Rosemary and Juliet

German Day

Rosemary

She couldn't imagine she was the best person to be around in the weeks following Nathan's death, and for that very reason, she found herself pushing everyone, including Juliet, away. For the most part, she found her voice in GSA. The first meeting after Nathan's death made that easy for her to do.

"Today, we're going to have a support group meeting, especially in light of recent events. Which means we sit around in a circle on the floor and talk about our feelings, our lives, etcetera. We're a family, here. We've got to be there for each other," the club president (Hallie) said, motioning for everyone to join her in the center of the room.

They sat down, and for the most part, they talked about Nathan. This was one of the meetings that Juliet couldn't make it to, and Rosemary was sad that she couldn't have been there, but maybe it was good for them.

They shared stories and memories, and it was just refreshing. Being honest, crying with people, laughing about the things that had happened . . . It really was a family.

The next meeting was different.

"Here are some articles written about the three murders that have happened," Hallie began after everyone introduced themselves. "The school newspaper has asked us if we would write an editorial for them to publish, give the situation some voice. What we're going to do is break into groups of five, and every group will get a certain topic to write about. We'll take all five pieces and put it together into an article to turn in. Are you up for it?"

Rosemary practically jumped out of her seat to get started. Juliet was at this one, so Rosemary pulled her, Dhvani, Caleb, and Seth into her group. Seth didn't come often, but it was always nice when he did. They were assigned the legal aspect, because everyone knew they had inside information.

"Well, are you guys ready for this?" Rosemary asked, grabbing a notebook out of her bag.

Their piece was finished just in time, and Rosemary felt confident about it. Reading it in the next week's paper was extremely rewarding, and the other groups did amazing as well.

****

That was life for the rest of February, and pouring into March. Well, that and boring Ryan with the details, of course. He never seemed to mind it, though.

On the twelfth, it came time for Rose to get up the courage to ask him what had been on her mind since the beginning of freshman year, though. They walked together after sixth hour, and she accompanied him to his locker. Everything else was going wrong, but maybe this . . . Maybe?

"Ryan, I've been wanting to ask you something for a while now," Rosemary began, stopping him for a moment. "See, you're just a really great friend. I don't know what I would do without you. You listen to me, you calm me down on the days that are . . . worse than others."

"Rosemary, what's going on? Are you okay?"

"Leave me alone, Ryan." She had sat alone at lunch that day for a reason.

"Okay." He sat next to her instead.

She didn't have to say anything, just buried her face in her hands and cried. She felt alone. He wasn't going to let her be, though.

"Well, what I'm trying to say is that, you keep me in check just by simply being, and that's a pretty rough thing to do, you know? So, I guess what I'm trying to say is, will you be my moirail?"

He looked at her in mild confusion for a moment before replying, "Rosemary, I don't understand Homestuck - "

"Right. Of course. No, what was I thinking?" she laughed, turning away. "Sorry, this was dumb." Before he could say a word, she rushed off to GSA.