ROSES

Chapter 1

Chapter 1 –– Departure

When the previous night she said those three words, she thought that the same feelings were going to be reciprocated. But she was wrong, as always.

"I'm so in love with you, I can barely breath, Karlie. And I'm sorry, I really am, but I can't help it anymore. I can't contain it anymore. I––I'm in love with you, I've always been, and I love you, I love you so much that it hurts," she said, while pacing around the college room that she shares with the taller girl. Karlie stared at her for a moment, and Taylor sat on the couch, fingers tangled in her blonde locks.

"Taylor, I..." Karlie tried to reply, but she didn't know what to say. She kneeled in front of the girl, who sat there crying, and she tried to push her hands off her face. "I'm sorry, I don't know what to say. I'm...speechless," she said. Taylor shook her head and shook off Karlie's hands from her knees.

"So, you don't feel the same?" she asked.

Karlie opened her mouth to say something. "I–– I didn't say that," she defended herself. "I––"

"I need a quick answer," Taylor said, before standing up and walking quickly to the door. "Do you feel the same? Yes or no,"

Karlie stood up, her arms limp by her sides. Does she feel the same? Does she love her best friend, Taylor? And then, she said the words. "No, I don't feel the same. I'm sorry,"

But her apologies reached a closed door.

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She doesn't know how she got here, or what pushed her to do something like this, but now she was in a plane directed to Syria.

"I have a crazy idea," she said to the headmistress of the college. "I'm joining the army," she continued. She sighs, checking her phone and finding out she has received four messages from the younger girl.

Taylor, please, answer me. I'm worried. Where are you? Are you with Miranda? I need to know. Please.

Taylor, answer me. I need answers.

Taylor, where are you?

At least tell me that you're okay and you're somewhere safe. I need to know that you're safe and sound, Taylor.

She sighs again, and just like that, her plane landed. She picks her suitcases up, and she gets off the plane. All that she sees around her is sand and an empty desert.

Why did I come here?

"Hi, you must be?" a black haired man asks, extending his hand to her.

"Taylor," she says. "Taylor Swift. I'm here for voluntary work in the army," she adds smiling.

He smiles, and with a nod of his head, he leads her to a tent. There are two men and a woman in there, and they all give her a skeptical look, checking her out from head to toe.

"Guys, this is Taylor. She will be here for six months, like others, and she is here to work as a volunteer," he says, before exiting the tent. Taylor offers a close lipped smile to them, before placing her things in one of the empty beds.

"Hi," she says simply, waving at the girl next to her. She smiles lightly, and she says something similar to her.

"Hi,"

The girl was really short, shorter than Taylor, and she has black short hair. Her eyes were green, and something in them makes Taylor think of Karlie's. "What's your name?" she asks quietly.

"Cristina," she replies. She adds nothing to that, and Taylor finds herself playing awkwardly with the hem of her shirt.

"Why are you here?" Cristina asks suddenly. Taylor's head perks up with wide eyes, and she opens her mouth, but then the girl adds,"I don't mean it in a bad way,"

"No, I know," Taylor laughs. "I'm here because I wanted to run away from where I was. And I had this impulse inside of me, telling me to do something good in my life. So I came here," she smiles, and Cristina nodds. "And you? Why are you here?"

Cristina frowns. "My dad obliged me," she says lowly.

"Oh," Taylor says. "Why? If I can ask," she adds.

Cristina nodds, and she crosses her arms around her chest. "He said I shouldn't have born. He didn't want to do anything with me, so he forced me to join the army," she explains, sighing. "But now I'm used to it, so,"

Taylor nods and sighs. Cristina smiles slightly, and then she chuckles for no particular reason.

"You have to know something about soldiers," she says smiling.

Taylor smiles, too. "What?"

"A grenade can destroy a soldier, but love, oh, love––it can shatter a soldier."

A/N: Hi! So, this is my first story in English, and it's not my first language so I'm sorry for any mistakes. Like and comments are appreciated :)))

Thanks!!