Mark My Words

59 | Care About Her

Rosalie heard that phrase too many times in movies to not get a flare of anxiety from it. She blinked fast and shrugged, looking down at the mug. "Yeah. Okay," she agreed, and Joanna let go of the coffee.

Joanna took her own mug with her, along with a fleece blanket from the living room couch. As Joanna headed for the door, Rosalie pushed off of the counter, sharing a look with Kim as she went. Kim whispered, "Good luck," and Rosalie offered a small, nervous smile in return.

On the walk to the back patio, Rosalie stopped her mind from sprinting to conclusions as it had every day before Joanna told her the truth about Kaiserslautern, the truth about Nora Jacobs, the psych ward, potential incarceration. So, she stopped herself from thinking at all and focused instead on the scenery, the magnificent Preece estate, and the dawn glinting off of the lakeshore.

She shut the patio door behind her. The bonfire was still smoking, though the embers had long since died out. A plethora of chairs littered the patio bricks, and Joanna pushed some aside to clear the path off of the docks and onto the grass. Joanna was several paces ahead of her, and though there was still an ache in Rosalie's shin, she could walk now with more purpose than before.

Though, something made Rosalie hesitant to catch up.

When she did, Joanna had taken a seat at one of the benches near the water's edge. She laid the blanket out so that it fell over the back of the seat, and when Rosalie sat down, Joanna tugged the blanket up. The stone under the fleece was bitter cold, so the blanket brought some warmth to an otherwise frigid morning.

The air was crisp and clean. It smelled like winter with the chill in the air.

Rosalie held her coffee in her lap with both hands, shivering a little. She took a sip to warm her insides, but she was already numb.

"What do you want to talk about," she said, looking at her lap.

She heard Joanna sigh. She could feel the warmth from Joanna's arm so close to her own.

"I don't want to get you involved in this shit," Joanna confessed. Rosalie looked up to her and took in the sight of Joanna's profile as she swallowed hard, her brow tense over her light brown eyes. In the morning light, Joanna's irises were nearly golden. Joanna looked down and shook her head. "I didn't want to look back at any of it, but I think Drew was right. Even if that bitch didn't know about the Sisterhood, going to Nationals would be a mistake for me."

"But everyone's looking out for you," Rosalie insisted. Joanna's lips turned up in a wince, and as she shook her head, Rosalie said, "I'm looking out for you. We'll go to Seattle and you won't have to deal with the Sisterhood again. We won't even join sororities."

At this, Joanna laughed. She rubbed a hand over her forehead before taking a long gulp from her coffee. She leant back with a sigh and said, "You know that's ignorant. If I join the air force, the Sisterhood won't need me. I won't have to worry about them as much. Recruitment is only for diehard Elder Sisters. I'm not a diehard like my ex."

"What's so wrong with university then?" Rosalie said. She leant forward over her knees, trying to meet Joanna's eye, but Joanna kept hers averted, squinting against the sunlight. "So what if you're in soccer then. You aren't making money off of it, you're just paying your student debt. Just don't go into a national league."

"I don't even know what I'd major in," she confessed with disdain.

"Gender and women's studies," Rosalie said. Joanna laughed, but at the very least, she met Rosalie's eyes. "I'm serious. Pick something you're passionate about that won't give them the satisfaction of owning you after university."