A Child Named Loveless Preview (Chapter 3)

Chapter 3 - The Tower (Part 4/4)

It was nearly five minutes before anyone attempted to form any words.

"I-it's like some sort of hurricane." Erica shivered.

Neither of them had lived through a hurricane before, but they'd seen news stories. That was when Rose realized something.

"Erica...do you...really think we can do this?"

Rose looked down at the ground, eyes wide with fear.

"That thing...the tower, if it's causing this...I mean, people could die. People die when...I mean, in storms like this...have you ever..."

"No." Erica interrupted her abruptly. It was so sudden, that Rose felt she needed to look up at her.

Erica's gaze was intense as their eyes met and very unwavering.

"No, I don't know if we'll be able to make any sort of difference. We're junior high school students. I mean, we're not supposed to do this sort of thing. Adults are supposed to do this sort of thing. Not school kids."

Their heavy breathing was beginning to slow,

"I don't normally care too much about other people." She admitted, "I know that sounds cruel, but that's how it is." The back of her head hit the wall and she closed her eyes. She was silent a moment, but Rose didn't dare say anything until she knew Erica was done speaking.

"I'm fourteen." She spoke again, "Not even fifteen yet."

"When's your birthday?" Rose asked her quietly.

It was stupid and they both knew it. Why should it matter when her birthday was? But Erica answered anyways because maybe they needed something that wasn't the storm and wasn't the tower at the moment.

"June thirtieth."

Rose looked up at her abruptly.

"That's my birthday."

Their eyes met again, and then they looked away. It was clear then that they weren't simply imagining all these strange oddities as more seemed to pile up.

"Of course, it is." Erica murmured. She took out her ponytail and ran a hand through her wet hair before tying it back up again.

"I don't suppose your parents abandoned you too because you're a lesbian and you just moved in with your aunt?"

Rose shook her head,

"No. My parents abandoned me a long time ago. I never knew either of them."

Erica looked over at her. Rose drew in a shuddering breath. They might die today. At any moment, the storm might lay claim to their lives and maybe no one would ever know. Maybe her aunt would remain lost for good and all of this would be for nothing.

But still...

"My mother was a wild child, apparently." Rose wrapped her arms around her knees, "She wasn't always like that. Aunt Violet said she was such a kind girl when she attended school here. But then, when she was in high school, she fell in with the wrong crowd, I guess. She and her mum, my grandma would have these shouting matches with each other. Until she finally left. She went to live in Winnipeg. She never called or...or tried to contact anyone. But she came back to Deer Springs, five months pregnant. She abandoned me a week after she gave birth to me. People still talk about it around here, you know? It's like I have this reputation...even though I haven't done anything."

Erica regarded her for a while, then drew in a deep breath.

"I can't say I completely understand. But I know what it's like to be saddled with a reputation, you know. Because of things you can't really control and all."

Rose nodded but didn't look up at her.

"I don't really have any friends." She said, "At least, not here. People know you know? They talk about it a lot. Or, you know, their parents do, and then the kids hear the whispers from them and..." She grew silent, "It's my name."

"Your name?" Erica scrunched her forehead, "Rose?"

Rose shook her head,

"My mother named me, but when my aunt was granted custody, she changed it. My name was Loveless."

"Loveless." Erica repeated.

It might have been, perhaps, the most terrible word to ever be spoken. A curse that had plagued Rose all her life. People uttered it under their breath when they wanted to hurt her. To really hurt her. That was what had started the bullying in school when she was younger. A child overhearing their parents discussing what had happened.

As though it were the child's fault that their mother had hated them so fully to name them by such a cursed word. As though that were Dahlia Summer's final wish for her daughter, that she would never find love in her life because she was the cause of her misery.

"A rose by any other name smells just as sweet." Erica said, "Wouldn't it be strange if Shakespeare had known somehow, in the past, that there would be someone named Rose who had once been called Loveless? I think those words fit you nicely."

Rose felt her face grow hot,

"What's that supposed to mean? That's so weird." Rose denied, turning away from her.

"Why can't it be true?" Erica asked her, "You're more a Rose than anything else, right? It sounds like, your Aunt Violet was more a mother than the woman that gave birth to you. Don't give that woman power over you like that. She doesn't deserve it."

It was difficult to respond to her speech. One couldn't simply heal such a deep wound over the course of a few minutes.

"We need to keep moving." Erica said, getting up off the floor.

The spot she had been sitting in was wet now, Rose could see where she'd been sitting.

"I don't know if we'll be able to do this." Erica admitted, "And to be frank, I'm doing this for Granny. I'm not doing this for anyone else. I'm not a superhero, and I don't plan on pretending I am. If other people could see that thing, we'd know, because people would be there. Granny couldn't see it either. I'm doing this for her." Erica said, "And I'm guessing you're doing it for her too. Her and your aunt. I'm scared. Maybe I'm even acting stupid right now for even considering doing this. But I'm still going to try."

Rose got up, she swallowed hard and nodded her head.

Neither of them could quit just yet. They needed to get to the tower.

"We'll walk another three blocks." Erica told her.

Rose gave another nod, then Erica opened the door of the garage and they both ran outside. Their hands found each other again. This time, their grip had tightened. Before they'd held on gently and with a certain reluctance that suggested they wanted to let go as soon as possible. But now their fingers were interlaced and their grasp was as firm as their resolve.

They would make it to the tower.

They had to.

Whoo! So, that's chapter three from my book, A Child Named Loveless. I'm so happy it's finally out on Amazon! This crazy story was so much fun to write.

I'm one of those weird people who laughs and cries at their own thoughts, so you can imagine all the fun I had with this one.

Rose x Erica forever!

Keep your eyes peeled for more updates and sneak peeks of my books!