NOW & FOREVER
Chapter Fifteen
"Rose! Rose, hang on a minute!"
Jack rushed up to her, cutting her off before she could escape into the crowd.
A few people turned to stare. Rose ducked her
head, hoping that no one would report back to her mother the fact that she had
been talking to Jack at school.
"Rose, what’s going on? I’ve been trying
to get your attention all day."
Rose looked around quickly, then slipped
around the corner into an empty hallway. She had managed to avoid talking to
him all day, first by staying with her friends, and then by pretending to be
deeply concentrating on her studies or on the game they were playing in PE.
It had been easy to avoid him for the first
week after her mother had forbidden her to see him—he had been out of school on
suspension, and she didn’t know his exact address or his phone number, so she
had an excuse not to call him. Now, though, she would have to think of a way to
keep him away from her. She liked him, and didn’t want to hurt him, but she had
no choice.
"I can’t see you," she told him,
glancing around anxiously lest someone see them talking and report her to her
mother or to one of her friends.
"Why not?" Jack looked confused. He
had thought that she was warming to him, but perhaps he had been wrong.
"I…I just can’t."
"If you’ve got a boyfriend, Rose, I’m not
going to try to steal you from him. I just want to be friends."
"I know…I…there’s no boyfriend, Jack. I
just…I can’t see you."
"Why?"
"I…I just can’t, is all." She
couldn’t tell him what her mother had said, or what would happen if someone saw
them talking. She couldn’t hurt him.
It seemed that she was going to hurt him
anyway, though. "Why?" he asked, a hint of anger entering his voice.
"Did you decide that I’m a gutter rat after all?"
"No! I just…Jack, I just can’t see you.
Please try to understand."
He stared at her for a moment, running a hand
through his already messy hair. "Fine. Whatever." He turned and
walked away.
"Jack, I’m sorry!"
"Save it, Rose. I should have known
better than to trust you. You’re no different from the other members of your crowd."
He walked out the door, slamming it behind him.
Rose stared after him, her eyes brimming with
tears. She hadn’t wanted to hurt him, but it seemed that she had anyway. But
what else could she have done? She didn’t have a choice.