Rosa

chap. 1

*Chapter not finished*

I can't help but stare at it. It's magnificent, the colors and the way it moves, so free, it's demanding to be seen and doesn't take no for an answer. It's almost impossible to contain let alone be stopped. Even in all its beauty I can't help but hate it as it takes everything I've known from my eyes so relentless and effortlessly. I eventually look away from the raging fire to my mother who stands next to me with dried tears on her face and her bright red hair in a mess with what looks like ashes mixed in. It's like her hair is the fire the color looks so similar and with the ashes its like she took a piece of it with her. Do I look like that?

"Umm, miss?" I look to the right to find an officer with dark brown hair and about my mother's age staring at us with uncertainty. I have to nudge my mom to get her attention off what used to be our house to the man speaking to her.

"Ah, yes?"

"Do you have somewhere you can go?" by looking at her you can tell her mind is far away so I hurry and speak for her. "Yes we do, we can go to my grandma's but it's over a 12-hour drive"

"Do you have money for a hotel?" he asks slightly concerned.

"Yes," my mom says suddenly coming back to reality.

"Alright, we will give you a call in the morning to give you whatever survives the fire. You ladies have a good night." with that he walks away and we head to our car parked across the street.

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NOW

I stick out my tongue and attempt to pick the hair out of my mouth. Once again I am unsuccessful. Agh. This morning has been just great so far I had to hear that terrible alarm, fell out of bed, got hair in my mouth and I've been trying to get it out for over 5 minutes! Yes, this morning had indeed been the best. Oh, and it's the first day of junior year. Isn't that lovely?

I go to get up and almost completely miss the bed I was going to use for support thankfully I have some balancing skills. When I was little I used to practice my balance on everything I could from the cement stoppers in the parking lot to the railings on porches. It gave me a small thrill every time I almost fell and caught myself like I saved myself from death and not a small injury. It made me feel like I was special like a had this amazing superpower.

I walk into the bathroom to find a cup with water in it so I take it and swish the water around in my mouth then spit it out in the sink. Thanking the gods that the stupid piece of hair finally came out of my mouth. When I'm finally done with all my bathroom needs I get dressed in a white crop top, a pair of my black ripped jeans and throw on a jacket knowing grandma wouldn't approve of the crop top.

I quickly run down the stairs to the kitchen grabbing a muffin that we made over the weekend off the countertop. As I was about to leave grandma walked in so I went over and gave her a kiss on the cheek then shouted goodbye as I was making my way out the door in a hurry to get going.

When outside I lock the door then rush to get in the car so I won't be late. If there is one thing I hate in this world it's awkward situations and coming into class late on the first day will definitely be one of those kinds of situations. Do I even want to add the fact that I'm the new kid? I can't help but feel a little excited deep deep down but, other than that I'm not all the happy to be up at six in the morning. I get into the car and suddenly feel a chill go down my spine to the point where I shiver so I scramble to start the car so I can turn the heat on. I always get chills and feel cold even though it's 80 outside.

Once the car is all nice and warm I pull out my phone and put in the address to the school. Once the directions are ready I pull out of the driveway and make my way there while listening to my Spotify playlist with the perfect amount of bass. I'm sad to say I wasn't paying attention to where I was going and missed a couple of turns and I'm now 10 minutes later then I should have been. After finding a parking space as close as I could I quickly make my way in to find the office. When opening the main door to the school I accidentally bump heads with someone and I could hear them moan in pain. When I look up I find a girl about the same height as me, which is pretty short, and straight brown hair. She's holding her head in one of her hands and muttered something I couldn't hear.

"I'm so sorry, I'm running late and I still have to find the office. Are you okay?" I stammered out.

She looks up at me and laughs. "Oh it's fine, it happens a lot when you're as short as me..well I guess us. Does this happen to you a lot? You don't even look like your in pain," she starts glaring at my head but, then snaps out of it and continues, "Umm if you want I can take you to the office it's right around the corner?" She offered as she points to the direction of the office.

I can't help but be surprised how nice she is and quickly nod my head and mutter out a small thank you. She turns to the direction she was just pointing and starts leading the way but suddenly stops, faces me, and sticks out her hand.

"By the way, my name is Emma Wilkey. " I shake her hand which is super soft and reply "Wow I love your name, I'm Rose." She was about to say something but got interrupted by the bell. I totally forgot that I was running late! Aghhh, I wasn't looking forward to walking into class at all now. Not that I was before...She must have seen the worry on my face because she quickly tries to calm me down.

"Hey, it's fine let's go to the office to get your stuff and explain I'm sure they will give you a pass." I smile at her not wanting her to worry even though that wasn't the reason I got like that.

We both hastily make our way to the office. When we went in Emma did all the talking, got my things and passes to class for the both of us. When we eventually made it out she looks over my schedule and starts full on squealing.

"We have four classes together! Yayyyy!! I only have one class with the rest of my friends so I'm glad I'll have someone in the others. I'm so excited!"

I can't help but laugh and ask, "what classes do we have together?"

"Just the first four, let's go to your locker so you know where it is and then we can head to class" and I nod my head in agreement.

When we found it we were both super happy to realize that hers was right across the hall about five lockers down.

After deciding to just take what I have with me we make our way to class and I try to memorize all the halls which won't be too hard because I've always been pretty good at remembering where everything is once I've been there.