MORE THAN THAT
Chapter Twenty-Four
January 21, 2004
During the weekend of Rose’s
final fight with Cal, she stayed with Christina. When asked what had happened
to her by Christina’s parents, she dismissed it as a fight from school. They were
somewhat surprised that she was even there, not having seen her visit in over a
year. However, no questions were asked, and they let it go.
As for explaining it to her
parents, she said the same thing. They were also surprised to hear that she was
with Christina. Her explanation was that they had begun speaking again,
realizing what great friends they were, and would probably spend more time
together. The only thing they were suspicious about was the fight at school.
Rose never got into fights, but they weren’t going to question her.
They told her that Cal had called
the whole weekend, but she ignored them. She went straight up to her room and
destroyed everything but the diamond he had given her. Her parents asked why
she had done that, and she said that she had broken up with him, even though
she hadn’t told him that yet. All she did was avoid him.
Her time was spent with Christina
and Jack, for the most part. Christina, however, would drift off into thinking
about Tommy and sit in silence. Rose and Jack, on the other hand, had a
marvelous time together. She wished she had gotten to know him better earlier
in the school year, rather than ignoring him.
Now it was Wednesday and she had
to go to school for her history midterm. She was glad that at least Christina
and Jack were in her class. Cal wouldn’t be there, since he was a senior and
they only went in for AP midterms, which he was only taking three of. Her
mother had been taking her to school, since she wasn’t taking anything from Cal
anymore.
"What exam do you have
tomorrow, Rose?" her mother asked as she drove.
"Pre-Calculus," she
said. At first, she was going to abbreviate it, but then realized what it
abbreviated to. Pre-Cal, she thought, when my life was normal.
She could barely remember what her life had been like.
"Seriously, Rose, what went
wrong between you and Cal?" her mother asked.
"I felt suffocated. That’s
all. I’m only sixteen. I can’t be tied down now. He wanted too much from
me." Ruth smiled at her daughter and placed a hand on her cheek.
"You two weren’t having sex,
were you?" Rose’s jaw dropped at the question as Ruth stopped in front of
the school.
"Mother!"
"I’m sorry. Ignore me, and
good luck!" Ruth said, and kissed her daughter on the cheek. Rose got her
stuff and slowly got out of the car. She rubbed her ribs a little, still
feeling the pain.
As soon as she got out the car,
Jennifer Green rushed up to her and start chatting away about Cal. Rose rolled
her eyes, not wanting to hear it at all. She could only imagine what Cal had
been saying.
"Oh, my God! Rose, you have
no idea how much Cal misses you! He wants to know why you have been avoiding
him!" Jennifer kept rambling on and on. Rose couldn’t take it anymore. She
had no idea why she had ever hung around with this girl. She turned to face
Jennifer and unleashed her anger.
"Blah, blah, blah, blah,
blah! That’s all I fucking hear! Why don’t you shut the fuck up?" Rose
yelled, not caring who heard, and walked into the school with a smile on her
face.
*****
Jack spoke to a sad Christina,
who was seated next to him in the classroom. He was glad that Rose was starting
to warm up to him, but he didn’t like to see Christina still so heartbroken.
Christina had told him not to worry. Rose’s dilemma was much more serious, she
had told him. He sighed and watched as she continued to stare at Tommy on the
other side of the room. He hadn’t even looked at them or gone up to speak to
Fabrizio or Hannah.
"What’s up his ass?"
Fabrizio asked.
"Yeah. He won’t even talk to
Fabri or me," Hannah said.
"It’d be too awkward,"
Christina mumbled. "It’s all my fault!" Christina put her head on the
desk.
"Chris, don’t say
that!" Hannah said, trying to comfort her.
"Are you okay,
Christina?" They all turned to see Rose there. It brought a smile to
Jack’s face, but Fabrizio and Hannah looked puzzled.
"Since when does Christina
ever concern you?" Hannah asked rudely.
"It’s okay, Hannah. Rose is
just being a friend," Christina said.
"Yeah? Since when?"
Fabrizio asked with a laugh.
"Since now," Rose
answered, and smiled at Christina. Jack smiled at Rose with loving eyes while
she wasn’t looking.
"I’m fine, Rose. I’m
actually more concerned about you. How have you been holding up?"
Christina asked.
"I feel like I can finally
breathe," Rose said, and took a seat behind Jack. Jack turned around to
smile at her, the only thing he could manage to do. "Thank you, Jack.
You’re great!" she said, and kissed his cheek. Jack’s face turned bright
red.
Oh, boy! How am I going to
concentrate now?
*****
"How do you think you
did?" Jack asked Rose as they left the room.
"I suppose I did good.
Christina made me hit the books last night! That girl really loves
history!" Rose said.
"Damn straight I do. Plus,
how else were we going to get our troubles off our minds?" Christina
jumped into the conversation.
"Excuse me, Rose, but why
aren’t you with Cal?" Fabrizio flat-out asked.
"Yeah. He is usually
hounding you!" Hannah added.
"If you’d really like to
know, it’s because I dumped the asshole!" Rose said happily.
"Does it have anything to do
with that fading bruise around your eye?" Fabrizio asked, and Christina
nudged him.
"It’s okay, Chris. Yes, it
does!"
"Can we talk about something
else? Like how Rose will be hanging out with us more?" Jack asked.
"Definitely! I’m so sick of
that stuck-up crowd. I never really fit in with them. They talk about the same
shit all the time," Rose said.
"Hey, Fabri, Hannah,"
Tommy said as he quietly passed by and walked over to his locker.
"Hey, man! Why don’t you
come over here? Stop making yourself an outcast!" Fabrizio yelled over to
his friend.
"I’m fine where I am!"
Tommy yelled back.
"Um…go talk to him. It’s
okay with me. It’s Jack and me he is mad at!" Christina said to Fabrizio.
"Are you sure?" Hannah
asked.
"Yeah. I’m actually going to
go home and write more sappy poetry," Christina said.
"All right. Later,
guys!" Fabrizio said, Hannah tagging along.
"Let’s get out of
here," Christina said.
"Great idea! Hey, who wants
to go get something to eat?" Jack asked.
"I do! I’m famished!"
Rose said.
"Ditto!" Christina
yelled.
"Ditto? What is this word,
ditto?" Jack asked.
"Are you freaking kidding
me? You never heard the word ditto?" Christina asked in shock. "Rose,
please do tell this kid what ditto means before I go madly insane!"
"The word ditto is used when
something was previously mentioned and used to avoid repeating the sentence or
whatever!" The girls laughed.
"Oh, I get it now!"
Jack said.
"Let’s use examples! I have
a shitty life!" Christina said.
"Ditto!" Rose and Jack said
at the same time, laughing.
"I like fried chicken!"
Jack said, using an example of his own.
"Ditto!" both girls
said.
"I think Brad Pitt is so
hot!" Rose practically drooled when she stated her example.
"Ditto!" Jack and
Christina said. The girls laughed at Jack, who began to scratch his head when
he realized what he had said.
"Bad example!" Jack
said. He grabbed Rose around the waist and began to tickle her as they walked
outside the school. Rose giggled, but stopped when she saw Cal standing there,
watching them.
"Oh, shit!" Rose
muttered.
"Do you wanna take another
way out?" Christina asked.
"No. I’m fine," Rose
answered.
"Sure?" Jack asked.
"Positive. I won’t let him
taunt me. I have to confront him now, or it’ll never happen."
"I got your back, girl! I
swear, if he tries anything, I’ll take out a cancleta!" Christina said.
"It’s okay, Christina. He
only likes to treat me like shit in private places. This is too public for
him." Rose sighed as she stepped over to the monster.
"What are you doing here,
Cal? You don’t have an exam today!"
"I was waiting for you,
Sweetpea. I should really be the one asking what you are doing with that gutter
rat and spic!" Cal yelled loud enough for them to hear. Christina got
angry and was about to run down the stairs to attack him, but Jack held her
back.
"They are more human then
you’ll ever be! Oh, and I hate the name Sweetpea! I’m not a fucking vegetable!
It’s over, Cal! I don’t want you to look at me, call me…nothing! I am sick of
you and the way you treat me!"
"Rose, I’m sorry. I can
change! I never meant to do those things!" Cal looked as if though he was
going to cry.
"Save the bullshit for
another dumb girl! I’m not dealing with you anymore except this once. From now
on, you stay away from me. You no longer exist to me, and none of the memories
we share exist, either. We can make a deal that you never attempt to call me or
whatever it is that you want from me, and in return I’ll keep silent about all
the times you’ve hit me. Your actions don’t need to come to light, since you
are the son of Nathan Hockley. Think of how it’d upset him!"
"Rose, please. I love you!
You are precious to me!" Cal continued to plead.
"Jewels are precious!
Good-bye, Cal," Rose said, and walked away, Christina and Jack behind her.
Cal kept his eyes locked on their
backs, an evil smirk forming. There was no way he was going to let Rose get
away so easily.