Your Secret Admirer: The Love Games Sequel

Julia Gets a Buzzcut....

Chapter 21:

Rose.

There was noise all around me. Smiling faces surrounded me. Julia and Tommy. Matt and Haley. Soon there would be Krista and Drew and I would still be alone. And that's how it would always be. I couldn't afford to hurt the people I cared about most, but the only way to protect them was to leave. To leave and never come back. I looked at the way Julia's eyes lit up when she talked to Tommy. I noticed the small smile that spread across Haley's face at the mere mention of Matt's name. So did they really need me here? They had other people that made them happy and they had each other. I sighed, standing up. "Where are you going?" Julia asks, looking at me with skeptical eyes.

I hesitated. Sometimes I felt transparent around her and Haley. Like they could see my every thought written on my forehead. Julia seemed to be more aware that something was going on with me. Part of me thought about telling her. If anyone could keep a secret, even from her best friends, it was Julia. But I didn't want to burden her and I didn't want to make her do that. Asking her to keep something from Haley and everyone else... I knew she would, but I didn't want her to.

"To scrape my tray and go to the bathroom." I say, trying my hardest not to act like I was thinking about leaving them. I turn before I give myself away, carrying my tray to the trash can and grabbing the lavatory pass. I stride out of the cafeteria and into the bathroom, sinking against the wall as soon as the door is closed. No one else is in here and I'm grateful for my moment alone. My moment of silence. I take deep, steady breaths, trying to calm myself down.

C'mon, Rose. You don't have time for an emotional breakdown. I chide myself. I straighten myself up and look in the mirror, making sure I look normal. Or as normal as I can look. Surprisingly, it seems like the emotional turmoil that's been making its way through me has not affected my facial features. My eyes are emotionless, giving nothing away. I offer my reflection a slight smile before walking back to our lunch table.

I blend right back in with my friends. They don't stop their conversing, and I join back in easily. This is the way it's always been. I notice Aaron glancing at someone two tables away. I fix my eyes on the person. I see a girl with long, wavy brown hair with blonde highlights and striking blue-green eyes with flecks of brown. She was one of the smart girls. Jenna. I didn't speak up and tell him I noticed the way he was looking at her. He used to look at Julia that way. He liked her.

Even though I hadn't been as close to him lately, I wanted to talk to him about this. I wanted him to tell me. The curiosity was eating away at me, but I knew I couldn't say anything right now, at least. Julia and Aaron were practically best friends now, but I wasn't sure if she still had a sore spot about him breaking up with her.

Krista.

"Drew, where are we going?" I complain as he leads me up another flight of stairs.

"You'll love it." Is his only response.

I scowl at the back of his head. We go up another flight of stairs and come to a door. He puts his hand on the doorknob before looking back to me. "You ready?"

I narrow my eyes at him. "Did you bring me up here so you could kill me?"

He rolls his eyes at me. "No. God, Krista, I'm trying to be a nice boy-- uh, nice friend here."

Drew opens the door and it swings open to reveal something I didn't know Drew was capable of. Dozens of flowers and plants are up here with sweet scented candles and in the center is a table with a picnic basket on top set for two. "How did you--"

He cuts me off. "I present to you, the school's rooftop garden." My mouth falls open and he offers me an impish grin that quickly vanishes. "I mean, if you don't like it, then we can leave... I just thought that girls liked... You know.."