying to find the courage to tell me. "Ok, I'll tell you. Everything."
I give her time to talk, since I'm guessing it's not the most pleasant of stories.
"Come on, we can skip last lesson," Rosalie says, leading me to a more secluded area of trees, including a picnic table.
I take the seat opposite Rosalie, and take a few more bites out of my sandwich.
"It all started about two years ago," Rosalie begins, looking down at the bench. "When I was 3, my father died. I don't remember him much. So for most of my life it's just been my mother and I. That is, until two years ago, my mother met someone."
I already think I have any idea of where this is going. And I immediately feel so incredibly sorry for Rosalie.
"Roy – my stepfather," Rosalie spits out the word. "was nice at first. He bought my mother flowers; he bought me presents, too! Both of us soon came to love him, and then he moved in with us. He was a little different when he initially moved in. If it was just Roy and me in the house, he'd make us watch a film, try to put his arm around me. I thought nothing of it at the time," Rosalie continues, taking a deep breathe.
"If this is too much, you can stop," I assure her, smiling warmly.
"No, it's fine." Rosalie shakes her head quickly. "Anyway, things quickly progressed, and Roy married my mother. She'd never been happier than on her wedding day. It was after the wedding that things got worse for me. They returned from their honeymoon and my mother started working more – we needed the money. However, whenever Roy was alone with me in the house, he'd…he'd try to touch me."
At this point, I reach across the small table and rest my hand over Rosalie, in an attempt to comfort her.
"Thanks," Rosalie mutters, looking strangely vulnerable. "Exactly a month after their wedding, Roy raped me for the first time."
My mouth hangs open in shock. The first time? This happened more than once?
"He threatened me with violence if I told anyone. Said I was a dumb slut who no one would believe."
I gasp at her words, the familiar words that have been shouted at me so many times before. My eyes water and I see Rosalie looking at me curiously, somehow like she understands.
"Go on," I breathe out, trying to distract myself.
"After another month of hell, I missed my period and started throwing up. I knew I was pregnant, so I told Roy. He slapped me and gave me money for an abortion, but I couldn't do it. I don't believe in abortion, I could never do that," Rosalie pauses to take a deep breath and squeezes my hand. "So…I told my mother. She was shocked and tried to tell me I was lying. We went to the hospital, together, where they did a scan to confirm the pregnancy."
"How did your mother react?" I ask, almost nervous to hear why.
"She called the police, told them everything, and as soon as she had given evidence against Roy, she committed suicide."
"Oh, Rosalie, I'm so sorry." I quickly get up and before I realise what I'm doing, I'm sat next to Rosalie with my arm wrapped around her.
For a few moments we sit in silence, and I'm pretty sure Rosalie is crying. I don't say anything; I give her chance to get it all out.
"It's not a very pretty past," Rosalie mutters, pulling away from me a bit.
"I could say the same about mine," I reply truthfully. "Is Roy…is he in prison?" I ask tentatively.
"Yeah, I watched and gave evidence to send that bastard down for a long time," Rosalie says fiercely.
"There's the Rosalie I know!" I tease gently.
Rosalie chuckles quietly. "You can, uh, call me Rose. If you want. Friends call me Rose," she tells me nervously.
"Ok…Rose," I grin to her. "Um, Esme and Carlisle won't be mad we skipped last lesson, right?" Now it's my turn to be nervous.
"Nah, it's fine. Edward might give us hell for it, though," Rose laughs.
"What, why?" I frown, perplexed.
"Are you honestly telling me you haven't seen it? Edward's in love with school!" Rose snickers. "He always tries to arrange a homework schedule for me," Rose adds. "He's nice, though. We get along," Rose shrugs, trying to downplay how close they are.
"You two do seem really close…" I trail off, unable to keep my jealousy at bay.
What? Edward's cute, alright!
Rose laughs. Pretty loudly. Kinda makes me want to hit her if she wasn't pregnant or mildly terrifying.
"Edward and me? No, god no! He's like a little brother to me!" Rose says between gasps of laughter.
I give her the stink eye.
"Oh, I see. Yep, I understand the question now," Rose nods, smirking. "You like him, don't you?" Rose accuses.
"What? No! I barely know him, and, I just, he wouldn't want me, anyway. I'm, you know, pregnant. And I've got a messed up past," I ramble, still glaring at Rose.
"Have you not noticed the way he's extra clumsy in your presence?" Rose says, smirking when I nod.
"Maybe he's just shy. He doesn't know me very well," I mumble petulantly.
Rose laughs louder now, shaking her head at me.
"Come on, let's go wait in the in car. It's nearly the end of the day," Rose says, attempting to get up from the picnic bench. I offer to help, but she quickly declines.
"Um, we don't have the keys," I point out as we near the car.
"I have a second set. For lesson skipping purposes," Rose winks as she gets in the passenger seat.
We turn on the radio, but, thankfully, it's only ten minutes later that students start filling out. Angela arrives first, and she smiles as she sits next to me.
"You two are out early," Angela says, looking at Rose knowingly.
"Not you, too!" Rose groans. "Us pregnant people occasionally need to skip lessons," Rose easily lies.
"Yeah, well, Edward already knows. Bella was meant to be in our biology class," Angela says, smiling widely at Jacob as he, too, gets in the car.
"Hey, where's Edward?" Jacob asks us all, though looks at Angela.
"Staying behind at biology to pick up the work Bella missed," Angela shrugs.
"What?" I shriek, pretty outraged. "It was one lesson!"
Rose chuckles. Angela and Jacob look equally amused.
"Told you so," Rose mutters.
Edward finally gets to the car five minutes later, shooting a glare Rose's way.
"It was her first day, Rose; couldn't you wait until at least next week before dragging her away from lessons?" Edward whines as he starts up the car.
"How did you know I was gone, too?" Rose asks, looking slightly impressed.
"You're sat in my car. You're the only one with an extra key. Which I want back!" Edward tells her, glancing over at her.
"Hey, can I just say something? She didn't drag me away from any lessons! I willingly went with her!" I tell Edward, sticking up for Rose.
As soon as we arrive at the Cullen house, Jacob and Angela run off, claiming they're escaping the soon to be argument.
"Look, Edward, Bella and I needed to talk. About stuff," Rose gives him a pointed look, which Edward seems to understand.
"Oh, um, well, don't make it a regular thing, ok?" Edward asks. Rose nods, salutes him, and then hobbles away up the stairs.
Which leaves Edward and me alone in the hallway.
"Here – biology catch up work," Edward hands me some papers.
"Thanks. Though, I'm sure I'll manage. I've skipped many times before in Seattle," I shrug, hoping to lighten the mood.
"You have?" Edward gasps. "But…but you're a straight A student!" Edward looks positively horrified by this information.
"I have a surprisingly good memory," I tell him. "Wait, how did you know about my grades?" I frown at him.
"Mr Banner – the biology teacher – told me. He said it was strange for me to be getting that work for you when you were already getting A's. He said one lesson wouldn't matter," Edward explains.
"Oh, right," I mutter, feeling bad for jumping to conclusions. "Um, well, thanks, I guess." I quickly grab the papers from Edward and flee up the stairs to my room.
Just before I leave the hallway, I hear Edward murmur a quiet, 'You're welcome.'
A/N: Thoughts on Rose's story? :O
Also, I got my G.C.S.E results yesterday! Wooo! :D
Review please? :D
Lyrics: Pompeii by Bastille