Rosemary and Juliet

Homecoming

Rosemary

She sat in her bed, staring at her dress hanging from her closet. The homecoming dance was today... she was going with Seth the annoying one... Part of her wished it was Juliet instead, but she ignored that part of her. It was already almost noon, and she would have to start getting ready if she were to leave by four forty-five to get to the dinner in time. Kaitlyn, her boyfriend, Seth, Ryan, Alexis, Derek, Dhvani, Jocelyn, and a couple other people she didn't know were all meeting up at some restaurant she'd never been to, so it would be interesting.

She got up and started brushing through her hair. First things first was taming the beast. It was a frizzy mess of knots and defiant, stubborn curls, but with a brush and some patient determination, she could conquer it.

Once it was all smoothed out, she started to curl it in the way she wanted it to look. Seth liked her hair curled, and she was willing to show herself off a little bit that night. The curls danced around her shoulders, and her mom came into the bathroom to check on how it was going.

"What do you want to do with it?" she asked.

Rosemary shrugged. "Put it up in a twist with some curls hanging loose, I guess."

Her mom nodded and started grabbing the bobby pins and hairspray. God. I should've just gone with a tux and then been like, sorry Seth but you have a boyfriend tonight. So much effort.

After hair was makeup, and after makeup was nails, and then getting the dress on. She wasn't sure about it, really. Sure, she looked okay, but was she over doing it? Was Seth going to like it?

****

"Seth, your girlfriend is here," Ryan informed Seth, elbowing him in the ribs, making him look up.

Rosemary had just walked in, and after a moment of her eyes skirting around the room, she saw where they were sitting. Seth looked up at her, his eyes suddenly wide and his cheeks red, and he looked back down at his Rubik's cube. Rosemary felt herself starting to blush as well, but she said hello to everyone and sat down next to Seth. Because it was the only open chair. Oh, right... and he was her date.

"Rosey," Kaitlyn laughed. "You guys aren't even talking."

Rosemary ignored her, looking intently at her menu. Seth and Ryan whispered to each other briefly, before Seth said, "So if you were a pirate, would you want a parrot on this shoulder-" he began, tapping the one closer to him, "or this shoulder?" he finished, putting an arm around her.

"I will slap you if you ever pull shit like that again. If you want to put your arm around me, you can. I'm your girlfriend, idiot." She rolled her eyes, shrugging him off of her.

Ryan laughed. "Told you so."

Alexis laughed as well. "That reminds me of this one time that Alec..." The laughter drained from her eyes, and Rosemary felt her heart sink. Silence went over them, even though most were really just confused, and Alexis looked at Rosemary and Jocelyn, because they understood better than the rest. "I was going to do it to," she admitted quietly. "This is hard."

"You know that agreement you and I had, back a year ago?" Rosemary murmured.

"Yeah?" Alexis answered.

"He said I could, but only after he did."

Alexis reached across the table and grabbed her hand, squeezing it gently. "Oh, Rosey." No matter their disagreements, Alexis really was one of Rose's truest friends.

She felt tears coming to her eyes, and Seth put an arm around her, and then his other, pulling her in tightly, holding her with one arm and her hand with another. The crying stopped, but the shaking and feeling didn't. It was nice, though, to sit there, in his arms, breathing him in and feeling his warmth to remind her that someone was alive worth living for.