"You really like that Eddie guy, huh?" Josh asked just moments after Eddie said goodbye, insisted on not needing a ride, and walked out the door.
"What?" I asked, surprised to hear him speak from behind me. I turned around to face him. "I guess. I mean, he seems nice. Why?"
"No reason," Josh said. "Are you excited for the long weekend?"
I studied him. "Yes, I'm excited," I answered slowly. "Are...you?"
"Yeah, yeah. But as soon as it's over, I'm going to have to start school. Which I'm not excited for at all."
"You'll finally get to suffer like the rest of us," Steven said, barely looking up from his book as he passed us to go up the stairs.
"Speaking of school," I said, "I'm going to go upstairs and work on homework. I have a book report due tomorrow."
***
Wednesday was an extra short day at school, since it was the day before the long weekend, and passed by in a blur. I was surprised, however, to see Kiana walk into Food at the beginning of my shift in the afternoon.
"Hey, Rose," she said, barely looking at me as she walked in.
"Hi," I said slowly. "What's up?"
"Just showing up for work, like you," she said without stopping.
That was right. It was just Kiana and I at Food on Wednesdays. "Right. What I meant was," I said, following her into the kitchen, "what have you been doing the past few days? I haven't really talked to you."
"School. I went to the aquarium with Max. Dance lessons on Sunday and Tuesday. You know."
"Cool!" I said a little bit too enthusiastically.
Kiana turned to me as she tied on her apron. "Rose- or should I call you Elisabeth?- I know what you're trying to get at. No, I won't tell anyone. Yes, I'm still mad. Are we done here?"
I fumbled as I tried to tie my own apron. "Yes," I said quietly. "And... it's Rose."
***
"Rose!" called a voice behind me as I walked out of Food a few hours later.
I turned around to see Eddie bolting out of Apples. "Hi, Eddie," I said, forcing a smile.
"I just finished new employee induction and saw you come out of Food. Oh, wow, you really look glum," he commented. "What happened in there?" he asked, gesturing to Food. Kiana pulled out of the alley next to Food and sped away. "Oh, I see," Eddie said, answering his own question. "Friends shouldn't make each other miserable. You and Kiana should really try to work things out."
"You're a lot better with names than I am," I observed. "And I know. I tried. She kind of shut me down, and then we worked almost in silence for three hours. I don't know what to do!"
Eddie put an arm around me. "I'm sure it will all work out soon," he promised. "For now, let's get your mind off it. How about I treat you to ice cream at... Barney's?" he suggested, pointing across the street to an ice cream shop I hadn't yet gone to.
"You don't have to do that," I said. "Besides, I need to get home."
"Rose, you're the only person my age who I know in this entire country. I need to keep the one friend I have. What better way than by giving you ice cream?"
I smiled. "It's a little cold and rainy for ice cream, don't you think?"
"It's never too cold for ice cream!"
From that moment on, my weekend dramatically improved. Thanksgiving with Sarah's family, Yvonne, and Alonzo was very fun and filled with delicious foods. It was made even better with Julie's announcement that we were all going to take a trip to visit the sisters she'd met up with in Nevada for Christmas. Apparently it was something that they did every year. Josh, Max, Sarah- who knew a few of my "cousins"- and I were going to drive down and walk through a few colleges on the way while the rest of the family was planning to fly. On Friday and Saturday I was able to just stay home and do things with my family- and Eddie, who Julie invited over to play games with us on Friday evening. It wasn't until first period on Monday that I remembered that there was a single bad thing in the world.
When I slid my calculus notebook out of my backpack, a white envelope slid out. Within seconds, it was safely stowed away in my pocket. Hopefully no one had read the writing on the front. I raised my hand.
"Mr. Nelson?" I asked. "I don't feel very good. May I go to the nurse's office?"
"Oh, yes, of course. Kiana, go with Rose. Class, we're starting on page 96 today, since we're starting our new unit on..."
"What was that about?" Kiana asked as soon as we were in the hallway.
I fingered the envelope in my pocket. "Nothing."
Kiana looked at me. "You've lied to me enough," she said, folding her arms. "What's in your pocket?"
I sighed. "Follow me," I said, leading the way into the girls' bathroom. After checking to see that no one else was inside, I pulled out the envelope. "Someone's been sending me letters. I remember getting them when I was living... down South. They were threats back then. They're part of the reason I left. Whoever was sending them found me here, and now they've been sending them to me again."
Kiana's eyes widened, the anger in them replaced with concern. "That's really bad," she said, taking the envelope out of my hands and turning it over in her own. "Really bad. What kind of threats?" she asked after a minute.
"I can't remember what they were when I was at my old house," I said. Kiana looked at me. "Long story," I sighed. "I'll explain all that later. There haven't been many threats yet, since I've only been sent a few letters. But this person- whoever it is- arranged for the brakes in Sarah's car to give out when I didn't follow their instructions."
"Sarah's brakes gave out? When?"
"The Friday that you found out about... everything, and Sarah found out about you and Max. She was driving me to your house so that I could talk to you, and we were going down the big hill and all of a sudden the brakes didn't work. She had to do some crazy driving to keep us from crashing."
"I think Max tried to tell me something about that when we were at the aquarium," Kiana said. "You tried to talk to me way back on Friday?"
I nodded. "Obviously, it didn't work out like I planned. Anyways, this person has access to my house and I've been getting letters about every week since Josh got here." It felt good to get the truth off my chest.
"Do you think Josh is the one sending them?" Kiana asked.
"Maybe," I said, "but I don't think so. M- that's the person sending the letters- made it sound like she only found me by following Josh here."
Kiana nodded. "How do you know M's a she?" she asked.
I had to think about that for a minute. "I don't know how," I admitted. "I guess I just... know."
"Weird. So... do you want to open the letter?" Kiana asked, handing me back the envelope.
"I'm as ready as I'll ever be," I said, taking it from her and carefully tearing it open. Kiana and I read the writing on the familiar stationary side by side.
Elisabeth,
I noticed that, despite my promises, you haven't made any move to leave. You need to go back to your father. NOW. No more patience. I can make your life miserable, dear. You do realize that you'll never be able to get anywhere in life if you don't return to your family, don't you? You'll have to live under the radar for the rest of your life under this sad little Rose identity you've created for yourself. How pathetic.
Elisabeth, you must leave for Texas right away. All that you have to do is send your father an email, or a phone call, or you can bus-hop or whatever it is you did to get to where you are all the way back if you'd prefer that method. Or, you could stay. I have no way, yet, of forcing you to leave. However, if you thought that the minivan... incident was bad, just wait. You're in for a treat.
Please, make the right choice for ONCE in your life. Don't be stupid. I don't WANT to hurt my daughter, but I will if that's what it takes.
Kisses! -M
"I'm telling the police," Kiana said, her eyes wide.
"No! No, you can't. If you tell them, they'll send me back to Texas, and then I'll just be doing what this M person wants."
"But Rose, they're dangerous."
"I know," I said. "Believe me, I do." I put the paper back in the envelope and folded it in half before placing it back into my pocket. "Come on, let's go back to class."
"Won't Mr. Nelson wonder why you didn't go to the nurse's office?"
"We can say that we stopped for a drink of water and it made me feel much better," I said, leading the way out of the bathroom.
"Wait!" Kiana took me by my arm. "You're just going to pretend that letter didn't happen?"
I paused for a moment. "Yes," I decided. "Come on, let's go."
"But..."
"I have two choices. Go, or stay. I'm staying. There's no point in telling anyone about the letter. Besides, once people know they can become a target. You're already a target, and I'm sorry. But no one else can know."
"Fine," Kiana agreed. "But if more bad things happen..."
"Then I'll reconsider," I promised as we walked back into the hallway. "But for now, I'm not going. I'm staying right here."
"Going where?" asked Eddie, coming out of the office with a note. "Sorry, I couldn't help but overhear. This must be your friend Kiana," he said, extending a hand to her. "It's nice to meet you."
"You, too," Kiana said, shaking his hand.
"Eddie, this is Kiana, although I guess you remembered. Kiana, this is Eddie. He just moved here from London-"
"Actually, about an hour out of London," Eddie interjected.
"From about an hour out of London," I corrected myself. "This is his first day. He works at Apples."
"That's cool," Kiana said. "I'll have to find out why Rose and you were talking about me later," she added, laughing.
"Right! Sorry Eddie, we have to get back to class."
"Alright. I'll see you next period in physics, Rose."
"How did you know I have that next period?"
"You mentioned that you had physics with Ms. Cheline for period two. I remember you mentioned it when we were having ice cream," Eddie said, "which I hope you don't find creepy. When they gave me my schedule I saw that I had the same class."
I nodded. "Hmm. Well, okay. I guess I'll see you then, then!"
"He seems nice," Kiana commented as we walked away.
I nodded. "He does. He's really friendly."
"A little too friendly, maybe," Kiana said, gesturing to my pocket where the letter still was.
"I'm the only person at this school who he knows," I pointed out.
Kiana nodded. "That's true. I guess I'll have to wait and see. I'm not going to pull a Sarah," she said, laughing.
"A Sarah?"
"Hate people the second I meet them... like Sarah did to you and about a thousand other people," Kiana explained.
"Speaking of Sarah..."
"Speaking of Sarah," Kiana interrupted, stopping just before we reached our classroom, "do you know why she blew up like she did when she found out about Max and I?"
I froze. "You're her friend," I said slowly. "You're supposed to tell her things, I think. And you didn't. And even though you weren't trying to hurt anyone, I mean, it would sting a little if Sarah was having a relationship that you didn't know about, right?"
"Yeah, I guess," Kiana agreed. I breathed a sigh of relief. "But now all the secrets are out in the open, which is nice. I just have to get Sarah to stop hating me," she said, laughing. "Which might take a while."
"Come on," I said, walking again, "back to Calculus."
***
Eddie did, in fact, have Physics with me. He and I also had the same third period History class and fifth period English with Kiana. Sarah was surprised when I showed up to sixth period with Eddie, who had volunteered to walk me before going to his own class, but didn't ask any questions until we were at Food with Josh that afternoon.
"So, what did that guy say his name was?" she asked.
"What guy?" asked Yvonne, coming in from the back parking lot. "Rose, do you have un novio?"
"A boyfriend," I translated when Josh opened his mouth. "And no, I don't. Eddie's just new, and I've been showing him around. He's very nice. He works at Apples next door."
"Uh-oh, working for the competition. Is Eddie trying to destroy the family business?" Sarah asked.
"No, he's not," I said, rolling my eyes. "Josh, you've met him. Tell Sarah about him."
"He's a stuck-up jerk," Josh said.
Sarah laughed out loud. "Well there you have it, Rose. I guess that answers that question."
"He's not stuck up, nor is he a jerk," I objected. "He seems very nice."
"I'm sure that he is," Yvonne agreed as she took out a pot. "Josh, start on the dishes, por favor. They have been in there all weekend."
"Ew, don't touch me with that!" Sarah exclaimed as Josh came at her with a suspicious-smelling towel.
Josh grinned. "Too late," he said, throwing it at her. She karate-chopped it out of the air and it fell at her feet. "Or... not," he said. "Next time," he assured her, turning away to do the dishes.
"He's a real gentleman," I told Yvonne. "Kiana met him, and she didn't like him much at first but by the end of fifth period they were practically best friends."
"Kiana?" Sarah asked, gingerly picking up the towel and walking up behind Josh. "I thought we weren't talking to her."
"I kind of talked it out with her when she was walking me to the nurse's office," I explained.
"And here I was, feeling sorry for you when Mr. Nelson told Kiana to go with you," Sarah said, dropping the towel on Josh's head.
"Hey!" Josh protested, pulling it off and dropping it back in the sink.
"You started it," Sarah said. "So you actually made up with Kiana? After what she did?" she asked me.
"What did she do?" Josh asked, scrubbing a dish. I could tell that Yvonne was listening as she started to mix up some of Food's classic salsa. She was smart enough to put on gloves before slicing the jalapeños.
"She didn't tell me about her and Max's relationship," Sarah said, leaving out the piece where she liked Max.
"Rose didn't tell you, either," Josh pointed out. "And neither did I. But you're talking to both of us."
"But at least you weren't the ones in the relationship!"
"Kiana forgave me for not telling her about... me," I pointed out. "Maybe it's time for you to talk things out with her, too. I'm tired of all of us not being friends."
The bell rang, causing all of us to jump. Yvonne handed Sarah and I our aprons. "Customers!"
***
"Don't cry, Elisabeth, they're only pictures," said a voice from behind me. I jumped and dropped the box I was holding completely into the water, watching as it sunk slowly to the bottom. A few bubbles floated up.
I felt a hand on my shoulder. "Did you really think that I would believe you?" a woman asked, coming around to the side of me and snatching up the pictures gathered in a pile next to me. I saw on them images of Nolan with his hand on Taylor's arm, hiding the bruise he had given her, of Jane holding Ella on her hip all dressed in black, of Rose lying on her bed, weak...
"Mother, wait!" I pleaded as she held them over the surface of the pool.
Mother?
I studied the woman behind me, trying to see her face, but I couldn't from the place I was sitting. "You were lying," she said. "And you know how much I despise liars." She let go of the pictures and I watched, still frozen with shock, as they fluttered carelessly into the pool.
"Why?" I asked softly as the pictures touched the water, causing ripples to disturb the surface of the water.
"Because, dearest, you haven't been a very good girl lately. I tried to come back, make amends, be the best mother that I could be, but you shunned all of my attempts. Now, Elisabeth, if you'll tell me the truth about what you were doing when I called, I'll take you outside, to the park across the street. We can have a picnic! I'm sure that you've never done that before."
"No, thank you, Mother."
"What do you mean, no thank you?" the woman demanded. "I am offering you the opportunity to do the thing that you have dreamed of for... for years! And you say no thank you?! What is wrong with you?!"
I just looked at her, waiting for her to figure me out.
But what was it that she was about to figure out? I didn't know, only knew that I was inching away from the pool before she could throw me in with the pictures, that I had to stay quiet.
"Elisabeth? Elisabeth, answer me!"
"Answer me!" she screeched, the room swaying around her.
"Answer!" The woman's face was visible for half a second before it was morphing, turning into Rose's.
"Why won't you answer me?" Rose asked, the anger growing into concern.
Suddenly I was standing above her, in her bedroom. Somehow, I knew what she was going to say before she said it.
"Why?"
I woke up in a cold sweat.
"Rose?" Timmy asked quietly, his hand on my arm. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," I assured him. I could barely see his silhouette in the light of the hallway night-light coming through my open door.
"I had a bad dream," Timmy said.
"Me, too."
Without another word, Timmy clambered onto my bed and crawled under the covers with me. "Goodnight, Rosie Posie," he said, his breathing turning deep and regular almost immediately.
"Goodnight, Timmy."
I shook my head to clear it of the nightmare.
***
"My dad always says there's something that triggers every dream you have," Kiana told me the next day at lunch as we sat in her car, which we'd decided was the safest place to discuss the mysterious "M". "You said you called someone Mother. M for Mother! It would make sense."
"Not really. It wasn't Rose who I saw," I said. "I mean, it was, at the end, but first it was someone else. But I just barely got to see her face for a split second."
"And who was it?"
"I don't know." Someone familiar.
"Well then we're stuck. I vote we stop evaluating dreams like the fortune tellers we aren't and wait to see if anything else happens. There's always the chance it really was just a dream."
"You're right."
+#+#+#+
A/N: I actually updated on schedule! Don't set your expectations too high for next Saturday, but there's the chance it'll happen again, right? Please let me know what you think of this chapter, it was so fun reading all your comments on chapter 17! Also, if there are any spelling/grammar errors or things that don't match up with things I said before (other than Elisabeth's dream, which obviously got a little bit morphed), tell me por favor :)
Have a great Saturday!