[C H A P T E R T W E N T Y - O N E]
The Fall
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September 1st, 2134
15 Years Ago.
SIX YEAR OLD ROSELINE was excited to start school. Her mother and father had already taught her so much but she yearned for more knowledge. She wanted to become the smartest person in the Ark, just like her parents.
She was also excited to make new friends. Of course, she had Clarke and Wells, but they didn't always want to hang out with Roseline or do the things she wanted to do. Her mother would say that people don't like a third wheel. Whatever that meant.
Katie and Conner Taylor walked their daughter down the metal corridor and into a wide room with lots of kids. It was just orientation day, but Roseline was still jumping up and down from excitement. Her backpack danced on her spine. Roseline had insisted she bring it and fill it with stuff to she her new friends.
"Can I go play?" Roseline looked up at her parents with wide brown eyes. They smiled and nodded, ushering her away.
The little girl made straight for a group of kids laughing and playing with blocks on the floor. "Hi!"
They all looked at her.
"Hi," one replied.
"My name is Roseline. Do you want to see a cool thing I found?"
The kids set down their blocks and nodded. Roseline smiled and grabbed her backpack, digging through it. With a toothy grin she pulled out a chunk of metal.
"Look!" She held it up for the kids to see. "It looks like a heart!"
The group of kids stared at the blob of metal. None of them hid their confusion.
"No it doesn't." a girl commented, crossing her arms. The others just stared.
Roseline frowned, that was not the reaction she was expecting. "Yes it does. See, this is the artery and this is the ventricle." She pointed at the spots for emphasis.
The kids gave her blank looks. Roseline was confused too. Why didn't her new friends see that the piece of metal she had found looked just like a heart, something her parents had just recently taught her about.
One kid held up a book with little doodles on the cover. "This is a heart." He pointed at the cartoon drawn heart on the page.
Roseline shook her head. "That's not what real hearts look like. There's no arteries on it. This is what a real heart looks like." She showed her metal again.
More stares from her peers.
"You're weird." the girl said before going back to the tower she was building. The others followed suit, leaving Roseline standing with a chunk of metal and broken ego.
For the rest of the orientation, Roseline sat in the corner with a pile of anatomy books she had brought to show the kids, only to read them by herself. She didn't understand why they didn't like her and why they kept huddling up, pointing at her. Her new friends weren't as nice as she had hoped they would be.
Finally, Roseline's father ushered her to the door. "C'mon, Rosebud."
She packed her things and shuffled to the exit, looking back at the kids who didn't even spare her a glance. The family walked out and down the hall back home, Roseline still clutching her metal heart.
"How did it go, Rose?" her mother asked, adjusting the braid that hung on Roseline's head.
The little girl shrugged. "They didn't know what a heart looks like."
"Pity."
Coming around the corner was Chancellor Jaha and his son Wells. The parents greeted each other. discussing some council related things while Roseline and Wells stood by, playing with the objects in their hands.
Down the hall, a classroom door opened and a flood of kids came out, no older than nine. They were running and laughing, excited for whatever they were doing next. Roseline was suddenly bumped by a boy, causing her to tumble and drop her heart.
"Sorry!" the boy yelped, picking up her heart and helping Roseline up. Roseline looked up at him and she was entranced. His sparkling brown eyes and mess of dark curls had her blushing, and she would have counted every freckle on his face had she had the chance. For a moment she felt like everyone else her age; boy crazy and giddy.
Roseline didn't have the words to thank him as she took back her heart. He gave an awkward smile at the wide eyed girl and ran off to join back up with his friends. She stood there in the hall, watching him run away. Roseline almost wished he kept the heart. That was how romance movies worked, right? You give your heart to someone you fall for.
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September 29th, 2149
Present Day.
AFTER THE GUNS WERE INTRODUCED TO CAMP, Roseline quickly decided that she did not like them. They were loud, dangerous, and Bellamy was in charge of them. He was the only one who knew the most about how to use the guns which meant he was teaching the whole camp. Roseline was dreading the moment where Bellamy would call her name next.
"Rose! You're up!" His voice echoed across camp. She sighed, leaving her tent that was still pretty damaged from the storm. She had tried her best to fix it up but it was still looking rough and she would occasionally get a rain leak that had to be patched with more duct tape.
She trudged her way over to the makeshift shooting range Bellamy had created. He had found some trees that were lined up and had carved targets into them. Some already had bullet holes in the bark and it made Roseline's skin itch.
"Alright," Bellamy started, slinging a strap over her shoulder and letting the gun hang at her side. "Show me how you would hold a gun."
Roseline avoided his gaze as she slowly held up the gun, remembering all the movies she had watched as a kid. It's not that hard, right?
"Don't be afraid to actually hang on to it. It's gonna recoil once you pull the trigger, so you're gonna need more of a grip." His hands went to fix hers and goosebumps went down her spine from the touch.
"I know," she muttered.
Roseline still couldn't let go of the fight they had a couple days before. She didn't realize how much Bellamy meant to her until he had said they weren't friends. Now, every time she looked at him, her heart would fall to her feet.
Earth was not the magical place she had hoped it was.
"Oh?" A smirk appeared on his face. "You ever shot a gun before?"
She huffed. "No, but I've seen the movies."
He shook his head and went around to help her hold it up and aim it at the tree. "It's nothing like the movies, Rosie."
"I can do it on my own, you know," she grunted, shouldering Bellamy off of her.
He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "You're not gonna hit anything when you hold the gun like that."
Roseline ignored his comment and adjusted the gun herself. The two were quiet for a moment while she worked on aiming the gun.
"Why can't you let me help you?" Bellamy finally asked.
"Because I don't need your help."
"You don't need it, or you don't want it?"
"Both."
He shook his head. "C'mon, how long are you gonna be mad at me?"
She dropped the gun and let it hang at her side. "Forever."
He scoffed, yet she stayed silent. "Are you serious?"
"Yes."
He went to grab her hand. "Rosie, please--"
"No!" She said louder than she intended. "I don't want your pity, I don't want your fake kindness, and I don't want you to call me that! We aren't friends, so stop pretending we are for my sake."
Suddenly Clarke had stepped into the conversation, setting her hand on Roseline's shoulder. "Hey, can I borrow you for a second?"
Roseline gave one last look to Bellamy who seemed to have something he wanted to say to Roseline. His big brown eyes held onto Roseline's for dear life and something inside the girl broke seeing him that way. She couldn't tell what he was feeling, but she knew that whatever it was, he was holding back.
"Yeah," she agreed, letting Clarke lead the way to a more secluded part of camp.
Once they were out of earshot, Clarke gave her a worrisome look. "What's going on?"
"What?"
"What's going on with you and Bell?" she elaborated. "I tried to talk to him but whatever happened with you two, he refuses to talk about it."
Roseline crossed her arms and tapped at her bicep. "It's nothing, really."
Clarke set a hand on her shoulder. "Rose, I know it's not nothing, otherwise Bellamy wouldn't be so upset about it, and nor would you."
Roseline was silent for a minute. Was Bellamy really upset by their fight?
"Look, I care about you, and I hate to see you hurting like this. I just want to help." Clarke removed her hand, letting the cold seep back into Roseline's shoulder.
Roseline uncrossed her arms and went to twirl her hair. "I've known Bellamy for a while. He's always been grouchy and stubborn, but he was my friend. My first real friend. He was actually interested in the things I did and he let me talk about whatever I wanted. We even played games and joked with each other, like real friends do..."
Roseline sniffled and hugged herself. "When he brought the Grounder here, I told him I was worried about him and he just told me I wasn't his friend. It sounds stupid but it hurt so much."
Tears welled in her eyes but Roseline couldn't bring herself to let them fall. She didn't want to waste her tears on a boy who never thought of her as an equal.
"Have you let yourself process this?" Clarke asked, taking a step closer to her.
Roseline shook her head. "What's the point? He doesn't like me, and I'm too worried about staying alive to do anything else."
"I think it will help."
They stood in silence for a minute. Roseline didn't know how to respond. She wanted to cry but something was holding her back. Everyone saw her as a weak girl, and even if it was true, she didn't want to prove them right.
Clarke suddenly engulfed her in a hug. "If it's worth anything, I'm glad you're my friend."
The hug almost broke Roseline.
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