All Time Low

All Time Low-Back In The Good Old Days Chapter 9

“Rosie, calm down. She’s just traumatised after the crash, that’s all,” my voice was laced with sincerity but as hard as I tried to escape the topic of the crash, there was no way out. It was an elephant in the room.

The tension in the cramped room increased as Jack stared blankly at me; he hadn’t shown any emotion except self-hatred clearly plastered across his face, he held himself responsible for what happened. His tired eyes looked tormented like he had been kept in a prison cell over night, normally bright and youthful they seemed old, like they had lived through years of tough times and experienced them first hand.

“Can, can I…um speak to Alex and Jack please. Alone,” my hands were shaking and my voice was faltering, I had to face this nightmare, before I chickened out and this got out of control. Slowly people started to shuffle out of the small room in silence but Rosie hung back.

“Are you sure you’re ok? I mean that was a bad crash, you are lucky to be alive!” Rosie’s worried voice was quiet but Alex and Jack could still hear us clearly since everyone had moved out. I glanced over at the boys, Jack’s eyes were glazed over and fixed to the floor whilst Alex’s were staring down a wall. A soft hand gently held onto my shoulder, paint specks dotted her hands and clay rimmed the underneath of her nails.

Rosie was always amazing at art but as she grew older her creativity matured with her. In high school she was constantly told that she wouldn’t make it into an art academy,  that she wasn’t talented enough to even apply. Regularly reminded that she would be better off as a model, Rosie used to just ignore them until she met Zack, now he fights for her. They’ve been dating for six years. She relies on him now, Rosie got a definite scholarship to the New York Arts Academy. Since she’s only 17 like me, she’ll have to wait until next year to officially start at NYAA.

“Rosie, this isn’t my first near death experience so why do you still worry about me? I’m fine! I can cope,” she pushed strands of my black hair off my shoulder to reveal a long dark purple scar running along my skin and down my back. Her finger traced over the evidence of my abuse, the sides of her mouth fell and her eyes looked emotionless.

“Why do you let him do this to you? Come and live with me instead, like that time you snuck out and slept on my bedroom floor for a week or that time we camped out in the Music department in school, behind all the instruments. Please Vaila, I just want you to be safe,” Rosie’s desperate pleas were useless, as tears started pouring down her checks the despair glimmering in her face.

“Rosie what happened after I slept over that week? Huh, he came after me! He threatened to burn the house down with all of us in it. He would have killed you. I’m not going to risk it again! I’m sorry, I need you in my life too much to just let you get hurt,” her tears splashed against my scraped arm, leaving tiny puddles on my bandaged wrists. I stretched my hand up to rub away the pain from her eyes but she flinched backwards.

“And what about them, huh?” Rosie threw her arm in Alex and Jack’s general direction. “You barely know them, I understand Alex and Jack are nice guys but why do you trust them? It takes you ages to put your faith in other people but it took you how long to grab your phone and call up Jack in the middle of the night to come and scrap you off the pub floor? Why, Vaila, why? Can’t you just leave them alone so that they don’t get into trouble? I don’t want Zack to start on drugs and drinking and all this crap you have going on in your life!” It broke her heart to have to say that but it was the truth. Whenever she had to say something like that the world always looked greyer, felt darker. She doesn’t always have to bring it up but this was a normal conversation subject for us since I’ve been in the hospital countless times.