CHATROOM LOVE
Chapter Twenty-Five
Wednesday, October 3, 2001
Rose stalked into
school, frowning unhappily. After stopping by her locker, she headed for the
student common room, where she knew her friends would be waiting.
"What’s
wrong with you?" Dawn asked, staring at Rose in surprise. Her best friend
was usually much more cheerful than this.
"Nothing!"
Rose snapped, sitting down next to Jack and pulling an envelope from her
notebook. "Look at this."
"What about
it?" Jack took the envelope cautiously, wondering what had Rose in such a
bad mood.
"There’s no
return address."
"Okay.
And?"
"Look at
the letter!"
Looking at her
strangely, he took the letter from the envelope and looked at, finally
understanding why Rose was in such a bad mood.
My darling
Rose,
I watched you
cheer at the game on Friday night. You were beautiful, of course, although that
skimpy uniform shows off far more flesh than is appropriate. I dislike seeing
you show off your legs that way—you should be revealing so much only for me.
How lucky I am to know you! And soon, we’ll be together again.
As always, I
am watching you, Rose.
The letter was
unsigned, printed on an ordinary sheet of white printer paper. It could have
come from anywhere.
"Did you
show this to the police?" Jack asked Rose, putting the letter back into
the envelope and turning it over the examine the postmark.
Rose nodded.
"Yes, but they said that they were tired of hearing me make baseless
accusations toward my ex-boyfriend. The person I showed it to had the nerve to
suggest that I was sending these notes myself to get attention." She threw
her hands up in the air in frustration. "Why would I be trying to get
attention? I’m a rich, popular cheerleader, for God’s sake! Don’t I get enough
attention already?"
"What does
the postmark say?" Dawn asked, leaning over and looking at the envelope.
"Maybe it will give you some clue where it came from."
Jack shook his
head. "It says ‘Canada’. Duh. We already knew that."
"At least
we know it's from someone in the country."
Dawn looked at
Tommy, who just made the comment, and frowned.
"You're
weird!"
"Thank
you."
Dawn stuck her
tongue out and before they knew it, they were making out on the couch.
Rose let out a
small sigh, leaning forward as she ignored the couple, wringing her hands.
"It’s Cal. I know it is. Why doesn’t anyone believe me?"
"We believe
you, Rose." Jack put a comforting arm around Rose’s shoulders. "Like
you’ve said, who else could it be? I mean, there’s been things in the notes
that only he would know."
"Yes, but
what can we do about it? He won’t stop, and…he’s really starting to scare me.
What does he want?"
"We’ll keep
an eye out for you, Rose," Dawn assured her, sitting up and looking at all
the others whole she straightened her hair. "Won’t we?"
"Sure we
will," Tommy responded, unaware that he had some pink lipstick smudged on his
lower face, looking past Dawn at Rose. "Nobody wants to tangle with a
football player like me."
Dawn punched him
in the arm. "You are so full of yourself!"
"Yeah, and
you love me for it."
Dawn gave him an
exasperated look. "You have some lipstick on your face, lover boy,"
She turned back to Rose. "Seriously, Rose, we’re looking out for you.
Fabrizio’s locker is near yours, so he’ll tell you if he sees anyone putting
anything in there."
Rose sighed.
"Thanks. I just wish Cal would give up."
"I don’t
know what to say about that, Rose, except to be careful. He’s dangerous."
"I
know."
"Maybe you
should try thinking about something else for a while," Helga suggested.
"It might make you feel better."
"Like
what?" Rose put her head down on the table, scowling. "Las Vegas? I
asked my mom again this morning if she would accompany Jack and me there, but
she said she was still thinking about it."
"So?"
Jack asked. "She hasn’t said no yet, has she? I asked my aunt and uncle
about it last night, and they said that I could go if someone would go with us.
I even asked Trudy and Kenneth if they could come with us, but they have to go
back to New York soon, so that Kenneth can go back to work and Trudy can look
for a new job."
Rose lifted her
head, drumming her fingers on the table. "You don’t know my mom, Jack. The
longer she thinks about something, the more likely she is to say no. She’ll
probably say that I’ll be too tired for school if I go."
"Oh, come
on, Rose." Dawn patted her back comfortingly. "Your mom lets you do all
kinds of stuff. Even if she won’t go with you, or can’t, maybe you can get
someone else to go. Maybe your housekeeper or gardener would like to go on a
trip. I’d go if I could, but I don’t think your mom would think I was a very
good chaperone."
Rose leaned her
head against Jack’s shoulder. "I hope she lets us go. It would be nice to
not be in the same country as Cal for a couple of days."
*****
Late that
afternoon, Jack dropped Rose off at home after cheerleading practice. He had to
hurry home and watch his little cousins, so he couldn’t stay, but he did give
her a quick kiss, promising to be on-line later.
Rose walked
slowly towards the front door, checking the mailbox first to see if there was
anything in it. The front door was unlocked, so she went inside, surprised that
her mother was home so early two days in a row.
"Mom?"
Rose called, poking her head into the main living room.
"Over here,
Rose." Ruth was standing in front of the coffee table in the sitting room,
opening a large box.
"What’s
going on? You’re not usually home so early." Rose went to stand beside her
mother.
"Things
have been a little slow at work lately, and my new assistant is more than
competent, so I’ve been able to come home a little early." She pried open
the box flaps, digging through the packing material and shaking her head.
"What’s
wrong?" Rose frowned, hoping that it had nothing to do with Cal.
She sighed in
relief as Ruth answered. "This is not what I ordered, and it’s the second
time this company has sent me the wrong merchandise. I think I’ll get my money
back and not patronize them anymore."
Rose looked in
the box, wrinkling her nose at the garish pattern on the china dinnerware
inside. It definitely was not her mother’s taste.
Ruth closed the
box again and pushed it aside. "Oh, Rose, I just remembered. About those
tickets you won to that concert…"
"Yes?"
Rose tried not to look too hopeful.
"I called
the radio station and confirmed that you and Jack had won. It turns out that
the cost of the hotel and airfare are included—Friday, November sixteenth,
through Sunday November eighteenth. I know how much you kids want to go, so
I’ve decided to accompany you for the weekend. That is, if Jack’s aunt and
uncle give their permission for him to go."
Rose’s eyes lit
up. "They did. They said that he could go as long as we have a chaperone.
Thanks, Mom!"
"There is
one thing, Rose."
"What’s
that?"
"You and
Jack are not sharing a hotel room. I’ll be paying for my own airfare and
room—I’ve already made reservations—so Jack will have his own room, and you
will share with me."
"That’s
fine, Mom." Rose hadn’t wanted to admit it, but the though of sharing a
hotel room with any guy, even Jack, made her nervous. "This is so
cool!" Jumping up and down, she executed one of her cheerleading moves, almost
crashing into an antique chair.
"Rose, I’m
glad you’re happy, but please take your cartwheels outside where you can’t
break anything."
Rose headed for
the stairs. "I’m going to go call Jack. This is great! Thanks again,
Mom."
Ruth laughed as
Rose’s feet thumped on the stairs, happy to see her daughter in a good mood
again.