By Your Side: Eleven
Rose still hadn't told anyone just how much she had won in the settlement between herself and the drunk driver. However, because the man was a high profile person, he had gone to the media with it and had said that he had "offered his time to the community" as penance as well as "donated" the lump sum of $500,000 to Rose and her family – which also meant that this man hadn't been paying attention to her at all during the trial, lest he would have known that the only family she had was her uncle.
She didn't know that he had gone to news outlets about what he'd given to her, so imagine her surprise when, the day following the broadcasts, there was a small swarm waiting for her uncle's blue Mustang just outside the school.
At first, Rose thought that something had happened. Had one of her friends gotten hurt? Was someone in trouble? At the latter, she thought of Levi – not because she believed him to be a trouble maker, but because everyone else believed him to be. No, everyone gathered to meet her and talk to her – including news interviewers. She could barely get the passenger side door open, there were so many people.
"What's going on?" Rose asked the first person she saw – thankfully it was someone she knew, Petra. The redhead extended her arm to Rose and Rose gladly took it, trying to weave through the crowd. "Why are all these people here?"
"Do you not have cable?" Petra asked over her shoulder, using her other as a means to bat her way through the throng of people.
Rose didn't want to answer that question – no she didn't. But what did that have to do with anything?
"You were kind of on the news last night. You and that money you won in that settlement."
"Are you kidding?" Rose exclaimed. Just as she was about to say more, a hand grabbed hold of her wrist and pulled her back, yanking her away from Petra's hold.
"Miss Aer – tell us all about the accident," said one interviewer, a tall woman with slicked back black hair.
"Do you feel you got a just amount of money?" asked another one, this time a man with gelled brown hair and a too-dark tan.
"Miss Aer – Miss Aer –" They were all talking to her at once, asking her questions too quickly for her to answer – and asking her questions she, quite frankly, didn't feel like answering in the first place.
Just as she was on the verge of a mental breakdown, her vision growing blurry with fresh tears she didn't want to shed in front of all these strangers, she saw him – he was shoving his way through the people and cameras rather roughly, even using his feet to kick people out of the way. Finally, he stood in front of her and reached a hand out for her to take, which she gladly did without hesitation.
"Is this your boyfriend?" an interviewer asked her, shoving a microphone toward her as she was being pulled toward the school's front doors.
Just as she was about to quickly set the record straight that Levi was not, in fact, her boyfriend, he answered in her steed, "So what if I was? Problem?"
Something about his answer seemed to shut them up and stop them in their tracks, and they made it through the front doors in peace. However, Levi did not release his hold on her hand; he led the way through the halls and to the Cleaning Club room, though he slowed down a bit the closer they got to the room.
"You don't resent me for answering for you, do you?" Even now, he still held her hand, and even though she liked his touch, she was slightly embarrassed by how sweaty she thought her own palm was becoming.
"N-no, not at all," she answered honestly. "I…" She averted her gaze then, her heart feeling like it might pound out of her chest at any moment. She wanted to confess that she liked what he'd said, that she wanted it to be true. Instead, she told him, "It's fine."
"You know they're going to write about your big, bad boyfriend wrecking everyone's camera equipment," he continued, and something about his voice indicated he was hinting at something. Like he wanted her to say something else in response.
"And… that's fine…" She still couldn't bring herself to look into his eyes; she could feel the heat rise up to her cheeks, though, and surely he could see it.
Before they could say more, someone called out to them – and they released their hold on each other's hands immediately, as if their touch was on fire. Hange approached them then, and Rose grew the courage to look up from the floor to look at them. They were all smiles, not as if they had just witnessed what had just happened, but it seemed to be of an entirely different reason altogether.
"Rose! I'm so happy to see you!" Hange gave her a gentle hug, then continued with, "I was just telling Erwin that if you're getting all this moolah, you're going to be able to make us more snacks."
"You always think with your stomach, huh, Stupid Glasses?" Levi commented, moving past them and to the club room.
"Well, that won't happen for awhile – I'm moving," Rose informed them.
Hange frowned a bit. "You're not moving away, are you?" Rose couldn't help but notice that Levi had stopped walking away and was now looking over his shoulder, listening in.
"No, no. Just to a different side of town. Our new house has three bedrooms, so my uncle is going to let me have a study as well as my bedroom." Since he was never home, he had no reason to utilize the extra space. "Actually… during lunch, I was going to see if you all wanted… to come over this weekend and help us paint the inside. Most of the walls are going to be white, but my room is going to be pink and the study will be baby blue."
"Will there be –"
Rose couldn't help but giggle. "Yes, Hange, there will be snacks."
"Then I'm already there!"
As she had said, during lunch, she had asked the others if they could assist with painting and moving in some of their belongings. This also meant admitting to most of her friends that didn't know yet that she lived on the bad side of town, so she understood if they just wanted to wait to just work on the painting part.
"Of course we'll help you move," Petra said with a bright smile. "Who cares what side of town you live on?"
"We can handle it anyway," Oluo chimed in, lifting his chin matter-of-factly. No one seemed to pay his comment any mind.
"Besides, the more people that move your stuff, the fast you'll be out of there, right?" Armin added with a small smile.
"Thank you," Rose breathed, feeling truly grateful for the group of friends she'd acquired.
Uncle Charles had rented one big moving truck for the weekend. He felt that would be long enough to get all their belongings from point A to point B – as well as utilizing his car, Rose's new (to her) SUV (which she was still trying to navigate, she was so used to small cars), and Jake's four-passenger truck and Bunni's family van. All of their small things – dishes, clothes, the like – were packed in boxes and Uncle Charles' dresser was taped down for easy transport.
With everyone working early in the morning, Rose asked if it was alright to use some money to get everyone breakfast burritos – and then later lunch and even dinner if they ran that late. Charles thought that it was a perfectly reasonable thing to take money out for; teenagers had to eat, as they were constantly growing, right?
When everyone arrived, Rose passed out the food first before instructing everyone to start taking boxes – and the men to take the larger things like mattresses, box springs, and the dresser – and start loading the back of Jake's truck and the U-Haul.
It looked like it really would take one trip to get everything from the apartment to the new house. Rose was relieved. In her car sat Levi in the front seat with her and Hange and Erwin in the backseat. She had a huge trunk, but it had a few boxes in it. She gave a silent good-bye to her old apartment before hitting the road toward her new and improved home.
The new house was two stories, with a small attic, but no basement – to which Rose was a little grateful. She'd seen too many scary movies of creepy creatures emerging from the depths of dark basements. The driveway was big enough to hold two cars, so Rose and Jake parked within it while everyone else parked on the street. Hopping out, everyone observed the stark white house with its large white porch that extended the entire front of the house.
"Why don't you take the ladies on a tour," suggested Uncle Charles as he opened the hatch to the U-Haul. "The rest of us got the heavy work."
"Sure!" Rose was eager to show the inside of the house; it wasn't large by any means, but it was quaint, and for just her and her uncle, it was big enough.
With each girl carrying a box, they made their way through the front door and immediately were greeted by the living room. It had hardwood flooring – they would discover that, save for Rose's "office" space, they all had hardwood floors – and white walls that could definitely use some paint. Rose advised them to set the boxes down on the floor and then she led the way to the kitchen – the only room with yellow and white linoleum flooring. It, too, needed a good paint job, but the walls really weren't horrible. The cabinets were a light wood with gold handles, and there was a white fridge on one side, the other housing a stacked washer and dryer. Just beyond the entryway led stairs, in which they climbed up to meet a short hallway with three doors.
Rose showed first her uncle's room, which was the second largest, and across from the guest bathroom. It was pretty plain, with just one window and a single closet. Next came the office space, which definitely was small enough to be as such, once again with one small window and its own tiny closet. Finally, at the end of the hall was Rose's room, which was the largest, and even had its own bathroom – sure, it had just a shower and a toilet, but it was better than what she had before – as well as a walk-in closet.
That was also where the entrance to the attic lied.
"Isn't that going to freak you out?" Sasha asked, looking a little spooked at the door latched shut above them, open only by a chain that one had to pull – hard – to get down the ladder.
"Nah – I think it's kind of cool." Rose shrugged a bit. "Besides, if there's any ghouls or goblins up there, I think we'd be fast friends."
"Wait – are you serious?" Sasha looked genuinely alarmed.
Everyone else just giggled at her reaction, opting then to join the guys in helping with the rest of the belongings.
The day went by rather quickly. Things were sorted into the middle of the rooms, and then tarp was laid out on the floor so as to not get paint on the ground. Then the painting commenced. With all hands on deck, it went by really quickly, and the walls looked a million times better by the end of the day.
"Thanks, guys," Rose said as she chewed on a piece of celebratory pizza. It wasn't much, she knew, but after a hard day's work, it certainly tasted like quite the feast.
"Of course, anytime," Hange offered, reaching for another slice of pizza. They were on their third.
"Well, kid, I gotta be off," Uncle Charles stated as he pulled out a spare house key and handed it to her. "Duty calls and all that. Kind of been putting it off all day."
"Right," Rose said, trying her best not to sound dejected.
Having an uncle who was also one of the biggest drug-pins in the state – if not entire tri-state area – made for a rather difficult relationship with him sometimes. At least, like in instances such as these, he really did try. Rose didn't doubt for a second that Uncle Charles loved her, but he also loved his business and making money.
The only reason they lived on the bad side of town for so long and the reason Rose's hard-earned money went back into their apartment was because Uncle Charles was kind of a stickler when it came to holding on to money. He liked to keep every cent, if he could, and spend it only when he had to – like, of course, on bills and food and such. He bought Rose whatever she wanted – how else was she able to get into such a prestigious school and go on trips – but she knew she had to work for that money, too.
It was a tough situation. She didn't like to talk about it.
Once Uncle Charles had drove off in his car, she returned her attention to her friends, who were talking rather animatedly amongst themselves. All of them except Levi, of course – who was watching her.
Had he noticed her mood change? She hoped he wouldn't ask her about it later. She didn't want to discuss with anyone what her uncle did for a living, lest it get picked up by the wrong ears and thus that person told the authorities or something.
Bunni offered to pile the first years in her van, while Jake offered to take the second-year boys home, leaving the third-years and Petra to ride in Rose's SUV. She dropped first Erwin off, then Hange, then Petra, then finally she made a circle back to drop Levi off at his apartment.
As soon as they parked, he didn't immediately get out like the rest of them, but seemed to be hesitating, as if he had something he wanted to say.
To be frank, they didn't really finish their conversation from not too long ago. Where was all that going, anyway? Was Levi hinting at something? Or rather, was he being rather blatant in his wording and was Rose just not getting it? She wanted to clarify, but every time she felt they would have a moment alone to talk about it, someone else would come along and interrupt them, or it just never seemed like the right time. And now, it seemed like such a long time ago, maybe it didn't even matter anymore.
As if he were reading her mind, he asked, "Do you remember what I said to that reporter a few days ago?"
She didn't answer immediately, but when she finally she did, all she could muster was a simple, "Yes."
"Just what were you thinking?" She could feel his eyes on her, anticipating what she would say.
"That…" She had kept her hands on the steering wheel, and now she tightened her grip a little, nerves really getting to her. "That… I wanted to ask why you said it."
"Huh."
At his unintelligible answer, she turned to look at him, and he was staring forward, seeming lost in thought.
"I want to ask you something, then." His icy eyes met hers, and they looked so uncharacteristically sincere it made her heart burst. "How about you think about it?"
"Think about what – " Then it occurred to her what he was doing, and she felt the apples of her cheeks redden then. "Oh."
"Unless you've already made up your mind. Then I'll leave you the hell alone – "
"That's not it!" she exclaimed, shaking her head. "I have – I mean, I haven't, but… I mean – "
"Well, which is it, Rosemary?" he asked, his voice patient and cool. He never spoke to anyone else that way, Rose knew; he seemed to hold this demeanor especially for her.
"I have thought about it – about you. And me – about us. But I don't know…" She found herself tearing up a little bit then, fixing her gaze on the driver's side window. "I've never had… I don't know what to do –"
"Rosemary." She felt one of his hands reach for hers and at his touch she dared to look at him again. His expression was sincere, serene, all that stoic-ness now gone. "How about this. The class trips are coming up next week. Tell me what you think after you come home from New York." He removed his hand from atop hers, and her skin instantly felt cold from its absence.
Levi opened the passenger side door then and put one foot out, then said, "And in case you're wondering, I've always felt this way. Good-night, Rosemary." Shutting the door behind him, he walked to his door, unlocked it, and went inside without looking back at her again.
Rose felt like her heart was fit to bursting. Did Levi just confess to her? Did he just ask her out? Did he give her over a week to decide if she wanted to pursue a relationship with him?
She wanted to run up to his front door and tell him right now that she would go out with him in a heartbeat, that she'd been in love with him for almost two years. But maybe she should give herself some time to think. Think about their friendship, what this could mean for the relationships around them.
She drove to her new home with so much on her mind, she hardly remembered arriving in her driveway.
Yes, she would give herself some time. But deep down, she pretty much made up her mind.