CHAPTER NUMBER NINE OF:
REWRITE THE STARS
ROSALIE HELD ONTO JAY'S hand for as long as she could as they walked back to her dorm. They giggled and laughed and shared bright smiles that would be a shocker to see from Jay, he's never smiled the way he was smiling now. As they stopped in front of Rosalie's door, Jay grabbed onto Rosalie's other hand as well. "So I'll see you tomorrow, right? We can go for a walk around the park or something, just me and you." Jay spoke softly.
"That sounds perfect, Jay." Rosalie whispered, a grin on her features. Jay smiled and they leaned in for a kiss, Rosalie wrapping her arms around Jay's neck loosely and Jay pulling Rosalie in closer by her waist. After a moment, they pulled away and Jay walked away, leaving Rosalie to turn to her room with a smile. She placed her hand on the doorknob, about to go in, when Ben came rushing down the hall yelling her name. Rosalie knitted her brows in confusion as Ben approached her. "Ben?"
Ben looked around the dormitory before opening Rosalie's door and rushing in, ushering for Rosalie to go inside. "We need to talk." Ben told her. Rosalie closed her door and walked to her bed, taking off her heels and placing them beside her bed. "Mal — Mal spelled me."
"Wait, what do you mean Mal spelled you?" Rosalie asked, lightly shaking her head in confusion. Ben released a breath.
"Before our first game, Mal gave me a cookie which had a love potion in it. I'm guessing it's because I was with Audrey and she thought she didn't have a chance with me, so she spelled me ! Well, that's what I think at least." Ben explained, plopping down on Rosalie's red bean bag chair. His head fell back and his hand went to pinch the skin on his forehead.
Rosalie's gaze fell to the floor. "You said that Mal gave you a cookie before the game. . . and it continued a love potion?" Rosalie heard Ben hum in confirmation. "Jay — Jay gave me a cookie before the game too."
"Didn't you guys go to the Enchanted Lake too?" Ben asked.
"Yes, Ben, that's where you got the idea to take Mal there from."
"Well, do you feel any different?" Ben asked, standing up and slowly walking over to Rosalie with cautious steps. Rosalie thought back, she hadn't been acting so different. She had said that she loved Jay, and she felt as if she did mean it considering everything they learned about one another earlier in the day.
"Well, when we went to the Enchanted Lake and I dived in, when I resurfaced I felt a bit odd. Like something had snapped. . . out of me. . ." Rosalie trailed off as she connected the pieces. Her head sharply snapped up as she took in a breath. "He spelled me. Jay spelled me." Rosalie stood up from her place on her bed.
"Woah there, Rose." Ben said as he held his hands up in front of him. "Take a second to calm down."
"Do not tell me to calm down right now, Benjamin. Jay spelled me. How am I supposed to know if everything I felt was real? He wasn't my first kiss and that date wasn't my first, but it sure did feel like it! Everything felt magical, Ben, and now I'm finding out that it was all under the pretense of a potion that was supposed to make me feel this way? After all of this time? I told him that I LOVED him. I don't say I love you unless I actually mean it!" Rosalie yelled. She was infuriated. She didn't know how to feel. "I have to — I have to go over there and talk to him. Now."
"You never say I love you, Rosie. Be - because you're scared that the other person won't say it back." Ben said, knowing his best friend all too well. Rosalie had an expression of complete brokenness cross her features.
He didn't say it back.
Ben's lips parted as he came to a realization. "He didn't say it back, did he?" Rosalie shook her head, tears pooling in her eyes as she let out a loud scream, Ben running to hold Rosalie in his arms. If he hadn't been holding her up, she would've fallen to the ground. Rosalie began to have tears streaming down her face. She shook her head and wiped them away. What in the world has gotten into me? This isn't me! Rosalie let go of Ben and put on her converse, telling Ben to wait for her. Ben nodded, telling her he wouldn't move. Rosalie walked out of the room and ran to the male dormitory, rushing to Jay and Carlos's room. When she got there, she knocked harshly on the door.
Jay opened it with a smile, having just talking about Rosalie and the date. His smile fell a tad. "Rosie? What are you doing here?" Rosalie bit her lip as it began to quiver.
"I need to have a word with you." She told him, walking past him inside of the room. Carlos looked up from his place on his bed, Dude — the school's mutt — beside him. Carlos looked away from them, taking in the harsh way Rosalie spoke. Jay closed the door and turned to Rosalie with a confused expression.
"What – what's wrong?" Jay asked. Rosalie shook her head. She narrowed her watery eyes.
"You. You spelled me." Jay's eyes widened, wondering how she had found out. Rosalie chuckled without humor. "What? Did you think I wouldn't find out? Did you think you could just make me fall in love with you with a snap of your fingers?"
Carlos looked up from Dude, his lips parting as clouds of shock took on his eyes. "Rosie, I can explain." Jay tried, taking a step towards her. Rosalie took a step back.
"Was it all a lie, Jay? Was the kiss, the laughs, the smiles, the words you said — was it all a lie? I thought I really liked you. Hell, I told you that I loved you. You can ask anyone in Auradon, I do not say I love you." Rosalie yelled, shaking her head.
"Rosie, please. You - you actually liked me?" Jay asked, furrowing his brows in confusion. How could someone as beautiful, perfect, smart, funny and amazing as Rosalie could ever like someone like himself? A princess and a villain — how could it even work in the world they lived in?
Rosalie let a sob fall from her lips. She didn't even know why she was crying so much. She didn't know whether it was because she felt betrayed or because she genuinely liked Jay and she knew this was going to gnaw at her for as long as she'd let it. "Yes, Jay! I liked you! I still do," She shouted, slowly calming down a tad, "It's possible for someone to like you Jay, how could I not? What would make me so special, so different? Why didn't you just ask me out like a regular person? You just couldn't do it, huh? You just had to spell me. And here I am thinking that I love you."
Jay didn't know what to say. "Rosie, let me fix this please."
"Forget it, Jay. Forget everything. I just - I don't matter enough to even get a reason as to why you did it, huh?" Rosalie asked. Jay stood silent. Rosalie shook her head and let another sob out. "Fine. We're done." With that, Rosalie made her way to the door. Jay instantly stepped forward and curled his fingers around Rosalie's wrist.
"Please don't go." Rosalie looked over her shoulder to meet Jay's sad eyes. She snatched her wrist back and held it to her chest, turning and leaving the dorm, the door wide open. Jay swallowed the lump in his throat, letting his gaze hit the floor.