Jennie

I open Jaehyun's bedroom door quietly. Rosé is in bed when I walk in, her back to me. I approach her and sit down at the edge of the bed; the mattress dipping under my weight. Rosé turns to face me, her eyes flashing with annoyance when she realizes it's me and not Helen.

"What are you doing here?"

I sigh and hand her a glass of fresh juice. When she won't take it from me, I place it down on the nightstand instead. "I just wanted to check how you're doing."

Rosé rolls her eyes. "I bet you're disappointed to see that I'm doing just fine."

I shake my head and look away. "Why would you think that, Rosé? I've always loved you. I've always seen you as a sister. I only want what's best for you."

Rosé looks at me in disbelief. "That's bullshit. If you wanted what's best for me, you wouldn't have betrayed me the way you did. I bet you're just feeling guilty now. Guilty that this happened because you and Lisa abandoned me."

I look at her with wide eyes, unable to believe what I'm hearing. "We abandoned you? Rosé, we did everything we could to earn your forgiveness, yet all you did was push us away. In the end, we chose to honor your wishes. You told me you never wanted to see me again, and I did my best to make that happen. What more could I have done?"

Rosé smiles wryly. "If you actually cared as much as you did, you wouldn't have given up on me so easily. You would've noticed when I needed help. When I was being sucked into a black hole I couldn't crawl out of by myself, the two of you weren't there. Hell, I had nosebleeds from coke overuse and you never even realized — all because you were too busy fucking my sister. You haven't been there from the start. You never once questioned me about Jake, not even when I stood you up for him. I was falling deeper into my addiction, and you didn't notice I needed help, because all you could see was Lisa."

I close my eyes and inhale deeply, trying to settle my aching heart. "I'm sorry," I whisper. "You're right. I didn't notice that you needed help, and it is partly because I was so caught up in Lisa. But I'm here now, Rosé. I'm here and I'll do whatever I can to make sure you get better."

Rosé rolls her eyes. "How can you, when you're the reason I turned to coke and Jake, anyway?"

I stare at her in confusion, and she shakes her head sadly.

"Jennie, the daughter my mother always wanted. The girl of my sister's dreams. The one my dad always praised and defended, even though his praises were scarce. You were the one that got a scholarship to his alma mater when I couldn't do it. Hell, even Lisa only got a partial academic scholarship, but you just had to go and get a full-ride. I thought things might be different when we got to college, but even here you were the one people noticed at parties. You were the one my sister spent all her time with. I was falling behind in my classes much more than you ever were, but it's your grades Lisa was more concerned about. Even Jaehyun sang your praises. I couldn't even complain about you without everyone jumping to your defense — that's how brainwashed you've got everyone.

"It's only Jake that understood how I felt. The coke made me feel better. God, the euphoria I felt… just a couple of hours of not being reminded how much of a fuck-up I am compared to you. A couple of hours of not feeling like I come second to you. Just that feeling of being as amazing as everyone seems to think you are… I craved it. I needed it even more after you betrayed me and turned my sister and mother away from me — both of them convinced you should get away with the unforgivable."

She laughs humorlessly, the sound chilling. "I hate you, Jennie. I really fucking hate you. You're the worst thing that ever happened to me. That day in the treehouse, when you'd just moved in… I wish I'd just turned you away when you intruded on our tea party. I wish I'd never invited you into our lives. My life would be so much better if we never became friends. I was trying to be kind and I was trying to give you an inch, but you took a mile. I was trying to be nice to you, but before I knew it, you infiltrated my family. Suddenly you were everywhere, like a slow-acting poison. My life would be a thousand times better without you."

My heart breaks, and a single tear drops down my cheek, but I catch it quickly. "I never knew you felt this way. When that whole thing with Jisoo happened, I offered to take a step back. I told you that if you felt like I was overstepping, I'd stop coming over as much as I did. If you'd told me how you were feeling, I would've done whatever I could to make things better, Rosé. I didn't know. I had no idea you thought of me like that all this time."

Rosé shakes her head. "What, tell you so you could complain to my mother and sister and make me the villain? So the both of them would blame me for you suddenly walking out of our lives? Like I'd ever do something that stupid. All I need to do is be patient. Sooner or later they'll see you for what you are. Sooner or later they'll look at our family and they'll realize you're the one that wrecked our happiness."

I bite down on my lip as hard as I can to keep my emotions in check, but I can't stop trembling. I've always loved Rosé and I've always thought of her as my best friend, so how did I fail to notice that she slowly started to hate me?

"You want me out of your life?" Rosé nods and I inhale deeply. "Do you think that will solve anything? You won't suddenly start getting better grades once I'm gone. You won't miraculously get clean. Those things all take hard work, Rosé."

She grits her teeth and looks away. "I know. But at least it'd be a step in the right direction."

I rise to my feet and look at Rosé, but I don't recognize her at all. When did she change? When did she stop seeing me as a friend? Where did things go so wrong?