Rosemary and Juliet

Germany

Rosemary

"I have to get on the bus, can I have my notebook now please?"

"Can I get a kiss for carrying it for you?" Seth joked, puckering up.

"Oh, shut up," she laughed awkwardly, snatching her things back.

The idea of kissing him was scary. Not because kissing was scary. She'd kissed Nathan (and it was disgusting), but it was different for Seth. There were feelings with Seth. Not to mention, her original plan was that Juliet would be the next person she kissed. But now Seth existed...

She sat on the bus, seeing an unopened text from Amilia. Maybe I should consult her about this, she figured. The two of them had been talking a lot since the day that she shut everyone out, and she was really starting to enjoy talking to her.

"Hey, Rose! Just got home from school, thought I'd say hi! Okay, to be honest, I'm kind of just flipping about your most recent chapter... -A. Green"

"Hi, Ami. Why flipping out? It was just about this thing we have at the middle school called the eighth grade farewell. -RM"

"It was SO much more than that, and you know it. I don't even know what I feel about any of these characters anymore, except the guy who's mean. I'm sorry you had to put up with that."

"It's over now. I blocked him, like I told you, and he's out of my life for good, now. Can I get your advice on something?"

"Yeah, sure! Is it about Seth? *wink*"

"You know there's an emoticon and an emoji for that, right?"

"Oh, shoosh! What's your boy trouble?"

"He wants to kiss me."

"Why is that a problem?"

"Because I've only kissed one person, he was gay, I was gay, and it was gross."

"And Seth?"

"Hasn't ever kissed anyone."

"Well, that's probably better. He won't know if you're not the best, right?"

"True, I guess so. Why am I nervous?"

"Controversial opinion here, but I think you might like him."

"*eye roll* I obviously like him, we're dating."

"I don't think that's how this works for you, and I think you know that. You're not used to liking the person you're dating."

"That's true. Should I do it, then?"

"Oh my god, YES. He's your boyfriend, and it's my understanding that this is how that's supposed to work. You and Jacob sure do seem to have a lot of the same relationship issues. He's trying to kiss Lisa but he's really nervous. Lisa has kissed a lot of people, though, so it's different."

"She sounded so sweet and innocent when you described her to me."

"Well, she is? But then, she isn't. She's a confusing person, you have to know her to understand. Oh, I got my friend Hazel into reading your book, by the way! She absolutely loves it!"

"That's awesome! So, she knows we're friends, then? Wait, I thought you were taking a break from everyone?"

"We have a class together, so I can't avoid her forever. And, no... I haven't told her about us. I don't want anyone to feel betrayed that I don't want to talk to anyone in the group, so I've avoided mentioning you."