FIVE: THE TRUTH WILL SET YOU FREE
(part one)
november 2nd, 1984.
"What time did you get home last night?"
"Um.. three, o'clock in the morning. I think."
Rosalie yawned for the fifth time and leaned her head against her cool desk top. For a moment, while her eyes closed, she could feel herself start to slip back into sleep mode. To her, sleep was far more important than the silly lecture her teacher was giving in the front of the classroom. Something about chemistry, or maybe it was history, she didn't care. Her sleep was interrupted by the feeling of Ivy's eyes boring into the back of her head. She sat up and sighed thinking to herself;
Here it comes.
"That's the second night in a row you've slept at Harrington's," Ivy pointed out causing Rosalie to hush her instantly. Her eyes scanned the anatomy class to make sure no one was listening. Most kids were looking out the window, few were taking notes. None of their eyes were on the two girls who sat in the back of the room. Rosalie sighed with content; she could not and would not handle another day filled with toxic rumors. The idea of her name being tossed around the school made her skin crawl and her head hurt.
"I did not spend the night," Rosalie explained. "I left. I went back home and went to sleep. We didn't not do anything last night. I mean, we just talked." It was true, they just talked the whole night. She was starting to appreciate this bond between her and Harrington, their friendship. He needed her, and she was starting to realize that maybe she needed him too. Not for the same reasons, but because he was a great listener and she could tell him things that Ivy wouldn't understand. Unlike Ivy, Steve wasn't so quick to judge, and although Rosalie appreciated her best friend for always being there for her, she had to admit that hanging out with Steve was like a breath of fresh air.
Ivy snorted at Rosalie's comment, as if she couldn't fathom the idea of Steve Harrington being able to hold a conversation. "About what?" Ivy asked, in no shape or form attempting to hide her bitter tone. Rosalie refused to glare at her judgmental friend, instead she pushed her curls out of her face with a long breath and finally sat up.
"Nothing, everything," Rosalie shrugged, searching her mind of what to tell her friend, "he plays the guitar. Or at least he likes to think he can, he was terrible. And don't get me started on his singing.." She chuckled, her eyes rolling at the memory of Steve strumming an out of tuned guitar. He had an old guitar in the back of his closet from when he took lessons as a kid. He only knew two cords and made up crappy songs. She told him, time and time again that he was a horrendous player, but Steve was convinced he was David Bowie. It was torture to hear him wail, but his attempts also made her laugh until her stomach hurt. Mostly because he was genuinely surprised that she didn't think he was a rock star. When she was pulled out of the memory, Ivy's brow was raised at her. "Ivy, why are you looking at me like that?"
"No reason," Ivy shrugged. There was definitely a reason, the way Ivy's eyes squinted told her otherwise. She reached forward, brushing her thumb against her friend's cheek, like she was wiping a bit of left overs off her face. "I just.. I'm just admiring your blush."
Her hands pressed to her freckled warm cheeks, pushing her friend's hands away and glared, "shut up." Rosalie crossed her arms against the desk before laying back down onto of her folded extremities.
"I'm surprised." Ivy admitted, "you make Harrington seem like he's an actual person." Rosalie's eyebrows furrowed at Ivy's rude comment. She knew that her and Steve would never be on good terms. It was an unspoken truth. There was no hope in the two being anything close to friends, so Rosalie made a mental note of keeping the Steve talk to a minimum with Ivy from now on. She bit her tongue to keep from increasing the tension that formed between the two at the mention of Steve Harrington.
The bell rang and the class full of rowdy teenagers were released from fifth period. Which meant lunch time. Kids trickled out to the parking lot, running to their cars while some stayed indoors to do their time at lunch detention. Like most kids, Ivy and Rosalie made their way to the parking lot to eat at their own car in the parking lot. It was Friday which meant today the girls would eat at Ivy's car. They often alternated between who's car they would eat at. In the cooler days they would eat inside the car, but on nice autumn days like this one in particular where the air wasn't too cold, they would sit on top of one's hood, making a picnic out of their packed meals.
When the two climbed the short walk - out the school, across the parking lot and up the small hill - to her black car, they hopped on the hood. Ivy went into the car, retrieving her lunch from the passenger seat. Rosalie fished her lunch from her back pack, she looked between the sand which she had from yesterday which she hadn't eaten, and left overs from last night. In hopes of mending the weird mood between her and her best friend, she handed the sand which to her, as a piece offering. "I packed you a sandwich," Rosalie handed Ivy the peanut butter and jelly sandwich, biting the inside of her cheek for lying. She emptied her lunch, opening the leftovers Steve had given her from the prior night after he so skillfully made dinner for the two.
"Aw, thank you," Ivy grinned taking the sandwich. Moments after accepting the sand which her eyes quickly cut to Rosalie's lap. "You're eating Mac and Cheese?"
Rosalie paused from opening the Tupperware. Her lips pressed together while she paused from telling Ivy the truth - that Steve had packed her a lunch with an extra long hug before she left his house, much much earlier that morning - so instead, she nodded and withheld the truth. "Yeah, it's actually not that bad."
"You hate Mac and cheese," Ivy squinted her eyes, observing what situation she began to create in her head. Rosalie shrugged at her, brushing off her friend's suspicious. Couldn't she just enjoy a meal without her breathing down her back?
While she ate, she thought of all the things she couldn't say out loud, about how the night was filled with singing off key to Billy Holiday, talking about childhood memories and laughter that - now that she thought about it - was mostly due to exhaustion. The night with Steve was so care-free. She didn't have to worry about if she looked better sitting on the couch, or laying on the ground. She didn't have to worry about the fact that when they snuck into his parent's room and watched a movie that he would try to hit on her. After he asked about the boyfriend thing, he teased her a little more, then let it go. Being with Steve made everything crazy in her world feel simple. She liked being around him, he was fun. But she knew better than to bring him up, so instead she asked something she knew would distract Ivy from Steve.
"So have you talked to Jonathan since the party?" Rosalie pulled her mind away from her night to remember. Ivy's red cheeks turned away from Rosalie before she shrugged off her leather jacket that covered shoulders.
"A few hi's and bye's yesterday," she answered vaguely, placing her jacket on her lap as she unwrapped the sandwich and took a bite, "I was gonna ask him if he wanted to go to the movies"-
"Vee, that's great you totally should!" Rosalie encouraged and shook her not-as-enthusiastic friend's shoulders.
"That was the plan," Ivy sighed deeply and balled her napkin into her fist. She paused as she took another bite, wiping a bit of jelly from the corner of her mouth. "But, while you were sleeping during fifth, I overheard some kids talking; supposedly Jonathan skipped school today.." Rosalie was ready to give her friend all the reasons why that didn't mean all her hope was lost, but then Ivy finished her sentence, "with Nancy."
"Oh," Rosalie mumbled, not thinking much of it. Then, like a bullet her mind snapped to Steve. She wondered if he had heard the same thing.
Of course he had. He's Steve Harrington! She thought, wanting to slap her forehead.
"Oh no." Rosalie's eyes widen as she paused from her food, "this is bad." She pressed her lips together and only imagined what horrible things were going through Steve's head. Was he okay? Was he still at school? Maybe he hadn't found out. Maybe there was still hope.
"Really, Rose, it's not a big deal," Ivy sighed as she brushed some imaginary dirt off the hood of her car. Her voice held sadness that Rosalie hadn't quite comprehended yet.
"Yes it is. Are you kidding?" Rosalie whipped her head around to face her solemn friend's expression. Her droopy eyes stayed down on the dirt road, away from her friend.
"I'll be fine. I decided to move on to someone else anyways," she sighed deeply. "You don't have to worry about me."
Rosalie gave Ivy a weird look, and before she could stop herself she heard herself say, "what? No, not you, I'm worried about.." the moment she felt herself form the letter S she hit the breaks in her brain. She was frozen, like a deer in the headlights, awaiting for the combustion of Ivy. Now, Rosalie internally slapped herself and cussed in annoyance with herself for making such a dumb mistake.
Ivy's fiery eyes narrowed, "you were talking about Harrington." Her voice was too calm, meaning she was very very angry.
"No I wasn't," Rosalie tried to lie her way out of the mess she had created.
"It's always Harrington," she scoffed under her breath, pushing herself off the hood of her own car. Rosalie collected her trash as her friend angrily muttered to herself.
"Vee, come on," she joked with her and it wasn't until Ivy strung her bag over her shoulder and snatched her jacket off the hood of the car, that she realized her friend was furious. "Oh. Wait, you're actually mad..," she observed, taken aback at the way Ivy glared at her paired with the angry breaths that expanded and shrunk her shoulders.
"No shit, Sherlock." Rosalie's eyes widened at Ivy's tone. She turned away to storm off, but she turned back to face Rosalie - as if deciding to say something after all. "You know, I've been trying to be a good friend, but I can only go so far Rose." Ivy stepped forward and pointed a finger at Rosalie, a nasty look took over her face. "You and Steve - bad idea. Whatever this.. this thing you and Harrington have will end, and when it does, it will end badly! You may not see it yet, but everyone else around you does. Come and find me when you stop being such an idiot." Ivy didn't blink, she didn't shrink. She was so.. angry.
Rosalie sat in her friend's mean words while she stormed away and down the hill. It took her a moment to move her limbs, but it was like Ivy had poured a mean bowl of honey all over Rosalie and she was.. stuck. How could Ivy say that to her? And then just walk away..? Did she really hate Steve that much that she was willing to butcher their friendship? All because Rosalie was worried that Steve's heart couldn't take anymore bad news? The two girls had been joined at the hip for the past year. They'd gone through thick and thin without conflict and now Ivy wants to ruin their no-fighting streak over some guy?
Eventually, as the lunch period came to an end and Rosalie found the strength to move, she threw her trash away. She went to the front office after lunch where she spent her free period helping out the school receptionist and school nurse, Mrs. Needs. Rosalie would help answer calls, write notes for kids, talk to her mom on the phone when she was free. The usual. She had planned to try and find what class Steve was in so she could break the bad news to him about Nancy before anyone else got the chance. But when she asked Mrs. Needs where the student schedules were, she informed her that Rosalie did not have access to them, they were confidential. So she gave up, and sat back down in her desk, with a sigh of annoyance.
After directing a few visitors to the school's cafeteria and writing one tardy slip for a freshman, the school's phone rang, loudly. She answered the phone, trying to push away the high-pitch ringing that stopped after she picked up the device. "Hello, this is Hawkins High, how may I help?"
"Hi," Rosalie recognized the voice almost immediately, "this is Joyce Byers."
"Oh, hi Ms. Byers. This is Rosalie Robinson," she spent the summers working at the same store in town as Ms. Byers. She was such a sweet woman. On days when Rosalie forgot to pack a lunch, Ms. Byers would share what she packed, or even slip her a five dollar bill from the register and telling her to be back in twenty. Her son, Will Byers, went to school in the middle school department, Hawkins Middle School. Last year he mysteriously disappeared in the woods for a week, the search and rescue team had found another dead body, and mistakenly took is as Will. However, he was found only a week later. He had an interesting story; he was known as the Boy Who Came Back to Life. Some kids called him 'the Freak's Brother' others called him 'Zombie Boy', Rosalie had always seen him as a smart young boy. She pitied him, and wandered how hard it must've been to have been lost in the woods for a week without food nor shelter. To her, he was brave.
"Hi Rosalie," Ms. Byers sounded happy to hear from the girl, but there was a line of exhaustion in the way she dragged out the end of her sentences. "Um, I'm calling out Will for today, he's got.. a cold."
Rosalie grabbed a pen and a sticky note but paused to ask, "oh, I'm sorry. Is it bad?"
She sighed into the phone, her usual chirpy voice was now raspy, "yeah, you know, he's just a little under the weather, probably ate too much Halloween candy." Ms. Byers didn't seem too sure, but managed to throw in her usual light cheerful laugh.
"He'll bounce back," she tried to reassure the obviously worried mother as she scribbled the note. After taking note of his absence she mumbled into the phone, "tell him I said hi. I hope he feels better soon."
"I will," she promised. "Thank you, Rosalie, have a good day."
"You, too. Bye, Ms. Byers," she exhaled and put the phone back down. She rewrote her note so it was more legible before standing, walking across the small room to Mrs. Needs' desk, and handing her the note. "Will Byers is out with a cold today."
"Figures," Mrs. Needs exhaled taking the note with a sudden attitude. "Joyce is always pulling him out of school for the darnest things. You think she'd want him to be around other kids considering what happened to him last year." She looks at the note about the rim of her dirty red glasses.
"That's rude," Rosalie mumbled under her breath after walking back to her seat. She spun around in her chair and bit her lip as she glanced at the clock. She needed to kill some time or she'd die of boredom. She wish she'd know what class Steve was in, then she could break him out and break the news about Nancy and Jonathan. She could sneak Ivy out of shop, something they did from time to time, but they were in a fight right now. If Rosalie went in there to break her out, Ivy would probably saw one of her friend's fingers off. Thinking back to their argument exhausted her all of a sudden. It was one thirty-six. Her mom's class ended six minutes ago. She typed the ten-digit phone number into the pad of the phone and listened to the dial tone. While she waited, she mimicked the dial tone's hum— it was a habit she had picked up as a kid
"Hello?" Genevieve answered with a bright and curious tone, after a few rings.
"Mom," Rosalie exhaled with exhaustion and appreciation that she had answered after all.
"Oh, sweetie, what's wrong?" Her laugh came and went away with a short sigh. All she had to do was hear her daughter's voice to know something had happened. "I'm all ears, Rosie."
Her head fell into her folded arm. She leaned against the desk and vented, "everything, it feels like. First, Ivy asks how my night was and of course I tell her because she asked. And the moment I"-
"Pause." Her mother interrupted her whispered rambles, "did I or did I not tell you to call me at eleven last night?"
Crap.
She groaned. "You did."
"I'm pretty sure I didn't ask you to 'just come back home at three o'clock in the morning with no explanation', Rosalie." She was sounding more like a mother than what Rosalie really needed, which was a friend. She could incision the look of annoyance on her mother's face as she lectured her daughter.
"Yeah, okay but"-
"No buts," her mother cut her off again, "I don't think you understand what I mean when I say you need to check in." Genevieve takes a deep breath, and takes a break from being an authoritarian adult. "Look, I get it, you're in high school and you're finally having fun. I was your age, and I wish my parents gave me more slack, which is what I'm giving. Slack. But please, as your mother, keep me posted so I don't think you're laying in a ditch, rotting away somewhere in the middle of the night."
"Okay." She said and listened to her mother deeply exhale. After a moment she curled her finger around the curly extension cord then asked, "can I continue now?"
"Yes." She answered calmly, it sounded like she had sat down somewhere, taking the weight off of her feet, "Mom Mode is off, Friend Mode is on. Continue."
"So, then, Ivy tells me that Jonathan and Nancy ditched today together. And"-
"Oh poor Steve." Her mother clicked her tongue and sighed into the phone. "Is he alright?"
"See, exactly! I was worried about him too while Ivy was freaking out because, once again, Jonathan chose Nancy over her! I mean, when is she gonna learn? So she yells at me because I was worried about Steve and now she won't talk to me unless I stop talking about, and probably to, Steve!" Rosalie exhaled a frustrated groan. She paused and glanced over her shoulder, she saw Mrs. Needs looking at her over the rim of her thick glasses. "Sorry."
"Hmph," Mrs. Needs looked back to her book, and continued reading.
"Well, sweetheart," her mother exhaled, sounding just as exhausted on her end of the phone. "It sounds to me that you're between a rock and a hard place."
Rosalie waited for more. Her mother always had more. More advice, more jokes, more questions. She listened to the silence over the phone, for her mother to give more advice, and when she didn't she scoffed, "Mom, are you shitting me? That's it!?"
"Language," Mrs. Needs hisses from behind her book, which Rosalie ignored.
"Well," Genevieve chuckled into the phone, "I can't just give you all the answers, now can I?"
"You can!" Rosalie emphasized. "You should."
"What fun would that be?"
She glared at the counter, her teeth gritting together and sighed deeply. "It would be fun if you just told me."
"Hm, good luck, sweetheart," she mumbled a faint farewell before saying 'I love you' and hanging up. That was it.
Rosalie groaned deeply and set her head on the desk, allowing her drowsiness to take over. There was a moment where she was sleeping, definitely sleeping. A deep, almost death like sleep that soothed her worries and relaxed the tension in her bones. That was until someone shook her arm and her head shot up. "Huh?"
"Wake up." Mrs. Needs' pedicured fingers tapped Rosalie's shoulder. "You're late for gym, Freckles."
"Screw gym," she slurred through half-sleep-half-awake talk. The school receptionist scoffed and crossed her arms.
"Language, young lady." She scolded down at Rosalie as she reached for her backpack, after rubbing her eyes. "Now hurry on, I've already written you a note."
She yawned, standing from her chair and taking the note from her wrinkly pedicured hand. Rosalie rushed out of the front office, rubbing the last bits of sleep from her eyes. She tied her handful of curls behind her head and after finessing her hair into a ponytail holder, she emerged into the gym. Her sleep suddenly disappeared at the smell of the sweaty gym. Right as she pushed through the large doors, Billy Hargrove made a basket. Like always, he whooped triumphantly and stared down Steve who looked as if he were raging with flames. He scoffed at Billy's enthusiasm, glancing away and finding Rosalie's eyes. He took his eyes off the game as he squinted his brown orbs at Rosalie from across the room.
'You okay?' He mouthed to her and she nodded before furrowing her eyebrows.
'Are you?' She mouthed back. Before he could answer, the coach blew the whistle, calling for a time out. She took the opportunity to hand him her late note and raced over to his side.
"Sorry I'm late," she mumbled handing him the pink slip. Her gym teacher skimmed the note before darting his eyes to her face.
He crumpled the note in his and and crossed his large arms over the other. "Which gal are you again?" He huffed at her. She glared at him, not having the energy to put up with him and his sexism. That was her last straw, she was prepared to walk away, but instead she spun on her foot to give him a pointed look.
"My name is Rosalie Robinson. I've been sitting on the bench, along with every other gal in this class for the passed three years while you only let the stupid boys play ball!" She exploded and turned her heel. "I have a name, use it! Because it sure as Hell isn't Gal."
The anger melted away, piece by piece as she made her way to the locker room and Billy Hargrove made his way from the water fountain, towards her. Her raging confidence blurred away when she saw him. Rosalie couldn't help herself - she knew better, she knew to keep her head held high and away from him - but she looked from his blue eyes down to his glistening bare abs. Billy was shirtless, a towel patting over his wet mouth from where he had drunk from the water fountain, she wasn't sure if it were sweat or water dripping down his body, down his flexing toned abs. She had no self-control; she was human after all. And as much of an ass as Billy was, his abs were crafted by God herself.
"Like what you see?" Billy teased with a smirk and her eyes averted from his immediately. "That's okay, you can look. When you've had your fun with Harrington, I'll show you how a real man makes a woman"-
Rosalie cut him off with the daily reminder that was like a mantra, "there's nothing going on with Steve and I."
He nodded, sinking his bottom lip between his teeth after licking it, "that's what I was hoping."
She grimaced at his diabolical smirk until he turned away from her, not before leaving her with a wink from his eye. She knew that if Billy Hargrove was hitting on her, then her day had officially gone from bad to worse. A groan fell from her mouth as she walked down the hall and into the girl's locker room.
Rosalie tossed her bag into her locker and yanked off her shoes. She was a ball of angry yarn today. Every time she tried to untangle herself the more twisted everything became. It wasn't until Rosalie had placed her shorts over her legs and stripped out of her shirt that she heard the voice of two girl's entering from the long hallway of the locker room.
".. right? God. Why can't she just admit that they've fucked already? I mean, half the school already knows." One girl smirked as they walked towards the bathrooms, around the lockers where Rosalie was eavesdropping. Hating herself for it, but eavesdropping.
"Right?" A different girl squeaked. "And the way he was looking at Billy when he was talking to her! I thought he was gonna kill him."
There was a pause between the girls and as they closed the bathroom doors, Rosalie realized the two were talking about her. She groaned, setting a hand on her face.
More rumors. Great.
After the toilets flushed, Rosalie tossed her hair from where it was tucked under her shirt. The first girl sighed, "some girls will never know." Her locker slammed shut and she stormed out of the locker room. She was between being exhausted of being angry and being so angry that she was exhausted.
The basketball game was still going on, by the looks of it, Billy's team was winning. The 'skins' team were blazing up and down the court, big grins on their faces while Steve's fully clothed team had long faces. The gym was filled with minimum buzz. Rosalie sat in her usual spot, watching while the girls behind her buzzed about the latest gossip. She was trying so hard not to focus on what they were saying she hadn't realized the boys had called a half time and Steve was jogging over to her.
The back of Rosalie's neck burned as she felt eyes follow Steve's route to her place on the bleachers. She tried to look away, but when Steve came over she couldn't ignore the dumb grin on his face. "Hey. You enjoying the game?" He was out of breath.
"I guess," she mumbled looking down at her sneakers and pursing her lips to keep from smiling at.
He scoffed and plopped next to her on the bleachers, he was still trying to catch his breath, "you're saying you don't enjoy watching me win?"
Now she looked at him and grinned, a small chuckle when she told him, "Steve, you're not winning."
"Shut up, you don't even now how to play sports," he teased. Then to add the cherry on top he nudged her and added, "Gal."
"You're not funny." She told him over his laughs, and over the whispers that were coming from behind her.
"You ripped Coach a new one, that was awesome," he pointed out and paused from his chuckles. Steve didn't speak until he knew she was looking at him. A small nod from him went to her, "everything okay?"
She hummed a small response and glanced over her shoulder at the gossiping vultures. "Um, shouldn't you be getting back to your team?"
"Half time is fifteen minutes," he explained and eyed her. "Wow. You really don't know anything about sports."
She scoffed, "I so do"-
"Are you sure everything is okay?" He asked again, sitting up from his normally slouched position. His breathing was finally back to normal, he wiped the beads of sweat that formed on his forehead. "You just seem a little.. I don't know, off."
"Yeah, I..," she exhaled softly and leaned towards him in attempt to try and simply have a one on one conversation, without all the other prying eyes. "You don't feel everyone staring at us? They're talking and spreading rumors.." she mumbled to him and watched as his caring eyes flickered away from her and to the bleachers behind them. His eyebrows furrowed then he turned back to look at her.
"So?"
Her eyebrow arched and she felt herself actually lean back in shock like he zapped her with a jolt of electricity, "what do you mean 'so'? They're"-
Steve threw an unfazed glance at her before leaning back into his slouch. "Who cares? Screw 'em." He set his arms behind his head, showing off his sweat stains beneath his arms. He looked so peaceful with his eyes shut, despite all the daggers being shot at the two of them. "People are gonna talk regardless so you might as well just thrive in the fact that they're talking at all."
She bit her tongue and pressed her palms to her sides."Steve they're saying that we.. that we're sleeping together."
Now his eyes opened. "Well, we didn't. We aren't. We won't." He clarified to her and locked eyes with her in focus, "you know that and I know that, that's all that matters. Remember that." Steve suggested as he grunted trying to return to a standing position.
Her sigh fell into her lap as she felt something tug at her brain at the mention of rumors. She sorted through her thoughts for a moment then it clicked. She remembered. Jonathan and Nancy. She needed to tell him. "Steve."
Her call fell short when a boy from Steve's team yelled, snatching his attention. "Tell me later." He told her briskly before dashing back to his huddle of a team.
Rosalie slouched into the bleacher behind her and instead of tuning out the rumors, she simply tried to not let them get to her. Which was hard. She wanted to turn around and tell everyone everything, the truth; that nothing had happened. At one point she was so tempted she actually turned around and glared into one girl's eyes when she heard her hiss, "I heard Rosalie couldn't even finish." The girl bit her tongue and blushed, which was when Rosalie turned back around.
So she watched the game, hands in lap - only to raise in cheer when Steve finally scored a few points. The game ended with Billy winning by one point. She could tell Steve was upset but before she could walk over to his side to provide physical (Billy knocked him down a lot of times) and mental aid, he glanced at her and gave her a small shrug. He smirked, then he mouthed; Screw 'em.
Showers were mandatory after every gym class. Years ago the girls would just let the showers run in the dressing room so the teachers thought they were actually showering. That changed when they hired Mrs. Ferns, the 'female gym coach', but believe it or not she didn't actually teach gym. All Mrs. Ferns had to do was knock on the door after she heard a few showers running, then she would glance in the locker room to make sure no one was sitting on the benches doing their homework. She'd also make sure no one was having shower sex after school. It had happened. Three times this year already.
Rosalie set her face under the sheer faucet and tried not to think about all the other people that had been in the shower before her. She hated feet, which was why she always wore flip flops in the shower. Her lips exhaled the water that had fallen inside as she rinsed off all the anger that had been bubbling on her surface. The shower turned off and she felt better, not very clean, but better.
While she dressed back into her normal clothes the repetition of giggles that came from behind her caused her to whip her head around. To no surprise, three girls were staring at the back of her head. Giggles Galore One, Two and Three was what she decided to call them.
"What's so funny?" She finally asked after she pulled her shirt over her head. Her tone bitter and short.
"Nothing," Giggles Galore Two blushed from embarrassment.
"You have a fat ass," pointed out Giggles Galore Three and Rosalie glared at the three of them.
"So?" She didn't care what they said about her body.
"We didn't know Harrington had a thing for fat asses."
Rosalie's anger flared once again as she inhaled deeply and grabbed her bag from her locker. She slammed the metal door shut then cut her eyes at the three of them, "yeah well unlike you skinny bitches, Steve has something to hold on to while I ride his dick." She sauntered passed the three's gaping mouths, "I feel bad for each of your boyfriends, all they have to hold on to are your bones." She gave them a small shrug then stormed out of the room, practically kicking the door down on her way out.
She didn't see Steve, and in that moment she didn't really see anything but the faint tent of red. This day was worse than yesterday and all she wanted to do was go home and sleep for the next twelve hours with no interruptions. Suddenly, the intercom spiked a screech throughout the hall, interrupting her thoughts, "will Rosalie Robinson please report to the principal's office immediately?"
She dropped her hand from the door and turned away from freedom. Did she or did she not just ask for no interruptions? A groan ripped from her throat as she turned and stormed down the hall. What the hell was so damn important that it couldn't wait until Monday? She was utterly completely over school. She wanted out already! She wanted..
The door to the principal's office shut behind her. She stood behind Steve who sat in the chair outside the door to the principal's office. His head was down so she couldn't see his face. Billy was inside, sitting in front of the principal and next to a man who was talking to Billy - gesturing angrily with his hands. Her eyebrows furrowed as she watched the man before glancing away. Mrs. Needs looked up from her book and Rosalie looked at her for answers. Fear tapped her heart.
Did Billy snitch about what happened at the party?
"What's going on?" She whispered, her heart sinking, walking to Mrs. Needs. The receptionist nodded to Steve who finally rose his head for Rosalie to see.
He had an ice pack held to his jaw, his eyes looked at the floor and blood trickled from his nose. His other hand held a tissue to his nose and there was a cut in his lip. When Steve finally did look at Rosalie there was a hot strike that flashed through her body. Steve looked.. attractive. He looked like shit, and probably felt like it too, but in Rosalie's eyes he made her palms tingle. It was like looking at Steve with a new pair of glasses on. "Hey." Even his voice sounded different. She didn't like how much she liked it. She cleared her throat, trying to make the words form properly in her head, but when she looked at him there's was nothing but radio static.
Rosalie turned away from him and leaned against the counter, bringing herself back down to Earth. She spoke to Mrs. Needs instead. "Did he get into a fight with Billy?"
"Yes, he did," Steve answered himself, from behind her, then sat up to look at Mrs. Needs - holding a groan back as he moved out of the chair. "Can I leave now?"
"Your boyfriend got beat up by Mr. Mullet in there, I have no idea what they were fighting over, but you need to drive him home." She held up his keys, not taking her eyes away from whatever book she was reading. "He claims his parents are out of town. School policy, Freckles." Rosalie scoffed and shook her head at the idea.
"Why the hell do I have to?"
Her eyes cut to Rosalie, "do you really speak to your own mother with that mouth?"
"Why do I have to drive him home?" Rosalie repeated as polite as she could muster. In all honestly, she had no time nor energy to deal with Sad Steve right now. But by the look of how Steve glared at the floor and angrily stood from the chair, she would be dealing with Angry Steve. Angry Steve needed her.
"Look, I just need you to make sure I get home alright," he explained as he made his way to her side. He leaned against the desk, and looked at Rose with his pleading eyes. "I asked her to call you because, I need you Rose."
She turned to look at him and rose an eyebrow. The imaginary glasses she had on must've vanished, because now she looked at Steve like she always had. But right now, he looked more like the night of the party. On the verge of breaking. Her problems could wait, he needed her. "Fine." She agreed taking the keys from Mrs. Needs, "Steve, get your crap we're leaving."
Mrs. Needs stood from her chair abruptly and gasped at the two of them, Rosalie walked out of the office without a care in the world. She walked beside Steve who still had the ice pack on his face, and sniffed away what blood was left from his nose. He tossed the bloody tissue in one of the trash cans in the hallway. They walked into the parking lot and she turned left, whereas Steve turned right.
"Where are you going?" They asked one other in perfect unison.
Her head shook, "I'm taking you home."
"I know," he stepped towards her with his hand out as he reached for his keys, "my car's this way, give me the keys."
Her arms crossed and she rose an eyebrow brow at Steve's logic. "No. My car is this way. I'm driving. You don't get your keys back until I say so."
Steve scoffed, "you can't tell me what to do." He mumbled with the roll of his eyes. "Really Rose, screw the school's stupid policy."
"I can and I am." She spoke sternly and walked down the sidewalk of the parking lot. "This is my policy. Let's go." When she got to her car Steve trudged behind, she couldn't tell if he were pouting because he was sad or because he got his ass kicked or angry because she yelled at him. She unlocked her doors and waited for Steve to get in. "I'll drive your car back to your house tonight." She told him after he slammed the door shut.
He barely hummed as he turned to look out the window. She sighed setting the keys down then looked at his cuts and bruises. "Let me see," she mumbled setting her hand on his chin and turning his head to look at her. He snatched his head away and furrowed his eyebrows.
"I'm fine," he grumbled and she sighed. Her hands set down on the steering wheel and she set her head back against her chair. She needed to collect her thoughts before getting so angry that she would start to cry.
"Steve, now is not the time to be acting like an asshole. I've spent all day sticking up for you to Ivy and talking about how much of an asshole you aren't. Do not make me a liar. And stop moping because you got your ass kicked by Billy." She yanked on her seatbelt. "I mean what the hell were you thinking getting into a fight with him!?" She yelled as she grabbed the keys and putting them into the ignition. Her eyebrows pulled together in anger as she pulled out of the parking lot. "Put your seatbelt on."
"I'm sorry..," he mumbled in a small tone, his previous attitude melting away. His hand pulled the belt across his body and clicked it into place.
"I don't need you to be sorry." Rosalie said shifting the gear back into drive and gunning out of the parking lot. "I need you to do better Steve, I can't keep picking you up after every stumble. I will always have your back, I'll keep you away from the edge you're currently peering off of, but not if you can't stand on your own two feet." She eased off the gas while her anger eased away too. Steve spoke up when she was at a safe thirty five miles per hour.
"Nancy ditched today, with Jonathan." Steve spoke out with a soft breath, lowering the ice pack from off of his face, "no one has seen them since yesterday after school. She never ditches, never with me anyways." He grumbled and looked out the window. Rosalie eased onto the break when they stopped at a red light.
"I heard," she sighed deeply and set her hand on her temple. "I wanted to tell you, that way you could hear it from me and not from"-
"Tommy. He's the one that told me," Steve chuckled angrily as the light turned green and she sped down the road. "And then Hargrove.. he just had to open his mouth."
"What did he say?" Rosalie turned her radio completely off, even though it was already silent in the car.
"Don't worry about it," Steve mumbled pulling the ice pack back to his brushed jaw and tossing himself back into the car seat.
She gave him a chance to redeem himself, to explain and apologize for his attitude. When he didn't, Rosalie rose an eyebrow at him. "Are you going to be acting like this all night? If so, tell me now so I can remember to keep my act up as a raging bitch."
"Yeah well no one asked you to be a raging bitch," he mumbled, his head on the window and she saw tinted red.
"No one asked you to get in a fight with Billy but you took that upon yourself." Steve scoffed at her words and finally looked at her. He looked like he was going to say something, but then he just shook his head and crossed his arm over the other as if deciding against it.
"Whatever," he mumbled and she rolled her eyes. One hand straight out on her steering wheel, the other resting on her pounding temple. Silence hung in the small confines of her Jeep and it stayed that way, until she passed a small grocery store. "Do you have food at your house?" She asked at the third red light in a row.
He didn't move his eyes from looking at the view, even when he threw a hard, "what?" In her direction.
"Food. To eat. Vegetables." She held her hand over her blinker switch, she was ready to grocery shop and make sure there was actual food in his house before the weekend began, "do you need me to take you the grocery store?"
"No." He mumbled right as the light changed and she kept going straight. Rosalie was about to turn the radio up but stopped as she shook her head.
"You know what? No, Steve you do not get to treat me like.. like someone who isn't constantly dropping everything for you." Rosalie scoffed and squeezed the steering wheel with her sweaty palms, "you got into a fight Steve. At school. Do you have any idea how idiotic that is? You could've gotten kicked out of school! Is that what you want? I'd have to survive school without you. I'd be stuck with Ivy, who by the way isn't talking to me anymore because I stick up for you! Time and time again and.."-
Steve's eyes trailed to Rosalie. "You and Ivy are in a fight over me?"
Rosalie's eyes cut to Steve who interrupted, "I am not done, don't interrupt." He presses his lips together and looked away. "The point is, I stick my neck out for you Steve, the least you could do is treat me with some respect."
When she finally stopped talking she had pulled into Steve's driveway. She cut the car off and leaned back into her seat. "Rose," he started and she shook her head.
"Forget it, I'll just go get your stupid car and drop it off," she started fishing the keys out of her pocket only to have Steve shake his head.
"Would you..," Steve started out and shook his head. "God Rose, stop." He took the keys from her hand and she furrowed her eyebrows at him.
"What, Steve?" She glared at him, her tone still bitter.
"I respect you. I appreciate you, Hell sometimes I think I might even want.." He trailed off and ran a bruised hand through his hair. "I'm bad with words, and you - you're great at them. You're great, at basically everything. And I'm not so.. Look, what I'm trying to say is I'm sorry. I don't mean to be such an ass to you, you're right you deserve way more respect from me and I'll work on it, just.. don't go. Please. Forget the car, you can get it tomorrow, or I'll get it - it doesn't matter. Just.. please, stay."
That was the most sincere Steve had ever been with Rosalie. He never really went into depth about how he felt, and that was the closet she'd seen him show any emotion other than humor and sadness, and his occasional temper tantrum. Her eyebrows were raised, and for one clear moment she wasn't mad anymore. She just wanted him to tell her more, open up like a book that she wanted to read by the fire.
"Rose?" He nudged her arm and she shook her head.
"Right. You're an ass, and I'm the best. What else?"
He cracked a smile and sighed deeply, "that just about summarizes everything."