Fallen *Rosénali*

One

I grunt as I lift the box into my arms. Just a few more boxes and I'll be officially moved into my new apartment. I place the box down onto the cart beside me. Grabbing the last few boxes, I roll the cart into the building, entering the elevator. I hit the number six and start to move up the building. The elevator dings and I pull the cart out of it, with a slight struggle because of the heavy boxes on top. I pull in down the hallway, moving to apartment six. I get my keys out of my pocket, open my door, and start pulling the cart again, only for it to get stuck in the doorway. I start tugging at it with a struggle, and sigh at how over today I am.

"Need some help there?" I hear a voice near me. I look up to see a blonde girl, with a bright smile. "I think I've got it, but thank you," I say, smiling back at her. I begin to tug on the cart again, but it wont budge. "Here," the girl says, placing herself in front on the cart. She lifts up one of the wheels and pushing forward, allowing it to move. I pull it into my apartment the rest of the way.

"Hey, thank you," I tell her, "I really thought I had it on my own," I laugh. "It's not problem," she laughs back. "I'm guessing by the boxes, you're new here?" The girl asks. "I am, I just moved here from Chicago," I tell her. "That's quite a trip, what made you move to New York?" She asks. "A new job, I'm actually a dance instructor at Dance Til' Dawn a few blocks away," I tell her.

"No way! My friend Lemon owns that studio!" She excitedly says. "Yeah, I actually talked to her on the phone, she seems great!" I excitedly say back. "Speaking of names, what's yours?" The blonde asks. "I'm Denali," I announce, putting my hand out to shake. "I'm Rosé, yes like the wine," she laughs, shaking my hand. "Well it's nice to me you, Rosé," I laugh at her wine comment. "It's nice to meet you too, Denali," she says, flashing her smile again.

"Hey this might sound like a super weird question, but do you have any friends here yet?" Rosé asks, still standing in my doorway. "Well considering its only my first day here, I'm gonna go with a hard no," I giggle. She giggles back, "I probably could've figured that out. Well I'm actually performing at the bar downstairs with my girl group tonight, and I didn't know if maybe you wanted to come? Lemon will be there and another girl who lives down the hall too, her name is Olivia," Rosé suggests to me. "Yeah that sounds great! What time?" I ask her. "We'll be on at 8, but maybe get there at 7 so I can introduce you to everyone," she smiles again.

"Let me put my number in your phone so you can text me when you get there, and its just the bar right next to the building on the left," she says. I nod and hand her my phone. She quickly types her number in and hands it back. "I have to get to work now, but I'll see you tonight! Nice to meet you Denali!" Rosé says, running down the hallway. I laugh, "Nice you met you too!"

I shut my door and look at my apartment covered in boxes. I sigh and lean against the door. I hear my phone start ringing in my pocket, I take it out and see my best friend from Chicago, Kahmora, calling me. "It's only been a day and I miss you already," Kahmora says the second I answer her call. I laugh, "Even when I was in Chicago you wouldn't see me everyday." "Yeah but I just like knowing I can," she laughs. "How's NYC so far?" She asks.

"I literally haven't done anything except move my boxes into my apartment," I tell her. "Although I did meet one of my neighbors, her name is Rosé," I finish. "Rosé? Like the wine? Sounds kinda hot actually," Kahmora says. "Yeah, shes actually really cute, but I can't tell if I'm her type, if you know what I mean," I tell her. "Well what happened?" She asks, so I tell her what happened, how she knows Lemon; how she invited me out tonight; and how she gave me her number.

"Oh she totally thinks you're cute! That's why she invited you out tonight!" Kahmora says excitedly. "You didn't even meet her! You can't know this!" I laugh. "Bitch, I just know," she says. She does have a point, Kahmora does just kind of know these things. "Even if you still can't tell, you can still go out and meet people! There are tons of single men AND women in New York, and you can snag one to help you unpack," Kahmora adds. I laugh hard at her comments, "It's true and you know it! I have to go now but I wanted to make sure everything is okay!" Kahmora says. "Bye Kahmora, I'll talk to you later," I say, hanging up the phone.

I guess Kahmora does have a point. Rosé did invite me out only after one two-minute conversation, maybe she does think I'm cute? I feel myself smile a little bit at the thought of her. I shake it off, and start to unpack some of my necessities.

*

I quickly text Rosé letting her know I'm about to leave, and take one last look in the mirror. My blonde wavy hair is tied back with a dark blue scrunchie that matches my crop top. I pull my black shorts down a little bit by my thigh, and grab the pair of little black heel boots and head out the door after grabbing a small clutch purse. I head down the elevator and walk through the lobby and out the doors. I look the to the left where Rosé said to go, and see a familiar figure standing outside the car.

"Hey Denali!" Rosé waves at me. I wave back and start to walk towards her, noticing she has a different hair color than this morning. "You're hair is different," I laugh. She laughs back and starts, "It's a wig. Us as a group have assigned colors, mine is pink." She points at her hair and I giggle. "C'mon, everyone is already here," she says, smiling. She grabs my hand and tugs me into the bar. As she grabs my hand, I feel heat rise to my cheeks, but I do my best to hide it since I just met her this morning.

"Hey guys!" Rosé shouts, and I see two girls up head turn around and wave from their table. One girl has bright yellow hair and a matching yellow bomber, and the other has a curly light red afro, gorgeous darker skin, and its wearing a black tank top. "This is Denali! Lem, she's actually working for you," Rosé says as we arrive at the table. "Oh yeah! It's nice to meet you, I'm excited to see you at work!" The yellow haired girl says, who I'm assuming is Lemon. "I'm Olivia, I actually live in apartment two, down the hall from you," the other girl says. I smile and shake both of their hands.

I sit with the girls and make some small talk, getting to know each other. I don't even notice Rosé leaving. Sometime later, I see three girls walk on the stage, and recognize the pink one as Rosé. "Hi everyone! I'm Rosé, this is Lagoona," she says pointing to the blue one, "and this is Jan!" Pointing to the purple one, "We are Stephanie's Child!" Everyone claps. "Please enjoy the show!" Jan says.

The girls start singing, and I'm immediately captivating by their voices, especially Rosés. Her range is insane, and her voice is just beautiful. The girls sing three songs, Candy Store, Shallow, and finish with Landslide, which was breathtaking. The girls exit the stage and quickly come back to our table, pulling up three chairs.

"What did you guys think?" Jan asks, very excited. "Gorgeous as always," Lemon says sarcastically with a huge smile on her face. Jan slaps her arm and laughs. "Oh I'm sorry! We haven't introduced ourselves! I'm Lagoona," Lagoona says extending her hand across the table to me. "Hi, I'm Denali! And I thought the show was really good!" I return the enthusiasm, shaking her hand. "Thank you! See that's how you tell someone they did good!" Jan says to Lemon, making the rest of us laugh. "I'm gonna go grab a drink, anyone want something?" Rosé asks, getting up from the table. I think about going with her, but decide to stay with the others. Jan and Lagoona tell Rosé their orders and Rosé leaves.

"So Denali, what brings you to New York? Rosé told us you're from Chicago?" Lagoona asks. The mention of Rosé talking about me sends a chill through my body. "Well I'm actually a choreographer who is working for Lemon! Chicago is great, but my career wasn't going anywhere," I shrug. Lemon smiles, "She's starting in two weeks, and I'm so excited for you to start. I know I said it on the phone, but your work is amazing," Lemon says with enthusiasm. I smile at the kindness. "I'm really excited to start a new life! It sucks leaving everyone in Chicago, but this will be a nice fresh start," I smile at the group. "Well, at least to the start of this new life you have a new group of friends," Olivia says. I smile again, feeling true joy.

"Oh, look who showed up," Jan says, rolling her eyes in the direction of the bar. Lagoona turns her head, "She really can't go five minutes without seeing him can she?" I look in the same direction and see Rosé talking to a blonde boy. "Who's that?" I ask. "That's Eddie, Rosés new boyfriend," Lemon mutters. The feeling of true joy quickly sinks.

So I guess I'm really not her type.